Abstract

The purpose of my research was to gain a better understanding of the culture of non-profit organizations and how this affects their interaction with the issue of access to education for undocumented immigrant children. I conducted a five week participant ethnographic case study on a non-profit group referred to as Project Children in a city with high levels of undocumented immigrants. I conducted interviews and then analyzed my data using social science theory and literature. I analyzed the social construction of undocumented immigrant children, as well as the social capital involved in the network of organizations dealing with the issue of access to legal counsel for undocumented issues, and how these two things shape the way Project Children interacts with the issue through education. Education, through formal and informal ways, constantly pays a role in the culture of the organizations and it plays a role in the social construction of undocumented immigrant children. The research I have conducted has led me to a better understanding of Project Children, as a non-profit organization, and the role that its culture plays in how it interacts with access to legal counsel for undocumented immigrant children. Project Children helps to create a web of connections between the undocumented children, non-profit organizations, and governmental bodies which allows Project Children to “bring light” upon the issue of access to legal counsel for undocumented immigrant children.

Advisor

Frese, Pamela

Second Advisor

Moskowitz, Eric

Department

Political Science; Sociology and Anthropology

Disciplines

Immigration Law | Social and Cultural Anthropology

Keywords

undocumented immigrant children, advocacy, capital, social construction

Publication Date

2015

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2015 Holly A. Hickman