This dissertation examines migration behavior with a focus on male labor migrants from Mexico to the United States. I develop the concept of migration intensity, defined as the degree to which a migrant shifts his attachment, association and engagement from the place of origin to the migration destination. Using data for male Mexican migrants in the years 1950 to 2005, I find strong complementarities among remittances, migration patterns, and investment decisions, allowing me to derive an Index of Migration Intensity (IMI). The IMI shows that male Mexican migrants use a continuum of labor migration strategies. Augmenting a conventional Harris-Todaro model, I develop a simultaneous model for the initial migration, return, repeat migration, and remittance decisions of migrant workers. This model can incorporate various migration strategies, including "circular migration," "target earning," and "emigration." Modeling the effects of immigration policies, I find that stricter border enforcement has two consequences: an intended deterrence effect, and an unintended intensification effect whereby stricter border controls lead migrants to make fewer return trips, prolong total U.S. time, and reduce remittances. The impact of the latter on origin-country incomes may induce others to migrate as well. I then examine the determinants of Mexicans’ propensity to migrate illegally (extensive migration behavior) and their degree of socio-economic detachment from home (intensive migration behavior), using instrumental variables estimation with individual fixed effects. My findings support the hypotheses that stricter U.S. border enforcement leads to higher migration intensity, which in turn leads to a net increase in the volume of illegal Mexican migration. My results also indicate that reducing the U.S.—Mexican wage gap would curtail both the extent of illegal migration and migration intensity. The dissertation also investigates the significance of social networks in facilitating undocumented Mexican migration to the U.S. I argue that the importance of social network assistance arises from problems of asymmetric information. Drawing on secondary data sets as well as field research, I quantify the extent of social network assistance, disaggregated by type of assistance and helper.

The purpose of this study was to provide qualitative data on challenges faced by female, Hispanic, adult students attending ESL classes within community college programs; data on challenges they face achieving long-term educational goals; and ways the community college adult education programs can help students be more successful. Meeting needs of female, Hispanic, adult, ESL students is challenging, and many are nontraditional learners who have life factors that compete for available time and educational resources. Often, adult, female, Hispanic students experience challenges that cause barriers to success. Because each student is unique, exploring challenges in the areas of gender, age, ethnicity, and prior educational experience were chosen to provide data for program development. The study included two schools and consisted of 15 students. The purposeful sample included 12 students from various academic achievement levels ranging from elementary through college and from the following age groups: a younger age group (ages 21 to 29), a middle age group (ages 30 to 49), and older learners (above the age of 50). Three additional participants were potential students, resulting from a snowball sample, who desired to attend classes but faced challenges that prevented them from doing so. Participants were asked to participate in one 30-minute one-on-one telephone interview, due to COVID-19 pandemic concerns. Follow-up phone calls were scheduled as needed for clarification. Findings suggest that students face both similar and unique challenges. Participants expressed family obligations, adult responsibilities such as jobs, feelings that education was not as important for women in the Hispanic culture, and intimidation caused by the presence of higher educated students in the same classroom. Throughout the interviews, participants expressed satisfaction with the class. However, they shared ways programs could assist. Participants said an adult education counselor or mentor, more life skills classes, computer classes, citizenship classes, additional or more flexible class times, after school programs, a campus social worker, and distance classes were all possibilities. Exploring and educating programs in ways to provide services or partner with other non-profit organizations can help develop solutions, aid with retention, and assist with the achievement of long-term goals.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of postpartum depression among Hispanic immigrant women seeking healthcare services at a community health clinic. Data Sources: Hispanic immigrant women were recruited. Out of 116 study participants, 96 women were in the final sample. Using the Beck PDSS-Spanish version, women were screened for symptoms of postpartum depression. Conclusions: The prevalence rate of significant symptoms of PPD was 54.2% for the entire sample of 96 women. Nearly 66% of women who screened positive for symptoms of PPD scored above the listed cutoff score for suicidal thoughts. Women were divided into four postpartum age groups from 2 to 48 weeks; prevalence rates of symptoms of PPD ranged from 50% to 60.9% among the different groups. There were no statistically significant demographic predictors for PPD. Implications for Practice: Given the high rates of symptoms of PPD in this population, it is strongly recommended healthcare providers implement universal screening for all Hispanic women in pregnancy and across the first postpartum year to ensure prompt diagnosis and culturally appropriate treatment. Further research is needed to assess the cultural components of postpartum depression and to determine if the prevalence is consistent in other community settings.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between acculturative stress and marital distress among Hispanic American women and to explore the potential mediating roles of variables believed to be important to marital functioning among ethnic minorities and immigrants (e.g., acculturation, ethnic identity, social support, etc.). Based on data from 103 Hispanic American married women, pressure to acculturate toward the dominant culture of the U.S. was found to significantly correlate with the amount of distress the women reported in their marital relationships. Two variables were found to partially mediate the correlation. Perceived social support and recent stressful life events attenuated the effect acculturative stress had on marital distress. The importance for mental health professionals to address acculturative stress with Hispanic women or couples in marital therapy, and other clinical implications of the findings, are discussed.

Safety in logging operations in the Southeastern United States has long been an issue of concern. Recently, a growing number of Spanish-speaking workers have become employed in logging operations in the Southeastern U.S. There is a growing concern that injury and fatality rates could increase due to inexperience, possible lack of proper safety training, and language barrier problems attributed to the new Spanish-speaking workers. The study area is the Southeastern U.S., comprising twelve states ranging from Texas to Virginia. The goal of this study is to determine the current percentage of Spanish-speaking workers in the study area, assess the previous and present safety training received by Spanish-speaking workers, and provide recommendations addressing the short and long-term logging safety training needs of Spanish-speaking workers. Data was collected through a combination of field surveys and questionnaires. The surveys collected data from 1890 logging operations in the study area, and was used to determine the population of Spanish-speaking workers in the logging industry. The questionnaires were completed during the summer of 2005 by 41 selected sample loggers who employ Spanish-speaking workers, in which they addressed the previous and present safety training received by Spanish-speaking workers, in addition to other information pertaining to safety. The percentage of Spanish-speaking workers in the logging industry in the Southeastern U.S. was 3.37%. Ten percent of operations employed one or more Spanish-speaking workers. Relevant literature as well as data collected through this study suggests that Spanish-speaking worker populations will continue to increase. The survey showed Spanish-speaking workers in the logging industry have tended to immigrate to specific regions, Arkansas and North Carolina. Loggers tend to employ one or two Spanish-speaking workers with several non-Spanish-speaking workers rather than forming entire crews of Spanish-speaking workers. Average employment tenure for Spanish-speaking workers was six years. The majority of loggers (90%) who employed Spanish-speaking workers had at least one worker who could translate safety training/instructions to other Spanish-speaking employees. Loggers ranked this method as the most effective way for presenting safety training to Spanish-speaking workers. Based on the survey data, Spanish-speaking workers are not likely to substantially impact logging industry injury statistics in the Southeastern U.S. in the near future, but could in the long term. Recommendations were developed from a combination of survey and questionnaire results and literature reviews. It is recommended that: (1) The use of multiple safety training methods will maximize the Spanish-speaking workers learning ability, (2) The combination of hands-on/demonstration training and the use of a bi-lingual employee/translator seem to be the optimal combination of safety training methods for Spanish-speaking workers, (3) Determine the education/literacy levels of Spanish-speaking employees. It is not appropriate to provide a Spanish-speaking worker with written safety material if they cannot read, (4) Safety training methods used for Spanish-speaking workers may require more "customization" than that of non-Spanish-speaking workers. This is, in part, due to language barriers, questionable literacy, and the fact that in other industries Spanish-speaking workers seem to be more accident prone, (5) It is advisable not to assign inadequately trained and experienced Spanish-speaking workers to tasks such as manual felling, trimming, or bucking with a chainsaw, as this is one of the most hazardous logging tasks. Assigning an experienced employee for a period of at least one week who can oversee the Spanish-speaking worker and correct any unsafe practices would be advisable when assigning a new Spanish-speaking worker to this task, (6) Use universally accepted hand signals around the landing area rather than verbal communication to prevent any miscommunication between Spanish-speaking and non-Spanish-speaking workers, (7) Monitor the Spanish-speaking worker population in the logging workforce closely. Depending on political and economic factors, this population could grow quickly and begin to impact safety/injury rates and (8) Crews comprised entirely of Spanish-speaking workers would likely communicate better. While the limited availability of Spanish-speaking workers in some areas may currently restrict this idea, it may be feasible in the future as more Spanish-speaking workers enter the logging workforce. At this time it may be beneficial for employers to learn Spanish or for Spanish-speaking workers to learn English. / Master of Science

Despite current research evidence connecting family involvement to students' academic learning, non-mainstream families' funds of knowledge are insufficiently valued as relevant to public schools' curricula and academic genres, a practice that limits diverse families' inclusion as equal partners in their children's education. This two-year-long ethnography (2005-2007), grounded in sociocultural and sociohistorical theories, investigated the struggles and possibilities that two elementary teachers and their students' non-mainstream families faced while trying to reach common understandings about working collaboratively to develop home-classroom partnerships at a time of a national educational reform under the politics of high stakes accountability of the NCLB Law of 2001 and a state local policy of English-only education in Western Massachusetts. Focusing on a third grade teacher and her English Language Learners (ELL) Latino students and on a regular kindergarten teacher with half of the students of Latino origin, the study explored the evolution of participants' assumptions about non-mainstream students and their families, the participants' co-construction of social and literacy practices, and the dialogical practices conducive to partnerships for fostering home-school partnerships and improving diverse students' literacy development. Findings suggest that: (1) some specific social and literacy practices co-constructed through dialogical interactions between urban school teachers and Latino families positively influenced home-classroom partnerships that worked for nonmainstream families; and (2) the participant teachers' critical reflections on their own assumptions and ideologies brought them new understandings about Latino families' funds of knowledge and child socialization practices, helping them to know the whole child and to better provide academic support for ELL students. Implications for practitioners point at the importance of gaining an in-depth understanding of building relationships with non-mainstream families in urban schools to implement home-school partnerships that work for all families. Implications for state agencies, stakeholders, and administrators are: (1) a need to redefine the field of family involvement for a comprehensive action plan for involving non-mainstream families as equal partners in their children's education; and (2) the need for serious commitment towards supporting urban teachers by allocating time and funds for professional development.

As the Hispanic student population continues to increase at a rapid rate, schools in the United States are tasked with closing the achievement gap between Hispanic students and their white counterparts. Federal education policy and researchers alike call for schools to increase the involvement of Hispanic parents in their children's education as one way to close the achievement gap. This study focused on the involvement activities and barriers to involvement among a group of Hispanic parents in a rural school district in the state of Idaho. This study uses a qualitative approach to gather and analyze information from parents of 20 Hispanic families through semi-structured interviews. Interview questions covered participants' own educational experiences as children, their experiences with involvement in their children's schools, and barriers they perceived to involvement in their children's education. Findings from this study suggest that these parents' involvement activities are limited, with one exception being attendance at parent-teacher conferences.An unexpected finding of this study is the limited social networks among these Hispanic parents. Parents report having few relatives or friends with whom they associate or rely on for support. A second barrier to parent involvement identified in this study is the language barrier. Parents report difficulty communicating with schools when interpreters are not made available and communication with their children's teachers are limited to notes home and at parent-teacher conferences. Other barriers to involvement include these Hispanic parents' limited education in Mexico, differences between involvement activities in Mexico and the United States, and parents' current life circumstances such as lack of transportation and working jobs that do not allow time off for involvement at the school during the school day. Overall, findings suggest that Hispanic parents in rural school settings face unique barriers to involvement in their children's education. Implications for schools are proposed such as creating opportunities for parents to interact with one another and with teachers and also making interpreters available at the school for times when Spanish-speaking parents visit the school.

Voting analysts in the United States have attempted to predict political orientation based on race, gender, occupation, educational achievement, and economic background. Yet, the substantial amount of research available on these factors has been directed toward the understanding of the white-majority vote. Now, as a result of the overwhelming growth of ethnic minority populations scholars are beginning to look at the potential decisive role of ethnic minority voters. Part of this newly formed voting bloc consists of Hispanics which are now one of the fastest and largest racial minority groups in the United States. This thesis aims to understand the Hispanic electorate by addressing their social mobility. Furthermore, this research will shed light into the socio-economic factors affecting the political affiliation of Hispanic voters.

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