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- All Subjects: Child Development
- Creators: Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics
Between October 2016 and February 2018, DHS reported separating 1,768 children from their parents in what they called “a long-standing policy”. From July 2017 to October 2017, the Trump administration implemented a pilot program in El Paso. Federal prosecutors criminally charged adults who crossed the border from New Mexico to West Texas. Forced family separation has long-lasting consequences on the health of immigrant youth and their families even as they become integrated into US society. In addition, policies like the zero-tolerance policy on illegal criminal entry and practices such as the exclusion and criminalization of immigrants perpetuate the image of an immigrant's subordinate position in the States. <br/>The zero tolerance policy has significant impacts on immigrants’ mental health, educational attainment, legal vulnerability, and physical health. While research typically focuses on the impacts of family separation on the child, the separation affects the entire family unit leading to feelings of helplessness and cultural disruption. Additionally, the topic of family separation during migration is well-studied, there is a lack of literature on forced family separation and long-lasting impacts post-reunification especially through a lens of resiliency.This paper seeks to examine how the zero-tolerance policy impacts Central American immigrant youth and their families and the limited support systems available. The family separation policy ignited protests across the country. Across the nation there was outrage of “kids in cages,” Central American children being taken from their families and placed into overcrowded facilities, left to sleep under tinfoil-like sheets in fenced areas. <br/>I argue that the zero tolerance policy is one of a long line of racist immigration policies that negatively impacts immigrant youth and their families. The effects of family separation seep into various dimensions of immigrants' lives, further complicating their adjustment to life in the US. Continued support for families who have been separated is critical to combat the adverse effects of harmful and racist immigration policies. Because the effects of family separation are multidimensional, I advocate for a holistic approach that addresses the various ways the effects spillover into daily life. This paper relies on the concept of resiliency versus a victim narrative, situating agency with the immigrant, and viewing immigration as an autonomous action. A resiliency framework acknowledges and appreciates immigrant youth's resourcefulness, strategic agency, and ability to subvert dominant norms and overcome barriers.
This paper will provide a review of the difficulties associated with caregiving for a family member with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) and the intervention strategies used to improve psychosocial wellbeing of the caregiver. A review of various empirical studies compares different intervention strategies and their accessibility and effect on caregiver mental health. The literature suggests that the most effective treatments are those that are based in cognitive behavioral techniques , teaching caregivers how to recognize and regulate negative emotions that arise and to develop coping strategies for stressful situations involving their loved one with ADRD (Cheng et al., 2018). However, there is currently only a limited amount of research done on the topic of pain recognition and management by caregivers for those with ADRD; future research on this topic is needed to help to develop programs to teach caregivers strategies to help them recognize changes associated with pain in their loved one’s health and wellbeing (Kankkunen & Valimaki, 2014). Future research regarding caregivers for those with ADRD will continue to improve the development of family based support programs based in education for recognition of pain symptoms in patients and cognitive behavioral principles to improve caregiver and patient quality of life (Gitlin et al., 2015).