Crossroads: The Psychology of Immigration in the New Century

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Diane Elmore, PhD (APA Public Interest Government Relations Office) Tasha Darbes (New York University) Sandra Diaz (New York University) Cathy Grus, PhD (Deputy Executive Director, APA Education Directorate) Gwendolyn Puryear Keita, PhD (Executive Director, APA Public Interest Directorate) Heather Kelly, PhD (APA Science Government Relations Office) Nonie Leseaux, PhD (Harvard Graduate School of Education) Gabriele McCormick, MFA (External editor) Loy McGaughy (External editor) Marie Onaga, MEd (New York University) Andres Pumariega, MD (Reading Hospital) Sukhmani Singh (New York University) Karen Studwell, PhD (APA Science Government Relations Office) Rena Subotnik, PhD (Associate Executive Director, APA Education Directorate) Benjamin Vonachen (APA Public Interest Government Relations Office) viii Report of the APA Presidential Task Force on Immigration
Executive summary The United States today has approximately 39.9 million immigrants—the largest number in its history (Passel & Cohn, 2012; U.S. Census Bureau, 2011c). As a nation of immigrants, the United States has successfully negotiated larger proportions of newcomers in its past (14.7% in 1910 vs. 12.9% today) and is far from alone among postindustrial countries in experiencing a growth in immigration in recent decades. Notably, nearly three quarters of the foreign-born are naturalized citizens or authorized noncitizens (Congressional Budget Office [CBO], 2011). One in five persons currently residing in the United States is a first- or second-generation immigrant, and nearly a quarter of children under the age of 18 have an immigrant parent (Mather, 2009). As such, immigrants and the second generation have become a significant part of our national tapestry. Just as this demographic transformation is rapidly unfolding, the United States is facing international, domestic, and economic crises (Massey, 2010). Like other historical economic downturns (Simon, 1985), the current recession has served as a catalyst to make immigration a divisive social and political issue (Massey & Sánchez, 2010). Across the nation, immigrants have become the subject of negative media coverage (Massey, 2010; M. Suárez-Orozco, Louie, & Suro, 2011), hate crimes (Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, 2009), and exclusionary political legislation (Carter, Lawrence, & Morse, 2011). Given the demographic growth, however, we now face an “integration imperative” (Alba, Sloan, & Sperling, 2011)—not only for the well-being of this new population but also for that of the nation’s social and economic future. Psychologists are, and increasingly will be, serving immigrant adults and their children in a variety of settings, including schools, community centers, clinics, and hospitals, and thus should be aware of this complex demographic transformation and consider its implications as citizens, practitioners, researchers, and faculty. This report aims specifically to describe this diverse population and address EXECUTIVE SUMMARY the psychological experience of immigration, considering factors that impede and facilitate adjustment. The report, which includes the recent theoretical and empirical literature on immigrants, (a) raises awareness about this growing (but poorly understood) population; (b) derives evidence-informed recommendations for the provision of psychological services for the immigrant-origin population; and (c) makes recommendations for the advancement of training, research, and policy efforts for immigrant children, adults, older adults, and families. Guiding Frameworks There are three guiding principles throughout this report. First, immigrants are resilient and resourceful. Second, immigrants, like all human beings, are influenced by their social contexts; the report thus takes an ecological perspective in framing their experience. Third, as it is essential to use the lens of culture with the increasingly diverse immigrantorigin population, the report follows the APA Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists (APA, 2002). Immigrant Resilience Within political and media discourse, immigration is generally framed as a social problem in need of solving (M. Suárez-Orozco et al., 2011). Yet a careful reading of the research from a variety of disciplines suggests that immigrants demonstrate a remarkable pattern of strengths (APA, 2007a; Chiswick, 2011; Hernandez & Charney, 1998). This body of data examining the well-being of immigrant-origin populations across generations reveals a counterintuitive pattern that contradicts conventional expectations: First-generation immigrant populations demonstrate the best performance on a variety of physical health (L. S. Morales, Lara, Kington, Valdez, & Escarce, 2002), behavioral health (Pumariega, Rothe, & Pumariega, 2005; Takeuchi, Hong, Gile, & Alegría, 2007), and some educational (Fuligni & Witkow, 2004; García Coll & Marks, 1
Page 1 and 2: Report of the APA Presidential Task
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Page 7: Preface One of the benefits of serv
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Page 16 and 17: designed with their educational obs
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linguistic group in the United Stat
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or deported, immigration officials
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Immigrant students whose education
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to read in the home language promot
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& Mapp, 2002). Teachers, in turn, v
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In a knowledge-intensive economy, h
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separation from country of origin,
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As individuals negotiate their iden
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Barriers to Treatment While an incr
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and traditional mental health setti
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effective than those conducted in E
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development, to remediation). Thera
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Considerations for the Field The Un
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time. For example, under what condi
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summary of recommendations Recommen
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• Support opportunities for dialo
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Culture brokering: When children of
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Protective factors: Conditions in f
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eferences Abraham, M. (2000). Isola
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Bedolla, L. G. (2000). They and we:
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Carhill, A., Suárez-Orozco, C., &
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Delgado-Gaitan, C. (1994, April). M
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Gee, G. C., Spencer, M., Chen, J.,
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www.splcenter.org/get-informed/inte
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LaFromboise, T., Coleman, H. L., &
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McKitrick, D. S., Edwards, T. A., &
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psychological, and educational appl
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Robjant, K., Hassan, R., & Katona,
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Stepick, A., Stepick, C. D., & Labi
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the job that’s tough”: The ELL
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Waters, M. C., & Jiménez, T. R. (2
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AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
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