No abstract

In this study the authors investigated stress, anticipatory mourning, and cultural practices among family caregivers from independent and interdependent cultural groups. Focus groups were used to collect data from 56 caregivers providing care to family members with terminal cancer, representing four cultural groups in Hawai'i: Chinese, European Americans, Japanese, and Native Hawaiians. Participants from all four cultural groups identified similar stressors and agreed that support groups helped them cope with the stresses and sadness they were experiencing and differed in culturally based motivations for caregiving, perceived roles, and processing of grief. The findings of this study indicated a need for additional conceptual models of the caregiving trajectory and more culturally sensitive strategies, particularly indirect methods, for working with diverse populations of caregivers.

This study evaluated cultural differences in attitudes toward caregiving and the stress levels of family caregivers. Participants included 98 Japanese American and 86 Caucasian American family caregivers caring for frail elders. Analyses using MANOVA and multiple regression analyses revealed that the Caucasian caregivers had more positive attitudes and provided more hours of care than the Japanese caregivers but that both groups had elevated levels of caregiver stress. The stress that family caregivers currently experience could lead to a future generation of care recipients who enter old age in worse condition than their predecessors. Professionals need to work together to develop culturally appropriate, evidence-based interventions to address this issue.

Researchers in both Japan and in the United States have documented that bullying is a common and potentially damaging form of violence among children. The authors’ review highlights distinct cross-cultural patterns of personal, family, peer, and school characteristics that predict gender differences in bullying and victimization. Cross-cultural patterns confirm that bullying has detrimental and long-lasting effects on both the bullies and their victims. School-based prevention/intervention programs have had mixed success, mainly because some of the risk factors associated with bullying and victimization are beyond the scope of these programs. Bullying and victimization are sometimes associated with psychological disorders and a history of family violence. In these cases, therapeutic intervention is required. Family therapists and other mental health professionals need to be aware of cultural variations in bullying and work collaboratively with schools and families to develop effective treatment plans.

Cultural traditions at the end of life solidify societal members. As the world becomes more globalized, socio-economic factors affect how traditional practices are expressed, and the role and toll they make on modern societies. This article examines the contemporary Akan funeral practices in Ghana. Akan lineage members, from birth through puberty, marriage, maturity, old age, go through various rites of passage that bond them culturally and spiritually to others in society. One such ritual is funeral celebration. Funeral celebration, an old practice, has always been at the heart of public social events of Akan people. However, the changes in Ghanaian Akan funerals over the past 4 decades, and their impact on the people, make this an important topic. The article describes the Akan belief of life after death, the respect accorded to the dead, the prestige associated with successful funeral celebrations, and socio-economic factors that continue to shape Akan funeral practices. Socio-economic impact and the resulting challenges are discussed.