How the Media (Mis)Construct the Identity of Undocumented Youth

• In Event: 33.078 - Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: 33.078-10 - Seeing Selves Through Others' Eyes: Politics and Identity Formation Among Immigrant Youth

Abstract

Grounded in ethnic identity theory, Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this paper’s objective is to demonstrate the media’s role in the (mis)construction of the identity formation of undocumented youth and the resulting implications of this (mis)construction. This is done through the use of mixed methods that include a CDA of news media reports about the DREAM Act of 2010 and qualitative analysis of interviews with undocumented youth. Our study found that 1) undocumented students’ identities were socially constructed in a myriad of ways; and 2) undocumented youth were often portrayed as Latino immigrants and as the “Other.”

Authors

• Jaime Del Razo, Brown University

• Jaein Lee, Harvard University

• Ruth María López, Brown University