Lorna Pham, M.A., Psy.D
Lorna.pham@gmail.com
(714) 287-2642
P.O Box 5180
Orange, CA 92863
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“All Filipinos/Filipina are nurses or are in the navy”
Short and dark
Not “Asian” enough or does not represent the
“model minority.”
Being inferior, uncultured, or criminals (Okamura,
1998).
Backwards, uneducated
Tend to marry outside of their race
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70% English speakers compared to 60% other Asian
American counterparts.
80% Catholics (due to Spanish influence)
Diverse mixture of cultures ( Spanish, American,
Chinese, Malaysian).
Only country in Asia to identify with Spain, and
being “Hispanic,” rather than Asian (Trevino, 1987).
Family oriented, strong sense of family obligation
and responsibility.
Warm, friendly, hospitable.
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Filipino Americans represent the second largest
Asian American group in the United States (US
Census Bureaus, 2010).
3.4 million Filipino Americans living in the United
States.
More than half are living in West Coast and Hawaii
The only Asian American that has been placed into
several ethnic categories (Asian American, Pacific
Islander, Hispanics, or Filipino).
San Diego, CA= 336,091 Asian population,
146,618 Filipino Americans (44%).
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Filipino American adolescents have the highest rate
of reported depressive symptoms and suicidal
ideation (President’s Advisory Commission on AAPI,
2001).
Low suicide rate may be due to strong influence of
the Catholic church (Edman et al., 1998).
Lower levels of self-esteem and higher levels of
depression than other ethnic groups (Ramaut,
2005).
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Over four centuries of Spanish colonization
(1565-1821).
Almost fifty years of U.S. colonization
Other colonization: Aboriginal ethnic roots,
Malay, Muslim, East Asian, Pacific Islanders,
Chinese, and Indonesia
More than one hundred dialects, Tagalog is
the official language and English is the
second language.
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Conversion to Catholicism.
Men needed to be the provider of the family, while
women were expected to morally uphold the
Catholic virtues and take care of their children.
Replacement of indigenous names to Hispanic or
American names (Strobel, 2001).
Established the use of English as the second
language.
Introduced public education and promoted
Westernized standard of living as the ideal way to
succeed in socio-economic level and presumably
more “civilized.”
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Memmi (1965), Fanon (1965) and Freire (1970),
concur that one of the most profound effects of
colonization is the perception that one’s ethnicity
is inferior to the colonizer, which oftentimes lead
to an internalized feeling of shame, resentment,
and embarrassment, about one’s cultural
identification and heritage.
David and Ozaki (2006): denigration of one’s sense
of self, denigration of Filipino culture and body,
disparagement against those that are less
acculturated, and tolerance and acquiescence of
oppression toward one’s ethnic group.
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Placed in different categories in the United States
(Pacific Islander, Asian, Filipino, and Hispanic).
Ethnic categorization may have impacted Filipino American
identity (Nadal & Sue, 2009).
More acculturated and are more likely to marry
someone outside of their ethnic group.
Do not adhere to the “pure race” mentality (Spickard,
1997; Nadal, 2009).
21.8% of Filipino Americans are of mixed race (U.S.
Census).
Filipino parents discouraged their children from
speaking their native language and to speak only
English.
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Common to deny their ethnicity as Filipino, or
claim that they are mixed.
“IMSCF Syndrome” I am Spanish-Chinese-Filipino
(Nadal 2009).
Filipino Americans often describe feeling of not
belonging to any of the ethnic group.
Lighter skinned Filipino is highly valued in the
Filipino communities and mainstream media.
Filipino Americans more likely to be assumed as a
criminal or intellectually inferior than Chinese
Americans.
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U.S born Filipino Americans (2nd generation)
struggle for a sense of identity.
First generation had a higher ethnic identity scores,
according to the MEIM (Multigroup Ethnic Identity
Measure).
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Kevin Nadal developed the model in 2004.
Six progressive stages that take into account the
complexity of Filipino American ethnic
development.
Understand acculturation levels.
1. Ethnic awareness.
2. Assimilation to dominant culture.
3. Social political awakening
4. Panethnic Asian American consciousness
5. Ethnocentric realization
6. Incorporation.
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Ethnic Awareness- occurs in early childhood, individual
understand he/she is Filipino (innate)
Assimilation to Dominant Culture- Realizes he/she is
different from dominant cultural norms.
Social Political Awakening-He/she becomes actively aware of
racial and cultural differences from the dominant group.
Panethnic Asian American Consciousness- Filipino adopts the
Asian American identity.
Ethnocentric Realization-Filipino American rejects Asian
American identity and may be accepting of Filipino
ethnocentric identity.
Introspection-Filipino American learned to accept
one’s role as and Asian American while maintaining
a strong sense of ethnic identity.
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Definition of 1.5: A foreign born Asian Americans
that have immigrated to the United States during
adolescence.
Bicultural, bilingual, have the ability to cross ethnic
and generational boundaries.
Filipino immigrants who came to the U.S. post1965 and brought their children in hopes of better
education and better living standards.
Can create psychological stress.
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Participants were bilingual and were able to
integrate both Filipino and American culture.
Continued to explore their Filipino culture:
preserving their native language, having Filipino
food, watching Filipino movies, having Filipino
friends, cohesiveness of their family.
Colonialism was not directly acknowledged, but
were aware of the impact that religion and
education has had on their culture.
Acceptance of being bi-cultural and bi-lingual in
today’s society.
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Edman, J.L., Andrade, N.N., Glipa, J., Danko, G.P., Yates, A., Johnson,
R.C., Mc Dermont (1998). Depressive symptoms among Filipino
American adolescents. Cultural Diversity and Mental Health 4(1), 45-
54.
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Nadal, K.L. (2004). Filipino American identity development model.
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development 32(1), 44-61.
Nadal, K.L (2009). Filipino American Psychology: A Handbook of
theory, research, and clinical practice. Bloomington, IN: Authorhouse
Publishing.
Okumura, J.Y, (1998). Imagining the Filipino American diasporas:
Transnational relations, identities, and communities. New York:
Garland Publishing.
Spickard, P. (1997). What must I be? Asian Americans and the
questions of multiethnicity identity. Amerasia Journal 23(1), 43-60.
The Asian Population:2010. Washington DC: U.S. Bureau of the
Census. Retrieved from
http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-11.pdf