Child Abuse Among Asian Americans

From http://modelminority.com/article469.html

Child Abuse Among Asian Americans

By Emily Guey
Special to ModelMinority.comJuly 2003

Introduction

Child maltreatment among Asian Americans today sadly remains unexposed. The purpose of this paper is to uncover the nature of child abuse and neglect, also called CAN, in Asian Americans and reasons for its lack of visibility. Only from taking this first step of uncovering child abuse can an effective effort to fight it develop, because only there can all-out efforts be made to try and protect victims.

It is through my vulnerability as an Asian American who has personally experienced child abuse that I unravel its complex cultural roots. My impetus, as implicitly stated in the title, reflects my determination to create wholeness from a broken past by sharing, rather than remaining torn, embittered and silent. I am neither condemning nor rejecting the values of my heritage, but rather, making others aware that child maltreatment can arise from cultural roots. I also hope to shed light on the hidden nature of abuse that keeps this problem locked behind the closed doors of family homes.This paper focuses on Asian American groups in which CAN has been almost invisible: Chinese, Japanese, Philippines, Koreans, and Vietnamese. In addition, CAN in Southeast Asian groups is touched upon, primarily the U.S. refugees of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. This paper touches on the circumstances of the present generation of Asian and Southeast Asians, who continue to immigrate to the U.S. and concentrates on that of previous generations. Asians continue to immigrate to the U.S. in strong numbers. As the first generation brings the cultural roots of CAN to the U.S., concentrating on the first, as opposed to the second generation, would deal directly with the current unmet pressing issues.

The importance of such a study cannot be underestimated. Child maltreatment in any form is painful, and if not addressed, will not only create deep wounds, but also spark further cycles of abuse. Another reason this topic is important is that, because Asian culture is very different from Western culture, child abuse among Asian Americans is often misunderstood by Americans.

The paper is divided into four sections, each hoping to explain an aspect of the unexposed issues related to CAN among Asian Americans. The first, Child Abuse and Neglect Among Asian Americans, compares Asian and American definitions of CAN, and provides examples among Asian Americans. The second, Causes of Child Maltreatment among Asian Americans, gives an overview of Asians and Southeast Asians, and studies the background of the most recent generation, from parental pressure to discriminatory facets of Asian American life, that may lead to maltreatment. The third section, The Hidden Nature of Maltreatment among Asian Americans, focuses on how the cultural roots of Asia, and model minority myth lead to the underreporting of abuse. The last section, Prevention Services, provides a general overview of existing programs, policies, and public awareness campaigns to counteract CAN among Asian Americans.

This paper seeks to provide information that will ultimately serve as a bridge between Asians and Americans. This bridge can hopefully be the link to the creation of more effective services that can match the needs of Asian-American children. The wave of immigration for the present-day Asian-American generation has just begun, and now is the time for the problems to be exposed. The East and West have met, and although there are challenges facing them, these are not insurmountable. A clearer understanding of both sides, East and West, will hopefully be deduced from this work, and can help to diminish those challenges.

Child Abuse and Neglect Among Asian Americans
Child abuse and neglect has been a difficult topic for the West and East to confront. While the West has taken larger steps in approaching this issue, the East lags behind. Separately attacking child maltreatment in the East and in the West is difficult enough. Tackling this issue, however, in the presence of both East and West, requires much insight. Part of the challenge lies in the different perceptions of CAN by Americans and Asians.Even in the U.S., with its complex infrastructure and democratic process, combating CAN is still relatively new. From the first reported case of child abuse in the 1800s, to the recognition of the “battered child syndrome” in the 1960s (Tower, 1999, p.12), to the 1974 Congressional enactment of the important federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act or CAPTA (Barnett, 1997), America’s take on children’s rights has slowly but persistently been established, with most efforts taking place in the past few decades. In Asia, on the other hand, abuse is still, due to cultural roots, a hard issue to tackle, for battered adults. Children, who naturally have a smaller voice in society than adults, therefore, have an even harder time defending themselves in the face of maltreatment. Domestic violence in Asia has just recently started gaining attention, and CAN has yet to start being challenged. The Domestic Violence Act of 1994 was amended in May 2003 to address emotional abuse (Pertubuhan Berita Nasional Malaysia, 2003), something that Americans have long since addressed in child abuse cases, and even longer in domestic violence cases.
The current US federal definition of child abuse, taken directly from the 1974 legislation is: “at minimum, any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, seriously physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.” Child maltreatment takes on four broad forms: emotional abuse, neglect, physical abuse and sexual abuse. (National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1999).

Asians have commonly believed that child abuse is only defined as extreme physical torture exerted on a child. Only in extreme cases involving such drastic physical torture from beatings in the bathtub, to abandonment of infants in coin lockers (WuDunn, 1999), to severe maternal beatings resulting in death of a four-year old son (Kyodo News Service, 2003), child abuse would be justifiably reported. These cases, apparently caused in large part by economic stress or anger from marriage problems, are not rare. Ministries of Health and Welfare in Asia suspect that, as they begin to intervene in cases of abuse, many more cases of even more severe extremes, problems many did not believe had existed, will come to light (WuDunn, 1999).
More dangerous physical behavior and treatment, including “kicking, beating, slapping, and using objects that caused injuries or deaths,” have been documented (Pertubuhan Berita Nasional Malaysia, 2003, last section).

In March 2003, a Japanese newspaper that shares unusual observations correlated a decline in mothers’ morals with child abuse. Incidents of emotional abuse were reflected in several cases: a woman sending her teen-age daughter to steal; another, jeopardizing her young daughter’s health by forcing her to go out with her mother’s boyfriend; another, forcing her child to buy food even with a high fever and bad cold. Although these reported cases of mothers imposing slavish demands on their daughters are extreme, they indicate that Asians are starting to recognize that abuse is not confined only to physical treatments, but nonphysical as well. (Connell, 2003).

More modest cases, however, are less likely to be recognized than these blatantly abusive ones. For Asian families, the general assumption is that physical punishment or discipline by striking a child does not qualify as abuse (Tran, 1997). CAPTA standards, however, indicate that physical abuse constitutes “hitting, punching, shaking, kicking, and beating” (National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1999, para.7), forms which Asian physical punishment or discipline may take on. Additionally, other key facets of child abuse recognized by the U.S., from emotional abuse to physical neglect, have been, and still are ignored by most Asians (Pertubuhan Berita Nasional Malaysia, 2003). In 2000, 49.7 percent of reported cases in Japan concerned physical abuse, while 10.1 and 36.5 percent concerned emotional and neglect, respectively (Asia Human Rights News, 2001).

CAPTA standards on emotional abuse and neglect have only just recently been made known in Asia and are becoming slowly implemented. Emotional abuse includes acts that cause serious behavioral, cognitive, emotional, or mental disorders. From terrorizing a child, to using derogatory terms to describe the child, to habitual scapegoating or blaming, parents in America can be accused of emotional abuse. Neglect, on the other hand, takes on three different levels, including psychological. Lack of emotional support and love constitute psychological neglect. (National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1999).

Ultimately, the emotional abuse and neglect that is rooted into many common child-rearing techniques remain accepted to Asian Americans. Even among domestic violence cases, “psychological abuse, which is more common in daily life, is still not regarded by many Asians as a violation of human rights” (Financial Times Information, 2003, para. 7). Convincing Asians that psychological abuse among children is a form of child abuse would be very difficult, then, as Asians have believed for centuries that parental authority was virtually supreme (Tran, 1997).
Shaming children, often interpreted by non-Asian professionals as emotionally abusive (Tower, 1999), does not find the same consensus among most Asian parents. Asian parents often place unrealistically high expectations for their children, highlighted as a factor found in abusive parents (Gelles, 1997). The significant effects of the emotional abuse and neglect on the second- generation Asian American youth, however, may be sound enough to persuade first generation Asians. Amy Tan’s (1989) well-known book, The Joy Luck Club, abounds in examples of how shaming children and placing pressure affects second generation Asian Americans. Throughout the book, one of the main characters, Waverly, experiences emotional abuse, from feeling maternal pressure to win chess tournaments, to crying inside due to the hurt heart feeling maternal rejection, to worrying about how critical her mother would be towards her American boyfriend. Waverly embodies the effects of an Asian American who has unknowingly experienced emotional abuse and neglect. (Tan, 1989).

A real life example occurred in 1990 at the San Francisco Bay Area, when a Chinese American teenager ran away from her home, to avoid her father’s oppressive parenting methods. During his training routines, he would ask her to run home from school, the path stretching vertically 1,500 feet, while swinging a racquet. Such embarrassing schemes were meant to toughen her up mentally for tennis, his goal being for her to be the best player. Faced with the dilemma of many other second generation Asian Americans, the teen ‘s sudden break from home was undoubtedly a reaction to her totalitarian upbringing. (Wong, 100).

At an even more dramatic extreme are the Asian American youths that drive themselves to suicide from not living up to the wishes of their immediate families. Suicide rates among Asian American teens have risen threefold over the past twenty years, with Chinese-Americans 36% higher, and Japanese-Americans, 54% higher than the national average among other teens, compared to all teens in the U.S. combined. The alarming statistics on teenage suicides among Asian Americans point to a need to address the extreme parental pressure among these families. (Rigdon, 1991).

The definitions of child abuse for the Asian and American cultures differ markedly. Most Asians still perceive child abuse only as physical torture, disregarding emotional abuse and neglect. Americans accept a much broader definition, which encompasses not only physical, but also emotional abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse. Change is taking place slowly, however, and as more governmental intervention and exposure to domestic violence and CAN issues take place in Asia, Asian Americans will be more sensitive to their child rearing techniques. Second generation Asian Americans have suffered tremendously from the emotional abuse and neglect inherent in parental pressure, a common child rearing technique among Asian families, and it is past time for more attention on an issue that pervades the lives of countless Asian Americans (Rigdon, 1991).

Causes of Child Maltreatment Among Asian Families

In order to understand the causes of CAN, one must first understand the complicated background of Asian Americans, originating from Asia and Southeast Asia. Asians include Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Korean and Asian Indians. Their immigration started in 1848 and has reached exploding rates today, the Chinese and Filipino making up 23.7% and 18.1%, respectively, of the Asian American population in 2000, and while Asian Indians represent a smaller proportion of the Asian population (16.4%), they boasted a growth rate of 113.4% between 1990 and 2000 (APA Community, 2000). Southeast Asians have immigrated to the US in four waves of refugee exoduses, from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Among them, the Vietnamese holds an impressive growth rate, second only to the Asian Indians, at 89.2%. While the overall goals of coming to America have been the same – to seek the American dream – the reasons for and details surrounding the departure and arrival of each Asian ethnic group have been different.

Immigration patterns varied among Southeast Asian immigrants, even among the waves of refugee exoduses after the Vietnam War. The first wave of 1975 was comprised of South Vietnamese government employees, military personnel, and those employed by Americans in Vietnam. Well educated, they took on a variety of professional positions in medicine, engineering and business, for example. The second wave, which occurred between 1975 and 1978, comprised of the relatives of the first-wave immigrants, who arrived to escape the harsh life in the new economic zones resulting from war. The third wave, between 1978 and 1980, was comprised of the uneducated and illegal ‘boat people’ from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia who were fleeing the political oppression and economic conditions in their countries and lived in limbo in refugee camps. The most recent wave, from 1980 to 1990, consists of Southeast Asian prisoners released from reeducation camps. (Pang, 1998)

While early waves of immigrants from Southeast Asia adjusted relatively well to the new country, those arriving more recently still face the challenges of healing from war memories, making it very hard for them to feel at home. Most of the 100,000 Cambodian refugees are country folk, and carry deep psychological scars of war and mass exterminations (Takaki, 1989). Personality characteristics such as depression, anxiety, and antisocial behavior that result from the post-traumatic stress disorder, are also associated with violence against children (Gelles, 1997). Children of these refugees, then, who look up to their parents for a proper child rearing, are at risk of abuse and neglect. However, the special protection rights and CAN issues of refugee children are often neglected (Human Rights Watch, 2000).

Asians, on the other hand, have been in the U.S. much longer than their Southeastern counterparts. In the mid-1760s, Filipinos have worked as seamen for the Spanish galleon trade in Louisiana. Asian Indians migrated to become sea captains in Massachusetts and indentured servants or slaves in Pennsylvania beginning in the 1790s. However, little else is known about these earliest Asian Americans (Takaki, 1989).

The real wave of Asian immigration wave occurred between 1848 and 1924, mainly involving laborers for the railroad and agricultural production. The Chinese escaped from political and economic turmoil during the 1850s, found refuge in the gold rush through jobs, and became railroad workers in the mid 1860s. By 1870, they composed 9 percent of California’s population and a quarter of its work force. 38,000 Japanese arrived in the U.S. between 1902 and 1907 and became very successful by exploiting an economic niche in agriculture. However, due to the great economic success in their home country in the early part of the century, fewer Japanese have immigrated since. Between 1903 and 1905, the Japanese have increased control over Korea, making it difficult for Koreans to immigrate. The few Koreans who have come before 1940 are primarily California agricultural laborers. Filipinos have come to America in spurts, starting in 1898 after the Spanish-American War, in which US gained the Philippines. After first migrating to Hawaii as pensionados, students supported by government scholarships, they eventually became sugar plantation workers, totaling 28,000 in 1918. With the enactment of the 1924 Immigration Act, Filipinos came to the US, and by the late 1920s numbered 45,000 in the Pacific, making their mark primarily as young single labor union organizers of agriculture and services. Between 1904 and 1911, Asian Indians immigrated directly to the US, totaling 6,000, and worked in the California agricultural industry. (Fong, 2002).

Circumstances surrounding the second major wave of Asian immigration are much different than those of the first. A dramatic increase in Asian immigration occurred after the enactment of the 1965 Immigration Reform Act, rising almost 7 percent from 1960 to 1970, and another 22 percent from 1970 to 1980. The Immigration Act of 1990, while placing a cap on total immigration, authorized an increase in legal immigration to encourage the immigration of more skilled workers to help meet the needs of the US economy. The law attracted Asians, who since 1965, has been among the best-educated and trained immigrants in the US. (Fong, 2002).
Most of the Asian Americans today come from the second large wave of immigration after 1965, as well as from the children of the first wave of immigrants (Takaki, 1989). The current pressing nature of CAN among this growing generation compels the research to apply specifically to them. In order to target the causes of the commonly attributed Asian American parental pressure that so often results in the CAN discussed in the previous section, it is necessary to understand the greatness of the dreams that pushed them to move to America.

To them, America symbolized great opportunities, from education to freedom, for example in the Chinese case, from the Cultural Revolution. Hong Kong, for example, only had two universities (Takaki, 1989), and so to the new Chinese immigrants, the U.S. was a not only a new home, but a place of educational advantage for their children. Additionally, America, as one of the world’s leading nations, motivates many foreign countries to become more westernized. The Asia Marketing Association in South Korea, for example, reflects its deep passion for recruiting American students to commit one year in Seoul teaching English through its very convenient and attractive offers (Asia Marketing Association, 2003).

Hardly anything compares to the sacrifices and determination the Asians undertook to make it to this country. They were desperate to flee from such social plights as the 1989 Tianamen Square, China’s one-child policy, and relatively low earning standards. Many have risked the tortuous illegal immigration process, paying off the cost of thirty thousand later in America by working in low-paying restaurants and sweatshops. The tremendous sacrifices that the first-generation Asians have taken demonstrate the immense faith they had put in their children to move upward, living out a profession and lifestyle far better than what they could pursue in their home country. (Wong, 2001).

Coming from a culture in which education is king, it is no wonder Asians can have so much trust in their children to carry out the American dream through school. Japan’s ganbatte philosophy, which promotes industry among its workers and students has rubbed off on other Asian countries. University entrance exams in Asia are a national obsession. In contrast to the Scholastic Achievement Tests in America, which are held several times a year, these exams can only be taken once a year, making pressure to perform well on the tests much tougher for Asians. Massive amounts of media attention are placed on status and rank. National entrance exams are the only determinant for acceptance into university. The higher the score, the better chance the student will be accepted into a highly esteemed university. And the greater the university, the greater chance the student has in being hired by a highly esteemed company. (Rohlen, 1983).

Asian students are used to facing this sort of pressure, but the pressure is not, of course, without dysfunction. Exam pressures are responsible for high youth suicide rates, nervous disorders, and even delinquency. When first generation Asians arrive in America, they have already been wired to endure such educational pressure, and since they deeply believe that education is the key to climbing up the American ladder of success, they carry out the dreams for their children by pushing them to excel in school. (Rohlen, 1983).

Parental pressure on the children is intensified even further, not only by their inspiration to pursue greater dreams, but also by their knowledge of America’s history of discrimination towards Asians. In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, the only piece of federal legislation targeting a specific ethnic group, barring Chinese laborers from entering the US. During the last half of the nineteenth century, Asian Americans were forced to stand up for their rights of citizenship, as many were naturalized citizens, yet barred from reentering the US. The execution of the new welfare-reform law in 1996 made many noncitizens, who were perfectly legal residents ineligible for many public benefits. (Wong, 2001).

Struggling to become accustomed to a new country and bearing the discrimination and trials of immigrant was hard enough for Asian Americans. While many yearn to survive the tumultuous trip to America, few actually make it to the U.S. Those who do make it make the most out of their good fortune, and are exceptionally driven about carrying out their visions through their children. They unconsciously demand the same hard work and discipline on their children that they themselves had expended to arrive in the U.S. The pressure exerted on the children goes a long way, as the parents struggle to attain a dream that lies far above their initial status as immigrants. Once in the U.S., there is a long way to climb up until they can reach their ideal position.

Speaking a different language, for one thing, forces many Asian doctors to become US janitors, rather than to continue practicing in their profession. While 16 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander men over 25 years were holding executive positions, 21 percent were holding professional jobs in 1993(IMDiversity, 2003). Many were confined to making a living by washing dishes and cooking in downtown Chinatowns. Even though the immigrants of the second wave of immigrants were the most highly skilled immigrant group, their restricted employment possibilities created much anxiety for the families. (Takaki, 1989).

Their children are the ultimate bridge to fulfilling their hopes. Because education is one of the few avenues available to Asians, parents tend to have “unrealistically high expectations for their children, a factor found in abusive relationships” (Gelles, 1997). As a result, there is a strong obligation for the second generation to do well in school, as that is the key to employment. From a young age, children are immersed in academic endeavors to ensure a sound start to a good education. They spend intense hours on a daily basis from preparing for the SATs to getting a head start on calculus. The lack of role models for these children and their families to judge how much is good enough to obtain career security. First generation parents feel that in order to rise above adversity, their children cannot be any less than the best, since Americans will not take notice of them unless their achievements warrant outstanding attention.

Parents may unconsciously compare siblings’ achievement and engender pressure in other ways. Strict demands and responsibilities placed on girls and the oldest child to pay tribute to their specific cultural family roles are also common. Educational achievement and focus on cultural values, as well as expectations to succeed are expressed through the use of guilt and shame and family obligations. Children may miss out on youth, bowing to the immense pressures placed on them, the internalization of their parents’ dreams into their hearts too difficult to avoid. (Pang, 1998).

Asian Americans come from a diverse and strong cultural background. Since the second half of the eighteenth century, they have struggled to arrive in America seeking greater dreams. Most recently, with the passage of more opportunistic immigration laws, the first generation Americans are able to live out the dreams through their children. Education a key to success in their home countries, and the first-generation Asians perceive it as the answer to making those dreams come true in the U.S. as well. Faced with discrimination, shortcomings, and a cap on career opportunities, the push for their children to succeed is incredibly strong, often resulting in CAN. Relocation depression, insecurities, and stress-induced circumstances from the discouraging employment prospects for Asian Americans also increase the likeliness of CAN. In addition, intergenerational CAN brought over to America from the prevalence of domestic violence in Asia may promote cycles of abuse in families. CAN in Asian Americans, however, is very well hidden. In the next section, a glimpse at Asian cultural roots and Americans’ perspective of Asian Americans will unravel why.

Hidden Nature of Child Maltreatment

Asian Americans currently make up four percent of the population, but very few CAN cases are reported. The lack of reported cases does not correlate with a strong absence of CAN. As reflected from the previous sections, CAN is prevalent, yet it should not be surprising when one looks at the Asian values why it has been so underreported.

Obedience, conformity, and respect for authority, key Confucian ethics at the center of Asian life (Lee, 1996), make it excruciatingly painful for those experiencing violence to seek help. It’s hard enough breaking out of the family barriers of domestic violence in Asia. It becomes even more difficult in a foreign country where one has been faced with strong discrimination. If Asian Americans are faced with domestic violence or child maltreatment, even in the most extreme ways, these social and cultural values hold them back from seeking help.

When abuse is even harder to detect, as the case with “emotional and psychological abuse, which do not leave physical evidence, but can be as devastating to the child as physical or sexual abuse” (Winton, 2001, p.87), probably the most prevalent form of abuse in Asian Americans, the more likely it is to remain hidden. Furthermore, it is the Asian American’s reaction to the CAN that keeps it even less detectable. Many Asian Americans receive high academic grades in response to needing the approval of their parents and teachers. The desire to please their parents and attain the high parental expectations has been internalized (Pang, 1998), and even though test/achievement anxiety may be detected, a relationship between this and the CAN that usually causes such performance anxiety is hardly ever deduced.

Instead, exaggerated stereotypes about Asian Americans being the model minority have flowered. On one hand, the Model Minority Myth praises the Asian Americans’ hard work and success, for they are living proof that America is truly a land of opportunity. On the other hand, there are underlying damages behind this myth. Paying specific attention to the amazing achievements of the Model Minority has in effect, blocked outsiders from realizing the abusive struggles and pressures that many Asian Americans experience to attain such stellar academic recognition. It also forces Asian Americans, heavily influenced by the Confucian ethic of conformation, to feel pressured to conform to the ideals of the model minority. Indeed, Asian Americans are strongly represented at Ivy League universities: 11 percent at Harvard, 10 percent at Princeton, 16 percent at Stanford, and 21 percent at MIT (Takaki, 1989), compared to the overall 5 percent Asian American enrollment in all U.S. schools (ISACS, 2003).
In addition, direct conflicts between Eastern and Western values, keep an issue that is already tough to talk about even harder to confront. Americans, whose values are centered on independence, assertiveness, and individuality, have just a hard time relating to the Eastern cultural values of obedience, submission, and humility as the East has with the West. By nature, these differences set up barriers to Americans’ understanding the nature of CAN in Asian Americans. Because they are the minority, the rejection Asian Americans feel from not belonging in the mainstream American society is enough to set them apart from trustworthy relationships with Americans; it would be almost inconceivable to open up to Americans about their private problems. Americans, on the other hand, have little cause to suspect child abuse and neglect among Asian Americans because of their idealized status as the model minority.
Additional factors loom large with reporting CAN. Problems with speaking English, as with uneducated Vietnamese refugees, thicken the wall between those who need the post war counseling and those who can provide the professional assistance to prevent the abuse that is likely to occur with their stressful lives. Another inborn fear is that reporting CAN cases could have an adverse effect on the immigration status of the first generation class that worked so hard to arrive in the US. Asians are by nature very quiet and private, and this makes becoming more open about plights challenging. For over thirty-five years, the Japanese Americans who interned during World War II to could not speak up about how horrendously they had been treated (Takaki, 1989).

The silent cycle is hard to break, but the bolder each generation becomes, and as CAN becomes more recognized by the Asian American community, the more easily CAN to be tackled.

Prevention
Despite the hidden nature of CAN among Asian-Americans, growing exposure to the issue has spurred a flurry of government-sponsored programs in Japan and China, the two main Asian countries, as well as social service agencies in America that try to counteract this formerly invisible plight. The new services will prove important to Asians, as “they belong to the fastest-growing ethnic minority group in the US” (Takaki, 1989, p. 5).

Japan, one of the world’s foremost successful economic nations, has taken an unexpected turn from its ganbatte philosophy discussed previously, which has been a main cause of the extreme push to succeed among Asian-American students. Just two years ago, Iwate, a city in northeast Japan, developed an advertising scheme with the theme, ‘ganbaranai’, meaning, – “I won’t work so hard”. Although this idea was rejected among the older Japanese generations, many young people are happy with the fact that Japan has started straying away from its extreme determination for its youth to be so academically focused. The new slogan of ganbaranai to symbolize the new Japan is promising to help the Japanese realize there is more to life than work. (Green, 2003).

Japan may also be a model for the rest of Asia because it has taken great strides in combating child abuse. Exposure of the public to the issue was the first major step. The increased awareness of what is considered abuse of children accounts for the rise of reported cases of child abuse in Okinawa, which had about 1.5 times that of the national average in 2002 (News, 2003). In 1999, the Ministry of Health and Welfare commissioned its first child abuse survey, a great step forward from the past when the Government failed to keep track of cases (WuDunn, 1999). As reporting child abuse cases became more socially accepted, greater attention was turned to something that “had been happening for a very long time that’s just coming to the surface,” according to the director of Center for Child Abuse Prevention (WuDunn, 1999).
Child abuse inquiries in Japan have been up by 60% since 2000. A new law that required police to accompany welfare officials on home investigations was enforced November 2001. Since then, the ministry has learned of 22 deaths caused by child abuse (Asia Human Rights News, 2001). Spurred by this growing recognition of child abuse, delegates of Japanese social service agencies sought the help of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work in the U.S. to learn more about how Americans deal with such issues as parental rights, juvenile courts, foster care, and child abuse and neglect (Everding, 1999).

In addition, amendments and proposals to combat child abuse have been carefully prepared in Japan, which recently realized the lack of mental health professionals to cope with the rise of child abuse cases. An amendment “to rebuild families by providing psychological care for child and parents instead of the current policy of temporarily depriving parents of custody” (Kyodo News, 2003) has recently been established. A recent proposal from educators of child abuse prevention (2003) proponents highlights the following serious needs:
1. A trustworthy relationship between teachers and children
2. Training for teachers to recognize child abuse cases, as well as application of the training towards experience of actual abuse cases
3. Links between the school/teachers and Child Guidance clinics
4. Intervention for Child Neglect
5. Other professionals to realize teacher’s roles
6. Consideration for Children not being abused at the present, but who have experienced traumatic abuse in the past

China follows in Japan’s footsteps in counteracting uncomfortable issues that have traditionally remained behind closed doors, first targeting domestic violence, and then, slowly fighting child maltreatment. China’s unprecedented method of bringing domestic violence into the open with “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” a 23-part TV series on domestic violence in March, 2003 (China Daily, 2003) brings light to previously unacknowledged forms of domestic violence, such as psychological abuse. The creation of the anti-domestic violence team the same month in Beijing serves to combat domestic violence on a community level (BBC, 2003). In Bangkok, in April, 2003, the Child Protection Foundation organized the building of Baan Amphawa, which houses victims of violence, including children, and hopes to provide all children with education (Bangkok Post, 2003).

Slowly, the changes in these major Asian countries, from Japan’s more relaxed approach to educational achievement and strong CAN prevention strategies to China’s exposure of domestic violence and CAN, can serve as models for other Asian countries. As Asians start to be aware of these new facets of life, from education to child-rearing tactics, the demands they impose on their children when they migrate to the U.S. will not be as stressful as in the past. The effect of CAN in second generation Asian Americans, then, will be greatly diminished from the significant changes that have started occurring in Asia.

While Asia has made strides forward with developing programs to fight CAN, social services in the U.S. have tried to increase the understanding of CAN between Americans and Asians. Because the most recent wave of Asians to the US did not take place until 1965 (Wong, 2001), fewer than forty years ago, not much research and literature yet exists specifically on CAN among Asian-Americans, and therefore, very few existing social services truly match up to the needs. Cupertino, the city in the heart of Silicon Valley, boasted an Asian-American population of 13% in 1990 (Bensen, 1998). And yet, Silicon Valley’s largest provider of social services for Asian Americans, Asian Americans for Community Involvement, founded in 1973, only recently celebrated its 30th anniversary (AACI, 2003).

The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families in New York was not founded either until 1986, and has only been incorporated as an independent non-profit since 1992. It acknowledges that child welfare policies and services are rarely designed to meet the needs of the Asian American community. Specifically stating that: “The Asian American community is in no way immune to the problems surrounding CAN,” the coalition offers a very informative fact sheet to prevent immigrant families from unknowingly getting in trouble with the law simply because of differences in cultural influences on child rearing. While it advocates that immigrant families understand the consequences of CAN in the US, it also demands an understanding on the part of child welfare professionals and mandated reporters so that an ideal balance in resolving cultural differences can be established. (CACF, 2002)

Through the help of social services programs in Asia and America, exposure to and understanding of CAN issues will continue increasing. Only a short time has elapsed since the first Asians of the present wave of immigrants stepped foot on US soil, and even though there remains much to be done before the effects of CAN are fully resolved, the work that has already been accomplished sets a good start for the future.

Conclusion

Child abuse and neglect among Asians is an area that is prevalent yet very hard to confront. It transcends many aspects of life, from the private child rearing issues, to the public spotlight on the Asian American model minority. Much understanding between Asians and Americans remains to provide the services that will match the Asian American need of overcoming CAN. CAN usually takes the form of causing shame in children, emotionally abusing the child. Originating from Asian traditions of educational pressure, CAN often is hidden behind the spectacular achievements of Asian Americans.

The current mindset of Asians as the model minority further distorts the reality and pressing nature of CAN. In 1989, half of all immigrants entering annually were Asian (Takaki, 1989), and by 2020, Asian Americans will comprise almost 6 percent of the US population (Winton, 2001). Depression, suicide, and performance anxieties should not permeate Asian Americans to such a frightening degree. Surely, they should respect and honor their parents after all the hard sacrifice they have made for them, but respect should not mean bowing down to extremely unrealistic expectations, pressure that can permanently damage their mental health.
Doing justice to this combating CAN requires much insight and openness on both ends of the equation. From the Asians, accepting the child as not only a means to achieve a great purpose, but more importantly, a being that needs the emotional support to pursue a life of real purpose. And from the Americans, a genuine effort to understand Asians and create the special programs that will help alleviate both the latent and pervasive nature of CAN among Asians Americans.

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