04/09/2021
By Karen Mullins
The School of Criminology & Justice Studies is proud to announce a Master's Thesis Defense by Veyli Ortiz Solis entitled "Hostile Encounters -- Exploring the Intersections of Immigration Status and Experiences of Biased Treatment against Latinos in the U.S."
Date: Friday, April 23, 2021
Time: 10-11:30 a.m.
Location: Via Zoom (Meeting ID: 939 9072 0462)
Committee:
- Sheldon Zhang, Chair
- Pauline Brennan
- Wilson Palacios
Abstract
Despite their growing proportion in the U.S. population, the Latino population continues to experience biased crime and many forms of discriminatory treatments in their daily lives. Most existing literature tends to focus on victimization experiences that can be categorized as crimes. Little research is available about day-to-day hostile and biased treatment against Latinos, which are known to cause distress, fear, and other harmful outcomes. The current study aims to explore the interactions between the variables of immigration status, acculturation, experiences of biased treatment, and help-seeking behaviors among a sample of Latinos from three major U.S cities. Using data from a national study (N=910), the present study analyzed how immigration status of the 448 participants may have influenced their reported experiences of biased treatment. Logistic regression analyses reveal that acculturation, but not immigration status, is associated with the likelihood of experiencing biased treatment. In addition to acculturation, education level and experiencing a hate crime are significantly associated with experiencing biased treatment.