Representing Latinos

Abstract

Strengths-based solution-focused approaches are gaining ground in statutory child protection work, but few studies have asked front line practitioners how they navigate the complex worker-client relationships such approaches require. This paper describes one component of a mixed-methods study in a large Canadian statutory child protection agency in which 225 workers described how they applied the ideas of strengths-based practice in their daily work. Interviews with twenty-four practitioners were analysed using an interpretive description approach. Only four interviewees appeared to successfully enact a version of strengths-based practice that closely mirrored those described by key strengths-based child protection theorists and was fully congruent with their mandated role. They described navigating a shifting balance of collaboration and authority in worker-client relationships based on transparency, impartial judgement, attentiveness to the worker-client interaction and the value that clients were fellow human beings. Their accounts extend current conceptualisations of the worker-client relationship in strengths-based child protection work and are congruent with current understandings of effective mandated relationships. They provide what may be a useful model to help workers understand and navigate relationships in which they must reconcile their own authority and expertise with genuine support for the authority and expertise of their clients.

¿Quién Importa? State Legislators and Their Responsiveness to Undocumented Immigrants

“…Previous research finds that Republicans’ policy responsiveness is influenced by different factors than Democrats (Jaeger 2019; Rocca et al 2022; Skulley et al 2018). Between 2010 and 2014 several Republican-led efforts to penalize undocumented immigration were salient and moving through state legislatures (Wallace 2014). State-level immigration dynamics could signal to a legislator that their constituents would reward or punish them if they are seen as being overly welcoming or restrictive to undocumented immigrants based on the sentiment toward undocumented immigrants held by the constituents.…”

“…The story of Latino representation is mixed, with some scholarship finding support for distinctive representative behavior (Kerr and Miller 1997;Minta 2011;Rouse 2013) and others finding that partisanship, among other factors, better explains policy responsiveness to Latino populations (Hero and Tolbert 1996;Knoll 2009). Rouse (2013) and Wallace (2014) do find that on immigration policy, Latino legislators behave in ways designed to provide more favorable legislation for undocumented immigrants. For undocumented immigrants, however, the lack of legal status makes it highly unlikely to see undocumented immigrants serving in legislatures-as most states require U.S. citizenship to run for office.…”

“…While polarization on the issue of immigration may explain variations in responsiveness between Democrats and Republicans, geographic polarization and sorting at the state level provide another lens on the extent to which legislators may respond to a request from an undocumented constituent (Bishop 2009;Mason 2015). Between 2010 and 2014 several Republican-led efforts to penalize undocumented immigration were salient and moving through state legislatures (Wallace 2014), fostering significant public outcry and debate both in favor and opposition of the measures. A legislator may anticipate that their constituents would reward or punish a legislator who is seen as being overly welcoming or restrictive to undocumented immigrants based on the sentiment toward undocumented immigrants held by the constituents.…”

Do Reserved Seats Work? Evidence from Tribal Representatives in Maine

“…A second body of research explores how descriptive representation is associated with substantive representation for groups such as African-Americans (Gay 2002;Swain 1993;Tate 2004), Latinos (Bratton 2006;Wallace 2014), women (Clark and Caro 2013;Swers 2005;Wängnerud 2009), and LGB people (Hansen and Treul 2015). Native Americans are featured less prominently in this literature (Williams and Schertzer 2019).…”

Every Single Word: A New Data Set Including All Parliamentary Materials Published in Germany

“…Many of these latter studies ask to what extent Anne Phillips's famous theory of the ‘politics of presence‘ (1995) – which states that members of traditionally excluded groups will promote group interests – finds empirical support. Others draw attention to the role of context, questioning to what extent electoral incentives such as varying modes of election or composition of the electorate moderate the effect of group identities on legislative behaviour (Lončar 2016; Wallace 2014). Conceding that an investigation into only one type of document from a parliament's official record does not provide a satisfactory assessment of MPs’ legislative actions, many scholars dealing with the substantive representation of certain social groups call for further analyses resting on a broader database (Mügge et al 2019).…”