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An Ethnographic Study Of The Social Context Of Migrant Health In The United States

Author: Holmes, Seth M.
Date Published: 2006


This qualitative study employs participant observation and interviews on farms and in clinics throughout 15 months of migration with a group of indigenous Triqui Mexican in the western US and Mexico. Study participants include more than 130 farmworkers and 30 clinicians. Data are analyzed utilizing grounded theory, accompanied by theories of structural violence, symbolic violence, and the clinical gaze. The study reveals that farmworking and housing conditions are organized according to ethnicity and citizenship. The hierarchy determines health disparities and undocumented indigenous Mexican shaving the worst health. Yet, each group is understood to deserve its place in the hierarchy, migrant farm workers often being blamed for their own sicknesses. Structural racism and anti-immigrant practices determine the poor working conditions, living conditions and health of migrant workers. Structural racism services to reduce awareness of this social contest for all involved including clinicians. The paper concludes with strategies toward improving migrant health in four areas: health disparities research, clinical interactions with migrant laborers, medial education, and policy making.

Price: free
Number of Pages: 14