Scholars have utilized the Minority Stress Model to explore external and internal stressors, coping mechanisms, social support and mental health outcomes for sexually marginalized populations. However, scarce studies examine Latinx sexually marginalized experiences and associations within the model. Thus, the goal of this study was to integrate sexually marginalized Latinx experiences in the Minority Stress Model. The theoretical frameworks utilized were Minority Stress Theory, Intersectionality and Experiential Theory rooted in the Couple and Family Therapy field. First, an explanation of the Minority Stress Model, influences of prominent Latinx cultural factors (i.e., tradition, familism, gender, and acculturation) in model processes, and a proposed Latinx Minority Stress Model is provided. Further, clinical implications are discussed through intersectional multicultural competency and Experiential Theory techniques. Second, a quantitative study with a sample comprised of 76 Latinx lesbian women in romantic relationships will be discussed. Regression analysis indicated that participants with family closeness and positive romantic relationship quality reported lower internalized heterosexism (i.e., internal stress). Additionally, higher internalized heterosexism outcomes predicted higher reports of anxiety and depression. Positive relationship quality perception also statistically mediated internalized heterosexist thoughts and depression. Implications for clinical work are discussed using Experiential Theory. Finally, research and clinical implications are examined through an integration of the proposed Latinx Minority Stress Model and quantitative analysis results. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

This dissertation studies the intersections of militarism, climate change, and environmental justice in U.S. literature and popular culture since the end of the Cold War. The project identifies different mechanisms enacting environmental military violence through discursive analysis of literary and cultural texts, and considers the ideas, values, and beliefs that support environmental military violence. In each chapter I trace a different dynamic of environmental violence structured through the logics of U.S. counterinsurgency theory by examining what I call “narrative political ecologies”—cultural texts that center concerns of ecology and broadly defined political economy. Chapter I establishes the stakes and questions of the dissertation. The next two chapters investigate the dynamics of environmental violence depicted within narrative political ecologies. Chapter II investigates how eruptive interpersonal violence secures more insidious, hidden forms of slow environmental violence in Héctor Tobar’s The Tattooed Soldier. Chapter III considers the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands and the environmental military violence responsible for the deaths of undocumented migrants by examining Luis Alberto Urrea’s The Devil’s Highway and the Electronic Disturbance Theater’s Transborder Immigrant Tool. Chapter IV turns to potential f wars and conflicts that may be caused by climate change as they have been depicted in speculative fiction. In novels depicting climate migrants, such as Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower (1993) and Parable of the Talents (2014), I show that even politically progressive, intersectional approaches to environmental endangerment naturalize conflict and occlude dialogic solutions to environmental change. The final chapter traces how the environmental refugee has become a paradigmatic figure in climate change discourse, particularly the aspects of this discourse where issues of national security are articulated. At the center of these texts is the figure of the migrant and narratives of migrations, and I argue that the figure of the environmental migrant offers a privileged vantage on the constitutive forces of the Anthropocene. The dissertation identifies the specific literary and rhetorical techniques that authors use to contest environmental militarization and expand the U.S. public’s capacity to creatively and compassionately reason around increased flows of environmental migrants— issues of vital importance for humane climate change adaptation.

abstract: Empirical research has supported that higher behavioral engagement with and higher affective pride toward the LGBTQ+ community are associated with greater psychological well-being among Latinx sexual minorities (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, etc.). Less is known, however, about predictors of sexual identity development among Latinx sexual minorities. This study explores how heterosexist discrimination may be related to the exploration and affirmation of one’s sexual minority identity. Conversely, conflicts in allegiance (CIA), that is, the experience of perceived incompatibility Latinx sexual minorities may experience between their racial-ethnic and sexual minority identities, was examined as a potential negative correlate. This study applies a rejection-identification model and identity development theories to test the associations between heterosexist discrimination, conflicts in allegiances and sexual identity constructs (LGBTQ+ behavioral engagement and affective pride). Among a sample of 366 Latinx sexual minorities, this study found both heterosexist discrimination and conflicts in allegiances were significant predictors of LGBTQ+ behavioral engagement and affective pride. Additionally, data supported two mediational models that tested relations between heterosexist discrimination, LGBTQ+ behavioral engagement, and affective pride. This study contributes to our understanding of sexual minority identity among Latinx individuals. These findings can assist helping professionals and community centers in promoting psychological well-being among Latinx sexual minority individuals by informing identity-affirming practices and interventions. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Counseling Psychology 2018

This serves as a contextualization of my family history and a reflection of my lived experience as a first-generation Nicaraguan American woman living in the United States. In my writing, I explore displacement caused by political unrest and the intergenerational impact of war on families. This work is multi-genre, incorporating elements of creative nonfiction, memoir, poetry, and oral history.

Undocumented migrants are a part of our daily lives, yet we rarely hear their stories or know who they really are; the word "undocumented" can have a negative connotation both within and outside the Latinx community and is often associated with criminals and various other negative stereotypes. This study aims to understand how identity is affected by documentation status and how that affects the undocumented and documented Latinx community, the experiences of Latinx people of different documentation status with connections to illegal immigration, and how they navigate through those experiences in the United States of America knowing that they are putting themselves at risk. There is not enough representation of undocumented Latinx people and their role in society; it is important to understand the undocumented Latinx community and give them a voice because undocumented people are one of the U.S.' backbones in cultural and socio-economic terms. This investigation will provide more insight into their experiences and the identity struggle within the Latinx context through a series of interviews and an in-depth literature review of other publications sharing undocumented Latinx individuals' oral histories. It aims to shine a positive light on the community and contribute to future research on similar topics.

Thesis advisor: Usha Tummala-Narra / Sexual violence is a common experience among women in the United States that can have a number of negative sequalae, including heightened feelings of shame (Feiring & Taska, 2005; Smith et al., 2018). While literature has started to document the effects of shame on some aspects of survivors’ lives (Bhuptani et al., 2019; Kim et al., 2009), less is known about how shame is experienced by survivors in their daily lives. Mexican Americans constitute a notable segment of the U.S. population and are affected by unique contextual factors such as their immigration history, cultural values, religious experiences, and acculturation processes. Yet, there is limited literature examining the experiences of Mexican American survivors of sexual violence. Using Campbell and colleagues’ (2009) ecological model and a mujerista research paradigm (Bryant-Davis & Comas-Díaz, 2016), this study sought to develop a qualitative understanding of the experience of shame among 1.5 and 2nd generation Mexican American women who are survivors of sexual violence, while considering how cultural values and beliefs shape their experience of shame across ecological levels. Twelve 1.5 and 2nd generation Mexican American survivors of sexual violence participated in semi-structured interviews for this qualitative descriptive study. Conventional content analysis of the data yielded eight broad domains: (1) influence of immigration and cultural context on shame; (2) impact of shame on mental health; (3) relational impacts of shame; (4) impact of shame on daily functioning; (5) impact of shame on disclosure; (6) marianismo increased feelings of shame after sexual violence; (7) healing from shame; and, (8) challenges to healing from shame. Results indicate that the effects of shame are pervasive for survivors across multiple areas of their lives (i.e., mental and physical health, relationships, academic and professional lives), religious and cultural messages foster a context of shame for survivors, and survivors’ healing process is shaped by their bicultural context. Limitations and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed, along with implications for culturally responsive clinical practice and future research directions. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

<p>Rural communities across the United States are experiencing a rapid increase in the number of immigrant students. While the number of culturally and linguistically diverse students continues to grow within midwestern states, the demographics of teachers remain white, female, and monolingual. Often teachers have little to no training working with students and their families whose backgrounds differ from their own. Thus, there is a greater urgency for teachers to develop culturally competent teaching practices that address the needs of all students. The purpose of this year-long, school-based narrative inquiry was to examine the beliefs, attitudes, and practices of rural educators as they described their work with Latinx immigrant, elementary students, negotiated the “space” between a professional and personal identity and demonstrated an ethic of care. This inquiry is arranged into “livings, tellings, retellings, and relivings” (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000, p. 70) and serves to shed light on the entwined lived experiences of myself, my participants, and the community in which we reside. Swanson’s Middle Range Theory of Care (1991, 1993) served as the conceptual framework that illuminated how my participants discussed working with and caring for their Latinx immigrant students. Findings from this study support teacher education by providing practical recommendations for promoting culturally responsive practices, grounded in care, for preservice (PST) and in-service teachers. </p>

La Carroza Dorada (The Golden Carriage) is a collection of essays and poetry that details the narrator’s life growing up as an immigrant from Uruguay in the United States. Through each piece, the narrator explores themes in her own life relating to family, grief, self-identity, gender roles, language, distance, and more that directly relate to the perspective of a young immigrant. Inevitably, these personal themes connect to broader issues that affect every immigrant such as the Latinx experience, familial hardships, social/economic class differences, and cultural differences. The narrator explores the American Dream and the balancing act between dream and reality in order to better understand herself and the world around her.

Mental health services within Latinx communities in the United States has been greatly underutilized. Seekers of mental health support face many barriers including internalized stigmas, misconception of mental health serves and low general knowledge of mental health and wellness. For many Latinx, culturally competent mental healthcare has lacked important elements to how Latinx interpret mental healthcare services. The use of Santería in many in Florida and the United States has supplemented gaps left by formal mental healthcare services. Santería has its own stigmas within Latinx communities were its practiced, forcing many Santeros and seekers to practice in private. Lack of public knowledge of Santería allows Latinx with mental illness to freely seek mental healing without the worries of negative judgment and stigma. The purpose of the is thesis is to analyze how mental health services are viewed within Latinx communities in central Florida. This work also examines the various reasons why Latinos generally underutilize mental healthcare services. My research investigates the uses of Santería in Latinx community in Central Florida as both a religious and informal therapeutic practice. Specifically, my research examines the extent to which Santería practitioners fill this gap as informal therapists and counselors; representing both culturally acceptable form of mental health services as well as reflecting the thoughts and perspective of Latinx towards formal mental healthcare.

The thesis explores how some undocumented Latinx immigrants thrive and understand their personhood and security in the current “immigration crisis” in the U.S. Using ethnographic tools such as interviews and participant observation, I gathered undocumented Latinx immigrants’ narratives about living in Orlando, Florida. I concluded that American immigration policies use lack-of-freedom strategies to limit their experiences and rights as human beings, also as a means to deter future immigrants. Through the lens of undocumented Latinx immigrants’ stories, I analyze the relationship between freedom, power, and identity in the social hierarchy of privileges in the United States to understand how their experiences are negatively affected by intersectional issues. The COVID-19 pandemic was a breaking point that made more visible the structural inequality and vulnerability of undocumented migrants alongside other marginal populations. In this research, I expand an anthropological discussion to think through more just alternatives of life and humanizing immigration policies in the United States. I raise both anthropological and philosophical questions for addressing these social justice matters.