The Enculturation Experience of Three Chinese American Adolescents: A Multiple Case Study

Authors

Sherry C. Wang, Santa Clara UniversityFollow
Vicki Plano-Clark, University of CincinnatiFollow
Michael J. Scheel, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2016

Citation

Published in The Counseling Psychologist (2016), 34pp. doi 10.1177/0011000016633875

Comments

Copyright © 2016 Sherry C. Wang, Vicki L. Plano Clark, and Michael J. Scheel. Published by SAGE Publications. Used by permission.

Abstract

The authors designed a qualitative, multiple case study that employed the photovoice method to explore how enculturation is experienced by three Chinese adolescents living with their families in a nonethnically dense cultural community. A total of 18 one-on-one interviews were conducted with three youth and their parents. Photos were also used as elicitation tools to understand the meaning of enculturation for each individual. Case descriptions of each adolescent are presented, followed by five cross-case themes: (a) Self- Identifying as Chinese, (b) Parental Strictness, (c) Multiple Groups of Comparison, (d) (Not) Having a Chinese Community, and (e) Messages to Excel. The findings provide a descriptive understanding of how adolescent enculturation is shaped by the family, community, and their intersections. Implications for research and practice, such as the continued need to understand enculturation as a dynamic phenomenon and process, are presented.