Migrant children are considered one of the most at-risk populations in the United States. They confront multiple obstacles of poverty, poor health, mobility, and limited English proficiency (LEP). These factors contribute to the difficulties that migrant children may encounter in the educational system. Once a migrant student is identified as having a disability, he/she faces problems not only because of his/her migratory lifestyle but also because of his/her disability. Little research has been conducted regarding migrant students with disabilities. Many questions remain unanswered. Some of the literature alludes to an underrepresentation of migrant students in special education, but no empirical research exists. The purpose of the study is two-fold. The first is to examine the extent of the migrant student population that is currently identified as having disabilities in the school districts across the state of Texas. The second purpose of the study is to examine the common characteristics of school districts that have a disproportionate representation of migrant students served by special education. Data for the 2000-2001 school year was obtained from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) from their Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) and the Program Analysis System (PAS). There were 223 districts included in the sample. There were 71,656 migrant students in the sample with 9,078 migrant students receiving special education services. Migrant students across the state of Texas were primarily Hispanic and economically disadvantaged. Forty five percent of all migrants were also LEP. Although 12% of the migrant population across the state received special education services during the 2000-2001 school year, further analysis demonstrated that there was a higher percentage of migrant students that received services under the Learning Disability category when compared to all students, excluding migrants. There were also a number of districts that had an overrepresentation of migrant students that received special education services, while others had an underrepresentation of migrant LEP students that received special education services. Overall, this study indicates that there is a disproportionate representation of migrant students that received special education services across the school districts of Texas.

The decade of 1990-2000 saw a 53 percent increase in the number of Hispanics to 35.3 million, 20.6 million whom are of Mexican origin, signifying the fastest growing cohort in the U.S. today. This decade has also seen a surge in Hispanic migration to the Midwest region, particularly to communities with large meatpacking plants (LMPPs). Although overall literary consensus underscores the fact that this educationally disadvantaged ethnic group is over-represented in service and labor-based industries, few attempts have been made to empirically link their growing participation in high-risk industries like meatpacking with socioeconomic and occupational indicators of immigrant vulnerability.

Construction is a very deadly industry with Texas having the highest rate of deaths of construction workers of any state. Hispanic workers are at an even higher risk than white, non-Hispanic workers for being injured or killed while working on a construction site. However, traditional materials available through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to train workers in job safety cannot effectively reach the Hispanic construction worker population because of language and educational barriers. This study examines a non-traditional safety training program tailored specifically for Spanish monolingual construction workers in order to reach these otherwise hard-to-reach workers, created by Workers Defense Project (WDP) in Austin, Texas, through a Department of Labor grant. Through participatory learning techniques, WDP has had a high rate of success in educating low-literacy, Spanish monolingual construction workers on workplace safety and rights. Through further evaluation of this program, the unique methods utilized in this training can be developed and applied in other areas and industries to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities in construction and other hazardous industries. / text

abstract: The role of the American police is to work for and with the communities they serve. The relationship between police and community, however, has not always been a positive one. In recent decades, police organizations throughout the United States have attempted various approaches to addressing the problem. Most recently, they have been focused on improving that relationship by enhancing their legitimacy. This practice is commonly known as the process-based model of policing: theoretically, a procedurally just interaction will enhance legitimacy, which in turn will enhance willingness to cooperate with the police. The benefit for police agencies in enhancing legitimacy lies in the idea that when the police are perceived as a legitimate entity, the public will be more likely to cooperate with them. Enhancing police legitimacy also offers benefits for the public, as this is preceded by a procedurally just interaction. The goal of this dissertation is to assess the applicability of the process-based model of policing to an under-studied population: Hispanics and undocumented immigrants residing within Maricopa County, Arizona. The analysis for this dissertation uses data from two different sources: a sample of Maricopa County residents (n=854) and a sample of Maricopa County arrestees (n=2268). These data are used to assess three research questions. The first research question focuses on assessing the applicability of the process-based model of regulation as a theoretical framework to study this population. The second research question compares Hispanic and White respondents’ views of procedural justice, police legitimacy, and how these perceptions relate to their willingness to cooperate with the police. The last research question examines the differences between undocumented immigrants’ and U.S. citizens’ perceptions of procedural justice, police legitimacy, and how these perceptions relate to their willingness to cooperate with the police. In doing so, this study examined the convergent and discriminant validity of key theoretical constructs. Among several notable findings, the results show that the process-based model of regulation is a promising framework within which to assess perceptions of the police. However, the framework was only supported by the sample of arrestees. Implications for theory, practice, and suggestions for future research are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Justice Studies 2017

The aims of this DNP project were to evaluate the use of skin cancer preventive behaviors among Hispanic adults within a rural Southwestern Arizona community and to identify the role of self-efficacy expectations and outcome expectations associated with use of skin cancer preventive behaviors within this population. A 42-question survey addressing demographics, skin cancer risk factors, use of skin cancer preventative behaviors, self-efficacy and outcome expectations was developed. The survey was distributed in two primary care clinics in San Luis, Arizona. This survey study included a sample size of 153 Hispanic adults over the age of 18 years old. Findings of this study suggest moderate use of UVR protective behaviors, and minimal use of both CSE and SSE. Use of UVR protective behaviors were associated with skin examination self-efficacy and UVR protection self-efficacy. Results from this project can be used as preliminary data for a prospective intervention study to improve and maintain skin cancer preventive behaviors in Hispanics living in the Southwestern Arizona border area as well as along the entire U.S. –Mexico border. Abbreviations: Advanced Practice Nurse (APN), American Cancer Society (ACS), Clinical Skin Examination (CSE), Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), Institutional Board Review (IRB), Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer (NMSC), Primary Investigator (PI), Self-skin examination (SSE), Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS), Ultraviolet Radiation (UVR)

This study assessed the civic knowledge, skills, and attitudes of Hispanic eighth grade students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), Florida. Three hundred sixty one Hispanic students of Cuban (253), Colombian (57), and Nicaraguan (51) ancestry from 10 middle schools participated in the study. Two hundred twenty eight students were from low socio-economic status (SES) background, and 133 were of middle SES background. There were 136 boys and 225 girls. The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement Civic Education Student Questionnaire was used to collect data. The instrument assessed the students’ civic knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to test for differences in the civic knowledge, skills, and attitudes of participants based on ancestry, SES, and gender. The findings indicated that there was no significant difference in the civic knowledge, skills, and attitudes of Hispanic eighth grade students that were of Cuban, Colombian, and Nicaraguan ancestry. There was no significant difference in the civic vi ii skills and in five of the civic attitude scales for students from low SES families compared to those from middle SES families. However, there was a significant difference in the civic knowledge and in the civic attitude concerning classroom discussions and participation based on SES. The civic knowledge of middle SES students was higher than that of low SES students. Furthermore, middle SES Hispanic students displayed a higher mean score for the civic attitude of classroom discussions and participation than low SES students. There was no significant difference in the civic knowledge and in five of the civic attitude scales between boys and girls. However, there was a significant difference in the civic skills and the civic attitude of support for women’s rights between boys and girls. Hispanic girls displayed a higher mean score in civic skills than Hispanic boys. Furthermore, the mean score of civic attitude of support for women’s rights for Hispanic girls was higher than that of Hispanic boys. It was concluded that Cuban, Colombian, or Nicaraguan participants did not demonstrate differences in civic attitudes and levels of civic knowledge and skills that eighth grade students possessed. In addition, when compared to boys, girls demonstrated a higher level of civic skills and a greater support for women’s rights and participation in politics and their roles in politics. Moreover, SES was demonstrated to be a key factor in the acquisition of civic knowledge, regardless of ancestry.

This study examined relationships between acculturation and acculturative stress, as well as links to self-esteem, depression, and substance use related problems of Latina/o adolescents. Self-report data were collected from 206 Latina/o adolescents in three public high schools in a small city in the Western United States. Different patterns were observed for Latino males and females in their acculturation processes and experiences of acculturative stress as they relate to psychosocial functioning. Experiences of acculturative stress are found to be the driving force that predicts the psychosocial functioning for these Latina/o adolescents, especially for Latino males. For Latino males, experiences of acculturative stress were related to lower self-esteem and higher depression. For Latinas, experiences of acculturative stress were related to higher depression scores. Tests of moderation and mediation suggested that pathways to psychosocial outcomes may be best understood in Latino youth by examining the interplay between acculturation levels and acculturative stress experiences. (114 pages)

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Background: Latinos are disproportionately affected by diabetes. Studies examining acculturation and diabetes prevalence among Latinos have used diverse operational definitions of acculturation and have reported conflicting results. Objective: To examine the association between two acculturation measures--country of birth and predominant language spoken--with the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) in adult U.S. Latinos. Methods: We used data from the 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys , including Latinos aged 20-80 years old (n=3,214). We examined the association of country of origin (U.S.-born vs. non-U.S.-born) and predominant language spoken (English vs. Spanish) with diabetes. Covariates included in logistic regression analysis included, age, education, income, marital status, and BMI. Results: After adjusting for age, education, income, and marital status, Latinos born in the United States and those speaking English as their predominant language demonstrated greater odds of having diabetes than their foreign-born and Spanish-speaking counterparts (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.05-1.93 and OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.06-1.74, respectively). This positive association between acculturation and diabetes prevalence was mediated in part by body mass index. Conclusion: Latinos with high levels of acculturation--defined by country of birth and predominant language spoken--have an increased risk of diabetes compared to those with low levels of acculturation. Further research should explore the complex underlying processes that explain differences in the odds of DM by acculturation status. Our findings may inform clinicians and public health professionals in implementing interventions to prevent diabetes in U.S. Latinos, who are at high-risk for this disease. / Epidemiology

This study utilized focus groups to assess the perceived needs and interests for marriage education among single and married Latino individuals residing in Utah County, Utah as well as the identification of common themes and differences for this population. Male and female groups at various points in the marital developmental life stage were studied including high school students (15-18 years of age), single never married young adults (19-30 years of age), committed (engaged or cohabiting) adults, married persons recently transitioning to parenting, and married people with children. The sample consisted of 10 groups, 5 female and 5 male. In addition, a professional group consisting of professionals who are in daily contact with the Latino population also participated (N=12). A total of 53 Latino individuals and 12 professionals were interviewed in the focus groups. The participants were asked 14 open-ended questions to assess various elements of marriage education including content, cost, convenient locations, sources of information, perceived barriers to getting services as well as strategies on how to get people involved in marriage education programs. The data from the focus groups were analyzed using inductive qualitative methods. The findings showed that most females were concerned about domestic violence and infidelity as topics in marriage education while males were more concerned about having financial stability, improving communication skills and increase their parenting skills. These results support the importance of conducting focus groups as a way to assess marriage education needs and interests of the Latino population. Limitations for future research are discussed, implications for marriage education programming for Latino couples as well as implications for marriage and family therapists.