Pacific/Asian American Mental Health Research Center Records
Scope and Contents
The Pacific/Asian American Mental Health Research Center Records document the research, teaching, and community-service activities of the center and its partner organizations during the center's existence between 1974 and 1988. The earliest records document the center's formation and pre-P/AAMHRC research activities of longtime director and principal investigator William Liu. The collection consists of three series: Office Files, Program Files, and Documentation Center.
The Office Files series documents the routine administrative activity of the research center and its publishing operation. Included in this series are general office correspondence, bibliographies of the center's publications, and the center's mailing lists. This series is arranged alphabetically by subject.
The Program Files series documents the center's research projects, teaching, and public service initiatives through research proposals, grant applications, project reports, and correspondence. This series includes documentation of the center's base funding under the NIMH as well as numerous grant-funded projects undertaken by the center's staff members and research associates. This series is composed of three subseries: P/AAMHRC Grants, Asian American Survey Methods Workshop, and Research Projects.
The P/AAMHRC Grants subseries dates from 1979 to 1984 and documents the center's base funding from the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the grant records of the center's supplementary research on alcoholism. This subseries includes grant applications, program proposals, and meeting minutes of the center's board of directors, providing an overview of the center's history, founding, and progress on major initiatives. This subseries is arranged in chronological order.
The Asian American Survey Methods Workshop subseries dates from 1978 to 1986 and documents the center's annual training workshop on survey methods for researchers working with Asian American populations. Materials include grant applications and course planning documents. This subseries is arranged in chronological order.
The Research Projects subseries dates from 1975 to 1988 and documents the center's grant-funded research projects, community service activities, and public policy advocacy, including proposed projects that were never funded. Materials in this series include grant applications, project proposals and reports, and correspondence with granting agencies and partner organizations. Significant projects documented in this series include the Southeast Asian refugee research project, the center's collaboration Asian Human Services of Chicago, and a multipart survey of Asian service organizations in the United States. Publications resulting from the projects documented in this series can be found in the Documentation Center series. The Research Projects subseries is arranged in chronological order.
The Documentation Center series comprises the records of the P/AAMHRC's research library and information clearinghouse, including the publications of P/AAMHRC and of those of other researchers. Documentation Center materials focus on the mental health and psychology of Asian populations and minority groups more broadly, as well as issues and methods in mental health research. This series is composed of four subseries: P/AAMHRC Publications, Author Files, Periodicals, and Government Publications.
The P/AAMHRC Publications subseries contains serial publications and monographs published by the P/AAMHRC. This subseries includes the center's journal, Research Review, as well as studies and monographs published in several regular series, such as Monographs, Occasional Papers, Special Reports, etc. The publications are grouped according to the series heading in the following order: P/AAMHRC Newsletter, Research Review, Scholar-in-Residence Program, Monographs Series, Occasional Papers, Special Reports, and Working Papers. Other publications not belonging to a specific series are filed last.
The Author Files subseries forms part of the Documentation Center's collection of publications on Asian mental health and related topics in minority mental health research, filed by the name of the author(s), organization, or project title. This subseries contains articles, book chapters, monographs, and research reports, and is organized in alphabetical order by the last name of the principal author, organization name, or project title.
The Periodicals subseries contains the Documentation Center's collection of professional journals and popular magazines. This subseries is arranged in alphabetical order by title.
The Government Publications subseries contains the Documentation Center's collection of official publications of U.S and foreign government agencies. The records in this subseries are filed by the level of government in the following order: Federal, State, Local, and Foreign. Each group of records is arranged in chronological order.
Dates
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1975 - 1988
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The copyright interests in some or all of these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with the creator(s) of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of archival collections is such that multiple creators are often applicable and copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. In any case, the user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, obtaining publication rights and copyright infringement. When requesting images from Special Collections & University Archives for publication, we require a signed agreement waiving San Diego State University of any liability in the event of a copyright violation.
Historical Note
The Pacific/Asian American Mental Health Research Center was founded in 1974 as one of several research and development centers established under a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to study minority groups living in the United States. The United States Asian population grew rapidly beginning in the 1960s Due to a major influx of immigrants, exceeding three million by the time of the 1980 national census. The P/AAMHRC contributed to a growing body of demographically informed research examining the social, cultural, and economic factors impinging on the mental health of Asian American communities. A hallmark of the center's research was to focus on distinct ethnic groups which had previously been obscured in government data. Moreover, the center's research prioritized high-risk demographics such as refugees, youths, the elderly, rape victims, and garment workers. Notably, the P/AAMHRC conducted a long-term study of southeast Asian refugees based on interviews conducted in the refugee camp at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California, towards the end of the Vietnam War. In addition to conducting research, the center served as a clearinghouse for Asian American mental health research and data and maintained a Documentation Center to collect and disseminate publications produced internally and by other researchers. The P/AAMHRC also contributed to the profession through the Asian American Survey Methods Workshop, an annual program which taught research methods tailored to working with Asian populations.
Extent
53.6 Linear Feet (125 Hollinger boxes and one newspaper box)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
I. Office Files, 1975-1988
II. Program Files, 1975-1988
1. P/AAMHRC Grants, 1979-1984
2. Asian American Survey Methods Workshop, 1978-1986
3. Research Projects, 1975-1988
III. Documentation Center, 1913-1988
1. P/AAMHRC Publications, 1975-1988
a) P/AAMHRC Newsletter
b) Research Review
c) Scholar-In-Residence Program
d) Monographs
e) Occasional Papers
f) Special Reports
g) Working Papers
h) Other Publications
2. Author Files, 1913-1988
3. Periodicals, 1959-1988
4. Government Publications, 1960-1987
a) Federal
b) State
c) Local
d) Foreign
Accruals
9999-188
- Title
- Pacific/Asian American Mental Health Research Center Records
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Adam Burkhart
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections & University Archives Repository