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Chapter 7 - Psychosocial Stressors and Coping Strategies in Racially and Ethnically Diverse Undocumented College Students

from Part II - Experiences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2024

By
Rosalie A. Torres Stone ,
Kathryn Sabella  and
Alessandra Bazo Vienrich
Edited by
Blake R. Silver  and
Graziella Pagliarulo McCarron
Blake R. Silver
Affiliation:
George Mason University
Graziella Pagliarulo McCarron
Affiliation:
George Mason University
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Summary

This study used semi-structured interviews to examine daily stressors and coping resources as experienced by twenty-one racially and/or ethnically diverse, undocumented college students residing in Massachusetts (USA). A legal violence framework and stress process theory were used to analyze the stress and coping experiences of undocumented college students. The findings reveal the presence of financial burdens, fears of deportation, blocked opportunities, and legal status concealment as daily stressors, as well as needed peer and informational supports as coping resources for undocumented students. Furthermore, for undocumented students, fear of deportation and stigma hindered their ability to identify and capitalize on needed peer and institutional support. The authors argue that not recognizing the structural and symbolic ways that immigration laws serve as legitimizing sources for afflicting social, psychological, and material harm places students with precarious legal status at risk for poor mental health. This chapter concludes by offering practice implications to help improve the ability of institutional agents within higher education to meet the needs of undocumented college students.

Keywords

undocumentedcollege studentsstress and copinglegal statusmental health
Type
Chapter
Information
Supporting College Students of Immigrant Origin
New Insights from Research, Policy, and Practice
 , pp. 133 - 154
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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References

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