Committee Chair

Black, Kristen Jennings, 1991-; Walker, Ruth

Committee Member

Cunningham, Christopher J. L.

Department

Dept. of Psychology

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

The proposed research aimed to identify known and understudied demands, resources, and barriers Latino immigrants experienced performing manual labor. The sample was composed of 24 first-generation Latino immigrants, which participated in 5 different focus groups with 4 to 8 participants each. Using a deductive and inductive approach to code the data, and after conducting a thematic analysis, it was found 27 demands and barriers and 13 resources. Some of the most common demands and barriers to achieve optimal well-being I discrimination, workload, learned helplessness, and lack of safety training. Among the resources found, building self-efficacy, immigration readiness, and resilience I commonly mentioned. Although these demands might not be unique to immigrant workers, it might be harder for them to engage in a recovery process from strain, given a lack of availability of resources. Future research and practical recommendations are outlined in this research by the participants and the researcher.

Acknowledgments

I would like to say thank you to all who supported me through my professional and academic journey. Thank you, Dr. Kristen Black, for being so patient, thoughtful and pushing me to believe in my own work, you provided me a space where I felt my ideas were heard. Thank you to Dr. Ruth Walker for helping to solve this puzzle, you showed me a new way to understand data, which I will carry with me the rest of my life. Thank you to Dr. Chris Cunningham, you where the first person who made this project a reality by believing I could become an I-O Psychologist. Thank you for all your support in this journey. Thank you to all the community partners who believed that this project could help the Latino community in Northeast Georgia and Chattanooga, including Raiza (friend and mentor), America (fervent community leader), Jorge and Sebastian (research assistants). Finally, I would like to thank the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, which founded this project through the SEARCH program.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

5-2024

Subject

Hispanic American agricultural laborers--Job stress; Industrial safety--Psychological aspects

Keyword

Immigrants; Latinos; Demands, Resources, Well-Being

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

xiii, 68 leaves

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Date Available

5-31-2025

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Available for download on Saturday, May 31, 2025

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