The Asian American Psychological Association expresses our deepest condolences to the victims and their loved ones affected by the senseless, violent attacks committed on May 23 in Isla Vista, California. Our thoughts are also with the UCSB community facing the losses and the challenges brought on by the tragedy. Although the causes and motives for committing any acts of mass destruction are difficult to fathom, in this particular case the perpetrator has left a digital trail indicating his deep psychological disturbances mixed with misogyny and racism. Even as we all struggle to cope with yet another unspeakable acts of violence, AAPA is committed to providing whatever resource we can offer to help those in need of healing.
Three decades of mental health research shows that Asian Americans, immigrants in particular, exhibit a high number of depressive symptoms, according to a 2011 report by the University of Hawaii.
Some have fled violence and turmoil in their home countries, making them more vulnerable to post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. Chinese, Filipino, Japanese and Korean immigrants, the report adds, have consistently shown higher rates of depression than whites.
Read more about the challenges facing Asian immigrants here or follow the link below:
http://newamericamedia.org/2014/05/for-asian-immigrants-mental-health-an-invisible-problem.php
A big congratulations to AAPA member, Michi Fu, who is a PBS SoCal Community Champion.
Dr. Michi Fu is a well-known mental health therapist in California. Her research on AAPI groups has been recognized and many doctoral students seek her mentorship. Dr. Fu actively supports the AAPI communities by serving on the API Domestic Violence Task Force and the Asian American Psychological Association. She also volunteers for the North American Taiwanese Women’s Association and Cold Tofu.
View a video clip of Michi here or paste the below link:
http://video.pbssocal.org/video/2365249872/
Kudos to AAPA Member Janet Chang, PhD who is featured on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Human Capital Blog in honor of National Minority Health Month. Read more below and at the link provided.
To mark National Minority Health Month, the Human Capital Blog asked several Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) scholars to respond to questions about improving health care for all. In this post, Janet Chang, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., responds to the question, “Minority health is advanced by combating disparities and promoting diversity. How do these two goals overlap?” Chang is an alumna of the RWJF New Connections Program; she studies sociocultural influences on social support, help-seeking, and psychological functioning among diverse ethnic/racial groups.
To read her blog, visit:
http://www.rwjf.org/en/blogs/human-capital-blog/2014/04/how_to_advance_minor.html
Anti-Gay Hate Crimes on the Rise in New York City: A Call to the Community
by Kevin L. Nadal, Ph.D.
I first moved to New York when I was 24 years old and I was accepted into a doctoral program in psychology at Columbia University. Some college friends from my undergraduate university in Southern California were already living in New York and invited me to move in with them in a small two-bedroom apartment in the West Village.
I was a naïve Californian, who had just completed a two-year tenure in Michigan, and I didn’t really know much about my neighborhood. When I told people where I was moving, I usually said that it was where the “Friends” characters lived or where the tenth season of the “Real World” was filmed.
However, when I actually moved to the Big Apple a month later, I quickly learned that the neighborhood where I would spend the first three years of my New York life was the home of the Stonewall Inn and the mecca of the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) Rights Movement.
Perhaps I didn’t know much about Stonewall because I was still in the closet. While I had been living a “secret” life as a gay man for most of my life, the lingering pressures of coming from a Catholic, Filipino family prevented me from ever coming to terms with my sexual identity.
I didn’t tell many people that I was gay — not my family in California, not my family that lived off the last stop of the F-Train in Jamaica, Queens, and not even my roommates who I shared a wall with. I wasn’t ready. I was afraid I wouldn’t be accepted. I was scared that I would lose everything (and everyone) in my life.
But somehow, everything changed.
I started exploring my neighborhood and began to frequent some of the local gay bars. I began to meet all kinds of LGBTQ people -– particularly gay men, transgender women, and even a few drag queens. At least once a week, I would go to the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street, the same place where the LGBTQ movement began over 30 years prior when a bunch of brave transgender women and gay men fought back against a police raid.
My favorite nights at Stonewall circa 2002 were the “Hip Hop Nights;” I would enter a room where a bunch of gay and queer men of color were bobbing their heads to the sounds of Biggie Smalls and Jay-Z. For the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged. I could be a person of color and gay at the same time, and it was okay.
I made several friends in the West Village, and I even met a few lovers. It felt so free and invigorating to hold another man’s hand in public for the first time in my life. I felt safe. I felt proud. It was time for me to come out of the closet.
Eleven years later, a few things have changed. First, over time, I had lived in two other LGBTQ-friendly neighborhoods in Manhattan: Hell’s Kitchen (which is adjacent to Times Square) and Chelsea (where I currently live). I graduated from my Ph.D. program, wrote a few books, and eventually became a tenured professor. And most importantly, I finally met the love of my life, and we have been unofficially living together for the past nine months. I plan on marrying him someday and I am proud to be a resident of a state where that would be legal.
However, lately, I haven’t been so proud of my state or my city.
In the past three weeks, there have been a string of hate crimes against gay men in Manhattan, and one resulted in death. On May 5th, a gay couple was attacked in broad daylight outside of Madison Square Garden, right after a New York Knicks game, while a different gay couple was assaulted a few days later, a few blocks away. A gay man was attacked while leaving a bar in the West Village, and another gay man in Union Square was punched in the face and robbed. With all of these incidents, the assailants were heard yelling homophobic slurs, right before — and while — they assaulted their victims.
On Thursday, May 16th, I attended a protest, in front of Madison Square Garden, right before a Knicks game. With the theme of “Queers Take Back the Night, ”over a hundred LGBTQ people and allies stood silently with signs as Knicks fans entered the arena. Some passers-by respectfully walked by, while many snickered or scoffed at our presence.
A few LGBTQ leaders spoke passionately on a megaphone, and the nonviolent group walked with their signs and flyers down 8th Avenue. For some, it was important to educate people about the string of anti-LGBT hate crimes and for others, the purpose was to reclaim the streets they once viewed as safe.
Apparently, the peaceful protest didn’t work.
On May 18th, shortly after midnight, Mark Carson, a 32-year old, gay African American man was walking with a friend in the West Village, when a group of men began to verbally harass them with homophobic taunts. One of the men followed the pair and shot Mark Carson in the face; he died shortly after.
Less than 24 hours later, I attended a candlelight vigil in honor of Mr. Carson, located right where he was killed. Several hundred people were in attendance, and I heard the phrase “It could have been any of us” throughout the night. On Monday night, a more organized rally was held to honor Mr. Carson. While I personally could not attend, I was there in spirit with the thousands of people who marched in the West Village and held signs that read “Stop the Hate!” and “Marriage means nothing if we are being gunned down.” Leaders of the LGBTQ community, politicians, and even members of Mr. Carson’s family spoke.
Sadly, this protest didn’t work either.
A few hours later in the East Village, a gay man was attacked after disclosing to an acquaintance that he was gay. A few more hours later in Soho, a gay couple was the verbal target of anti-gay slurs, right before they were physically assaulted. These last two incidents bring the total number to seven anti-gay hate crimes in a span of 20 days. Perhaps we need to do more than just protest and rally.
Some members of the LGBTQ community want to fight back, by taking self-defense classes or arming themselves. Others want more police presence in LGBTQ neighborhoods, and others want to organize “safety by numbers” programs. While I can see some merit in some of these responses, my recommendation is simple: 1) Talk about these issues, 2) Don’t assume, and 3) Take a stand.
We have to start talking to our family members, friends, and acquaintances about what is happening. Post on your Facebook and Twitter pages. Send emails to listserves across the country, but also to your personal networks. While there is some coverage on mainstream news sources, most people are unaware of what is happening. Tell people about what happened to Mark Carson, so that his death is not in vain. It is way too common for LGBTQ people (particularly transgender people and LGBTQ people of color) to be victims of heinous crimes and for their names to be forgotten. I will not forget Sakia Gunn, Stephen Lopez Mercado, or Lorena Escalera, and we cannot forget Mark Carson either.
Secondly, don’t assume anything. In the past couple of weeks, I have had lots of conversations with friends who say things like “Things like this don’t happen in New York.” But, they do. It is quite common for my boyfriend and I to hear homophobic slurs as we walk down the streets of Manhattan. It wasn’t too long ago that a man in Hells Kitchen shoved me and called me a “faggot” as I walked by holding my boyfriend’s hand. Luckily nothing else happened, and after these past few weeks’ events, I am thankful that nothing did.
I’ve also had a lot of conversations with friends who say things like “I don’t think I know any homophobic people.” When I ask if they’ve talked about homophobia with their brothers, cousins, or friends directly, the common response is “No.” Of course we don’t want to believe that anyone in our lives is homophobic (or racist, sexist, etc.), but unless we talk about their views directly, we really don’t know.
When perpetrators of school shootings or serial killings are arrested, most people claim that they didn’t know the person was hateful, sociopathic, or mentally ill. When a person commits suicide, a lot of people will say they didn’t know the person was depressed or suicidal. And this is why we need to ask.
Finally, take a stand. Tell people that homophobia and transphobia is unacceptable. When people use biased language like “That’s So Gay” or “No Homo,” point out how those words are wrong and hurtful. When we allow these microaggressive, anti-LGBTQ behaviors to continue, we create an environment where people believe it is acceptable to hate or discriminate against LGBTQ people. And if these hateful environments persist, the violence will continue.
I share all of this with you because I don’t want to be afraid to hold my boyfriend’s hand in public. I don’t want to feel unsafe again. I don’t want to live my life in fear. And I don’t want to go back into the closet.
But I need your help.
Congratulations to Dr. Cindy H. Liu, Ph.D and Dr. Huijun Li for receiving this year’s AAPA-APF Okura Mental Health Leadership Foundation Fellowship. The AAPA-APF Okura Mental Health Leadership Foundation Fellowship supports psychology’s efforts to benefit the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community research on issues specific to the AAPI community, training of providers to support the AAPI community, service/practice programs for the AAPI community.
The AAPA-APF Okura Mental Health Leadership Foundation Fellowship increases understanding, treatment, services and training to help generate a healthy, robust, and highachieving AAPI population. One $20,000 research grant annually.
The purpose of Dr Liu’s and Dr. Li’s project is to evaluate the mental health knowledge and attitudes of parents of Chinese American youth and to determine the efficacy of psycho-educational workshops on community groups of Chinese American parents. The proposal is concerned with parents of Chinese American youth for the following reasons. First, Asian Americans, including Chinese Americans, tend not to utilize mental health services unless problems escalate and become very severe. In particular, the stigma of mental illness plays a prominent role in how parents may recognize and obtain help for their children. Second, the onset of severe mental illnesses such as psychosis and depression largely occurs during adolescence, a period during which parents may attribute changes in mental health status to typical developmental changes such as transitions with social or school functioning.
Given that Chinese American parents are often receptive to parent education programs aimed toward improving their children’s functioning (especially their academic functioning), the propose to design and conduct psycho-educational workshops that increase mental health knowledge and improve mental health attitudes. Dr. Liu and Dr. Li are particularly interested in evaluating the design of a culturally based workshop (e.g., a workshop that targets culturally based concerns (e.g., stigma) and goals (e.g. academic achievement). Through such a workshop, the hope is to promote mental health knowledge in Chinese American parents of youth that could be applied across different cultural communities.
Dr. Liu is the Director of Multicultural Research, Commonwealth Research Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Instructor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and Assistant Research Professor, Department of Psychology at University of Massachusetts Boston.
Dr. Huijun Li, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Psychology at Florida A&M University and Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
As research, practice, and community work evolve to address the unique needs of the Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) population, the 2013 Asian American Psychological Convention theme, “Social Justice and Prevention: Strengthening Our Community,” will reflect such efforts. This year’s convention will invite programs addressing advocacy, equity, and fairness in the health care system, intergroup and community relations, and preventative efforts in reducing disparities between AAPIs and other social groups.
We are seeking submissions that highlight achievements in the field of AAPI psychology, innovative approaches in working with AAPI individuals, and collaborative partnerships with allied professions such as Asian American Studies, Education, History, Law, Nursing, Psychiatry, Public Health, Social Work, and Sociology.
Proposals may address, but are not limited to, the following topics within AAPI psychology:
- Practice, policy, and research efforts to address or prevent health disparities in AAPI communities and understand the diversity of experiences within the AAPI community
- Collaborative, interdisciplinary research assessing the physical and mental health needs of AAPIs, including topics such as critical race theory and Asian American studies
- Interventions (clinical, educational, community-based) that address the unique needs of AAPIs
- Mentoring/leadership and community-based programs engaged in fostering the development of AAPI youth, families, and scholars
Who May Submit
AAPA members at all levels of training (professional, graduate level, and undergraduate level), including non-psychologists interested in psychological issues affecting AAPIs are encouraged to submit proposals. Non-AAPA members at all levels may also submit proposals. We particularly encourage submissions from those interested in AAPI psychology who have not previously participated in AAPA conventions, and practitioners, scholars, and researchers from the Hawaii region. Because strengthening the diversity of our colleagues in other organizations is of particular importance for psychologists of color, we strongly encourage submissions from members of the Association of Black Psychologists, Society of Indian Psychologists, and the National Latina/o Psychological Association.
- There is no limit to the number of submitted proposals per individual.
- Individuals, however, can only be the first author of one proposal submission. In the event that multiple first author submissions are received by an individual, the committee will review only the first proposal received. Exempted from this rule are presenters who are invited speakers.
- Deadline for all submissions is March 23, 2013 at 11:00 p.m. PST
- Please submit presentations at: http://forms.apa.org/aapa/
- All presenters are required to officially register for the convention
Types of Submissions
- Interactive Sessions: In a typical 60-minute session, a facilitator introduces the topic and sets up a context for subsequent discussions and interactions among participants. For questions about submitting an interactive session proposal, please contact Sessions Co-Chair Nicole Rider.
- Symposia: In a typical 60-minute symposium, three or four presentations are given around a common theme. An expert discussant may provide feedback. The symposium proposal submission must include one program summary that integrates the multiple presentations within the session. It must also clearly indicate the titles and contents of each presentation within the symposium. A chair for the symposium must be named on the application portal. No individual paper proposals for symposium presentations are accepted. For questions, please contact Sessions Co-Chair Nicole Rider.
- Posters: Throughout the day, posters are displayed to disseminate information on various conceptual and/or empirical reports. During the designated 60-minute poster session, participants are invited to interact with poster presenters. Single research papers should be submitted as posters. For questions, please contact Poster Session Co-Chair Seung Yu at seung.b.yu@gmail.com.
Guidelines for Proposals
All online proposals should include:
- Contact information for the presenters
- Abstract (50 to 100 words) with no author names
- Program Summary (500 to 700 words) with no author names
- 3-4 Learning Objectives (not required for poster submissions)
Proposals will be sent for anonymous reviews. As such, the Abstract and Program Summary should not include identifying information of the author(s) and/or presenter(s).
Submitters will be notified by email upon receipt of their proposal.
For submissions highlighted as being potential programs which can award Continuing Education units (CEUs), individual authors will be contacted to provide additional information.
Submission outcomes will be sent via email by the end of April 2013.
Additional Information
Presenters should bring their own laptops (those with Mac laptops should bring the appropriate adaptor to connect to the LCD projector). LCD projectors for power point presentations will be provided. Requests for additional AV equipment will be addressed after the final selection of presenters has been decided.
For all other questions regarding the 2013 AAPA Convention, please email one of this year’s co-chairs, Matthew Lee or Anjuli Amin.
Two instances of stereotypes of Asian Americans have recently surfaced in the media. One involved media coverage of the book, Battle hymn of the tiger mother by Yale Law School Professor Amy Chua. The media coverage of Chua’s book focused on Chinese American parents who are strict, critical, and emphasize their children’s academic success. A Wall Street Journal essay by Chua on the book is entitled, “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior”.
The second stereotype involved the exclusion of Asian Americans by the National Research Council (NRC) in their rankings of the diversity of doctoral programs. Non-Asian ethnic minority students, women, and international faculty and students were included in the rankings. The implication is that the achievements and characteristics of Asian Americans are on par with those of European Americans and for this reason, Asian Americans do not bring diversity to doctoral programs.
These instances that highlight academic success are stereotypic because not all Asian Americans fit these stereotypes. However, it could be argued in both cases that the stereotypes are positive and not harmful. Academic success, whether it be among children or among students and faculty in doctoral programs, is laudable. Nevertheless, harsh parenting is not uniformly effective, and may create undue pressure and have harmful psychological consequences. A harmful effect of the apparent success of Asian Americans in higher education is invisibility in the NRC data. However, many Asian Americans have unique cultures and experiences that enhance the diversity of institutions as much as the cultures and experiences of any other minority group.
Seemingly positive stereotypes of Asian Americans as academically successful also have not resulted in acceptance into mainstream American society. Research by psychologists Thierry Devos and Mahzarin Banaji suggests that Asian Americans are viewed as less American than members of other ethnic groups in the U.S. Academic success does not immunize Asian Americans from the discrimination that targets all ethnic minority groups in the U.S. Discrimination toward Asian Americans ranges from microaggressions such as the question “where are you from?” to institutional discrimination, such as systematic exclusion from leadership positions based on perceptions of culturally-based personality characteristics of inscrutability and passivity. Moreover, Asian American academic success may be perceived as threatening and some would contend that Asian Americans should not receive special attention because this would constitute an unfair advantage.
Stereotypes of any group are inherently inaccurate because they try to shoehorn all members of the group being stereotyped into a single conception while ignoring the wide diversity within the group. Moreover, some stereotypes are simply wrong and are perpetuated by the majority group in order to bias perception of the targeted group. Asians in the U.S. are from at least 30 different national and cultural backgrounds and there also is much individual diversity within any Asian American group. There certainly are unique, positive characteristics of Asian American cultures that may enhance well-being, including academic achievement. However, an exclusive focus on the academic achievements of Asian Americans has rendered them invisible at times, threatening at other times, and overlooks their needs as a minority group. Indeed, there are many Asian Americans that fit the exact opposite of the academic success stereotype, with many struggling academically and living in poverty. The Asian American Psychological Association encourages a balanced consideration of both the strengths and needs of the over 15 million diverse people of Asian ancestry in the U.S.