Girls Torn Between Latino and American Culture.

Mariel Graeber #2

This article from CNN shows a study on 200 Latino girls half of which have attempted suicide in New York. The study shows that 14% of Latino female teenagers attempt suicide. The study concluded that the reason for attempting suicide is due depression caused by different cultural norms between the two cultures. The mothers of these young girls want them to learn to cook and clean for the family while their American counterparts want them to hang out and do American teenager activities. These young girls are caught in between two worlds.
There are a lot of example of social control in this article. The most obvious one is that when individuals, in this case young Latino teenagers can not live within the social norms of society they must find an escape. In this case it is suicide or an attempt of suicide. The girls stuck between the social norms of two cultures and if they do not choose then they can not feel confident in who they truly are. Society will either force them to assimilate or they must live with Latino cultural norms. These girls are turning to Physiological help when the issue if not can not be helped with this type of medicine the issue is instead embedded in the culture they choose. If these young teenagers do not choose a culture to abide by they will not be able conform to the social norms and in doing so they will need an escape.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/10/20/lia.latina.suicides/index.html