Roberto G. Gonzales

Bio: Roberto G. Gonzales is an academic researcher from Harvard University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Immigration & Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The author has an hindex of 22, co-authored 40 publications receiving 3237 citations. Previous affiliations of Roberto G. Gonzales include University of Washington & University of Chicago.

Learning to Be Illegal: Undocumented Youth and Shifting Legal Contexts in the Transition to Adulthood

Abstract: This article examines the transition to adulthood among 1.5-generation undocumented Latino young adults. For them, the transition to adulthood involves exiting the legally protected status of K to ...

"Awakening to a Nightmare". Abjectivity and illegality in the lives of undocumented 1.5-Generation Latino immigrants in the United States

Abstract: Does the undocumented status of 1.5-generation Latinos (those who migrated at a young age) in the United States affect their political, civic, and public selves? Our approach to this question begins with a theoretical framework based on the concept of abjectivity, which draws together abject status and subjectivity. We argue that the practices of the biopolitics of citizenship and governmentality—surveillance, immigration documents, employment forms, birth certificates, tax forms, drivers’ licenses, credit card applications, bank accounts, medical insurance, car insurance, random detentions, and deportations—enclose, penetrate, define, limit, and frustrate the lives of undocumented 1.5-generation Latino immigrants. We examine data from a random-sample telephone survey of 805 Latinos and 396 whites in Orange County, California, to provide general patterns that distinguish 1.5-generation Latino immigrants from their first-generation counterparts and to suggest the contours of their lives as undocumented imm...

No Place to Belong Contextualizing Concepts of Mental Health Among Undocumented Immigrant Youth in the United States

Abstract: This article examines the consequences of undocumented immigration status for those who grow up in the United States. The aim is to examine the relationship between undocumented immigrant status and mental and emotional health. Our efforts focus on undocumented immigrants who arrive as children and spend most of their formative years in the United States. The experiences of these undocumented members of the 1.5 generation are quite different from those who migrate as adults. We are interested in better understanding the effects confusing and conflicting experiences of inclusion and exclusion have on their mental and emotional health as well as the protective factors that may shape resilience. While previous scholarship has drawn some important implications to experiences of stress among undocumented youth and young adults, to our knowledge, no work has been done to explicitly draw the link to mental and emotional health. The article concludes with some suggestions for future research on the topic.

Blocked Paths, Uncertain Futures: The Postsecondary Education and Labor Market Prospects of Undocumented Latino Youth

Abstract: Over the past few decades, undocumented settlement in the United States has grown to unprecedented numbers. Among the nearly 12 million undocumented immigrants, a substantial portion of undocumented youth is growing up with legal access to public education through high school but facing legal restrictions and economic barriers to higher education and the workforce. Every year, about 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school nationwide. Like other children of immigrants, they plan to remain in the United States, but these young men and women have few means out of poverty. We provide a blueprint for assessing the future prospects of undocumented youth by offering a brief analysis of immigration and educational policies that currently affect the U.S. undocumented youth population and summarizing what is known about undocumented students' educational and occupational barriers and opportunities, particularly as they transition out of high school. We also discuss potential solutions to improve thei...

Becoming DACAmented Assessing the Short-Term Benefits of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

Abstract: In response to political pressure, President Obama authorized the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012, giving qualified undocumented young people access to relief from dep...

Childhood and Society.

Abstract: Erik Eriksen is a remarkable individual. He has no college degrees yet is Professor of Human Development at Harvard University. He came to psychology via art, which explains why the reader will find him painting contexts and backgrounds rather than stating dull facts and concepts. He has been a training psychoanalyst for many years as well as a perceptive observer of cultural and social settings and their effect on growing up. This is not just a book on childhood. It is a panorama of our society. Anxiety in young children, apathy in American Indians, confusion in veterans of war, and arrogance in young Nazis are scrutinized under the psychoanalytic magnifying glass. The material is well written and devoid of technical jargon. The theme of the volume is that it is human to have a long childhood which will leave a lifelong residue of emotional immaturity in man. Primitive groups and

Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality

Abstract: Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality. Aihwa Ong. Durham, NIC: Duke University Press, 1999. ix. 322 pp., notes, bibliography, index.