Young Latinos Between Two Cultures
Yolanda Peña, MS.
Community Counselor
Just Relax Before We Start

 Each person write one
question on the piece of paper
you want to know from
people in this room. The
questions can range from
funny to serious.
“Where are you from?” is a
question I’ve always dreaded.

 The answer is: I don’t know!
 I was born in Caracas, Venezuela and lived in
Venezuela until my family and I moved to Miami,
Fla., when I was six. My formative years were spent
in the United States so I am most familiar with
American culture. To Latinos, I am not a “real”
Latina. I’m a Gringa. To Americans, I am not a “real”
American. I’m too brown.
 Ana Maria Defillo
TCKs

Plus…..

Stereotypes / discrimination:
http://www.latinodecisions.com/blog/2
012/09/18/how-media-stereotypesabout-latinos-fuel-negative-attitudestowards-latinos/
School dropout
Poverty:
http://www.irp.wisc.edu/faqs/faq3.htm
 Culture Shock
Pressure To Be Bicultural

• Ambivalent situation for our young Latinos
• Hispanic female teenagers have one of the highest
teen suicides rates in the United States
• Stigma of mental illness
• The Latino community also lacks mental health
professionals equipped to deal with its specific
needs.
Fernandina and Carlos’s Feelings

 It’s hard because the things that our parents taught us, they’re
not the same as what our teachers or the things that are outside
are teaching us right now, so we have to kind of live with it, we
have to change but keep what our parents taught us in some
way. [Fernandina]
 Call it the friction of two cultures. There’s a friction
between “I’m Mexican and I want my traditions to
continue being valid” and “I’m American and I want my
traditions also to continue being valid.” And when there’s
no agreement between the two, that’s where the conflicts
[with parents, teachers, and peers] begin.[Carlos]
Pressure To Be Bilingual

http://users.elite.net/runner/jennifers/thankyou.htm
What Can You Do With This
Information?

Questions or
Comments?

References

 http://www.latinodecisions.com/blog/2012/09/18/howmedia-stereotypes-about-latinos-fuel-negative-attitudestowards-latinos/
 http://www.irp.wisc.edu/faqs/faq3.htm
 http://mhcaucus.napolitano.house.gov/reports/Critical_Dispa
rities_in_Latino_Mental_Health.pdf
 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3139460/
 www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/07/2013721726271
4490.html
 http://latina-voices.com/
 www.pewhispanic.org
 http://users.elite.net/runner/jennifers/thankyou.htm
 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3169195/