Mexican and Mexican Americans' Beliefs about God in Relation to Disability

Abstract

Disability is a multi-faceted construct that can be studied from numerous perspectives including biological, medical, psychological, social and cultural. Culture is believed to influence the perception of a disability, the manner in which a disability is defined, and the manner in which it is assigned meaning. Culture is also felt to affect the manner in which an individual and their family accepts, reacts to, and adapts to a disability (Smart & Smart, 1991). Comprehensive treatment must therefore take culture into consideration including the religious and spiritual beliefs related to disability as well as folk beliefs about the causes and treatment of disability (Salas-Provance, Erickson, Reed, 2002). Literature related to Mexican Attitudes The term Hispanic literally means 'from Spain' and is a term that refers to persons who have cultural and heritage ties to Spain, whereas Latino refers more specifically to persons from Latin America, including non-Spanish speaking countries. Chicano is a term which is specific to persons of Mexican descent. While preferences for the use of these terms vary by populations over time, the U.S. government uses Hispanic to identify persons from over 20 countries who trace their heritage to Spanish speaking countries (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007). While studies have been conducted to examine the influence of Hispanic culture and disability, they frequently fail to specify the nationality of the group being defined (Salas-Provance, Erickson, Reed, 2002). Literature regarding Mexican and Mexican American attitudes toward disability is also limited in that studies fail to make distinctions specific to geographic location and frequently makes inappropriate groupings of Hispanic persons from distinctly different cultures and levels of acculturation (Graf, Blankenship, Carlson, & Sanchez, 2007). In addition, much of the research regarding Mexican and Mexican American attitudes toward disability and health beliefs was conducted in the late 1970's, 1980's and early 1990's (Arnold, 1983; Baer & Bustillo, 1993; Castro, Furth, & Karlow, 1984; Cruz, 1979; Groce & Zola, 1993; Guerra, 1973; Mardiros, 1989; Rivera; 1983; Rivera & Cespedes, 1982; Schreiber & Homiak, 1981; Smart & Smart, 1991; Trotter, 1982; Turnbull & Turnbull, 1987; Zayas, 1981) and continues to serve as representative of values and beliefs among Hispanic cultures. Current articles that reflect cultural beliefs of Hispanics frequently cite literature that relies upon these earlier studies. A 1998 article (Harris) intended to explain the use of Curanderism (Mexican folk healing) and its relation to mental illness deferred to Torrey (1972) to describe three origins for psychopathologies in the Mexican culture which included natural causes, emotional causes, and supernatural causes. This article included 29 citations, 25 of which were from the 1970s and 1980s, and four which were prior to the 70s. Only one citation from the 1990s appeared. Literature has long argued that early the earlier reporting of fatalistic views among Mexicans may have been flawed due to the Anglo interpretations of Mexican beliefs (Garza & Ames, 1976; Ruiz & Padilla, 1977). However, fatalistic attitudes and beliefs in disability as a punishment from God continue to be reported in the literature that informs students today (Lujan & Campbell, 2006; Lynch & Hanson, 1998; Santana & Santana, 2001; Zuniga, 1992). Demographics. According to the 2005 American Community Survey, there are approximately 41.9 million persons in the U.S. who identify themselves as Hispanic. Sixty-four percent (26.8 million) of Hispanics are of Mexican descent making up 9.3% of the total U.S population. Approximately 60% of Mexicans in the U.S are native born citizens, 9% are foreign born and became citizens. However, English is spoken at home in only 21% of Mexican households. The median income of Mexican households is $35,400 which compares to a median income of 46. …