This investigation sought the perceptions of a selected group of border-educated Mexican American community leaders regarding their curriculum preferences for Mexican American students of the community. The investigation was structured on the basis of a three-part theoretical framework drawn from the literature of psychology and education. The theory included the following: (1) Perceptual Psychology, (2) Philosophies of Education, and (3) Curriculum Considerations. An interview schedule organized on the basis of the theoretical framework was developed based on the Experimentalist, Conservative and Reconstructionist philosophies of education. These twenty Mexican American community leaders were interviewed in depth by the present investigator regarding their curriculum preferences for Mexican American students in their community. Among the findings, the following curriculum preferences indicated by the Mexican American community leaders appeared particularly significant: (1) Mexican American students should have the opportunity to have instruction in their native language throughout their educational careers; (2) Mexican American students should have the opportunity to experience a wide variety of positive personal relationships in the classroom and the school to strengthen their self-regard and confidence throughout their educational careers; (3) Mexican American students should have the opportunity to learn in a classroom environment where harmony between the intellectual and the emotional is continuously sought throughout their educational careers; (4) Mexican American students should have the opportunity to use their personal interests as points of departure for their learning throughout their educational careers; (5) Mexican American students, in order to be active and effective participants in society, should have the opportunity to acquire the leadership-cooperation skills of planning, thinking and deciding throughout their educational careers.

Research was conducted among the Hispanic population of Casper, Wyoming for the purpose of determining the extent to which the Hispanic ethnic medical system had been modified in response to local living conditions. Since Casper is relatively remote from areas where there are high concentrations of Hispanics it was reasoned that this isolation would influence the way in which Hispanics adapted to life in a predominantly Anglo community and that, by extension, aspects of the ethnic medical system would undergo significant alterations as a result. Research was carried out by using a mail out survey which was sent to a random sample, by personal interviews and contacts, and by collecting life histories of selected individuals within the Hispanic community. The results indicated that few local Hispanics adhered to the precepts of the ethnic medical system and that those who did were likely to retain only those cures which were easily administered within the home. There were virtually no reported instances of anybody having contracted one of the ethnic illnesses in the recent past. The attenuated nature of the ethnic medical system was accounted for in terms of the local Hispanic community structure and of the local sense of Hispanic group identity. Hispanic community structure is weak due to the small number of Hispanics who reside in Casper, their relatively recent arrival in Casper, their residential dispersal which inhibits the formation of strong neighborhoods, and the absence of formal institutions and organizations which might serve as focal points for community interaction. As a result of this weak community structure ethnic identity is expressed primarily in the domestic sphere rather than the public sphere. The ethnic medical system follows the same pattern, with those elements of the system which require strong community support being cropped and those elements which can be controlled domestically being retained.

The purpose of this descriptive study in Nogales, Arizona, was to replicate an investigation conducted by Avelina Trujillo (1982) in Tucson, Arizona. This investigation sought the perceptions of selected groups of Mexican-American leaders in Nogales concerning their recollected classroom relationships with their teachers. The investigation was based on a three-part theoretical framework drawn from the literature of psychology, anthropology, and education as established by Trujillo (1982). The theory included the following: (1) Perceptual Processes; (2) Cultural Processes; and (3) Interpersonal Processes. The interview schedule utilized in the Nogales study consisted of 29 statements and associated Likert type scales. Provision was made for comments for each statement. Twenty Mexican-American community leaders in Nogales, Arizona, were identified and interviewed, utilizing the interview schedule. This schedule dealt with the perceived relationships which the participants had with their various teachers. Findings indicate: (1) The participants agreed that their teachers were aware of them and their backgrounds. (2) The participants agreed that their teachers accepted them and their backgrounds. (3) The participants did not feel that their teachers neither encouraged bilingualism nor accepted the participants' native language. (4) The participants noted that their teachers appeared to be sincerely concerned about the academic health and welfare needs of the students. (5) The participants reported that their teachers aspired for them to acquire good educations. (6) The participants reported that their teachers shared with them in their educational and personal problems. The findings from this investigation were compared and contrasted with the findings of the Trujillo (1982) study. The comparison of the data in the two studies was accomplished by computing the differentials (chi square) in perception of each of the 29 items of the interview schedule. Items that were considered to be most significantly different in the two studies were discussed.

The mass media through their power of mass persuasion have an impact on the readers’, viewers’ or listeners’ perceptions of social phenomena. This paper reports on a quantitative content analysis of articles appearing in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, and Arizona Daily Star between 1972 and 1978 that dealt with the subject of undocumented (illegal) immigration from Mexico to the U.S. In this way, it is an empirical study in the sociology of knowledge that examines the social reality constructed by the news media regarding this complex social issue. We found a significant increase in the number of articles appearing each year on this topic. Relatively few were written by Spanish-surnamed individuals or used undocumented immigrants as sources of information. In fact, most of the information presented in the articles was obtained from the Border Patrol, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and politicians. We conclude that news media coverage of undocumented Mexican immigration was not balanced and that the American public accepted the biased information they read as an accurate reflection of social reality.

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This article describes how an anti-racist curriculum constructed on Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Latino Critical Pedagogy (LatCrit) helped Mexican and Chicano middle school students enrolled in an alternative education program to alter their attitudes toward the use of English, and to change their forms of self-identification resulting in the development of a Chicano consciousness. In the beginning of this fourteen-month study, 9.6% of the students identified with the Chicano label. However, at the end of the study, 77% of the class selected the Chicano label for self-identification. Moreover, this investigation bridges the theoretical concepts of Critical Pedagogy to everyday practice in a middle school classroom. In short, the tenets of this theoretical framework were applied in the design and the implementation of the curriculum.

No description available.

Adolescence is a period of development when health-related behaviors can become rooted and subsequently contributes to leading causes of adult morbidity and mortality. The dissertation is based on three studies. The first is a cohort study (n=577) of sixth grade students followed for 2.5 years to assess changes in smoking susceptibility measured by intention to smoke. The second study applies a pre-post design to evaluate the outcomes of a 13-week after-school program and three-day, in-residence University camp on personal and familial factors among 37 sixth grade girls, most of whom were Mexican American. The third study is a cross-sectional study of depression among 80 sixth grade girls, the majority of whom were Mexican American. A survey measured depression severity and familial and individual factors that influence depression. Results showed smoking intention increased nearly six-fold from sixth grade to eighth grade (OR=5.8, 95% CI: 1.19, 3.05). The intervention study resulted in changes from pre to post test in familial and personal factors. The prevalence of depression was 50% among participants in the third study, 38% of girls reported moderate to severe levels. In sum, the greater prevalence of smoking intention over time suggests a norm of acceptance occurring as students' progress through middle school. Protective factors from such attitudes differ by gender and are influenced by the relationships surrounding the adolescent. Similarly, relationships were protective in the study of depression. The father's relationship with his daughter guards against depression as does positive peer relationships. These relationships can be strengthened through interventions as was suggested in the intervention study. Study findings emphasize the protective influence familial and peer relationships have on the developing adolescent.

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This Thesis collection contains a critical preface and five stories. The preface, “Reflejos y Reflexiones” (translated: Images and Thoughts), addresses the issues of writing the cultural or gendered Other; these issues include methodology, literary colonialism, a dialogue between works, and creating distance through defamiliarizing the self. “Perennials” is the story of Noemi Tellez, an immigrant to the U.S. who must choose between working and taking care of her family. In “Load Bearing” Luis, the eldest child, faces his family and friends on one of his last days before moving away to college. “La Monarca” deals with Lily's, the youngest daughter, struggle to mediate a place between her friends and her family. In “Reflections in the River,” Arabela, the second youngest, faces the ghost of an unwanted pregnancy and La Llorona. “La Cocina de Su Madre” is the story of Magda, the oldest daughter, and her own teenage girl, Natalia, as they attempt to find themselves in a new town after moving a thousand miles from home.