Disability and Diversity Review in Mexican-American Culture

1. 5 Cultural Factors Influencing Acceptance of Disability

1.1. A familial, cohesive, protective society

1.2. A stoic attitude towards life in general

1.3. Well defined gender roles

1.4. Religious views

1.5. Reliance on physical labor

2. A Familial, Cohesive, Protective Society

2.1. Hispanic families tend to overprotect and paternalize their disabled member of the family.

2.2. The treatment of Hispanic children with disabilities can be viewed as overprotected, particularly in cases of congenital disabilities.

2.3. Hispanic families that have children with a disability are kept at home to be taken care of and may not even be allowed to attend school.

3. Stoic Attitude Towards Life in General

3.1. Hispanic families have an attitude of resignation and acceptance and a belief that "nothing can be done" towards health problems and disabilities

3.2. In time of stress and misfortune, lower class Mexican-American tend to view difficulties as simply a part of life that fate has decreed.

3.3. In regards to mental illness, there is evidence that Mexican-Americans tend to delay treatment until the illness becomes sever. The illness is viewed as a manifestation of weakness of character, and the need for treatment is viewed as disgraceful, indicating a loss of pride.

4. Well-Defined Gender Roles

4.1. There is a relationship between the well-defined gender roles of men and women in Mexican-American culture and the acceptance of disability.

4.2. Many Hispanic men have been taught that it is their responsibility to provide all of the resources for the family.

4.3. Women are to be homemakers, and the Hispanic man with a disability may believe his life is devastated if he cannot fill his role when he cannot work because of a disability. Rather than admit that he needs help, which may be a sign of weakness, he may unsuccessfully try to continue working

4.4. The experience of a disabling condition may have a greater impact on an Hispanic male's self esteem than it would on persons who perceive themselves and their roles less stringently.

4.5. In regards to medical treatment, noted the difficulty on the part of men in tolerating loss of authority or self-esteem before family members who regard them as "patrones" (benevolent protectors). Therefore, it is not uncommon for men to discontinue treatment upon initial signs of symptom relief, because once a man is capable of resuming normal activities, treatment is no longer viewed as socially acceptable.

5. Cultural elements such as language, family roles, gender roles, belief and acculturative stress can play a significant role in the etiology, symptom manifestation, and rehabilitation of disabilities.

6. Cultural Can Influence the Following:

6.1. The beliefs about causation

6.2. The conditions that qualify as "sickness"

6.3. The expectations about what time affected person should do

6.4. The expected actions of other in response to that person' condition

7. Religious Views

7.1. Many disabilities are viewed as having supernatural etiology. "In many areas superstitions persist that disability is a punishment for some unnamed wrong".

7.2. Reaction to physical and mental disability varies in different cultural environments. In the Hispanic milieu, a disability may be interpreted as divine punishment for sin, and the sin is usually thought to be that of the parents of the individual with the disability

8. Reliance on Physical Labor

8.1. For any individual with a disability, the number of available resources and options will probably influence the acceptance of disability. Those individuals with fewer resources, such as employment opportunities and training options, might accept disability differently as compared with those who have a great number of opportunities and options open to them.

8.2. For those Hispanic and Mexican American individuals who have earned their living by physical labor and have little proficiency in English, a physical disability may preclude many employment and training opportunities.

8.3. The limited opportunities available may influence acceptance of disability; indeed, disability may represent more than a physical loss. Also many Hispanic men are laborers, and when disabled, they lose the status that they previously had.