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Few studies have looked at the differences in culture, language, and educational attainments among generations of Hmong in the United States since the beginning of their immigration to the United States. This study of 195 Hmong participants examines the effects of generational status on Hmong immigrants across several factors including marriage and family planning practices, cultural identity, and educational attainment. Cultural identity and family practices of immigrants lean toward increased adaptation to American culture with each successive generation; however, educational attainment was lower among second-generation immigrants when compared to their first-generation counterparts. Explanations for lower educational attainment may be due to confounding factors such as time effect. This study informs social work practice by exploring the variations in acculturation trajectories among the Hmong in the United States. (Contains 4 tables.)

Hmong American youth have been in the United States for 40 years, and yet research still suggests a binary portrayal of their experiences—model minorities or struggling delinquents. In this study, we use critical discourse analysis to examine academic literature and the construction of “Hmong American youth.” We examine academic literature discursive practices and power in controlling the discourse on Hmong American youth and shaping practices and policies. Using critical discourse analysis, we call attention to academic literature and its power, and challenge researchers to reconstruct a more complex discourse of Hmong American youth that captures their histories, possibilities, and desires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hmong, who began migration to the United States of America in the latter half of the 1970s, represent a largely unstudied segment of the Asian-American population. Traditional practices such as teenage marriage were widely reported in the early years after migration began, but have been left relatively unexamined more recently. Explicit focus on Hmong women has been largely absent in recent research. This paper examines the relationships between marriage patterns, education and earnings among Hmong women in the United States. Using results from a survey of 186 Hmong women, the results of this study indicate high rates of teenage marriage, as well as associations between early marriage, marital abuse, and both low earnings and lower levels of educational attainment among women married as teenagers compared to Hmong women who waited until adult age to marry. There were signs of encouragement, including higher than anticipated rates of educational attainment among the sample overall. Marital stressors such as spousal abuse remain prevalent, especially among Hmong women who married in their teenage years. Implications of this research are discussed for both practitioners and for future directions in research within the Hmong-American community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies have looked at the differences in culture, language, and educational attainments among generations of Hmong in the United States since the beginning of their immigration to the United States. This study of 195 Hmong participants examines the effects of generational status on Hmong immigrants across several factors including marriage and family planning practices, cultural identity, and educational attainment. Cultural identity and family practices of immigrants lean toward increased adaptation to American culture with each successive generation; however, educational attainment was lower among second-generation immigrants when compared to their first-generation counterparts. Explanations for lower educational attainment may be due to confounding factors such as time effect. This study informs social work practice by exploring the variations in acculturation trajectories among the Hmong in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]