Housing discrimination raises the costs housing searches for minority groups, creates barriers to homeownership and housing choice, and contributes to the perpetuation of racial and ethnic segregation. Segregation, in turn, is linked with the perpetuation of a host of racial and ethnic inequalities, from unequal access to jobs, to healthcare, to educational facilities. Thus, the problem of housing discrimination is not simply that it is unfair or illegal, but also that it contributes to larger social inequalities. This analysis of coastal Mississippi pre and post Hurricane Katrina provides an unusual opportunity to examine housing outcomes in an area that has experienced drastic changes in housing availability alongside a rapid influx of Latino migrants. I investigate whether some Latinos are more vulnerable to housing discrimination than others, where and when housing discrimination is more or less likely to occur, and how Latinos living in Mississippi post-Katrina interpret their own experiences with housing agents. Audit methods and interviews reveal that discrimination, often thought to be determined solely by agent prejudices, is also affected by social and economic factors external to the agent. The audits point instructively to patterns of discrimination as well as to methodological difficulties associated with detecting discrimination in tight housing markets, a finding that has implications for studying discrimination in other tight markets throughout the country. The findings also support theories of 'racial tipping', in that discrimination appears highest in moderately integrated neighborhoods as opposed to 'whiter' and 61 more integrated' neighborhoods. Finally, in-depth interviews reveal (1) a link between labor and housing market exploitation that leaves many Latino labor migrants homeless, (2) a relationship between housing discrimination and exploitation in the housing market, (3) reasons why many Latinos may be unlikely to file housing discrimination complaints, and (4) ways in which Latinos are forced to modify their behavior in everyday interactions simply to increase their odds of being treated fairly. In sum, this study points to a need to develop new methods for studying discrimination in tight housing markets, and to a dire need for broader institutional support of housing rights education and anti-discrimination enforcement initiatives in areas recovering from a disaster / acase@tulane.edu

<p>Border Images and Imaginaries: Spectral Aesthetics and Visual Media of Americanity at the U.S.-Mexico Border, proposes an emerging aesthetic of spectrality in visual media about the U.S.-Mexico border that challenges the power of militarized and racialized visibility. The visual media projects I work with, including cinema, electronic performance art, site specific video installation, and photography generate an aesthetic of spectrality as they try to conjure and express the socially invisible through sensual elements like affect, sound, kinaesthetics, and full embodiment. This aesthetic elicits the perceptions of our other senses beyond only the visual and makes visible the social flesh of the movements and socialities of migration rather than racialized, migrant bodies. The border, I claim, is an important site for understanding the continued deployment of visibility in the neoliberal legacies of what Quijano and Wallerstein call, Americanity, a term denoting the development of the modern capitalist system in the Americas which relied upon the imbricate logics of colonialism, racism, and the deification the modern. Images of spectrality are intermediaries between what Diana Taylor calls, archive and repertoire, being both documents and sites of embodied engagement that produce both certain and uncertain knowledges of race and migration at the border. The visual media projects in my dissertation cultivate spectral aesthetics to theorize an alternative visibility and the changing production of public memory. By making visible the social flesh of heterogeneous encounters with media, spectral aesthetics reforms collective memory making it a process of democratic editorialization that privileges experience as the site of a multivocal history. This project reclaims the image as a terrain for the multitude's inquiry and imagination about the US-Mexico border, and puts the imaginaries generated by these images in dialog with activist projects happening in relation to immigration.</p> / Dissertation

<p>Migrant families have long been victims of their unusual lifestyle. High poverty conditions combined with constant mobility in search for agricultural work have contributed to their challenging lifestyle. As a result, Latino migrant students are among the least likely to graduate from high school and pursue a college degree. However, in spite of such challenges faced by Latino migrant families, a small percentage of Latino migrant students graduate from high school and enroll in an institution of higher learning. The purpose of this research was to identify strategies employed by Latino migrant parents to assist their children in graduating from high school and enrolling in an institution of higher education. The study specifically focused on the role Latino migrant parents play in supporting and guiding their children into higher education. The following three questions guided this study: (a) How is parent involvement perceived and defined by Latino migrant parents of students enrolled in higher education?; (b) What barriers and support systems were present that impeded or supported their children's pursuit of higher education?; and, (c) What educational strategies are present in migrant families that have children in higher education? </p><p> Guided by a critical race theorist approach, individual interviews and focus group interviews. five themes emerged from the findings: (a) Success as Defined by Migrant Families; (b) Reinforcing the Value of Hard Work: (c) Notable Barriers and Obstacles in the Latino Migrant Community; (d) Strategies to Succeed Academically; and (e) The Impact of the Migrant Education Program. </p><p> One important and notable limitation of the study was the sample size. It is possible that a larger size would have resulted in more divergent findings and would have yielded broader recommendations. Furthermore, it is probable that only utilizing interviews as the primary information source has limited the findings. </p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to locate a potential funding source and write a grant that will provide peer led education to immigrant Latino families regarding mental health services. This project goal is to increase the utilization of services within their community. A search was conducted to locate an appropriate funder for the proposed program. Various areas needed to be addressed to identify an appropriate funder which included correlation of goals and visions between the purposed program and the funding source. In funding this program, The California Endowment was chosen as the outcomes align with the goals of the program which include but are not limited to "health-home," decreasing youth violence and improving youth development. The goals for this program are to provide education to immigrant Latino families about mental health in an environment that is comfortable and non-threatening. This program will also provide various resources that will facilitate the services that are needed within this population.</p>

<p> Culturally sensitive care is thought to take into account a person's specific cultural values and preferences when providing mental health care services. Latinos currently comprise 17% of the total U.S. population at 50.5 million and persons of Mexican heritage constitute over 66% of all Latinos in the United States. Persons of Mexican heritage experience higher rates of mental health issues and illness with 30% lifetime incidence versus 20% incidence for Anglos. Few studies have focused on the mental health treatment preferences for persons of Mexican heritage. Treatment preferences could reflect personal characteristics, acculturation perspective about mental health issues and illness, and experience with treatment. Mass media may also influence treatment preferences and mental health information-seeking. The purpose of this study was to describe preferences for mental health treatment services for persons of Mexican heritage living in the Southwest along the United States-Mexico border. Twenty-one participants were interviewed individually and their responses analyzed using Atlas-ti qualitative analysis software. The participants reported twenty-five mental health treatment preferences. The top six preferences&mdash;medication, going to the doctor, social and family support, counseling and herbal medicines, were consistent throughout demographic categories of age, gender, income, generational status, insurance status, education, and acculturation. Self-management interventions and integrative medicine were also reported as treatment preferences. Participants reported media use of television, internet, books and magazines, in-person interaction, and radio as primary mental health information sources. Media influences on mental health included education/information, hope, normalization, and a catalyst for conversation. Ascribed meanings for anxiety, depression, substance abuse, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder included cognitive, behavioral, and interactional reports. Mental health services for persons of Mexican heritage should include varying holistic mental health treatment practices, recognizing the need for understanding of potential meanings for mental health issues and illness. Persons of Mexican heritage report the desire for the same types of allopathic care including medications and counseling as Anglos in the US. Additionally, self-management interventions and integrative medicine therapies, as well as innovative media outreach methods were reported as integral to the holistic treatment process of obtaining help for mental health issues and illness.</p>

<p>Body image refers to how a person perceives herself physically. A woman's perception of her physical appearance and her adherence to a cultural ideal of beauty informs her body image. Several determinants shape the development of body image, including sociocultural, psychological, and interpersonal factors, as well as adolescent physique and maturation, history of abuse, and certain types of media exposure (e.g., fashion magazines and a variety of television programming). </p><p> Much scholarly critique has argued that popular media perpetuate a "thin ideal" to viewers. Consumers receive distorted information. Heavy media consumers, through sheer volume of exposure, may be more aware of and likely to internalize the societal ideal, which could lead to disturbed body image and eating disorders. Substantial body image and media effects research focuses on print images, while television images are far less studied. Furthermore, Caucasian females are studied more frequently than members of other ethnic groups, such as Latinas (Hispanic females). Existing research examining Latinas tends to aggregate ethnic sub-groups (e.g. Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, etc.) into one homogenous group despite differences in national origin. The present study addresses a paucity of research focusing on ethnicity and ethnic sub-group identification related to body image across disciplines. </p><p> A sample comprising 305 self-identified Latinas completed an online survey about television consumption and body image. Television consumption was not predictive of social comparison; however, television consumption did predict awareness of the Eurocentric idealized thin body type. Moreover, sociocultural pressure from friends and family predicted awareness of the idealized thin. Awareness of the idealized thin was positively associated with social comparison, and internalization was positively associated with social comparison. Likewise, social comparison was positively associated with body dissatisfaction and with drive for thinness. The results lend further support for the sociocultural paradigm of body image disturbance. Limitations of the present work are posed along with suggestions for future research. </p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to develop a grant proposal and identify a potential funding source for the purpose of expanding a cross-age mentoring program to increase school participation and decrease dropout rates of students in one high school and middle school in San Antonio, Texas. The program is designed to target and strengthen non-academic factors such as family connectedness, community involvement, and self-esteem which have been shown to contribute to school dropout rates. An extensive literature review increased knowledge about dropout rates among Hispanics and individuals who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and provided information about evidenced-based mentoring programs that the grant writer then used to design a best-practice program. A search for potential finding sources via the internet resulted in the selection of Kronkosky Charitable Foundation as the best funding source for this project. A grant was then written to support the expansion of a cross-age mentoring program at Harlandale High School and Harlandale Middle School in San Antonio, Texas.</p>

<p> Fathers are affronted with consistent and systematic barriers and frequent discrimination in their interactions with child welfare entities. The unique set of challenges that these fathers face in parenting evidences a need for father-specific services. A local agency by the name of Families Uniting Families has made attempts to provide for these needs and began implementing the Project Fatherhood program in the greater Long Beach, California area in 2010 to support these fathers. The hope of this agency is to offer a Spanish-language section to their current program to meet the ever-increasing need for providing services to Latino fathers. A review of current and past literature was performed to highlight the need for programs that focus on the unique needs that fathers face, specifically Latino fathers. Neither successful receipt of funding nor submission of the grant proposal is a requirement for successful completion of this thesis project.</p>

<p> This study examines the development of first-generation African American and Latino college students' sociopolitical consciousness in the context of their learning of sociology as a component of their liberal education studies. Given the paucity of research on how college students develop sociopolitical consciousness, this study addresses: (1) the nature of first-generation undergraduate African American and Latino students' sociopolitical consciousness at point of entry to college-level study of introductory sociology, (2) college students' sociopolitical consciousness prior to (or early in) their interaction with sociological ideas, (3) changes that may occur in these students' sociopolitical consciousness as they interact with sociological ideas, (4) classroom activities that may be related to changes experienced by the students, and (5) acts, reflective of sociopolitical consciousness, in which the students engage. </p><p> Conducted at an urban university with high racial and ethnic diversity, the study featured documentation and analysis of 18 focal students' learning in two sections of a sociology class. The study relies on interviews with the focal students about their learning and thinking in and out of class, interviews with instructors and administrators, class observations, analysis of students' written work and other class materials including textbooks, and review of institutional and curricular documents. </p><p> Study findings portray undergraduates' sociopolitical consciousness as comprised of <i>awareness</i> and <i>understanding</i> of sociopolitical forces. Students' awareness and understanding may vary by degree (amount of) and topic. College students enter the classroom already in possession of some sociopolitical consciousness which may be viewed as part of their prior knowledge. Study findings indicate that students' sociopolitical consciousness intensifies and at times is transformed as students encounter sociological subject matter. Two aspects of the classroom may contribute to developing undergraduates' sociopolitical consciousness: (1) in-class discussions and (2) professors offering examples during their teaching relevant to students' interests. The study suggests that students' acts of analysis and/or critique, and their acts of involvement, can contribute to their <i>sociopolitical capacity</i>&mdash;an amalgamation of consciousness and acts. Implications and ideas for future research follow.</p>

<p> The purpose of this multicase study was to describe and explain the perceptions of three Spanish-English culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) high achievers on their biliteracy journeys to become educators in the United States (U.S.), by answering: What elements constitute the perspectives of three L1-Spanish/L2-English CLD high achievers on the relevance of their biliteracy experience in order to become educators in the U.S.?; What factors do these three L1-Spanish/L2-English CLD high achievers perceive as key to describe their biliteracy experience?; What relevance, if any, do these three L1-Spanish/L2-English CLD high achievers perceive their biliteracy experience had for them to become educators in the U.S.?; From the perspectives of these three L1-Spanish/L2-English CLD high-achiever educators, what impact, if any, did digital technologies have on their biliteracy experience? With a critical-pedagogy approach to multicase-study (Stake, 2006) inquiry, I used online methods to collect data on three high-achieving (GPA > 3.01) L1-Spanish graduates initially identified as limited-English-proficient by the American school system. For data collection, I used a participant-selection questionnaire, individual and group semi-structured interviews via Skype, e-journals for biliteracy autobiographies, artifact e-portfolios, my reflective e-journal, and one face-to-face unstructured interview with one participant only. Concurrently, I engaged in on-going data analysis to build meaning inductively and guide further data collection, analysis, and interpretation, until saturation, in an application of the dialectical method into research (Ollman, 2008). I included the email communications with the participants and their member checks. Two external auditors reviewed all data-collection and analytic procedures. I analyzed each case individually followed by the cross-case analysis. The findings indicated the importance of family and L1-community support, host-culture insiders as mentors, access to information, empowerment by means of conscientization, and the participants' advocacy of others by becoming educators. In this way, the study identified how the participants escaped the statistics of doom, which helps understand how to better serve growing L2-English student populations. The study closed with a discussion from the viewpoint of reviewed literature and critical pedagogy, my interpretation of the findings, and suggestions for future praxis in education and research.</p>