LatCrit Theory Research Articles

Imposter Syndrome’s Impact on Latine College Students During Transformative Times

ABSTRACT Using LatCrit Theory, I explored how 14 Latine college students experienced imposter syndrome during a period of transition that impacted and influenced their educational experience. Findings highlight three key themes: 1) My academic success was not because of me, 2) A brief hold on imposter syndrome, and 3) Having a sense of agency when navigating imposter syndrome. I conclude with a discussion and implications where I share tangible practices and strategies to help administrators, faculty, and student affairs professionals understand support and engage Latine college students.

Thinking critically about race bias and culpability perceptions of Latinxs in the criminal justice system

AbstractCritical race theory (CRT) guides insight into structural and institutional discrimination for identifying causes of race disparities in the United States social and political systems. Disparities are pronounced in the criminal justice system (CJS) for Latinx people, and negative attitudes exist about those incarcerated. LatCrit theory promotes an examination of unique issues creating disparities for Latinx people. Given historical, negative stereotypes of Mexican Americans as a criminal type, even exonerees face the taint of criminalization, and this influences perceptions of them. Following LatCrit theory, we examined the relationship between negative Mexican American stereotypes and perceived internal and external culpability with mediation from defendant rights attitudes for a Mexican American exoneree. With data from a national, adult online sample (N = 120), negative stereotypes about Mexican Americans predicted internal culpability with partial mediation from defendant rights beliefs, but the relationship was not found for external culpability. Negative stereotypes were associated with beliefs in the Mexican American exoneree's inherent criminality. With a LatCrit approach, quantitative findings lend insight into the legal decision making process to produce bias. Results highlight the need for continued focus on Latinx people's unique experiences and for change in methods to improve post‐carceral reintegration and eliminate structural and systemic race bias.

English-Speaking Latinas Like Selena: A National Study of Latina Adolescent Intimate Partner Physical Violence during COVID

Abstract: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identifies Intimate Partner Physical Violence (IPPV) as a significant public health crisis for U.S. adolescents. During their lifetime, about 1 in 3 Latinas are affected. What has been understudied is the impact of IPPV on Latinx adolescents with data collected during the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. To address this gap in the literature, this paper analyzes the CDC’s Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES) data, as well as LatCrit theory and intersectionality as theoretical frameworks to interrogate the relative impact of key demographics, sexual behavior, and non-sexual risky behaviors on IPPV. In addition to analyzing data for the entire sample of Latinx students (n=1510), significant findings from the use of hierarchical logistic regressions indicate that girls who are not proficient in English (not boys), whose partners carry a gun, and who do not wear a seatbelt have a greater risk of ever experiencing IPPV.

Latine evaluators and evaluation: Advancing representation and collective agency

AbstractThis article details how connection to the late Dr. Stafford Hood, Culturally Responsive Evaluation (CRE) and Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment (CREA) provided conceptual, methodological, and affirming foundations of our collective work as Latina evaluators, knowledge co‐creators, and mobilizers. The introduction of CRE & CREA with strategic sponsorship provided by Dr. Hood are key historic moments in the legitimization and advancement of Latine evaluators within and across the American Evaluation Association (AEA) and CREA. The co‐authors, who are multiethnic and multicultural Latinas, consider LatCrit theory, collective agency, and legitimacy in relation to key moments in the evolution of Latine evaluation discourse over the last decade.

Countering racist nativism through a liberating pedagogy of praxis

AbstractThis article uses a framework that combines LatCrit theory, racist nativism, and liberating pedagogy of praxis (LPP) to examine how a community youth program's LPP practices countered the racist nativism Latinx youth experience in their high school. LPP practices challenged racist nativism by creating a space where Latinx youth faced each other in circles to engage in authentic collective intergenerational dialogue about lived experiences of racist nativism, which cultivated solidarity and a call to action.

Access and Opportunity: Increasing Advanced Placement Access for English Learners

Access and opportunity within an Advanced Placement (AP) Program prepare students for higher education. However, a disproportionate number of low-income students or students of color do not enroll in advanced courses partly due to institutional barriers and policies. This research evaluated a teacher’ s desire to change school policy, the exam scores, and student experiences at a school site that reduced barriers for English Learners (ELs) to take advanced placement classes. The qualitative study was framed by LatCrit theory focusing on a social justice perspective and school experience for Latinx identified as ELs. Results showed that EL success in advanced coursework is based on a supportive environment, access and opportunity, and a commitment to social justice.

A Mujerista Liberation Psychology Perspective on Testimonio to Cultivate Decolonial Healing

Grounded in a liberation psychology mujerista epistemology and a decolonial feminist standpoint, the article describes the development and application of testimonio as a resource toward healing. The application of this resource goes beyond the classroom to include clinical settings. By bridging Latin America liberation psychology within LatCrit theory, the article describes testimonio as a decolonial feminist mujerista strategy to cultivate decolonial healing through storytelling. Healing is conceptualized as a process of reconstituting the self, individually, relationally, and collectively, through life stories. Extending this definition, decolonial healing is experiencing community well-being through relational critically reflexive dialogues that facilitate a critical social analysis, mutual reciprocal recognitions, and radical hope. Building on evidence that identifies testimonio as a pedagogical and methodological tool, this article purports that the sociopolitical process of testimoniar can serve as a therapeutic mujerista strategy to support community well-being. The sociopolitical elements of testimonio toward decolonial healing experiences, as a potential therapeutic resource, are discussed through a thematic analysis of Latinx students’ reflections featured in their Testimoniando El Presente essay assignment. Testimonios were conducted with their mothers, friends, siblings, or mentors and written within in the context of an online undergraduate course. Through an analysis of Latinx students’ written reflections, evidence in support of mujerista strategies like testimonio that can complement existing decolonial practices and healing therapies are discussed. The conclusion offers an invitation to engage a mujerista epistemology, specifically adapting testimonio as a resource to support decolonial healing among Latinx students living in precarious times.

(Re)Imagining Transformational Resistance: Seeds of Resistance and Pedagogical Ruptures

In this article, the authors (re)visit Solorzano and Delgado Bernal's (2001) Urban Education article, “Examining Transformational Resistance Through a Critical Race and LatCrit Theory Framework: Chicana and Chicano Students in an Urban Context,” to discuss transformational resistance in conversation with other works on youth resistance to (re)visit and (re)imagine student oppositional behaviors. Next, empirical examples offer theoretical and pedagogical contributions (ruptures) for nurturing all forms of resistance towards transformation. By disrupting punitive interpretations and responses that are imbued with racist and oppressive ideologies, we honor the potential for transformational resistance embedded in the “unrespectable” oppositional behaviors of Students of Color.

Latina and Latino Critical Legal Theory: LatCrit Theory, Praxis and Community.

Abstract LatCrit theory is a relatively recent genre of critical “outsider jurisprudence” – a category of contemporary scholarship including critical legal studies, feminist legal theory, critical race theory, critical race feminism, Asian American legal scholarship and queer theory. This paper overviews LatCrit’s foundational propositions, key contributions, and ongoing efforts to cultivate new generations of ethical advocates who can systemically analyze the sociolegal conditions that engender injustice and intervene strategically to help create enduring sociolegal, and cultural, change. The paper organizes this conversation highlighting Latcrit’s theory, community and praxis.

Situating Institutional Responses to Latina Intimate Partner Violence Victims: An Argument for a LatCrit Lens

Existing critical theoretical frameworks have been useful for understanding institutional responses to intimate partner violence (IPV) among victims of Color. The present theoretical paper extends upon these earlier approaches by using a LatCrit theory and praxis lens to situate institutional responses to Latina IPV victims specifically. Through a LatCrit lens, this essay addresses three interrelated themes that address challenges for Latina IPV victims, including: racialized indeterminacy, hegemonic representation, and the criminal legal system as a racialized organization. Theoretical implications, future research, and recommendations are discussed.

Intergenerational Literacies: The Racial, Linguistic, and Cultural Resources of Families in Raising Young Children of Color

In this article, we share findings from three qualitative studies, illustrating how children of color and their families make meaning of the racial, linguistic, cultural, and gendered worlds in which they develop. The first study examines how White adoptive Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer (LGBTQ) parents engage in race conscious child-rearing of their young African American son and the dialogism of racial identity formation and racial literacies; the second study examines the family literacy learning and teaching practices of one adult English to Speakers of Other Languages student; the third study examines how Latinx parents engage intergenerational sharing of stories as tools of resistance. Utilizing critical race theory, LatCrit theory, and sociocultural perspectives on literacy and intergenerational learning as analytical lenses, this article illuminates the consequential nature of intergenerational learning that occurs through the lived and embodied literacy practices of children and families of color and the implications for literacy researchers and practitioners.

LatCrit Theory as a Framework for Social Justice Evaluation: Considerations for Evaluation and Evaluators

AbstractThis chapter introduces the use of Latino Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) as a framework for inciting change through Social Justice Evaluation (Mertens & Wilson, 2012; Neubauer, 2015, 2017). Informed by the foundational work of Valdes (1997) and Solorzano and Yosso (2001), the authors suggest that LatCrit informed evaluation is a transdisciplinary process that links theory with practice, scholarship with evaluation learnings, and our institutions with community, action, and change. The chapter provides an overview of the theory, synthesizes related literature, and describes a guiding framework anchored in four functions of LatCrit, detailing cultural values and methodological implications. A description of evaluator individual and collective critical reflective process ground the chapter to center the value that coauthors place on ideas developed in community through collaborative inquiry.

Female Puerto Rican teachers’ testimonios of retention and culture

ABSTRACT Research suggests that teachers of color (ToC) have a positive impact on students’ academic achievement, yet, ToC comprise less than 20% of the workforce. Policymakers who seek to increase the number of ToC, particularly Latino teachers, need to understand what keeps them in the profession. Four female Puerto Rican (PR) teachers engaged in a series of in-depth phenomenological interviews. The co-researchers made meaning of internal motivators for their longevity by describing the relationship between cultural values and practices that sustained their longevity. Using LatCrit Theory, the following themes were culled: (1) collaborative practices, and (2) empowering practices that support retention. Policies that address PR teachers’ leadership and autonomy and curriculum-related policies in administrative leadership programs that integrate the retention of ToC as a topic that appears throughout the coursework, and not just in one or two classes, are needed to support retention. In addition, the lack of data about ToC limits policymakers’ knowledge of longevity within specific groups. State departments of education need to collect and maintain disaggregated data to inform the learning community on the work-lives of PR teachers. Data on employment attainment, job satisfaction, attrition, and longevity can be used to uncover retention patterns for PR teachers and bring the teacher rolls to a level that mirrors the student population.

What's Next? Into a Third Decade of LatCrit Theory, Community, and Praxis (Afterword)

In this multi-vocal Afterword, we reflect-personally and collectively to help chart renewed agendas toward and through a third decade of LatCrit theory, community, and This personal collective exercise illustrates and reconsiders the functions, guideposts, values, and postulates for our shared programmatic work a framework for our daily work as individuals and teams through our portfolio of projects, which in turn emerged as a reflection and projection of LatCrit theory, community and praxis. These early anchors expressly encompassed (1) a call to recognize and accept the inevitable political nature of U.S. legal scholarship; (2) a concomitant call toward anti-subordination praxis to connect theory to action; (3) a commitment to build both intra-Latinx communities and inter-group coalitions; (4) a commitment to find commonalities while respecting difference; (5) a recognition of past critical outsider scholarship in new applications; (6) a commitment to ongoing self-critique, individually and collectively; and (7) a recognition of specificity and diversity in constructing LatCrit theory, praxis, and community. These early guiding commitments were rooted in substantive values, and accompanied by working postulates, that we likewise made explicit to help anchor our programmatic initiatives, and our mutual aspirations, over time and its exigencies.

Repositioning White Monolingual English-Speaking Teachers’ Conceptions of Language: Counterstories and Embodied Learning

Countries are seeing a rise in the number of families and schoolchildren who do not speak English as a first language. This study focuses on how two White monolingual English-speaking elementary teachers positioned language as it related to their Spanish-speaking students within a graduate teacher education program in the United States. Our work builds on previous cultural immersion studies by using embodied cognition and Latino Critical Theory (LatCrit) as analytical tools. Findings indicate that embodied experiences can increase teachers’ awareness of how speakers of English and Spanish are positioned by the dominant culture while LatCrit theory can illuminate future steps.

Preparing bilingual teachers on the U.S./Mexico border: including the voices of emergent bilinguals

ABSTRACT Language policies in the U.S., including matters relating to bilingual education, are tangled up with political tensions and ideology. All too often, the dialogue among educators and policymakers about what constitutes best practices for people learning English – for whom we will use the term emergent bilinguals (EBs) (Garcia, Kleifgen and Falchi 2008) – fails to include the voices of those they serve. The Rio Grande Valley (RGV) of South Texas provides a uniquely valuable laboratory in which to study bilingual education because of its location, demographic makeup, and migration patterns. In this study, a pedagogical intervention was made with a cohort of teacher candidates studying at a university in South Texas; the participants had themselves experienced bilingual education, as children, in RGV public schools. The implications of this study can be extended to teacher preparation for other minority communities receiving majority language instruction. The analysis based on transcripts of focus group discussions and asynchronous online discussions among 26 teacher candidates, of Mexican origin or descent, applies LatCrit theory and illustrates the development of a critical awareness of the hegemonic forces impacting the linguistic development of EB students such as themselves.

Reparations and the Colonial Dilemma: The Insurmountable Hurdles and Yet Transformative Benefits

The Seventh Annual Latina and Latino Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) Conference held in May 2002 at the University of Oregon, not unlike other efforts in the movement, addressed a panoply of challenging, provocative, and controversial issues. Perhaps one the most intellectually interesting and yet troubling panels addressed reparations for the inhabitants of United States' colonial territories. Specifically, the panel was titled Reparations, Redress, and Remedies: Undoing the Legacy of Colonialism and Imperialism. Members of the academy as well as a representative of Puerto Rico's Independence Party participated in a lively discussion and debate. Although the articles resulting from this panel touch upon Puerto Rico's colonial dilemma, not all addressed the issue of It is the topic of reparations that is the focus of this cluster introduction. The topic of reparations provokes strong feelings because, among other reasons, it is a request of the dominant culture to atone for past wrongs, primarily through monetary relief. For many, the response to any request for reparations, but particularly for a request from the inhabitants of Puerto Rico, would be: Why reparations? Not unlike reparations claims for Native Hawaiians, opponents to a Puerto Rican reparations effort would probably deem the reparations claims unavailing because the opponents simply would fail to perceive that any legal wrong has occurred. This cluster introduction will address this question of why reparations. Before addressing the nascent Puerto Rican reparations debate, a brief description of LatCrit theory is in order.

Counterstories about Leadership: A Latina School Principal’s Experience from a Less Documented View in an Urban School Context

Latina/o school leaders are receiving increasing visibility in research based on their representation in K-12 administrative ranks. However, even though they bring cultural knowledge in providing social and academic support to teachers, families, and especially students of color, their own experiences still reflect less documented histories and contributions because of challenges related to racial identity, racism, sexism, and other historically marginalizing emblems of identity, often invisible in the school leadership research and practice. This study highlights one Latina school leader in the National Latina/o Leadership Study and her experiences developing a professional and racial identity within urban school contexts. Employing Critical Race Theory and LatCrit Theory, this includes the following questions: (a) In what ways Latina/o school principals develop their professional and racial identity? and (b) How do Latina/o school principals negotiate these identities in the context of their schools? Findings reveal the development of a professional and racial identity amidst challenges related to White teachers’ resistance in preparing students of color for successful experiences in schools.

Afterword: At and Beyond Fifteen--Mapping Latcrit Theory, Community, and Praxis

Afterword: At and Beyond Fifteen--Mapping Latcrit Theory, Community, and Praxis

Spiral of Decline or “Beacon of Hope:” Stories of School Choice in a Dual Language School.

Public schools in some areas of the U.S. are as segregated as they were prior to court-ordered busing, in part due to school choice policies that appear to exacerbate extant segregation. In particular, Latina/o students are increasingly isolated in schools characterized as being in cycles of decline. Our case study of one such school is based on a reanalysis of interview, focus group, and survey data from three research and evaluation projects. We constructed accounts of parents’ decisions to leave and remain at Martinez Elementary, a segregated dual language school experiencing increases in Latina/o and low socio-economic student enrollment and decreasing statewide standardized test scores. Interpreting Latina/o and White parents’ accounts through LatCrit theory, we sought to understand their choices to attend this school as counterstories that illustrate conflicting forces influencing Martinez, including high parent satisfaction and interest convergence between White and Latina/o parents. These stories depict a more hopeful account of a school resisting decline, yet only the adoption of managed school choice policies may be powerful enough to counter the school’s segregation.