Beliefs, Attitudes, and Understanding of Childhood Cancer Among White and Latino Parents in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area: A Comparative Study

Description
In 2023, it was expected 350 parents in Arizona would have a child receive a cancer diagnosis (Welcome Arizona Cancer Foundation For Children, n.d.). The news of a child’s diagnosis with cancer can be overwhelming and confusing, especially for those

In 2023, it was expected 350 parents in Arizona would have a child receive a cancer diagnosis (Welcome Arizona Cancer Foundation For Children, n.d.). The news of a child’s diagnosis with cancer can be overwhelming and confusing, especially for those lucky enough to lack a personal tie to the disease that takes approximately 1800 children’s lives each year in the United States (Deegan et al., n.d.). A parent’s beliefs, attitudes, and understandings surrounding cancer are vital for medical staff to provide adequate and culturally competent care for each patient, especially across cultural and ethnic lines in regions housing multicultural populations. Arizona's cultural/linguistic mosaic houses a large percentage of White and Latino populations, and English and Spanish speakers. Variations in insurance coverage, from those insured through public insurance programs (e.g., Medicaid) or private insurance plans (eg., employee-sponsored insurance) versus those uninsured, also factor into health-seeking attitudes and behaviors. To further understand parental attitudes, understandings, and beliefs towards childhood cancer, 22 parents (11 of Latino ethnicity, 11 of White ethnicity) were interviewed on these facets of childhood cancer, despite 21 of the 22 never having a child receive a cancer diagnosis. The exploration of these perceptions across ethnic lines revealed a higher report of fear-orientated beliefs amongst Latino parents--hypothesized to be rooted in the starkly contrasting lack of belief in the possibility of recovering for children with cancer, compared to their white counterparts who displayed more optimism in the recovery process.Further, this study’s results lay the foundation for future scholarship to explore avenues of information dispersal to Latino parents that correct misconceptions of health outcomes and enable earlier intervention to be possible, ultimately correlating to better health and treatment outcomes by increasing parental health literacy rates for childhood cancer in the Phoenix Metropolitan.
Date Created
2023
Agent

The Historical Win of Proposition 308: Analyzing the Strategies Used by Aliento To Attain Instate Tuition Access for Undocumented and DACAmented Students

Description

Attaining educational equity had been one of the immigration related barriers faced by undocumented immigrants in the State of Arizona since the early 2000s. In 2006, Arizona voters passed Proposition 300 which prohibited anyone who is not a U.S. citizen

Attaining educational equity had been one of the immigration related barriers faced by undocumented immigrants in the State of Arizona since the early 2000s. In 2006, Arizona voters passed Proposition 300 which prohibited anyone who is not a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident from receiving instate tuition and additional state-funded assistance for educational costs in Arizona (Prop 300 Legislative Analysis). In 2018, the Arizona Supreme Court deemed students under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program ineligible for instate tuition and state financial aid. But it sparked a momentum IN 2018 from Aliento, a non- profit community based organization in Arizona. Their mission was to attain access to instate tuition and state-funded scholarships for all regardless of immigration status. The main goals of this study are to highlight how the historical win of Proposition 308 was made possible, through an analysis of the extensive strategies utilized by Aliento to get it on the midterm ballot and secondly, to inform potential beneficiaries. This study provides a descriptive analysis of the tactics utilized throughout Aliento’s instate tuition campaigns to get Proposition 308 on the midterm ballot and its successful win in the November 8, 2022 midterm election. Specifically, it will apply the Community Power Building Approach to analyze three main tactics utilized by Aliento to pass Prop 308. This study demonstrates how undocumented and DACAmented people in Arizona, who cannot vote or participate in the electoral process, mobilized and got Prop 308 on the ballot. Their tactics were successful in attaining educational equity in the State of Arizona.

Date Created
2023-05
Agent

Ecological Restoration and Tourism Development as Agents of Bordering: A Case Study of the U.S.-Mexico Border

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Description
Contrary to common thought at the end of the 20th century, the forces of globalization over the last several decades have contributed to more rigid rather than more permeable international borders as countries have enacted strict immigration and travel policies.

Contrary to common thought at the end of the 20th century, the forces of globalization over the last several decades have contributed to more rigid rather than more permeable international borders as countries have enacted strict immigration and travel policies. This growing rigidity of international borders has paradoxically occurred as international tourism steadily grew up until the COVID-19 pandemic and conservationists adopted a landscape-scale approach to conserving and restoring ecosystems, often across international borders. Considering this paradox, this dissertation research examined the interactions between tourism development, ecological restoration, and bordering processes by utilizing bordering and stakeholder theories; core-periphery, cross-border tourism, and border frameworks; political ecology; and polycentric governance and cross-border collaboration literature. Together, these conceptualizations were used to assess stakeholder attitudes towards tourism development and ecological restoration, compare resource governance characteristics of private protected areas, and analyze shared appreciation for natural and cultural heritage at the U.S.-Mexico border. To collect data, the researcher utilized in-depth interviews, photo-elicitation interviews, focus groups, secondary data analysis, and observations to engage key tourism and conservation stakeholders from the region, such as tourism businesses, tourists, state and federal agencies, conservation nonprofits, ranchers, and residents The findings of this research revealed a political ecology of a border landscape that included social and environmental injustices and unequal stakeholder partnerships in tourism and ecological restoration initiatives. Unequal partnerships were also found in cross-border resource governance systems, largely due to the U.S. government’s border wall construction actions, and the necessity for government leadership in establishing vertical and horizontal linkages in polycentric governance structures was evident. The results also demonstrated how a shared appreciation for natural and cultural heritage contributes to debordering despite the rebordering actions of border security and strict travel policies. This study contributes to tourism literature by highlighting the need for tourism and ecological restoration initiatives to consider social and environmental justice issues, develop stronger cross-border linkages with governments and resource users, and foster cross-border collaboration and integration. This consideration of social and environmental justice issues involves sharing benefits of tourism and restoration, restoring and preserving resources that stakeholders value, and facilitating access to resources.
Date Created
2022
Agent

Women of Color in Congress

Description

Women of color have, over the years, come to power, with more of them in congress now more than they were before. This is a very significant and powerful way for women, especially women of color, to rise and be

Women of color have, over the years, come to power, with more of them in congress now more than they were before. This is a very significant and powerful way for women, especially women of color, to rise and be an encouragement to girls of color all over the world. It is worth noting that every one of these women has a story and has been through a journey that can be inspirational to young girls, a story that can teach young girls traits such as resilience and the need to work hard despite any challenges. This essay is a background on some selected women of color in Congress, discussing where they come from, how they got to Congress, and the impact they left behind.

Date Created
2022-12
Agent

The Impact of Cultural Perceptions on Contraceptive Use Among Young Mexican- American Women

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Description

Existing knowledge of Latina sexual health disparities has been discussed through traditional barriers such as financial, language, or location. Contraceptive use is proven to greater economic, social, and health outcomes across women of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. This study

Existing knowledge of Latina sexual health disparities has been discussed through traditional barriers such as financial, language, or location. Contraceptive use is proven to greater economic, social, and health outcomes across women of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. This study aims to explore another factor, specifically among young Mexican-American women – whether or not cultural perceptions on sexual health impact the decision to use contraception. In- depth qualitative interviews were conducted among first-generation Mexican-American women ages 18-25 residing in Arizona. The results show that while negative cultural perceptions faced additional barriers in seeking contraception, it was not a complete deterrent for any participant. If anything, this motivated participants to actively destigmatize sexual health in their communities by speaking more openly about their experiences with others.

Date Created
2021-05
Agent

Arizona’s Anti-immigration Legislation and Latino Political Participation: An Examination of the Latino Response

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Description
Over the past twenty years, the state of Arizona has increasingly become a key location for the debate surrounding immigration and border policy in the United States. Its geographical position within the Southwest North American Region (SWNAR) of the United

Over the past twenty years, the state of Arizona has increasingly become a key location for the debate surrounding immigration and border policy in the United States. Its geographical position within the Southwest North American Region (SWNAR) of the United States and shared physical border with México has forged an extensive history of complicated interconnectedness for the Latino community residing in this borderland (Vélez-Ibáñez, 2017). This dissertation examines Arizona’s anti-immigration legislation, focusing on the years between 2000 and 2018, and how, or if, this legislation affected the political participation of Latinos in the state. This research argues that Latinos, both citizen and undocumented, have galvanized across citizenship lines in response to the anti-immigration legislation aimed at criminalizing Latinos, marginalizing their families, and hindering their access to education, public services, and employment opportunities (Philbin & Ayón, 2016). Using theoretical foundations of political mobilization, this work explores the use of anti-immigration legislation as a mobilizing factor for Latino political participation. Further, the findings suggest that the traditional definition of political participation is not sufficient for the wide-ranging activities of the Latino community. This work, therefore, re-contextualizes the term political participation and establishes Latino political participation by incorporating the concept of “funds of knowledge” to account for Latino political practices that have previously been ignored by the traditional definition. For this study, a series of observations of trends in Latino voting and registration and a descriptive historical analysis of Latino political practices led to the creation of questions for the qualitative interview process. Interviews were conducted with fifteen key Latino informants, and their testimonios provide an explanation for the noted trends in Latino political participation during the election years, highlight the political mobilization that incorporated both the undocumented Latinos and Latino citizens, and provide clarification for a recontextualization of Latino political participation.
Date Created
2020
Agent