Immigration is a long-standing topic of discussion in the United States. Hispanic immigrants, or families of Hispanic immigrants, living in America face unique challenges. Through focus group interviews, participants from a predominantly Hispanic Protestant church narrated their experience of living in the United States. Guided grounded theory data analysis revealed three categories and 14 subcategories, or themes of conversation, surrounding this hot topic. Participants shed light on the distinctive challenges they faced, how these challenges affected them, and how they attempted to overcome these difficulties. By exploring these results through the lens of social stigma theory (Goffman, 2009) and intergroup contact theory (Pettigrew, 1998; Berg, 2009), the current research illuminated the marginalization of this population. Ultimately, participants narrated that the challenges that they face are far outweighed by the opportunities they are given, showing potential for how communication can help to overcome the marginalization of the Latino population.
","abstract_html":"<p>Immigration is a long-standing topic of discussion in the United States. Hispanic immigrants, or families of Hispanic immigrants, living in America face unique challenges. Through focus group interviews, participants from a predominantly Hispanic Protestant church narrated their experience of living in the United States. Guided grounded theory data analysis revealed three categories and 14 subcategories, or themes of conversation, surrounding this hot topic. Participants shed light on the distinctive challenges they faced, how these challenges affected them, and how they attempted to overcome these difficulties. By exploring these results through the lens of social stigma theory (Goffman, 2009) and intergroup contact theory (Pettigrew, 1998; Berg, 2009), the current research illuminated the marginalization of this population. Ultimately, participants narrated that the challenges that they face are far outweighed by the opportunities they are given, showing potential for how communication can help to overcome the marginalization of the Latino population.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bell, Nicolet Hopper"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":"Communication Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["John C. Meyer","Kathryn Anthony","Steven J. Venette"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:41Z","subjects":["Immigration","communication","intercultural communication","intergroup contact theory","social stigma theory","religion","Civic and Community Engagement","Community-Based Research","Critical and Cultural Studies","Family, Life Course, and Society","Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication","International and Intercultural Communication","Interpersonal and Small Group Communication","Other Communication","Social Influence and Political Communication"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/262","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["John C. Meyer","Kathryn Anthony","Steven J. Venette"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bell, Nicolet Hopper"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-10-18T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Immigration","communication","intercultural communication","intergroup contact theory","social stigma theory","religion","Civic and Community Engagement","Community-Based Research","Critical and Cultural Studies","Family, Life Course, and Society","Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication","International and Intercultural Communication","Interpersonal and Small Group Communication","Other Communication","Social Influence and Political Communication"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/262"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Immigration is a long-standing topic of discussion in the United States. Hispanic immigrants, or families of Hispanic immigrants, living in America face unique challenges. Through focus group interviews, participants from a predominantly Hispanic Protestant church narrated their experience of living in the United States. Guided grounded theory data analysis revealed three categories and 14 subcategories, or themes of conversation, surrounding this hot topic. Participants shed light on the distinctive challenges they faced, how these challenges affected them, and how they attempted to overcome these difficulties. By exploring these results through the lens of social stigma theory (Goffman, 2009) and intergroup contact theory (Pettigrew, 1998; Berg, 2009), the current research illuminated the marginalization of this population. Ultimately, participants narrated that the challenges that they face are far outweighed by the opportunities they are given, showing potential for how communication can help to overcome the marginalization of the Latino population.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Captivity of Opportunity: The Conversation Surrounding Church-Going Hispanic Immigrants"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["John C. Meyer","Kathryn Anthony","Steven J. Venette"],"dc:creator":["Bell, Nicolet Hopper"],"dc:date.available":["2016-10-18T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Immigration is a long-standing topic of discussion in the United States. Hispanic immigrants, or families of Hispanic immigrants, living in America face unique challenges. Through focus group interviews, participants from a predominantly Hispanic Protestant church narrated their experience of living in the United States. Guided grounded theory data analysis revealed three categories and 14 subcategories, or themes of conversation, surrounding this hot topic. Participants shed light on the distinctive challenges they faced, how these challenges affected them, and how they attempted to overcome these difficulties. By exploring these results through the lens of social stigma theory (Goffman, 2009) and intergroup contact theory (Pettigrew, 1998; Berg, 2009), the current research illuminated the marginalization of this population. Ultimately, participants narrated that the challenges that they face are far outweighed by the opportunities they are given, showing potential for how communication can help to overcome the marginalization of the Latino population.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/262"],"dc:subject":["Immigration","communication","intercultural communication","intergroup contact theory","social stigma theory","religion","Civic and Community Engagement","Community-Based Research","Critical and Cultural Studies","Family, Life Course, and Society","Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication","International and Intercultural Communication","Interpersonal and Small Group Communication","Other Communication","Social Influence and Political Communication"],"dc:title":["The Captivity of Opportunity: The Conversation Surrounding Church-Going Hispanic Immigrants"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Communication Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:41Z"}