The purpose of the study is to explore the life experiences, identities, and self-esteem of a group of Mexican women who attend Even Start, a family literacy program. The study also focuses on the effect that the program has on the women's self-identities. I chose qualitative research considering I was interested in their phenomenological experience. In order to gather data I interviewed ten women, conducted a focus group with the women who were not interviewed, and did participant observation while the women were in class. The Mexican women I interviewed came to this country hoping to improve their socioeconomic status. Most of them had relatives in the US and the support that they gave them made it easier for them to come and get established. As a result of being away from their people and their culture, they had a hard time, particularly at the beginning. Their illegal status and the fact that they didn't speak English complicated things even more. In spite of the many difficulties they had to face, their experiences in this country have allowed them to improve their socioeconomic situation and to achieve greater levels of independence. In regards to their self-esteem, most of my informants have positive self-images. The few that have lower levels of self-esteem were often mistreated by caregivers and their families were dysfunctional in some way. Even though a few have lower levels of self-esteem, all my informants felt loved by their parents and other family members. Because of this and because they were raised in social environments that fostered interdependence, my informants have generally developed into responsible and reliable people who work towards their goals. Their identities mirror their society and in particular their social network. At the core of 'who they are' are traits of the identities of caregivers that through active choices (Blumstein 1991) they came to internalize. Even Start plays a crucial role in their self-identities for two main reasons. First, in the program the women are taught English which is the basic tool they need in order to communicate and move around in this country. Second, the women are around people from their country. By feeling they belong to a larger community, the women feel supported and find strategies to cope with their reality. At the same time, being around other Mexicans strengthens their Hispanic identity. The following are recommendations that could be used by Even Start to enhance the women's self-esteem. (1) Incorporate more one-on-one activities to enable students to learn at their own pace and to help participants with special needs to work without feeling a sense of pressure. (2) Provide the women with the opportunity to improve their literacy skills in Spanish and to strengthen their knowledge in basic areas. (3) Include activities that would allow the participants to release stress and thus to improve their ability to concentrate. (4) Provide the students with skills that will enable them to find jobs or get promoted. Although the literature on self-identities was useful to conducting this research, the fact that scholars have approached the topic mainly from an intellectual perspective has resulted in an understanding of the self often disconnected from reality. Among the main contributions of this research is the realization that adult experiences such as migration and participation in a literacy program play a crucial role in people's self-esteem and identities. / Graduation date: 2004

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / During the 20th century, production and labor flows across borders have increased the frequency of transnational constituted families. In the past, family configurations across borders were composed primarily of an immigrant male income-producer living apart from women and children who remained in the sending country. In contrast, in recent years more women are also leaving their loved ones behind in order to become their family’s main source of income. In many cases, women even leave their children to be cared for by their relatives. This social phenomenon is now known as transnational motherhood. In the U.S., transnational motherhood has become increasinly common, particulalry among women of Filipino and Latin American origins. The new trends of transnational motherhood, challenge mainstream western ideas about family configuration and in particular, about women’s maternal role. Whereas in Western cultures mothering is generally understood as a practice that involves the physical presence, nurturance and training of children for adulthood, transnational mothers generally choose physical separation in order to better their children material conditions. Consequently, transnational mothers may suffer as a result of social stigma and peer pressure of 'good mothering'. The present study examined the processes of meaning construction that serve to promote and negotiate motherhood identity and stigma management among Mexican mothers who left their children back in their country. In doing so, this study relied on theoretical frameworks about ideology, identity construction, social roles and stigma management.

A Thesis Submitted to the School of Social Sciences, in the Faculty of Humanities, in Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Studies THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA NOVEMBER 2014 / This thesis is the culmination of medical aid work and 24 one-on-one interviews with undocumented Mexican women in the U.S.A. and Zimbabwean women in South Africa seeking lifesaving emergency healthcare access. The theoretical research combined with practitioner-based fieldwork, shows the direct and deplorable effects of xenophobic policies coupled with a demonstrable failure to enforce healthcare access rights.