Important theoretical and methodological turning points for understanding contribution with undocumented undergraduates.

Abstract

Undocumented youth face a series of barriers to health and success in their lives, yet many also exhibit incredible resilience and are thriving despite these odds. A critical component of thriving during adulthood is contribution to family and community (Lerner et al., 2002). In this study, a team of (un)documented researchers conducted a multilayered exploration of contribution by examining the findings of a qualitative study of undocumented undergraduates embedded in a PAR Summer Program designed to serve undocumented students at a large public university. We present results from two layers of qualitative data: (a) transcripts from the Summer Program, which revealed important methodological turning points for our design of the embedded qualitative study; (b) two portraits of undocumented undergraduates' visual (identity maps) and verbal (interview) narratives regarding contribution. By crafting a design that allowed undocumented youth to describe their families through visual and verbal narratives, we were able to gather thick descriptions of contribution. We describe both theoretical and methodological turning points in understanding contribution for undocumented young people as we undertook this project. Further, through the analysis of interviews and "family maps" of two undocumented undergraduate participants we explored the role of contribution to their family and community, as an asset to their development and academic success. Results revealed the reciprocal nature of contribution between family and community members, a value we refer to as collective contribution.

Infusing the Study of Social Responsibilities with an Intersectional Approach

“…Older cousins and siblings who are also undocumented may play a critical role in serving as guides for undocumented youth trying to navigate acceptance to and through college (Abrego, ). In these ways, the enactment of various social responsibilities operate bidirectionally between immigrant adolescents or emerging adults and their families (Katsiaficas et al., ).…”

“…Further, social responsibilities are often occurring in response to the marginalization and exclusion from resources that immigrant youth face. While few studies of social responsibilities to date take into account intersectional perspectives in developmental science (see Diaz‐Strong et al., ; Katsiaficas et al., ; and Perez et al., 2010), they have potential to deepen our understanding of these developmental processes in two main ways: By examining the ways in which multiple social identities intersect to produce unique social status positions and experiences with privilege, power, and oppression (Bowleg, ; Santos & VanDaalen, 2016); By exploring how systems and structures of oppression, power, and privilege operate to shape the conditions under which social responsibilities develop (Cole, ; Crenshaw, ). …”

“…In addition, the interpretation falls short by solely looking “downstream” at individuals where systems of social inequality may significantly influence these different expressions of values. More recently, however, there are a number of empirical investigations with undocumented youth that examine how multiple social positions intersect and the ways in which systems of of oppression, power and privilege operate to shape social responsibilities, however (Diaz‐Strong et al., ; Katsiaficas et al., ; Perez et al., 2010; Tuck & Yang, ; Tuck & Yang, a). Perez et al.…”

“…Moving beyond the single‐axis approach to exploring social identities, a participatory action research (PAR) group of community members and scholars examined the ways young Latinx undocumented college students engaged in social responsibilities (see Katsiaficas et al., for more information). Undocumented Latinx students in higher education face unique stressors as a result of their ethnic minority status and their immigration status (Perez et al., 2010).…”

“…Mapping can take many forms, but at its root it is a qualitative method by which participants are invited to depict something in pictures. Specifically, we asked participants to draw their families, which revealed not only who the members of their families were, but where they were situated in space (see Katsiaficas et al., ; Katsiaficas et al., in press, for more information). In the past, mapping has been particularly helpful to capture intersectional identities in depth (see Sirin et al., ; Katsiaficas et al., for examples).…”