These findings lend support to a reconsideration and revision of immigration enforcement practices to take into consideration the best interest of Latino citizen children. Trauma-informed assessments and interventions are recommended for this special population. (PsycINFO Database Record
Faith leaders who are working to promote justice and healing in Colombia might confront stressful circumstances that challenge their spiritual meaning systems and limit ministry-related quality of life. However, whether focusing on domestic or international samples, research has not examined potential effects of spiritual struggles on ministry-related quality of life. In total, 166 faith leaders who were serving in Christian churches and organizations in Colombia completed a Spanish version of Exline, Pargament, Grubbs, and Yali's (2014) Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale along with assessments of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) symptomatology. The relative frequencies of different types of spiritual struggles in the sample were as follows: divine ϭ 5.4%, morality ϭ 29.9%, ultimate meaning ϭ 18%, interpersonal ϭ 18%, and doubting ϭ 16.2%. Bivariate results revealed that severity of each of these struggles was concurrently linked with more mental health symptomatology as well as less compassion satisfaction and greater secondary traumatic stress in relation to ministry-related experiences. In addition, when accounting for symptom severity of PTSD and MDD, structural equation modeling results revealed that participants who were experiencing greater moral struggles were particularly vulnerable for struggling in their ministry role at the time of this study. These findings support the need for more research on this topic as well as the possible development of strategies for addressing the emotional, spiritual, and educational needs of faith leaders in Colombia and other nations who are serving persons in contexts of trauma, loss, and displacement.
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) was recently terminated for Central American residents in the United States. The TPS recipients who have not already obtained an alternative form of legal immigration authorization will soon be subject to detention and deportation. As a result, it is estimated that thousands of children, many of whom are U.S. citizens—246,200 from El Salvador and Honduras alone—will be at risk for experiencing short- and long-term psychological and health consequences owing to the impending detention and/or deportation of their parents. The United States and the global community must protect these children. Neglecting to promote protection for the offspring of TPS recipients contradicts the premises of the U.S. Constitution, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC; United Nations General Assembly, 1989 ), and the United Nations’ recent Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; United Nations General Assembly, 2015 ). Our nation’s laws and immigration policies must interrupt cycles of trauma and establish sustainable healthy trajectories across the life span for the well-being of all children. In light of the extensive evidence on harmful effects of parent–child separation and intergenerational trauma, this policy brief recommends reaffirming commitment to maintenance of the family unit, providing a path to authorized immigration status for TPS parents, and using a “trauma and developmentally informed lens” when creating policies that involve children.
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