Running head: FAMILYS ETHNICITY

The Study of a Familys Ethnicity

Anika Davis
Wayne State University
SW 3110

FAMILYS ETHNICITY

The Study of a Familys Ethnicity

The purpose of my paper is to discuss the cultural norms, behaviors, and beliefs of a
specific Vietnamese family and compare those behaviors to the traditional Vietnamese culture.
During my interview with the family, I was able to determine how certain values may have
affected members of the family both positively and negatively.
I interviewed Kim (pseudonym) who immigrated to the United States from Vietnam
twelve years ago. She is currently 24 years of age. She works in a nail salon with approximately
eight employees, all are from Vietnam. Kim is married and has two children. Both of her
children were born in the United States. Kims husband, Mike (pseudonym), is 28 years of age.
He moved to America when he was 18 years old. The couples parents arranged for them to be
married. This practice is consistent with traditional Vietnamese customs.
Kims family no longer believes in arranging marriages or the parents selecting the mate
for a child but they do still hold some of the old traditional superstitions such as picking dates for
important events that are not connected to any negative omens and not naming their children
after any ancestors. The family seems to be well respected within the salon Kim works in and I
suspect this would hold true in the Vietnamese community in general because of the high regard
they place on their elders and the respect they show clients patronizing the nail salon.
Sources of Cohesion
Kim and her family give credit to their ancestors for giving them a sense of family and
belonging. She says that back in Vietnam and even after moving to America, they were always
surrounded by extended family. Many people lived in their home including her siblings, cousins,
aunts, uncles, and grandparents. After moving to America, she says they lived with friends who
were also from Vietnam and their family. The adults took care of the older adults and seniors

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and the children assisted. Kims family stayed close together and worked very hard at opening
their own businesses. They went to a church in the community, school, shopped, and did their
recreational activities in the community. Even now, many of them work together in the nail
salon and some of her friends work in other salons in the area. She mentioned that she has a few
relatives that are nurses and they still live with their parents and/or grandparents and socialize
with other Asians. Their sources of identity within the nail salon are their strong belief in
respect, dignity, religion, and superstition. Most of the people I spoke with still hold some
superstitions even if they are not traditional Vietnamese superstitions. For instance, one of the
nail technicians believes it to be bad luck to service a client who came in and requested a
different technician. They hold face very highly. Face can lightly be explained how we as
Americans might say a person is trying to save face. Having face means being held at high
esteem or having a good name or reputation. If someone loses face they have been accused of
wrongdoing or have likely done something to be ashamed of. Kim stated that her family is
Christian as well as everyone that I spoke with in the nail salon. When you walk into the nail
salon you hear Christian radio or a CD playing in the back room.
When a member of their family loses face or is shamed this creates a great deal of
stress for the family. This is another attribute that holds true to traditional Vietnamese values.
Vietnamese consider a failure by a family member to be a family failure. If a member of the
family is doing well and respected, the family feels a sense of pride but if someone has shamed
themselves, they have also shamed the family. In the past, if a husband shamed the family
severely he or his father may commit suicide.
Considering Kims work family the only source of discord I could sense was if a
technician serviced another technicians regular client in the presence of that technician. In the

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salon, this type of behavior is frown on. Jackie (pseudonym), another technician in the salon
explained that usual clients sometimes offer generous tips. Jackie also explained that returning
customers often have a set time to visit the salon and it helps the technicians have a more
predictable schedule.
Role Assignment
Within Kims extended family, the males are responsible for caring for the family just as
traditional norms call for. However, within Kims immediate family she and her husband both
provide for the family. She is responsible for caring for the older adults in the household and her
husband offers light assistance. Her children also assist with the elders. Within the shop, men
and women do their equal share of work. They both service clients. The younger family
members assist the older family members with chores and taking care of the elderly. The
children are often present in the salon if they are not school aged and if they attend school they
spend the remainder of their day in the salon. Many of the salons clients know the children by
name. The amount of time the children spend with their parents in the salon helps them to
develop a strong sense of family identity and belonging. The roles assigned to the members of
Kims family groups are loose reflections of the groups cultural reality. By loose I mean that
they take on some of the traditional roles assigned in Vietnamese culture, but they are not strictly
adhered to. Because of the familys cultural history, many of its members have taken on certain
roles because it is a norm. Women are not frowned upon in their community because they take on
more roles than caregiver and housekeeper. Men are not frowned upon be they are not the
primary breadwinner. There is a mutual respect for the roles assumed by both men and women
as long as they are respectful roles and carried out in an honest and dignified matter. The loose
assignment of roles enables both males and females to develop a sense of pride and achievement.

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Adherence to traditional roles helps to pass along the values of respect, praise and
cherishing of the elderly and ancestors.
Cultural Identity Comparison
Traditionally Vietnamese families are very close knit. It is not unusual for extended
families and close friends to live in the same home. The younger individuals care for the elderly
and they praise and worship their ancestors. They believe that everything they have and have
become is because of their ancestors. Vietnamese are culturally very superstitious. They believe
in the dragon, avoid crossing paths with women during certain important events and avoid dates
that are attached to bad omens. Many of the cultures do not name their babies from one to three
months after birth. Kims family is still very close knit, including her work family. She as well
as many of her co-workers still reside in houses with older and younger relatives. In the salon
backroom, I saw photos of some older people I thought to be relatives of the owner. Members of
Kims family also give credit to their ancestors for their success. Superstitious practices are at a
minimum but they do exist. According to Kim, her children were named before leaving the
hospital but there are relatives in Vietnam who still wait to name their infants.
Implications for Social Work Practice
Individuals within this culture may be faced with difficulty transitioning socially.
Vietnamese who have recently transitioned to America might find it difficult to cope with the
changes in cultural norms. For example, in the United States, we shake hands as a greeting but
some Vietnamese cultures find it disrespectful for a man to touch a woman. A person faced with
social transitioning problems could first seek help on the micro level to specifically address how
these issues are affecting them directly. On the macro level, a social worker would look at the
differences in the cultures and how these differences can affect the way a person transitions

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socially into a new environment. In Kims workplace, any one of her co-workers could be
affected negatively if they did not respond to clients in a way that was socially acceptable to the
client. Negative feedback from clients on a regular basis could easily cause them to lose face or
suffer from transitioning problems.
Vietnamese have many valuable attributes. Their cultural values of strong family
support, value placed on the elderly and respect can be helpful in most environments. The
traditional values placed on males in the family can unfortunately send the wrong message to
female family members. Girls, especially ones who have immigrated to the United States, may
not feel valued by their families because of the importance placed on males and the seemingly
trivial roles assigned to women. If women are not allowed to hold certain positions or to perform
certain tasks simply because of their gender, this is oppressive. On the other hand, if men are
forced into careers such as doctors or lawyers this further enhances the privileges afforded to
men. Traditional roles in the Vietnamese culture could also prohibit men and women from comingling outside of family life.