Hmong-Related Dissertations and Theses Online from the University of Minnesota's Digital Conservancy
Title: How Can We Enable Hmong Parents to Take Steps Towards Autism Identification?: Hmong Parents’ Beliefs about Autism and Their Experiences in the Identification Process. Author: Pang ChaXiong. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2022. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 240 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: An early identification of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is important for early access to supports and intervention services. Evidence suggests that age of identification may be particularly late for children from underserved, culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) communities. Although parents play an important role in their child’s receipt of an ASD identification, CLD parents may experience more challenges in the identification process, which likely better supports the needs of White, middle class, English-speaking families. Very little ASD research has focused on the Hmong community, a CLD group that is particularly vulnerable to inequities in ASD identification. Thus, I conducted a three-study dissertation that examines Hmong parents’ beliefs about ASD and their experiences in the identification process to address the overarching question: how can we enable Hmong parents to take steps towards an ASD identification? To first gain a more thorough understanding of parents’ experiences in the ASD identification process, Study 1 was a systematic review of barriers and facilitators to ASD identification reported by parents in the U.S. across qualitative and descriptive studies. In Study 2, I specifically examined Hmong parents’ (N = 35) beliefs related to ASD (i.e., their beliefs about early identification, intervention and the causes of ASD) and their experiences in the identification process (i.e., the barriers and facilitators they encountered) using a survey tool I developed called the Parent Perceptions of Autism Spectrum Disorder survey (PP-ASD). Using the same participants and the PP-ASD, Study 3 examined the sources Hmong parents use to obtain information on ASD, as well as the extent to which they encounter and utilize ASD information presented in Hmong text and audio. These studies point to the importance of ensuring that Hmong parents have access to information on ASD and that healthcare and educational professionals be supported to serve as partners.
Title: Sib Piav Neej Neeg: Co-Constructing Young Hmong American Women's Narratives with Young Hmong American Women Storytellers. Author: Kao Nou-Moua. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2019. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 153 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Many studies on Hmong American youth represent what Eve Tuck (2009) describes as damage-centered research. Damage-centered research focuses on the problems and deficits of a community rather than the complexities. This study centers Hmong knowledge, values, and traditional ways of inquiry, and challenges the current portrayals of young Hmong American women as victims of culture, disengaged from community, and uninterested in Hmong oral traditions. Eight young Hmong American women storytellers participated in this study, sharing the complexities, contradictions, and desires of their lived experiences. This study highlights the ways in which young Hmong American women resist, maintain, shape, and transform cultural practices, expectations, and traditions.
Title: Gut microbiome westernization in Hmong and Karen refugees and immigrants in the United States. Author: Pajao Vangay. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2018. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 144 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Many United States immigrant populations develop metabolic diseases post-immigration, but the causes are not well understood. Although the microbiome plays a role in metabolic disease, there have been no studies measuring the effects of U.S. immigration on the gut microbiome. We collected stool, dietary recalls, and anthropometrics from 514 Hmong and Karen individuals living in Thailand and the U.S., including first- and second-generation immigrants and 19 Karen individuals sampled before and after immigration, as well as from 36 U.S.-born Caucasian individuals. Using 16S and deep shotgun metagenomic DNA sequencing, we found that migration from a non-Western country to the U.S. is associated with immediate loss of gut microbiome diversity and function, with U.S.-associated strains and functions displacing native strains and functions. These effects increase with duration of U.S. residence, and are compounded by obesity and across generations.
Title: Bittersweet Migrations: Type II Diabetes and Healing in the Hmong Diaspora. Author: Mai Thao. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2018. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 167 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: As the seventh leading killer in the United States, type II diabetes disproportionally burdens minorities and those of lower socioeconomic standing, especially immigrant and refugee communities. However, why might a segment of a refugee population engage in return migration to places of exile for healing? Examining disease as socially and physically produced, this project investigates the multiple meanings behind return migrations to Laos and Thailand for Hmong-Americans with type II diabetes and who are 50 years and older. Based on 30 months of multi-sited ethnography, conducted in the clinic setting of St. Paul, Minnesota and the sites of Hmong-American travel destinations in Laos and Thailand, this dissertations argues that diabetes management focuses on the discipline of the somatic body through glucose monitoring, diet, and exercise. Yet, Hmong-American patients surface the need for social care-to attend to the social chronicity of being displaced refugees. Feelings of bodily difference and displacement in diabetes narratives produce a fluid Hmong-American subjectivity that actively remembers the past and places of familiarity. Nostalgia, melancholy, return migration, reception and discourse by Hmong-Lao and Hmong-Thai, and the embodiment of place and herbs, creatively engages in social care, centered around social continuity of kinship and origin. Through the social fields of the diabetic body, Hmong-Americans, Hmong-Lao, and Hmong-Thai, that a (de)territorialization of the Homeland, a place of exile, is transformed for a Hmong-American belonging. Yet, paradoxically, discourse about a cure from diabetes and a true Hmong-American return migration is often spoken as through death. The claim to death restructures the social order of chronic disease management (where death is often displaced) and Hmong-American racial position in the U.S. Death as an ultimate form of cure and return is a political claim to an eternal Hmong body politic.
Title: Hmong American Children's Perceptions of Parents' Influence on Their Education. Author: Jordan St. Charles. Source: MA Thesis, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2018. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 92 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Previous research on children’s academic outcomes has often highlighted parent involvement behaviors as key predictors of students’ academic outcomes, but previous research has typically neglected Hmong American children. Using a sample of N = 423 Hmong American elementary students from Hmong-focused charter schools, the present study seeks to understand the ways in which various parent involvement behaviors (including parent involvement in schooling at home, parent involvement in schooling at school, and parent communication about the importance of education) relate to these students’ perceived academic abilities in reading and math. The present study also investigates whether or not students’ English proficiency moderates these relationships. Findings from regression analyses indicate that English proficiency is the strongest predictor of students’ perceived math and reading abilities. Parent involvement in schooling at school also significantly predicts students’ perceived abilities in both content areas, and parent communication about the importance of education significantly predicts students’ perceived abilities in math but not reading. Parent involvement in schooling at home was not a significant predictor of outcome. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
Title: Hmoobness: Hmoob (Hmong) Youth And Their Perceptions Of Hmoob Language In A Small Town In The Midwest. Author: Jordan St. Charles. Source: MA Thesis, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2018. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 196 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: For thousands of years, Hmoob culture and traditional knowledge survived by being passed down orally from one generation to the next through sacred ceremonial songs, poetry, gatherings, and folklore. For oral cultures, languages becomes an important vehicles in the passing of one’s culture, especially from the Elders to the youth (Thao, 2006). This phenomenological study draws upon Indigenous methodologies and adaptation of grounded theory (Smith, 1999; Creswell, 2013; Kovack, 2010). The research seeks to understand 1) the perceptions of Hmoob youth of their language; 2) the relationship Hmoob youth have to their language, and 3) what they believe are barriers to Hmoob language acquisition. The research found that Hmoob youth cared deeply about their language and culture and believe barriers to language acquisition includes racism, bias curriculum, and the pressures to assimilate and conform. The research also found that Hmoob youth have many questions, and concerns regarding the survival, revitalization, and maintenance of their language. The recommendations are for the Hmoob community, cultural workers, practitioners of Hmoob language and schools.
Title: Hmoobness: Hmoob (Hmong) Youth And Their Perceptions Of Hmoob Language In A Small Town In The Midwest. Author: Xong Xiong. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2017. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 186 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: For thousands of years, Hmoob culture and traditional knowledge survived by being passed down orally from one generation to the next through sacred ceremonial songs, poetry, gatherings, and folklore. For oral cultures, languages becomes an important vehicles in the passing of one’s culture, especially from the Elders to the youth (Thao, 2006). This phenomenological study draws upon Indigenous methodologies and adaptation of grounded theory (Smith, 1999; Creswell, 2013; Kovack, 2010). The research seeks to understand 1) the perceptions of Hmoob youth of their language; 2) the relationship Hmoob youth have to their language, and 3) what they believe are barriers to Hmoob language acquisition. The research found that Hmoob youth cared deeply about their language and culture and believe barriers to language acquisition includes racism, bias curriculum, and the pressures to assimilate and conform. The research also found that Hmoob youth have many questions, and concerns regarding the survival, revitalization, and maintenance of their language. The recommendations are for the Hmoob community, cultural workers, practitioners of Hmoob language and schools.
Title: Pharmacogenetic Investigations Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Address Health Disparities in Minnesota Hmong. Author: Youssef Roman. Source: MA Thesis, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2017. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 250 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Introduction: Pharmacogenomics is an approach to personalizing therapy to help patients achieve their therapeutic goals with the least possible adverse events. This approach relies on the knowledge derived from large genetic studies that involve diverse populations to guide the development of treatment algorithms. The underrepresentation of select populations or unique sub-populations in genetic-based research presents as a gap in knowledge to create comprehensive genetic-based treatment algorithms and a missed opportunity to address health disparities within those unique populations. A prime example is the Minnesota Hmong. The Hmong is an Asian sub-population minimally represented in clinical or genetic-based research with a high prevalence of gout and gout-related comorbidities than non-Hmong. Methods: Using the principles of community-based participatory research and the establishment of the Hmong advisory board, assessment of the community’s perception of genetics and preparedness for engagement in research were conducted. Capitalizing on the findings from the first informational study, two Hmong genetic-based studies were conducted. The first study was to ascertain the frequency of select pharmacogenes and disease-risk genes in the Hmong, relative to non-Hmong. The second study was to quantify the effect of genetic variations within uric acid transportome and purine metabolizing genes on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of allopurinol in Hmong adults with gout or hyperuricemia. Results: The informational study results indicated that most Hmong are willing to participate in research to help themselves and the Hmong community. Some of the genetic perceptions in the Hmong were not scientifically grounded and some concerns about privacy were reported while the return of genetic results to participants had mixed responses. The first genetic-based study indicated that more than 80% of Hmong participants were willing to store their DNA for future analyses and share their DNA with other scientists. Pharmacogenes risk allele frequencies of CYP2C19, CYP2C9, VKORC1, and CYP4F2 were higher in the Hmong relative to Caucasian. Disease risk allele frequencies of hyperuricemia and gout associated genes such as SLC2A9, SLC17A1, SLC22A11, SLC22A12, ABCG2, PDZK1, were also higher in the Hmong than Caucasian and Han-Chinese. The second genetic-based study indicated that the genetic variation within SLC22A12 (rs505803T>C) significantly affects the exposure to and the renal clearance of the active metabolite of allopurinol, oxipurinol. Additionally, the rs505802 was also significantly associated with the overall response to allopurinol. Conclusions: Engaging the Hmong in genetic-based research is a step forward to advance precision medicine while addressing health disparities within the Hmong community. The prevalence of pharmacogenes within the Hmong suggest that the Hmong will require a lower starting dose of warfarin and unlikely to benefit from clopidogrel. The prevalence of hyperuricemia and gout associated risk alleles in the Hmong are consistent with the higher prevalence of gout in the Hmong. Finally, the rs505802 T>C within SLC22A12 gene could predict the overall response to allopurinol.
Title: Queer Refugeeism: Constructions of Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Hmong Diaspora. Author: Kong Pheng Pha. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2017. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 402 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Queer Refugeeism examines how the “refugee” figure relates to Hmong American racial, gendered, and sexual formation, belonging, and politics in the U.S. Examining various discourses around gender and sexuality such as rape, abusive transnational marriages, polygamy, and underage marriages, Part I crafts out ideological formations of race, gender, and sexuality in Hmong American communities. Queer Refugeeism uses texts such as newspaper documents, Hmong American ethnic cultural productions, and legislative bills to explicate a discourse of hyperheterosexuality that renders Hmong American culture and Hmong Americans as racially, gendered, and sexually deviant subjects. Part II turns to the material as I weave in youth narratives and community activism with secondary sources to expound how queer Hmong American youths are intertwined within dominant and Hmong American cultural discourses regarding race, gender, and sexuality. I argue against essentialist framinings of culture that posit Hmong Americans as perpetual refugees incompatible with queer modernity while showcasing how queer Hmong American youths are remaking culture and belonging on their own terms. Overall, Queer Refugeeism tackles how race, gender, and sexuality are integral to Hmong American refugee and queer youth belonging within the U.S.
Title: Documenting Hmong and Lao Refugee Resettlement: A Tale of Two Contrasting Communities. Author: Saengmany Ratsabout. Source: MA Thesis, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2015. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 58 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This paper explores the migration of refugees from Laos to the United States following a civil war further complicated by U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. Drawing from previous studies on Southeast Asian refugees during the initial wave of resettlement, as well as new data from the past four decades, this study focuses on two ethnic communities in Minnesota, the Hmong and Lao. The comparison of these two communities is unique in that they are from the same country, were involved in the same kind of conflict, share similar socio-economic backgrounds, and fled the country of Laos for the same reason. Although resettling to the U.S. for the same reasons and starting with similar circumstances (levels of educational attainment, English fluency, etc.), in the nearly 40 years since their arrival, their experiences have diverged. What explains the discrepancy in integration of the Hmong and Lao?
Title: Being Hmong, being American: making sense of U.S. Citizenship. Author: Annette Marie Miller-Simmons. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2014. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 295 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This ethnographic case study was conducted in one 12th-grade American Government class at a public high school in a large Mid-western city. The class included 10 Hmong students, and eight of these youth agreed to participate in the study. Multiple data sources were analyzed for themes, patterns, and issues, including classroom observations and document analyses of instructional texts and American Government curriculum utilized in the observed classroom. All eight participants contributed to at least two focus group interviews, and four of these eight students completed two additional individual interviews, acting as focal contributors to this research. Two formal and various informal interviews were also conducted with the classroom teacher regarding her ideas and intentions around citizenship education for her students.Three significant findings emerged in this study. First, the American Government classroom was a space for civic and political identity construction for Hmong youth. Second, the American Government classroom was not the only active political socialization agent; Hmong youth shaped and negotiated their citizenship identities with others including family members, and in other venues like youth clubs and cultural activities. Third, Hmong youth negotiated their citizenship identities in relationship to race, gender, and class. However, as Hmong youth prepared for adult, democratic citizenship, they experienced little opportunity in their American Government course to practice ways to navigate racialization, gender issues, and economic challenge in their personal lives. Ongoing professional development is needed to help social studies educators address critical issues around race, gender, and class in their classrooms and schools, especially for immigrant students.
Title: Performing Masculinities: The Impact of Racialization, Space, and Cultural Practices on Hmong Immigrant Youth Author: Kari Smalkoski. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2014. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 299 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Although several research studies have been conducted on second generation Hmong youth and families, little is known about the latest wave of Hmong immigrants, the Wat Tham Krabok (WTK) Hmong, who arrived in the U.S. between 2004-2006. In addition, literature on the Hmong still relies heavily on model minority tropes steeped in meritocracy narratives. This research examines the experiences of WTK Hmong youth who live in predominately African American urban neighborhoods and are bussed to predominately white suburban schools. Three years of ethnographic fieldwork in multiple sites was conducted between 2009-2011 and 2012-2013. The research examines ways that WTK Hmong males, in particular, have been racialized in spaces of institutions which has significantly impacted their relationships with families, attitudes about schooling, and perceptions about their futures. Although youth have experienced vast amounts of parent-child conflict, these experiences are not simplified as intergenerational familial conflict; rather, a complex, dynamic, and critical representation of youths' lives is illuminated through their insights and perspectives told from their point of view. In addition, youths' experiences are analyzed within larger structural structures and processes. Emphasis is given to the everyday violence that Hmong males have experienced in schools. The research problematizes the ways school officials use no tolerance "race neutral" policies which allow violence and misunderstandings to fester between Hmong youth and their African American peers. A significant finding in the research is that WTK Hmong male youth are ignored, unprotected, and experience intensive social isolation in schools and in many cases, their families. In response, youth resist by creating protective spaces which involve alternative masculinities and built-in peer support networks through cultural practices. The analysis extends conventional scholarship of masculinities by exploring how racialized masculinities are a site for discipline and disempowerment of WTK Hmong youth while providing spaces for provisionally empowering forms of agency and resistance through cultural practices. Youth must have access to cultural practices through out-of-school programs as they have the potential to create social capital that connect them to academic success and social integration, offering them opportunities to engage with their families and schools in meaningful ways.
Title: The lived experience of second-generation Hmong American teen mothers: a phenomenological study. Author: Phoua Xiong. Source: M.A. Thesis, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2014. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 91 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Research and literature tend to focus on racial groups other than Asian Americans due to their relatively statistically low teen pregnancy rates. This study aims to contribute to that gap by examining the lived experience of five second-generation Hmong American teen mothers. Using a phenomenological approach, the study found that most participants were culturally but not legally married, thus they are not counted in the statistics on teen marriages. Although participants were still teenagers, they considered themselves adults once they were culturally married and/or became mothers. In addition to carrying the responsibilities associated with the roles of wife and mother, they added another significant role in the Hmong culture—that of daughter-in-law. However, even with these demands, most participants had completed high school and were planning to pursue post-secondary degrees. Findings from the lived experiences of the participants in this study contribute to a more culturally nuanced understanding of teen motherhood and marriage and provide insights into the support that Hmong teen mothers need to be successful.
Title: Student Leadership in Higher Education: A Phenomenological Study Examining the Experiences of Hmong Student Leaders in Higher Education. Author: Dang Yang. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2014. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 121 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This thesis is a phenomenological investigation of the lived experiences of six Hmong student leaders enrolled in a public four-year institution of higher education. Specifically, the study examined student leadership development among this population of students and sought to determine patterns of responses in their leadership experiences. Using Braun and Clark's (2006) Thematic Analysis to examine the data, four patterns emerged. First, the participants discussed the importance of developing key skills. Second, participants discussed the ways in which their leadership experiences contributed to their feelings of belonging and community development on campus. Third, participants discussed their experiences navigating multiple identities and social roles. Fourth, participants discussed the ways in which they used their leadership experiences as a means to facilitate social action leading to equitable outcomes. The findings also strongly suggested that race and ethnicity was a significant factor in the participants' student leadership development.
Title: Hmong American College Women’s Experiences of Parent-Child Relationships. Author: Shuling Peng. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2013. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 138 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This qualitative study examines the parent-child relationships of Hmong American college women. Fourteen women in their junior or senior year from five Midwestern colleges or universities participated in the study. Symbolic interaction theory was used as a guiding framework and a phenomenological method was employed to understand the Hmong American college women's lived experiences of independence from and closeness to their parents and the perception of their role and identity in their interactions with parents. Analyses of the interviews revealed seventeen domains in total under three primary themes, including (1) I am more independent, (2) I am closer to my parents, (3) I am struggling to find a balance. The emerging developmental task for these college-age Hmong American women is to successfully negotiate roles and identities while balancing both cultures.
Title: Hmong youth arts culture: Music teaching and learning in community settings. Author: Kinh Tien Vu. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2013. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 240 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Pre-service music educators are dedicated to learning the art of classroom and ensemble teaching, but they may be unaware of their ability to affect students’ thinking and music making around critical issues outside school music settings. Although numerous studies have identified a need to enhance music educators’ emphases in teacher education or music teaching in general to be inclusive of critical and democratic practices that forward students’ voices, little attention has been paid to how teachers help youth express their ideas about societal issues outside the music classroom. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the musical art forms and activities in Hmong communities that will inform democratic education in teacher preparation programs. Focusing on rap, spoken word poetry, and lyrical songs of ten Hmong youth artists, three guiding questions will be explored: (a) In what kinds of musical activities do youths participate? (b) For what purposes do Hmong youths create their arts? and (c) How might what Hmong do in their community inform music teacher preparation? Music educators who bring together various teaching and learning opportunities, critical pedagogy, and democratic action will forward students’ voices and help them become change agents for themselves, their schools, and communities. In this ethnographic study, I found that given opportunities to create raps, spoken word poems, and songs, Hmong youth become proactive citizens who advance the tenets of a free and democratic society in their communities when they express their ideas centered on personal, group, social, and political issues that affect them. The results of this study demonstrate that music teacher preparers will serve their pre-service music educators by forging a new, critical, and democratic practice that might be learned from community musicians.
Title: Methadone population pharmacokinetics: toward understanding the dose-response relationship in the treatment of opiate addiction. Author: Gavin Bryce-Samuel Bart. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2013. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 209 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Methadone is a synthetic opiate agonist that is highly effective in the treatment of opiate addiction. When given as a long-term therapy, methadone maintenance reduces morbidity and mortality associated with opiate addiction. It is thus considered an “essential” medication by the World Health Organization. The benefits of methadone maintenance in the treatment of opiate addiction are well established. Predicting treatment response for a given individual, however, remains difficult. While methadone dose is generally associated with treatment outcome, large interstudy and interindividual variability in plasma concentrations of methadone have made it difficult to link dose response to pharmacokinetic parameters. This thesis explores characteristics of methadone maintained patients and develops a population pharmacokinetic model that identifies variables associated with methadone pharmacokinetic parameters. Chapter 1 provides a general review of the three Food and Drug Administration approved pharmacotherapeutic agents for the treatment of opiate dependence. Chapter 2 reviews the clinical pharmacology of methadone as used in the treatment of opiate dependence. Chapter 3 introduces us to the Hmong and their paradoxically exceptional treatment outcome in methadone maintenance on lower doses of methadone than their non-Hmong counterparts. This retrospective study helps form the hypothesis that their better treatment outcome is related to greater methadone exposure.The results of this population pharmacokinetic study and the psychosocial differences between Hmong and non-Hmong are presented in Chapters 4 and 5, respectively. We found that the lower methadone dose requirement is explained by higher apparent bioavailability of methadone in Hmong. Other influences on methadone pharmacokinetics, more specifically clearance, include age, body mass index, and single nucleotide polymorphisms in the ABCB1 and CYP2B6 genes. While the potential for culture to influence methadone treatment outcome is acknowledged, there remain sufficient grounds to hypothesize a significant biological (i.e., pharmacokinetic and/or pharmacodynamic) influence.
Title: What does it mean to be a “Good Parent” according to Hmong parents?: a phenomenological study. Author: Dung Minh Mao. Source: M.A. Thesis, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2012. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 79 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: The current study examines what constitutes good parents in the Hmong community in Minnesota. Nineteen parents (12 mothers and 7 fathers) participated in the study, and they represented 47.4% first-generation, 42.1% second-generation, and 10.5% 1.5-generation. Phenomenology was employed and symbolic interaction theory was utilized as a guiding framework to understand the meaning participants attached to their parenting role. Analyses of the interviews revealed seven domains and 46 themes that constitute good parents, including (1) provision, (2) involvement, (3) communication, (4) characteristics of good parents, (5) community perception, (6) motivation for being good parents, and (7) good parent education. Implications of the study and future research efforts are also discussed.
Title: Cervical cancer screening behavior of Hmong women: a social network analysis. Author: Shweta Shweta. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2012. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 150 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This study examined the relationship between health and cervical cancer networks of Hmong American women and their cervical cancer screening practices. Incidence of cervical cancer and cervical cancer mortality rates are high for Hmong American women (Mills, Yang & Riordan, 2005; Ross, Xie, Kiffmeyer, Bushhouse & Robinson, 2003). Cervical cancer mortality rates for Hmong American women are three times higher than Asian American and Pacific Islander women and four times higher than non-Hispanic White women (Yang, Mills & Riordan, 2005). Despite high cancer related mortality rates, the utilization of cervical cancer screening is low (Yang, Mills & Dodge, 2006). Regular screening is important as it helps to detect cancer early when the treatment is most effective (Tanne, 2012). Barriers to cancer screening in the Hmong community include a lack of education, low income, cultural beliefs, language, traditional health practices, and mistrust of the Western health system (Lee & Vang, 2010). Hmong people value social cohesion and community living and often consult community members for making health related decisions (Barrett et. al., 1998). Using network analysis and logistic regression, this study explored the relationship between specific characteristics of the cervical cancer network and cervical cancer screening practices of Hmong American women. The health networks of study participants included all friends, family, health care providers, or co-workers with whom they had discussed their health in the last one year. Likewise, cervical cancer networks included everyone with whom the study participants had discussed cervical cancer in the last one year. Analysis found that Hmong American women who had a cervical cancer network were more likely to be aware of pap tests, receive pap tests and be aware of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines than Hmong American women who did not have a cervical cancer network. Having a cervical cancer network was not significantly associated with receiving HPV vaccines or Hmong American woman's perceived need for cancer screening. When controlled for demographic variables, a cervical cancer network was not found to be a significant predictor of cancer screening practices. With regard to characteristics of members within the cervical cancer network, education was found to be significantly associated with the awareness of HPV vaccines. Analysis also found that income, number of years in the United States and ability to speak English were significant predictors of Hmong American women having a cervical cancer network. Further, income, education, and having a regular health care provider were also significantly associated with cervical cancer screening practices of Hmong American women. It is important that practitioners and policy makers use social networks as a resource to improve the utilization of screening services. Programs for encouraging screening should target clients and their networks. For developing culturally appropriate screening programs, policy makers should consult local leaders. Programs developed in consultation with community may be efficacious in convincing Hmong American women to utilize services regularly (Lee & Vang, 2010).
Title: Sociophonetics of Hmong American English in Minnesota. Author: Eden A. Kaiser Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2011. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 152 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This dissertation is a sociophonetic analysis of the English spoken by Hmong Americans living in the Twin Cities" of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. The Twin Cities has the largest urban population of Hmong Americans in the United States. Through studies of production and perception of vowels involved in sound changes, I investigate whether Hmong Americans, a relatively new ethnic group in the United States|have established any elements of an ethnic dialect of English that communicates an identity that is uniquely Hmong American. Sound changes are particularly fruitful objects of sociophonetic study as they provide a spectrum of potential indexical variables for speakers exposed to those sound changes. I examine Hmong Americans' participation in three sound changes: the Northern Cities Shift, the low back merger, and fronting of the high back vowel (/u/ or goose). Their degrees of participation in those sound changes are compared to age-matched European Americans from the same area. It was expected that the inferred tight-knit nature of Hmong Americans' social networks would cause a slower uptake of current regional and supra-regional sound changes versus the comparatively looser networks of many European Americans in the Twin Cities. Furthermore, the target population should presumably experience some in uence in their English from the Hmong language. Crucially for this study, the Hmong language has phonemic nasal vowels whereas English does not. This L2 in uence of phonemic nasal vowels was hypothesized to emerge in Hmong Americans' English as less nasalization overall, and to decrease the likelihood that they will engage in the Northern Cities Shift. The results of the production study show that European American speakers seem to be participating in one supra-regional sound change, the fronting of the goose vowel, to a greater extent than in the past, and to a greater extent than Hmong Americans. Two other sound changes, the Northern Cities Shift (a regional change) and the low back merger (a supra-regional change), show inconclusive evidence of adoption by either EA speakers or HA speakers. The perception study, which was conducted with a new set of participants, aimed to uncover whether phonetic di erences between Hmong Americans' and European Americans' vowel pronunciations are actually detectable by others. Words recorded during eldwork were rated on a visual analog scale by listeners on several di erent dimensions of speakers' social characteristics, including ethnicity. It was found that although certain expected phonetic di erences were not used to make judgments of speakers' ethnicities, other phonetic di erences, some expected and some not, did indeed predict listeners' judgments of speaker ethnicity. Listeners seemed to use either formant values or vowel nasalization (or sometimes both) to judge speaker ethnicity, depending on vowel class, listener ethnicity, and listener birthplace. Taken together, the results of the two studies provide evidence that Hmong Americans' vowel pronunciations are not simply Hmong-in uenced imitations of vowels as spoken by European Americans, and that listeners, especially other Hmong American listeners, can use these complex yet systematic phonetic patterns to make accurate decisions about speakers' ethnicities.
Title: Hmong baby carriers in Minnesota: a material culture study. Author: Mary Alice Chaney. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2011. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 154 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This study of Hmong baby carriers in Minnesota demonstrates the value of studying objects for what they convey about the people and the culture that make and use them. Hmong baby carriers have many functions, seen and unseen, that when examined and analyzed further an understanding and knowledge of Hmong culture in transition. The Hmong living in Minnesota came to the United States as refugees from the war in Southeast Asia. They left their highland homes in Laos to wait out the conflict in refugee camps in Thailand. But returning home and to the life they longed for became impossible. So many Hmong found themselves living in the harsh climate of Minnesota. The first Hmong started arriving in 1976, eventually St. Paul became home for one of the largest populations of Hmong in the United States. Life has brought many challenges but the Hmong continue to adapt to change and thrive. The McClung Fleming model for artifact analysis guided this study. The two part process identifies basic properties of the object and analyzes those properties through identification, evaluation, cultural analysis, and interpretation. Hmong baby carriers were brought by the 1st generation of Hmong immigrants to the United States as functional objects with symbolic and contextual meaning. Today Hmong baby carriers are still part of the cultural landscape but with added symbolism and contextual meaning for the 1.5 and 2nd generation of Hmong.
Title: Fourth grade Hmong students’ reading proficiency. Author: Megan C. Mahowald. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2011. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 162 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: The No Child Left Behind Act mandates that all students be proficient in reading by 2013. Researchers and practitioners alike have noticed that Hmong students do not achieve as well as their monolingual peers and other bilingual students. Linguistic factors alone do not account for this discrepancy, but rather a number of sociocultural factors are likely at work (Au, 1998). The current two-part mixed methods study is designed to explore factors of reading development and proficiency of fourth grade Hmong students in one large, urban school district. Part one of this study explores the reading proficiency of fourth grade Hmong students through a quantitative analysis of standardized reading assessment scores. I determine what percentage of Hmong students are reaching proficiency standards using frequency data and complete one-way analysis of variance to compare Hmong students with other linguistic groups. Part two of this study utilizes case study method to explore the relationship between oral language, reading proficiency and self-perceptions of ten fourth grade Hmong students. I selected five students who were reading at a fourth grade level and five students who were reading below grade level. I complete oral language assessment, reading assessment, interviews and classroom observations. I analyzed the data at the group level (at and below grade level) to determine discrepancies in performance. I also analyzed data at the individual level to create six profiles of reading proficiency. It is important that as teachers and researchers we learn all we can about how to assess and support oral language skills, reading proficiency and uncover the complex identities of Hmong students.
Title: Themes in the career development of 1.5 generation Hmong American women. Author: Ava Yang. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2010. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 156 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Research on the career development of Asian Americans have typically aggregated the diverse Asian ethnic groups as one group for study and have employed cross-cultural comparison methods often based on a deficit model that overlook important within group differences and ignore the subjective experience of the individual. This qualitative study set out to understand the ways in which 1.5 Hmong American women have experienced, understood and have navigated their career development processes, and sought to answer the questions: How do 1.5 generation Hmong American women understand and make meaning of the term "career"; what are the themes and characteristics of the career development process for 1.5 generation Hmong American women; and what factors influence the career development processes of 1.5 generation Hmong American women? Twenty participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using principles of inductive analyses and modified CQR method. Six domains and 31 themes emerged from the analyses. The domains that emerged were: 1) Career Conceptualization, 2) Self and Career Actualization, 3) Family, Cultural, and Gender Expectations, 4) Systems of Support: Family, Role Models/Mentors, and a Sense of Community, 5) Overcoming Challenges and Barriers, and 6) Resilience. Implications and recommendations based on the findings were also made.
Title: Promoting a cancer screening program to Hmong women in Minnesota: the role of source matching and acculturation. Author: Laura Michelle Friedenburg. Source: MA Thesis, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2010. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 100 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: The present research assesses the effect of source matching and level of acculturation on Hmong women’s interest in a free cancer screening program, their intended behavior to both share the message and call the program, as well as their evaluation of the message. Results show few significant main effects and no moderation effects. Results are discussed, problems are addressed, and future directions to encourage cancer screening in the Hmong population are recommended.
Title: Dreaming of home, dreaming of land: displacements and Hmong transnational politics, 1975-2010. Author: Her Vang. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2010. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 469 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This dissertation documents the historical development of the transnational politics of the Hmong, a people who came to the United States as refugees from the Vietnam War, from 1975 when the Hmong left Laos to 2010 when the Lao PDR government rejected Hmong leader Vang Pao's request to return to Laos. Drawing on archival research, ethnographic fieldwork, and oral history interviews in Laos, Thailand, and the United States, it interrogates how and why the Hmong diaspora continued to engage in Lao national politics from exile. What role did the Hmong diaspora play in the ongoing fighting in Laos? In what ways, under what conditions, and to what extent did the Hmong diaspora transcend domestic political systems and engage in non-domestic (i.e. international or transnational) ones? How did the bilateral and multilateral relations between the United States and Asian nation-states, particularly Laos, Vietnam, China, and Thailand, affect Hmong transnational politics and the political, economic, and social status of Hmong Americans? What impact did Hmong transnational politics have on the bilateral relation between the United States and their Asian homeland of Laos? It examines the disparate political and institutional forces that shaped the rise, fall and resurgence of Hmong transnational politics, including the Sino-Vietnamese border dispute, the Communist revolution and the Second Secret War in Laos, the Communist insurgency in Thailand, and the Second Cold War, the 1996 Welfare Reform and the War on Terror in the United States. It shows that Hmong transnational politics, as a legacy of the U.S. military intervention in the Secret War in Laos in the 1960s, emerged in part to redress the human rights abuses back home and in part to rebuild broken lives and shattered communities in the diaspora. Ultimately, it argues that the Hmong failed to "liberate" Laos not only because the Hmong were divided and ambiguous about their desired goal in Laos but also because Thailand, China, and the United States solely used the Hmong to protect their own geopolitical interests. They never supported the call of the Hmong for self-determination or intended to save them from communist persecution in Laos.
Title: An investigation of contextual factors and dispositional characteristics in the career development of Hmong American and caucasian American college students: a comparison study using a social cognitive career theory perspective. Author: Zoua Chang. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2009. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 221 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This study investigated race/ethnic and sex comparisons among 182 Hmong American and 198 Caucasian American college students in regards to specific career development variables. Hmong American college students reported more perceived educational and career barriers and fewer resources (e.g., career decision-making self-efficacy, family support) than did Caucasian American college students. Caucasian American female college students reported more perceived educational and career barriers and less career decision-making self-efficacy than did their male counterparts. Contrary to expectations, Hmong American female college students reported more role model support than did their male counterparts. These results suggest that relations among career variables are likely to vary by sex and race/ethnic group membership, which supports the need to investigate these relations among different minority groups.
Title: The impact of acculturation and environmental change on dietary habits, weight gain, and cultural practices among Hmong adults and children in Minnesota. Author: Lisa Franzen. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2009. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 314 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This study assessed the impact of environmental change and acculturation on Hmong adults and children, who have lived in the United States (US) for varying amounts of time, by investigating changes in food system access, grocery purchasing influences, eating behavior, BMI, and health status. This research has shown how the combination of quantitative (Geographical Informational Systems software and census data, food store surveys, acculturation assessment, food frequency questionnaire, theory based survey) and qualitative (focus group discussions) methodologies has the potential to provide a more complete picture of how immigrants adapt to their new food environments. As more immigrants become introduced to food secure, obesogenic environments, such as the US, it will be important to examine how this transition impacts the health of current and future generations.
Title: Examining family and community influences on the attitudes to education and career aspirations of Hmong/Mong high school students. Author: Nealcheng Xeng Thao. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2009. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 267 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: To date, little research has been conducted on the family and community influences on the attitudes to education and career aspirations of Hmong/Mong high school students. The Hmong / Mong refugees began their resettlement in the United States since 1975. The first wave came to the U.S. from 1975 to 1984; the second wave came here from 1985 to 1999; the third wave came from 2003 to the present time. The Hmong/Mong were a pre-literate ethnic minority people living in the highland areas in the northern part of Laos. They were recruited to fight the secret war in Laos and were admitted to resettle in the United States for their loyalty to the American government during the Vietnam War. The purpose of this qualitative ethnographic study was to examine the family and community influences on the attitudes to education and career aspirations of Hmong/Mong high school students in the Twin Cities and its surrounding areas. The research questions which drove this study were: What is like to be a Hmong/Mong student at home and in the Hmong/Mong community? What are the influences on the education of Hmong/Mong students? What are the attitudes of Hmong/Mong students toward their education? What are the educational aspirations of Hmong/Mong students? What are the career aspirations of Hmong/Mong students? The literature review included an exploration of these influential and career aspirations factors. The research design included a series of in-depth interviews with fifty-two Hmong/Mong participants ages fourteen to twenty-two years old, male and female, northern and southern Hmong/Mong, different religious affiliation, and members from eleven clans. The data were collected between the months of December 2007 to July 2008. All interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed. The interviews were in both Hmong/Mong and English. The transcripts were done by four individuals who are competent in both Hmong/Mong and English. Transcripts were analyzed for themes. Based on this analysis, results of the study were formulated. The findings of this study included the following items: (What is like to be a Hmong/Mong student at home and in the Hmong/Mong community?) (a) Constant lecture is a means of communicating expectation for Hmong/Mong students; (b) Family continues to be the main source of influence on Hmong/Mong students' education; (c) The family past and current hardship is a tool to influence Hmong/Mong students' education; (d) The Hmong/Mong community hardship and their underdog status are a tool to influence Hmong/Mong students' education; (What are the influences on the education of Hmong/Mong students?) (e) Positive connection with specific key teacher or counselor or administrator at school has positive influence on Hmong/Mong students' education; (f) Positive support network of peers influences and increases Hmong/Mong students' success in education; (g) The U.S. education system is perceived as excellent and it influences and increases Hmong/Mong students' academic success; (h) Positive self-esteem, pride, and strong character influence Hmong/Mong students' education; (i) After school programs and supportive programs increase Hmong/Mong students' success in education; (What are the attitudes on Hmong/Mong students toward their education?) (j) School is important to Hmong/Mong students; (k) Success of others influences Hmong/Mong students' education; (What are the educational aspirations of Hmong/Mong students?) (l) Hmong/Mong students have aspiration to move up their socio-economic status; (m) Hmong/Mong U.S.-born adolescents assimilate faster and become more individualistic; (n) Hmong/Mong culture is a source of resilience to Hmong/Mong adolescents; (o) Recent arrival Hmong/Mong students have high aspiration to continue school after high school; (What are their career aspirations?) (p) First generation Hmong/Mong adolescents have high aspiration in diverse career choice; and (q) Parental involvement has positive impact on Hmong/Mong adolescents' education and career choice. This study concurs with the Voluntary and Involuntary minorities' model of John Ogbu. The Hmong/Mong's experience in the U.S. education falls into the Voluntary Minorities category of John Ogbu. This study has crucial implications for policymakers, who are responsible for policies and programs that directly or indirectly affect the Hmong/Mong students' education; other groups that bear the implications of this study include postsecondary administrators, secondary administrators, families, advocates, individuals, and those for future research.
Title: Intimate partner violence among Hmong American men and women. Author: Pang Foua Yang Rhodes. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2008. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 120 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This qualitative study utilized semi-structured interviews with 12 Hmong men and women regarding their experience of and explanations for intimate partner violence (IPV) in their marriages. Results from inductive thematic analysis indicated a range of IPV behaviors: (a) physical violence, (b) verbal threats, (c) legal recourse, (d) physical aggression, (e) manipulation and control and (f) sexual violence. The men were more likely to attribute IPV to situational anger and frustration, and the women, to personality. Behavior modification was the second leading explanation given by both groups. In addition, extra-marital affairs, polygyny and international marriages emerged as relational contexts salient to IPV. It is argued that both Coercive Controlling Violence and Situational Couple Violence were presented by the sample.
Title: Assessment of cleft palate articulation and resonance in familiar and unfamiliar languages: English, Spanish, and Hmong. Author: Kelly Nett Cordero. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2008. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 126 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Linguistic diversity is increasing in the patients seen for cleft palate treatment and there are not enough providers who speak multiple languages. There are no published studies which directly investigate the ability to assess cleft palate articulation and resonance in a language not spoken by the examiner. The aim of this study was to determine whether listeners could make accurate judgments about articulation and resonance in languages they do not speak and to determine how experience level and familiarity with a language affect these ratings. Binary (presence/absence) and visual analog scale (VAS) judgments were obtained for hypernasality, misarticulations, speech acceptability, and overall velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD) of English, Spanish, and Hmong samples from naïve listeners, generalist speech-language pathologists (SLPs), and specialist SLPs. The speech samples were obtained from 22 speakers, nine with a history of VPD and 13 controls. The ratings were completed by 24 native English listeners, eight at each level of experience (naïve, generalist SLP, specialist SLP). Overall, the listeners were more accurate for determining the presence/absence of misarticulations, speech acceptability, and VPD in English compared to Hmong. Hypernasality and VPD ratings in English were more accurate than in Spanish and ratings of misarticulations were more accurate in Spanish than Hmong. VAS ratings of hypernasality were highly correlated with the nasalance values from oral phoneme reading passages. Statistically significant correlations were present for overall and group ratings in English. Less consistent correlations were observed in Spanish and no significant correlations were present in Hmong. Overall, listeners judged English ratings to be easier to make, and were made with more confidence, compared to Hmong. Overall, the SLP specialists tended to find the ratings in all languages easier to make and were more confident than naïve listeners. Many of the expected differences for ratings based on listener experience and language familiarity were observed. There were advantages for all listener groups in English when compared to Hmong. These differences were inconsistent and weaker when Spanish was compared to English. The experience advantage for listeners was most apparent in English and Hmong.
Title: A phenomenological study of the coming out experiences of gay and lesbian Hmong. Author: Pahoua K. Yang. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2008. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 126 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: The issue of sexual orientation remains a taboo one in the Hmong community, but one that must be addressed, particularly as more Hmong Americans continue to negotiate multiple identities, including sexual orientation. This study explored some of the internal and external processes involved with the coming out experiences of gay and lesbian Hmong. The aims of this study were to provide space for Hmong lesbians and gay men to tell their stories, to provide gay and lesbian Hmong examples of coming out, and to provide clinicians with an understanding of the unique and common issues with which Hmong lesbians and gay men must contend. Eleven participants, five men and six women, were interviewed using a structured interview guide. Ten of the interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a modified CQR method. Nine domains and 34 themes emerged. The domains that emerged were: meaning-making, language, coming out, family, gender role expectations, the role of religion, intra/inter cultural experiences, life-changing lessons, and hopes. Implications and recommendations based on the findings are also made.
Title: Minimizing Methylmercury Exposure in the Hmong Community from Sport-Caught Fish Consumption in Minnesota. Author: Daniel Endreson. Source: Plan B Project Paper, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2008. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 50 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Due to increasing levels of mercury emissions throughout the world, there is an increased threat to the human population from methylmercury, a biomethylated derivative of mercury. Methylmercury is a dangerous neurotoxin that can have adverse effects on the central nervous system and behavioral centers of the brain. Humans can become exposed to methylmercury through consumption of contaminated fish from polluted waters. Many states, including Minnesota, use fish consumption advisories to warn the public of methylmercury exposure, but these advisories may not always reach at-risk segments of the population. The Hmong community in the Twin Cities consumes a high quantity of sport-caught fish for a variety of reasons, including a desire to maintain cultural identity, recreation, or economic necessity, even though fish consumption advisories warn against such actions. Four alternatives were considered to provide better protection to the Hmong community from methylmercury exposure – (1) continue the use of fish consumption advisories as developed by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), (2) alter the current program by reallocating advisory education efforts from state agencies to local governmental units and organizations, (3) impose a ban on the consumption of all fish from methylmercury-impaired waters in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area, and (4) establish more Asian-specific food shelves in the Twin Cities area to provide food alternatives to sport-caught fish. Each of these alternatives were evaluated using six criteria – safety effectiveness, program awareness, social and cultural acceptability, administrative operability, program cost, and health benefit. This report concludes that efforts taken by the MDH in educating Hmong anglers have the promise of being effective in reducing methylmercury exposure from fish consumption. However, based on theories of risk perception and communication, more needs to be done at both the state and local level to effectively target this specific subpopulation in Minnesota.
Title: How Can We Enable Hmong Parents to Take Steps Towards Autism Identification?: Hmong Parents’ Beliefs about Autism and Their Experiences in the Identification Process. Author: Pang ChaXiong. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2022. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 240 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: An early identification of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is important for early access to supports and intervention services. Evidence suggests that age of identification may be particularly late for children from underserved, culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) communities. Although parents play an important role in their child’s receipt of an ASD identification, CLD parents may experience more challenges in the identification process, which likely better supports the needs of White, middle class, English-speaking families. Very little ASD research has focused on the Hmong community, a CLD group that is particularly vulnerable to inequities in ASD identification. Thus, I conducted a three-study dissertation that examines Hmong parents’ beliefs about ASD and their experiences in the identification process to address the overarching question: how can we enable Hmong parents to take steps towards an ASD identification? To first gain a more thorough understanding of parents’ experiences in the ASD identification process, Study 1 was a systematic review of barriers and facilitators to ASD identification reported by parents in the U.S. across qualitative and descriptive studies. In Study 2, I specifically examined Hmong parents’ (N = 35) beliefs related to ASD (i.e., their beliefs about early identification, intervention and the causes of ASD) and their experiences in the identification process (i.e., the barriers and facilitators they encountered) using a survey tool I developed called the Parent Perceptions of Autism Spectrum Disorder survey (PP-ASD). Using the same participants and the PP-ASD, Study 3 examined the sources Hmong parents use to obtain information on ASD, as well as the extent to which they encounter and utilize ASD information presented in Hmong text and audio. These studies point to the importance of ensuring that Hmong parents have access to information on ASD and that healthcare and educational professionals be supported to serve as partners.
Title: Sib Piav Neej Neeg: Co-Constructing Young Hmong American Women's Narratives with Young Hmong American Women Storytellers. Author: Kao Nou-Moua. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2019. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 153 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Many studies on Hmong American youth represent what Eve Tuck (2009) describes as damage-centered research. Damage-centered research focuses on the problems and deficits of a community rather than the complexities. This study centers Hmong knowledge, values, and traditional ways of inquiry, and challenges the current portrayals of young Hmong American women as victims of culture, disengaged from community, and uninterested in Hmong oral traditions. Eight young Hmong American women storytellers participated in this study, sharing the complexities, contradictions, and desires of their lived experiences. This study highlights the ways in which young Hmong American women resist, maintain, shape, and transform cultural practices, expectations, and traditions.
Title: Gut microbiome westernization in Hmong and Karen refugees and immigrants in the United States. Author: Pajao Vangay. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2018. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 144 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Many United States immigrant populations develop metabolic diseases post-immigration, but the causes are not well understood. Although the microbiome plays a role in metabolic disease, there have been no studies measuring the effects of U.S. immigration on the gut microbiome. We collected stool, dietary recalls, and anthropometrics from 514 Hmong and Karen individuals living in Thailand and the U.S., including first- and second-generation immigrants and 19 Karen individuals sampled before and after immigration, as well as from 36 U.S.-born Caucasian individuals. Using 16S and deep shotgun metagenomic DNA sequencing, we found that migration from a non-Western country to the U.S. is associated with immediate loss of gut microbiome diversity and function, with U.S.-associated strains and functions displacing native strains and functions. These effects increase with duration of U.S. residence, and are compounded by obesity and across generations.
Title: Bittersweet Migrations: Type II Diabetes and Healing in the Hmong Diaspora. Author: Mai Thao. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2018. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 167 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: As the seventh leading killer in the United States, type II diabetes disproportionally burdens minorities and those of lower socioeconomic standing, especially immigrant and refugee communities. However, why might a segment of a refugee population engage in return migration to places of exile for healing? Examining disease as socially and physically produced, this project investigates the multiple meanings behind return migrations to Laos and Thailand for Hmong-Americans with type II diabetes and who are 50 years and older. Based on 30 months of multi-sited ethnography, conducted in the clinic setting of St. Paul, Minnesota and the sites of Hmong-American travel destinations in Laos and Thailand, this dissertations argues that diabetes management focuses on the discipline of the somatic body through glucose monitoring, diet, and exercise. Yet, Hmong-American patients surface the need for social care-to attend to the social chronicity of being displaced refugees. Feelings of bodily difference and displacement in diabetes narratives produce a fluid Hmong-American subjectivity that actively remembers the past and places of familiarity. Nostalgia, melancholy, return migration, reception and discourse by Hmong-Lao and Hmong-Thai, and the embodiment of place and herbs, creatively engages in social care, centered around social continuity of kinship and origin. Through the social fields of the diabetic body, Hmong-Americans, Hmong-Lao, and Hmong-Thai, that a (de)territorialization of the Homeland, a place of exile, is transformed for a Hmong-American belonging. Yet, paradoxically, discourse about a cure from diabetes and a true Hmong-American return migration is often spoken as through death. The claim to death restructures the social order of chronic disease management (where death is often displaced) and Hmong-American racial position in the U.S. Death as an ultimate form of cure and return is a political claim to an eternal Hmong body politic.
Title: Hmong American Children's Perceptions of Parents' Influence on Their Education. Author: Jordan St. Charles. Source: MA Thesis, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2018. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 92 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Previous research on children’s academic outcomes has often highlighted parent involvement behaviors as key predictors of students’ academic outcomes, but previous research has typically neglected Hmong American children. Using a sample of N = 423 Hmong American elementary students from Hmong-focused charter schools, the present study seeks to understand the ways in which various parent involvement behaviors (including parent involvement in schooling at home, parent involvement in schooling at school, and parent communication about the importance of education) relate to these students’ perceived academic abilities in reading and math. The present study also investigates whether or not students’ English proficiency moderates these relationships. Findings from regression analyses indicate that English proficiency is the strongest predictor of students’ perceived math and reading abilities. Parent involvement in schooling at school also significantly predicts students’ perceived abilities in both content areas, and parent communication about the importance of education significantly predicts students’ perceived abilities in math but not reading. Parent involvement in schooling at home was not a significant predictor of outcome. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
Title: Hmoobness: Hmoob (Hmong) Youth And Their Perceptions Of Hmoob Language In A Small Town In The Midwest. Author: Jordan St. Charles. Source: MA Thesis, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2018. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 196 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: For thousands of years, Hmoob culture and traditional knowledge survived by being passed down orally from one generation to the next through sacred ceremonial songs, poetry, gatherings, and folklore. For oral cultures, languages becomes an important vehicles in the passing of one’s culture, especially from the Elders to the youth (Thao, 2006). This phenomenological study draws upon Indigenous methodologies and adaptation of grounded theory (Smith, 1999; Creswell, 2013; Kovack, 2010). The research seeks to understand 1) the perceptions of Hmoob youth of their language; 2) the relationship Hmoob youth have to their language, and 3) what they believe are barriers to Hmoob language acquisition. The research found that Hmoob youth cared deeply about their language and culture and believe barriers to language acquisition includes racism, bias curriculum, and the pressures to assimilate and conform. The research also found that Hmoob youth have many questions, and concerns regarding the survival, revitalization, and maintenance of their language. The recommendations are for the Hmoob community, cultural workers, practitioners of Hmoob language and schools.
Title: Hmoobness: Hmoob (Hmong) Youth And Their Perceptions Of Hmoob Language In A Small Town In The Midwest. Author: Xong Xiong. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2017. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 186 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: For thousands of years, Hmoob culture and traditional knowledge survived by being passed down orally from one generation to the next through sacred ceremonial songs, poetry, gatherings, and folklore. For oral cultures, languages becomes an important vehicles in the passing of one’s culture, especially from the Elders to the youth (Thao, 2006). This phenomenological study draws upon Indigenous methodologies and adaptation of grounded theory (Smith, 1999; Creswell, 2013; Kovack, 2010). The research seeks to understand 1) the perceptions of Hmoob youth of their language; 2) the relationship Hmoob youth have to their language, and 3) what they believe are barriers to Hmoob language acquisition. The research found that Hmoob youth cared deeply about their language and culture and believe barriers to language acquisition includes racism, bias curriculum, and the pressures to assimilate and conform. The research also found that Hmoob youth have many questions, and concerns regarding the survival, revitalization, and maintenance of their language. The recommendations are for the Hmoob community, cultural workers, practitioners of Hmoob language and schools.
Title: Pharmacogenetic Investigations Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Address Health Disparities in Minnesota Hmong. Author: Youssef Roman. Source: MA Thesis, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2017. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 250 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Introduction: Pharmacogenomics is an approach to personalizing therapy to help patients achieve their therapeutic goals with the least possible adverse events. This approach relies on the knowledge derived from large genetic studies that involve diverse populations to guide the development of treatment algorithms. The underrepresentation of select populations or unique sub-populations in genetic-based research presents as a gap in knowledge to create comprehensive genetic-based treatment algorithms and a missed opportunity to address health disparities within those unique populations. A prime example is the Minnesota Hmong. The Hmong is an Asian sub-population minimally represented in clinical or genetic-based research with a high prevalence of gout and gout-related comorbidities than non-Hmong. Methods: Using the principles of community-based participatory research and the establishment of the Hmong advisory board, assessment of the community’s perception of genetics and preparedness for engagement in research were conducted. Capitalizing on the findings from the first informational study, two Hmong genetic-based studies were conducted. The first study was to ascertain the frequency of select pharmacogenes and disease-risk genes in the Hmong, relative to non-Hmong. The second study was to quantify the effect of genetic variations within uric acid transportome and purine metabolizing genes on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of allopurinol in Hmong adults with gout or hyperuricemia. Results: The informational study results indicated that most Hmong are willing to participate in research to help themselves and the Hmong community. Some of the genetic perceptions in the Hmong were not scientifically grounded and some concerns about privacy were reported while the return of genetic results to participants had mixed responses. The first genetic-based study indicated that more than 80% of Hmong participants were willing to store their DNA for future analyses and share their DNA with other scientists. Pharmacogenes risk allele frequencies of CYP2C19, CYP2C9, VKORC1, and CYP4F2 were higher in the Hmong relative to Caucasian. Disease risk allele frequencies of hyperuricemia and gout associated genes such as SLC2A9, SLC17A1, SLC22A11, SLC22A12, ABCG2, PDZK1, were also higher in the Hmong than Caucasian and Han-Chinese. The second genetic-based study indicated that the genetic variation within SLC22A12 (rs505803T>C) significantly affects the exposure to and the renal clearance of the active metabolite of allopurinol, oxipurinol. Additionally, the rs505802 was also significantly associated with the overall response to allopurinol. Conclusions: Engaging the Hmong in genetic-based research is a step forward to advance precision medicine while addressing health disparities within the Hmong community. The prevalence of pharmacogenes within the Hmong suggest that the Hmong will require a lower starting dose of warfarin and unlikely to benefit from clopidogrel. The prevalence of hyperuricemia and gout associated risk alleles in the Hmong are consistent with the higher prevalence of gout in the Hmong. Finally, the rs505802 T>C within SLC22A12 gene could predict the overall response to allopurinol.
Title: Queer Refugeeism: Constructions of Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Hmong Diaspora. Author: Kong Pheng Pha. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2017. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 402 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Queer Refugeeism examines how the “refugee” figure relates to Hmong American racial, gendered, and sexual formation, belonging, and politics in the U.S. Examining various discourses around gender and sexuality such as rape, abusive transnational marriages, polygamy, and underage marriages, Part I crafts out ideological formations of race, gender, and sexuality in Hmong American communities. Queer Refugeeism uses texts such as newspaper documents, Hmong American ethnic cultural productions, and legislative bills to explicate a discourse of hyperheterosexuality that renders Hmong American culture and Hmong Americans as racially, gendered, and sexually deviant subjects. Part II turns to the material as I weave in youth narratives and community activism with secondary sources to expound how queer Hmong American youths are intertwined within dominant and Hmong American cultural discourses regarding race, gender, and sexuality. I argue against essentialist framinings of culture that posit Hmong Americans as perpetual refugees incompatible with queer modernity while showcasing how queer Hmong American youths are remaking culture and belonging on their own terms. Overall, Queer Refugeeism tackles how race, gender, and sexuality are integral to Hmong American refugee and queer youth belonging within the U.S.
Title: Documenting Hmong and Lao Refugee Resettlement: A Tale of Two Contrasting Communities. Author: Saengmany Ratsabout. Source: MA Thesis, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2015. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 58 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This paper explores the migration of refugees from Laos to the United States following a civil war further complicated by U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. Drawing from previous studies on Southeast Asian refugees during the initial wave of resettlement, as well as new data from the past four decades, this study focuses on two ethnic communities in Minnesota, the Hmong and Lao. The comparison of these two communities is unique in that they are from the same country, were involved in the same kind of conflict, share similar socio-economic backgrounds, and fled the country of Laos for the same reason. Although resettling to the U.S. for the same reasons and starting with similar circumstances (levels of educational attainment, English fluency, etc.), in the nearly 40 years since their arrival, their experiences have diverged. What explains the discrepancy in integration of the Hmong and Lao?
Title: Being Hmong, being American: making sense of U.S. Citizenship. Author: Annette Marie Miller-Simmons. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2014. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 295 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This ethnographic case study was conducted in one 12th-grade American Government class at a public high school in a large Mid-western city. The class included 10 Hmong students, and eight of these youth agreed to participate in the study. Multiple data sources were analyzed for themes, patterns, and issues, including classroom observations and document analyses of instructional texts and American Government curriculum utilized in the observed classroom. All eight participants contributed to at least two focus group interviews, and four of these eight students completed two additional individual interviews, acting as focal contributors to this research. Two formal and various informal interviews were also conducted with the classroom teacher regarding her ideas and intentions around citizenship education for her students.Three significant findings emerged in this study. First, the American Government classroom was a space for civic and political identity construction for Hmong youth. Second, the American Government classroom was not the only active political socialization agent; Hmong youth shaped and negotiated their citizenship identities with others including family members, and in other venues like youth clubs and cultural activities. Third, Hmong youth negotiated their citizenship identities in relationship to race, gender, and class. However, as Hmong youth prepared for adult, democratic citizenship, they experienced little opportunity in their American Government course to practice ways to navigate racialization, gender issues, and economic challenge in their personal lives. Ongoing professional development is needed to help social studies educators address critical issues around race, gender, and class in their classrooms and schools, especially for immigrant students.
Title: Performing Masculinities: The Impact of Racialization, Space, and Cultural Practices on Hmong Immigrant Youth Author: Kari Smalkoski. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2014. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 299 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Although several research studies have been conducted on second generation Hmong youth and families, little is known about the latest wave of Hmong immigrants, the Wat Tham Krabok (WTK) Hmong, who arrived in the U.S. between 2004-2006. In addition, literature on the Hmong still relies heavily on model minority tropes steeped in meritocracy narratives. This research examines the experiences of WTK Hmong youth who live in predominately African American urban neighborhoods and are bussed to predominately white suburban schools. Three years of ethnographic fieldwork in multiple sites was conducted between 2009-2011 and 2012-2013. The research examines ways that WTK Hmong males, in particular, have been racialized in spaces of institutions which has significantly impacted their relationships with families, attitudes about schooling, and perceptions about their futures. Although youth have experienced vast amounts of parent-child conflict, these experiences are not simplified as intergenerational familial conflict; rather, a complex, dynamic, and critical representation of youths' lives is illuminated through their insights and perspectives told from their point of view. In addition, youths' experiences are analyzed within larger structural structures and processes. Emphasis is given to the everyday violence that Hmong males have experienced in schools. The research problematizes the ways school officials use no tolerance "race neutral" policies which allow violence and misunderstandings to fester between Hmong youth and their African American peers. A significant finding in the research is that WTK Hmong male youth are ignored, unprotected, and experience intensive social isolation in schools and in many cases, their families. In response, youth resist by creating protective spaces which involve alternative masculinities and built-in peer support networks through cultural practices. The analysis extends conventional scholarship of masculinities by exploring how racialized masculinities are a site for discipline and disempowerment of WTK Hmong youth while providing spaces for provisionally empowering forms of agency and resistance through cultural practices. Youth must have access to cultural practices through out-of-school programs as they have the potential to create social capital that connect them to academic success and social integration, offering them opportunities to engage with their families and schools in meaningful ways.
Title: The lived experience of second-generation Hmong American teen mothers: a phenomenological study. Author: Phoua Xiong. Source: M.A. Thesis, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2014. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 91 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Research and literature tend to focus on racial groups other than Asian Americans due to their relatively statistically low teen pregnancy rates. This study aims to contribute to that gap by examining the lived experience of five second-generation Hmong American teen mothers. Using a phenomenological approach, the study found that most participants were culturally but not legally married, thus they are not counted in the statistics on teen marriages. Although participants were still teenagers, they considered themselves adults once they were culturally married and/or became mothers. In addition to carrying the responsibilities associated with the roles of wife and mother, they added another significant role in the Hmong culture—that of daughter-in-law. However, even with these demands, most participants had completed high school and were planning to pursue post-secondary degrees. Findings from the lived experiences of the participants in this study contribute to a more culturally nuanced understanding of teen motherhood and marriage and provide insights into the support that Hmong teen mothers need to be successful.
Title: Student Leadership in Higher Education: A Phenomenological Study Examining the Experiences of Hmong Student Leaders in Higher Education. Author: Dang Yang. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2014. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 121 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This thesis is a phenomenological investigation of the lived experiences of six Hmong student leaders enrolled in a public four-year institution of higher education. Specifically, the study examined student leadership development among this population of students and sought to determine patterns of responses in their leadership experiences. Using Braun and Clark's (2006) Thematic Analysis to examine the data, four patterns emerged. First, the participants discussed the importance of developing key skills. Second, participants discussed the ways in which their leadership experiences contributed to their feelings of belonging and community development on campus. Third, participants discussed their experiences navigating multiple identities and social roles. Fourth, participants discussed the ways in which they used their leadership experiences as a means to facilitate social action leading to equitable outcomes. The findings also strongly suggested that race and ethnicity was a significant factor in the participants' student leadership development.
Title: Hmong American College Women’s Experiences of Parent-Child Relationships. Author: Shuling Peng. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2013. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 138 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This qualitative study examines the parent-child relationships of Hmong American college women. Fourteen women in their junior or senior year from five Midwestern colleges or universities participated in the study. Symbolic interaction theory was used as a guiding framework and a phenomenological method was employed to understand the Hmong American college women's lived experiences of independence from and closeness to their parents and the perception of their role and identity in their interactions with parents. Analyses of the interviews revealed seventeen domains in total under three primary themes, including (1) I am more independent, (2) I am closer to my parents, (3) I am struggling to find a balance. The emerging developmental task for these college-age Hmong American women is to successfully negotiate roles and identities while balancing both cultures.
Title: Hmong youth arts culture: Music teaching and learning in community settings. Author: Kinh Tien Vu. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2013. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 240 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Pre-service music educators are dedicated to learning the art of classroom and ensemble teaching, but they may be unaware of their ability to affect students’ thinking and music making around critical issues outside school music settings. Although numerous studies have identified a need to enhance music educators’ emphases in teacher education or music teaching in general to be inclusive of critical and democratic practices that forward students’ voices, little attention has been paid to how teachers help youth express their ideas about societal issues outside the music classroom. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the musical art forms and activities in Hmong communities that will inform democratic education in teacher preparation programs. Focusing on rap, spoken word poetry, and lyrical songs of ten Hmong youth artists, three guiding questions will be explored: (a) In what kinds of musical activities do youths participate? (b) For what purposes do Hmong youths create their arts? and (c) How might what Hmong do in their community inform music teacher preparation? Music educators who bring together various teaching and learning opportunities, critical pedagogy, and democratic action will forward students’ voices and help them become change agents for themselves, their schools, and communities. In this ethnographic study, I found that given opportunities to create raps, spoken word poems, and songs, Hmong youth become proactive citizens who advance the tenets of a free and democratic society in their communities when they express their ideas centered on personal, group, social, and political issues that affect them. The results of this study demonstrate that music teacher preparers will serve their pre-service music educators by forging a new, critical, and democratic practice that might be learned from community musicians.
Title: Methadone population pharmacokinetics: toward understanding the dose-response relationship in the treatment of opiate addiction. Author: Gavin Bryce-Samuel Bart. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2013. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 209 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Methadone is a synthetic opiate agonist that is highly effective in the treatment of opiate addiction. When given as a long-term therapy, methadone maintenance reduces morbidity and mortality associated with opiate addiction. It is thus considered an “essential” medication by the World Health Organization. The benefits of methadone maintenance in the treatment of opiate addiction are well established. Predicting treatment response for a given individual, however, remains difficult. While methadone dose is generally associated with treatment outcome, large interstudy and interindividual variability in plasma concentrations of methadone have made it difficult to link dose response to pharmacokinetic parameters. This thesis explores characteristics of methadone maintained patients and develops a population pharmacokinetic model that identifies variables associated with methadone pharmacokinetic parameters. Chapter 1 provides a general review of the three Food and Drug Administration approved pharmacotherapeutic agents for the treatment of opiate dependence. Chapter 2 reviews the clinical pharmacology of methadone as used in the treatment of opiate dependence. Chapter 3 introduces us to the Hmong and their paradoxically exceptional treatment outcome in methadone maintenance on lower doses of methadone than their non-Hmong counterparts. This retrospective study helps form the hypothesis that their better treatment outcome is related to greater methadone exposure.The results of this population pharmacokinetic study and the psychosocial differences between Hmong and non-Hmong are presented in Chapters 4 and 5, respectively. We found that the lower methadone dose requirement is explained by higher apparent bioavailability of methadone in Hmong. Other influences on methadone pharmacokinetics, more specifically clearance, include age, body mass index, and single nucleotide polymorphisms in the ABCB1 and CYP2B6 genes. While the potential for culture to influence methadone treatment outcome is acknowledged, there remain sufficient grounds to hypothesize a significant biological (i.e., pharmacokinetic and/or pharmacodynamic) influence.
Title: What does it mean to be a “Good Parent” according to Hmong parents?: a phenomenological study. Author: Dung Minh Mao. Source: M.A. Thesis, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2012. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 79 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: The current study examines what constitutes good parents in the Hmong community in Minnesota. Nineteen parents (12 mothers and 7 fathers) participated in the study, and they represented 47.4% first-generation, 42.1% second-generation, and 10.5% 1.5-generation. Phenomenology was employed and symbolic interaction theory was utilized as a guiding framework to understand the meaning participants attached to their parenting role. Analyses of the interviews revealed seven domains and 46 themes that constitute good parents, including (1) provision, (2) involvement, (3) communication, (4) characteristics of good parents, (5) community perception, (6) motivation for being good parents, and (7) good parent education. Implications of the study and future research efforts are also discussed.
Title: Cervical cancer screening behavior of Hmong women: a social network analysis. Author: Shweta Shweta. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2012. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 150 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This study examined the relationship between health and cervical cancer networks of Hmong American women and their cervical cancer screening practices. Incidence of cervical cancer and cervical cancer mortality rates are high for Hmong American women (Mills, Yang & Riordan, 2005; Ross, Xie, Kiffmeyer, Bushhouse & Robinson, 2003). Cervical cancer mortality rates for Hmong American women are three times higher than Asian American and Pacific Islander women and four times higher than non-Hispanic White women (Yang, Mills & Riordan, 2005). Despite high cancer related mortality rates, the utilization of cervical cancer screening is low (Yang, Mills & Dodge, 2006). Regular screening is important as it helps to detect cancer early when the treatment is most effective (Tanne, 2012). Barriers to cancer screening in the Hmong community include a lack of education, low income, cultural beliefs, language, traditional health practices, and mistrust of the Western health system (Lee & Vang, 2010). Hmong people value social cohesion and community living and often consult community members for making health related decisions (Barrett et. al., 1998). Using network analysis and logistic regression, this study explored the relationship between specific characteristics of the cervical cancer network and cervical cancer screening practices of Hmong American women. The health networks of study participants included all friends, family, health care providers, or co-workers with whom they had discussed their health in the last one year. Likewise, cervical cancer networks included everyone with whom the study participants had discussed cervical cancer in the last one year. Analysis found that Hmong American women who had a cervical cancer network were more likely to be aware of pap tests, receive pap tests and be aware of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines than Hmong American women who did not have a cervical cancer network. Having a cervical cancer network was not significantly associated with receiving HPV vaccines or Hmong American woman's perceived need for cancer screening. When controlled for demographic variables, a cervical cancer network was not found to be a significant predictor of cancer screening practices. With regard to characteristics of members within the cervical cancer network, education was found to be significantly associated with the awareness of HPV vaccines. Analysis also found that income, number of years in the United States and ability to speak English were significant predictors of Hmong American women having a cervical cancer network. Further, income, education, and having a regular health care provider were also significantly associated with cervical cancer screening practices of Hmong American women. It is important that practitioners and policy makers use social networks as a resource to improve the utilization of screening services. Programs for encouraging screening should target clients and their networks. For developing culturally appropriate screening programs, policy makers should consult local leaders. Programs developed in consultation with community may be efficacious in convincing Hmong American women to utilize services regularly (Lee & Vang, 2010).
Title: Sociophonetics of Hmong American English in Minnesota. Author: Eden A. Kaiser Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2011. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 152 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This dissertation is a sociophonetic analysis of the English spoken by Hmong Americans living in the Twin Cities" of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. The Twin Cities has the largest urban population of Hmong Americans in the United States. Through studies of production and perception of vowels involved in sound changes, I investigate whether Hmong Americans, a relatively new ethnic group in the United States|have established any elements of an ethnic dialect of English that communicates an identity that is uniquely Hmong American. Sound changes are particularly fruitful objects of sociophonetic study as they provide a spectrum of potential indexical variables for speakers exposed to those sound changes. I examine Hmong Americans' participation in three sound changes: the Northern Cities Shift, the low back merger, and fronting of the high back vowel (/u/ or goose). Their degrees of participation in those sound changes are compared to age-matched European Americans from the same area. It was expected that the inferred tight-knit nature of Hmong Americans' social networks would cause a slower uptake of current regional and supra-regional sound changes versus the comparatively looser networks of many European Americans in the Twin Cities. Furthermore, the target population should presumably experience some in uence in their English from the Hmong language. Crucially for this study, the Hmong language has phonemic nasal vowels whereas English does not. This L2 in uence of phonemic nasal vowels was hypothesized to emerge in Hmong Americans' English as less nasalization overall, and to decrease the likelihood that they will engage in the Northern Cities Shift. The results of the production study show that European American speakers seem to be participating in one supra-regional sound change, the fronting of the goose vowel, to a greater extent than in the past, and to a greater extent than Hmong Americans. Two other sound changes, the Northern Cities Shift (a regional change) and the low back merger (a supra-regional change), show inconclusive evidence of adoption by either EA speakers or HA speakers. The perception study, which was conducted with a new set of participants, aimed to uncover whether phonetic di erences between Hmong Americans' and European Americans' vowel pronunciations are actually detectable by others. Words recorded during eldwork were rated on a visual analog scale by listeners on several di erent dimensions of speakers' social characteristics, including ethnicity. It was found that although certain expected phonetic di erences were not used to make judgments of speakers' ethnicities, other phonetic di erences, some expected and some not, did indeed predict listeners' judgments of speaker ethnicity. Listeners seemed to use either formant values or vowel nasalization (or sometimes both) to judge speaker ethnicity, depending on vowel class, listener ethnicity, and listener birthplace. Taken together, the results of the two studies provide evidence that Hmong Americans' vowel pronunciations are not simply Hmong-in uenced imitations of vowels as spoken by European Americans, and that listeners, especially other Hmong American listeners, can use these complex yet systematic phonetic patterns to make accurate decisions about speakers' ethnicities.
Title: Hmong baby carriers in Minnesota: a material culture study. Author: Mary Alice Chaney. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2011. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 154 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This study of Hmong baby carriers in Minnesota demonstrates the value of studying objects for what they convey about the people and the culture that make and use them. Hmong baby carriers have many functions, seen and unseen, that when examined and analyzed further an understanding and knowledge of Hmong culture in transition. The Hmong living in Minnesota came to the United States as refugees from the war in Southeast Asia. They left their highland homes in Laos to wait out the conflict in refugee camps in Thailand. But returning home and to the life they longed for became impossible. So many Hmong found themselves living in the harsh climate of Minnesota. The first Hmong started arriving in 1976, eventually St. Paul became home for one of the largest populations of Hmong in the United States. Life has brought many challenges but the Hmong continue to adapt to change and thrive. The McClung Fleming model for artifact analysis guided this study. The two part process identifies basic properties of the object and analyzes those properties through identification, evaluation, cultural analysis, and interpretation. Hmong baby carriers were brought by the 1st generation of Hmong immigrants to the United States as functional objects with symbolic and contextual meaning. Today Hmong baby carriers are still part of the cultural landscape but with added symbolism and contextual meaning for the 1.5 and 2nd generation of Hmong.
Title: Fourth grade Hmong students’ reading proficiency. Author: Megan C. Mahowald. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2011. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 162 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: The No Child Left Behind Act mandates that all students be proficient in reading by 2013. Researchers and practitioners alike have noticed that Hmong students do not achieve as well as their monolingual peers and other bilingual students. Linguistic factors alone do not account for this discrepancy, but rather a number of sociocultural factors are likely at work (Au, 1998). The current two-part mixed methods study is designed to explore factors of reading development and proficiency of fourth grade Hmong students in one large, urban school district. Part one of this study explores the reading proficiency of fourth grade Hmong students through a quantitative analysis of standardized reading assessment scores. I determine what percentage of Hmong students are reaching proficiency standards using frequency data and complete one-way analysis of variance to compare Hmong students with other linguistic groups. Part two of this study utilizes case study method to explore the relationship between oral language, reading proficiency and self-perceptions of ten fourth grade Hmong students. I selected five students who were reading at a fourth grade level and five students who were reading below grade level. I complete oral language assessment, reading assessment, interviews and classroom observations. I analyzed the data at the group level (at and below grade level) to determine discrepancies in performance. I also analyzed data at the individual level to create six profiles of reading proficiency. It is important that as teachers and researchers we learn all we can about how to assess and support oral language skills, reading proficiency and uncover the complex identities of Hmong students.
Title: Themes in the career development of 1.5 generation Hmong American women. Author: Ava Yang. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2010. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 156 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Research on the career development of Asian Americans have typically aggregated the diverse Asian ethnic groups as one group for study and have employed cross-cultural comparison methods often based on a deficit model that overlook important within group differences and ignore the subjective experience of the individual. This qualitative study set out to understand the ways in which 1.5 Hmong American women have experienced, understood and have navigated their career development processes, and sought to answer the questions: How do 1.5 generation Hmong American women understand and make meaning of the term "career"; what are the themes and characteristics of the career development process for 1.5 generation Hmong American women; and what factors influence the career development processes of 1.5 generation Hmong American women? Twenty participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using principles of inductive analyses and modified CQR method. Six domains and 31 themes emerged from the analyses. The domains that emerged were: 1) Career Conceptualization, 2) Self and Career Actualization, 3) Family, Cultural, and Gender Expectations, 4) Systems of Support: Family, Role Models/Mentors, and a Sense of Community, 5) Overcoming Challenges and Barriers, and 6) Resilience. Implications and recommendations based on the findings were also made.
Title: Promoting a cancer screening program to Hmong women in Minnesota: the role of source matching and acculturation. Author: Laura Michelle Friedenburg. Source: MA Thesis, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2010. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 100 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: The present research assesses the effect of source matching and level of acculturation on Hmong women’s interest in a free cancer screening program, their intended behavior to both share the message and call the program, as well as their evaluation of the message. Results show few significant main effects and no moderation effects. Results are discussed, problems are addressed, and future directions to encourage cancer screening in the Hmong population are recommended.
Title: Dreaming of home, dreaming of land: displacements and Hmong transnational politics, 1975-2010. Author: Her Vang. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2010. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 469 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This dissertation documents the historical development of the transnational politics of the Hmong, a people who came to the United States as refugees from the Vietnam War, from 1975 when the Hmong left Laos to 2010 when the Lao PDR government rejected Hmong leader Vang Pao's request to return to Laos. Drawing on archival research, ethnographic fieldwork, and oral history interviews in Laos, Thailand, and the United States, it interrogates how and why the Hmong diaspora continued to engage in Lao national politics from exile. What role did the Hmong diaspora play in the ongoing fighting in Laos? In what ways, under what conditions, and to what extent did the Hmong diaspora transcend domestic political systems and engage in non-domestic (i.e. international or transnational) ones? How did the bilateral and multilateral relations between the United States and Asian nation-states, particularly Laos, Vietnam, China, and Thailand, affect Hmong transnational politics and the political, economic, and social status of Hmong Americans? What impact did Hmong transnational politics have on the bilateral relation between the United States and their Asian homeland of Laos? It examines the disparate political and institutional forces that shaped the rise, fall and resurgence of Hmong transnational politics, including the Sino-Vietnamese border dispute, the Communist revolution and the Second Secret War in Laos, the Communist insurgency in Thailand, and the Second Cold War, the 1996 Welfare Reform and the War on Terror in the United States. It shows that Hmong transnational politics, as a legacy of the U.S. military intervention in the Secret War in Laos in the 1960s, emerged in part to redress the human rights abuses back home and in part to rebuild broken lives and shattered communities in the diaspora. Ultimately, it argues that the Hmong failed to "liberate" Laos not only because the Hmong were divided and ambiguous about their desired goal in Laos but also because Thailand, China, and the United States solely used the Hmong to protect their own geopolitical interests. They never supported the call of the Hmong for self-determination or intended to save them from communist persecution in Laos.
Title: An investigation of contextual factors and dispositional characteristics in the career development of Hmong American and caucasian American college students: a comparison study using a social cognitive career theory perspective. Author: Zoua Chang. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2009. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 221 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This study investigated race/ethnic and sex comparisons among 182 Hmong American and 198 Caucasian American college students in regards to specific career development variables. Hmong American college students reported more perceived educational and career barriers and fewer resources (e.g., career decision-making self-efficacy, family support) than did Caucasian American college students. Caucasian American female college students reported more perceived educational and career barriers and less career decision-making self-efficacy than did their male counterparts. Contrary to expectations, Hmong American female college students reported more role model support than did their male counterparts. These results suggest that relations among career variables are likely to vary by sex and race/ethnic group membership, which supports the need to investigate these relations among different minority groups.
Title: The impact of acculturation and environmental change on dietary habits, weight gain, and cultural practices among Hmong adults and children in Minnesota. Author: Lisa Franzen. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2009. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 314 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This study assessed the impact of environmental change and acculturation on Hmong adults and children, who have lived in the United States (US) for varying amounts of time, by investigating changes in food system access, grocery purchasing influences, eating behavior, BMI, and health status. This research has shown how the combination of quantitative (Geographical Informational Systems software and census data, food store surveys, acculturation assessment, food frequency questionnaire, theory based survey) and qualitative (focus group discussions) methodologies has the potential to provide a more complete picture of how immigrants adapt to their new food environments. As more immigrants become introduced to food secure, obesogenic environments, such as the US, it will be important to examine how this transition impacts the health of current and future generations.
Title: Examining family and community influences on the attitudes to education and career aspirations of Hmong/Mong high school students. Author: Nealcheng Xeng Thao. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2009. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 267 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: To date, little research has been conducted on the family and community influences on the attitudes to education and career aspirations of Hmong/Mong high school students. The Hmong / Mong refugees began their resettlement in the United States since 1975. The first wave came to the U.S. from 1975 to 1984; the second wave came here from 1985 to 1999; the third wave came from 2003 to the present time. The Hmong/Mong were a pre-literate ethnic minority people living in the highland areas in the northern part of Laos. They were recruited to fight the secret war in Laos and were admitted to resettle in the United States for their loyalty to the American government during the Vietnam War. The purpose of this qualitative ethnographic study was to examine the family and community influences on the attitudes to education and career aspirations of Hmong/Mong high school students in the Twin Cities and its surrounding areas. The research questions which drove this study were: What is like to be a Hmong/Mong student at home and in the Hmong/Mong community? What are the influences on the education of Hmong/Mong students? What are the attitudes of Hmong/Mong students toward their education? What are the educational aspirations of Hmong/Mong students? What are the career aspirations of Hmong/Mong students? The literature review included an exploration of these influential and career aspirations factors. The research design included a series of in-depth interviews with fifty-two Hmong/Mong participants ages fourteen to twenty-two years old, male and female, northern and southern Hmong/Mong, different religious affiliation, and members from eleven clans. The data were collected between the months of December 2007 to July 2008. All interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed. The interviews were in both Hmong/Mong and English. The transcripts were done by four individuals who are competent in both Hmong/Mong and English. Transcripts were analyzed for themes. Based on this analysis, results of the study were formulated. The findings of this study included the following items: (What is like to be a Hmong/Mong student at home and in the Hmong/Mong community?) (a) Constant lecture is a means of communicating expectation for Hmong/Mong students; (b) Family continues to be the main source of influence on Hmong/Mong students' education; (c) The family past and current hardship is a tool to influence Hmong/Mong students' education; (d) The Hmong/Mong community hardship and their underdog status are a tool to influence Hmong/Mong students' education; (What are the influences on the education of Hmong/Mong students?) (e) Positive connection with specific key teacher or counselor or administrator at school has positive influence on Hmong/Mong students' education; (f) Positive support network of peers influences and increases Hmong/Mong students' success in education; (g) The U.S. education system is perceived as excellent and it influences and increases Hmong/Mong students' academic success; (h) Positive self-esteem, pride, and strong character influence Hmong/Mong students' education; (i) After school programs and supportive programs increase Hmong/Mong students' success in education; (What are the attitudes on Hmong/Mong students toward their education?) (j) School is important to Hmong/Mong students; (k) Success of others influences Hmong/Mong students' education; (What are the educational aspirations of Hmong/Mong students?) (l) Hmong/Mong students have aspiration to move up their socio-economic status; (m) Hmong/Mong U.S.-born adolescents assimilate faster and become more individualistic; (n) Hmong/Mong culture is a source of resilience to Hmong/Mong adolescents; (o) Recent arrival Hmong/Mong students have high aspiration to continue school after high school; (What are their career aspirations?) (p) First generation Hmong/Mong adolescents have high aspiration in diverse career choice; and (q) Parental involvement has positive impact on Hmong/Mong adolescents' education and career choice. This study concurs with the Voluntary and Involuntary minorities' model of John Ogbu. The Hmong/Mong's experience in the U.S. education falls into the Voluntary Minorities category of John Ogbu. This study has crucial implications for policymakers, who are responsible for policies and programs that directly or indirectly affect the Hmong/Mong students' education; other groups that bear the implications of this study include postsecondary administrators, secondary administrators, families, advocates, individuals, and those for future research.
Title: Intimate partner violence among Hmong American men and women. Author: Pang Foua Yang Rhodes. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2008. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 120 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: This qualitative study utilized semi-structured interviews with 12 Hmong men and women regarding their experience of and explanations for intimate partner violence (IPV) in their marriages. Results from inductive thematic analysis indicated a range of IPV behaviors: (a) physical violence, (b) verbal threats, (c) legal recourse, (d) physical aggression, (e) manipulation and control and (f) sexual violence. The men were more likely to attribute IPV to situational anger and frustration, and the women, to personality. Behavior modification was the second leading explanation given by both groups. In addition, extra-marital affairs, polygyny and international marriages emerged as relational contexts salient to IPV. It is argued that both Coercive Controlling Violence and Situational Couple Violence were presented by the sample.
Title: Assessment of cleft palate articulation and resonance in familiar and unfamiliar languages: English, Spanish, and Hmong. Author: Kelly Nett Cordero. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2008. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 126 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Linguistic diversity is increasing in the patients seen for cleft palate treatment and there are not enough providers who speak multiple languages. There are no published studies which directly investigate the ability to assess cleft palate articulation and resonance in a language not spoken by the examiner. The aim of this study was to determine whether listeners could make accurate judgments about articulation and resonance in languages they do not speak and to determine how experience level and familiarity with a language affect these ratings. Binary (presence/absence) and visual analog scale (VAS) judgments were obtained for hypernasality, misarticulations, speech acceptability, and overall velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD) of English, Spanish, and Hmong samples from naïve listeners, generalist speech-language pathologists (SLPs), and specialist SLPs. The speech samples were obtained from 22 speakers, nine with a history of VPD and 13 controls. The ratings were completed by 24 native English listeners, eight at each level of experience (naïve, generalist SLP, specialist SLP). Overall, the listeners were more accurate for determining the presence/absence of misarticulations, speech acceptability, and VPD in English compared to Hmong. Hypernasality and VPD ratings in English were more accurate than in Spanish and ratings of misarticulations were more accurate in Spanish than Hmong. VAS ratings of hypernasality were highly correlated with the nasalance values from oral phoneme reading passages. Statistically significant correlations were present for overall and group ratings in English. Less consistent correlations were observed in Spanish and no significant correlations were present in Hmong. Overall, listeners judged English ratings to be easier to make, and were made with more confidence, compared to Hmong. Overall, the SLP specialists tended to find the ratings in all languages easier to make and were more confident than naïve listeners. Many of the expected differences for ratings based on listener experience and language familiarity were observed. There were advantages for all listener groups in English when compared to Hmong. These differences were inconsistent and weaker when Spanish was compared to English. The experience advantage for listeners was most apparent in English and Hmong.
Title: A phenomenological study of the coming out experiences of gay and lesbian Hmong. Author: Pahoua K. Yang. Source: PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2008. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 126 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: The issue of sexual orientation remains a taboo one in the Hmong community, but one that must be addressed, particularly as more Hmong Americans continue to negotiate multiple identities, including sexual orientation. This study explored some of the internal and external processes involved with the coming out experiences of gay and lesbian Hmong. The aims of this study were to provide space for Hmong lesbians and gay men to tell their stories, to provide gay and lesbian Hmong examples of coming out, and to provide clinicians with an understanding of the unique and common issues with which Hmong lesbians and gay men must contend. Eleven participants, five men and six women, were interviewed using a structured interview guide. Ten of the interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a modified CQR method. Nine domains and 34 themes emerged. The domains that emerged were: meaning-making, language, coming out, family, gender role expectations, the role of religion, intra/inter cultural experiences, life-changing lessons, and hopes. Implications and recommendations based on the findings are also made.
Title: Minimizing Methylmercury Exposure in the Hmong Community from Sport-Caught Fish Consumption in Minnesota. Author: Daniel Endreson. Source: Plan B Project Paper, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota. Location: Minneapolis. Year: 2008. Additional Source Information: N.A. Pagination: 50 pages. Format: PDF
Abstract: Due to increasing levels of mercury emissions throughout the world, there is an increased threat to the human population from methylmercury, a biomethylated derivative of mercury. Methylmercury is a dangerous neurotoxin that can have adverse effects on the central nervous system and behavioral centers of the brain. Humans can become exposed to methylmercury through consumption of contaminated fish from polluted waters. Many states, including Minnesota, use fish consumption advisories to warn the public of methylmercury exposure, but these advisories may not always reach at-risk segments of the population. The Hmong community in the Twin Cities consumes a high quantity of sport-caught fish for a variety of reasons, including a desire to maintain cultural identity, recreation, or economic necessity, even though fish consumption advisories warn against such actions. Four alternatives were considered to provide better protection to the Hmong community from methylmercury exposure – (1) continue the use of fish consumption advisories as developed by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), (2) alter the current program by reallocating advisory education efforts from state agencies to local governmental units and organizations, (3) impose a ban on the consumption of all fish from methylmercury-impaired waters in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area, and (4) establish more Asian-specific food shelves in the Twin Cities area to provide food alternatives to sport-caught fish. Each of these alternatives were evaluated using six criteria – safety effectiveness, program awareness, social and cultural acceptability, administrative operability, program cost, and health benefit. This report concludes that efforts taken by the MDH in educating Hmong anglers have the promise of being effective in reducing methylmercury exposure from fish consumption. However, based on theories of risk perception and communication, more needs to be done at both the state and local level to effectively target this specific subpopulation in Minnesota.
