A Study of Social Work Students’ Knowledge and Perceptions of Stages of Latino Immigration

ABSTRACT

Latino immigrants encounter distinct hardships at each stage of the immigration process, including stressors that occur in the home countries, during travel, and on settlement, which correspond with poorer mental health status. Yet, much of social work education and service delivery centers only on postsettlement needs. This exploratory study provides descriptive data on 194 social work students’ experiences with and perceptions of Latino immigration and analyzes how students’ perceived preparedness to work with Latino immigrants corresponds with their knowledge of hardships during each immigration stage. Findings suggest that students felt moderately prepared to work with immigrants and that perceived preparedness was positively associated with familiarity of immigration stage stressors. Implications for social work education, practice, and research are presented.

Notes

¹ For clarity and consistency in this article, we primarily use the words immigrant and immigration to describe the movement of Latino immigrants to the United States. However, we retain the term forced migration and the terms premigration, migration, and postmigration to refer to the stages of immigration. We note that in general, the terms migrant and migration may be more inclusive of the multiple and fluid ways people move throughout the world, within and across political borders.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mary Lehman Held

Mary Lehman Held, PhD, LCSW, is Assistant Professor and Matthew J. Cuellar is Assistant Professor and Assistant Director of the PhD program at University of Tennessee. Laurie Cook Heffron is Assistant Professor at University of Texas.

Matthew J. Cuellar

Mary Lehman Held, PhD, LCSW, is Assistant Professor and Matthew J. Cuellar is Assistant Professor and Assistant Director of the PhD program at University of Tennessee. Laurie Cook Heffron is Assistant Professor at University of Texas.

Laurie Cook Heffron

Mary Lehman Held, PhD, LCSW, is Assistant Professor and Matthew J. Cuellar is Assistant Professor and Assistant Director of the PhD program at University of Tennessee. Laurie Cook Heffron is Assistant Professor at University of Texas.