American journal of community psychology最新文献

The 2022 Russian invasion displaced millions of Ukrainians, many of whom sought refuge in Italy. War refugees face heightened mental-health risks but can also activate resilience and empowerment. This study employed the Transtheoretical Model of Empowerment and Resilience (Brodsky & Cattaneo, 2013) to explore resilience and empowerment processes implemented by Ukrainian refugee women in Italy to cope with war-related challenges and living in a new country. Twenty Ukrainian refugee women completed questionnaires and participated in semi-structured interviews. Results indicated perceived psychological distress following traumatic war experiences. Utilizing individual and shared resources, respondents enacted resilience processes stemming from the context of risk in their home country and the receiving country but not empowerment actions. However, some mentioned empowerment goals, such as changes in the formal support system for refugees and creating a network of Ukrainian refugees for mutual support. Results highlighted how some participants held individual characteristics of relative privilege, which could be crucial for transitioning from resilience to empowerment. The study suggests that facilitating this transition may require tailored interventions for the specific needs of Ukrainian refugee women and community-based interventions for promoting access to shared opportunities with the local community and other migrants.

Agricultural work presents significant physical and social challenges globally and in the United States, with women farmworkers facing unique risks that remain underexplored. This study examines the social and occupational hazards confronted by women farmworkers in Michigan using data from the Michigan Farmworker Project. In-depth interviews with farmworkers were thematically analyzed. Results highlight five main dimensions of working and living conditions: gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment, reproductive health concerns, pregnancy challenges, and work-life balance issues. Women and men participants (n = 35; average age of 42 years; 57% women) reported hazardous and exploitative conditions including sexual harassment, chemical exposures, and challenges with proper hygiene and sanitation—especially during menstruation—including lack of bathroom access and other problems leading to urinary tract infections. Participants discussed pregnancy-specific concerns and concerns regarding work-life balance and childcare (i.e., insufficient time for family, challenges with coordination of childcare). Findings underscore the need for policies to address these disparities, especially for single women farmworkers. Interventions and policies informed by this study can improve the well-being of women workers and their families in agricultural settings.

In this paper, we examine immigration detention in Portugal, a system whose daily operations and inherent violence are overlooked in both public and academic discourses. Even within community psychology, discussions on immigration detention have largely remained on the fringes of scholarly debates. Guided by a justice-centered ecological lens, we map the contours of daily life in detention by centering the intersectional struggles of detained cisgender and transgender women. These struggles illuminate the politics of power and resistance at play in these sites, contributing to interrelated ecologies of knowledge and advancing a critical understanding of the systems of power and oppression articulated around borders, citizenship, and the “making of migration.” Our findings reveal Portuguese detention centers as uncaring environments where women feel constantly threatened, unsafe and disregarded, with their well-being severely compromised. Ignorance reigns in these sites, wielded as a form of power. Yet, despite this, detained women create counterspaces and cultivate ecologies of knowledge and resistance from the ground up. We conclude by reflecting on how community-engaged scholars and activists can contribute to transformative and liberatory efforts against carceral border systems, working toward futures of freedom, dignity, and justice for all.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) increases the risk of homelessness and housing instability, particularly among Latine immigrant survivors in the USA. Latina immigrant women face disproportionate impacts of IPV and heightened risks for homelessness and housing instability, yet remain underrepresented in the IPV and housing literature, where methodologies regularly fail to center their voices and lived experiences. This study addresses this gap by utilizing Participatory Action Research (PAR) to investigate the housing experiences of Latina immigrant survivors (N = 14) through in-depth interviews conducted in Spanish. Study findings reveal multifaceted housing experiences and challenges, including unsanitary and unsafe living conditions, landlord abuse, as well as discrimination and language barriers. The concept of dignidad (dignity) was central to survivors' narratives, which survivors identified as integral to safe and stable housing. Recommendations highlight the need for holistic, culturally-grounded housing services in survivors' preferred language. By highlighting Latina immigrant survivors' lived experiences and definitions of safe and stable housing, and punctuating the importance of language justice, this study underscores the need for tailored interventions that address the unique needs and challenges of this population. Additionally, survivors' recommendations offer actionable insights for policy makers and practitioners seeking to improve housing services for Latina immigrant survivors.

The growing diversity of the U.S. population, partly due to immigration, has called attention to scholars and practitioners to attend to immigrants' cultural beliefs, values, and ways of doing when designing interventions to promote health and wellbeing. In this paper, we propose a contextual and dynamic model for co-developing a culturally tailored intervention with the community to advance equity and empowerment of Latinx immigrant caregivers of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Grounded in the literature and voices of the community, the proposed model includes six interactive dimensions (LARREDS) that guided the development of the PODER Familiar intervention described here. These include language and linguistic preferences; accessibility factors; reflecting the group's values, ways of thinking and doing; reflecting generational differences; dimensions of delivery and learning style; and the social, ecological, and cultural environment. Informed by principles of family engagement, the model also includes eight strategies for engaging caregivers throughout the intervention. The conceptual model was co-developed with promotoras who also provided input on the PODER Familiar intervention. While describing the model in action, we highlight the voices of the promotoras. The implications of culturally tailored interventions and the application of the model to designing interventions for other migrant populations are discussed.

Harmful child detention and deportation policies, along with dehumanizing migrant narratives, are part of a global pattern of systemic oppression targeting people on the move. This paper reviews the psychological harms experienced by migrant children caused by detention, separation, and deportation, critiquing the limitations of trauma-focused, individual therapeutic approaches often adopted by service-oriented fields. Community psychology principles are presented as an alternative framework, emphasizing ecological and systemic approaches to design more just and humane immigration policies at societal, organizational, and community levels. The paper explores evidence of harm, the strengths and limitations of therapeutic approaches, and harmful policies such as Trump's zero-tolerance policy and emerging US deportation plans. It also highlights positive frameworks, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, such as organizational policies and legal standards centered on the child's best interests. Using a social-ecological lens, the paper examines harmful policies that escalate risks, stressors, and barriers and highlights humane and protective factors. The authors examine how community psychology challenges oppressive systems, promotes community-based alternatives, and amplifies the voices of migrant children and families. These efforts underscore the transformative potential of community psychology in addressing immigration injustices through collective action and systemic change.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer, and Questioning+ (LGBQ+) Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color (BIPOC) youth experience significant stigmatization and injustice compared to their non-LGBQ+ BIPOC peers. Empowerment, civic engagement, and social connection are protective factors that reduce negative psychological outcomes for these youth. Despite this, validated measures to assess empowerment among LGBQ+ BIPOC youth are scarce. This study evaluated the applicability of the newly revised Brief Sociopolitical Control Scale for Youth (BSPCS-Y) through multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) to examine configural, metric, and scalar invariances between LGBQ+ and non-LGBQ+ BIPOC youth (N = 1789). Convergent validity was assessed with psychological sense of community and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Results indicated a good model fit for the abbreviated BSPCS-Y, with no significant group differences in metric and scalar invariances. Subscales for leadership competence and policy control were positively associated with psychological sense of community and negatively associated with depression and anxiety symptoms, with stronger effects of psychological sense of community observed in non-LGBQ+ BIPOC youth and more robust associations with reduced depression and anxiety among LGBQ+ BIPOC youth. These findings support the BSPCS-Y as a valid tool for measuring empowerment in diverse BIPOC youth populations.

Latino immigrant workers have been an exploited community within many dangerous workforces, but especially within the agricultural industry. They are a crucial population for the labor and economy of the U.S., yet Latino farmworkers report feeling expendable, discriminated against, and exposed to hazardous working conditions. Due to these experiences, it is essential to explore the resources that farmworkers find valuable in improving their working conditions. This study draws upon qualitative interviews conducted with 41 Latino farmworkers in Oregon. Themes pertaining to work and nonwork resources were uncovered through thematic analysis, illustrating that farmworkers receive support from their proximal communities and feel empowered by them, but lack support from their distal communities and need basic work necessities, fair wages, supportive supervisors, legislative labor protection, and a pathway to citizenship. Findings make clear that employers and elected officials must do more to advocate for Latino immigrant farmworkers and provide resources to protect their well-being. We demonstrate the need for future research related to changes in farmworkers' resources over time, their reporting of workplace violations, the impact of labor legislation on their health, and how information sharing or unionization occurs among farmworkers.

Immigrants and refugees in the United States often face significant barriers in accessing social services, including mental health support, legal assistance, ESL or related education, housing, vocational training, workforce resources, transportation, and citizenship support. This article explores the strengths and challenges of community-based organizations welcoming centers (CBO WC) in Illinois that serve these populations, including people with disabilities, in culturally appropriate and inclusive ways. The Immigrant and Refugee-Led Capacity Development Network of Illinois, based at the University of Illinois Chicago, collaborated with the state's Office of Welcoming Centers to explore the service capacities of 17 CBO grantees. Thirty-three CBO staff members and 13 CBO leaders participated in online surveys designed to identify organizational strengths, assess needs, and explore opportunities to advance their missions. The findings show a range of strengths and abilities to assist immigrant and refugee communities and the limitations they face in addressing critical needs. Implications and future research approaches are discussed.

Despite the compounded adversities that displaced youth must navigate throughout their forced migration, they consistently exhibit steadfastness in caring for themselves and their families. Extant scholarship, however, often frames these individuals as needy and inept at informing the models of mental health care they are offered. In this study, we use semistructured interviews to learn from the experiences of Afghan refugee youth (N = 34; M age = 19; range 18–24) who were resettled in the United States after the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan in August of 2021 and explore their insights that can inform decolonial and equitable mental health services. Specifically, we elucidate their most salient sources of psychological distress, current coping mechanisms, and priorities for treatment, with a specific focus on the unique experiences of accompanied versus unaccompanied youth. Unaccompanied youth reported more frequent and intense sources of distress, including pre-resettlement (e.g., exposure to life-threatening sociopolitical conflicts) and post-resettlement challenges (e.g., limited access to basic resources and legal status precarity). Youth used faith-based, relationship-based, and ethnocultural-based mechanisms of coping. While 62% of participants reported doubts about the usefulness of mental health care, most of those who expressed an openness to treatment prioritized clinicians who have personal experience in navigating common challenges among refugees. We situate these findings within decolonial and intersectional theoretical frameworks that capture the nuances of Afghan refugee experiences and offer recommendations for ensuring refugee youth's rights to access equitable mental health services.