“It has given me life.” Latinas and the U-Visa: A Qualitative Study

Women, particularly undocumented women, are at an increased risk for gender-based violence including intimate partner violence (IPV). Women’s lack of legal immigration status is often used as a tool of dominance and control of undocumented women. The Victim of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act 2000 created the U-Visa that provides undocumented IPV victims with lawful immigration status if they are willing to assist authorities in investigating crimes. The objective of this study is to better understand the benefits of obtaining the U-Visa from the perspectives of Latina U-Visa recipients who are survivors of IPV. In this community-based qualitative research study involving IPV survivors, community leaders, service providers and academics, we collected qualitative data through interviews with 20 participants including 15 survivors of IPV who were U-Visa recipients. Interviews were digitally-recorded, transcribed and translated, and analyzed using a qualitative software to develop key themes. Women received a $20 gift card as a token of appreciation for their participation in this study. Findings highlight key benefits such as improved mental health, renewed confidence and self-esteem, self-confidence, less perceived exploitation, access to better jobs and housing, freedom to travel, and improved economic and social well-being for visa recipients and their families. Obtaining the U-Visa was a transformative and life-changing experience for Latina survivors of IPV. Social policies such as TVPA help support vulnerable women who are victims of IPV.     

Eminent Social Scientists’ Views on Immigration Issues: 1985 and 2006

Following up on a research note by Stephen Moore published in 1985, this article compares the results of the survey conducted in 1985 against one carried out in 2006 on the views of eminent social scientists (economists, political scientists, psychologists, sociologists, historians and anthropologists) on immigration issues. Specifically, the surveys report on whether the respondents are likely to favor an increase in the number of immigrants who are allowed into the United States and other issues such as whether immigrants improve the economy.

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Four criteria to evaluate providers' service-delivery response to new contraceptive introduction

This article presents an evaluation framework developed to assess the first-level effects of introducing the Standard Days Method (SDM) in Peru Ministry of Health clinics. Four questions are asked: 1) To what extent do providers routinely achieve SDM service delivery standards? 2) Is the time invested in SDM delivery consistent with program norms? 3) How does SDM delivery compare with delivery of established methods? and 4) How does SDM introduction affect delivery of established methods? A study at 62 clinics demonstrated the framework's usefulness. The Standard Days Method introduction had positive overall effects on the quality of care but provider training needed adjustments.     

Effects of variations in water quantity and quality in the structure and functions of invertebrates’ community of a Mediterranean urban stream

Urban Ecosystems - Urban streams provide important ecosystem services to cities’ population, from the maintenance of urban biodiversity, temperature, humidity and air quality to improving...     

Urban ecosystem Services in Latin America: mismatch between global concepts and regional realities?

Urban Ecosystems - Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is one of the most urbanized and biologically diverse regions in the world but is often characterized by weak environmental governance and...     

A critical approach to wage devaluation: The case of Spanish economic recovery

In line with the orientation of EU economic policy, the Spanish government has favoured a strategy of internal devaluation as a way of adjusting price levels within the currency union. The results of empirical studies indicate that the internal devaluation applied in Spain does not seem to have attained the desired goals in terms of reducing the relative prices of exports and consolidating a model of growth based on external demand. Indeed, the estimates drawn up show that tailwinds – the depreciation of the euro and the fall in risk premium as results of the measures taken by the ECB, greater economic activity by trading partners and the fall in the price of oil – exercised a decisive influence in the trends followed by the prices of exports and the balance of trade during the period of crisis management in Spain.     

Dyadic Supervision Evaluation: An Actor–Partner Relational Model

This article contributes to research practices in marital and family therapy, specifically the dyadic and development over time in clinical supervision, and describes and applies methodological strategies to develop measurements congruent with the systemic and developmental principles of the field. This project evaluates the psychometric properties of the dyadic supervision evaluation (DSE) in terms of measurement equivalence and causality. A structural equation analysis is conducted utilizing the actor–partner interdependent model resulting in a goodness of fit. This study presents a longitudinal model for evaluating the supervisory relationship and proposes a model of clinical supervision evaluation. The relationship among latent constructs in the DSE and its limitations related to inference and application are discussed.