Latino High School Students’ Perceptions of Caring: Keys to Success

This mixed methods investigation specifically examined Latino high school adolescents’ perceptions of teacher behaviors that demonstrate caring. A chi-square test was conducted to analyze the frequency of responses, and focus group interviews were conducted to expand on the results. The data indicated that although Latino male students were as likely to perceive the same behaviors Latina female students perceived as important or very important, a higher percentage of female students rated the same items as important. This investigation situates Latino high school adolescents’ voices as a pivotal agent to inform about the critical nature of caring for all students.     

Acculturative stress in Latino Immigrants: The impact of social, socio-psychological and migration-related factors

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that predict acculturative stress in a nationally representative sample of Latino migrants. The participants in this study were 2059 Latinos. Among them were 868 Mexicans, 577 Cubans and 614 other Latinos. The subcategory other Latinos consisted of immigrants and refugees from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru and Nicaragua. The participants took part in face-to-face interviews, which were conducted with computer-assisted interviewing software in Spanish and English. Findings revealed that acculturative stress decreases with an increase in the English proficiency index, the context of migration exit index, and the social network index. Furthermore, acculturative stress was lower for US citizens versus non-citizens; immigrants who wanted to migrate to the US versus refugees who had to leave their country of origin; and later generation immigrants. Acculturative stress increases with a higher native language proficiency index and a higher discrimination index.     

Field Practice in La Mixteca: Transnational Teacher Education in the Service of Mexican Indigenous Students in U.S. Schools

Initial research has documented the ill treatment suffered by Mexican indigenous students in U.S. schools. Using a framework of transnational teacher education, we examined the impact of field practice in an indigenous area of Mexico on teacher candidates. Candidates showed growth in new understandings, such as their role as bilingual teachers in terms of validating students’ cultures and their sense of global interconnectedness with transnational students and communities. Applied classroom projects several months after field practice showed a similar impact, beginning to make the case that transnational field practice can also positively influence the academic performance of the candidates’ future students.     

The emergence of social capital in low-income Latino elementary schools

Scholars suggest that racial/ethnic and class disparities in school-based social capital contribute to educational inequalities. Previous studies demonstrate that social capital (relations of trust, mutual expectations, and shared values) between parents and schools supports children's development. Yet we know little about the emergence of social capital, that is, the processes through which it develops. In this study, we explore mechanisms of social capital emergence in predominantly low-income Latino school communities. We draw data from an experimental study that manipulated social capital through an after-school family engagement program. Based on interviews and focus groups with participating parents, teachers, and program staff in two elementary schools, we identified four types of interactions that act as mechanisms of social capital emergence: (1) responsive communication; (2) reciprocal communication; (3) shared experiences; and (4) institutional linkage. The article connects these mechanisms to theoretically linked sources of social capital and discusses implications for theory and practice.     

Who Am I? The Social Construction of Ethnic Identity and Self-Perceptions in Latino Preservice Teachers

The Urban Review - Because of the changes in the demographics, it is important for Latino teachers to relate to the educational and psychological needs of language minority children who are...     

Fatherhood Education From a Cultural Perspective: Evolving Roles and Identities After a Fatherhood Intervention for Latinos in South Florida

This article uses gender-role theory to consider the involvement of Latino fathers in their children’s lives as a result of participating in a fatherhood educational intervention. Open-ended interviews (n = 48) were conducted with participants of the program. Findings revealed that the content of the group intervention encouraged fathers to redefine their identity as a male and father by examining their own communication, discipline, and self-control as well as recognizing certain aspects of Latino culture. Implications of this study can be used to design culturally competent behavioral interventions for Latino fathers.     

Differences between residential and non-residential fathers on sexual socialisation of African American youth

This study investigated differences between residential and non-residential fathers on topics discussed during father–child sex communication and factors associated with child sexual socialisation. Young people (N = 159, 53% female) provided self-reports using computer surveys on the role of their fathers on father–child sex communication, general communication, parental monitoring, father social support and topics discussed during father–child sex communication. The analysis revealed differences in topics discussed between young people with residential vs. non-residential fathers. Independent group t-tests revealed significant differences between young people with residential vs. non-residential fathers on social support and parental monitoring for sons and parental monitoring for daughters. Sons and daughters with residential fathers had higher scores on these variables. Discriminant function analyses, chi-square tests and hierarchical linear regression analyses were carried out to determine whether there were meaningful distinctions between young people with residential vs. non-residential fathers. The analysis revealed social support and parental monitoring provided the most meaningful distinction between young people with residential vs. non-residential fathers. These results highlight the importance of non-residential fathers in the sexual socialisation of their young people through parent–child sex communication. Discussion focuses on the need for development of interventions to promote the inclusion of non-residential fathers in the sexual socialisation of African American youth.     

Identifying individual- and family-level coping strategies as sources of resilience and thriving for undocumented youth of Mexican origin

Drawing from resilience theory, we explored the strategies that Mexican immigrant youth used to cope with stressors from being undocumented. On the basis of semi-structured interviews with 30 high school students who emigrated from Mexico to the United States, we identified several stressors from being undocumented, including having limited opportunities, fear of deportation, and exposure to negative reminders of their undocumented status. To manage such stressors, students utilized individual coping strategies (e.g. diversion, reframing, normalizing). In addition, the families of undocumented youth employed various coping strategies to help buffer their children against stressors from being undocumented (e.g. protecting the family unit, positive future, emotional support, limited communication). From our findings, we developed a preliminary model that describes the stress and coping of the undocumented youth in this study, which can extend past theorizing on resilience and thriving, as well as inform the design of community-based programs and policies for undocumented youth and their family.     

Visiting the Mexican American Family: Tortilla Soup as Culinary Tourism

This essay argues that the film Tortilla Soup constructs a mediated culinary touristic experience for mainstream spectators who are invited to vicariously visit a Mexican American family. Analysis of the film's neocolonialist discourse demonstrates how the commercialization and appropriation of food culture mirror hegemonic tendencies to market and consume ethnicity. Tortilla Soup attempts to deconstruct homogenizing notions of Latinidad. Yet it straddles and ultimately collapses these divergent discourses through its treatment of food, sound, gender, and space. Ultimately, Tortilla Soup reaffirms hegemonic ideologies about Latinos/as that privilege whiteness and contain ethnic “otherness.”     

Connecting Community Voices: Using a Latino/a Critical Race Theory Lens on Environmental Justice Advocacy

Abstract

This study examines the contested space of environmental inequity and demonstrates how engaged intercultural communication research can be used to put forth seldom heard cultural environmental meaning systems. In an attempt to bridge ecojustice–environmentalist divides, we use Latino Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) to understand and promote practices of Hispanic communities enacting environmental justice and cultural activism. We also exemplify the value of an explicit focus on the role of race in environmental issues for communication scholarship.