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Junior David Duncan studies
physiological effects of
immigration policies
Victoria Traxler
Elon News Network | @elonnewsnetwork
D avid duncan,
A JUNIOR at Elon
University, is the
recent recipient of
the Leadership Prize — a
scholarship grant of $10,000
awarded to students who
apply their intellectual and
leadership skills toward
problem solving.
“The unique component
of the Leadership Prize is to
create some type of solution
or sustainable plan,” Duncan
said. “So the goal really is
to educate but also produce
something of value on behalf
of these students.”
Duncans adviser, Carmen
Monico, an assistant professor
of human service studies, has
been a strong advocate for his
undergraduate research.
“Undergraduate research
is an exploration of a topic of
interest that students engage
in where they have the oppor
tunity to actually learn about
the research process, includ
ing all the way from how you
formulate a research question
to actually writing a report,”
Monico said.
Defining his research
Duncan’s research focuses
on examining the deportation
threat of Hispanic immigrant
college students and exam
ining how that threat affects
their mental health and cop
ing mechanisms.
“I want to address that
many institutions that don’t
have a large population of
these types of students often
times don’t understand or
realize the depth of anxiety
or depression or trauma that
these students might be en
during,” Duncan said.
Duncan found inspiration
for his research when he was
on a mission trip in Puerto
Rico during his junior year of
high school.
“We stayed there as a class
and we helped paint. We
helped some type of educa
tional youth service and we
went to senior citizen homes
and helped them. It was just all
around a really good opportu
nity for us,” Duncan said.
Duncan found himself
drawn to the culture, history
and values of the Hispanic
people and had been pro
foundly impacted by his expe
rience there.
“My life and my purpose
and my goal isn’t just for my-
selft’ Duncan said. “In some
way, I was like, ‘Okay, I want
to work with Hispanic people
and I need to give back some
how,’ and again at that mo
ment I didn’t know what that
looked like.”
Duncan’s inspiration came
during his first Winter Term
at Elon while taking an “An
thropology of Babies” course.
Duncan was searching for a
way to combine his interests in
PHOTO COURBYfBii
Junior David Duncan during his high school trip to Puerto Rico that inspired him to conduct research regarding the physiological eKects of immigrations policies on immigrant children.
to make a big deal aboutfii
research because it’s reaHym
about the fame of the resear:
but the product that it n
produce.”
Monico worked withfe
can to establish a procediust
ensure the protection of ps-
ticipants’ identities andetlia
research.
“One of the things that*
talked about early in the p
cess is precisely that he’si
going to put in danger if
participants and ifinanyw
we believe that is happenij
we would pull back,” Mom
said. “He puts the safety#
participants ahead ofhisrw.
goals as a scholar whichiijil \
of his career goals, andlkc'
noble in one word.”
Monico describes Dt)
can’s demeanor and alls'
tion to his research pa
ticipants as authentic a):
highly responsible.
“He’s very empathe&^t
people he’s going to be W
viewing which makes li:
much more prompt to actt
ly establish rapport with ths
because he comes throi^
as an authentic person
Monico said.
Duncan emphasizes
importance placed on in
comfortability of rest
participants. He hij
wanting to make sure the pJi"-
ticipants feel safe throughou
the interview rather thanfli|
erced or used.
“A lot of researchers go ^
talk to a population and tha
leave and never really coiS
back to give them an ?
date on the research or p
out what they’re doing tioi
Duncan said.
Duncan hopes to proni
a basis for other studenK^^
build on his research
politics, law and children, and
found the term ‘Anchor Ba
bies.”
This term used to describe
children of immigrants who
were born on US. soil and
attained their citizenship that
way.
“The term is like they ‘an
chor’ their family to the states,
but that’s not true,” Duncan
said. “A lot of times those par
ents have to make a decision
on whether they keep the
child in the states or take them
back to their home country^
As a psychology major and
Spanish minor, Duncan hopes
to utilize his research to alert
mental health professionals,
higher education profession
als and legal counsel about
these issues.
“Those three things are
very important so hopeful
ly we’ll be able to educate
[professionals] on the expe
riences of these students,”
Duncan said.
Duncan said this psy
chological dynamic piqued
his interest of the mental
health aspects of the effects
of immigration and of being a
first-generation student from
a Hispanic family.
“What we’re seeing is that a
lot of these students, on top of
the normal college stress that
we all endure, are also hav
ing to deal with issues back at
home,” Duncan said.
The effects of an uncertain
future in terms of citizenship,
visas and family life provide
additional mental stress for
immigrants or students of im
migrant families.
“The future is uncertain
for them, the present is uncer
tain, and so that sort of weird
state of uncertainty produces
a lot of enduring traumatic
experiences,” Duncan said.
“That’s sort of what we want to
THE GOAL REALLY
IS TO EDUCATE BUT
ALSO PRODUCE
SOMETHING OF
VALUE ON BEHALF
OF THESE STUDENTS
^1 DAVID DUNCAN
LEADERSHIP PRIZE RECIPIENT
n L isi L .u . .. . . AliCMANDEa I STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Duncan poses by Global Neighborhood where flags of international students are hung around the
neighborhood.
address, is giving them a voice
to talk about those experienc
es but also alerting higher ed
ucation professionals, alerting
mental health professionals
to provide accurate resources
for them.”
Finding relevance with
DACA
Monico said that some of
the research revolves around
those who are DACA (De
ferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals) beneficiaries.
“When David came to me,
I said, ‘So if you’re interested
in migration, let’s look at what
is happening right now and
who are the most affected,”’
Monico said.
According to Monico
DACA beneficiaries most
often arrived in the Unit
ed States as a result of the
desperate decisions of their
parents regarding economic
conditions or violence in their
countries of origin.
It’s the fear of deportation
and how that impacts their
lives, and in this case, because
they came as children, they
have a conscious of being who
they are,” Monico said.
The research is coinciding
with prominent controversy
regarding immigration laws
and DACA reformation with
in the country.
Its important because it’s
timely, because it speaks to an
issue of social justice,” Monico
said. “I think David has actu
ally been able to think about
the psychological impact of
that, not so much on every
body, but on the DACA stu
dents.”
Monico believes the re
search is widespread and ap
plicable to problems faced by
DACA and first-generation
college students.
“It’s not just
that
-^v uiai were
looking at an impact on pol
icy, supporting the efforts of
all of those who are trying to
get the DACA act passed, but
also at administrators at the
college level to think about
how to better support DACA
students while they are at their
universities and colleges,”
Monico said.
Protecting participant
identities
One important aspect of
Duncan’s research is protect
ing the identities of the par
ticipants. Duncan has been
working with the Institutional
Review Board (IRB), a type of
committee that provides eth
ical and regulatory oversight
of research involving human
subjects.
I have to make sure that
the identities of the partic
ipants are concealed at all
times, even at the cost of the
research itself^’ Duncan said.
Thats why I’ve sort of kept
it to myself that I don’t want
ward and continue
into this topic of the
logical effects of immigration
“If I could just sort of pij
duce and publish and keep,
name out of it I would, i*"
can said. “It’s really just a
how can we help th^e
dents because thats the
important part.’
Monico believes
character and the wot
doing is important an
have an impact on research^
the future. ....
“He’s doing great W
I’m supporting him W ,
erything he’s set to
been able to do it. I m ,
he has passion for ^
doing. He’s going to go
wayr Monico said.