Filtering by
- All Subjects: Child Development
- Creators: Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics
- Creators: Eisenberg, Nancy
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.
(RSA) interaction in predicting these trajectories. Child sex was tested as a covariate and moderator. It was found that children's low baseline RSA or high RSA reactivity , in comparison to high baseline RSA or low RSA reactivity , was more reactive as a function
of early parenting quality when predicting the development of early childhood problem symptoms. Differential patterns of the interaction between parenting quality and RSA were detected for mothers' and fathers' reports. Mother-reported models showed a diathesis-stress pattern, whereas the father-reported model showed a vantage-sensitivity pattern, especially for internalizing symptoms. This may imply the potential benefit of fathers' active engagement in children's early development. In addition, the effect of the parenting quality × RSA interaction in predicting the mother-reported models was found
to be further moderated by child sex. Specifically, the parenting quality × baseline RSA interaction was significantly predictive of girls' 54-month internalizing, and the parenting quality × RSA reactivity interaction significantly predicted boys' internalizing slope. Girls with low baseline RSA or boys with high RSA reactivity were vulnerable to the less positive parenting, exhibiting high levels of 54-month internalizing symptoms or slow decline in internalizing over time, respectively. Future research directions were discussed in terms of integrating the measures of SNS and PNS in psychopathology study,
exploring the mechanisms underlying the sex difference in parenting quality × RSA interaction, and comparing the findings of children's typical and atypical development.