Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2021-12
Navigating Minority and Majority Cultures in Emerging Adulthood: A Pilot Study of Young Hearing Adults of Deaf Parents and Young Heterosexual Adults of Lesbian/Gay Parents
This exploratory study examined the navigation of emerging adulthood for six young hearing adults raised by Deaf parents and six young heterosexual adults raised by lesbian or gay parents. Qualitative analysis of semistructured in-depth interviews conveyed the state of unfinished adulthood—emerging adulthood—a betweenness of not quite adult but not “not” an adult. This sense of betweenness was compounded by and carried into identity and culture—feeling outside but being viewed as inside majority (heteronormative, hearing-normative) culture, while feeling inside but being viewed outside of minority (lesbian/gay, Deaf) culture. The two groups articulated similar challenges, stresses, and opportunities given this betweenness as well as unique struggles and opportunities as to the sense of fit with, value of, and affirmation by minority and majority cultures and the impact on emerging adulthood tasks. Further analysis identified helpful strategies and coping mechanisms used in navigating this transition.
ArnettJ. J. (2014). Presidential address: The emergence of emerging adulthood: A personal history. Emerging Adulthood, 2, 155–162. doi:10.1177/2167696814541096
2.
Benet-MartínezV.HaritatosJ. (2005). Bicultural identity integration (BII): Components and psychosocial antecedents. Journal of Personality, 73, 1015–1050. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2005.00337.x
3.
BronfenbrennerU.MorrisP. A. (1998). The ecology of developmental processes. In Damon (Series Ed.)W.LernerR. M. (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development (Vol. 1, pp. 993–1028). New York, NY: Wiley.
4.
CarlsonC. L. (2014). Seeking self-sufficiency: Why emerging adult college students receive and implement parental advice. Emerging Adulthood, 2, 257–269. doi:10.1177/2167696814551785
5.
DrevdahlD. J. (2002). Home and border: The contradictions of community. Advanced Nursing Science, 24, 8–20.
6.
FergusonG. M.AdamsB. G. (2016). Americanization in the rainbow nation: Remote acculturation and psychological well-being of South African emerging adults. Emerging Adulthood, 4, 104–118. doi:10.1177/2167696815599300
7.
GarnerA. (2004). Families like mine: Children of gay parents tell it like it is. New York, NY: Harper.
8.
GoldbergA. E. (2007). (How) does it make a difference? Perspectives of adults with lesbian, gay and bisexual parents. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 77, 550–562.
9.
GoldbergA. E.KinklerL. A.RichardsonH. B.DowningJ. B. (2012). On the border: Young adults with LGBQ parents navigate LGBTQ communities. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 59, 71–85.
10.
GwetK. L. (2014). Handbook of inter-rater reliability: The definitive guide to measuring the extent of agreement among raters (4th ed.). Gaithersburg MD: Advanced Analytics, LLC.
11.
HadjikakouK.ChristodoulouD.HadjidemetriE.KonidariM.NicolaouN. (2009). The experiences of Cypriot hearing adults with Deaf parents in family, school, and society. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 14, 486–502. doi:10.1093/deafed/enp011
12.
KatsiaficasD.Suárez-OrozcoC.DiasS. I. (2015). “When do I feel like an adult?” Latino and Afro-Caribbean immigrant-origin community college students’ conceptualizations and experiences of (emerging) adulthood. Emerging Adulthood, 3, 98–112. doi:10.1177/2167696814548059
13.
KrebsN. B. (1999). Edgewalkers: Defusing cultural boundaries on the new global frontier. Liberty Corner, NJ: New Horizon Press.
14.
LaddP. (2003). Understanding deaf culture: In search of deafhood. Buffalo, NY: Multilingual Matters.
15.
LincolnY.GubaE. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. New York, NY: Sage.
16.
MaxwellJ. A. (1996). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
17.
Mudgett-DecaroP. (1998). On being both hearing and deaf: My bicultural-bilingual experience. In ParasnisI. (Ed.), Cultural and language diversity and the deaf experience (pp. 272–288). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
18.
PattonM. Q. (2002). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
19.
PrestonP. (1994). Mother father deaf: Living between sound and silence. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
20.
Santiago-DelefosseM.GavinA.BruchezC.RouxP.StephenS. L. (2016). Quality of qualitative research in the health sciences: Analysis of the common criteria present in 58 assessment guidelines by expert users. Social Science & Medicine, 148, 142–151.
21.
SchwabJ. R.SyedM. (2015). Qualitative inquiry and emerging adulthood: Meta-theoretical and methodological issues. Emerging Adulthood, 3, 388–399. doi:10.1177/2167696815587801
22.
SedikidesC.BrewerM. B. (Eds.). (2001). Individual self, relational self, and collective self: Partners, opponents or strangers?Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.
23.
StraussA.CorbinJ. (2007). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
24.
Van MaanenJ. (1983). Qualitative methodology. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
25.
WarneckeR. B.JohnsonT. P.ChávezN.SudmanS.O’RourkeD. P.LaceyL.HormJ. (1997). Improving question wording in surveys of culturally diverse populations. Annals of Epidemiology, 7, 334–342.
