Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 18, Issue 5, 2016, Pages 996-1006

Individual and Contextual Factors Associated with Immigrant Youth Feeling Unsafe in School: A Social-Ecological Analysis (Article)

Hong J.S.* , Merrin G.J. , Crosby S. , Jozefowicz D.M.H. , Lee J.M. , Allen-Meares P.
  • a School of Social Work, Wayne State University, 4756 Cass Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202, United States, Department of Social Welfare, Sungkyunkwan University, Humanities and Social Science Campus, 61505 Suseon Hall, 25-2 Sungkyunkwan-ro, Jongro-gu, Seoul, South Korea
  • b Division of Child Development, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 210 Education Building, 1310 S. Sixth Street, Champaign, IL 61820, United States
  • c School of Social Work, Wayne State University, 4756 Cass Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202, United States
  • d School of Social Work, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Ave, CHN rm 2162, Windsor, ON N9B 3P4, Canada
  • e School of Social Work, Wayne State University, 4756 Cass Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202, United States
  • f College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, East Tower, 808 South Wood Street, 3rd Floor, Room 373 (MC 735), Chicago, IL 60612, United States

Abstract

Despite the increasing proportion of immigrant youth in U.S. school districts, no studies have investigated their perceptions of their school. This study examines factors associated with perceptions of school safety among immigrant youth within individual, family, peer, and school contexts. Data were drawn from Wave II of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (n = 4288) and hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted. African–Americans, females, and youth with limited English proficiency were more likely to perceive their school as unsafe. Youth who reported that family cohesion was important and those who had close friends perceived their school as safe. Also, those who experienced illegal activities in school reported feeling unsafe. Assessment and intervention in schools needs to consider individual and contextual factors associated with perceptions of school safety. Additional research is needed to examine individual and contextual factors related to immigrant youths’ perceptions of school. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Author Keywords

youth Social-ecological framework school Immigration Safety

Index Keywords

perception longitudinal study Continental Population Groups ancestry group human friend Schools Longitudinal Studies sex difference language United States Humans migrant psychology male Emigrants and Immigrants female safety school Family Relations Social Environment family relation Sex Factors Friends
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84936803328&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-015-0242-9&partnerID=40&md5=6fb49738ac29d7ebc527685c6a23b873
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-015-0242-9
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 4
Original Language: English