Chicana and Chicano Mental Health: Alma, Mente y Corazón

1. The Mental Health of Chicana and Chicano Children

1 The Mental Health of Chicana and Chicano Children N early one-fourth of all children in the United States who are younger than eighteen years are Latino. In 2009, 18 percent of the estimated Latino population was younger than five years old (US Census Bureau 2011), and the majority of these children were Chicana/o or Mexican American. Chicana/o children constitute the majority of births in the United States. In California, more than 50 percent of the elementary school population is of Mexican descent (Gándara, Rumberger, Maxwell-Jolly, and Callahan 2003). While there has been a great deal of research regarding the educational status of Chicana/o children and adolescents and the factors that predict achievement and school disengagement (Gándara 2005a and b; Gándara et al. 2003; Gándara, Orfield, and Horn 2006; Gibson, Gándara, and Koyama 2004), far less is known about their mental health needs. Academic success and overall well-being are impacted by emotional health; the extent to which children can overcome challenges, maximize opportunities, and face adversity will influence how well they do in school (Grau, Azmitia, and Quattlebaum 2009). Child and adolescent mental health in turn is influenced by multiple factors, including genetics, family , and social environment, in particular poverty and health disparities, and the quality of the child or youth’s relationships (Aguirre-Molina and Betancourt 2010). As the US Latino population grows and the US population overall becomes increasingly brown, it is imperative that educators and health professionals understand and safeguard the mental health of Chicana/o children and youth. This chapter examines the prevalence and incidence of mental health problems among Chicana/o children and provides an analysis of the ecological pressures that children experience, which influence their distress. Chapter 2 focuses on Chicana and Chicano youth. Chicana and Chicano Mental Health 16 explanatory Models From a biomedical perspective, the mental health problems of children emerge as a function of the interaction between genetic predispositions, often viewed as temperament, the child’s home environment, and the larger sociocultural context in which the child grows.1 From a mestizo perspective, a child’s emotional and psychological well-being rests on the balance between his or her mind, body, and spirit, which is in turn influenced in early childhood by the love, nurturance, and parenting he or she receives within the family and, later, by societal and environmental factors. Prior to the conquest of the Americas, children were socialized communally . The focus of parenting was on rooting the children to maximize their potential by fostering purity of heart and connection to Spirit or Creator (Tello 2008). The ancient Mexicans believed that a child’s destiny, destino, the purpose or meaning in life connected to their people, was based on his or her connection to Spirit or Creator and was predetermined (Ramirez 1998). Finding one’s purpose, knowing one’s destiny, was the “most significant element of keeping balanced and being well rooted” (Tello 2008, 45). Thus the parents and community guided the child’s quest to find and understand his or her destiny. During the encounter and subsequent conquest, indigenous people of Mexico were disconnected from their land. Moreover, they were forbidden to speak their language and practice their religion (Castillo 1995). Those who survived the genocide carried in their spirits, bodies, and hearts the trauma of conquest and domination. They also kept in their souls and psyches the connection to the ancestors and their past. Both the legacy of trauma and the connection to traditional values were passed on to subsequent generations. Centuries later, historical or intergenerational trauma continues to pose threats to the well-being of Mexicans and Chicanas and Chicanos (Tello 2008). However, the historical memory of and connection to ancestral culture also remains in the spirit of Mexicans and Chicanos and serves as a potential protective factor. In contemporary times many Mexican-origin people continue to believe that how a child comes to see the world, how she understands her place in the family and in society, can either strengthen or weaken her spirit (Avila and Parker 2000). A child’s physical health will be influenced by her emotional health as well. Parents and other family members are the encargados, those ethically responsible for and charged The Mental Health of Chicana and Chicano Children 17 with the responsibility to strengthen the child’s spirit through their love, guidance, and nurturance. Jerry Tello...