Running head: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 1

Annotated Bibliography

Arykah A. Howard

UTEP

RWS 1301 MWF 9:30- 10:20 AM

03/23/2018
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Abstract

In this annotated bibliography, I will discuss three main components. Which include, what a

colonia is and where they are located. As well as why colonias are such a major topic in the

psychology field at the University of Texas at El Paso.

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Annotated Bibliography

In my major of psychology, I hope to discover what the University of Texas El Paso has

done to try to fix the problem of colonias in El Paso, Texas. Also, what the psychology

department is doing to help the students attending UTEP that live in colonias. A research

question that will be answered is, how is the psychology department directly affected by the

colonias and what are they doing if they are affected? In this paper my plan on getting there is by

speaking with people in the psychology department to further my research, and not have it just

based on scholarly articles.

Research Questions

1. What will happen if the people living in colonias don’t get the help that they need?

2. What are the people that live in the areas surrounding colonias doing to help the

people that live in the colonias?

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Annotated Bibliography

Dike, S. (2014). La vida en la colonia: Oscar Lewis, the culture of poverty, and the struggle for

the meaning of the Puerto Rican nation. Centro Journal, 26(1), 172-191.

According to Dike, “La Vida” by Oscar Lewis is a very controversial book that has made

waves for decades. The book intensified a major debate over academic, poverty activists,

and political leaders, due to it’s graphic language and descriptions. Which created a

negative stereotype towards Puerto Ricans. Dike, in his journal entry explains why there

was a debate and how it was resolved, as well as what the cultures of poverty are,

explained by Oscar Lewis.

Durst, N. J. (2015). Second-generation policy priorities for colonias and informal settlements in

Texas. Housing Policy Debate, 25(2), 395-

417. http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rhpd20 Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ecn&AN=1524632&site=

eds-live&scope=site; http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rhpd20

According to Durst, more then 400,000 people live in low income, “self-help”

infrastructures called colonias. Durst main objective in his writing was to provide a

review of the research that he has done on colonias and document the changes that were

made in the past few years. He also discussed the main issues with colonias, consisting of

increases health risks, poor infrastructure, extreme poverty, and physical and social

isolation.

Durst, N. J. (2016). The nature and extent of self-help housing in Texas: From colonias to model

subdivisions. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 36(2), 145-157. Retrieved

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from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edswss&AN=0003782700

00001&site=eds-live&scope=site

According to Durst, the majority of colonia settlements have basic water and wastewater

services, but the living conditions are very poor. Many factors contribute to why the

colonias are so destitute. Such as a growing population of low-income families buying

cheap land and houses, the government not taking the proper steps to ensure that the

families living in colonias are taken care of, and the settlers ‘self- building’ their homes

improperly, because they don’t have the money to hire professionals.

Hill, S. (2003). Metaphoric enrichment and material poverty: The making of

“colonias.”. Ethnography at the Border, 141-165.

According to Hill, colonias are communities along the US-Mexico border located in

rural and peri-urban spaces along the US-Mexico border. In this piece of writing Hill

discusses what a colonia is and why they are so important to the people living in them.

Also portrayed in this article what the people in colonias face on a day to day basis and

how they overcome these obstacles.

Grinberg, E. (2011, July 9). Impoverished boreder town grows from shacks into community . In

CNN. Retrieved April 1, 2018, from

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/05/texas.colonias/index.html

According to Grinberg, things are starting to look up for the structures and residents in

the Las Lomas colonia in Starr County, Texas. What was once a place were the roads

were unpaved, house did not have doors and windows, and non running water. Now has,

a drainage system for when it rains and basics to live everyday lives like the rest of
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society. Although, it is still considered a colonia, this particular area is making great

strides to becoming a ‘normal’ settlement.

Holeywell, R. (2015, July 17). Colonias in Texas: Third world conditions, slowly improving.

Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from https://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-

matters/article/Texas-colonias-6389187.php

According to Holeywell, multiple states have colonias, which are generally one hundred

and fifty miles from the Mexico border. The state of Texas has the highest number of

colonias. Most of the people living in colonias are Mexican- American, who are

American citizens. The average age for a citizen of the colonia is twenty seven, compared

to the US which is thirty seven. The people living in colonias typically end up living in

them based on their financial status, due to the fact that almost all of the older generations

living in colonias are immigrants. Although some of the colonias lack the proper living

conditions, the residents make the best of it, and continue to live their lives, as if they

lived in a well established community.

Strickland, P. (2016, November 5). Living on the edge: Life in the colonias of Texas . In

ALJAZEERA. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/11/living-

edges-life-colonias-texas-161103082854630.html

According to Strickland, colonias are the most poverty stricken areas along the Mexico-

Texas border. A lot of the houses in colonias are shacks made of plywood, metal scraps,

cinderblocks, and tarps. The better built houses are made of brick or stucco. The average

income is for people living in colonias is well below the country average, which is about

ten thousand dollars a year. With that type of income, people can not afford to live as

lavish as the other communities in Texas.