Disproving the myth of racial harassment and trauma among Indonesian Americans
Main Article Content
Abstract
Racial trauma among Asians, including Indonesians, has increased dramatically in the United States. While many studies have been written about the significance of recurring race-related traumatic incidents, the broader meaning of the unexpected and dark side of racial trauma experiences among Indonesians who reside in the United States is under-reported. This study aims to explore the meaning of experience dealing with racial trauma among Indonesians living in the United States using a qualitative phenomenological approach. We conducted in-depth interviews via the Zoom platform with a nationally representative purposive sample of 16 adults aged 26 and older. In analyzing this phenomenological study, all stages of phenomenological reduction were used. The findings demonstrate that racial trauma among Indonesian Americans can be categorized into three themes: 1) feeling sad and angry, 2) being exhausted, and 3) suffering physically. Therefore, the myth that Asian Americans are immune to racism and its effects is not necessarily true. This study also offers implications for future research on racial understanding and discussion.
Downloads
Article Details
The copyright of the accepted article shall be assigned to the publisher of the journal. The intended copyright includes the right to publish the article in various forms (including reprints). The journal maintains the publishing rights to published articles.
In line with the license, authors and any users (readers and other researchers) are allowed to share and adapt the material only for non-commercial purposes. In addition, the material must be given appropriate credit, provided with a link to the license, and indicated if changes were made. If authors remix, transform, or build upon the material, authors must distribute their contributions under the same license as the original.
References
Abrams, Z. (2021). The mental health impact of anti-Asian racism. Monitor on Psychology, 52(5), 22.
Ahrens, R. P. (2020). COVID-19 impact on Asian American and Pacific Islander mental and physical health. OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates.
Benner, A. D., Wang, Y., Shen, Y., Boyle, A. E., Polk, R., & Cheng, Y.-P. (2018). Racial/ethnic discrimination and well-being during adolescence: A meta-analytic review. American Psychologist, 73(7), 855–883. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000204
Bernard, H. R. (2012). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (2nd ed.). SAGE Publishing.
Bhangal, N., & Poon, O. (2020, January 15). Are Asian Americans white? Or people of color? Yes Magazine. https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2020/01/15/asian-americans-people-of-color
Bird, C. M., Webb, E. K., Schramm, A. T., Torres, L., Larson, C., & DeRoon‐Cassini, T. A. (2021). Racial discrimination is associated with acute posttraumatic stress symptoms and predicts future posttraumatic stress disorder symptom severity in trauma‐exposed Black adults in the United States. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 34(5), 995–1004. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22670
Bryant-Davis, T., & Ocampo, C. (2005). Racist incident-based Trauma. The Counseling Psychologist, 33(4), 479–500. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000005276465
Budiman, A. (2021). Indonesians in the U.S. fact sheet. Paw Research Center.
Burns, N. (1989). Standards for qualitative research. Nursing Science Quarterly, 2(1), 44–52. https://doi.org/10.1177/089431848900200112
Burt, C. H., Simons, R. L., & Gibbons, F. X. (2012). Racial discrimination, ethnic-racial socialization, and crime. American Sociological Review, 77(4), 648–677. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122412448648
Cao, W., Fang, Z., Hou, G., Han, M., Xu, X., Dong, J., & Zheng, J. (2020). The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. Psychiatry Research, 287, 112934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112934
Carlson, E. B. (1997). Trauma assessments: A clinician’s guide. Guilford Press.
Carlson, E. B., Dalenberg, C., & McDade-Montez, E. (2012). Dissociation in posttraumatic stress disorder part I: Definitions and review of research. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 4(5), 479–489. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027748
Carter, R. T., & Pieterse, A. L. (2020). Measuring the effects of racism: Guidelines for the assessment and treatment of race-based traumatic stress injury. Columbia University Press.
Carter, Robert T. (2007). Racism and psychological and emotional injury: Recognizing and assessing race-based traumatic stress. The Counseling Psychologist, 35(1), 13–105. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000006292033
Chapman, A. (2020). Ameliorating COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on Black and Hispanic communities: Proposed policy initiatives for the United States. Health and Human Rights, 22(2), 329–331. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33390721
Chavez-Dueñas, N. Y., Adames, H. Y., & Organista, K. C. (2014). Skin-color prejudice and within-group racial discrimination. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 36(1), 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986313511306
Chavez-Dueñas, N. Y., Adames, H. Y., Perez-Chavez, J. G., & Salas, S. P. (2019). Healing ethno-racial trauma in Latinx immigrant communities: Cultivating hope, resistance, and action. American Psychologist, 74(1), 49–62. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000289
Cheah, C. S. L., Wang, C., Ren, H., Zong, X., Cho, H. S., & Xue, X. (2020). COVID-19 racism and mental health in Chinese American families. Pediatrics, 146(5). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-021816
Chen, Z., Williams, K. D., Fitness, J., & Newton, N. C. (2008). When hurt will not heal: Exploring the capacity to relive social and physical pain. Psychological Science, 19(8), 789–795. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02158.x
Chou, T., Asnaani, A., & Hofmann, S. G. (2012). Perception of racial discrimination and psychopathology across three U.S. ethnic minority groups. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 18(1), 74–81. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025432
Fusch, P., & Ness, L. (2015). Are we there yet? Data saturation in qualitative research. The Qualitative Report, 20(9), 1408–1416. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2015.2281
Gearing, R. E. (2004). Bracketing in research: A typology. Qualitative Health Research, 14(10), 1429–1452. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732304270394
Gee, G. C., Ro, A., Shariff-Marco, S., & Chae, D. (2009). Racial discrimination and health among Asian Americans: Evidence, assessment, and directions for future research. Epidemiologic Reviews, 31(1), 130–151. https://doi.org/10.1093/epirev/mxp009
Giorgi, A., & Giorgi, B. (2008). Phenomenology. In Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods (pp. 25–50). Sage Publications.
Goldmann, E., & Galea, S. (2014). Mental health consequences of disasters. Annual Review of Public Health, 35(1), 169–183. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032013-182435
Gover, A. R., Harper, S. B., & Langton, L. (2020). Anti-Asian hate crime during the COVID-19 pandemic: Exploring the reproduction of inequality. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 45(4), 647–667. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-020-09545-1
Ha, S. K., Nguyen, A. T., Sales, C., Chang, R. S., Ta, H., Chung, S., Palaniappan, L., & Lin, B. (2020). Increased self-reported discrimination and concern for physical assault due to the Covid-19 pandemic in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, and Filipino Americans. MedRxiv - the Preprint Server for Health Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.15.20194720
Haney, C. (2020). Criminality in context: The psychological foundations of criminal justice reform. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000172-000
Hay, A., & Caspani, M. (2020, February 14). Fake flyers and face-mask fear: California fights coronavirus discrimination. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-usa-discrimination-idUSKBN208063
Helms, J. E., Nicolas, G., & Green, C. E. (2010). Racism and ethnoviolence as trauma: Enhancing professional training. Traumatology, 16(4), 53–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534765610389595
Jeong, H., Yim, H. W., Song, Y.-J., Ki, M., Min, J.-A., Cho, J., & Chae, J.-H. (2016). Mental health status of people isolated due to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. Epidemiology and Health, 38, e2016048. https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2016048
Karlsen, S., & Nazroo, J. Y. (2002). Relation between racial discrimination, social class, and health among ethnic minority groups. American Journal of Public Health, 92(4), 624–631. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.92.4.624
Misra, S., Le, P. D., Goldmann, E., & Yang, L. H. (2020). Psychological impact of anti-Asian stigma due to the COVID-19 pandemic: A call for research, practice, and policy responses. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(5), 461–464. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000821
Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. SAGE Publications.
Murray, S. J., & Holmes, D. (2014). Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and the ethics of body and place: Critical methodological reflections. Human Studies, 37(1), 15–30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10746-013-9282-0
Nadal, K. L., Griffin, K. E., Hamit, S., Leon, J., Tobio, M., & Rivera, D. P. (2012). Subtle and overt forms of Islamophobia: Microaggressions toward Muslim Americans. Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.3998/jmmh.10381607.0006.203
Paradies, Y., Ben, J., Denson, N., Elias, A., Priest, N., Pieterse, A., Gupta, A., Kelaher, M., & Gee, G. (2015). Racism as a determinant of health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Plos One, 10(9), e0138511. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0138511
Phelan, J. C., & Link, B. G. (2015). Is racism a fundamental cause of inequalities in health? Annual Review of Sociology, 41(1), 311–330. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-073014-112305
Pieterse, A. L., Todd, N. R., Neville, H. A., & Carter, R. T. (2012). Perceived racism and mental health among Black American adults: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 59(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026208
Raffanti, M. A. (2008). Leaders “sitting beside” followers: A phenomenology of teacher leadership. Journal of Ethnographic & Qualitative Research, 3(1), 58–68.
Reiners, G. M. (2012). Understanding the differences between Husserl’s (descriptive) and Heidegger’s (interpretive) phenomenological research. Journal of Nursing & Care, 01(05), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.4172/2167-1168.1000119
Roberts, S. O., & Rizzo, M. T. (2021). The psychology of American racism. American Psychologist, 76(3), 475–487. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000642
Ruteere, M. (2016). Special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. United Nations - Human Right Council. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/1293843?ln=en
Salama, N., & Chikudate, N. (2021). Religious influences on the rationalization of corporate bribery in Indonesia: A phenomenological study. Asian Journal of Business Ethics, 10(1), 85–102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13520-021-00123-0
Salama, N., El-Rahman, M. J., & Sholihin, M. (2020). Investigation into obedience in the face of unethical behavior. Psikohumaniora: Jurnal Penelitian Psikologi, 5(2), 207–218. https://doi.org/10.21580/pjpp.v5i2.7074
Sanchez, D., & Awad, G. H. (2016). Ethnic group differences in racial identity attitudes, perceived discrimination and mental health outcomes in African American, Black Caribbean and Latino Caribbean college students. International Journal of Culture and Mental Health, 9(1), 31–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/17542863.2015.1081955
Sanders, P. (1982). Phenomenology: A new way of viewing organizational research. The Academy of Management Review, 7(3), 353–360. https://doi.org/10.2307/257327
Seaton, E. K., & Iida, M. (2019). Racial discrimination and racial identity: Daily moderation among Black youth. American Psychologist, 74(1), 117–127. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000367
Seaton, E. K., & Zeiders, K. H. (2021). Daily racial discrimination experiences, ethnic–racial identity, and diurnal cortisol patterns among Black adults. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 27(1), 145–155. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000367
Skewes, M. C., & Blume, A. W. (2019). Understanding the link between racial trauma and substance use among American Indians. American Psychologist, 74(1), 88–100. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000331
Sue, D. W., Bucceri, J., Lin, A. I., Nadal, K. L., & Torino, G. C. (2007). Racial microaggressions and the Asian American experience. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 13(1), 72–81. https://doi.org/10.1037/1099-9809.13.1.72
Supriyanto, Y. (2021, March 27). Dua WNI jadi korban kekerasan rasial di Philadelphia, Amerika Serikat. Kabar24. https://kabar24.bisnis.com/read/20210327/19/1373269/dua-wni-jadi-korban-kekerasan-rasial-di-philadelphia-amerika-serikat
Tessler, H., Choi, M., & Kao, G. (2020). The anxiety of being Asian American: Hate crimes and negative biases during the COVID-19 pandemic. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 45(4), 636–646. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-020-09541-5
US Census Bureau - American Community Survey. (2019). Asian American population by state. Asia Matters for America Matters for Asia. https://asiamattersforamerica.org/asia/data/population
Williams, D. R., Neighbors, H. W., & Jackson, J. S. (2003). Racial/ethnic discrimination and health: Findings from community studies. American Journal of Public Health, 93(2), 200–208. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.93.2.200
Wincup, E. (2017). Criminological research: Understanding qualitative methods (2nd ed.). London: SAGE Publication Inc.
Wirajuda, T. (2021, March 28). 2 Indonesian citizens fall victim to racial abuse in the US. Kompas.com. https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/03/28/065719474/2-indonesian-citizens-fall-victim-to-racial-abuse-in-the-us
Yip, T., Smith, P., Tynes, M., Mirpuri, S., Weems, A., & Cheon, Y. M. (2021). Discrimination and hair cortisol concentration among Asian, Latinx and White young adults. Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology, 6, 100047. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100047
Zeiders, K. H., Landor, A. M., Flores, M., & Brown, A. (2018). Microaggressions and diurnal cortisol: Examining within-person associations among African-American and Latino young adults. Journal of Adolescent Health, 63(4), 482–488. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.04.018
Zhou, S., Banawa, R., & Oh, H. (2021). The mental health impact of COVID-19 racial and ethnic discrimination against Asian American and Pacific Islanders. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 708426. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.708426