The Latino Family Support System

Growing up, those two words have always left my stomach in knots and caused my eyebrows to come together in confusion. At the tender age of 8, family parties were meant to be fun and enjoyable, but whenever I heard an uncle or grandfather say those two words I was left in a state of discomfort without really knowing why.

Being Hispanic to me means traditions. It means my home and my loving family. Being Hispanic also means being hard working. I was born in a humble small town in Michoacan, Mexico. My parents decided to come to the United States looking for a better future for our family. They had to leave the land that had watched them grow in order to come to an unknown land, where the future was a giant blur. But what they didn’t leave behind was their love for their native country. I grew up in a household where Spanish was only spoken and tortillas were always at the table. I grew up loving authentic Mexican food and speaking Spanish fluently. When I was in kindergarten my teacher was afraid that I would be behind the rest of my classmates. My parents couldn't help me learn English since they didn’t know it either. I was fortunate to have a kind teacher who was willing to tutor me for free everyday after school. By the end of elementary school my English improved. As I grew

Growing up in a Latino household is hard. My parents only spoke Spanish therefore my first language was Spanish. For the first few years of my life this was not really a problem, I enjoyed life as any normal little girl would. I got to talk to all of my cousins and all of the neighbor’s children. It wasn’t until I got to school that it became real that I was going to learn English. Don’t get me wrong I always knew I had to learn English my parents always talked to me about school and helped me as much as they could. It was also around this same time where I started to understand that it was not only hard for me it was hard for them as well. My parents had to live in this country not knowing the main language spoken.

My cultural interview was with a coworker, 28 years of age and of Hispanic descent. While conducting the interview I learned a lot about the Hispanic culture. Many Hispanics like to be called Latino (a). Some do not like to be referred to as Mexican when they are from other countries other than Mexico. Hispanics also use slang within their culture just like African Americans. Within the culture the male is the dominant figure in the household. All the decisions that affect the family go through the father. If there is no father in the house, the oldest son fulfills that role. The older son may drop out of school so that they may assist the mother at the house in the absence of the father. Many Hispanics

Growing up in a Hispanic household has its ups and downs. As a first generation Latina, I have family members that are always encouraging me, wanting the best for me, and pushing me to succeed in life so that I don't go through the same hardships that they went through. I have seen struggles my parents have gone through to get to where they are now, but giving it their all to giving my siblings and I the best.

Hispanics are proud of who they are and it does not matter where you end up, we can never forget where we come from. Hispanics have noticeably strong family values. Traditionally Hispanics are known to have a large branch of family. There is always support and appreciation for your family members. There was a moment my parents went their separate ways. My mother took custody of my brothers, and me. They loved each other very much, but there were circumstances that didn’t allow for their union to continue. My mother was still there to support my father. In this time that they were separating my mother persevered. With the help of my aunts and uncles she was able to thrive. They would help her in any way possible, if that may be emotionally, mentally, or financially.

In this paper the theories of multigenerational family therapy and structural family therapy are applied to the Melendez family. Beginning with the biography of the Hispanic family, assessment of the strengths and vulnerabilities of the family, stage of the family life cycle, cultural elements that impact the family and explanation of the types and qualities of relationships depicted in the Melendez genogram and ecomap the foundation for therapeutic goals and interventions are set. Goals and interventions based on the multigenerational family therapy theory are theoretically applied with the goal of the family to recognize emotional patterns to decrease anxiety. The Structural Theory application will focus on the presenting

| Family ties among Hispanics are very strong, and this is what I mostly admire about their race. Hispanic families often come together for different occasions (birthdays, holidays, baptisms, etc.) and they teach their children the importance of good manners, and respect for their elders. A good quality to have today.

To me a community is a group of individuals that come together to help and protect each other. For me the Hispanic community is where I belong. A family is a stronger more familiar version of a community because it’s filled with people who you’ve known for the longest and you can really trust them. An identity that’s the way you see yourself or the way you think, act, and even your name are a part of what makes up your identity and for me that’s Ivan. I fit into the Hispanic community by taking part in traditional Hispanic celebrations,music,cooking,and speaking Spanish.

The Latino community is ironic at Viana’s college because it was unforgiving if you do not make your Latindad known. For example Viana stated, “Knowing how hard it could sometimes be to accept the group and have the group accept you in return” (Garrod, 2012, p. 113). Rather than being a group to bond with each other and embrace their ethnicity, the group gossips or rejects members. This fact about the group was surprising to me. I am in a club known as National students speech hearing language association (NSSHLA), where everyone in the group is close with each other. Each member tries the help each other especially when we all take the same course, we help each other with homework. I visualized that all groups/clubs members for any organization

Being part of a minority community is beautiful. Although, the burdens that come with it are truly unjust. I constantly grow more aware of the inequality between the people of my Hispanic community and those that have been redlined. I was born into a home where my mother could not find a job after my father left due to personal reasons, leaving my brother to bear the burden of taking care of eight children. It was as though poor people could not have nice things. I realized that for some strange reason, segregation is ever present in our society. A society that claims to have done away with that practice. It is not only the Hispanic coming, but also Latinos and African Americans that are being redlined. We battle with rampant racism along with

In the Hispanic community, people usually go to their natural support system before even considering going to a formal system to seek support. There are various reasons why people in the Hispanic community refrain from getting assistance from formal systems. One of the reasons why Hispanics refrain from using formal support is, the individual may be undocumented; therefore, they are unable to receive benefits and are afraid of being deported. They, being unable to receive benefits from formal systems, they go and seek support from their natural systems. Natural support systems differ from formal support systems because support that comes from a natural system is from our family, friends, clergy members, and maybe even co-workers. Support

In many cultures, the greatest joy of a person comes through the realization that they will soon be called a grandparent. Speaking from a personal perspective, the Latino culture sees the arrival of a grandchild, for the most part, through a set of different beliefs. The first belief associated with the role of being a grandparent, is the idea that one’s offspring has embarked on “full adulthood”, and that now, they will understand what true responsibility is all about. Another common belief among the Latino population when it comes to grand parenting, is that being a grandparent correlates with being a parent all over again; given that many Latinos see this particular role, as one in which they must play an active role for the wellbeing of

The literature review provides various insights of the evidence-based interventions that have been effective in the past. The intervention plan specifically needs to address the various challenges faced by Hispanics including acculturation, ethnic background, language barriers, social barriers, limitations in communication, perception, adherence, and understanding of treatment. The other challenges that need to be solved are the family and culturally related barriers. The lack of intervention strategies was cited as one of the causes for the barriers. Interventions that can address the barriers include family support, management skills education and culturally relevant resources. There is also need to establish ways of addressing the miscommunication that occurs between the NPs and Hispanic men.

The Latin culture is rich and multi-faceted. Latino families encompasses a great deal of structural, socioeconomic, regional as well as cultural diversity for there is as much diversity within each Latino group as there is between Latino groups. There are certain values and customs that are shared by most Latinos. In the Latino culture, individuals are