Family Ideals vs. the Individual

There’s an article I read that discusses Filipino American’s view on family vs. the individual. Filipino Americans are the 2nd largest Asian group in America and boast a cultural feature of strong interdependence and togetherness. The family structure is very relational, hierarchical, and communal. Elders are greatly respected, and it is expected that the younger generations care for the older generations to the best of their ability. I see this in my own family as my grandmother lived with us for a while and then lived with my uncle for years after her series of strokes. Also, my two great aunts both live with their daughters and their daughter’s family to help raise the children and support that idea of a multigenerational, interdependent family structure. The article also discusses that when counseling a Filipino American, it is very important to hold great respect for the core value of kapwa, or shared identity or interacting on an equal basis with a fellow human being. In terms of health conditions, most Filipino Americans will turn to their family members for care before going to a hospital or therapist and will only do so after the situation becomes dire. This is also very apparent in my family. When my aunt was struggling with depression, my mom and her cousins went over everyday to take care of her kids, clean the house, feed everyone, and talk to her about everything that was going on. Everyone in my family knows everyone’s business, and I honestly can say that no one in my family has ever been to a psychiatrist because the family usually deals with it as a whole without professional help. So this answers all the questions about how Filipino Americans truly view the family structure and how their cultural views on it come with them once they immigrate, but what makes you part of the family? Is it just simply a blood relationship?


Screwed-up Medical Misfortunes 2003 “Filipino Americans: Family vs. Individual”,

Electronic document, http://freednerd.wordpress.com/2006/09/01/filipino-americans-family-vs-individual/ accessed April 9, 2007