First Advisor

Greg Townley

Term of Graduation

Spring 2024

Date of Publication

7-18-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Psychology

Language

English

Subjects

farmworker health, labor protection, Latino farmworkers, resources, undocumentation, work-nonwork

Physical Description

1 online resource (vi, 144 pages)

Abstract

Precarious work sectors within the United States have relied on Black and Brown labor for many decades. More specifically, Latino immigrant workers have been an exploited community within many dangerous workforces but especially within the agricultural industry. They are a crucial population for the labor and economy of the U.S., yet Latino farmworkers report feeling expendable, being discriminated against, and being exposed to hazardous working conditions. Due to these experiences, scholars have explored the role non-work resources have in providing support for this community, their social networks being especially beneficial for them. However, research on the links between their work and non-work domains and the resources they find valuable is lacking. The current study draws upon qualitative phone interviews conducted with 41 Latino farmworkers in Oregon in 2021. Themes pertaining to both work and non-work resources were uncovered through deductive and inductive thematic analysis and included how farmworkers lack financial resources, experience mistreatment from supervisors, need legislative labor protection, need a pathway to citizenship, receive support from their proximal communities, are speaking out at work or would like to be, and have poor physical and psychological health due to work. Findings from this study demonstrate the imbalance of resources provided from their microsystems, organizations, and macrosystems, with proximal communities providing much of the aid to farmworkers. Findings make clear that employers and those in legislation must do more to advocate for Latino immigrant farmworkers and provide resources to better protect Latino immigrant farmworkers' well-being. Findings also demonstrate the need for future research related to: their changes in resources over time; reporting of workplace violations; impact of legislation on their health; what they enjoy about their work and why; the goals and desires of this community; and how information sharing or unionization occurs.

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Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42381

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