Being Present when Forced to be Absent: Understanding Mayan Families' Cross-border ...

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Being Present when Forced to be
Absent: Understanding Mayan Families'
Cross-border Relationships and
Separation Experiences
Author: Rachel Masha Hershberg
Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:101498
This work is posted on eScholarship@BC,
Boston College University Libraries.
Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2012
Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.
BOSTON COLLEGE
Lynch School of Education

Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology
Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology Program

BEING PRESENT WHEN FORCED TO BE ABSENT: UNDERSTANDING MAYAN
FAMILIES' CROSS-BORDER RELATIONSHIPS AND SEPARATION
EXPERIENCES

Dissertation
by
RACHEL M. HERSHBERG

submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

August 2012
© Copyright by Rachel Hershberg
2012
Abstract
Being Present when Forced to be Absent:
Understanding Mayan Families' Cross-border Relationships and Separation Experiences
Rachel M. Hershberg
Dissertation Chair: M. Brinton Lykes

A growing number of families in the U.S. are of mixed-status with at least one
undocumented relative who is threatened by deportation. Many also are simultaneously
involved in cross-border or transnational families. Despite these challenging contexts,
these families rarely are attended to in psychological research. This dissertation presents
findings from research with nine intergenerational Maya K´iche´ transnational and mixed
-status families who live across the United States and Guatemala. The study explored
relationships within these families and how they are maintained in contexts of family
separation as influenced by U.S. immigration and deportation systems.
A grounded theory analysis of in-depth interviews with at least one U.S.-based
undocumented migrant parent, and one Guatemala-based child and caregiver from each
family was developed to better understand and characterize the ways in which diverse
family members perceive and experience their family relationships and separations. The
middle-range theory developed from this study is called “being present when forced to be
absent.” This theory describes the main strategies family members in Guatemala and the
U.S. utilize to maintain relationships over time and across space, which include
communication, remittances or financial support, and the provision of life advice or
consejos. Findings suggest that while these strategies mitigate challenges experienced in
transnational family relationships, families view contextual strains in Guatemala and the
U.S. as continuing to influence their cross-border relationships and family processes.
Finally, this study showed that families leverage an additional strategy identified as
reconfiguring the transnational family, wherein they alter the transnational configuration
of their family to confront challenges of family separation.
This study shows that U.S.-based undocumented migrant parent(s) and children
and elected caregivers in Guatemala contribute to their transnational families in unique
ways. It also supports previous research arguing that immigration and deportation
policies violate the rights of families from the global south who migrate north to support
their relatives in origin countries. Implications for comprehensive immigration reform
and new directions for research in psychology with migrant and transnational families are
discussed.
i

Acknowledgements
I am grateful to all of the family members, mentors, and friends who have
contributed to my intellectual development and educational trajectory since the beginning.
Mom and Dad, your unwavering support and enthusiasm for my academic
pursuits have kept me on the steady path towards completion and have meant more to me
than you can ever know. Thank you, Dad, for reading the entire dissertation and
improving the caliber of the writing with your stellar editing skills. Thank you also for
joining the cause from your journalist post in Louisville, KY. Mom, thank you for having
more faith in me than anyone and total confidence that I would graduate and find a job.
Your support and love have meant so much to me and I would not be who I am without
you.
To my siblings, Jacob, Esther, and Raanan, thank you for supporting me
throughout my doctoral studies and research and for checking in on the progress of my
dissertation regularly, especially during the final months. I am so lucky to have you.
I have to acknowledge my late grandparents, Bob and Miriam Flusberg, who
taught me to appreciate the immigrant experience, both the losses it entails and the
opportunities it can yield, from a very early age. My grandpa, like the mothers and fathers
in this dissertation, never stopped contributing to the United States since the moment he
arrived here at age 12. My grandma, who lost her family in WW2, taught me that family
and family ties are the most important things in a person’s life and when they are
ruptured, one never fully recovers. I am grateful for the years we spent together.
ii

Thank you, my dear friends in Boston and from Louisville—especially my study
partner and my traveling companion—for all your love and support over the years.
My dearest Jeffrey, thank you for always believing in me and for going on long
diatribes about how the work on which this dissertation is based is important. Thank you
especially for being my intellectual partner in life and challenging me to think more
complexly about U.S. policy.
This dissertation would not have been possible without the participation of the
incredibly brave transnational families, the community organizations in the HRMP, and
the Espiritu Santo Church in Zacualpa. Thank you for inviting me in over the years and
for sharing your knowledge about what life is like for 21st century migrants and their
transnational families. I hope I have done some justice to your words and stories with this
dissertation.
I must also acknowledge the various institutions that have supported the HRMP
and my own research pursuits. Thank you to the Center for Human Rights and
International Justice at Boston College for supporting this research, and for continuing to
provide opportunities for graduate students to learn about and advocate for human rights
and international justice. Thank you to the Applied Developmental and Educational
Psychology Program and the Lynch School of Education at Boston College for
supporting my educational and professional development. Thanks especially to the
American Association of University Women for facilitating the completion of this
dissertation.
Last but not least, thank you to the members of my dissertation committee—
iii

Dr. M. Brinton Lykes (Chair), Dr. Jacqueline Lerner, and Dr. Lisa Dodson—for agreeing
to support this work from its beginnings and for your flexibility throughout. Jackie, thank
you for being there for me throughout my doctoral studies and for your willingness to
engage in and support the research or which I have been a part since 2007. Thanks
especially for helping me connect this research to the best of developmental theory.
Finally, to my mentor, teacher, and friend—Brinton—thank you for taking me under your
wing and for giving me the opportunity to work on such important research and actions
throughout my doctoral program. You have taught me how a successful person can act on
and in the world in a way that is commensurate with her philosophies. I am blessed to
have had the chance to see you do this, and learn how to hopefully do some of this in the
next chapter of my life. Thank you also for always supporting and fighting for all of your
students, we would be lost without you.
iv

Table of Contents

Page
LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………........... viii

LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………….... ix

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION, THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK,
LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………………….. 1

I. Introduction……………………………………………………… 1

Purpose of the Study...………………………………………. 9

Research Questions……………………………………….... 10

Organization of the Research……………………………..... 11

II. Theoretical Framework………………………………………… 12

Transnational Theory………………………………………. 13

Socio-legal Approach……………………………………… 19

Family Systems Theory…………………………………… 20

II. Literature Review………………………………………………. 23
Research with Transnational and Mixed-Status Families…. 24
Family Systems Research with Migrant Families…………. 33
Research with the Maya from Guatemala………………… 38
Research on Contexts of Illegality in the United States….... 53
CHAPTER 2: METHODS………………………………………………….
59 I. Research Design………………………………………………….
59
Overview of Approach…………………………………….. 59
v

Grounded Theory………………………………………….. 62
II. Participants…………………………………………………….. 68
Identifying and Defining the Population………………….. 68
Recruitment……………………………………………….. 80
Informed Consent…………………………………………. 90
III. Data Collection………………………………………………... 91
Method……………………………………………………. 91
Procedure………………………………………………….. 94
IV. Data Analysis…………………………………………………. 104
Summary of Analysis……………………………………... 104
Memo Writing…………………………………………….. 105
Computer Software and Transcription……………………. 107
Reflexivity……………………………………………….... 108
Triangulation…………………………………………….... 119
Rigor………………………………………………………. 123
CHAPTER 3: BEING PRESENT WHEN FORCED TO BE ABSENT….. 127
Summary of Findings..……………………………………………. 127
Grounded Theory Visual Models…………………………………. 133
Outline.……….………………………………………………….... 137
I. Defining the Middle-Range Theory………………………….... 139
Being Present when Forced to be Absent…………………. 139
II. Communication, Remittances, and Consejos…………………… 144