What I call Myself Exploring Ethnic Identities and Selections of Ethnic Labels for Hispanic/Latino Second Generation Immigrants

Date of Award

2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Hernandez, Sarah

Keywords

Second Generation Immigrants, Ethnic Identity, Ethnic Labels, Racial and Ethnic Categorizations, Self-Identification

Area of Concentration

Sociology

Abstract

In this thesis, I explore how young adult members of the so-called Hispanic/Latino ethnic group develop their ethnic self-identifications in the context of the government- and socially-created racial/ethnic categories. Through eleven in-depth interviews with second generation Hispanic/Latino immigrants between 18 and 25 years old, I identify four preferred self-identifications: pan-ethnic (ambivalently Hispanic instead of Latino), country-specific, situational labels and rejection of all racial and ethnic labels. Ethnic identity is formed and labels are selected primarily in relation to others, specifically: family (their connection to their native countries) and neighborhoods (racial/ethnic makeup, specifically Latin American presence).

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS