Publications
Peer Reviewed Publications
Pirtle, Whitney N. L., Zulema Valdez, Kathryn P. Daniels, Maria D. Duenas, and Denise Castro. 2020. “Conceptualizing Ethnicity: How Dimensions of Ethnicity Affect Disparities in Health Outcomes Among Latinxs in the United States” Ethnicity and Disease 30(3): 489-500. doi:10.18865/ed.30.3.489
Background: This study considers how attributional and relational dimensions of ethnicity affect Latinxs’ health outcomes.
Methods: Using regression methods to analyze data from the 2006 Portraits of American Life Study, we examined how attributional and relational dimensions of ethnicity affect: 1) intragroup differences in Latinx mental and physical health status, as measured by feelings of worthlessness and self-rated health, respectively; and 2) intergroup differences between Latinxs and non-Hispanic Whites in these health outcomes.
Results: Latinxs have higher odds of feelings of worthlessness and lower odds of self-reporting good/excellent health compared with non-Hispanic Whites. Additionally, intragroup differences in health are observed among Latinxs, conditioned on attributional or relational dimensions of ethnicity.
Conclusion: Multidimensional measures of ethnicity that distinguish between characteristics associated with ethnicity (attributional) or race (relational) offer a nuanced explanation of health disparities by revealing aspects of ethnicity that shape health outcomes differently, contributing to the goals of health equity.
Duenas, Maria D. 2020. "Naming Racisms: Identifying and Responding to Biological and Colorblind Racisms." Class Activity published in TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology. Washington DC: American Sociological Association. (http://trails.asanet.org/Pages/Resource.aspx?ResourceID=13826)
The purpose of this activity is to help students identify and respond to biological and colorblind racisms they may hear in their everyday lives. The activity uses a pedagogical technique of chat stations where students move around the classroom to visit five different chat stations that each list one statement containing racist discourse. Students work in groups to identify if the statement is either biological racism or one of the four frames of colorblind racism and then record their answers on a worksheet. Students then individually evaluate how they would respond to the statements if they were to encounter them in their everyday lives.
Golash-Boza, Tanya, Maria D. Duenas, and Chia Xiong. 2019. “Global Capitalism, White Supremacy, and Patriarchy in Migration Studies.” American Behavioral Scientist, 1-19. doi:10.1177/0002764219842624.
Ten years after sociologist Mary Romero lamented the “ideological and theoretical gulf between immigration research and the sociology of race,” researchers have begun to bridge this theoretical gulf by centering critical race theory in studies of migration. Building on these analyses, this article argues that migration flows and immigrant incorporation are shaped not only by White supremacy but also by patriarchy and global capitalism. Insofar as migrants, predominantly from the Global South, are usually racialized as non-White, and come to work in a labor market shaped by exploitation, oppression, and patriarchy, it is critical to think of migrant flows and settlement within the context of what bell hooks describes as a White supremacist capitalist patriarchy. We draw from examples from our research with a broad spectrum of migrants and their children to elucidate how these three systems of oppression shape the experiences of migrants.
Duenas, Maria D. 2018. "Four Social Situations: A Class Activity to Teach Goffman’s Impression Management Through Inductive Learning." Class Activity published in TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology. Washington DC: American Sociological Association. (http://trails.asanet.org/Pages/Resource.aspx?ResourceID=13625)
Background: This study considers how attributional and relational dimensions of ethnicity affect Latinxs’ health outcomes.
Methods: Using regression methods to analyze data from the 2006 Portraits of American Life Study, we examined how attributional and relational dimensions of ethnicity affect: 1) intragroup differences in Latinx mental and physical health status, as measured by feelings of worthlessness and self-rated health, respectively; and 2) intergroup differences between Latinxs and non-Hispanic Whites in these health outcomes.
Results: Latinxs have higher odds of feelings of worthlessness and lower odds of self-reporting good/excellent health compared with non-Hispanic Whites. Additionally, intragroup differences in health are observed among Latinxs, conditioned on attributional or relational dimensions of ethnicity.
Conclusion: Multidimensional measures of ethnicity that distinguish between characteristics associated with ethnicity (attributional) or race (relational) offer a nuanced explanation of health disparities by revealing aspects of ethnicity that shape health outcomes differently, contributing to the goals of health equity.
Duenas, Maria D. 2020. "Naming Racisms: Identifying and Responding to Biological and Colorblind Racisms." Class Activity published in TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology. Washington DC: American Sociological Association. (http://trails.asanet.org/Pages/Resource.aspx?ResourceID=13826)
The purpose of this activity is to help students identify and respond to biological and colorblind racisms they may hear in their everyday lives. The activity uses a pedagogical technique of chat stations where students move around the classroom to visit five different chat stations that each list one statement containing racist discourse. Students work in groups to identify if the statement is either biological racism or one of the four frames of colorblind racism and then record their answers on a worksheet. Students then individually evaluate how they would respond to the statements if they were to encounter them in their everyday lives.
Golash-Boza, Tanya, Maria D. Duenas, and Chia Xiong. 2019. “Global Capitalism, White Supremacy, and Patriarchy in Migration Studies.” American Behavioral Scientist, 1-19. doi:10.1177/0002764219842624.
Ten years after sociologist Mary Romero lamented the “ideological and theoretical gulf between immigration research and the sociology of race,” researchers have begun to bridge this theoretical gulf by centering critical race theory in studies of migration. Building on these analyses, this article argues that migration flows and immigrant incorporation are shaped not only by White supremacy but also by patriarchy and global capitalism. Insofar as migrants, predominantly from the Global South, are usually racialized as non-White, and come to work in a labor market shaped by exploitation, oppression, and patriarchy, it is critical to think of migrant flows and settlement within the context of what bell hooks describes as a White supremacist capitalist patriarchy. We draw from examples from our research with a broad spectrum of migrants and their children to elucidate how these three systems of oppression shape the experiences of migrants.
Duenas, Maria D. 2018. "Four Social Situations: A Class Activity to Teach Goffman’s Impression Management Through Inductive Learning." Class Activity published in TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology. Washington DC: American Sociological Association. (http://trails.asanet.org/Pages/Resource.aspx?ResourceID=13625)
- Listed in: “New Resources in TRAILS: The Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology.” 2019. Teaching Sociology, 47(2), pp. 174–175. doi: 10.1177/0092055X19834010
Public Writing
Duenas, Maria D. 2018. “How to Organize Your Calendar for Graduate School.” Student Sociologist 11(3):8-9
Duenas, Maria D. 2018. “Sociology Teaching Resources.” Student Sociologist 11(2):10
Duenas, Maria D. 2011. “Racial/Ethnic Self-Identifications Among Hispanic/Latino Children of Immigrants.” Nimbus 67:11
Duenas, Maria D. 2018. “Sociology Teaching Resources.” Student Sociologist 11(2):10
Duenas, Maria D. 2011. “Racial/Ethnic Self-Identifications Among Hispanic/Latino Children of Immigrants.” Nimbus 67:11
