College of Behavioral & Social Sciences
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Item Residential Segregation: Hurting or Helping U.S. Hispanic Health?(2009) Nelson, Kyle Anne; Iceland, John; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)U.S. Hispanics experience health disparities that are in part socially determined. My dissertation explores the connections between health and residential segregation for Hispanics and key Hispanic subgroups in metropolitan America. I conduct a multivariate analysis combining individual-level health survey data on Hispanics from the 1997-2002 Urban Institute National Survey of America's Families with metropolitan area-level residential segregation scores from Census 2000. My primary research question is: What is the role of residential segregation in shaping the health disparities of U.S. Hispanics? I compare the link between segregation and health for U.S. Hispanics with African Americans, and evaluate differences among Hispanics by nativity and country of origin. My outcome measures are self-rated health, insurance status, and having a usual source of health care. I find a significant negative effect on health status of residential segregation from whites for U.S. Hispanics even after accounting for compositional factors such as poverty status and education. Consistent with spatial assimilation theory, however, much of the observed negative effects of segregation on health are overshadowed by individual-level socioeconomic characteristics. In support of place stratification theory which emphasizes the relative disadvantage of African Americans as racial minorities in the U.S., I find that African Americans experience modestly greater health disparities associated with segregation than Hispanics. Despite my prediction that health outcomes for foreign-born Hispanics may actually improve with higher segregation, nativity does not significantly alter the link between health and segregation among U.S. Hispanics. I do find a significant interaction between nativity and segregation for Mexicans in the prediction of being uninsured and for Cubans in the prediction of self-rated health. For foreign-born Mexicans, segregation is more of a disadvantage in the prediction of being uninsured. The only evidence I find of any positive or protective link between segregation and health is for Cuban-origin Hispanics whose odds of reporting good self-rated health increase with higher levels of segregation. While segregation has a positive association with health status for both U.S.-born and foreign-born Cubans, the effect is substantially stronger for the foreign born. This research highlights the importance of examining residential segregation as a social determinant of health, and reveals important nuances in the link between health and segregation for nativity and country-of-origin subgroups of U.S. Hispanics.Item OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND: HOW LATINO SEGREGATION AFFECTS POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND POLICY OUTCOMES(2009) Pearson-Merkowitz, Shanna Helena; Kaufmann, Karen M.; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation evaluates the intersection of place and politics as it pertains to the effect of residential segregation on the civic engagement and political power of Latino Americans. Famously described by W.E.B. Du Bois as the problem of the 20th century, racial segregation persists in the United States, and while residential segregation has declined marginally for African Americans over the past 15 years, it has increased significantly for Latinos during this same period. Using a variety of data sets and methodological approaches, I investigate the socio-political consequences of this growing residential divide. I argue that segregation not only precludes socioeconomic mobility for Latinos, it also decreases their likelihood of civic engagement and political participation. Latinos who live in residential isolation are more likely to be economically marginalized and less politically powerful than their less segregated counterparts. Further, the marginalization of the Latino community has political consequences. Segregation concentrates Latinos into political jurisdictions where they must compete for resources with more politically powerful groups. As a result, their neighborhoods and needs are ignored by politicians and bureaucrats. To correct their under-representation in the political arena, participation among Latinos is essential. The findings of this dissertation call into question the stability of democracy if Latinos do not start participating at a higher rate, with the fate of the nation resting in part on the political and social mobility of its largest and fastest growing minority group.