HISPANIC FAMILY REINTEGRATION

This year, more than 630,000 people were released from state and federal prisons: within three years of release,an astounding 52% return to prison…(C.Shapiro, September, 2003) Approximately 62% of the admissions were African American and about 15% were Hispanic (La Bodega Familia,New Jersey)

STEREOTYPICAL IDENTIFICATIONS OF HISPANICS

FAMILIA GREEN CARDS RAZA RELIGION TRADITIONAL “WET BACK” “GREASERS” IMIGRANTS “SPICS” BEANERS LATINO/LATINA UNDOCUMENTED CHICANO/CHICANA

FAMILYNUCLEAR FAMILY - FATHER – MOTHER – SON –DAUGHTER

EXTENDED FAMILY GRANDPARENTS – UNCLES – AUNTS – COUSINS

FICTIVE KIN COMPADRE/COMADRE – PADRINO - MADRINA

WHAT DOES THE HISPANIC CULTURE LOOK LIKE?

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION IS IMPORTANT (RURAL VS METROPOLITAN) LANGUAGE VARIES (SPANISH, PUERTO RICAN, CUBAN, SPANGLISH) SPIRITUAL BELIEFS (NOT ALL HISPANICS ARE CATHOLICS) TRADITIONAL (SOME HISPANICS ARE MORE TRADITIONAL THAN OTHERS) INTUITIVE (I FEEL IT RECORDER) PERSONAL RELATIONAL (GROUP, FAMILY ORIENTED) SYMBOLIC (SAINTS) HISPANICS TEND TO OPERATE ON EXTERNAL CONTROLS (FAMILY, JOB,

AUTHORITY FIGURES, OR INSTITUTIONS) WHERE A PERSON FROM ANOTHER CULTURE MAY SAY “I MISSED THE BUS”

THE HISPANIC WILL PROBABLY SAY “EL AUTOBUS ME DEJO”

HISPANIC VALUES HUMAN INTERACTION DOMINATES HEART FIESTA FAMILY – COOPERATION – GROUP WELFARE LOVE SONG POETRY TOUCH UNITY OF FEELINGS BIRTHRIGHT INHERITANCE HIERARCHY/RANK/STATUS IDEALISM DESTINY RELIGION (GOD)

ACCULTURATION

IT IS IMPORTANT TO ASSESS THE HISPANIC CLIENT’S LEVEL OF ACCULTURATION-

DOES HE/SHE SPEAK ENGLISH IF SO HOW GOOD? WHAT KIND OF PROGRAMS DOES HE/ SHE WATCH, (SPANISH OR

ENGLISH)? WHAT LANGUAGE DID THEY USE AS A CHILD? WHAT LANGUAGE IS SPOKEN AT HOME AND AT FAMILY GATHERINGS? IN WHICH LANGUAGE DOES HE/SHE THINK? WHAT LANGUAGE IS THE MUSIC HE/SHE LISTEN TO? DOES HE/SHE ATTEND SOCIAL GATHERINGS WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE OF

DIFFERENT ETHNICITIES OR ARE THEY ALL HISPANIC, OR MORE HISPANICS THAN NON-HISPANIC?

WHO ARE THEIR CLOSE FRIENDS – HISPANIC, MOSTLY HISPANIC, ETC. DO THEY READ/WRITE IN BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH OR JUST SPANISH

OR JUST ENGLISH.

MI HIJITO SYNDROME

THIS SYNDROME IS COMMON IN MANY HISPANIC FAMILIES!

HIERARCHY THE WOMAN IS THE GATE

WAY TO HEAVEN! THE MAN IS IN CHARGE

WHEN IN PUBLIC! THE OLDEST SON GETS THE

PROPERTY THE YOUNGEST DAUGHTER

GETS THE PARENTS THE MIJITO LIVES AT HOME

UNTIL THE PARENTS ARE GONE AND THEN THE DAUGHTER INHERITS HIM.

APPROACHES TO FAMILY REINTEGRATION

FAMILY THERAPY (THERAPIST SHOULD BE CULTURALLY COMPETENT)

GENOGRAM (IDENTIFY DYSFUNCTION AND ATTRIBUTES OF THE FAMILY

ECOMAP (RESOURCES OUTSIDE THE FAMILY) IDENTIFY THE MATRIARCH/PATRIARCH (WHO IS IN

CHARGE)OF THE FAMILY ASSESS ACCULTURATION LEVEL IDENTIFY RELIGIOUS AFFILIATIONS MATCH THE OFFENDER WITH A CULTURALLY

COMPETENT COUNSELOR CASE MANAGMENT

LANDSCAPE OF REENTRY

Since the mid-1980’s, the number of new admissions based on parole violations has grown. Parole violator admissions grew nearly seven-fold.

The extraordinary challenges facing returning individuals are also exacerbated by generational poverty and familial involvement in the criminal justice system.

REENTRY - CONTINUED

However, merely training local parole and probation officers and other community-based service providers in a family-support model will not yield long-term, pervasive change. For that, it is critical to have a systematic statewide process of identifying and engaging the leadership within the criminal justice system as well as within social service delivery system. (C. Shapiro, September, 2003)