The Unravelling of Identities and Belonging: Criminal Gang Involvement of Youth from Immigrant Families

Grounded in the experiences of 30 gang-involved respondents in Calgary, this Canadian study examined criminal gang involvement of youth from immigrant families. Our analysis showed that gang-involved youth had experienced multiple, severe and prolonged personal and interpersonal challenges in all facets of their lives and that gradual disintegration of their relationships with family, school and community had resulted in the unravelling of self-concept, ethnic identity, sense of belonging and sense of citizenship and progressively propelled them towards membership in high-risk social cliques and criminal gangs. Our findings brought attention to the need for coordinated, comprehensive support for youth from immigrant families through family-based, school-based and community-based programs.     

Transitioning Between Systems of Care: Missed Opportunities for Engaging Adults with Serious Mental Illness and Criminal Justice Involvement

Individuals with serious mental illness are overrepresented in the criminal justice system and face difficulties accessing mental health services both during incarceration and upon re‐entry into the community. This study examines how such individuals describe their experiences receiving care both during and after their time in custody and explores the perspectives of mental health service providers who treat this population upon re‐entry. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 43 individuals identified as having a history of serious mental illness and criminal justice involvement, as well as with 25 providers who have worked with this population. Clients noted the stress of transitioning to criminal justice settings, the uneven availability of services within jail and prison, and the significant challenges faced upon re‐entry. Providers reported barriers to working with this population, including minimal coordination with the criminal justice system and challenging behaviors and attitudes on the part of both clients and providers. Findings identify potential target areas for improved care coordination as well as for additional provider education regarding the unique needs of this population. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using Systems of Care to Reduce Incarceration of Youth with Serious Mental Illness

Youth with serious mental illness come into contact with juvenile justice more than 3 times as often as other youth, obliging communities to expend substantial resources on adjudicating and incarcerating many who, with proper treatment, could remain in the community for a fraction of the cost. Incarceration is relatively ineffective at remediating behaviors associated with untreated serious mental illness and may worsen some youths' symptoms and long-term prognoses. Systems of care represent a useful model for creating systems change to reduce incarceration of these youth. This paper identifies the systemic factors that contribute to the inappropriate incarceration of youth with serious mental illness, including those who have committed non-violent offenses or were detained due to lack of available treatment. It describes the progress of on-going efforts to address this problem including wraparound and diversion programs and others utilizing elements of systems of care. The utility of systems of care principles for increasing access to community-based mental health care for youth with serious mental illness is illustrated and a number of recommendations for developing collaborations with juvenile justice to further reduce the inappropriate incarceration of these youth are offered.     

The changing meaning of sport during forced immigrant youths' acculturative journeys

ObjectivesTo facilitate intercultural understanding by centralizing forced immigrant youths' voices in the knowledge development phase of a community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) project. The aim of this paper is to reveal the role of sport in forced immigrant youths' acculturative journeys in different communities.MethodologyWe utilized ‘get-to-know-you’ arts-based conversational interviews (m time = 38 min) held at the onset of a community-based participatory action research project. A polyphonic (i.e., multi-voiced) vignette is used to portray an interpretive account of the stories told by 22 refugee and asylum seeking (i.e., forced immigrant) youth (m age – 13.4 years) developed through a reflexive thematic analysis.ResultsThe three-scene polyphonic vignette stories the role sport has played, and continues to play, in forced immigrant youths' life journeys. The opening scene brings to light stories related to home country sport involvement. The second scene depicts how sport was engaged in during their journey to their current host community. The third scene completes the story focusing on how youth engage in sport during resettlement in their host Canadian community.ConclusionsThe meaning of sport, and what it means to be safe in sport, changes over the course of forced immigrant youths' acculturative journeys. Feeling safe in sport offers a unique opportunity for youth to feel a sense of sharing their acculturative journey with those around them.     

Meaningful Engagement in Research: Community Residents as Co-creators of Knowledge

Community psychologists have contributed significantly to the body of literature on community-based participatory research (CBPR) and its application in understanding and addressing health and community participation disparities. At the core of CBPR are mutually beneficial partnerships with communities, whereby community members’ voices are heard and they become co-researchers, helping guide the research process. In this article, I argue that for community psychologists to change the landscape of community participation, health, and well-being disparities experienced by many vulnerable populations who often face multiple forms of oppression, CBPR needs to be transformative and emancipatory. Stakeholders must be meaningfully involved as co-creators of knowledge and promoters of social justice embracing a human rights agenda. Drawing from work conducted with Latinx immigrant families with youth who have disabilities, I propose the following strategies moving forward: promoting meaningful participation of community members as co-creators of knowledge; promoting meaningful conversations that matter to communities; promoting civic engagement, activism, and advocacy; promoting an assets- and strengths-based approach to research; and promoting culturally relevant interventions. Community psychologists have the opportunity to make significant contributions to addressing disparities when community residents’ knowledge is valued and recognized.     

Predictors of Secondary School Completion Among Refugee Youth 8 to 9 Years After Resettlement in Melbourne,Australia

Being able to attend school and achieve an education is one of the most desired opportunities among resettled refugee young people. However, turning educational aspirations into reality is not straightforward. There is a large body of research documenting the barriers associated with educational achievement among refugees who resettle as teenagers, both in Australia and internationally. No studies, however, have identified the factors that predict completion of secondary school among resettled refugee youth over time. This paper reports the predictors of completion of secondary school among a cohort of 47 refugee youth resettled in Melbourne, Australia. Eight to 9 years after resettlement, 29 (62 %) had completed secondary school and 18 (38 %) had left school prior to completing year 12. Age on arrival and experiences of discrimination in Australia were significant predictors of secondary school completion. Older refugee youth (on arrival) and those who reported experiences of discrimination over the first 8 to 9 years in Australia were significantly less likely to complete secondary school. This longitudinal study confirms that, as a group, refugee youth are particularly at risk of not completing secondary school education, which can have an impact on their wellbeing and long-term socio-economic standing in their settlement country. Our study provides further evidence of the negative impact of discrimination on the educational outcomes of disadvantaged young people.     

Educating Somali Immigrant and Refugee Students: A Review of Cultural-Historical Issues and Related Psychoeducational Supports

Somali immigrants and refugees have entered the United States with increasing frequency due to civil war-induced violence and instability in their native country. The resultant increase of Somali students is of particular relevance to educators and school psychologists because Somali youth possess unique cultural backgrounds. In addition, refugee youth are at an elevated risk for mental health and academic difficulties due to their pre-immigration exposure to traumatic events and lack of formal education. In this article, we provide an overview of Somali history and culture, recent immigrant trends, and the challenges faced by Somali children and youth in the United States. Then, we describe the research on school-based supports for the academic and social-emotional needs of this population, and discuss implications for school psychological services and applied research.     

Mapping Juvenile Justice: Identifying Existing Structural Barriers to Accessing Probation Services

The majority of justice‐involved youth are placed on probation; however, many of those same youth struggle to comply with probation requirements and are subsequently confined. In Baltimore, 20% of newly committed youth were detained for violations of probation. While there are various reasons youth fail to comply with probation requirements, there have been recent calls to consider the impact of structural and spatial barriers to accessing probation programs and services. Centering the goals of community psychology, we aim to identify how existing structural barriers in Baltimore City may be contributing to social injustice through inequitable access to probation services for youth and their families. In this study, we take a novel, interdisciplinary approach to identify structural or spatial barriers facing justice‐involved youth in Baltimore, MD. Specifically, we explore transportation barriers (i.e., vehicle access) and spatial disparities between youth residences and probation office locations. Our findings suggest that there are several barriers facing Baltimore’s justice‐involved youth that may impact access to and engagement with juvenile probation. Specifically, we found that 1 in 3 youths reside in areas with extremely low levels of vehicle access and where the median household income is 25% below the city median. We also find that the majority of youth live beyond walking distances; many would require lengthy transit commutes. These findings highlight the structural and spatial barriers facing justice‐involved youth that may impact access to and engagement with probation services.     

Law enforcement and criminal justice personnel interactions with transgender people in the United States: A literature review

This literature review examines research exploring the interactions between transgender people and law enforcement and criminal justice (LECJ) personnel in the U.S. to better understand the experiences of transgender people who come into contact with the criminal justice system. A search of existing academic literature, public health reports, and advocacy group publications revealed 33 studies that contained information about transgender people's interactions with LECJ personnel. Results highlight how large percentages of transgender people experience arrest and incarceration, unjustified stops and arrest, disrespect and poor case handling, and abuse and violence from LECJ personnel while in their communities. Large percentages of transgender people in institutional settings also reported abuse committed by criminal justice personnel, including harassment, assault, and a lack of protection from other inmates. This review also highlights evidence of discriminatory and abusive treatment when transgender victims seek assistance from the legal system. Taken together, this study suggests a need for further work to de-stigmatize the legal and criminal justice systems.     

Learning in Community for STEM Undergraduates: Connecting a Learning Sciences and a Learning Humanities Approach in Higher Education

Abstract

Previous research demonstrates that social and interpersonal factors, more than academic preparation, affect decisions by under-represented students to stay in or to leave STEM fields. Yet, much of the theorizing about STEM learning in higher education begins with conceptual and epistemological dimensions. We make the case for a new theoretical framework, a learning humanities, that begins with relationships. From this relational starting point, we locate STEM knowers as actors in relationships who become answerable for their STEM knowledge and take wise actions from this place. We then use this framework to analyze learning for STEM undergraduates involved in the STUDIO: Build Our World program, an afterschool mentoring program for low-income, immigrant, and refugee youth of color. Drawing on narrative and ethnographic analyses of data from 12 focal mentors, we found that mentors developed 3 focal practices identified by Edwards, relational expertise, common knowledge, and relational agency through their efforts to create the best possible program for youth. This built mentors’ sense of answerability and a capacity for wise action within and outside of STUDIO. We argue that this theoretical stance provides new ways to conceptualize the nature, purpose, and outcomes of STEM learning for historically non-dominant STEM undergraduates’ learning.     

Connecting the Dots through a Case Report: A Child’s Unmet Needs,Neuropsychological Impairment and Entrance into the Juvenile Justice System

ABSTRACT

Adolescent involvement in the criminal and juvenile justice systems has received widespread attention at national, state, and local levels. Developmental neuroscience has shaped our understanding of adolescence as a distinct period during which young people are at increased risk for a host of problems, especially entrance into the criminal and juvenile justice systems. Overrepresentation of Black and Latino youth, particularly those with disabilities, remains of significant concern. This case study explores the case of a 13-year-old boy, Trey (a fictional name), and his path into the school-to-prison pipeline. The roles of neighborhood, family poverty, parental health, trauma, chronic stress, and attendance to underserved schools are outlined. These factors are connected to Trey’s special needs like trauma, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and learning difficulties/disabilities going undiagnosed and untreated within the context of the neurobiological immaturity of adolescence. The extent to which these factors converged to result in neuropsychological impairment is explored. This case analysis focuses attention on implications for research, policy and practice in preventing youth in underserved communities from entering the criminal and juvenile justice systems.     

Community psychology and injustice in the criminal justice system

In this short paper, we consider the partnership between psychology and the criminal justice system in Western societies and critically reflect on the notion of criminal justice as expressed in such a system. Focusing on how the criminal justice system operates in the UK, and in particular in Scotland, we consider the way the system criminalizes those who previously have been socially and economically disadvantaged. We ask whether community psychology has become negligent in the attention it brings to such a pernicious form of victim blaming and as such has shown insufficient critical engagement with systems that create social harm, and whether it is paying enough attention to the impact of a criminal justice system that is contributing to the creation of a more punitive, fractured and unjust society. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Moral Predicament in the Criminal Law

Abstract

This essay is about the difficulties of doing criminal justice in the context of severe social injustice. Having been marginalized as citizens of the larger community, those who are victims of severe social injustice are understandably alienated from the dominant political institutions, and, not unreasonably, disrespect their authority, including that of the criminal law. The failure of equal treatment and protection and the absence of anything like fair and decent life prospects for the members of the marginalized populations erode the basis for its allegiance to demands of the political community. The criminal law thus occupies a problematic normative position with respect to lawbreakers in this population; in many cases, it finds itself in the position of convicting them for crimes for which the political community itself bears some significant responsibility. The attempt to administer criminal justice therefore faces a serious moral predicament; on the one hand, criminal law has a right and an obligation to protect citizens against serious crimes; on the other hand, because of its responsibility for the plight of many defendants, the dominant society is itself implicated in the wrongdoing in question. This paper tries to characterize the predicament in a perspicuous way and to suggest ways of proceeding in its face.     

Ecological Factors that Impact Adjustment Processes and Development of Ugandan Adolescent Immigrant Females

Existing literature suggests that acculturation and integration processes for immigrant youth from East Africa are complicated by family values, interaction styles, and social roles that are in conflict with those of the US host culture. The purpose of this study was to explore first-generation female Ugandan immigrant youth perceptions, beliefs and attitudes toward self-development and identify factors among their social contexts that impact their development and adjustment. This study utilized dimensional analysis, an approach to the generation of grounded theory. Data collection included over 100?h of community participatory observation and 28 interviews in total. Participants included 20 English speaking Ugandan females aged 16–25 years who immigrated to the US after age of eight. Participants’ adaptations and adjustments led to an altered developmental path, including their beliefs about gender, ethnic and racial identities, and how they balanced and integrated US culture into their existing understandings and cultural awareness. Conditions that impacted the identity development process include timing of their immigration, the contexts of reception, media, the Ugandan Community, the school social setting, the perceived value of Ugandan cultural maintenance vs. the value of adopting certain American traits, and experiences of prejudice and discrimination vs. new future opportunities. The findings represent an in-depth consideration of the cultural, linguistic, religious, racial, and social attributes of the female Ugandan immigrant youth population and can therefore be seen as an important step in the direction of developing an understanding of the developmental assets and risk/protective factors that characterize this young immigrant population.     

Welcome to “the Rock”: Service Providers’ Views on Newcomer Youth Integration in Newfoundland and Labrador

This study investigates the needs of newcomer youth in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the services provided to them in the provincial capital, St. John’s, through the lens of service providers. We employ Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model (1999, 2005) as the conceptual framework to explore how various ecological systems interact with one another to influence the development of newcomer youth. Data were drawn from 33 semi-structured interviews with personnel in various immigrant and refugee support agencies, medical and counseling units, municipal recreational offices, and educational programs, as well as ten observations of their programs. Our findings indicate that the current services and programs provide effective support in a number of areas. However, closer collaboration can be established between schools and community organizations, among different service agencies, and involving the business community. Service gaps identified include a lack of transportation to and from school, insufficient academic bridging programs, and no career counseling catering to newcomer students. We argue that service agencies should consider shifting some of their programs to the newcomer youth’s microsystems of school and family, and that the provincial educational authorities need to look into the transportation issue that infringes upon the rights of these students to appropriate school instruction.     

Cross-Border Family Therapy: An Innovative Approach to Working with Latina Refugee Women in Therapy

In the era of transnationalism, family therapists working with immigrant women are provided with the space to be innovative in their search for alternatives to Eurocentric approaches. Doing so can help therapists to best serve working-class immigrants and refugees who arrive in North America to escape violence and poverty. The case presented in this article highlights the cross-border interconnectedness between a Salvadoran refugee woman in Canada and other people in her life. The woman's sources of resilience were her emotional and spiritual connections with her extended family and community members who lived in her country of origin and in the United States. Implications for practice are presented last.     

Training in law and behavioral sciences: Issues from the criminal justice perspective

Interdisciplinary training in behavioral sciences and the law should be appropriate for a criminal justice education program. However, adopting such an interdisciplinary goal is problematic because the divisions in the types of educational curricula need to be confronted. The relationships of the criminal justice academic community with the profession, and of the behavioral sciences with present criminal justice policies, must also be addressed in the attempt to develop familiarity with behavioral sciences and their legal relevance in shaping the criminal justice system. These factors may hinder extensive implementation of such training. Suggestions are made for incorporating this raining in a criminal justice curriculum.     

“They Dumped Me Like Trash”: The Social and Psychological Toll of Victimization on Latino Day Laborers' Lives

Although recent rhetoric links undocumented immigrants to criminality, reports indicate undocumented immigrants commit less crime than their native-born counterparts and that this vulnerable group may be at increased risk for criminal victimization. Immigrants living in new immigrant settlement cities may be particularly at risk for exposure to criminal victimization due to the vulnerabilities associated with a lack of an established Latino community and limited availability of culturally appropriate social services to provide support. This ethnographic study examines the experiences of victimization and its social and psychological toll of a street-recruited sample of Latino day laborers (LDLs) (N = 25) living and working in Baltimore, a new immigrant settlement city. Findings elucidate and describe the specific types of victimization experienced by LDLs, including workplace victimization (wage theft, abandonment at the jobsite, poor working conditions, verbal abuse) and street-level victimization (assault and robbery), as well as reveal the social and psychological toll of victimization (sociocultural alienation, despair or desesperación, and problem drinking) on their lives. Findings have implications for community psychology, through research and practice, as they provide insights for prevention and intervention within the intersection of structural vulnerability (i.e., undocumented immigration status), violence, and mental health.     

Criminal Justice and Community Psychology: Our Values and Our Work—The Introduction to the Special Issue

This special issue of The American Journal of Community Psychology originated from the Society for Community Research and Action Criminal Justice interest group, with a goal of exploring the work of community psychologists intersecting with criminal justice research, practice, and policy and shaped by our shared values—equity, collaboration, creative maladjustment, social justice, and social science in the service of social justice. In this introduction, we discuss the socio‐historical context of the special issue, followed by an outline of the special issue organization, and brief summary of the included papers. Across 13 papers and an invited commentary, we see the ways in which community psychologists are: (1) delivering and evaluating services, programming, or other supports to address the needs of system‐involved people; and (2) working to improve the systems, structures, and interactions with units of criminal justice systems. Across these two sections, authors highlight the guiding role of our values to influence change within and outside of criminal‐legal systems.     

Xenophobia, ethnic community, and immigrant youths' friendship network formation

Immigrant youth often rebuild their friendships and other social networks after arriving in a new country. The difficulties involved can threaten their psychosocial development. Formation of social networks needs to be understood within the macro sociocultural context that shapes the experience. Nonetheless, the current literature on social network formation rarely captures that context. Knowledge about immigrant youths' social network, for example, is often embedded in assimilation, ethnic identity, and adaptation literature. This paper examines how the sociocultural context enables immigrant youth to rebuild their friendship networks. A critical ethnography was conducted in the northwest region of the United States. Sixteen Taiwanese immigrant youth and their parents (N = 13) participated in the study. Data collection consisted of semi-structured in-depth interviews, a demographic questionnaire, and participant observations. The findings showed that because of limited English proficiency, the youth kept at a distance from American peers to avoid nervousness and embarassment. Further analysis, derived from xenophobia, found that limited English proficiency increases segregation between American peers ("we") and immigrant youth ("the other"). The English as a Second Language program inadvertently perpetuates the immigrants' sense of "otherness" and increases the odds of their becoming targets of discrimination. A protective factor for these youths is living near an ethnic community because the inclusion of coethnics increases new friendship networks. Knowledge about the teen culture in coethnics' countries of origin (China, Hong Kong, or the United States), also influences their selection of friends.