Browsing by Subject "Latina"
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Item A narrative investigation of adult latina's life experience of physical activity adherence(2009-05-15) Wagner, Susan AllisonThe purpose of this study was to explore the lifelong physical activity (PA) stories of Latinas to determine motives that contribute to exercise adherence behaviors. Using an interview process, life histories were collected from six self-identified PA adherents of Hispanic descent. Three narrative analysis techniques were used to analyze the interviews and the transcript of a follow-up focus group meeting. In the first technique, the Holistic-Content perspective and Labovian transcription were used to identify major themes common in the interviews. Adherence themes that emerged were: 1) culture and family, 2) being pushed, 3) health, 4) role models, and 5) competence. A review of these themes resulted in several suggestions for teaching practitioners: 1) including enjoyment as a criteria for planning activities, 2) focusing on positive reinforcement from teachers and families, 3) providing early opportunities for success, and 4) interacting with strong female role models. A second analysis technique, Lakoff and Johnson's linguistic studies using metaphor to understand one idea in terms of another, yielded the concept of love as health. Study participants frequently used the terms love and addiction in connection with PA. Participants suggested the following as characteristics of healthy love relationships: loyalty, community, positive results, and variety. The term addiction, while not specifically a metaphor, emerged during this process as a powerful exercise adherence motivator. Euphoria and "not feeling right unless I exercise" were cited as primary reasons for adherence behavior. The third technique used was Borman's Symbolic Convergence Theory in which a rhetorical community is formed around a fantasy theme. The theme "perfect body" was identified in the stories as common to four of the participants. Via the media and pop culture, the rhetorical community communicates that a "perfect body" can be achieved with PA and diet. The oppressive gendered message here is that a woman's worth is largely determined by the look of her body, and having the perfect body is the way to success. Facilitating the shift from solely external motivators to a more balanced internal/external set of motivators and from solely negative motivators to positive reasons for exercise adherence is the recommended goal for teaching practitioners.Item Cultura Within : designing workshops and transitional objects that empower young Latina women to persevere in higher education(2016-08) Sibrian, Ana Angelica; Gorman, Carma; Catterall, Kate; Park, JiwonLatinos are one of the fastest-growing ethnic minority groups in the United States. Yet they have the lowest college graduation rate of any racial or ethnic group in the United States. This report documents self-reflective, participatory processes I used, based on my personal experience as a Latina in higher education, to design engaging workshops and transitional objects to support the Latina community at the University of Texas at Austin. I propose that workshops promoting awareness of structural barriers, coaching in self-reflective techniques, and the co-creation of totemic objects that serve as transitional objects and aides-mémoires can empower young Latina women to persevere in higher education. The workshops were designed to use group storytelling, self-reflection and sharing methods to educate and empower young Latinas to create an on-going sense of agency and build stronger communities within higher education.Item Dancing Latina identity : a rendering of contemporary Latina self-representation in American concert dance(2013-05) Figueroa, Brianna Lynn; Rossen, RebeccaWhen considering the Latina dancer in the United States it is easy to conjure images of a fruit crowned Carmen Miranda shimming in front of the camera, videos of Jennifer Lopez swinging her hips in dark and crowded clubs, sultry salsa dancers rocking and twisting on their bedazzled stilettos, or Jalisco girls who swirl the hemlines of their rainbow colored skirts as they parade down the street. These depictions of the Latina dancer are duly noted for creating a means of visibility for an otherwise invisible demographic. However, they also function to reinforce stereotypical ideas of the Latina moving body which limit Latina agency by positioning dancing Latinas within a set of prescribed representational practices. My study bridges Latina/o studies with dance studies in order to ask how Latina women are utilizing modern and contemporary dance styles to upset and redefine notions of the dancing Latina. I focus on the choreography of four women in particular; Michelle Manzanales, Maray Gutierrez, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, and Nancy Turano who each presented work in association with Luna Negra Dance Theatre’s Latina Choreographers Project. Through my study I place the project’s mission into dialog with the corpus of choreography commissioned during its three-year lifespan (2006-2009). My close analysis serves to elucidate the stories that the choreographers chose to tell. For some, the deconstruction of icons provided the most compelling exercise in the process of excavating beneath quintessential Latino facades. For others, the strong recollections of home and the feeling of not being able to assert a defined location characterized their investigations of cultural identity. The Latina Choreographers Project, I contend, sets a historical precedent by pursuing and presenting the work of Latina choreographers in a field that has traditional excluded the Latina voice. I argue that by engaging four choreographers with extraordinarily diverse relationships to Latinidad and presenting them to an American audience, the Latina Choreographer Project presents an invaluable opportunity for intercultural and cross-cultural dialog that aims to relay the complexity and nuances of a contemporary Latina experience.Item Destabilizing racialized geographies : the temporality of Blackness in Puerto Rico(2016-05) Machicote, Michaela Andrea; Arroyo, Jossianna; Leu, LorraineIn this thesis I analyze the way in which the de-colonial construction of Puerto Rico, and subsequent acquisition by the US as a territory, came to inform and create a whitened identity through the confinement, historicization of African influence, and erasure of Puerto Rico's Black population/heritage component via the narrative of mestizaje and mulataje. I look specifically at Loíza; Loíza is a city celebrated by Puerto Rico as a site of authentic Blackness and exemplifies efforts by the state to commodify and restrict the movements of Black Bodies. It is in these marginalized and racialized spaces that I explore the possibility of self-making and Black identity in Loíza, Puerto Rico.Item Doctoral experiences of Latina students: Examining ethnic identity and successful completion(2012-05) Rodriguez, Sofia; Taylor, Colette M.; Marbley, Aretha F.; Munoz, Juan S.Graduate education is essential to America’s overall global competitiveness and national security; a highly trained, educated workforce is crucial to the success of a knowledge based society (Wendler, et al., 2010). Cortese (2003) contends that post-secondary institutions play a vital role in cultivating the culture and civilization of current societies. The importance of graduate education is reflected in the ground-breaking practices used by these institutions to create research, convey knowledge via education, and to participate in the advancement of our workforce (Kienle & Loyd, 2005). As graduate education plays a critical role in our ever growing, multicultural society, research conducted on the role that graduate education plays in various racial and ethnic populations such as the Latina female population, becomes imperative. Using Critical Race Theory and Latino Critical Race theory, this study identified factors which influenced Latina women to pursue their doctorate and, of these factors, which navigation strategies contributed to successful completion of the doctorate. The findings demonstrated that the ethnic identity of Latina female participants significantly correlated with total social support consisting of members of the university, friends, significant others, family, and the university environment in regard to successful completion of the doctorate. Additional findings of the study found that factors such as financial aid in the form of scholarships and loans played an important role in participants’ success.Item Embodied Storying, A Methodology for Chican@ Rhetorics: (Re)making Stories, (Un)mapping the Lines, And Re-membering Bodies(2012-10-19) Cobos, CasieThis dissertation privileges Chican@ rhetorics in order to challenge a single History of Rhetoric, as well as to challenge Chican@s to formulate our rhetorical practices through our own epistemologies. Chapter One works in three ways: (1) it points to how a single History of Rhetoric is implemented, (2) it begins to answer Victor Villanueva's call to "Break precedent!" from a singly History, and (3) it lays groundwork for the three-prong heuristic of "embodied storying," which acts as a lens for Chican@ rhetorics. Chapter Two uses embodied storying to look at how Chican@s are produced through History and how Chican@s produce histories. By analyzing how Spanish colonizers, contemporary scholars/publishers, and Chican@s often disembody indigenous codices, this chapter calls for rethinking how we practice codices. In order to do so, this chapter retells various stories about Malinche to show how Chican@s already privilege bodies in Chican@ stories in and beyond codices. Chapter Three looks at cartographic practices in the construction, un-construction, and deconstruction of bodies, places, and spaces in the Americas. Because indigenous peoples practice mapping by privileging bodies who inhabit/practice spaces, this chapter shows how colonial maps rely on place-based conceptions of land in order to create imperial borders and rely on space-based conceptions in order to ignore and remove indigenous peoples from their lands. Chapter Four looks at foodways as a practice of rhetoric, identity, community, and space. Using personal, familial, and community knowledge to discuss Mexican American food practices, this chapter argues that foodways are rhetorical in that they affect and are affected by Chican@ identities. In this way, food practices can challenge the conception of rhetoric as being solely attached to text and privilege the body. Finally, Chapter Five looks at how Chican@ rhetorics and embodied storying can affect the field(s) of rhetoric and writing. I ask three specific questions: (1) How can we use embodied storying in histories of rhetoric? (2) How can we use embodied storying in Chican@ rhetorics? (3) How can we use embodied storying in our pedagogy?Item Factors that impact the differential utilization of formal support services by Cuban Hispanic and non-Cuban Hispanic caregivers(2009-05-15) Archuleta, Debra JeanThis study examines the factors that impact the utilization of formal support services by Hispanic informal caregivers caring for a person with Alzheimer Disease and related disorders (ADRD) and utilizes data from the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer Caregiver?s Health (REACH) project. The current study examines potential factors that influence the utilization of formal support services and areas of unmet need for Hispanic caregivers. This study also examines the intra-heterogeneity of Hispanic caregivers. To examine utilization of services by Hispanic caregivers, a model for service utilization was analyzed using structural equation modeling. To examine potential group differences between Cuban and non-Hispanic Cuban caregivers, multigroup structural equation modeling was conducted with a covariance structure of variables of interest. The results of the study did not support this first hypothesis which examines factors that influence service utilization. Only one of the predictors, level of education, was found to be significantly correlated with service utilization. The results of the study supported the second hypothesis that Cuban Hispanic and non-Cuban Hispanic caregivers were not equivalent across the set of predictor variables examined. A significant finding, however, was that caregiver psychological distress and the care recipient?s health status were significantly correlated to service utilization for the non-Cuban Hispanic caregivers, but not for the Cuban Hispanic caregivers. Treatment implications for this study are that homogenous interventions may not be able to meet the needs of this diverse population. It will be important for interventions and services developed for Hispanic populations to include education about Alzheimer?s disease symptoms, progression of the disease, and services available to meet the caregiver and care recipient needs throughout the duration of the caregiving experience. Based on the results of this study, it is important for treatment providers to assist caregivers to increase awareness of opportunities for service utilization. It is important for the psychologist to be mindful the difficulty of seeking services for all home-based caregivers, particularly lower educated Hispanic caregivers. Service providers should work to understand the worldview and the perspective of caregiving that may vary between the different ethnic groups that fall under the Hispanic umbrella.Item Higher Education and the Latina Student: Examining the College Choice Process among Latina Students attending Four-Year Baccalaureate Granting Higher Education Institutions(2010-12) Martinez, Heather H.; Taylor, Colette M.; Burley, Hansel E.; Valle, FernandoUniversity and college administrators are faced with numerous challenges related to providing a quality educational experience for students. Although programs, policies and procedures vary, many educational issues are often related to each other, influencing outcomes and decisions made on a day-to-day basis by academic professionals. One such issue with long-reaching effects is the diversity of campus student populations. Some research has suggested that finding methods to increase diversity on campus can be related to a more positive and stronger academic experience overall for students; and changes in access to education over the past century have increased the potential number of students on American campus‟ from distinct and diverse backgrounds. College choice can be an extremely involved, lengthy and at times difficult process. Achieving an understanding of how prospective high school graduates arrive at their ultimate decision, in an effort to alleviate some if not all of difficulty in the process, is something that researchers and educational professionals continue to work toward. While many ethnic groups may be identified by the term minority, this research seeks to focus on Latinas. Latinas, the female portion of the population denoted as Latinos, have seen unprecedented population growth, specifically in the Southern regions of the United States. The growth of this population, coupled with a steady increase in Latinos pursuing higher education could affect the ability of institutions of higher education to increase campus diversity. The goal of this research is to investigate the influence of social identity on the college choice process and the subsequent decision to enroll in an institution of higher education from a distinctly humanistic context. Therefore, a qualitative design was chosen for this research. Research participants were chosen by using purposeful sampling. The criteria for selecting respondents for this study were as follows: (1) participants must be currently enrolled in one of the two designated four-year baccalaureate granting institutions (2) participants must not have attended a community college after high school graduation and before enrolling in one of the two four-year baccalaureate granting institutions (3) participants will be a member of the ethnic group denoted by the term Latino (4) participants must be of the female gender (5) participants will be from 18 to 24 years of age. Study participants were enrolled in institutions who awarded a traditional four-year baccalaureate degree, and were within relative proximity to a single community college. Data collection included structured interviews with study participants, follow-up interviews to validate collected data, and focus groups conducted with study participants. It was the purpose of this study to examine the effect of social identity and culture as well as institutional factors on the college choice process and the resulting decision to attend a baccalaureate granting institution upon completion of high school by Latina students age 18 – 24. Determining how these factors affect the college choice process is necessary to improve both recruitment and retention for Latinas in four-year baccalaureate granting institutions.Item Higher Education and the Latina Student: Examining the College Choice Process among Latina Students attending Four-Year Baccalaureate Granting Higher Education Institutions(2010-12) Martinez, Heather H.; Taylor, Colette M.; Burley, Hansel E.; Valle, FernandoUniversity and college administrators are faced with numerous challenges related to providing a quality educational experience for students. Although programs, policies and procedures vary, many educational issues are often related to each other, influencing outcomes and decisions made on a day-to-day basis by academic professionals. One such issue with long-reaching effects is the diversity of campus student populations. Some research has suggested that finding methods to increase diversity on campus can be related to a more positive and stronger academic experience overall for students; and changes in access to education over the past century have increased the potential number of students on American campus‟ from distinct and diverse backgrounds. College choice can be an extremely involved, lengthy and at times difficult process. Achieving an understanding of how prospective high school graduates arrive at their ultimate decision, in an effort to alleviate some if not all of difficulty in the process, is something that researchers and educational professionals continue to work toward. While many ethnic groups may be identified by the term minority, this research seeks to focus on Latinas. Latinas, the female portion of the population denoted as Latinos, have seen unprecedented population growth, specifically in the Southern regions of the United States. The growth of this population, coupled with a steady increase in Latinos pursuing higher education could affect the ability of institutions of higher education to increase campus diversity. The goal of this research is to investigate the influence of social identity on the college choice process and the subsequent decision to enroll in an institution of higher education from a distinctly humanistic context. Therefore, a qualitative design was chosen for this research. Research participants were chosen by using purposeful sampling. The criteria for selecting respondents for this study were as follows: (1) participants must be currently enrolled in one of the two designated four-year baccalaureate granting institutions (2) participants must not have attended a community college after high school graduation and before enrolling in one of the two four-year baccalaureate granting institutions (3) participants will be a member of the ethnic group denoted by the term Latino (4) participants must be of the female gender (5) participants will be from 18 to 24 years of age. Study participants were enrolled in institutions who awarded a traditional four-year baccalaureate degree, and were within relative proximity to a single community college. Data collection included structured interviews with study participants, follow-up interviews to validate collected data, and focus groups conducted with study participants. It was the purpose of this study to examine the effect of social identity and culture as well as institutional factors on the college choice process and the resulting decision to attend a baccalaureate granting institution upon completion of high school by Latina students age 18 – 24. Determining how these factors affect the college choice process is necessary to improve both recruitment and retention for Latinas in four-year baccalaureate granting institutions.Item "Hips don't lie" : Mexican American female students' identity construction at The University of Texas at Austin(2012-08) Portillo, Juan Ramon; Straubhaar, Joseph D.; Hogan, KristenWhile a university education is sold to students as something anyone can achieve, their particular social location influences who enters this space. Mexican American women, by virtue of their intersecting identities as racialized women in the US, have to adopt a particular identity if they are to succeed through the educational pipeline and into college. In this thesis, I explore the mechanics behind the construction of this identity at The University of Texas at Austin. To understand how this happens, I read the experiences of six Mexican American, female students through a Chicana feminist lens, particularly Anzaldúa’s mestiza consciousness. I discovered that if Mexicana/Chicana students are to “make it,” they have to adopt a “good student, nice Mexican woman” identity. In other words, to be considered good students, Mexican American women must also adopt a code of conduct that is acceptable to the white-centric and middle-class norms that dominate education, both at a K-12 level and at the university level. This behavior is uniquely tied to the social construction of Mexican American women as a threat to the United States because of their alleged hypersexuality and hyperfertility. Their ability to reproduce, biologically and culturally, means that young Mexican women must be able to show to white epistemic authorities that they have their sexuality and gender performance “under control.” However, even if they adopt this identity, their presence at the university is policed and regulated. As brown women, they are trespassers of a space that has historically been constructed as white and male. This results in students and faculty engaging in microaggressions that serve to Other the Mexican American women and erect new symbolic boundaries that maintain a racial and gender hierarchy in the university. While the students do not just accept these rules, adopting the identity of “good student, nice Mexican woman” limits how the students can defend themselves from microaggressions or challenge the racial and gender structure. Nevertheless, throughout this thesis I demonstrate that even within the constraints of the limited identity available to the students, they still resist dominant discourses and exercise agency to change their social situation.Item Las mujeres in the STEM pipeline : how Latina college students who persist in STEM majors develop and sustain their science identities(2015-05) Rodriguez, Sarah Lynette; Saenz, Victor B.; Reddick, Richard; Somers, Patricia; Riegle-Crumb, Catherine; Ovando, MarthaOver the past decade, an extensive amount of scholarship and media attention have been devoted to understanding the unique educational experiences and challenges of STEM students, however, few studies have explored the intersection of race/ethnicity and gender, especially in terms of science identity development. Given the significant growth of the Latina/o community, understanding Latina STEM college experiences, specifically, will be critical to enhancing educational experiences for the Latina/o STEM community. Existing literature suggests that developing a strong science identity during college may improve persistence for women of color in STEM. This research study uses qualitative methods to gain an in-depth understanding of how Latina college students at a public tier-one, predominantly white, research university make develop and meaning of and develop their science identities. The study found that Latinas develop their STEM identities primarily around aspects of building competence, recognition from self and outside sources, and performance of STEM behaviors. Their STEM identity development was influenced in terms of intersectionality, primarily by their gender and racial identities. This study is uniquely positioned to advance new knowledge regarding Latina students’ persistence in STEM fields, which may inform local, state, and federal STEM policies.Item Latina superintendents in Texas: A case study of career paths, influences, and motivation(2012-08) Portillo, Laura; Mendez-Morse, Sylvia; Klinker, JoAnn F.; Valle, FernandoABSTRACT Latina Superintendents are few in number in the education world. Although there has been an overall increase in the number of female superintendents in the last two decades, the number of Latina superintendents who hold a doctorate degree is not as high as those of other females in Texas. Many studies on Latina superintendents in school districts are relatively unexamined because of such small numbers of superintendents in the field. This study was conducted to find some answers regarding the Latina superintendent and her career path and barriers, family influences, motivations, and aspirations in seeking and obtaining the superintendent position. The study focused on the experiences of three Latina superintendents in Texas who hold a doctorate degree and found some characteristics and attributes they had in common. The central research question to this study was: What are the factors that facilitated Latinas' attainment of the superintendency in Texas? The sub questions to this study were: a) What are the career paths and barriers of Latina superintendents in Texas? b)What are the commonalities and differences in their career paths that contributed to or impeded their seeking and attaining the superintendency? c) How did their aspirations and motivations contribute to seeking and attaining the superintendency? d) How did the family influence contribute to seeking and attaining the superintendency? e) How has holding a doctorate improved the attainment of the superintendency? This study allowed the researcher and will allow others to increase their interest in the area of female superintendents in a school district and will enable researchers to provide others with answers that might help Latina leaders. This study will help researchers find answers to several questions pertaining to existing female superintendents and how they attained and have retained this leadership position. Most of the literature gears towards male superintendents and the attainment and experiences in this position. The superintendent position remains a male dominant position and therefore it is demonstrated through the lack of literature towards female superintendents and their experiences. The study is a qualitative methodology and the data collected focused primarily through the interviews of three (3) existing Latina Superintendents in Texas who hold a doctorate degree as well as open-ended questions were developed and emailed to the participants to gather information. The audio-taped interviews enabled the researcher to capture precise details and information given by participants. The findings of the study developed five (5) themes that contributed to the attainment of the highest position in public education. The themes are as follows: • strong family influence • exceptional teachers • they had mentors • doctorate • none aspired to be a superintendent early in their careerItem "Listen to what your jotería is saying” : pain, social harm, and queer Latin@s(2015-05) Glisch-Sánchez, David Luis; Rudrappa, Sharmila, 1966-; Rodríguez, Néstor; Ekland-Olson, Sheldon; Carrington, Ben; Peña, SusanaIn this dissertation, I investigate how transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (TLGBQ) Latin@s have experienced social harm during the late 20th and early 21st centuries, what is the socio-historical context for their experiences, and how have ideologies of Latin@ gender and sexuality shaped these experiences. This is accomplished through the analysis of twenty-six (26) life story interviews where TLGBQ Latin@s provide a testimonio account of their encounters with social harm. Using a social harm framework and centering markers of pain, I develop the theoretical concept algorithms of pain to understand the dynamic and complex experiences TLGBQ Latin@s have with harm rooted in the everyday and institutional realities of racial, gender, sexual, and class inequalities. Algorithms of pain asserts that the totality of social harm TLGBQ Latin@s encounter shapes the meaning they assign to any individual harmful event, informs evaluations of pain and potential harm, and structures daily behavior and attitudes. Algorithms of pain reveal the myriad of ways TLGBQ Latin@s can and do express, communicate, and narrate pain; thus, countering the dominant presumption that pain manifests and is communicated in very narrow terms. This is exemplified in what I have observed as racial utterances, where TLGBQ Latin@s narrate in ways that make use of silence, brief remarks, or stories in passing as ways to index racial social harm, instead of stories thick with detail, description and explicit accounts of pain. Additionally, algorithms of pain establish the centrality of racism, patriarchy, transmisogyny, homophobia, class exploitation, and xenophobia to constructing the full spectrum of emotions that represent pain. Lastly, the dissertation documents through an analysis of governmental mission statements why the state is unable to intervene into the social harm effecting TLGBQ Latin@ lives. The state represents the institutionalization of an algorithm of pain that privileges whiteness, cisgenderness, heterosexuality, wealth, and citizenship, which results in harm management being the overall orientation and function of the state in social harm.Item Math identities information : Latin@ students tell their math stories(2015-05) Adams, Melissa; Empson, Susan B.Bilingual fourth graders’ math stories were collected to explore their math identities. Students expressed identities of powerfulness and powerlessness and identified the key resources they need in order to feel like successful mathematicians. These resources included collaboration, manipulatives, their native language, and the support of family. Implications and suggestions for educators are discussed.Item Media construction of U.S. Latina/o identity as dIfference : the rhetoric of Arizona Senate Bill 1070(2011-05) Razo, Eliana; Cloud, Dana L.; Stroud, Natalie J.This thesis focuses on the rhetorical formations of identities of people of color through news media coverage. Specifically, I investigate news media coverage of the Arizona immigration legislation, Senate Bill 1070. Major commercial media and Spanish-language media systems associate the immigrant identity to the U.S. Latina/o identity and position U.S. Latina/os as second-class citizens in American society. The language of the legislation, in addition to media coverage of it, works to reinforce race relations and the ideologies of meritocracy and cultural difference in the United States. Chapter one presents up-to-date demographic data, stressing the continuing growth of a diverse American people. Specifically, I use data on the U.S. Latina/o population as a way to establish this reality given that the data are recent. This chapter also presents the argument that current norms and standards in political opinions, such as those considered by policy makers, excludes opinions deriving from people with distinct cultural backgrounds. I present this argument in order to define and exemplify contemporary U.S. culture. The next chapter is a comparative close-textual analysis of news media coverage of Arizona SB 1070. Chapter two also outlines a theoretical framework in order to understand the functions of the media in society in relation to the rhetorical forms of reinforcing dominant ideological values. Chapter three utilizes survey data that speaks to the identity of U.S. Latina/o college students. As part of the questionnaire, I pose questions regarding language preference, generational status, media consumption and political knowledge. The results exemplify the prevailing bicultural component of U.S. Latinas/os and suggest that this ethnic group draws from different and contrasting ideologies. When comparing the identities presented by the media to the results of the questionnaire, discourse analysis suggests the notion that bicultural Americans are not acknowledged fully as citizens.Item Perceptions of prenatal care in older adolescent Latinas(2014-05) Torres, Rosamar; Rew, Lynn; Brown, Adama; Garcia, Alexandria; Padilla, Yolanda; Walker, LorraineThe knowledge that initiation of prenatal care after the first trimester of pregnancy is associated with poor fetal and maternal outcomes has led to increased efforts to improve access to prenatal care in the U.S. Despite these efforts, Latinas continue to underutilize these services and enter care late. Pregnant adolescent Latinas are at increased risk for morbidity and mortality during pregnancy and labor, thereby increasing risks for mortality, blindness, deafness, mental retardation, and cerebral palsy in their the neonates. The current literature surrounding perceptions of prenatal care focuses on women overall without taking into account culture, ethnicity or age. Thus, little is known about adolescent Latinas’ perceptions of prenatal care and why they enter care late. Hence the purpose of this study was to critique the literature regarding Latinas and their perceptions of prenatal care; to determine the psychometric properties of The Perceptions of Prenatal Care Survey which was piloted in the Phase I of the dissertation; to identify perceptions of prenatal care in older adolescent Latinas utilizing the Access Barriers to Care Index and the Perceptions of Prenatal Care Survey in Phase II of the study; and to determine if relationships exist between variables in the conceptual model and participants’ adequacy of and timely entry into prenatal care. Phase I revealed the survey had good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.88) and validity (S-CVI =0.81). Phase II revealed that a majority (94.5%) of participants perceived that timely prenatal care as important; however, only 55.6% entered care on time. Over 70% of the sample had experienced personal and healthcare imposed barriers when accessing prenatal care. Social support from partners and friends was associated with adequate prenatal care; and having some college education was associated with timely prenatal care. Influence from healthcare workers did not have a statistically significant effect on timely or adequate prenatal care. Due to sampling issues and possible response bias, the study is limited. Future research on this topic calls for more stringent sampling measures that will take race, acculturation, nativity and immigration status into consideration.Item "Se hace puentes al andar" : PODER and the Young Scholars for Justice(2011-05) Villalobos, Rocío Del Rosario; De Lissovoy, Noah, 1968-; Foley, Douglas E.Youth of color are routinely dehumanized and treated as objects both in schools and in society. The “banking method” approach to teaching and stringent zero tolerance policies that are prevalent in low-income schools predominantly populated by youth of color serve to push youth out of school and pull them into the school-to-prison pipeline. When students do not meet their school’s standards, the institutional gaze is fixed disapprovingly on the child and the family. The history of segregation and institutionalized oppression that led to a legacy of inadequate and culturally irrelevant schooling and a poor quality of life for communities of color is erased. For the children who grow up in such environments, a historical silence makes it difficult if not impossible to make sense of their present-day conditions and the changes they are witnessing in their communities. People Organized in the Defense of Earth and her Resources (PODER) is an organization that focuses on issues of environmental, economic, and social justice, and strives to facilitate youth empowerment through their Young Scholars for Justice (YSJ) summer program. The youth of color in the program are positioned as knowledgeable researchers and historical actors in their community. The Chicana feminist epistemology of PODER’s staff members creates a nurturing and family-like environment for the youth, which has a significant impact on the females, and enables youth to utilize personal experiences to develop a structural analysis of oppression. As youth acquire a historical conocimiento of East Austin, they also learn about organized resistance to oppression vis-à-vis environmental justice campaigns. In doing so, a spiritual activism blossoms in the youth that is born from their wounds of oppression and rooted in a cultural and historical awareness of their community. The youth engage in a cycle of praxis as their spiritual activism mobilizes them against injustices and ushers in their transformation into subjects. Through participant observation and interviews, I weave together a critical case study of the YSJ program that is informed by the metamorphosis I experienced after participating in the program.Item Social violence, social healing : the merging of the political and the spiritual in Chicano/a literary production(2012-05) Lopez, Christina Garcia; Cordova, Cary, 1970-; Limón, José Eduardo; Lieu, Nhi; Perez, Domino; Cox, JamesThis dissertation argues that spiritual and religious worldviews (i.e. Mexican Catholicism, indigenous spiritualities, and popular religion) have historically intersected with social and political realities in the development of Mexican origin communities of the United States. More specifically, as creative writers from these communities have endeavored to express and represent Mexican American experience, they have consistently engaged these intersections of the spiritual and the material. While Chicano/a criticism has often overlooked, and in some ways dismissed, the significant role which spiritual and religious discourses have played in the political development of Mexican American communities, I examine how the works of creative writers pose important questions about the role of religious faith and spirituality in healing the wounds of social violence. By placing literary texts in conversation with scholarship from multiple disciplines, this project links literary narratives to their historical, social, and political frameworks, and ultimately endeavors to situate literary production as an expressive cultural product. Historical and regional in approach, the dissertation examines diverse literary narratives penned by writers of Mexican descent between the 1930s and the current decade. Selected textual pairings recall pivotal moments and relations in the history of Mexico, America, and their shared geographical borderlands. Through the lens of religion and spirituality, a broad array of social discourses emerges, including: gender and sexuality, landscape and memory, nation-formation, race and ethnicity, popular traditions, and material culture.Item Suicidality among Latina adolescents : the relative effects of psychosocial risk factors and psychological symptoms(2014-08) Alvarez, Kiara; Carlson, Cindy I., 1949-In national surveys of adolescents, Latina females have been found to have higher rates of suicidal ideation and attempts when compared to Latino males and to non-Latino White and Black males and females (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2014). The reasons for these gender and racial disparities in suicidal behavior have not been definitively established. Prior research indicates that suicidal behavior among adolescents is influenced by both individual-level psychological symptoms and by psychosocial risk factors (Bridge, Goldstein, & Brent, 2006; King & Merchant, 2008; Prinstein, Boergers, Spirito, Little, & Grapentine, 2000). Among Latina adolescents in particular, the interplay between cultural processes and family relationships has been identified as a key influence on suicidal behavior (Zayas, 2011). The purpose of this study was to build upon Zayas’s (2011) model of suicidality among adolescent Latinas by evaluating the relative effects of individual, family, and peer factors on suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts. A latent variable structural equation model (SEM) was developed and tested using a sample that included 946 Latinas aged 13 to 18 who were interviewed for a national psychiatric epidemiological survey, the National Comorbidity Survey – Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A; Kessler, 2013). The SEM model measured the direct and indirect effects of the latent variables of generation status, peer support, negative peer influence, family relationships, and depression on suicidality. Results of the study indicated that higher levels of depression, poorer family relationships, and higher levels of negative peer influence resulted in higher levels of suicidality. The influence of family relationships and negative peer influence on suicidality were partially mediated by depression; however, negative peer influence also had a substantial direct effect on suicidality. Results of this study support a clinical focus on multisystemic interventions for Latina adolescents that address functioning at individual, family, and peer levels, as well as further investigation into the pathways by which negative peer influence impacts suicidality in this population.