Ma. Teresa G. Tuason

Negotiating the Binary: Identity and Social Justice for Bisexual and Transgender Individuals

The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the experiences of identity and agency toward social justice of nine bisexual and transgender individuals through semistructured interviews. Results from Consensual Qualitative Research analysis (Hill et al., 2005; Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997) revealed domains of (a) the process of coming to understand identity; (b) participants’ understanding of themselves in relation to the male/female, heterosexual/homosexual binary; (c) agency; (d) human rights issues; and (e) resources. Participants typically experienced discrepancies between their inner and external realities; being invisible and invalidated by both the straight and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities; feelings of isolation; and a lack of access to rights on identity, representation, and family of choice. Although they typically advocated for themselves and educated others on their identities, participants experienced the conflicting roles played by family, friends, the media, and language. From the results, agency was identified as a crucial context for identity formation and participant experiences were related to the concepts of social justice and empowerment.

Jeepneys: Values in the Streets:

Cross-cultural psychological studies mostly focus on differences between countries. This study uniquely focuses on intracultural variations of values based on descriptors of artifact data, jeepneys (public transportation vehicles), and on interviews with jeepney drivers. The sample consisted of 200 jeepneys and their drivers in Manila and Davao, northern and southern regions of the Philippines, respectively. Results indicated that Manila jeepneys featured more decorations and accessories concerned with religion, identity, and Western commercialism, while Davao jeepneys featured more political and civic themes. In interviews about their problems and wishes, Manila drivers expressed more financial and road-related problems and wishes that centered on family and happiness, whereas Davao drivers expressed more family and other people-related problems and wishes dealing with finances and work. Results are discussed focusing on inter-and intracultural variation.

The Poor in the Philippines

The purpose of this article is to describe the face of poverty in the Philippines. Specifically, through a review of literature, it enumerates the features of destitution in the Philippines, identifies the problems that create, maintain and worsen poverty, and illustrates the coping processes of Filipinos who have made it out of poverty. Empirical studies discussed perceptions of the poor, homelessness and subhuman living conditions, marginalisation from economic growth, mental and physical health concerns due to socio-economic deprivation and deficiencies in health care, family stressors, overseas working, increased violence and social injustices to children, increasing numbers of street children, and the cultural values in the Philippines (e.g., pagpupunyagi: perseverance and resourcefulness, pakikipagkapwa: reliance on others). Based on the study by Tuason (2008), the model of coping processes of those who were born poor and became rich is illustrated. The model includes the domains such as: the experience of deprivation; negative emotions of self-pity, insecurity, envy and anger; intolerance for continued poverty; praying to God for change; dreams for self and resourcefulness; education and drive; gratitude; helping those in need; and lucky chance events. For those born poor, the societal structures in the Philippines keep most everyone from being economically successful.

Culture of Poverty: Lessons from Two Case Studies of Poverty in the Philippines; One Became Rich, the Other One Stayed Poor

This article describes the lives of poverty in the context of a specific culture, the Philippines. The goal of this article is to study what it means to be poor and to understand the cultural factors that contribute to this human experience. Two case studies will be presented; one of a Filipino who was born poor and has become materially successful, and another of a Filipino who was born poor and has stayed poor. Interestingly, the two persons are relatively similar in terms of beginning circumstances, education, gender, religion, and age. The discussion will deal with the processes of living in poverty and getting out of poverty. The results will then be discussed in a broader framework of culture and poverty, and intercultural differences between Philippine poverty and the culture of poverty (Lewis, 1959) will be highlighted. Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. This article is available in Online Readings in Psychology and Culture: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/orpc/vol8/iss1/3

The Refuge: an after‐school care programme for African–American children in poverty

The Refuge is an after‐school care programme in the southeastern USA that caters to the academic and psychological needs of impoverished African–American children. This study evaluated the Refuge through interviews with staff, small group discussions with children and persistent observation. By evaluating the after‐school care services they receive, children expressed their need for safe and secure environments to grow, their vulnerability to family relationships, their need for fair treatment and nurturance in relationships and their want for opportunities to express their unique developmental strengths. Results reiterate child workers’ significant and urgent purpose of reaching out to low‐income African–American children to inspire them and urge them into vocations – despite the realities of death, poverty and violence in their lives.

Creativity Through the Eyes of Professional Artists in Cuba, Germany, and Russia

Creativity plays an important role in the advancement of all societies around the world, yet the role of cultural influences on creativity is still unclear. Following systems theory, activity theory, and ecocultural theory, semistructured interviews with 30 renowned artists (writers, composers, and visual artists) from Cuba, Germany, and Russia were conducted to explore the complexity of the creative process and potential cultural differences. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using consensual qualitative research methodology. The following eight main domains resulted from the interviews: How I became an artist, What being an artist means to me, Creating as a cognitive process, Creating as an emotional process, Creating as a motivational process, Fostering factors of creativity, Hindering factors, and The role of culture in creating. Artists in the three countries similarly talked about creativity being a fluid process where ideas change, and elaborated on the role of intuition and the unconscious when creating art. Meaningful cross-cultural differences were seen among the artists of three cultural backgrounds in terms of attitudes about financial instability, in how they perceive themselves, in their art’s societal function, in the cognitive and in the emotional process of creating, and in terms of social connectedness. Results highlight (a) the complexity of the creative process going beyond cognitive factors and including motivational, emotional, and sociocultural factors, and (b) the cultural differences in the creative process. Results are beneficial for further developing a comprehensive theory of the creative process taking cultural differences into consideration.

Expressive Group Therapy With At-Risk African American Adolescent Girls

ABSTRACT In a study conducted by M.T. Tuason, A. Marcetic, S. Roberts, K. Stuart, and J. Rearick (in press), it was revealed that minority urban female adolescents ages 11 to 18 harbored more pain and anger and were at higher risk for deviant behaviors compared to children of other age groups within the same socioeconomic class. The current study is a group intervention and a systematic way to evaluate the outcome of expressive group therapy with African American female adolescents. Group members were drawn from the Refuge, an after-school program located in a southeastern city of the United States, and took part in expressive activities intended to expose them to new experiences and to increase their confidence in and awareness of their strengths and talents. Qualitative results revealed that expressive group therapy helped the adolescents with emotional exploration, increasing their self-esteem, and decreasing their anxiety. Moreover, qualitative results indicated that conflict among participants must be addressed in order to minimize attrition rates.

“Perpetually Self-Reflective” Lesbian Daughters of Mothers With Severe Mental Illness

Twelve lesbians from various locales throughout the United States were interviewed regarding their experiences as sexual minorities and daughters of mothers with severe mental illness (SMI). Using resiliency and intersectionality as theoretical frameworks, and consensual qualitative research as methodology, we identified six domains: (a) childhood responses to mother’s SMI, (b) childhood/adolescent coping with mother’s SMI, (c) responses of others, (d) managing in adulthood, (e) coming out to self and others, and (f) relating sexual orientation to mother’s SMI. Results show that all participants navigated adulthood by being “perpetually self-reflective.” For many, dealing with their mothers’ SMI gave them coping skills that made coming out much less challenging. For some, their mothers’ SMI made it more difficult to come out to others. Participants discussed the complexly interwoven relation between these sources of marginalization, consistent with intersectionality theory.

Peace Psychology in a Poor World: Conflict Transformation in Response to Poverty

What kinds of conflicts do individuals, communities, and countries go through under debilitating conditions that are exacerbated by poverty? How can peace be attained in circumstances of economic hardship? The answers to these questions will be discussed in the analyses of a Southeast Asian country, the Philippines, where there is persistent poverty and protracted conflict in the political, military, religious, and ethnic arenas, which, consequently, has led to further strife and socioeconomic inequalities. Micro-conflicts (intrapersonal and interpersonal) and meso-conflict s will be discussed, specifically in the psychological experience of the struggle. Efforts to transform and transcend will be reviewed, as well as peacebuilding and peace education.