| Summary: | Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University
PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. === This thesis explores the experience of immigration of Latin American women living in Boston, and how they develop a sense of belonging and identity in American society. By looking into different aspects of participants' lives (work, family life, community, healthcare), I examine various circumstances in which their sense of belonging is supported and those in which it is jeopardized. The primary site of recruitment for this study was a Baptist congregation, which serves the Latino population in the Boston area. I used qualitative data collection methods including, individual interviews with the women and participant observation at the congregation, to gather participants' immigration stories. As an in-depth grounded theory analysis this study reveals the fluid nature of participant's sense of belonging; it is ever-changing, it is always moving back and forth from insider to outsider, and it is constantly brought into question. As a result the immigration experience of participants is immersed within tensions between a cohesive and fragmented sense of belonging.
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