Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved
Volume 25, Issue 3, 2014, Pages 1291-1307

Structural vulnerability and problem drinking among Latino Migrant day laborers in the San Francisco Bay Area (Article)

Worby P.A. , Organista K.C. , Kral A.H. , Quesada J. , Arreola S. , Khoury S.
  • a Multicultural Institute, Hesperian Health Guides, United States
  • b School of Social Welfare, University of California Berkeley (UCB), United States
  • c RTI International, United States
  • d Department of Anthropology, College of Liberal and Creative Arts, San Francisco State University (SFSU), United States
  • e Forum on MSM and HIV, United States
  • f Department of Anthropology, College of Liberal and Creative Arts, SFSU, United States

Abstract

Latino migrant day laborers (LMDLs) live under challenging conditions in the San Francisco Bay Area. This study explored day laborer alcohol use guided by a structural vulnerability framework, specifically problem vs. non-problem drinking as perceived by LMDLs and how they cope with or try to avoid problem drinking given their broader environment. The study utilized ethnographic methods including in-depth semi-structured qualitative interviews with 51 LMDLs. Findings revealed the considerable challenge of avoiding problem drinking given socio-environmental factors that influence drinking: impoverished living and working conditions, prolonged separation from home and family, lack of work authorization, consequent distress and negative mood states, and peer pressure to drink. While participants shared strategies to avoid problem drinking, the success of individual-level efforts is limited given the harsh structural environmental factors that define day laborers' daily lives. Discussed are implications for prevention and intervention strategies at the individual, community, national and international levels. © Meharry Medical College.

Author Keywords

Alcohol-drinking Migration Day laborers Structural vulnerability Latinos

Index Keywords

Alcohol Drinking drinking behavior poverty human epidemiology middle aged Central America peer pressure ethnology Mexico San Francisco Social Conditions interview Young Adult Peer Influence social status Humans California Interviews as Topic male adult Anxiety, Separation migration separation anxiety Transients and Migrants
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84906055655&doi=10.1353%2fhpu.2014.0121&partnerID=40&md5=a00552708fc0db477bae6d92de25ba83
DOI: 10.1353/hpu.2014.0121
ISSN: 10492089
Cited by: 7
Original Language: English