Matching Items (33)
152094-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Arizona has become infamous for its strong nativist and anti-immigrant climate, gaining national and international attention for legislation and policing practices that are in violation of civil and human rights. Despite the grave injustices perpetuated against migrants and communities of color, they exist in an environment of acceptance. Applying Critical

Arizona has become infamous for its strong nativist and anti-immigrant climate, gaining national and international attention for legislation and policing practices that are in violation of civil and human rights. Despite the grave injustices perpetuated against migrants and communities of color, they exist in an environment of acceptance. Applying Critical Pedagogy, Critical Race Theory/ Latina(o) Critical Race Theory, and Chicana Feminist epistemologies, this study interrogates the polarized discourse that has intensified in Arizona, within the immigration movement and across its political spectrum, from 2006 to 2008. I present an auto-ethnographic account, including use of participant action research, narrative, and storytelling methods that explores ways in which resistance is manifested and the implications for creating sustainable social change. I argue that legislation, raids, and local immigration enforcement tactics reinforce the dominant group's fear of the "other," resulting in micro and macro aggressions that legitimize racial profiling and help safeguard and fortify White privilege through the fabrication of racialized identities. Simultaneously, organizing strategies and discourse of immigrant rights advocates reflect an entanglement of perceived identities and a struggle to negotiate, contest, and redefine boundaries of public space. The raids, coupled with protests and counter demonstrations, produced a public spectacle that reinforces anti-immigrant connections between race and crime. Lastly, I apply and introduce Border Crit, a new and emerging theory I propose to better address research in the borderlands.
ContributorsMaldonado, Angeles (Author) / Swadener, Elizabeth B. (Thesis advisor) / Scott, Kimberly (Committee member) / Mckinley Jones Brayboy, Bryan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
152462-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Using integrated threat theory as the theoretical framework, this study examines the impact of perceived realistic threats (threats to welfare) and symbolic threats (threats to worldview) on anti-immigrant sentiment among a nationally representative sample in the U.S. Analysis of the antecedents of prejudice is particularly relevant today as anti-immigrant sentiment

Using integrated threat theory as the theoretical framework, this study examines the impact of perceived realistic threats (threats to welfare) and symbolic threats (threats to worldview) on anti-immigrant sentiment among a nationally representative sample in the U.S. Analysis of the antecedents of prejudice is particularly relevant today as anti-immigrant sentiment and hostile policies toward the population have risen in the past two decades. Perceived discrimination has also become salient within immigrant communities, negatively impacting both mental and physical health. Using logistic ordinal regressions with realistic threat, symbolic threat, and immigrant sentiment scales, this study found that both realistic and symbolic threats increased participants' likelihood of selecting a higher level of anti-immigrant sentiment, suggesting both are predictive of prejudice. However, symbolic threats emerged as a greater predictor of anti-immigrant sentiment, with an effect size over twice that of realistic threats. Implications for social work policy, practice, and future research are made.
ContributorsKiehne, Elizabeth (Author) / Becerra, David (Thesis advisor) / Segal, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Androff, David K. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
152627-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
In recent years the state of Arizona passed a series of laws affecting undocumented immigrants, including Proposition 300 in 2006 outlawing in-state tuition for undocumented youth. However, there has also been a reaction from these youth who refused to be relegated to the shadows and are demanding rights. Using mixed

In recent years the state of Arizona passed a series of laws affecting undocumented immigrants, including Proposition 300 in 2006 outlawing in-state tuition for undocumented youth. However, there has also been a reaction from these youth who refused to be relegated to the shadows and are demanding rights. Using mixed ethnographic methods, this dissertation research analyzes how undocumented Mexican youth in Arizona have experienced liminality after the passage of Proposition 300 as well as their ability to utilize their increased marginalization in order to build community amongst themselves and fight for basic rights--a process known as cultural citizenship. These immigrant youth are of the 1.5 generation, who are brought to the United States at a young age, grow up in the country and share characteristics with both first and second- generation immigrants. Even though undocumented 1.5 generation immigrants are raised and acculturated within this country and treated the same as other children while in the public school system, they have been denied basic rights upon approaching adulthood because of their illegality. This includes limiting access to affordable higher education as well as public services and legal work. Consequently, they are unable to fully incorporate into U.S. society and they end up transitioning into illegality after leaving school. This is especially true in Arizona, a state that has passed some of the strictest anti-immigrant laws in the country aiming to deter undocumented immigrants from staying in the state. However, I argue that this increased marginalization has had an unintended consequence of creating a space that allowed for these youth to come together and form a community. I further posit that this community provides valuable social capital and access to resources and information that mitigates the possibility of downward assimilation. Moreover, this community offers its members a safety net that allows them to publically claim their undocumented status in order to fight for their right to have a pathway towards citizenship. As a result, they have been able to gain some victories, but are still fighting for their ultimate goal to become citizens.
ContributorsRuth, Alissa (Author) / Tsuda, Takeyuki (Thesis advisor) / Wutich, Amber (Committee member) / Provine, Doris Marie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
152828-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Assyrians face numerous concerns resulting from the status of a stateless people. Overcoming immigrant transitions, difficulties related to diaspora, and the implications of these on Assyrian culture are pressing matters to be addressed in the evolution of the Assyrian nation. In order to develop a strategy to benefit individuals, families

Assyrians face numerous concerns resulting from the status of a stateless people. Overcoming immigrant transitions, difficulties related to diaspora, and the implications of these on Assyrian culture are pressing matters to be addressed in the evolution of the Assyrian nation. In order to develop a strategy to benefit individuals, families and the nation, Hometown Associations, a form of nonprofit organization, may be used to connect, assist, and progress Assyrian communities. This thesis provides background, rationale for, and guidelines to creating Hometown Associations for Assyrian communities. Ultimately, Hometown Associations and other forms of cultural organizations appear to be a viable means toward community solidarity and cultural preservation. However, further research and more diverse subjects are required to assess the generalizeability of the findings discussed.
ContributorsTamo, Samuel (Author) / Behl, Natasha (Thesis advisor) / Ali, Souad (Committee member) / Maghoub, Miral (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
149846-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
In this study, I investigate the digital literacy practices of adult immigrants, and their relationship with transnational processes and practices. Specifically, I focus on their conditions of access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in their life trajectories, their conditions of learning in a community center, and their appropriation

In this study, I investigate the digital literacy practices of adult immigrants, and their relationship with transnational processes and practices. Specifically, I focus on their conditions of access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in their life trajectories, their conditions of learning in a community center, and their appropriation of digital literacy practices for transnational purposes. By studying the culturally situated nature of digital literacies of adult learners with transnational affiliations, I build on recent empirical work in the fields of New Literacy Studies, sociocultural approaches to learning, and transnational studies. In this qualitative study, I utilized ethnographic techniques for data collection, including participant observation, interviewing, and collection of material and electronic artifacts. I drew from case study approaches to analyze and present the experiences of five adult first-generation immigrant participants. I also negotiated multiple positionalities during the two phases of the study: as a participant observer and instructor's aide during the Basic Computer Skills course participants attended, and as a researcher-practitioner in the Web Design course that followed. From these multiple vantage points, my analysis demonstrates that participants' access to ICTs is shaped by structural factors, family dynamics, and individuals' constructions of the value of digital literacies. These factors influence participants' conditions of access to material resources, such as computer equipment, and access to mentoring opportunities with members of their social networks. In addition, my analysis of the instructional practices in the classroom shows that instructors used multiple modalities, multiple languages and specialized discourses to scaffold participants' understandings of digital spaces and interfaces. Lastly, in my analysis of participants' repertoires of digital literacy practices, I found that their engagement in technology use for purposes of communication, learning, political participation and online publishing supported their maintenance of transnational affiliations. Conversely, participants' transnational ties and resources supported their appropriation of digital literacies in everyday practice. This study concludes with a discussion on the relationship among learning, digital literacies and transnationalism, and the contributions of critical and ethnographic perspectives to the study of programs that can bridge digital inequality for minority groups.
ContributorsNoguerón, Silvia Cecilia (Author) / Warriner, Doris S (Thesis advisor) / Faltis, Christian J (Committee member) / Mccarty, Teresa (Committee member) / Wiley, Terrence (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
150560-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
The number of Brazilian immigrants in the United States has greatly increased over the past three decades. In Phoenix, Arizona, this population increase reveals itself through a greater number of large Brazilian cultural events and higher demand for live Brazilian music. Music is so embedded in Brazilian culture that it

The number of Brazilian immigrants in the United States has greatly increased over the past three decades. In Phoenix, Arizona, this population increase reveals itself through a greater number of large Brazilian cultural events and higher demand for live Brazilian music. Music is so embedded in Brazilian culture that it serves as the ideal medium through which immigrants can reconnect to their Brazilian heritage. In this thesis, I contend that Brazilian immigrants in Phoenix, Arizona maintain their identity as Brazilians through various activities extracted from their home culture, the most prominent being musical interaction and participation. My research reveals three primary factors which form a foundation for maintaining cultural identity through music within the Brazilian immigrant community in Phoenix. These include the common experiences of immigration, diasporic identity, and the role of music within this diaspora. Music is one of the stronger art forms for representing emotions and creating an experience of relationship and connections. Music creates a medium with which to confirm identity, and makes the Brazilian immigrant population visible to other Americans and outsiders. While other Brazilian activities can also serve to maintain immigrants' identity, it is clear to me from five years of participant-observation that musical interaction and participation is the most prominent and effective means for Brazilians in Phoenix to maintain their cultural identity while living in the U.S. As a community, music unites the experiences of the Brazilian immigrants and removes them from the periphery of life in a new society.
ContributorsSwietlik, Amy (Author) / Solís, Ted (Thesis advisor) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Pilafian, Sam (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
150183-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
The objective of this study was to understand domestic and foreign-born housekeeper's individual perceptions of labor mobility and job satisfaction related to their jobs within the hospitality industry. Literature regarding the bridging of tourism, immigration, and labor supply was addressed to expose broad conceptual frameworks that lead to the development

The objective of this study was to understand domestic and foreign-born housekeeper's individual perceptions of labor mobility and job satisfaction related to their jobs within the hospitality industry. Literature regarding the bridging of tourism, immigration, and labor supply was addressed to expose broad conceptual frameworks that lead to the development of this study. More specifically, literature regarding labor mobility within tourism industries, migrant decision making, and barriers to mobility and immigration helped to construct a narrowed conceptual framework specific to hospitality labor in Phoenix, Arizona. Similar and previous studies focused on perceived labor mobility during significant economic or industry shifts. This study included the addition of a policy factor to help determine to what degree state policy change effected hospitality workers' perceived labor mobility. Arizona's recently passed and implemented legislative act SB1070 regards immigrant identification and employment, and enforcement of the act in the state of Arizona; this serves as the implicated policy change. Data were collected via on-site survey administered February to May 2011. An overall score was created for the five motivational dimensions: 1 — Status; 2 — Economic; 3 — Refugee; 4 — Entrepreneurial; and, 5 — Political using principle component factor analysis using a varimax rotation with Kaiser normalization. Theory and literature suggest that the economic advancement, status advancement, and the refugee orientation are effective explanatory variables for motivating a career move into the tourism industry. A total of 82 questionnaires were delivered and completed (N = 82), and none were eliminated. The statistically-determined Economic Dimension was characterized by eleven statements explained 51% of the variation and was the overwhelming motivational force. The average coded response for change in job satisfaction was very positive at .75. Ten features of changes in job satisfaction were used as the basis of the second measure of change in job satisfaction. The first Principle Component of the ten features of job satisfaction change explained 45% of the variation in these features and loadings were positive near or above 0.60 for all items. The relationship between variations in each of the measurements of change in job satisfaction and motivating factors was explored using regression analysis. The two dependent variables were Overall Change and First Principle Component, and the independent variables for both regressions included the four motivating factors as measured by the rotated factors scores to represent dimensions of Economic, Status, Refugee and Entrepreneurial. In addition to the motivational factors, four demographic variables were included as independent variables to account for personal and situational differences. None of the regression coefficients were significant at even the 10% level. Although this result was expected, the positive sign of regression coefficients suggest that expectations of working as a housekeepers results in a positive outcome. Understanding this relationship further is necessary, and seeking larger sample sizes over a longer period of time would be most beneficial to this field of research.
ContributorsCasson, Mallory (Author) / Tyrrell, Timothy (Thesis advisor) / Budruk, Megha (Committee member) / Li, Wei (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
150185-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
A perceived link between illegal immigration and crime continues to exist. Citizens continue to believe that immigration creates crime and fear that as the immigrant population grows, their safety is jeopardized. Not much research in the field of criminology, however, has focused on examining this perceived relationship between immigration and

A perceived link between illegal immigration and crime continues to exist. Citizens continue to believe that immigration creates crime and fear that as the immigrant population grows, their safety is jeopardized. Not much research in the field of criminology, however, has focused on examining this perceived relationship between immigration and crime. Those studies which have examined the relationship have mainly relied on official data to conduct their analysis. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the relationship between immigration and crime by examining self report data as well as some official data on immigration status and criminal involvement. More specifically, this thesis examines the relationship between immigration status and four different types of criminal involvement; property crimes, violent crimes, drug sales, and drug use. Data from a sample of 1,990 arrestees in the Maricopa County, Arizona, was used to conduct this analysis. This data was collected through the Arizona Arrestee Reporting Information Network over the course of a year. The results of the logistic regression models indicate that immigrants tend to commit less crime than U.S. citizens. Furthermore, illegal immigrants are significantly less likely than U.S. citizens to commit any of the four types of crimes, with the exception of powder cocaine use.
ContributorsNuño, Lidia E (Author) / Katz, Charles M. (Thesis advisor) / White, Michael D. (Committee member) / Decker, Scott H. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
150490-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
This study addresses racial segregation in schools by examining the self-selecting patterns of middle class Asian immigrant parents in a public non-charter school district who enrolled their children in specialized academic programs. This phenomenological study focused on the educational history and the decision-making process of school choice in a sample

This study addresses racial segregation in schools by examining the self-selecting patterns of middle class Asian immigrant parents in a public non-charter school district who enrolled their children in specialized academic programs. This phenomenological study focused on the educational history and the decision-making process of school choice in a sample of 11 Chinese and Vietnamese immigrant parents; a majority of them were identified as Chinese mothers. This study was conducted to answer the research questions: (R1) How do the parents' past experiences play a role in their perception of specialized academic programs and the decision-making process of selecting a school? (R2) What kind of informational networks or sources are used to make school choice? (R3) What are parents' notions of academic achievement or success for their children? (R4) How do parents' perceive specialized programs after engaging in them? This study sought to understand the relationship between the parents' own educational experiences and their negotiation of school choice for their children by collecting data through interviews, focus groups, and artifact documents. This study found that (1) the competitive conditions of the parents' educational experiences attributed to their sociocultural belief of education as social mobility which was a significant factor in their selection of an advanced program and expectations of high academic achievement; (2) mothers identified school reviews from friends as the most important information they obtained when they made school choice; these reviews took place in their coethnic social networks in Chinese language schools that offered their children heritage language development, academic, and nonacademic-based extracurricular classes; and (3) parents indicated that school choice is a continuous evaluative and comparative process. Overall, the study highlights the participants' bimodal acquisition of school advantages for their children in market-oriented school systems and the roles parents play in establishing cultural norms in making school choice. In return, these norms have depicted the participants in the model minority role, which leads to the perpetuation of the racist stereotype of all Asians as high achievers. This study has presented a multi-layered perspective of how middle class Chinese and Vietnamese American immigrant parents capitalize on specialized academic programs.
ContributorsPadilla, Hoang-Thuy (Author) / Brayboy, Bryan M.J. (Thesis advisor) / Lee, Stacey J. (Committee member) / Mccarty, Teresa L. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
150823-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Esta disertación analiza las maneras en que el sujeto (in)migratorio es representado en el cine español y argentino de los últimos años. El estudio investiga cómo el cine del (in)migrante ofrece convincentes narraciones (no)ficticias que son aportadas con temas de raza, género, lenguaje e identidad desde ambas perspectivas del sujeto

Esta disertación analiza las maneras en que el sujeto (in)migratorio es representado en el cine español y argentino de los últimos años. El estudio investiga cómo el cine del (in)migrante ofrece convincentes narraciones (no)ficticias que son aportadas con temas de raza, género, lenguaje e identidad desde ambas perspectivas del sujeto migratorio y de aquellos ubicados dentro de las culturas "indígenas" de recepción. Al cuestionar la conceptualización de la nación-estado, este proyecto contribuye a una base teórica fundada en una ruptura de las nociones hegemónicas que han construido opiniones de diferencia y aceptación de una persona sobre otro. En términos de lenguaje, este estudio es relevante por su análisis del discurso y epítetos raciales que existen y persisten debido a parámetros y limitaciones en el lenguaje Castellano y su léxica inherente. Equipado con esto es la propuesta de que si nuestra lengua tiene un registro inadecuado para interactuar con el supuesto otro, entonces solo se puede concluir que nosotros también estamos limitados en nuestro entendimiento de otros sujetos globales. De allí, una mejora del lenguaje resultaría en una mejora de sensibilidades culturales y globales. Además, la representación del género y la raza son puntos importantes para una interpretación semiótica de estos textos y se observa las maneras en que los temas socio-lingüísticos son triangulados entre las películas, los países y las sociedades de tales producciones culturales. Por ejemplo, las mujeres están sujetas a puestos restringidos e inferiores del sector de servicio, como prostitutas y mucamas, mientras los hombres están atados a cuestionables formas de trabajo en la agricultura y servicios sociales de baja categoría. Al final de todo, un mayor empuje detrás de este género fílmico subversivo es romper con las erróneas, anticuadas y precipitadas nociones de identidades nacionales para incitar deseables sensibilidades culturales a través de la lente artística del cine.
ContributorsBlack, Kyle K (Author) / Foster, David W (Thesis advisor) / Tompkins, Cynthia (Committee member) / Urioste, Carmen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012