Ethnic Identity in Deaf Hispanics of New Mexico

To explore whether Deaf Hispanics identify more strongly with their Hispanic heritage or with American Deaf culture, theoretical propositions and research findings on three main themes are presented: ethnic identity, the development of a unified Deaf population, and the development of a Southwestern US Hispanic identity. To examine the convergence of these three a body of data was collected, using in-depth interviews based on ethnographic philosophies, framed elicitations, and questionnaires. The Grounded Theory of Strauss and Corbin (1990) was used to analyze the data. Findings were, not unexpectedly, equivocal. According to objective definitions, Deaf Hispanics may be both Hispanic and Deaf. According to subjective definitions, they may be neither. According to their own perceptions of identity, however, the participants in this study are both, with (in most cases) a stronger bond to the Deaf ethnic group.