ABSTRACT
Asian Americans are people of Asian ethnicity who are making their home in the United States. They are a very diverse group. Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, Malays, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians, Hmong, and Mien living in the United States are among the many ethnic groups
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categorized as Asian American. Depending on the classification system used, Hawaiians, Samoans, Guamanians/Chamorro, Tongans, and Fijians (all Pacific Islanders), and South Asian Indians are also included. The history of Pacific Islanders in the United States and their cultural traditions are in many ways more similar to those of Native Americans than to those of Asian Americans, and classifying these peoples with Asian Americans is often a matter of convention rather than utility. Among Asian American women, more Hawaiian women, 16.7%, live in poverty than do women of any other Asian American ethnic group (Caiazza, Shaw, & Werschkul, 2004). Although there are a few references to Pacific Islander Americans in this chapter, the reader is also referred to Chapter 7, “Native Americans in Counseling,” for further material that may be relevant when counseling Pacific Islander Americans.
