Course Proposals

Course Name:Latino Child and Family Development 
Course Prefix: CHF
Course Number: 4300
             Submitted by (Name & E-Mail):  Paul Schvaneveldt, pschvaneveldt@weber.edu

Current Date:  10/17/2011
College: Education
Department:   Child & Family Studies                              
From Term: Fall  2011 

New/Revised Course Information:

Course Title: Latino Child and Family Development

Abbreviated Course Title: Latino Child and Family Dev.

Credit Hours:  3  or if variable hours:    to

Contact Hours: Lecture   Lab    Other

Grading Mode:  standard

Prerequisites/Co-requisites:

None

Course description (exactly as it will appear in the catalog, including prerequisites):

The Latino Child and Family Development course is designed as an upper division course for those who will work with, advocate for, or interact with children and families from a Latino background. The course uses a cultural constructivist approach to understand Latino children and their families. The central focus includes the study of Latino culture, parenting practices, couple and marital practices, and other family dynamics. Additionally, a major goal is to understand and deconstruct stereotypes associated with individuals within the Latino culture. The course will simultaneously focus on Latinos living within the United States as well as cultural groups throughout North America, South America, and the Caribbean.

Justification for the new course or for changes to an existing course. (Note: Justification should emphasize academic rationale for the change or new course. This is particularly important for courses requesting upper-division status.)

This course is needed for many reasons, but mostly because of the need to better understand and to provide culturally competent services and support to Latino children and their families. Currently, the Latino population comprises 16% of the U.S. population and is the largest minority group in the United States with over 50 million individuals (US Census Bureau, 2010). Projections estimate that the Latino population will grow to over 130 million and comprise nearly 25% of the US population by the year 2050. In Utah, the Latino population has grown significantly over the past 10 years, increasing by 77.8% and will continue to grow rapidly (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Additionally, there are over 20 countries in the Western Hemisphere that are considered part of Latin America. Understanding the diversity within these multiple countries is important.
Often, the current theories and educational approaches used in social service agencies and educational settings fail to serve their clientele in a culturally competent way. Methods of teaching and providing services are often based upon the majority cultural group model and standards which fail to adequately address the unique and culturally distinct aspects of Latino culture. There is a large and growing body of research on Latino family dynamics and child development issues that justify the development of this course. Currently, there is no course offered at Weber State University that specifically addresses child and family development issues focusing on the needs of the Latino population. Currently, a similar course is offered at the University of Illinois entitled U.S. Latino Families and is offered as an upper division course.
The theoretical frameworks that will guide this course include Rogoff’s Social Cultural Theory, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, and Bronfebrenner’s Ecological perspective. Vygotsky argued that development is largely influenced by one’s social interactions within a cultural context (Gardiner, 2001). Rogoff (2003) explained how parents influence the development of their children through guided participation in culturally relevant activities. For example, she described how toddlers in Guatemala observed their mothers preparing food and their attempts to imitate the mother. Children learned though observation and then attempts to copy the mother and not through explicit teaching strategies. The teaching and child guidance strategies utilized by the parent would be influence by broader cultural practices and values. Such activities likely reflect larger goals of socialization and role preparation. Finally, Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Perspective (2005) explains the multiple influences on development and that many of these ecological systems would vary within Latino culture.
A key strength of many Latino families is a strong emphasis on family relationships, often referred to as Familismo or familism (Schvaneveldt & Behnke, 2012). They often come from more collectivist cultural backgrounds emphasizing the importance of family connections and obligations to each other. This strength is often ignored by many practitioners, educators, and others who interact with the Latino community. A major goal of the course would be to help students recognize this cultural strength and to understand many of the challenges facing Latino families are due to immigration stresses and socioeconomic issues.
This course is needed because many of the social issues and challenges facing Latino children and families require a unique and specialized understanding of cultural influences. The official school dropout rate for Latino youth in the United States is over 17%, which is much higher than the officially reported national average of 8% (National Center for Education Statistics, 2009). Other estimates place the dropout rate among Latino youth at over 40% (Pew Hispanic Center, 2011). It is also important to note the diversity within the Latino population with as many as 35% of Guatemalan youth, 25% of Mexican youth 9% of Cuban, and 4% of Panamanian youth dropping out of school (Pew Hispanic Center, 2004). Thus, understanding the diversity within the Latino culture in the United States is critical to better serve their needs.
Immigration and acculturation to the broader culture in the United States are important issues. Latino families engage in mutual support cross-border family relationships by sending remittances to family members in their country of origin. Additionally, Latino families are more likely to live in intergenerational and extended family households in the United States (Schvaneveldt & Behnke, 2012). These family dynamics, while not unique to only Latino populations, are important to understand within the cultural context.
The divorce rate is 30% lower for Latinos in the United States compared to the national average (Hispanic Healthy Marriage Initiative, n.d.). The role of commitment and importance of marriage and family are likely important factors influencing marital dynamics (Schvaneveldt & Behnke, 2012). The gender roles within Latino families are also unique in that some patriarchal attitudes are likely present. Furthermore, feminine roles emphasizing Marianismo (a strong emphasis on the mother’s role) uniquely impacts the family system and parenting roles. Dating and mate selection practices vary with Latino populations as well (Schvaneveldt, 2003; Schvaneveldt & Hubler, n.d.). The Latino population is more likely to practice cohabitation than the majority culture and in some parts of Latin America is more common than marriage (Schvaneveldt, 2003).
The adolescent pregnancy rate among Latinas in the United States is much higher than national averages. In fact, 52% of Latina teens experience a pregnancy by age 20 which is twice as high as the national average (National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, 2011). Latina teens also report the highest rate of intended pregnancy of all adolescents. The course will cover many of the factors influencing these issues.
The majority of Latinos are born in the United States (61.9%) but many were born outside of the United States (US Census, 2009). There are approximately 11.1 million individuals in the United States who lack legal documentation to reside in the country. The majority of children (73%) born to undocumented immigrants are US citizens by birth (Pascal & Cohn, 2010). These mixed status families create unique situations for educators and persons serving Latino children. Often, the children in immigrant families are asked to serve as language brokers for their parents. This means they interpret for their parents and often in challenging circumstances (health care, legal issues, financial matters). The impacts of language brokering are significant on children and these issues are explored (Martinez, McClure, & Eddy, 2009). Furthermore, there are impacts on the emigrant families who remain behind in the country of origin. These families experience some significant challenges as they deal with a father or child residing apart from the family for extended periods of time (Schvaneveldt, 2011).
Latino families also are more likely to experience family violence than the general population. Latino males are 2.5 times more likely to batter a wife or girlfriend (Field & Caetano, 2003). Attitudes of gender and stress likely play significant roles in these situations and need to be explored from a culturally competent perspective. Latino youth are 19 times more likely to be in a gang compared to European American youth. Rates of incarceration are much higher among Latino youth and merit consideration from a culturally competent perspective (New Century Foundation, 2005).
Finally, parenting strategies and behaviors are also unique among many Latino families (Harwood, Lyendecker, Carlson, Asencio, & Miller, 2002; Ingoldsby, Schvaneveldt, Supple, & Bush, 2003). Some of the unique aspects include more traditional or collectivist notions of parental roles and authority. There is also the practice of Compadrazgo or the concept of godparents playing important roles in the teaching and nurturing of children.
These topics illustrate that many unique and complex issues need to be understood and addressed from a Latino cultural perspective. This course would better prepare our students who will interact with and serve individuals in the Latino community.

This course has received support from the Latin American Studies program and is listed as one of their courses to earn the Latin American Studies Minor.

October 13, 2011
Hi Paul,

My name is Alicia Giralt and I am the coordinator of the Latin American Studies Program. The LAS minor requires that students take upper-division courses from at least three different departments. The content of the courses must be focused in Latin America. For this reason, I have advised my students to take Prof. Schvaneveldt’s Latino Child and Family class. This class is very much needed, since it not only deals with the Latino experience abroad, but also in US.

My pleasure,

Alicia



Dr. Alicia Giralt
Professor of Spanish
http://faculty.weber.edu/agiralt


References

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Field, C.A., & Caetano, R. (2003). Longitudinal model predicting mutual partner violence
among white, black and Hispanic couples in the United States general population. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 27, 1451-1458
Gardiner, H.W. (2001). Child and adolescent development: Cross-cultural perspectives. In L.L.
Adler & U.P. Gielen (Eds.), Cross-cultural topics in psychology (pp. 63-79). Westport, CT: Praeger.
Harwood, R., Leyendecker, B. Carlson, V., Asencio, M., & Miller, A. (2002). Parenting among
Latino families in the U.S. In M.H. Bornstein, (Ed), Handbook of parenting: Vol. 4: (pp. 21-46). Mahwah, NJ, US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers
Hispanic Healthy Marriage Initiative (n.d.). Cultural adaptation and relationship dynamics.
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Ingoldsby, B., Schvaneveldt, P.L., Supple, A.J., & Bush, K.R. (2003). The relationship
between parenting behaviors and adolescent achievement and self-efficacy in Chile and Ecuador. Marriage and Family Review, 35, 139-160.
Martinez, C.R., McClure, H.H., Eddy, J.M. (2009). Language Brokering Contexts and
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dynamics in Latin America. Jerry and Vickie Moyes Research Endowment Proposal (funded), Ogden, UT; Weber State University.

Schvaneveldt, P.L., & Behnke, A. (2012). Family life education with Latino immigrant families.
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Schvaneveldt, P.L. & Hubler, D. (in revision). Mate selection practices and
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