Search

Copyright of Pacha: Revista de Estudios Contemporáneos del Sur Global is the property of PACHA REVISTA DE ESTUDIOS CONTEMPORANEOS DEL SUR GLOBAL and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Policies concerning undocumented immigrants are inevitably ambivalent, creating uncertainty and confusion in the implementation process. We identify a clear example of this ambivalence —U.S. law setting standards for determining the credibility of asylum seekers—that resulted in an increase in asylum grants despite policymakers' intention to make it harder for individuals to obtain the status. We argue that this law, The REAL ID Act of 2005, sent mixed messages to immigration judges (IJs), street‐level bureaucrats who implement immigration policy. It increased IJ discretion, but set vague limits. We theorize that IJs, behaving in a bounded rationality framework, use their professional legal training as a short‐cut and look primarily to the courts for guidance. Our evidence supports our argument. After the passage of the REAL ID Act, IJ decision‐making is more closely aligned with the preferences of their political and legal principals, and, in the final score, the federal circuit courts are the winners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores therapists' specific intervention strategies and corresponding responses in the change process for Chinese American families with a family member having schizophrenia, based on individual family sessions notes in the context of family psychoeducation. Nine intake summaries and 103 family session notes (from nine patients and nineteen caregivers) were analysed through open, axial, and selective coding based on grounded theory. Interventions that promoted healthier family dynamics and effective communication, provided psychoeducation, practical help and emotional support, and improved coping skills were found to be effective and well received. These strategies can be integrated into a culturally sensitive family intervention protocol for this population and those of similar backgrounds. Clinicians can also employ them to enhance client receptivity in the treatment process. Practitioner points: Many immigrant Chinese families with serious mental illness may become enmeshed, with caregivers exhibiting over‐involvement and criticism of sick family membersThis increases stress for both parties and clinicians need to facilitate change to establish clear boundariesImmigrant families often need help to meet their tangible needs in dealing with external systems in their daily livesUnderstanding cultural characteristics among ethnic minorities and being flexible and responsive to their needs are both essential in family interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Migración y Desarrollo is the property of Red Internacional de Migracion y Desarrollo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Education Policy Analysis Archives / Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas / Arquivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas is the property of Educational Policy Analysis Archives & Education Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The authors interviewed 4 researchers to identify facilitators in recruiting and assessing Latina immigrants. The 4 researchers recruited 530 recent Latina immigrants (ages 18–23 years) for a study of social and cultural determinants of health. Consensual qualitative research methods revealed that respondent‐driven sampling was an effective recruitment method. Fear of deportation was a barrier. Stigma about sensitive topics (e.g., sex, drug use) did not affect participation. Findings can help counselors conduct health disparities research. Los autores entrevistaron a 4 investigadores para identificar facilitadores para el reclutamiento y evaluación de inmigrantes latinas. Los 4 investigadores reclutaron a 530 mujeres latinas que habían inmigrado recientemente (edades entre 18 y 23 años) para un estudio de los factores sociales y culturales determinantes de la salud. Los métodos de investigación cuantitativa consensuados revelaron que el muestreo dirigido por las encuestadas fue un método efectivo de reclutamiento. El miedo a la deportación fue un obstáculo. El estigma asociado a temas delicados (p. ej., el sexo, el uso de drogas) no afectó a la participación. Los hallazgos pueden ayudar a los consejeros a realizar estudios sobre disparidades en la salud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine the heuristic utility of Weber's notion of meaning to explain the perception of immigrants in the United States, particularly undocumented immigrants. The methodological rule implying that the understanding of the meaning of such perceptions can only be achieved through the notion of structure and the theory of socialization, as presented by Jorge Bustamante, is contested. We argue that with the notion of meaning comes into play the conception of an individual motivated by subjective reasons when perceiving immigrants as X or Y, and that those reasons, far from being justifications, have a real, objective basis. We advance a comprehensive framework of law SB 1070 to attempt to elucidate some of the reasons that motivate involved actors' approval or disapproval of this law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Former Soviet émigrés in the United States are on average older than other immigrant groups, with adults over 65 comprising a large portion of the Russian-speaking population. Despite known risks associated with old-age migration, however, researchers and providers have underestimated adjustment difficulties for Russian-speaking elderly in U.S. These older adults tend to acquire a new culture with difficulty and remain highly oriented towards their heritage culture. However, limited research examines how acculturation to both the culture of origin and the host culture contributes to wellbeing for this immigrant group. This study assesses the adaptive value of host and heritage acculturation across several domains in the lives of older émigrés from the former Soviet Union resettled in the Baltimore and Washington, DC areas in the United States. Acculturation level with respect to both host and heritage culture was measured with the Language, Identity, and Behavior Scale (LIB; Birman & Trickett, 2001) and used to predict psychological, family, social, and medical care adjustment outcomes. Results suggest that acculturation to the host or heritage culture has different functions depending on life domain. Particularly, high American acculturation contributed to better adjustment in the psychological, family, and social domains. Heritage acculturation was associated with better outcomes in the social domain and had mixed effects for psychological adjustment. Theoretical implications highlight the importance of evaluating multiple life domains of adapting through a bilinear acculturation model for the understudied population of elderly immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy pressures in the USA to transition parents from public assistance to work and concerns about the effects of early maternal employment on children highlight the importance of studying predictors of the timing of postpartum maternal employment. Little attention has been given to postpartum employment patterns of low-income ethnic minorities and immigrants, whose working conditions and employment prospects are different from white, middle-class mothers. Using a sample of low-income Mexicans, Dominicans, and African-Americans (N= 310), we studied whether and when mothers start working the first year following childbirth, and what factors promote or delay postpartum employment. Using discrete-time survival analysis, we modeled the odds of working at each month and tested the influence of family context, mothers' work and family values and plans, maternity leave benefit, and instrumental support availability on the timing of employment. By 11 months, half of the mothers had started working. Having maternity leave, plans to work, childcare arrangements, and a strong work orientation increased the odds of working. Household earnings were related to postpartum employment, but this effect varied over time. For African-Americans, instrumental support availability predicted earlier returns to employment, whereas for Mexicans and Dominicans it related to later returns to employment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Laboring in low-paid jobs with poor conditions, migrant women are some of the most vulnerable workers in the US labor market. These women often carry a disproportionate burden at home, expected to care for children and elderly relatives and maintain a stable and loving family. Given the weight of work and family obligations, migrant women workers often turn to community-based organizations for assistance with securing work, negotiating an abusive workplace situation, and making ends meet on low wages. Increasingly, organizations are recognizing the social reproduction concerns of migrant women. In crafting responses to this reality, much work is undertaken by staff members, clients, and volunteers that is hidden from the organizations' funders, from the clients' employers, and from official statistics. The objective of this article is to reveal how and why nonprofit organizations can act as a space for the hidden labor of social reproduction, as well as for economic development experiments that account for the needs of social reproduction. Hidden labor is conceptualized as filling gaps in the social safety net created by a neoliberalizing society. In addition, it is the argument of this article that social reproduction is being reframed as a collective endeavor within organizations, where the ethic of care is potentially transforming an insidious political-economic context into a source of strength and resiliency for migrant women. Based on semi-structured interviews and participant observation in an organization in Chicago, this article provides a review of hidden labor within the space of nonprofit organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective. The objective of this study was to pilot test and evaluate a HIV prevention program that used a Freirean approach to engage Latino immigrant MSM (men who have sex with men) on issues of sexual orientation, family acceptance, stigma as well as HIV prevention and sexual risk behaviors. Materials and methods. Participants were evaluated using a survey before and after participation in the program and compared to a control group. Focus groups where participants discussed their experiences in the program as well as perceptions of the program were held and analyzed. Results. Survey results indicate that after their participation in the program, participants increased their safer sex behaviors, comfort disclosing their sexual orientation and support from friends. Conclusions. HIV prevention needs to incorporate cultural, social and structural factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Great Recession profoundly impacted labor markets in the United States and Spain, the two most important destinations for Latin American immigrants. Unemployment rates doubled within two years and increased at an even greater rate for Latino immigrants. Using national labor force surveys (Encuesta de Población Action for Spain and Current Population Survey for the U.S.), this article compares employment trends of natives, immigrants in general, and Latino immigrants in both countries by sectors. We conclude that despite the differences in the Spanish and U.S. economies and the historical distinctions between immigration flows from Latin America to both countries, the crisis's effects on employment have similar features and show the greater vulnerability of immigrants in general and Lalino immigrants in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tendencias: Revista de la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Administrativas is the property of Universidad de Narino, Facultad de Ciencias Economics y Administrativas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study examines naturalization rates in the southeastern United States and compares them to other regions while investigating some political consequences of naturalization. In terms of the number of naturalized citizens and naturalization rates, the Southeast lags behind states with long immigration histories. In all U.S. southeastern states, Asians comprise the largest group of naturalized citizens, but rates vary. Mexicans and Central Americans are the least likely to obtain citizenship in all southeastern states. The authors also find and discuss a small immigrant presence in the U.S. House of Representatives and a significant positive correlation between states' naturalization rates and the percentage of the state that voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal is the property of Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Recent work on the integration of immigrants suggests that the process of assimilating into American society often occurs along fragmented paths. The segmented assimilation theory contends that discrimination and unequal opportunities affect processes of adaptation. This article considers this theory in the context of how the adaptation of Cuban emigres differs along lines of race. Using data from the 1990 and 2000 U.S. Census 5 percent Public Use Microdata Samples, we investigate the process of assimilation and settlement among the Freedom Flight and Mariel Cuban exiles in Miami. Results suggest that the speed and degree of assimilation differs according to race, subject to nationality and period of arrival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Estudios Centroamericanos is the property of Universidad Centroamericana Jose Simeon Canas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents some statistical data on the Hispanic population in the United States and its growth, caused by a sustained immigrant influx. The paper develops the following points: 1) the importance and relevance of the Hispanic population in the United States; 2) the role of Mexican and Central American migration as the main sources of manual labor for the American economy; 3) the importance of migrants in the regional and national development in the countries of origin; 4) the situation and perspectives of the second generation; 5) the long-term integration of the Latin American immigrant population in the United States. The supporting arguments of recent essays criticizing the presence of the Hispanic population in the United States are examined as being a threat to English dominance and a factor for cultural disintegration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autobiography, defined by Albert Stone (1981) as "the self-living history" (p. 2), vividly re-creates the links between the singular self, the immediate community, and a wider world of sympathetic readers and fellow human beings. Because of its ties to themes of self and history and self and place, autobiography is the form that stories of emergent racial, ethnic, and gender consciousness have often taken in the U. S. and elsewhere. America is a country that was created and settled by immigrants from many different lands who were in search of the "American Dream" of freedom and a better way of life. The immigrants' narratives have been recorded by various authors in both fiction and non-fiction stories. Immigrant author Julia Álvarez' How the García Girls Lost Their Accents is composed of stories that convey a realistic depiction of the immigrant people she writes about, since they are based on her own personal story of becoming American. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]