This dissertation examines New York Puerto Ricans’ identifications as part of a Hispanic collectivity that saw itself as a permanent and integral sociocultural group of New York City between the years 1931 and 1951. It argues that a New York Latino identity emerged at this time across ethnic, racial and class lines through Spanish-speakers’ strategic appropriations of the era’s transnational frameworks, including proletarian fraternalism (chapter one), Pan-Americanism (chapter two), cosmopolitan aestheticism (chapter three) and anti-colonialism (chapter four). Whereas the coordinates of present-day Latino identities are generally traced back to the ‘invention’ of a Hispanic category in order to create voting or consumer blocs in the late twentieth century or, conversely, to the political and cultural ‘awakening’ of Hispanics during the countercultural decades of the sixties and seventies, this dissertation upsets these timelines by showing how a New York Latino identity materializes earlier than previously thought. Specifically, it explores how the sociopolitical conjuncture of the 1930s and 1940s, with the sweeping reforms of the New Deal, the unprecedented influence of socialist ideas on American culture, the antifascist fight and world war, and the consequent emergence of anti-colonial movements, provided a grammar for New York Puerto Ricans’ self-definitions as part of a pan-ethnic minority that was “here to stay” in New York. In so doing, this dissertation challenges depictions of early New York Puerto Rican communities as isolated or self-contained spaces, and inquires into the ways localized ethnic identities are modulated by national and international events. Reading works by New York Puerto Rican authors like Jesús Colón, Pedro Labarthe, Pedro Caballero, and Guillermo Cotto-Thorner, and drawing from historical documents and New York Spanish-language periodicals such as Artes y Letras, La Voz, Eco Antillano, Pueblos Hispanos and Liberación, this dissertation weaves sociocultural analysis, literary criticism and archival research to begin to redress the relative lack of scholarly attention given to the cultural productions of New York Hispanic communities prior to midcentury and thus provides historical moorings for the cultural expressions of Latino New York.

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate interpersonal and sociocultural factors associated with suicide ideation and attempts among Latinx adolescents. In this dissertation, the term Latinx is used to include gender non-conforming youth. Latina/o or Latinx refer to adolescents of Latin American origin who speak Spanish. Hispanics are those with Spanish language heritage including countries such as Spain that are not in Latin America. Thus, the terms Latino/a and Latinx captured best the ethnic group represented in this dissertation. This dissertation is composed of three papers. Paper one (#1) examines the association between social connectedness, in the family and school domains, self-esteem, and suicidal ideation among Latinx adolescents. This paper provides context for the second and third papers. Paper two (#2) examines whether immigration generational status moderates the relationship between social connectedness, self-esteem, and suicidal ideation among this group of adolescents. Paper three (#3) focuses on only those adolescents who have reported histories of suicidal ideation in the previous year and examines prospectively the degree to which social connectedness and self-esteem are associated with the transition from suicidal ideation to attempt a year later. This dissertation is guided by the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (IPTS) and the Sociocultural Model of Suicide. The IPTS provides the constructs to understand who is at risk for suicidal ideation and the Sociocultural Model of Suicide provides the cultural lenses through which these constructs are examined. Dr. Thomas Joiner, the developer of IPTS (personal communication, April 18,2019) confirmed that the variables selected in this study captured the IPTS constructs of social connectedness and self-esteem, the latter a dimension of burdensomeness.

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The purpose of this three-paper dissertation is to examine the influence of different social processes on insomnia symptoms among Latinx adults. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used in an effort to adequately capture the complex ways in which these processes impact insomnia symptoms in this population. Given that insomnia is more prevalent among women than men and that previous studies suggest different gender patterns in the influence of social processes on mental health exist, each paper includes an exploratory aim that investigates potential gender differences in the associations it examines. Paper 1 uses thematic content analysis to explore how Latinx adults with chronic insomnia describe the social processes through which social ties impact their lived experience of insomnia. Paper 2 tests the independent and synergistic effects of family and friend social support and social strain on insomnia symptoms. Lastly, Paper 3 builds upon previous studies demonstrating a positive association between acculturation stress and insomnia symptoms among Latinx adults by examining two emotion-focused coping strategies (i.e., brooding and alcohol use) as potential mechanisms driving this association. Taken together, the findings from these three papers suggest there may be a need for mental health providers to evaluate and address social processes when diagnosing and treating insomnia among Latinx adults.

Table of Contents: Frontmatter / Chapter One: Latino Politics: Both a Growing and Evolving Political Community / Chapter Two: Methodology and User Guide / Chapter Three: History, Demographics and Mass Media / Chapter Four: Latino Identity / Chapter Five: Books Focused on Ethnic Studies / Chapter Six: Political Attitudes and Political Behavior / Chapter Seven: Latino Elites, Representation, and Institutions / Chapter Eight: Inter-group Relations / Chapter Nine: Public Policy Issues / Chapter Ten: Methodology and Measurement Issues / Chapter Eleven: Reference Sources / Appendixes

This work examines the histories of the Latino population of Washington County, Oregon, and explores how and why ethnic Mexican and other Latino individuals and families relocated to the county. It relies heavily on oral history interviews conducted by the author with ethnic Mexican residents, and on archival newspaper sources. Beginning with the settlement of a small number of tejano families and the formation of an ethnic community in the 1960s, a number of factors encouraged an increasing number of migrant Latino families--from tejanos to Mexican nationals to Central and South Americans to indigenous migrants of various nationalities--to settle permanently in the county. This work studies how the growth and diversification of the population altered the nature of community among Latinos, how changing social conditions and the efforts of early community builders improved opportunities for new arrivals, and how continuing migration has assisted in processes of cultural replenishment.

Latino communities frequently face barriers in the midst of largely English speaking and mostly Anglo-American culture surrounding communities. These surrounding communities often may be somewhat resistant to adjusting to their changing populations. This case study is a linguistic needs assessment of a Latino community in a small city and neighboring town in the Northwest. Discussed are experiences, needs, and opinions of thirty Latina mother participants in regards to living in this community. Participants, all of whom were monolingual Spanish or limited English proficiency recent immigrants, were recruited through a social service agency serving low income Latinos. The study used observation, ethnographic-style notetaking, theme identification, and questionnaire development based on these themes, with short interviews. Seven themes were identified as central to participants' lives: general language issues, employment, housing, utility companies and social service agencies, medical care, child care and schools, and domestic violence. Implications are that more affordable housing, child care, and higher paying jobs would ameliorate the lives of these low-income Latino families. Also, more bilingual and culturally competent people are needed as property managers, employers, teachers, social service workers, and especially doctors, nurses, and medical receptionists for Latino families to have equal access and for the surrounding community to integrate with its changing population. Recommendations for English as a second language programs include development of curriculum relevant to Latina mothers' lives and teaching of linguistic strategies for living in the surrounding community. Concluding is a recommendation that studies with similar research questions be carried out in the surrounding community and in other Latino communities so, in comparing results, broader statements can be made about this population.

This dissertation examines Latino political engagement, why it occurs at lower rates comparedto other racial/ethnic groups, and factors that may prove influential in bridging such gaps in political engagement. Much of the existing literature on the turnout gap, a persistent double-digit average disparity in voter turnout between Latinos and other U.S racial/ethnic groups has not yet grappled with the empirical fact that such disparities appear before Americans are of voting age. Additionally, we know little about forces that shape Latino’s decision to engage in other forms of political participation such as running for political office. I argue that the relative (dis)engagement of Latinos can be better understood by analyzing differences in the development of norms regarding political engagement. In my first dissertation paper, I leverage decades of longitudinal survey data to assess differences in the early political development of racial/ethnic groups in the United States. I find substantial heterogeneity in the development of political interest, engagement, and attitudes among racial and ethnic groups. I also demonstrate that voting aspirations among Latino youth exist well before they reach voting age. In the second study, I employ two survey experiments to test causal arguments regarding the influence of potential socialization agents on Latino youth: group exemplars. I also conduct focus groups with Latino youth to further describe the mechanisms that drive their voting aspirations. The results show that exemplars, or in-group “role models,” influence the norms and intended voting behavior of young Latinos. Exposure to in-group exemplars coincide with greater levels of intent to vote and increased in-group norms placing emphasis on voting. I also find that the actions exemplars engage in or discuss matter greatly. Observed increases in modes of civic participation outside of voter turnout, such as enthusiasm for political volunteerism, were likely a function of the first intervention’s experimental stimuli. In my final study, I assemble an original dataset of Spanish-language television stations across the United States to study their influence on local-level candidate emergence and Latino turnout. The results show that Spanish-language television access has a negative effect on candidate emergence in areas with high Latino population density, while Latinos in areas that have a low density of co-ethnics are mobilized by access to stations. The results add further complexity to the debate on ethnic media and Latino political participation as the observed effects appear to depend on ethnoracial political context.

This research attempted to uncover the sociopolitical ideologies, ethnic discrimination, and class oppression that create sustained social dominance through resource control in the unicorporated community of the Salton Sea located in Eastern Riverside County, California in regard to public transportation issues.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Hispanics and their levels of acculturation. This study's intent was to incorporate variables in order to identify generation and language as defining factors for acculturation. A Likert-type Bidemensional Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (BAS) was used to test six hypotheses.