Hispanic Mother Daughter Organization

Hispanic Mother Daughter Program (at Arizona State University)

Student Services Building, Room 394

Phone: (480) 965-5838

Email: hmdp@asu.edu

Anita Tarango, Interim Director

Arizona State University

P. O. Box 871112

Tempe, AZ 85287-1112

ASU Student Involvement:

Program Participants have been in the program since 8th grade so there is no opportunity for them to join in as college students. ASU students can volunteer with recruitment services or can apply to be a peer advisor at monthly workshops given for the participants.

The Hispanic Mother Daughter Program’s goal is to “increase the number of first-generation Hispanic women who complete a bachelor’s degree by directly involving mothers in the educational process of their daughters” (Hispanic Mother Daughter Program, n.d.). The program does this by holding monthly and bi-monthly workshops that focus on various topics including sexual education, self-esteem, cultural identity, scholarships, and preparing for the university. The Hispanic Mother Daughter Program targets the mother daughter relationship and strengthens it for open communication and targets the immigrant or cultural background these girls inherit and in doing so is a third wave feminist organization.

            Through all this work HMDP is serving Latina youths and their mothers but interim director, Anita Tarango said that the families of these participants benefit too. The program also relies on the closeness of the relationship of the mother-daughter duos to promote their daughters education and movement into upward social mobility. A study done about communication between mothers and daughters on the topic of the mothers sexual experience and whether they were open to share that with their daughters points to the importance of communication and closeness between mothers and adolescent daughters. (Buchananarvary, M., Keats, P., 2005, p. 29) The study found that daughters wanted to know what types of experiences their mothers’ had had, have their feelings and actions validated, and preferred finding out sexual health information from their mothers rather than from a sexual health class alone. (Buchananarvay, M., Keats, P., 2005, p. 29) The study found that not only were mothers having the desire to share their experiences with their daughters but that identity formation and self-esteem was positively related to open communication and experience shared. (Buchananarvay, M., Keats, P., 2005, p. 30) This study points to one influential foundation HMDP provides in both creating the facilitation of closer mother daughter relationships and by doing workshops in sexual and reproductive health for mothers and daughters. Another study done on the relationship between immigrant Salvadorians in Canada looked at the relationship of the mother and daughter in reference to resistance to racism and discrimination. The article found that “immigrant mothers in this study had a pivotal presence in their daughters’ lives” and that mothers were “gate-keepers” for their daughters as to what values or ideologies they accepted. (Carranza, M. E., 2007, p. 396) With these two studies we can see how integral this relationship can be to adolescent daughters and the ideas they have or life trajectory choices they make.

            By targeting the mother daughter relationship HMDP is trying to address one aspect of the situation that is keeping these girls from going on to getting a degree from a four-year university. HMDP is not targeting that aspect alone but is looking at the aspect of race by targeting the Hispanic population and the aspect of class by looking at the immigrant population or first generation Hispanic women with the opportunity to go onto getting a degree at the University level. In highlighting HMDP we hope to show the importance of having organizations that look at the mother daughter bond and reflect cultural diversity.

References

Hispanic Mother Daughter Program. Retrieved from http://promise.asu.edu/hmdp

           

Buchananarvay, M., & Keats, P. (2005) . Mothers’ and girls’ perspectives on adolescent                                    sexuality. Child and Youth Services, 26 (2), 9-31.

Carranza, M. E. (2007) . Building resilience and resistance against racism and discrimination             among Salvadorian female youth in Canada. Child and Family Social Work, 12 (4), 390-            398.