Contextual Effects in Cuban Americans' Ambiguous Loss Experiences

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cuban Americans left their homeland following the 1959 revolution assuming they would soon return. Instead, their exodus resulted in a traumatic turning point that shaped their life course. As a result of the persistent, conflicted U.S.-Cuba relations, their desire and ability to return has had to remain ambiguous—and, for many, to fade as they age. Participants’ stories about leaving the homeland and adjusting to life in the United States illustrate the traumatizing nature of ambiguity, the challenges encountered by families who learned to live with ambiguous loss, and the evolving strategies they have used to cope with ambiguous loss. Despite feeling cutoff from Cuba, participants described an irresolvable longing to recapture aspects of an idealized lost paradise. They discussed strategies to cope with this longing, which are consistent with ambiguous loss theory (Boss, 2006). Adding to the emerging literature on ambiguous loss among Cuban Americans, this paper systematically explores the ambiguous loss experiences among Cuban Americans living in metropolitan areas across the United States.

METHODS: This analysis draws on data from a purposive, snowball sample of 38 participants over age 65 residing in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, and Miami who left Cuba in the 20 years that followed the revolution. These interviews were collected and transcribed using a phenomenological perspective. Spanish-speaking participants were asked open-ended questions for 90 plus minutes by 2 interviewers using a phenomenological approach to learn about participants’ experiences of leaving Cuba. MAXQDA software was used to code and analyze verbatim data transcribed in Spanish to explore the existence of ambiguous loss and to arrive at the main invariant themes.

FINDINGS: A close examination of differences across locations where Cuban Americans settled revealed that context impacted their resources for coping as well as their relationships with co-ethnic peers and their attitudes toward their homeland. Motives for leaving Cuba and expectations about returning were similar across contexts. However, context impacted the strategies available for coping with ambiguous losses. Cuban Americans living in the largely Cuban enclave of Miami were able to draw on the strength of the community and the support of peers. In contrast, Cuban Americans living away from the Miami enclave described different experiences that may be attributed to the lack of co-ethnic support. For example, outside of Miami, other Latino groups are perceived to be unempathic to Cuban Americans’ ambiguous loss experiences—further hindering their ability to cope.

DISCUSSION: Themes highlight the importance of the context in which vulnerable immigrants settle. In contrast to Cuban Americans benefiting from the practical and social support of the Miami enclave, Cuban Americans living in other regions of the country have had to adapt to life as members of a minority group with fewer community resources. Social work scholars and practitioners are well-served to understand how the effect of context can impact the psyche as well as practical resources. Linguistic and social isolation led to nuanced differences across individuals living away from the Miami enclave.