Graduation Year

2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Anthropology

Major Professor

Heide Castañeda, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Daniel Lende, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Dillon Mahoney, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Nolan Kline, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Joanna Mishtal, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Beatriz Padilla, Ph.D.

Keywords

Immigration, Pandemic, Nongovernmental Organizations, Humanitarian Aid, Healthcare

Abstract

Immigrants encounter numerous vulnerabilities during the migration process and after arrival due to stressors and violence that they may experience. Many also face dangerous labor conditions, discrimination, violence, and aggressive immigration tactics in the United States. The prolonged exposure to these stressors can create suffering for these vulnerable populations, continuing to exacerbate existing inequalities.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, immigrants have also faced new challenges that often perpetuate inequities that already existed in society. Immigrants often suffer from inadequate access to healthcare, marginalization due to legal status, and fear, which was worsened during the height of the pandemic and continues to plague immigrant communities. These factors, coupled with existing marginalization, reinforce the inequalities felt in the immigrant community. Therefore, it is critical to explore how these social issues create stress in the lives of immigrants and how that stress affects mental health.

Thus, this research examines prior social factors that marginalize immigrant populations are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and how the pandemic has highlighted these factors. Specifically, I examine how immigrants in Apopka, Florida are affected by stress before and during the pandemic. This dissertation research explores the effects of social factors such as violence, injury, and stress, and how these factors affect the mental health and well-being of immigrant communities. Additionally, this research seeks to understand how nongovernmental organizations (NGO) provide services to immigrants during the pandemic and evaluating the impact that they make within the community. While Apopka has a rich and unique history, it is also emblematic of many immigrant communities throughout the United States where immigrants encounter stress, injury, and violence that continues to marginalize the population, particularly during the pandemic.

This research contributes to the overall scholarship on immigration in the United States and the farmworker population. Through a careful examination of health and well-being, this research also contributes to scholarship concerning mental health and how immigrants cope with stress. Further, this research seeks to analyze how violence, in its many forms, affects mental health, thereby building upon existing theories of immigration and violence.

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