The literature has documented the disproportionate rate of HIV infection among women of color, mainly, African American women and Latinas. The current trend shows that the number of cases affecting these sub-populations will continue to increase. A gap exists in the literature in understanding the coping strategies of Mexican American women living with HIV. Using an ethnographic approach, this research answers the central question of how Mexican American women live with and make meaning of their HIV status. This researcher used a sample of 15 Mexican American women living with HIV who had participated in the Mujeres Unidas support group in San Antonio, Texas. The most common theme found was how the role of faith was central to their lives. It was clear that this belief served as their primary source of strength. The findings suggest the need for social workers to examine new paradigms, strategies, and interventions that focus on the broad social, economic, and community factors that put Mexican American women disproportionately at risk for HIV. These factors include poverty, income and wealth inequality, poor quality of life, racism, sexism, and low socioeconomic status, which are all major risk factors for ill health and health disparities. This research demands that social workers and other researchers examining coping skills address the issues of resiliency and strengths perspective in understanding the ways in which the life journey unfolds for Mexican American women living with HIV. Although, this study focused on Mexican American women, future research is needed to compare this group to other women living with HIV as there may be cultural differences that exist. Additional research is needed in studying the role that religion plays in the lives of Mexican American women living with HIV as many of the participants revealed that they left things up to “God’s will.” Among the unexpected findings, the theme of viewing their situation from the perspective of “Un dia a la vez” (One day at a time) suggests that the belief that the course of their lives is not necessarily under their control which could be related to fatalism (fatalism). / text

September 11th 2001 led to an increase in the intensity of the already existing discourses surrounding what it means to be an American, with a particular focus on the Southern border of the United States and Mexican immigration as a perceived threat to national security. This study seeks to address the how prejudice towards undocumented Mexican immigrants generalizes to Mexican Americans. This relationship was theorized by Chavez (2008), and is what he calls the Latino threat narrative. Experimental methods will be used to measure how perceptions of Latinos differ as a function of foreignness using a 2 (positive vs. negative scenario) x 4 (Mexican American, undocumented immigrant, Latino and Anglo) X 2 (Group Process: SDO or RWA) between-subjects design. Participants were asked to read scenarios that describes a man (either Mexican American, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, a Latino or White) accidently hitting another car while parking and either leaving a note or not. The results demonstrate that when the immigration status of the man described is unknown, and he does not leave a note, participants high in Social Dominance Orientation attitudes are more likely to identify them as an undocumented Mexican immigrant. The findings of this study contribute to the literature of prejudice through further exploring the mechanisms of prejudice towards immigrant populations. / text

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This study investigated the cross-cultural and intracultural diversity of Anglo-American and Mexican-American individual’s beliefs regarding nine child rearing variables. Eleven Mexican-American and ten Anglo-American students at the University of Texas at Austin completed a questionnaire. Results indicated that when compared to Anglo-American participants, Mexican-American participants provided more collectivistic-oriented answers for two of the nine child rearing variables. Furthermore, Mexican-American participants were more likely than their parents to hold more individualistic-oriented values for three of nine child rearing variables. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed. / text

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