Browsing by Subject "Mexican American women"
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Item A process-oriented approach in the evaluation of mother-infant literacy interactions(Texas Tech University, 1999-12) Moreau, Aimee R.This study takes a process oriented approach to the evaluation of a clinic-based early literacy intervention program aimed at mothers and their infants. Twenty intervention and eighteen control Mexican-American or Hispanic mother-infant dyads were observed in their homes while engaging in a book sharing interaction. In order to assess the effectiveness of the intervention program, mothers were rated on their use of scaffolding techniques measured by a narration subscale, engagement techniques measured by an interactive reading style subscale, and the affective or emotional tone of both mother and baby measured by affective behavior subscales. It was expected that mothers who had participated in the intervention would score significantly higher on all subscales due to exposure to volunteer readers, literacy information from their physician, and baby book gifts provided at each of several well-checks. The study found that scores of intervention and non-intervention mothers were not significantly different on the narration or affective subscales. Similarly, there were no differences between the two groups in terms of positive or negative baby affect. However, differences were found between the two groups in terms of their interactive reading styles. Mothers who had been exposed to the intervention demonstrated significantiy more behaviors indicative of an interactive, engaging reading style. Because the subjects who participated in the study were exclusively of Mexican-American or Hispanic descent, results are discussed in terms of how cultural beliefs about reading with babies, education, and the parent's role in children's literacy may impact a person's receptiveness to literacy intervention programs.Item Coping strategies among Mexican American women living with HIV(2010-12) Rodríguez-Escobar, Yolanda 1954-; Pomeroy, Elizabeth Cheney, 1955-The literature has documented the disproportionate rate of HIV infection among women of color, mainly, African American women and Latinas. The current trend shows that the number of cases affecting these sub-populations will continue to increase. A gap exists in the literature in understanding the coping strategies of Mexican American women living with HIV. Using an ethnographic approach, this research answers the central question of how Mexican American women live with and make meaning of their HIV status. This researcher used a sample of 15 Mexican American women living with HIV who had participated in the Mujeres Unidas support group in San Antonio, Texas. The most common theme found was how the role of faith was central to their lives. It was clear that this belief served as their primary source of strength. The findings suggest the need for social workers to examine new paradigms, strategies, and interventions that focus on the broad social, economic, and community factors that put Mexican American women disproportionately at risk for HIV. These factors include poverty, income and wealth inequality, poor quality of life, racism, sexism, and low socioeconomic status, which are all major risk factors for ill health and health disparities. This research demands that social workers and other researchers examining coping skills address the issues of resiliency and strengths perspective in understanding the ways in which the life journey unfolds for Mexican American women living with HIV. Although, this study focused on Mexican American women, future research is needed to compare this group to other women living with HIV as there may be cultural differences that exist. Additional research is needed in studying the role that religion plays in the lives of Mexican American women living with HIV as many of the participants revealed that they left things up to “God’s will.” Among the unexpected findings, the theme of viewing their situation from the perspective of “Un dia a la vez” (One day at a time) suggests that the belief that the course of their lives is not necessarily under their control which could be related to fatalism (fatalism).Item "The face of god has changed" : Tejana cultural production and the politics of spirituality in the borderlands(2010-08) Sendejo, Brenda Lee; Flores, Richard R.; Menchaca, Martha; Strong, Pauline; Martinez, Anne M.; Zamora, EmilioThis ethnography of spirituality explores the production of cultural practices and beliefs among a group of Texas Mexican women (Tejanas) of the post-World War II generation. These women have been involved with various social justice initiatives since the 1960s and 1970s in Texas, such as the Chicana feminist and Chicano civil rights movements. This study explains how race, ethnicity, and gender intersect and interact in these women’s geographic and spiritual borderlands to produce a pattern of change in the ways they choose to engage with religion, particularly Catholicism. While the Tejana spiritual productions examined here are in many ways distinct from the religious practices of these women’s Catholic upbringings, they also recall religious rituals and traditions from their imagined, constructed, and engaged pasts. Some women have left Catholicism for other forms of spiritual fulfillment, including earth-based, indigenous, and/or Eastern religious practices, while others have remained Catholic-identified, yet altered how they practice Catholicism. A common theme in the narratives is that of spiritual agency – the conscious decision women make to reconfigure their spiritual practices and beliefs. I explore the meaning of such acts and what they indicate about the construction of spiritual and religious identities in the borderlands. I argue that because gender structures Tejana religious experiences to such a wide extent, a critical gender analysis of religious and spiritual practices will provide deeper insight into the making of Texas Mexican culture and social relations. I examine the women’s life experiences through a methodological framework I call mujerista ethnography, which draws on oral history and research methods employed by feminist, indigenous, and Chicana/o Studies scholars. In order to further illustrate how the women’s material and spiritual needs have changed so as to require new forms of spiritual engagement, I engage in a critical self-reflection of my own spiritual journey as a Tejana raised in the Catholic faith through the use of autoethnographic research methods and testimonio. I argue that these Tejanas have extended the political, feminist, and historical consciousnesses that they cultivated in Mexican American social causes into the religious and spiritual realms. For instance, these women transferred their critique of gender politics and hierarchies of power into the social setting of organized Catholicism with new spiritual practices and understandings, effectively remaking religion and subsequently engaging in processes of self-making by changing the ways they interact with Catholicism and are affected by it. Religion, as a site of social struggle for women, is political, that is, these Tejanas transformed the spiritual into a site of resistance, resolution, and reconciliation where they disrupt and challenge hierarchies of power and create strategies for healing themselves, their communities, and the earth.Item Latino cultural values and marital satisfaction among women of Mexican origin(2008-08) Garcia-Bravo, Lizbeth Karina, 1978-; Ainslie, Ricardo C.; Guzman, Michele R.Very little research on marital dynamics has focused on Latinos or Mexican-origin couples, although Latinos are currently the largest minority group in the United States. Furthermore, previous studies suggest women of Mexican origin experience a gradual decline in marital satisfaction over their life course, but examination of this issue has yielded inconsistent findings. The current study was conducted to investigate the influence of three specific Latino cultural values on the marital satisfaction of women of Mexican origin: familismo (family loyalty, unity, and obligation), machismo (male dominance and responsibility to provide for and protect his family), and marianismo (women as self-sacrificing, nurturing, and pious). The goal of this study was to examine the accompanying and shifting cultural values of the acculturation process and increase understanding of the implications of Latino cultural values on marital satisfaction among women of Mexican origin in U.S. society. Two hundred and fourteen married women of Mexican origin, ranging in age from 19 to 68 (M = 37), participated in the study. Data collection was completed online through an internet survey program. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Short Acculturation Scale (Marin, Sabogal, Marin, Otero-Sabogal, & Perez-Stable, 1987), the Familism Scale (Lugo Steidel & Contreras, 2003), the Machismo Subscale of the Multiphasic Assessment of Cultural Constructs-Short Form (Cuellar, Arnold, & Gonzalez, 1995), the Latina Values Scale-Revised (Marano, 2000; revised by Melendez, 2004), the Relationship Assessment Scale (Hendrick, 1988), and a supplemental question regarding their tolerance for divorce. Three hypotheses were proposed in terms of the three cultural values, participant acculturation level, and husband’s generational status, with marital satisfaction as the criterion variable. A large percentage (71.5%) of the sample in the study was well-educated, with either a college, master’s, or doctoral degree; hence, the results are reflective of highly educated, Mexican-origin women. Using hierarchical regression analyses it was found that familismo was positively correlated with marital satisfaction among women of Mexican origin. In addition, neither of the hypothesized interactions (marianismo x perceived machismo (participant’s perception of her husband’s endorsement of machismo) and acculturation x husband’s generational status) was confirmed. Correlational and regression analyses revealed that both marianismo and perceived machismo were significantly and negatively correlated with marital satisfaction. Clinical and research implications, limitations of the study, and directions for future research are discussed.Item Non-marital fertility among Mexican American women: exploring the role of social context(2004) Wildsmith, Elizabeth Maxfield; Raley, R. Kelly; Powers, Daniel A.The fundamental aim of this dissertation is to determine why a large proportion of Mexican American women are more likely to begin their ‘pathway’ to family life with a birth rather than with marriage. I use the 1995 NSFG and the NSFG-CDF to explore the relationships between background characteristics, social context, and non-marital fertility among Mexican American women testing hypotheses drawn primarily from two bodies of research; one that focuses on the high levels of non-marital fertility among African American women, and one that focuses specifically on ‘cultural’ characteristics and the unique social experience of Mexican Americans in the United States. One of the most important findings in this dissertation is that race/ethnic differences in non-marital fertility vary by socioeconomic status, being larger among women of higher SES. The story behind these differences varies as well. Among women of lower SES, higher fertility within cohabiting unions explains much of the Mexican American/White difference in non-marital fertility. This is not the case for women of higher SES. Analyses using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, further exploring the meaning of cohabitation, suggest that cohabitation may serve as a surrogate marriage for women of Mexican origin, though this is less the case for Mexican American relative to Mexican born women. Social context matters too, and, as is the case with Black women, where Mexican American women live is associated with their relatively high non-marital fertility. However, it is the structural characteristics of both the broader (county) and more local (census tracts) contexts that appear to be important. Additionally, while both contexts were important for women of higher SES, only the more localized measures were important for women of lower SES. This suggests that socioeconomic status in part determines the structural opportunities a person has access to. Ultimately, Mexican American nonmarital fertility is likely shaped by their Mexican heritage as well as by their minority status which results in a distinct pattern of behavior, one that is unique from both Mexican and mainstream U.S. cultures.Item Perceptions and meanings of type II diabetes among Mexican American farmworking women(2006-05) Lopez, Olivia; Padilla, Yolanda C.; Acton, Gayle J.The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions and meanings of type II diabetes among Mexican American farmworking women working in California’s Northern San Joaquin Valley. Perceptions of type II diabetes play a major role in how Mexican American farmworking women feel about diabetes and these perceptions influence diabetes treatment strategies and health care decisions. Yet, little is known about the perceptions and meanings that farmworking women attribute to type II diabetes. A qualitative interdisciplinary research methodology (integrating knowledge from social work and nursing) involving open-ended, in-depth interviews with a nonprobabilistic sample of 17 Mexican American farmworking women was used to gain an understanding of how farmworking women make meaning of type II diabetes. Based on Kleinman’s (1980) explanatory model, salient themes in the areas of illness, causation, treatment and perceptions were identified. The study showed that farmworking women have a predominantly cultural perspective of diabetes. A large majority of women applied cultural beliefs and traditional home remedies to the treatment of diabetes; although many were not opposed to incorporating western medicine into cultural treatment strategies. Causation of diabetes was attributed to a transformation of blood and destabilization of the pancreas as a result of Susto (fright), an ethno-specific illness. Home remedy and dosing strategies were categorized and farmworking women revealed subjective definitions of high blood glucose and heredity that are dissimilar to western biomedicine. Understanding how farmworking women conceptualize and make meaning of type II diabetes and including these important culturally influenced beliefs and treatment strategies into interdisciplinary health care practices and service delivery systems can serve as a basis for modifying current medical theoretical orientations about diabetes education, treatment and maintenance strategies and service provision for this particularly vulnerable population. Additionally, the inclusion of cultural beliefs and treatment strategies can engender trust and facilitate meaningful, reciprocal relationships between patients and health care providers, which are considered essential for developing culturally meaningful, effective treatment, and competent and responsible service provision.Item Predictors of self-esteem and locus of control in Mexican-American women(Texas Tech University, 1989-05) Adams, Russell P.The purpose of the study was to elicit the best overall predictors of self-esteem and locus of control in a sample of 708 Mexican-American women. In spite of the growing number of Mexican-Americans, psychological variables have not been addressed sufficiently, especially among Mexican-American women. Therefore, this type of research can contribute significantly to the understanding of Mexican-American women. A modified, multistage, cluster sampling strategy was used in order to obtain the sample. Using role theory as the theoretical orientation, three types of predictors were introduced as independent variables: cultural predictors, demographic predictors, and male/female relationship predictors. Initial correlation analyses were used to view the relationship of the variables in each of the predictor groups with self-esteem and locus of control. The second step of the analysis involved regressing variables from the three predictor groups onto self-esteem and locus of control. In order to reduce the large number of variables in the regression equation, three separate factor analyses were conducted, one on each of the three groups of variables. The final regression equation included these factor scores and three interaction terms. The multiple regression analysis found the strongest predictor of self-esteem to be the factor score representing relationship quality. The second significant predictor of self-esteem was a factor which included relationship egalitarianism. The interaction terms and other variables in the regression were nonsignificant. The factor representing marital quality also emerged as the strongest predictor of locus of control. This was followed by the demographic factor score representing education and income. The final significant predictor of locus of control was the factor score representing relationship egalitarianism. Again, other variables in the equation, including interaction terms were nonsignificant. These results are discussed together with implications of these findings for the Mexican-American population, as well as recommendations for future research.Item Predictors of self-esteem and locus of control in Mexican-American women(Texas Tech University, 1989-05) Adams, Russell P.The purpose of the study was to elicit the best overall predictors of self-esteem and locus of control in a sample of 708 Mexican-American women. In spite of the growing number of Mexican-Americans, psychological variables have not been addressed sufficiently, especially among Mexican-American women. Therefore, this type of research can contribute significantly to the understanding of Mexican-American women. A modified, multistage, cluster sampling strategy was used in order to obtain the sample. Using role theory as the theoretical orientation, three types of predictors were introduced as independent variables: cultural predictors, demographic predictors, and male/female relationship predictors. Initial correlation analyses were used to view the relationship of the variables in each of the predictor groups with self-esteem and locus of control. The second step of the analysis involved regressing variables from the three predictor groups onto self-esteem and locus of control. In order to reduce the large number of variables in the regression equation, three separate factor analyses were conducted, one on each of the three groups of variables. The final regression equation included these factor scores and three interaction terms.Item Relationship satisfaction of the Mexican American woman: effects of acculturation, socioeconomic status, and interaction structures(Texas Tech University, 1988-12) Rider, Kennon VNot available