Book Summary:
This comprehensive compilation of information on virtually every aspect of Cambodian culture is a practical resource for health care and social service providers, hospitals, agencies, and students of intercultural studies. Comparatively researched in rural Cambodian villages and among refugees in the United States, this work is unique in its scope and detail about this American subculture.
Significant challenges to traditional attitudes, beliefs, values, and expectations impact Cambodian refugees differentially according to generation, former family situation, and opportunities or barriers experienced in the United States. The horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime are reflected in Cambodians' frequent inability to adapt successfully to an alien environment. This work highlights the dynamic but stressful transitions currently experienced by this resilient people.
The book first explores the Cambodian religious spectrum both in Cambodia and in the United States, and provides insight into values, ethics, norms, affect, etiquette, and a framework for negotiating ethical issues. It also illuminates everyday life and life passages, including language use, habitat, family structure and roles, hygiene and grooming, child and adolescent development, courtship and marriage, and issues at the end of life. A section is devoted to health issues, describing traditional healing techniques and Cambodian attitudes about biomedicine both in Cambodia and in the United States. Findings from the medical literature are also summarized. The work also features chapters on finding and effectively using interpreters and conducting an adequate cultural assessment. An appendix provides specific need to know areas for nine professional groups. |