The ReCAP Lab actively contributes to the academic and public health literature through publications that center marginalized and underrepresented communities. Our work spans peer-reviewed journal articles, community reports, and policy briefs that elevate community voices and apply rigorous, culturally responsive methodologies. Lab publications explore critical issues such as structural racism, immigrant health disparities, trauma-informed interventions, and youth violence prevention. Each publication reflects our commitment to collaborative research and translational science—ensuring that findings are accessible, actionable, and rooted in the lived experiences of the communities we serve. Lab members, including graduate and undergraduate students, are regularly involved as co-authors, advancing our mission to build the next generation of equity-focused scholars and practitioners.
UndocuBlack individuals hold intersecting identities as migrants, undocumented, and Black people. These overlapping experiences deepen marginalization and oppression, increase mental health difficulties, and decrease access to mental health care, leading to worsened outcomes. Using the framework of Critical Race Theory, this article illustrates the importance of clinicians assessing the role of racism in the mental health care landscape and understanding the compounded effects of immigration status on mental well-being. Therapists should address the barriers to accessing professional mental health services at both the community and client levels. At the community level, clinicians should actively work to restructure bureaucratic health systems and policies that reinforce racism, nativism, and xenophobia. At the client level, when working with undocuBlack individuals, partners, and families, mental health providers should (1) practice cultural humility, (2) seek a client-centered understanding of racial positioning, (3) acknowledge undocumented immigrant isolation, and (4) honor ethical responsibility to the community.
African and Caribbean Black (ACB) immigrant adolescents experience unique constellations of risk factors that increase their vulnerability of both experiencing and initiating violence. Traditional disciplinary and punitive approaches are ineffective at addressing these root causes. Mental health interventions have the potential to reduce and prevent ACB adolescent violence; however, clinicians need culturally-responsive and community-informed strategies for violence prevention and advocacy. To meet this need, this paper employs Critical Race Theory and Intersectional frameworks to examine disparities in youth violence, emphasizing the roles of acculturative stress, social support deficits, and neighborhood disadvantage. This examination reveals equity-driven, culturally grounded strategies for violence prevention including increasing family support and parental monitoring of youth. Clinicians have an ethical responsibility to advocate for ACB families through authentic, trust-based engagement. Strategies for partnering with grassroots organizations and supporting efforts led by Black immigrant communities offer a pathway by which clinicians can promote meaningful and lasting change.
Effective communication is essential for emergency preparedness, public health, and wildfire recovery. However, existing emergency communication is often tailored for individuals proficient in English, leading to the marginalization of middle-aged and older Latino migrant and seasonal farmworkers (MSFWs) who lack English proficiency. This study explored the perceptions, communication, and coping strategies of MSFWs in Southern Oregon during the 2020 wildfire disaster, addressing a significant gap in disaster communication research.
Black immigrant mothers are often excluded from dominant discourses on transnational mothering. Using transnational intersectionality theory, this study explores perspective of mothers from African countries who have a child living in their countries of origin. Four key themes emerged from analyzing mothers’ reports: a desire for their children to maintain the cultural values of their home country, struggling with resources in the US, a sense of “losing motherhood” through transnational parenting, and needing to depend on family in the country of origin. Transnational intersectionality, motherhood ideals, practices, and resilience, are used to nuance mothers’ experiences and guide clinical implications.
Experiencing parental deportation during childhood is associated with higher rates of mental health and behavioral health challenges. This adversity may be exacerbated by the uncertainty of what is happening to their deported parent and to their family system following a deportation experience. Effective clinical intervention can reduce the likelihood and/or severity of physical health, mental health and behavioral health difficulty caused by the trauma of parental deportation; however, clinicians have insufficient resources and guidance on effectively engaging with children and their families following parental deportation.
Mothers are key influencers in daughters’ decision making about risk behaviors. Much research on parent–child relationships and communication has been conducted among predominantly White, nonimmigrant families. However, parent–child relationships and communications about risk behaviors may significantly differ for Black immigrant families. In particular, transnational behaviors that serve to maintain multiple social identities with attributes from both the receiving and sending nations may shape communication about risky behaviors. The current study evaluated the association between transnational behavior and risk communication mediated by the mother–daughter relationship. Findings confirm previous research on parent–child closeness and communication about difficult topics and suggest that such relationships can promote healthy communication in multiple cultures. Children who stay connected to their country of origin stay connected to parents and, therefore, may have greater opportunity to engage in integrated communication about possible risk behaviors.
