Date of Award
5-2015
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Legacy Department
Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management
Committee Member
Dr. Gwynn Powell
Committee Member
Dr. Toni Liechty
Committee Member
Dr. Denise Anderson
Committee Member
Dr. William Haller
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the leisure experiences of undocumented Latino young adults in order to note any potential links between leisure experience and success in reaching higher education. This population faces a unique set of challenges in their transition to adulthood and their pursuit of and access to higher education. Research suggests that three common factors among undocumented young adults who have been successful in reaching higher education are extra familial mentors, positive social supports, and supplementary educational programming. This study used the three factors related to success in transition to higher education and the principles of contact theory to examine leisure experiences of undocumented young adults. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven undocumented young adults over the age of 18 who are enrolled in higher education. Due to the difficulty accessing this population, snowball sampling was used beginning with a volunteer database from the Greenville Hispanic Alliance. The data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically. Three themes emerged from the data including (1) experiences of constraint to higher education; (2) leisure constraint negotiation, leading to the three support system factors mentioned above; (3) constraint to leisure participation severely increase after high school graduation leading to a severe drop off in of leisure and recreation participation. The results support previous literature that has identified constraints this population faces when striving for higher education, as well as disadvantaged population's capacity for leisure constraint negotiation. Implications of the study and a framework for future research are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Langley, Carolyn Austin, "Leisure Experiences and Social Support Systems of Latino College Students with DACA Status" (2015). All Theses. 2111.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/2111