Nancy Rodriguez – författare

Dreams and Nightmares takes a critical look at the challenges and dilemmas of immigration policy and practice in the absence of comprehensive immigration reform. The experiences of children and youth provide a prism through which the interwoven dynamics and consequences of immigration policy become apparent. Using a unique sociolegal perspective, authors Zatz and Rodriguez examine the mechanisms by which immigration policies and practices mitigate or exacerbate harm to vulnerable youth. They pay particular attention to prosecutorial discretion, assessing its potential and limitations for resolving issues involving parental detention and deportation, unaccompanied minors, and Dreamers who came to the United States as young children. The book demonstrates how these policies and practices offer a means of prioritizing immigration enforcement in ways that alleviate harm to children, and why they remain controversial and vulnerable to political challenges.

Dreams and Nightmares takes a critical look at the challenges and dilemmas of immigration policy and practice in the absence of comprehensive immigration reform. The experiences of children and youth provide a prism through which the interwoven dynamics and consequences of immigration policy become apparent. Using a unique sociolegal perspective, authors Zatz and Rodriguez examine the mechanisms by which immigration policies and practices mitigate or exacerbate harm to vulnerable youth. They pay particular attention to prosecutorial discretion, assessing its potential and limitations for resolving issues involving parental detention and deportation, unaccompanied minors, and Dreamers who came to the United States as young children. The book demonstrates how these policies and practices offer a means of prioritizing immigration enforcement in ways that alleviate harm to children, and why they remain controversial and vulnerable to political challenges.

This book presents multidimensional knowledge on children of incarcerated parents using Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory as an organizing framework. It examines the extent to which different levels of the environment are supportive (i.e., leading to resilience) and stress-producing (i.e., contributing to risk). The volume explores four levels of the environment – microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem – with specific theories and paradigms woven into the inquiry at each. At the level of child and family, it discusses the factors that influence resilience and risk in children from gestation through young adulthood; at the community level, it addresses risk and resilience in the interactions between children and families and the various systems with which they interact (e.g., child welfare).  Key areas of coverage include: ·         A description of the factors that influence the quality of programming for children and their families.·         A critical analysis of state and national policies that affect which individuals receive, or fail to receive, specific services.·         An overview and evaluation of the state of knowledge and implications for research and practice to improve outcomes for children of incarcerated parents.·         An organizing framework to help researchers identify gaps in the existing knowledge base and distills and organizes evidence-based information for practitioners. Children of Incarcerated Parents is an essential resource for researchers, professors, and graduate students as well as practitioners, therapists, and other professionals in child and school psychology, family studies, public health, and all interrelated disciplines, including developmental psychology, criminal justice, social work, educational policy and politics.