The Negotiation of Lives Spaces

Rodolfo Jacobo

Introduction

The criminalization and virtual internment of undocumented youth in the United States is the result of historical prejudice and a failed immigration policy that condemns youth into a lifetime of uncertainty.

In mid 2005 it was estimated that there were some two million undocumented students in schools in the United States with an estimated 65,000 graduating from high school every year (Horwedel, 2006).

Introduction

Existing law established by the Supreme Court case Plyler vs. Doe in 1982 gives undocumented children the right to a K-12 education under the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The court, however, never extended that right to higher levels of education (Horwedel, 2006).

Several states including California, Utah, New York, Oklahoma, Washington, Kansas, Illinois, New Mexico, and Nebraska have passed legislation, which allow undocumented students who have graduated from state high schools to pay instate tuition

Central Question of Study

What are the existing social-psychological forces that shape the daily-lived experiences and negotiated spaces of unauthorized youth, in particular, those pursuing access to higher levels of education in the United States.

Sub Questions of Study

1. What are the types of daily-lived situations that confront undocumented youth sense of identity and belonging?

1. What types of psychological trauma impacts how undocumented youth negotiate their daily-lived situations?

2. How do Latino undocumented youth respond to the daily psychological trauma that they experience?

Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework that guided the study sought to analyze explicit and implicit lived spaces of unauthorized Latino youth living in the United States and how the tensions of not residing legally in the immediate and broader spaces of the community, state and nation are negotiated.

Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework is based on legal, sociological and psychological concepts that seek to document explicit and implicit lived spaces of unauthorized Latino youth living in the United States.

Two dimensions drive the conceptual framework of the study:

1. A legal dimension of immigration social policy

2. A socio- psychological lived space dimension.

Legal Dimension

The legal dimension is expressed from a legal continuum—at one end are unauthorized and unregulated social policies where the individual is able to negotiate his/her lived space by being very familiar of his/her surroundings.

At the other end are unauthorized and regulated social policies, where the individual in public spaces runs the risk of being apprehended for not having legal documentation.

Socio-psychological lived spaceThe socio-psychological lived space dimension is expressed as explicit lived space and implicit lived space.

The explicit lived space is what the individual is willing to share or is known to him/her and others.

The implicit lived space is what the individual is not willing to share with others that s/he interacts with.

I

IV

IIIII

Explicit

Socio-psychological

Lived Space

Implicit

Socio-psychological

Lived Space

Daily Life

Situations

Unauthorized

& Unregulated

Legal Social Policy

Unauthorized

&

Regulated

Legal Social

Policy

Four Quadrants In the case of undocumented youth/students living in the

U.S., the frameworks offers four quadrants of analysis

Under Quadrant I - the undocumented youth experiences ambivalence.

Under Quadrant II - the undocumented youth experiences encapsulation.

Under Quadrant III - the undocumented youth experiences dissonance.

Under Quadrant IV - the undocumented youth experiences rejection.

Ambivalence Quadrant I This state of ambivalence is defined as experiencing trauma as

stress while controlling his/her comfort zone. Ambivalence is also a state of living in a part of the community

where he/she feels familiar and has a high degree of awareness of civic behavior while understanding his/her legal status and while interacting in low risk social activities that are part of the daily social dynamics of the community.

S/he while experiencing a sense of “zone of comfort” in the community nevertheless has the constant worry or trauma of not being “legal” and living under stress. Involvement in activities such as church functions or family gatherings at a park are enjoyed but not without the fear of legal ramifications.

Encapsulation: Quadrant II In the second quadrant (unauthorized and unregulated legal social

policy and implicit socio-psychological lived space) the undocumented youth experiences encapsulation. This state of encapsulation is defined as trauma experience by emotional distress and fear. Encapsulation is illustrated as a state of constant fear only known to him/her or intimates others.

The youth is constantly aware that s/he is outside of his/her immediate community and must always be on the lookout and negotiating the lived spaces that offer him/her a sense of control. Teachers and peers are unaware of a student’s legal status in an implicit lived space.

Therefore, a school field trip designed to be educational and fun can elicit feelings of fear and apprehension in the unauthorized student given that legal and disclosure barriers may be present.

Dissonance Quadrant III

In quadrant III (unauthorized and regulated legal social policy and implicit lived space) the undocumented youth experiences dissonance. This state of dissonance is defined as trauma experience as depression and out of harmony with surroundings.

Dissonance thus is a state of living in trauma and out of harmony within the broader community and within the self. The inability to share the legal status with others creates conflict, a feeling of helplessness and distance.

A simple college night out with friends to local establishments that require a driver’s license for identification becomes an emotional test for unauthorized individuals.

Rejection: Quadrant IV In quadrant IV (unauthorized and regulated legal social policy and explicit

lived space) the undocumented youth experiences rejection. This state of rejection is defined as trauma experienced through social exclusion.

Rejection is also a state of living outside of the community where he/she feels excluded from civic participation. In this quadrant, the individual suffers the trauma of having no legal assurance and exclusion from social integration and civil social identity.

Not being able to take part of the political process through their voice and through the voting process serves as an example of such exclusion from social and civic integration.

Ambivalence

(Trauma as Stress & Comfort Zone)

Condition of being emotionally safe & in danger

I

Rejection

(Trauma as having no legal assurance)

Exclusion from Social Integration

& Civil Social Identity

IV

Encapsulated

(Trauma as Emotional Distress

& Fear) Fear & Apprehension

II

Dissonance

(Trauma as Depression: Out of Harmony)

Incongruence or Contradictory Cognition

III

Explicit

Socio-psychological

Lived Space

Implicit

Socio-psychological

Lived Space

Daily Life

Situations

Unauthorized

& Unregulated

Legal Social Policy

Unauthorized

&

Regulated

Legal Social

Policy

Application of Framework

Using the above-described conceptual framework, the study sought to examine the existing socio-psychological forces that shape the daily-lived experiences and negotiated spaces of unauthorized youth.

In particular, those pursuing access to higher levels of education in the United States. The conceptual framework serves as a tool for understanding the lived spaces and trauma experienced by unauthorized youth in the United States.

Methodology Three qualitative methods were used to collect data on

each of the eight selected college-aged participants and examine the main question and three sub-questions of the study. These methods were:

Semi-structured interviews Autobiographies A series of follow-up personal meetings to ascertain the

lived conditions and daily negotiations of the college age students.

Methodology The data from the three qualitative methods was collected to

form the case studies of the selected participants.

Case study methodology was utilized to document the lived experiences of unauthorized youth based on the interviews, autobiographies, and face-to-face meetings.

To identify the themes of issues derived from the eight collective narratives and case studies, thematic content analysis was used.

In this thematic content analysis process all data that relate to specific topics were classified as patterns using coding techniques.

QUESTION CONCEPTUAL FOCUS APPROACH

1

Daily lived situations

Lived Spaces Situations Semi-structured interviews

2

Psychological Trauma Types of Psychological Trauma & Coping

Skills

Autobiography

3

Responses to

Psychological Trauma

Negotiates Lived Behavior Response Series of face to face meetings to follow-up

on narratives to ascertain their lived

situations profile

Questions

1,2, 3

Unauthorized college age students live

experiences in Southern California

Case study of eight (8) college age students

—four males and four females

ApproachFigure 3 illustrates the interrelationship among research questions, conceptual focus, and approach used

to collect data for each question of participants involved in the study.

Methodology

The semi-structured interviews, autobiographies and face-to-face dialogue were used to triangulate the data.

Selection of Participants The selection process of eight participants involved the recruitment

and identification of potential participants, invitation to participate and the actual selection of participants.

Underlying the whole study was the security and privacy guarantees of participant data given the sensitivity of the subject. The selected college students were provided anonymity and throughout the process approval had to be given before the written case studies were completed. At any time the participant had the option to deselect themselves as participants from the study.

The eight participants consisted of four females and four males. All were explained the purpose of the study was to raise consciousness on their lived experiences and the injustices experienced throughout their lives.

In early fall 2009, a schedule of appointments with the 8 participants was secured over a two-week period. Each initial meeting lasted between 60 to 90 minutes.

Findings

Findings

The first sub-question of the study asked, what are the types of daily-lived situations that confront undocumented youth sense of identity and belonging?

To answer this question eight themes were identified that described the types of daily lived situations confronting youth sense of identity and belongingness

Findings

Micro-Agressions Identity and Belongingness Trauma Resiliency, Adaptability, Pragmatism Membership Agency Family Structural Violence

Descriptor ExampleMicro-Agressions

My friends make fun of my illegal status

People use offensive language about persons who are illegal

Constantly see the negative images the media portrays about undocumented people

Feeling less than human every time I need to prove who I am

Authorities remind me that I have no legal identity

When someone makes me feel less I have no legal power or identity

Descriptor ExampleTrauma

I could not stop shaking

I cried out of fear

I could not sleep

thinking about my present status

I was scared to go out of my house

My mother cried knowing we had no legal status

Finding Types of Psychological Trauma and Responses

The findings to sub-question two and three of the study are presented. These questions asked:

What types of psychological trauma impacts how undocumented youth negotiate their daily-lived situations?

How do Latino undocumented youth respond to the daily psychological trauma that they experience?

Finding Types of Psychological Trauma and Responses

The findings to two the sub-questions of the study are presented under two dimensions.

The first consisting of explicit and implicit modes of behavior—behaviors that are seen by others who interact with the individual (explicit) and behaviors that are not seen by others (implicit).

The second dimension consists of the legal status of the individual or the unauthorized status of interacting and living in the United States.

Finding Types of Psychological Trauma and Responses

The four quadrant framework suggests a way for measuring variance in the social integration of the unauthorized person in his/her community.

Moreover, it reveals the types of psychological trauma experienced by the person, such as stress and depression, emotional distress, and having no sense of legal assurance of his/her lived status from day to day.

Ambivalence

The eight college age youth experienced psychological trauma by expressing a constant emotional stress and danger that forces them to know what physical space is perceived as safe or what comfort zone s/he is able to interact with the least problems—usually the surrounding of his/her place of residence

Encapsulated

In the study, the eight college age youth expressed being constantly aware that s/he must always be on the lookout and needing to negotiate the lived spaces that offer him/her a sense of control.

Unauthorized & Unregulated Legal Social

Policy

Implicit Socio-Psychological Lived Space

Encapsulated

(Trauma as emotional distress &

Fear)

Fear and Apprehension

Dissonance

The narratives and face to face interviews with the eight participants suggest that there are clear and powerful emotions behind each person’s lived experiences. The feeling of being incarcerated and feeling a sense of hopelessness is a powerful emotion described by each participant

Dissonance (Trauma as

depression: Out of harmony)

Incongruence or Contradictory

Cognition

Implicit Socio-Psychological Lived Space

Unauthorized & Regulated Legal Social

Policy

Rejection

All of the eight unauthorized participants expressed this sense of exclusion—living in the community and not being part of its civic life. Not being able to take part in the political process by exerting their voices through the voting process serves as an example of such exclusion from social and civic integration.

Rejection(Trauma as having no

legal assurance) Exclusion from Social

Integration & Civil Social Identity

Explicit Socio-Psychological Lived Space

Unauthorized & Regulated Legal Social Policy

Conclusions and Suggestions

Conclusion The complexity of the unauthorized student world is

painfully clear in the narratives. Their world is demarcated by incompatible legal

parameters, some denoting regulated social policy, while others are evidently creating spaces were unregulated social policy exist.

As such unauthorized youth have to consistently alter and adapt their lived situations.

One moment they may be gifted college students in an unregulated legal space (college campus) and the very next they are committing a federal crime by being in the United States unauthorized (outside of college campus).

Recommendations

First, a study of the unauthorized student population with a larger participant pool would be imperative to further test the framework of the study and the themes produced. Given the existing population of college age unauthorized youth pursuing an education, it is reasonable to suggest that studies where the participant pool ranges in the thousands.

Second, undertake a study that encompasses a larger geographical area to indicate if any differences exist in the different regions of the country. The contrast between border cities where the political climate over immigration is often more tense with cities such as Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Miami, and New York would be particularly insightful.

Recommendations

Third, a future study should investigate the impact of gender and class. What is the role of class on the adaptation to the reality of the undocumented youth population? What role does gender play in adjusting to the pressures of unauthorized status in the United States? These are important questions that need to be answered.

Fourth, the study of other ethnically diverse student immigrant groups would be essential. What are the differences and similarities and negotiating lived situations between Latino origin and non-Latino origin populations? Some governmental agencies report that half of the unauthorized population is composed of non-Mexican origin populace. Analyses of Chinese, Brazilian, Somalia, Ethiopian, and other unauthorized population would be of value.

Recommendations

Fifth, future research can focus on the experiences between four-year college and community college populations to see if different social and economic tools and lived strategies are used to negotiate the lived situations by unauthorized youth. The explicit and implicit cost of education could be analyzed within this study as well as the impact of accessibility.

Sixth, as a study that examines if and/or how colleges and universities provide spaces and information were the unauthorized student can find safety and learn of their rights and the existing avenues to complete graduating requirement is essential. It is painfully clear from this study that most participants were unaware of their rights or options as unauthorized students in a community college or university.

Recommendations

Seventh, a study that examines the availability and support to address the trauma (social, psychological, political, and economic) that is lived/experienced by undocumented college age students would provide insights as to the humanity of our society.

Last, the eighth recommendation calls for the federal government to create a viable path to legal status for undocumented youth in general; and specifically those in college that directly contribute to the social cultural capital of this nation. An overhaul of the American immigration policy in general is needed. A policy that addresses the lives of these youth, however is a must, it is the humane thing to do.