Victim Researcher Profile

BIO

My research focuses on the investigation of domestic violence, resilience, and mental and physical health among Latina immigrants. My research has investigated the challenges Latina women in abusive relationships face when they consider seeking help from anti-violence institutions. This area of research has a particular emphasis on the interaction between culture, structure, and place, as these factors concomitantly shape situations of and alternatives to violence among Latino/a immigrants. This research aims to advance understanding of how structural factors influence victims’ experiences with partner abuse so culturally appropriate interventions and policies can promote equity and the elimination of health disparities among this vulnerable population. Further, my research agenda focuses on the physical health of low-income Latino immigrant families. During 2012-2013 I worked as a graduate research assistant with a professor who is involved in the project Rural Families Speak about Health, a multi-state study (www.ruralfamiliesspeak.org) that focuses on the health of diverse rural low-income families. I recently published an article from this project. Lastly, my research program explores the factors that influence the development of resilience among transnational Latina mothers who experience life-challenging events. Through a work that is guided by different critical theoretical frameworks, I reconceptualize resilience as an agentive sociocultural practice. In my research work, I am particularly interested in analyzing how mediating artifacts or tools, contexts, and tasks used by Latina immigrants assist them toward overcoming adversity and the hardships of everyday life.

VICTIMIZATION FOCUS

Domestic and Family Violence

SPECIAL POPULATIONS

Limited English proficiency victims, Immigrants and refugees

RESEARCH EXPERTISE

Qualitative studies

VICTIM RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Data collection, Qualitative studies