Critical Events Shaping the Hispanic Woman's Identity.

Abstract

The past decade has seen a surge in both popular and scholarly work on the issues that affect women's lives. To discover events perceived to have been turning points in the identity formation of Hispanic women, 25 Mexican-American women and 25 Puerto Rican women living in Chicago were interviewed by two female Hispanic interviewers. In addition to demographic information, subjects were asked what events or turning points in their lives made a difference in their feelings and understanding about themselves. A total of 189 events were obtained, with most women mentioning about 5. Two Hispanic women were trained to code the responses into five general categories: (1)_relational; (2) work related; (3) educational; (4) personal; and (5) health related. Results showed events involving relationships (marriage, divorce, motherhood) comprised the largest single category of critical events. However, over half the reported critical events involved events other than relational. Results were also compared with those of an earlier study using a sample of black and white women. Overall results point to shared experiences shaping the identities of women regardless of cultural differences. Interview data from the Hispanic study suggest that no single event was critical in shaping the liver of all the Hispanic women. The women saw themselves not only as bicultural but in multi-roles as well. The appendices contain demographic characteristics of the sample, a summary of categories of perceived critical events, and references. (JAC) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** 1`4N C) CRITICAL EVENTS SHAPING THE HISPANIC WOMAN'S EUEWTITY

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