Browsing by Subject "Mental Health"
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Item Nativism and Depression Among Undocumented Mexican Immigrant Women(2012-10-19) Garcia, San Juanita EdiliaAnti-immigrant sentiment particularly against Mexicans in the United States has had a dramatic influence on the lives of immigrants and on how they perceive the host society. Today, little research has addressed the extent to which this enmity has affected the mental-well being of immigrants. Based on 30 in-depth interviews in Houston this study investigates the degree to which nativism contributes to depression among Mexican-origin immigrant women. The findings reveal that undocumented status was salient and contributed to symptoms of depression. Additionally, my respondents revealed perceptions of intra-ethnic conflict among Mexican Americans. This thesis further explores how segmented assimilation theory can be expanded to better understand the complexities and nuances that Mexican immigrant women endure taking into consideration immigration status, racial/ethnic identity, and the structural barriers which plays a major role in their integration and mental health well-being.Item The Art of Faking A Smile: A Layered Account of Mental Illness And/In RelatingCollins, Devin Bryce; Bolen, Derek M; Battaglia, Adria; Madero, Flor Leos; Gates, Julie DIn this thesis, I desire to give a relational account of my mental illness by exploring memories where I recall discovering symptoms and attempting to reach out for help. I inquire into how mental illness affects those around me and how others affect my mental illness. I vulnerably navigate the social interactions in which I have been silenced and silenced others. These moments are important spaces to consider engaging the discourse through efforts of interrogating stigma. By opening my “self” and “body” to others, I construct a space where mental illness is conceived of as a relational accomplishment. As stories of mental illness emerge from isolated experiences toward social ones, silenced voices are able to speak more loudly within a community of people who see themselves through/within each other.Item Underrepresentation of Hispanic/Latino Students Identified with Emotional Disturbance in IDEIA: What's the Teacher's Role?(2011-10-21) Massa, IdaliaHistorically, Hispanic/Latino (H/L) students have been under-referred, under-identified, and under-served by the U.S. Special Education (SPED) system, particularly under the emotional behavioral disturbance (EBD) category. This finding is alarming given that numerous federal sources report that H/L students continue a disturbing trend of struggling academically as well as being at a higher risk for poor mental health outcomes such as elevated levels of depression, anxiety, and suicidality when compared to their peers. Unfortunately, the existing mental health and education literature on H/L students provides limited guidance in understanding the disproportionate underrepresentation of H/L in the EBD category of the SPED system; an underrepresentation well-documented in the report to congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA). Using survey methods, the purpose of this study was to shed light on the possible mediating role teachers' perceptions have on the SPED referral and identification decisions by looking at teacher ratings of risk for EBD-like behaviors of students across behavioral conditions (i.e., internalizing versus externalizing types of behaviors) and across ethnic/racial groups (i.e., White, African Americans, and H/L students) using a response-to-intervention framework. Using the Qualtrics software, an online survey tool, 114 self-selected pre-service teachers were surveyed; data was collected and analyzed using a One-way Analysis of Variance. Two main effects and two interaction effects were explored: does the students' ethnic/racial background moderate the teachers' at risk score (ARS) regardless of the behavior displayed?; does the type of behavioral expression moderate the ARS regardless of ethnic/race?; is there an interaction effect between H/L students exhibiting internalizing behaviors that systematically results in a lower ARS and AA students exhibiting externalizing behaviors that systematically results in a higher ARS? Results indicated that (a) when compared to White, Hispanic/Latino students are indeed less likely to be perceived by the pre-service teachers as exhibiting EBD-like behaviors regardless of the behavior (externalizing, internalizing, or neutral) displayed, (b) externalizing behaviors was the strongest predictor for perceiving someone as at-risk for having EBD-like behaviors, and (c) no interaction effects were found.