The journal of Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology published an article titled “Documentation status and psychological distress among New York City community college students.” This research study explores how psychological distress, self-esteem, and academic performance vary across at risk, temporary, and stable immigration statuses. If fear of deportation be it yourself or a family member is affiliated with psychological distress.
During the study one hundred and fifty students were recruited using a flyer which read “Confidential survey seeking documented and undocumented community college students, participate in a fifteen-minute survey and earn a $10 gift card.” The flyers also stated that participants qualify for the study if they answered “yes” to the following questions: “Did you immigrate to the U.S. before age 18, or were you born to parents who immigrated to the U.S?”, and “Are you able to read and write in English?”. In regards to the Hypothesis the study informs the reader that they believe at risk status students would have the highest fear of deportation, psychological distress and self-esteem, and lower academic performance than temporary status and stable status immigrant students.
The study also questions if there are differences in psychological distress, self-esteem, fear of deportation and academic performance between DACA students and other temporary status students due to the future of DACA and our political climate. The third question they approached was if fear of deportation for self or family members predict depression, isolation, and alienation. The study was guided by the Resilience Theory which argues that it’s not the nature of adversity that is most important, but how we deal with it. When we face adversity, misfortune, or frustration, resilience helps us survive, recover, and even prosper.
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The selection of the research subjects and confidentiality are two aspects of the study in which ethical principles must be considered.
The authors explain they had several limitations in regards to the selection of the research subjects and confidentiality because of the enrollment of a convenience sample of community college students. This did not allow the study to generalize to the greater population of undocumented persons who cannot pursue an education after high school.
I also believe the study should have included an informed consent form for the participants prior to answering the questions they provided to gather their data. All thought the flyer stated it was confidential because of the immigration status of most of the participants I personally believe an informed consent form would be ideal. I would include in the form what the survey is for, disclosure of information, competency of the person to decide, and voluntary nature of the decision. By doing so the ethical principle of autonomy. This principle is described as the ability of the person to make his or her own decisions. The author handled this principle by having the students volunteer for the study but I would have them sign an informed consent as well.
References
- Alif, A., Nelson, B. S., Stefancic, A., Ahmed, R., & Okazaki, S. (2020). Documentation status and psychological distress among New York City community college students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 26(1), 11–21. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000290
