Pobrecitos los Niños: The emotional impact of anti-immigration policies on Latino children

Sandy P. Rubio-Hernandez and Cecilia Ayón

Children and Youth Services Review, 2016, vol. 60, issue C, 20-26

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of Latino immigrant parents on the emotional impact of anti-immigration policies on their children in the state of Arizona. Fifty four Latino immigrant parents participated in in-depth semi-structured interviews. Interviews were completed between September 2013 and February 2014, a critical time period following passage and initial stages of the implementation of SB1070 and other anti-immigration policies. Informed by grounded theory, a constant comparative approach was used between and within transcripts while completing initial and focused coding. Findings indicate parents observed a range of behavioral changes in their children following the passage of anti-immigration legislation. The emotional impact experienced by Latino children is summarized in the following themes; concern and sense of responsibility, fear and hypervigilance, sadness and crying, and depression. Parents reported their children expressed constant fear and concern over the looming threat of deportation or family separation. Children exhibited a sense of responsibility for improving their families' circumstances. Parents expressed their children displayed hypervigilance, constant sadness and crying. In some instances the changes in children's behavior were so severe that parents considered their children to be depressed and in need of clinical intervention. Practitioners in immigrant dense communities need to be aware of the challenges immigrant families encounter and the impact of immigration policies on the emotional development of Latino children.

Keywords: Immigrant families; Latino families and children; Anti-immigration legislation and sentiment; Emotional and behavioral changes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740915301018
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:60:y:2016:i:c:p:20-26

DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.11.013

Access Statistics for this article

Children and Youth Services Review is currently edited by Duncan Lindsey

More articles in Children and Youth Services Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().