Chapter 8: Behind the “Model Minority” Mask: A Cultural Ecological Perspective on a High Achieving Vietnamese Youth's Identity and Socio-Emotional Struggles

From a cultural ecological perspective, this case study seeks to understand the identity development and socio-emotional struggles of a high achieving Vietnamese American adolescent during her acculturation processes. The Vietnamese American female high school student’s narratives reveal that despite her academic success, factors such as family immigration history and early resettlement experience, Vietnamese cultural traditions, her multiple responsibilities and roles at home, together with negative social context of reception, have resulted in profound social isolation and psychological stress. Her struggles suggest that for immigrant youth, high achieving or not, their identity development and socio-emotional well-being are dependent upon a complex combination of home, school, and societal issues. These interactive effects require schools and families to forgo the stereotypical image of Asian American students as a problem-free “model minority” and move beyond a narrow focus on the youths’ academic achievement to include attention to their socio-emotional needs and psychosocial well-being.