Case Study: The Lee Family

1. How is this family ‘constituted’ in the world? What customs, practices, beliefs and views of health are important to them?

The Lee family is of Hmong culture, they came to America as refugees from Laos. The Lee family has numerous practices and beliefs that differ from the American society they are in. Constitution can be explained as the formation of oneself from experiences, traditions, instructions and knowledge passed down from generations (Doane and Varco, 2015). These teachings and information we gain from our surrounding world impacts us as individuals and shapes how we see the world. Foua and her husband Nao Kao are parents to their fourteen children. If infertility were ever an issue for a Hmong family, “a txiv neeb might
They believed that they could influence health and illness, “once a Hmong woman became pregnant, she could ensure the health of her child by paying close attention to her food cravings” (p.4). The Hmong believed if a pregnant woman craved ginger and failed to eat it her child would be born with an extra finger, if she craved chicken did not eat her child would have a blemished ear, if she didn’t eat eggs they would be born with a lumpy head. Of their fourteen children Lia was born with a sickness. The Lee family believes that “…illness can be caused by a variety of sources…” (p. 10). These sources include consuming spoiled food or contaminated water, changes in the weather, not fully ejaculating during intercourse, and having interactions an evil spirit of which they call a dab, which can be triggered by a mistake or a penalty from their ancestors. The Lees believe that Lia’s illness, epilepsy, was caused by a loss of her soul by a dab, when her sister slammed a door in her face when she was of a young age. The Hmong did not always look at illness as a negative factor in someone’s life, being epileptic in Hmong culture was seen as an honour, as it is calling for that individual to become a shaman, or a txiv neeb, which is an immense healer. To the Hmong culture “becoming a txiv neeb is not a choice;
Adapting to American society the Hmong were only given the option to deliver their babies on a steel hospital bed, with many strangers surrounding them utilizing only sterile drapes, IV lines and artificial remedies. Their infants, who were usually immediately in the mothers arms, were taken and “…placed in a steel and Plexiglas warmer…” (p. 7). Hmong woman were rarely able to take the placenta home. Lia's placenta was incinerated, as doctors assumed that they wanted the placenta to consume it, this was not the case for Hmong, as the placenta is imperative to their afterlife. Hmong traditions and beliefs seemed unimportant as, “…no one knew how to read, and no one felt deprived or inconvenienced by lack of literacy” (p.121). This lack of communication and curiosity on the behalf of the American doctors initiated an immense change of lifestyle and tradition that the Hmong women were forced