Menu
header photo

Project Vision 21

Transforming lives, renewing minds, cocreating the future

Blog Search

Blog Archive

Comments

There are currently no blog comments.

“Impossible” law may cause a negative impact on the health of Latino immigrants

Four years ago, in April 2006, I read a report about a study published by a psychologist in Utah, detailing the negative consequences of discrimination on the health of Latino immigrants. What would happen then to immigrants’ health if discrimination becomes law?

First, let’s briefly review what Dr. Patrick Steffen, assistant professor of clinical psychology at Brigham Young University (BYU), said in 2006. According to Steffen, those who experience racism –or perceived racism- often also experience sleeplessness and depression, due to the stress they face in their lives.

Previously, in 2003, Steffen authored study that showed “perceived racism is related to sustained increased blood pressure,” affecting also the immunological system and the heart condition of those affected by racism.

In his report, Steffen said that, “Sleep is the pathway through which racism affects depression." The reason, he said, is that, “Individuals who have experienced racism could be thinking about what happened the previous day, feeling stressed about their ability to succeed when being judged by something other than merit…”

Steffen focused specifically on Hispanic immigrants. He found that changes in the diet and lack of physical activity cause changes in the immigrants’ health. However, the major negative impact comes from the stress caused by discrimination (be it real or imaginary) those immigrants experience.

I thought about Steffen’s study because last week I read another study, in this case a report published on May 20, 2010 by the American Psychological Association (APA). APA says the new immigration law in Arizona, SB1070, that will take effect by the end of July, includes an “implicit bias” and, therefore, it will be impossible to enact the law evenhandedly.

APA interviewed Dr. John Dovidio, a Yale University expert of social relationships. According to Dovidio, we all have stereotypes and biases, but most of the time we are aware of them and therefore we can control them.

However, These automatic processes are even more influential when people feel threatened or are under time pressure – common experiences for police officers – and thus will lead to systematic and racially/ethnically biased profiling.”

Dovidio said that , “Training of the type that is being proposed cannot consistently mitigate the effects of these implicit, and often unconscious, biases. Training may make people more aware of the potential for biased implementation of the law.”
“Training should help limit blatant abuses, but implicit biases will still play an important role in how the new police powers actually play out on the street,” he added.

It is worth noting that both Steffen and Dovidio agree that racism and discrimination create a number of problems for immigrants, including lack of social support and job anxieties (Steffen) and “injustice that offends not only the people directly involved but also the community as a whole” (Dovidio).

And both Steffen and Dovidio say the solution for immigrants is to “return to his/her roots” and to “of knowing one’s group history and culture.”

But how are we going to overcome the consequences of legalizing discrimination? They don’t say it.

Go Back