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Crossing cultural barriers: implications for the facilitation of ethnic identity development for Mexican American adolescents in the United States
Thesis

Crossing cultural barriers: implications for the facilitation of ethnic identity development for Mexican American adolescents in the United States

Anna Maria Constancia
Master of Arts (M.A.), Drexel University
Dec 2017
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/etd-7666
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Constancia_Anna_2017458.40 kB
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Abstract

Dance therapy Ethnicity Hispanic Americans Mexican American youth Cultural competence Dance Psychology
An overwhelming majority of studies focused on identity development in the U. S have been performed with predominantly or solely European American populations. In the U. S our ideas of mental health, including our assessment tools, diagnoses and treatment interventions, focus on the needs of the dominant European American culture, including those used in dance/movement therapy (DMT). This presents a limitation for therapists who work with ethnic minorities, since a large number of people who seek therapy do not identify themselves as part of the dominant [European American] culture (Dosamantes-Beaudry, 1997). This analysis of ethnic identity literature provides information about the verbal and nonverbal processes of ethnic identity formation, with a targeted focus on Mexican American identity development. While reviewing ethnic identity models and factors to consider in ethnic identity development, this thesis will analyze nonverbal communication and somatic experiences within the Hispanic culture to assess how Hispanic identity is shaped somatically and what differences, if any, exist between Hispanic identity and European American identity. A further analysis of the literature will reveal if factors can be identified that specifically influence Mexican American ethnic identity development. With the Hispanic population being the largest ethnic minority group in the U. S, and those of Mexican heritage making up the majority of this group, it is important for dance/movement therapists to be aware of the experiences of the Hispanic and Mexican American culture. This literature review explores the somatic experiences of the Hispanic population to discover concepts of body boundaries, body image, embodied racism and how these body experiences can influence the Hispanic population to possibly develop a different sense of the self.

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