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Using the 2013-2017 National Health Interview Survey, this study examined whether there were significant sexual orientation differences in sleep problems in specific race and ethnic populations. The analysis had a large sample size and enough statistical power to evaluate for any sexual orientation differences or non-differences in sleep problems in Latino, non-Latino Black, non-Latino Asian Pacific Islander, and non-Latino White populations. Consistent with recent studies on sexual orientation and sleep problems, this analysis revealed for most racial and ethnic groups that there was no significant sexual orientation difference in non-normal sleep duration and that sexual minority adults were more likely to report not feeling rested, trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, and taking medications for sleep than heterosexual adults. There were two notable exceptions in the findings. The first exception was that Latino sexual minority adults were more likely to report non-normal sleep duration compared to Latino heterosexual adults. The second exception was that there was no significant sexual orientation difference in not feeling rested among Asian Pacific Islander adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental and peer support can improve the psychological well-being of youth, but studies suggest Latino/a LGBTQ youth may lack effective support. The current study examines data from a longitudinal survey of high schoolers in Southern California (N = 550). Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed no changes in students' levels of parental support-seeking, closeness to a best friend, and depressive symptoms over time. However, moderation models found the relationship between parental support-seeking and depressive symptoms changed, based on students' LGBTQ identity. For all youth, more parental support-seeking corresponded with fewer depressive symptoms at Time 1. However, at Time 2, more parental support-seeking predicted more depressive symptoms for LGBTQ youth. Similarly, the relationship between closeness to a best friend and depressive symptoms changed, based on identity. At Time 1, no relationship existed, but at Time 2, greater closeness predicted fewer depressive symptoms for LGBTQ youth. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilizing primary socialization theory (PST) and longitudinal survey data from 381 Latina/o sixth- through eighth-grade students, we hypothesized that four types of parent anti-substance use messages (i.e., parents' own past substance use, religious beliefs, respect for family, and peer resistance) would discourage Latina/o students' substance use, particularly when the students perceived their parents' anti-substance use messages were legitimate. The results supported moderation. For Latina/o students who thought their parents' anti-substance use messages were legitimate, many of the anti-substance use messages were negatively related to substance use, but the associations were positive or non-significant for Latina/o students who thought their parents' anti-substance use messages were not legitimate. The findings extend past work on PST and antisubstance use parent-child communication, highlighting the importance of perceived legitimacy and message content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effect of a computer-tailored intervention aimed at promoting HPV vaccination in Mexican-heritage adolescents aged 11-17. Among 46 Mexican-heritage parents who had one or more eligible children who had not received HPV vaccines, 91% (n = 42) completed the intervention and assessments via tablets in a vaccine clinic. Mean knowledge scores increased significantly from preto post-intervention. After the intervention, 95% (n = 40) of parents intended to get their children vaccinated; 50% (n = 21) of them consented to vaccination immediately, resulting in 24 adolescents being vaccinated at that time. All parents reported learning via tablets to be easy; two nurses reported that intervention delivery in the clinic was feasible. Mean acceptability rating was high (M = 3.56, range 1 - 4). This tailored intervention proved to be feasible and acceptable, and it showed preliminary shortterm effects on intent and getting the first HPV vaccine dose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on 61 interviews with Mexican immigrants and ethnographic participant observation conducted over three years, I compare social movement organizing among Mexican immigrant communities in two cities in one California county: one more progressive and the other more repressive. As political process theory was extended to authoritarian settings, scholars have challenged the classical political opportunity literature by arguing that both growing opportunity and threat inspire mobilization. This study's contribution lies in its specification of the relationship among political opportunities, threat, and mobilization tactics. I argue that more open political environments give rise to more collaborative protest tactics, while more threatening environments yield more confrontational tactics. In a literature focused on extreme cases of threat and other social outliers, the case of immigrant mobilization in the U.S. provides a broader empirical basis for theorizing political opportunity by examining 1) threat in its more mundane and systemic forms and 2) how variation in threat levels across local contexts leads not only to increases or decreases of mobilization, but also conditions the social form of protest. Because threat is not objectively assessed, nor does it automatically inspire protest, organizers utilize the collective action frame of shared destiny to 1) stress the urgency of mobilization and 2) to undermine the efficacy of the individual strategies of avoidance and insulation to illustrate the utility of collective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars of Latino identities agree upon the fluid and contextual nature of panethnic boundaries and identity labels yet few account for contextual factors produced in specific types of settings. This article demonstrates how universities-organizational structures critical to mobility-shape Latino identities and boundaries by examining Latino student organizations across three settings: a teaching university, a research university, and a liberal arts college. Using data obtained from 20 months of ethnographic fieldwork with six organizations, 72 in-depth interviews with student organizational members and faculty, and 80 surveys, this research shows how college environments-defined by the resources available on campus, residential life, and demographic profile of the student body- influence how Latino youth construct and imbue labels and boundaries with meaning. There are significant differences between campuses, where students at the most wealthy institution draw wide intra-ethnic boundaries and choose the broadest panethnic identity labels, while students at the least funded institution draw very specific ethnic boundaries and reject panethnic identity labels. These findings illustrate how panethnic boundary formation occurs at the meso-level and how universities mediate the process by which Latino youth come to understand where they fit in America's racial landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of Protestantism - especially its evangelical variants-- among US Latinos has been the focus of considerable discussion among researchers. Few studies to date have investigated the patterns associated with Latino religious affiliation and conversion from Catholicism to Protestantism. Our study tests various theories about why some Latinos convert including the semi-involuntary thesis, the national origin hypothesis, and assimilation theory. We use data from a large national sample of US Latinos surveyed in 2006 by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (n=4,016). We find little evidence to support the semi-involuntary thesis among Latinos, only partial support for assimilation theory; however, national origin appears to be an important factor in predicting conversion. We discuss how war may influence the religious composition of early migrants and thus shape both the religious composition and conversion of later migrants. Lastly, we discuss the importance of evaluating non-instrumental theories of conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Health Organization (2009) estimates that there are as many as 33 million people currently living with HIV/AIDS throughout the world. Studies also reveal that racial disparities significantly influence HIV/AIDS diagnoses within the United State's men who have sex men population (MSM). In recent years, the burden of HIV/AIDS has shifted from White MSM to younger men of color, particularly African-Americans and Latinos. The disproportionate effect of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in African American and Latino MSM populations requires that scholars and practitioners work diligently to address cultural and contextual factors that uniquely influence such populations. An adequate response to HIV/AIDS risk among minority MSM populations requires the development and implementation of evidence-based HIV interventions that address such factors. The goal of this paper is to synthesize qualitative findings that address cultural, social, and contextual factors that influence African American and Latino MSM's susceptibility to HIV/AIDS using qualitative meta-ethnography procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the primary justifications for collecting racial statistics is the need to monitor racial inequalities and discrimination. However, research increasingly shows a divergence between the internal and observed components of race for many of the groups that are most likely to experience discrimination. The shift of the U.S. Census from interviewer-enumeration to self-completion in the last few decades has therefore moved race data away from this primary monitoring function. This paper uses qualitative interviews with Dominican and Puerto Rican migrants in New York to illustrate discrepancies between the distinct components of race and how Census statistics fail to measure the social mechanisms associated with discrimination. Several recommendations are made for ways to improve the measurement of race to better fulfill its purpose of monitoring racial inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latinas' transition to first marriage by generation is examined using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and U.S. Census. I test hypotheses derived from classic assimilation theory, as well as advance and test an alternative marriage market constraints perspective. Bivariate and Hierarchical Generalized Linear Event-History Models reveal a curvilinear U-shaped relationship between generation and Latinas' transition to first marriage: the probability of marriage is high among the foreign born, second-generation Latinas experience a substantial delay in marriage, and marriage probabilities rebound among the third-plus generation to become indistinguishable from foreign-born Latinas and the Anglo majority. Findings for marriage timing by generation are contrary to classic assimilation theory that argues for a progressive decline in the probability of marriage across successive generations, but consistent with the marriage market constraints perspective which maintains that structural marriage market marginalization suppress second-generation Latinas' probability of first marriage relative to women of earlier and later generations. Supplemental analyses of the 1998-2002 waves of the CPS replicate these findings among more recent cohorts of Mexican, Cuban, Central/South American, and Other Spanish women. Furthermore, an examination of Asian women in the CPS demonstrates that the U-shaped marriage pattern crosses race and ethnic lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International migration, which often involves a disruption of social ties and could involve a change in social status, is a stressful life event that has gained increasing attention in mental health research. While research on physical health has shown unexpected better outcomes for immigrants than for native-born individuals in the United States - an "epidemiologic paradox" - the findings on the mental health of immigrants have been more mixed. In this analysis we use the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS), a large and diverse sample of Latino and Asian Americans, to examine within-group variation in migration experiences. We analyze the association between downward social mobility that arises as a function of migration to the United States and the risk for major depressive episodes. Results suggest a strong relationship between downward mobility and depressive episodes, particularly among individuals who had relatively low social standing in their countries of origin, and results are robust to controls for a variety of sociodemographic controls, years in the US, and citizenship status. Public health implications and future data collection needs are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different forms of capital, as power resource, are commonplace in academia. Academics commonly make a name for themselves in print. Publication in top-tier journals confers prestige to many scholars. In this paper, intellectual capital is used to explain how scientific value becomes affixed to publications. I focus on reception and recognition of research articles valued for tenure and promotion in academic fields from the vantage point of minority scholars. In-depth interviews with Latino faculty at twelve research universities were conducted. Faculty accounts reveal their understanding of the translation of scholarship investments to intellectual capital as playing a decisive role in tenure and promotion. Ideas held by faculty about the link between intellectual capital and academic promotion vary by career longevity, academic rank and discipline. Polemics over the scientificity of research reproductions, the gist of a struggle for symbolic power, suggests new directions for further research on how we report faculty discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined whether the ideology of machismo, and the relegation of women to a subordinate, inferior status, is essentially a class-based phenomenon, found primarily among poor and uneducated, working-class immigrant Mexican men, or an endemic cultural trait and value. After comparing the responses on the Mirandé Sex Role Inventory (MSRI), a measure of traditional gender roles, of a sample of Day Laborer, immigrant men who work in the secondary labor market in menial, low wage jobs with those of more educated, largely non-immigrant, men who are part of the primary labor market and have higher wage stable jobs, we concluded that Latino masculinity is varied and complex, and that there is not one but a wide range and variety of Latino masculinities. Although the Day Laborers consistently scored higher on the Traditionalism items on the MSRI than the Chicano sample, and endorsed traditional beliefs that restrict women's behavior and/or activities and reinforce the double sexual standard, the results of separate factor analyses conducted with 2 or 3 components, revealed considerable overlap and consistency in the two samples on the various components of the MSRI, particularly the Traditionalism Factor, suggesting that there is a Traditionalism dimension that is found across two extremely diverse samples. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, a chapter of my dissertation project, chronicles how the demographic changes in South Los Angeles have transformed the urban core from a previously African American community, to a mostly Latino area. In this paper, I explore the role of "street justice", which can be thought of as informal set of public norms that guides the behavior of gangs and residents. The paper demonstrates how the underground economy provides alternative forms of income generation for residents. I illustrate the conditions under which Latinos and African Americans work and compete with one another and the roles of race, gangs and territory in shaping exchange in the underground economy. Part I of the paper examines the relationship between African American and Latino gangs and argues that inter-ethnic violence is not the dominant outcome. Part II highlights the relationship between gangs and the neighborhoods they operate within. It is asserted that the underground economy is a primary factor that sustains "street justice." Part III argues that a second type of relationship is common between gangs and communities they operate within South L.A. The central idea is that gangs operate to defend the traditions and sentiments of the native resident's neighborhoods from perceived outsiders. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the racial and cultural incorporation trajectories of Mexican Americans in California. My work is based on sixty-seven in-depth interviews with twenty-nine three-generation Mexican American families (the immigrant generation and their children and grandchildren born in the United States). I add to assimilation theory by pinpointing key decisions and experiences that influence families' incorporation pathways. I advance assimilation theory by sketching out two typologies: "thinned attachment," wherein Mexican cultural commitments wane over generations, and "cultural maintenance," wherein traditions and culture are retained over generations. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1960s, identity politics have been the organizing force for social movement protest, mobilization, and collective action in the United States. First, I sketch three general phases of identity politics in order to situate the case study on the emergence of the Chicano to Hispanic/Latino movement. I conclude by reflecting on some of the conundrums that identity politics foreground in the contemporary period in general. This paper has dual intents: it sketches conceptual issues within identity politics broadly, discussing racial, gender and sexual minorities in its introduction and conclusion and uses the rise of Latino as a panethnic category to concretize some of the conceptual issues it raises in the process. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid Latino population growth in new rural destinations across the United States is occurring against a backdrop of an aging, native population. Regardless of current political debates, rural communities will increasingly rely upon the productivity, economic well being, health, and civic participation of settled Latino workers and their children in the coming decades. Consequently, integration of these newest residents is critical to the future of many rural communities. While a substantial qualitative literature now exists documenting the recent settlement of immigrants in new rural and urban destinations, little existing research has systematically measured and analyzed the process of rural Latino integration in rural communities. We address this gap in the literature by analyzing factors and processes that describe immigrant economic and civic integration in rural areas. We use the Census Integrated Public Use Microdata 1980-2000 and exploit the most current Census data available from the American Community Survey 2005 to examine five principal characteristics of integration over time. These include: (1) residential permanence, (2) economic security, (3) civic incorporation, (4) family formation, and (5) educational progress of immigrant children. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals' social networks are consistently shown to be homogeneous in race and ethnicity, yet no research has ever examined whether social networks are also homogeneous in color within a racially diverse ethnic community. This issue has implications for whether Latino migrants to the U.S. experience a segmented assimilation within an ethnic group. Color segregation in Latinos' networks may also provide differential access to social capital, and thereby explain phenotype differences in Latinos' socioeconomic outcomes that are typically attributed to discrimination. This paper analyses the social network composition of 120 Dominicans and Puerto Ricans, divided between migrants to New York and non-migrants living in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. It uses a new photographic instrument to measure network color composition. I evaluate whether migration to the U.S., where race is a critical determinant of one's life chances, causes social networks to become more divided by color than they were in the home societies. I find that migrants' networks overall do not become more homogeneous in color than those of non-migrants. Yet migrants' skin color does influence the ties they develop with non-Latinos, leading dark-skinned Puerto Ricans and Dominicans to develop more friendships with Black Americans than those with light skin. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 2000 Census, 48% of Latinos Identified as White, 2% as Black, less than 1% as Asian or Pacific Islander, about 1% as American Indian, and 6% as multiracial. Importantly, 42% of Latinos selected the "Other" racial self-identification, indicating that many Latinos do not see themselves in the prevailing American racial nomenclature. With data from the Latino National Political Survey 1989-90, we investigated the predictors of Latinos' racial identifications with a sample of U.S. Latinos descended from Cuba, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Using tabular analysis and multinomial logit models, we examined how national origin, skin color, and cultural assimilation influence racial identifications. Using models that predict choosing between "White" and two disaggregated "Other" identities: "Spanish" self-designations, such as Hispanic or Latin American and "Color" distinctions such as Brown or Triune, we found that lighter skin and Cuban nationality powerfully predicted choosing White over the other racial self-classifications. Furthermore, we found that increasing exposure to American culture was related to choosing a Spanish racial self-identification over the other two. We conclude by discussing the implications these findings have for future research. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the ways in which a Korean American newspaper constructs its ethnic group’s identities and depicts the relationship between its ethnic group and others including Whites, Blacks, Latinos, and Asian Americans. Data obtained through content and textual analyses show that whereas Korean Americans are typically described as victims, Blacks are most commonly portrayed as villains, followed by Latinos and Whites. Asian Americans are frequently described as economic rivals and cultural/political partners. Blacks are highly overrepresented in crime news. Latinos are more likely to be depicted as low-wage laborers who work for Korean American owners. Whites are usually represented as racists, benefactors, or partners. Compared with Blacks and Asian Americans, Whites and Latinos evenly appear in diverse news categories of the Korean-language newspaper. In addition, Whites and Latinos are frequently mentioned in the column/opinion sections due to their frequent involvement with Korean Americans’ everyday lives. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Newspapers are an important tool for dissemination of health information. Through the inclusion or omission of facts and images, news stories and advertisments frame a health issue by promoting a particular definition, interpretation, and/or recommendation. This study investigated the frames found in the health news stories within three major newspapers in the South Eastern United States (1 English and 2 Spanish). Risk, medical management, faith, economic and social frames identified in a comparative content analysis revealed a significant difference in the medical management, social and economic frames found in English and Spanish health news stories. No significant differences were found for the frames in advertisements. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we offer a theoretical model for Latino identity formation. We argue that because of the unbounded nature of Latino, the term Latino has come to be everything and anything in the popular discourse. We review the academic literature that differentiates the definitions of Latino. We argue that the social analysis of Latinos needs to move beyond the three paradigms of Latino panethnicity which are: (1) The Panethnic Latino Consciousness; (2) The Social Construction of Latino Panethnicity; and (3) The Geopolitical Construction of Latino Panethnicity. Using two processes that foster Latino identity formation in the U.S. (Racialization and Socialization) we identify four analytical categories: (1) Authorized; (2) Americanized; (3) Exploited; and (4) Disenfranchised. The four analytical categories move us beyond a simplistic conceptual apparatus that conflates the folk and analytical meanings of Latino. We argue that the four heuristic categories provide a conceptual framework that more accurately captures the experience and dimensions of Latino solidarity in the U.S. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We utilize newly available education data from the Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement Study (AHAA), and its parent survey, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to explore the effect of friendship networks and the social capital they entail on the achievement of Latino immigrant high school students. Drawing on immigrant assimilation and achievement literature, we consider whether Latino immigrant students benefit academically from friendship groups comprised of students of similar race/ethnicity and generational status, as they may offer a sense of identity, optimism and support as students progress through high school. Alternatively, we consider whether Latino immigrant youth benefit academically from friendships with students with higher levels of parent education, by providing important social capital for navigating an unfamiliar educational system. Results indicate that having friends with high levels of parental education increases the math achievement of Latina immigrants. In contrast, having a high percentage of immigrant friends does not positively promote achievement for girls who are themselves immigrants, but does lead to higher achievement for Latina third-plus generation girls. However, for Latino boys, we find no positive effects of friendship characteristics on achievement, suggesting that obstacles to achievement may differ by gender among Latino immigrant youth. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact that educational institutions and family memory have on Mexican Americans' racial identity formation. Based on original research, I use interviews with twenty-nine three-generation Mexican American families in California (sixty-seven total interviews) to answer the questions: how does the educational system treat second and third generation Mexican Americans? How does this treatment influence what it means to be Mexican American? How do parents' experiences with school shape their ideologies and practices regarding their children's education? Using a family-oriented "racial-generational approach," I seriously investigate the linkages between the first (immigrant), second, and third generations. I make three inter-related arguments. First, educational institutions discriminate according to race in a manner befitting the particular historical moment ("Jim Crow" style segregation in the second generation and institutional discrimination in the third generation). Second, I document how family beliefs and practices concerning education are transferred inter-generationally in a family. Finally, I suggest that each generation crafts it's own racial identity strategy that is born of the twin influences of family history and historical moment. Highlighting the experiential level, I demonstrate how the significant sociological concepts of race, identity, and culture are created through the institutions of family and society, in conjunction with historical social movements. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is based on an earlier work conducted by Clara Rodriguez (1991). Rodriguez, in her research, addresses one of the greatest problems faced by researchers who wish to study the effects of race on a multiracial group such as Puerto Ricans using typical survey data (Rivera-Batiz and Santiago, 1996; Rodriguez, 1996, 1994, 1991, 1991b; Denton and Massey, 1989). For immigrants from a multi-racial background like Latinos, the racial categories in the surveys may have extremely different meanings than those understood by researchers. .The focus of this study will be to interpret the impact of race on total income. Total income is going to be used, as opposed to the Rodriguez (1991) study which examined wages. Income is important because it looks at how Puerto Ricans are stratified when it comes to their overall well-being, when compared by racial category?. Total income, which may not measure labor market discrimination, will allow this study to include those who receive income through various sources. The analysis used in this study comes from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Latino Sample 1989-1990. Preliminary finding suggest a curvilinear relationship on skin tone and income for Latinos. Mexican, Puerto Ricans, and Cuban also provide distinctive relationships between race and income. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper builds upon studies of urban crime concerned about racial disparities and violence. Given the increasing racial\ethnic diversity of U.S. society it is critical to compare ethnic groups, such as Latinos or Mexican-origin the largest Latino group, within and across a variety of contexts. Our specific aim here is to provide an understanding of the similarities and differences of the incidence of homicides in two cities-San Antonio, a majority Mexican-origin city dominated by U.S. born Chicanos. On the other end is San Diego, another old Mexican-origin city or at least community, with a relatively smaller Latino border community that resembles the "urban poor" and figures central in the recent immigration hysteria. We ground this research in an examination of homicide, disadvantage and affluence in two cities and two larger communities within those places. Not only are we interested in neighborhood level economic disadvantage or affluence, we examine the spatial interdependence of violence. Like others we recognize that communities are interdependent and influenced by the characteristics of surrounding neighborhoods such that homicide in one neighborhood also shapes killings in adjacent areas. In this paper, we therefore focus on the independent effect of spatial proximity on likelihood of homicide, accounting for important neighborhood level characteristics of Latino inequality. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this analytical review I assess how both theories and empirical research has conceptualized Latino retention in postsecondary institutions of higher education. In the theoretical section I discuss Tinto's (1993) theory on student departure from college. In the second section of this review I discuss interdisciplinary findings of empirical studies that have considered Latino student retention outside of the Tinto (1993) theory. Among these studies there are some which have focused entirely on issues particular to Latino students as well as other that have used Latinos as a comparison group in their research on student retention. Since research on Latino students has been conducted in a variety of disciplines, I discuss thematic findings in the literature. I ague that all of these substantive areas of research represent important points of consideration for future studies in sociological research about Latino student retention. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the everyday experiences that youth have with various institutions of social control and socialization with reference to Chicano and African American Youth. Factors like mass incarceration, zero-tolerance policing and punishing of youth as adults and the decline of the welfare state have affected the social subjectivity of African American and Chicano youth in urban settings. In the process of deviance amplification parents participate in labeling their kids as criminals. They alienate themselves from their children.

The article discusses over-representation of Hispanics in community colleges through social capital theory and the impact of cultural factors on college choice. Hispanics perceive low social and financial returns from education, so investment in a community college is a more rational choice for them. The decision to attend a community college by a Hispanic is not directly affected by the income and socio-economic status, but by parents' willingness to financially support their children's education.

This article focuses on the perception of racism among the Mexican Americans. About 52 in-depth interviews were conducted to investigate experiences of discrimination among Mexican Americans. The interviews were split according to region in California. Much discrimination against middle class Mexican Americans takes place in public settings such as at the workplace, in schools, in bars, in stores or even in church. Classrooms and Schoolyards are a place where children are often first confronted with racial difference.

Addressing recent debates, this paper examines the differences in extended family integration between Latinos/as and Euro Americans, as well as the import of culture and structure in explaining these differences. We conceptualize family integration as a multidimensional construct including proximity to kin, contact with kin, and kin support, and emphasize the importance of looking separately at women and men. Using data from Wave II of NSFH, we find that both Latinos and Latinas exhibit greater family integration than Euro American men and women in terms of proximity to kin and contact with kin. For kin support, we find that Latinos/as are more involved in help with household tasks, whereas Euro Americans have greater involvement in financial support. Finally, two differences in kin support exist only among women: Latina women are more likely to be involved in child care help, and Euro American women are more likely to be involved in emotional support. We further find that socioeconomic factors explain most of these ethnic differences in family integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Latino culture of error argument suggests that traditional health beliefs lead to Latinos' non-compliance with biomedicine and their reliance on alternative treatments. Latinos who use prescribed treatments have successfully acculturated. Using in-depth interviews with 25 Latino and non-Hispanic white mothers of children with asthma, we argue that treatment decisions follow from mothers' perception of uncertainty. Traditional treatments may become viable alternatives when mothers express concern about side and long-term effects of biomedicine. Similarly, mothers may renounce alternative medicine as unnecessary or ineffective. As a result, mothers rely on 6 strategies to treat childhood asthma: a complementary pluralist treatment strategy, a skeptical pluralist treatment strategy, a desperate pluralist treatment strategy, a renunciation biomedical strategy, a unfamiliar biomedical treatment strategy, and an alternative only treatment strategy. Latino culture plays a role in each of these treatment strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study related to the gap between Latino voter turnout and the rest of the electorate, that has narrowed in California and widened nationally in the United States. National and California Latinos have historically been characterized, as non-voters due to their very low turnout rates as compared to the rest of the electorate. Latinos as a whole experience high costs, potentially low benefits, are statistically unlikely to vote and have a documented history of low turnout. In California, the presence of a Latino candidate, Latino organizational activities and incumbents who are supportive of Latino issues appear to increase the saliency of an election for Latinos which encourage them to vote.

The article assesses the casuality behind Black-White family formation difference. Explanations for why family formation patterns differ by race in the U.S. population can be broadly grouped into two approaches--economics and normative. The economic argument centers on reduced incentives for marriage and increased incentives for divorce in an environment where male unemployment rates are high and wages low. Blacks rate their overall quality of life more highly in the military than in the civilian world. Both members and spouses are more likely than whites to be satisfied overall with the military way of life. They are more likely than whites to encourage others to join, as well as to talk up the military as a great organization.

Familial variables have been the key interest and are believed to be key predictors of high-risk behaviors in adolescents. In particular, we were interested in familial interdependence among young Latino and Anglo women and its influence on pregnancy and condom use. Relative to the Anglo population, Latinos have been noted to be more collectivistic and interdependent with family members and friends. Those characterized by a stronger sense of interdependence are more likely to experience the aspirations, achievements and emotions of family, and are likely to set aside personal needs and goals for family needs and goals. We believe that perceived sense of interdependence may moderate high-risk behaviors. Data from first wave of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (1994) reveal important cultural differences between Latino and Anglo women. High levels of parental interdependence reduced the chances of pregnancy to a greater extent among Latino (by 20%) compared to Anglo (by 10%) adolescent females. Condom use, however, is related to parental interdependence in Latino as it is in Anglo women. We surmise that Latino women are highly conscious of and conforming to parental expectations of chastity, but live in a culture where openly airing sexual issues (i.e. condom use) is considered inappropriate and disrespectful to many Latino women. Thus, interdependence makes a discernible difference in pregnancy rates, but not condom use in Latino women. These findings highlight the importance of examining cultural differences that can aid in the development of appropriate interventions to stem unwanted adolescent pregnancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The U.S. Latino population is on the brink to become the nation?s largest minority, growing 38 percent since 1990 (U.S. Bureau of the Census 2000). As the nation?s cities become more ethnically diverse, especially in areas with high rates of Latino immigration, the question of how Latino immigrants and native-born Whites interact is especially pertinent, particularly in areas where native-born Whites have continued to dominate the economic and political arenas, despite increasing minority group residency rates. This research examines interethnic and intraethnic interactions at a Latino grocery store which experienced extreme opposition to its opening due to its location in the last predominately White area of Santa Ana, California and asks why the White customer base is steadily increasing despite declining residency rates for Whites and increasing residency rates for Latinos. Findings indicate that the White customers who frequent La Canasta?a non-traditional grocery store where the primary language spoken is Spanish and the majority of employees are first generation immigrants?do so because the Latino employees not only defer to White customers but make a concerted effort to provide superior service to White customers as compared to other racial/ethnic groups. I argue that these everyday individual interactions serve to defend and reinforce Whites? group position at the neighborhood level, as Whites have come to expect this superior service. This research is based on 20 in-depth interviews with White and Latino customers, interviews with cashiers and managers of the store, and participant and non-participant observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a model explaining the achieved GPA of Lantino/a university students as a function of background and institutional involvement indicators. From a population of all Hispanic students entering a major Midwestern university from 1993 to 1998 (N=1321), 412 completed surveys. Structural equations modeling revealed academic preparation and degree of English language based acculturation as the strongest direct effects predicting GPA. Family poverty has the largest influence in explaining academic achievement by virtue of its many indirect effects. The controversial issue of the extent and nature of acculturation and social assimilation v. marginalization are addressed with this study. Policy recommendations include a practical ?multiculturalism? approach that respects the student?s heritage but integrates them into the dominant, non-Hispanic academic culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key theme in the literature on migration is transnationalism, the concept of having a foot in both worlds ? the homeland that immigrants have left behind and the country that they have entered. This paper contributes to the emergent research on how transnationalism and ethnicity play out in the lives of the second generation, e.g., the American-born children of immigrants, and foreign-born children who arrived in the United States by the age of 12, with a particular focus on the Chinese and Dominicans and their views on and experience with higher education and mobility. Surveys and interviews with respondents of both groups show that they come from families embedded in strong transnational fields. The second generation Chinese, however, were only weakly transnational themselves, unlike the Dominicans, for whom the homeland figured strongly. Contrary to what we might expect, given that the Chinese have higher levels of educational attainment on average than many other immigrant groups, including Dominicans, the Chinese express more pessimism about the opportunity structure in the United States and their prospects for mobility. This is because the Chinese tended to use only ethnic/panethnic lenses to understand their educational and mobility trajectories in the United States and thus believed they should be doing better. By using both ethnic and transnational lenses, Dominicans compared themselves positively with their peers in the Dominican Republic and their co-ethnics in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dominicans and Puerto Ricans, both major Latino migrant groups to the mainland United States, have conceptions of race that differ from those found in the U.S. Race is traditionally conceptualized in those nations along a continuum with many possible categories between the two polarities of White and Black that most Americans recognize. This paper explores how Dominican and Puerto Rican migrants reconcile the conflict between their home and host societies? understanding of race, and how the process of migration shapes that understanding. The paper draws on a recent cross-national qualitative study comparing Dominican and Puerto Rican migrants living in New York with non-migrants living in Santo Domingo and San Juan, respectively. The paper discusses data gathered using a photographic instrument to elicit racial classifications and discussion of how those decisions are made. Education is found to be an important factor mediating how race is conceptualized, and how racial assimilation takes place in the host society. It further shapes how identities are sent back and reformulated in the home societies through transnational practices and globalized mass communications. Ethnic and racial group interactions in each location enable those identities to be reinterpreted and assigned new meaning specific to the social context. It is argued that migration shapes racial constructs in both sending and receiving nations, but context-specific structural factors filter the way those constructs are used and understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Latinos in Southern New England have formed barrios in small and midsize cities. To investigate such process, three cases are compared: Lawrence and Holyoke (MA), and Providence, (RI). The origin and settlement in these cities contrasts with the Latino ?big-city? experience. Unlike the path of incorporation suggested by assimilation views, the settlements are not the result of ?spill-overs? from a contiguous metro area, nor they result from suburbanization. The origin and expansion of Latino barrios in these cities stem from multiple migratory streams in which economic, social, cultural and political forces interlace. Further, Latinos have experienced an uneasy fit into the economies of these cities. They have been incorporated into the dying manufacturing and the low-end service sectors. Wages are low and poverty rates are among the highest in the region. Finally, in all three cities, Latinos are highly concentrated in specific neighborhoods, where they have lived since they initially settled. They have faced urban renewal and displacement, but contrary to Latinos in large urban areas, they have managed to remain. Further, the social incorporation of Latinos in these cities has been strongly contested by established residents and institutions. This dynamic has been marked by the effects of devolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper speaks to the intriguing and the well-documented phenomenon in which the health of Mexican immigrants deteriorates with subsequent generations in the U.S., despite improvements in their socio-economic status. It examines the role that embeddedness in transnational networks might play in providing health-promoting resources to immigrant women and their descendants. In particular, it discusses preliminary findings on the transnational experiences of first- and second-generation Mexican women, based on qualitative in-depth interviews with residents of a predominantly Mexican neighborhood in a large midwestern city. In that regard, this paper (1) describes the types of transnational social interactions women engage in and the meaning these interactions have for them; (2) examines how transnational social interactions shape the construction of ethnic identities and provide cultural and social resources to immigrants and their descendants; and (3) discusses the ways these processes may affect the health of immigrants. In doing so, it contributes to the literatures on immigration and health as well as those on transnationalism and gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Puerto Rican identity in the United States has long been influenced by pressure to Americanize and by pressure to maintain a common Puerto Rican nationalist identity (Davila 1997). Puerto Ricans in response have created a culture that is strongly influenced by Americanization policies, but still uniquely Puerto Rican (Davila 1997; Morris 1995). The Puerto Rican government has deliberately endeavored to direct the philosophy of Puerto Rican identity on the island and abroad (Davila 1997; Duany 2002a). This struggle for the maintenance of Puerto Rican culture against the affront of the Americanization influences has created a rift between Puerto Ricans who wish to maintain their Puerto Ricaness on the island versus the perceived threat of Nuyorican influences from the Diasporas. The Diaspora community in turn has fought for the maintenance of their own Puerto Rican culture in the face of a hostile environment in the metropolis (Flores 2000; Padilla 1986).In keeping with the question of adaptability for Puerto Ricans in the United States, my study will analyze the significance of the traditional assimilation paradigm as well as the segmented assimilation model on Puerto Ricans in the United States. Furthermore, using the 1989 Latino National Political Survey (LNPS) I will use structural level variables, such as the proportional size of each specific group in my study to Puerto Rican women in order to challenge the traditional assimilation and the segmented assimilation paradigms to the adaptability perspective. Initial findings have indicated that identity is strongly maintained even when Puerto Ricans out-group marry. However, the strength of their identity vary by the ethnic group they marry into. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hartford metro area is an important case for studying the impact of an atrophying urban core on a metropolitan area. Hartford is at the extreme relative to other large cities with respect to its poverty, minority predominance in the population and population loss. In the suburbs non-Hispanic whites move toward smaller and wealthier towns; blacks and especially Hispanics grow rapidly in larger and poorer towns. Racial/ethnic and socio-economic divisions that had long existed between city and suburb are emerging between suburbs. Baby boom parents and their children were behind most of the 1990-2000 expansion of wealthy suburbs. Developers aim to fill what is likely to be only a short-term demand. Growing problems will come as the baby boomers empty their nests and retire. Minorities are the primary source of suburban growth and also of suburban poverty. The exploding Hispanic population is very youthful and is largely in a distinct occupational and housing niche from baby boomers. City and suburbs are increasingly likely to face shared problems, although fragmented governance continues to undermined the capacity for needed regional planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I propose that (auto)biographies and an analysis of family generations be used to extend the fields of race and culture. Biographies bump up against or enfold many social phenomenon in which many sociologists are intensely interested, such as race, identity, family structure, work, institutions and organizations, social movements, and more. Put simply, narratives express biographies which are ensconced within (a) culture. In this call to work at the seams of sociological subfields, I suggest that race be understood through narratives situated within a particular generation of a family unit. Conversely, sensitivity to racial-generational positioning should be used to contextualize and illuminate biographical narratives. Considering that ?social life is itself storied? and that ??experience? is constituted through narratives,? life history narratives are an appropriate way to gain insight into how people comprehend and navigate through the social world. The race/ethnicity that I will draw upon here is Mexican-Americans, a group whose history documents eras colored by dominant racial ideologies that affected a specific generational population. The use of a racial-generational approach, which takes into account that racial formations slip and slide through eras and family generations, will lend insight into the tangential fields of race, identity, family, culture, and social psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undocumented immigration is a new and sizeable phenomenon that merits closer attention in studies of international migration. This paper aims to contribute to the growing literature on legalization, by focusing on the contradictory effects of immigration law as experienced by undocumented immigrants. Specifically, I examine the narratives of a group of undocumented youth in Los Angeles prior to and after the passage of Assembly Bill 540 in California. This bill exempted them from the more expensive non-resident tuition in California colleges and universities. I find that aside from granting them greater access particularly to community colleges, this pro-immigrant law also provides undocumented youth with a new label and space of legitimacy as college students. This is an important finding because how the students interpret the law?s messages of inclusion and/or exclusion also impacts their behavior and their sense of belonging in this society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research increasingly suggests that youths respond most favorably to prevention programs when the program?s content and format reflect their culture and learning styles. The present study examined the importance of cultural grounding and targeting of substance use prevention efforts for Mexican/Mexican American youth, an under-studied and growing population. The study used a pre-post experimental design to test the efficacy of three versions of a curriculum designed to teach middle school students culturally appropriate drug resistance strategies. A Latino version of the curriculum was modeled on Mexican/Mexican American culture; a non-Latino version targeted European American and African American culture; and a Multicultural version mixed elements of the first two curricula. Self-report data were obtained from 3,402 Mexican heritage students at baseline and 14 months after completing the curriculum. The students were enrolled in 35 Phoenix, Arizona middle schools, including 11 control sites. Compared to control students, students in the Latino version reported smaller increases in overall substance use and recent marijuana use as well as stronger intentions to refuse substance offers, greater confidence in their ability to do so, and smaller estimates of peer substance use. Students in the Multicultural version reported significantly smaller increases in recent alcohol , marijuana and overall substance. No significant program effects were found for students in the non-Latino version of the program. Although all significant program effects were confined to the Latino and Multicultural versions, tests of the relative efficacy of these versions versus the non-Latino version did not indicate significant differences. Implications for evidence- based, school level prevention programs for Latino youth are discussed as well as suggestive lessons for culturally grounded prevention efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The life-course perspective is particularly suitable for studies health status and health outcomes as it offers the ability to link time, period and cohort effects within the social structure (Idler, 1993; Elder, 1994; Power et al., 1998; Hagestad and Dannefer, 2001). It is also a particularly appropriate paradigm through which to view the health of Latinos given the importance that acculturation plays in creating or mediating the stress experienced individually or within a family or household context (Farrell and Markides, 1985). Factors such as nativity, time spent in the U.S. and primary language, identified as simple yet meaningful measures of acculturation level (Escobar and Vega, 2000), differ appreciably across generations and, therefore, produce unique effects on health outcomes. The following study utilizes a nationally-representative data set covering a five-year period to examine the relationship between self-rated health and depressive symptoms among Latinos. Specifically, the study focuses on the ways in which social context, specifically acculturation levels, influence the health of Latinos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study explored the distribution of girls' and boys' body image and body management practices (e.g., dieting to lose weight or weight lifting to build muscle) by ethnicity, including Latino subgroups, and acculturation. Although few differences were identified between Latino subgroups, Unacculturated Mexican boys and Unacculturated Other Latina girls had lower body image relative to Whites. In addition, Mexican boys, regardless of acculturation level, and Unacculturated Cuban boys were more likely than White boys to be trying to lose weight. Mexican girls, regardless of acculturation level, and Unacculturated Cuban and Puerto Rican girls were more likely than White girls to be trying to gain weight. Finally, Acculturated Mexican and Puerto Rican boys were more likely than White boys to be trying to maintain their weight. These results highlight the importance of separately examining Latino subgroups and taking into account levels of acculturation. Gender differences previously identified in non-Latino or aggregated Latino samples were replicated in the Latino subgroups in this sample. Proportions of adolescents in each Latino subgroup and other ethnic group engaging in specific body management methods are provided. Dieting and exercising were the most common methods of weight loss and maintenance for girls and boys. Exercise and weightlifting were the most common methods used by boys to gain weight or build muscle, whereas dieting and exercise were the most common methods used by girls to gain weight or build muscle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature can connect people to one another in powerful ways, allowing them to see overlap which can be turned into a realization of commonality and solidarity in the outside world. The imaginative experience of traveling through reading can involve reconstruction of the self that reworks previous conceptions of the world and of the self. Since reading (at least temporarily, if not permanently) provides the reader new lenses with which to view herself and the world, this study investigates the links between the external cultural world and the internal personal world. This project asks: How do people differentially construct meanings from texts in ways that are significant to them? When reading supposedly ?ethnic??that is, non-mainstream Anglo-American or British?literature, how do readers from the same ethnic group as the author connect and respond? I conducted participant observation and interviews in the ?Chicano Narrative? senior seminar offered by the English Department of the University of California at Berkeley, finding that ethnicity is indeed a valuable port of entry into the texts. More than ethnicity alone, but the life experiences of the readers helped shape the interpretations they crafted from the texts. Latinos reading Chicano literature found a sense of strength in community (with the authors, the texts, and the other Latino students) that validated their personal and group experience. This community and validation elevated Latino students? evaluation of their socio-cultural backgrounds and provided them with confidence in their sense of self and their place in American society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]