Maria Vidal de Haymes

LATINO POPULATION GROWTH, CHARACTERISTICS, AND SETTLEMENT TRENDS: IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION IN A DYNAMIC POLITICAL CLIMATE

This paper identifies a number of significant contemporary trends in the Latino population, including the striking growth of the community, new points of entry and settlement for recent immigrants, the mixed-status nature of families, and the increase in the proportion of U.S. households that speak Spanish. The implications of these trends for social welfare practice, programming, policy, and social work education are discussed in the context of a dynamic political climate regarding immigration. The paper concludes with a focus on the critical role of schools of social work in developing more meaningful responses to bilingual manpower needs and the complex cultural and social policy issues this community presents. Examples of curricular and programmatic responses are provided.

Family Cohesion and Social Support: Protective Factors for Acculturation Stress Among Low-Acculturated Mexican Migrants

International migration has significant effects on the lives of migrants, many resulting from the challenges of cultural adjustment they face in their country of destination. Cultural adjustment or acculturation often includes physical, psychological, spiritual, social, financial, linguistic, and familial adaptation. This process may produce an acculturative stress reaction arising from the psychological difficulties migrants experience as they adapt to unfamiliar social norms, customs, and institutions they encounter in a new cultural context. Protective factors and coping mechanisms may be present to help migrants manage acculturative stress. This study examines the relationship between acculturative stress and family cohesion and social support among low-acculturated Mexican migrants in Chicago. Specifically, the authors hypothesize that there will be a negative relationship between stress level and the measures of family cohesion and social support. Two models are presented. The first examines the relationship between the dependent variable, acculturative stress level, and the demographic and social characteristics of respondents. The second includes variables measuring family cohesion and social support, while also controlling for problems experienced relative to support. The results indicate that only a very small proportion of the total variance in acculturative stress is explained by demographic characteristics, yet the second model, which includes measures of family cohesion and social support accounts for almost 20% of the variance in acculturative stress scores. The results indicate that individuals who have greater levels of family engagement as well as individuals who have greater levels of family satisfaction have lower levels of acculturative stress.

Immigrant Integration Through Mediating Social Institutions: Issues and Strategies

With nearly 40 million foreign-born residents, the United States is the country with the largest immigrant population in the world (Nwosu, Batalova, & Auclair, 2014). This amounts to 13% of the current US population and has fueled debates about the role of immigrants in American society and about what it means to be American (Batalova & Lee, 2012; Hing, 2004). The issue of immigrant integration is at the center of this debate and is also the focus of this study, which examines immigrant integration in two U.S. cities: San Francisco, California and Chicago, Illinois. This study is part of a larger 2007 multi-country study of immigrant integration practices conducted by CeiMigra, a migration research institute based in Valencia, Spain. This study analyzes data collected in the two U.S. study sites, which consists of 19 extensive qualitative interviews with politicians, policy makers, labor leaders, and nongovernment (NGO) and migrant association leaders regarding issues that affect and strategies that facilitate immigrant integration. The interviewees identified two primary points of integration: the economy and local communities. Common barriers affecting both documented and undocumented immigrants were identified, as well as local strategies that promote integration into the economy and the community. Study participants noted the burden on local communities to address immigrant incorporation and called for stronger and more systematic integration programs and policies at the federal level.

Mexican Immigrant Families: Relating Trauma and Family Cohesion

This article applies structural equation modeling techniques to explore the relationships between constructs related to family strength and cohesion, acculturation, and trauma symptoms. The study uses a purposive sample comprised of 122 immigrant men and women from the Mexican community based in a large midwestern metropolitan Area. The data were collected using standardized instruments: Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES IV), The Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI), and the Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (SASH). A factor analysis was conducted with three scales and the modified versions were found to be a better fit for this sample. The model reporting good fit indices is presented in this article. Cohesion and anxiety were found to be significantly and inversely related (.574), in other words family cohesion explained 57% of the variance in TSI. The indicators of the latent variable FACES shared variance of more than 47% with the underlying latent factor. Although the latent factor of TSI informed the latent factor of intrusive thoughts and the indicators of anxiety from 36% to 83%, the model found a significant inverse relationship between the constructs of family strengths and trauma. Level of acculturation (as measured by the Acculturation Scale) did not report a significant relationship with the other two constructs. The implications for research, public policy, and clinical practice with Mexican immigrant families are discussed.

Mexican Migration-Corridor Hospitality

The world total of international migrants has more than doubled in 25 years, with roughly 25 million added in just the first 5 years of the twenty-first century. The number of international migrants is greater today than at any other time in history, with 214 million, or one in every 35 persons worldwide living outside their country of birth. Nowhere is the trend of international migration more marked than in North America between Mexico and the United States. With an estimated 4.4 million foreign-born residents, the United States is the country with the largest immigrant population in the world. This figure amounts to 13 percent of the total current U.S. population. In contrast, Mexico leads the world as a source country for international migrants and represents 29.5 percent of the total foreign-born population residing in the United States.

The 1996 Chicago Latino Registered Voter Political Survey: Political Participation and Public Policy Positions

Abstract The Latino population in the United States has been expanding at a tremendous rate in recent decades and as the number of Latinos in the United States grows, so does their potential for influencing American politics grow. Yet, we have a very limited understanding of Latino civic engagement, political behavior, and public policy opinions. This article presents the results of a survey of 408 registered Latino voters in Chicago, Illinois. The findings advance a multidimensional understanding of Latino political behaviors and attitudes through the examination of multiple measures of political participation and opinions concerning political parties and public issues such as welfare reform, immigration, naturalization and official language policy, bilingual education, capital punishment, gun control, and affirmative action. Findings are discussed in the context of earlier studies of Latino electoral participation and American public policy opinions.

Welcome to the Editorship of the Journal of Poverty

As we start the new volume of the Journal of Poverty, we would like to officially welcome Dr. Llewellyn J. Cornelius, the Donald Lee Hollowell Distinguished Professor of Civil Rights and Social Justice Studies and Director Center for Social Justice, Civil and Human Rights at the University of Georgia Athens to the editorship of the Journal of Poverty. His research focuses on empirically documenting barriers of access to health care, mental health services, social services, educational opportunities and employment opportunities for underserved populations. It also focuses on engaging communities as co-partners in the design and implementation of interventions that improve the overall health and well-being of disadvantaged populations locally, national and globally.

Single Concentration Clinical MSW Programs: A Descriptive Study

Abstract In the last three decades a number of schools have established clinical masters of social work programs. This paper identifies and reviews the existing single concentration clinical MSW programs in the U.S. Utilizing published program data, content analysis of descriptive program promotional materials and telephone interviews, single concentration clinical programs were examined along institutional, historical, structural, student and faculty dimensions. Comparisons between single concentration clinical programs and multi-concentration programs are also drawn. Findings are discussed within the context of current trends in social work education.Abstract In the last three decades a number of schools have established clinical masters of social work programs. This paper identifies and reviews the existing single concentration clinical MSW programs in the U.S. Utilizing published program data, content analysis of descriptive program promotional materials and telephone interviews, single concentration clinical programs were examined along institutional, historical, structural, student and faculty dimensions. Comparisons between single concentration clinical programs and multi-concentration programs are also drawn. Findings are discussed within the context of current trends in social work education.

The Role of Alumni in Baccalaureate Social Work Education

This article discusses the results of a 1993 national survey of undergraduate social work program directors on the role of alumni in their programs. Respondents indicated that they involved alumni,...