Current literature on Latino college student retention and attrition suggests that Latinos as a whole are becoming more successful at gaining admission to institutions of higher education. However, there is a need for support, guidance, and mentorship in order to ensure success once admitted. This study sought to test the effectiveness of a brief intervention for first year Latina/o undergraduate students at UT Austin, a predominantly White university. Sixty-nine participants were randomized into two groups, an experimental group (Educational Capital Guide Group) (n = 34) and a control group (n = 35). The intervention was based on Bourdieu’s Social Capital Theory and was designed to facilitate adjustment to college for Latinas/os. The two forms of Bourdieu’s capital addressed in this study were: the embodied state (i.e., knowledge individuals acquire via social membership), and the objectified state (i.e., physical resources accessible to an individual). Effects of the intervention were measured by observing changes in five outcome variables (i.e., academic worry, academic self-efficacy, anxiety, depression, and perceived university environment) from pre- to post-intervention for each group, as well as a comparison of GPA and novel on-campus resource use. Changes in outcome variables across college generation status for intervention participants were also assessed. Results indicated a statistically significant difference in perceptions of the university environment between experimental groups from pre- to post-intervention, but on no other outcome variables. Participants in the intervention group marginally outperformed control participants in end-of-semester GPA by the completion of their first semester. Similarly, participants in the intervention group used slightly more novel on-campus resources at posttest. Among intervention participants, although second generation college students reported statistically greater anxiety at both assessment periods, no between-group differences were found in responses to the intervention. Cultural and demographic variables that were found to be predictive of outcome variables, as well as a description of participant responses to their first semester at UT are discussed. The findings of this study offer implications for future intervention studies using social capital with Latinos as well as practices that should be addressed on an institutional level to support ethnic minority students’ success in higher education. / text

This dissertation is a collection of three essays examining the relationship between immigrant political rhetoric and identity among Latinos in the United States. To achieve this task, this study uses empirical evidence from a national survey and original data collected from experiments in New York City and Los Angeles. The first essay identifies three forms of Latino identity most relevant to political decision-making: national origin, pan-ethnic, and American. I find that levels of acculturation as defined by immigrant status and English language strongly predict American identification. Latino identities inform support on immigrant issues. Latinos with higher perceptions of national origin and pan-ethnic interests are more pro-immigrant on issues pertaining to the rights of undocumented immigrants. The second essay investigates how exposure to explicit and implicit cues within anti-immigrant rhetoric shape the voting decisions of non-Mexican Latino groups in New York City. I test the effects of pan-ethnic, nationality-based, and counter-stereotypical political appeals on candidate support. I find that nationality-based appeals directly or indirectly targeting Mexican immigrants do not activate identity in vote choice, only explicit, pan-ethnic cues implicating all Latino immigrants activate "Latino" group interests in voting decisions. The third essay tests whether political processes of collective identity observed among non-Mexicans in New York City are generalizable to Mexican and non-Mexicans in Border States. Conversely, I find that only nationality-based political appeals targeting Mexicans activate Mexican group interests in vote choice. These results do not extend to non-Mexicans. Anti-immigrant messages did not activate identity in voting. Overall, these findings suggest that identity activation in the context of threat may work differently for Mexican and non-Mexican Latino groups in the United States.

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. / Objective: Effective physician‐patient communication is critical to the clinical decision making process. The informed consent process for any intervention can be one of the most important moments for effective physician‐patient communication in regards to outcome and liability. We studied parental recall of information provided during an informed consent discussion process prior to performance of emergency medical procedures in a pediatric emergency department of an inner city hospital with a large bi‐lingual population. Methods: Parent/child dyads undergoing emergency medical procedures were surveyed prospectively in English/Spanish, post‐procedure for recall of informed consent information. Logistic regression analysis was used; outcome variables were the ability to name a risk, a benefit, and an alternative to the procedure and predictors were language, education, and acculturation. Results: Fifty‐five parent/child dyads completed the survey. Logistic regression analysis showed that respondents with less than high school education were approximately 80% less likely to be able to name a risk or a benefit, while respondents with a high school education were approximately 24 times more likely to be able to name an alternative procedure. Conclusion: A gap in communication exists between physicians and patients during the consent taking; it is significantly impacted by socio‐demographic factors like education level, language and acculturation.

This dissertation examines the racial identities of middleclass Mexican Americans, and provides a focus on how racial oppression plays a significant role in the formation, negotiation, and organization of these identities. Providing theoretical, analytic, and conceptual balance between structure and agency, this dissertation addresses how these Mexican Americans continue to experience racism despite being middleclass and achieving socioeconomic parity with many middleclass whites. Drawing on 67 semistructured open ended interviews (1-3 hours each), 10 months of ethnography in Phoenix and San Antonio, as well as a descriptive analysis of the Alamo monument website and Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office 2011 press releases this dissertation examines how middleclass Latinos/as negotiate racialized identities and racial oppression. This research concludes that these respondents experience significant amounts of racism in the cities of Phoenix and San Antonio. The racial climates of these cities impose racist discourse about Latinos/as and ultimately reinforce and reinscribe existing racial hierarchies of the United States. Middleclass Mexican Americans utilize different identity practices to navigate the racism of these discourse by providing various negotiation, deflection, and resistance practices. Ultimately this dissertation recognizes that middleclass Mexican American identities are a constant negotiation of imposed racial identities and their own understandings of their racial self.

This study explored the stories of six elderly Latino immigrant women living in Winnipeg based on their talk about identity and home. Using narrative analyses, the research focused on their life stories before and after immigrating and made use of pictures to discuss their notion of home. These women provided rich narratives of how people and places shaped their identities during their formative and pre-immigration years. At the same time, the circumstances that compelled them to emigrate, the places to which they arrived and live now, the people they met in Winnipeg and elsewhere, and the new roles they embraced in Canada have all contributed to a renegotiation of these women’s identities. These women showed that home is family, but that family is often symbolized by objects, places, and pictures that represent the memories they have of, and share with, their family members.

This thesis uses data from The Survey of Texas Adults, 2004 to analyze the giving and volunteering patterns of various groups focusing on the role of several relevant social and demographic characteristics and also focusing on whether or not an individual was asked to participate in these various activities. Multivariate logistic regression analysis is performed to test for statistical relationships between selected factors and giving and volunteering rates. In each of the analysis, logistic regression models are estimated to assess how factors such as race, education, citizenship, gender, age, income, and being asked affect the outcomes of money given to religious organizations, money given to other organizations, being asked to volunteer, and solicited for money. Findings suggest that, overall, Latinos are not significantly different in their odds of giving to religious organizations when compared to their white counterparts. The results of the next set of logistic models, however, show that Latinos have lower odds of giving to other groups or organizations. In terms of who is asked to volunteer or solicited for money, the results suggest that Latinos are not asked to volunteer at the same rate as whites; therefore, limiting an important avenue of participation. These finding confirm the hypothesis that Latinos are just as likely to make financial contributions to their local church, but they have lower odds of giving to other, nonreligious organizations. In addition, the findings confirm that Latinos are less likely to be asked to volunteer when compared to other groups.

This thesis is a case study analyzing how the Latino immigrant community in Lexington, Kentucky is responding to the national push for restrictive legislation. Based on interviews conducted throughout the summer and fall of 2012, I examine the relationship between federal policies and young undocumented immigrants in Lexington, Kentucky, a southern locale with a relatively small but growing foreign-born Latino community. Employing the notion of the included exclusion, I look at the newly implemented Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy highlights an opening present in immigration law in which young immigrants are simultaneously included and excluded. Utilizing this lens to look at the response of Latino immigrants in Lexington allowed me to explore Latino immigrants’ engagement in mundane acts of “making do.”

Involving community participants in the adaptation of culturally-specific programs has the potential to greatly enhance program fit, particularly for socio-politically distinct implementation sites. Findings from a case study of a leadership-training program for Latina survivors of domestic violence in Atlanta, GA support a participant-centered approach to program adaptation and evaluation. A summary of the adaptation process and themes from a qualitative analysis of structured interviews with program facilitators are presented. Implications for the leadership program and future research in the area of program adaptation are discussed.

This study explored the stories of six elderly Latino immigrant women living in Winnipeg based on their talk about identity and home. Using narrative analyses, the research focused on their life stories before and after immigrating and made use of pictures to discuss their notion of home. These women provided rich narratives of how people and places shaped their identities during their formative and pre-immigration years. At the same time, the circumstances that compelled them to emigrate, the places to which they arrived and live now, the people they met in Winnipeg and elsewhere, and the new roles they embraced in Canada have all contributed to a renegotiation of these women’s identities. These women showed that home is family, but that family is often symbolized by objects, places, and pictures that represent the memories they have of, and share with, their family members.

This study assesses race-ethnic group variations in acculturation experiences by identifying distinct acculturation classes, and investigates the role of these acculturation classes for mental health and group differences in mental health among Latino and Asian immigrants in the United States. Using 2002-2003 the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS), Latent Class Analysis is used to capture variations in immigrant classes (recent arrivals, separated, bicultural and assimilated), and OLS regressions are used to assess the link between acculturation classes and mental health. The findings reveal group differences in acculturation classes, whereby Latino immigrants were more likely to be in the separated class and recent arrivals class relative to Asian immigrants. For both Latinos and Asians, bicultural immigrants reported the best mental health, and separated immigrants and recent arrivals reported the worst mental health. While there was not a significant group difference in mental health at the bivariate level, controlling for acculturation classes revealed that Latinos report better mental health than Asians. Thus, Latino immigrants would actually have better mental health than their Asian counterparts if they were not more likely to be represented in less acculturated classes (separated class and recent arrivals) and/or as likely to be in the bicultural class as their Asian counterparts. Together the findings underscore the nuanced and complex nature of the acculturation process, highlighting the importance of race and ethnic group differences in this process, and demonstrate the role of acculturation classes for race-ethnic group differences in mental health.