Developing Social Capitals Latino Immigrants in Three Rural Missouri Communities

Presentation made at Latinos in the Heartland (8th : 2010 : St. Louis, Mo.) and published in the annual conference proceedings.The current study employs the sustainable livelihoods strategies model to examine the integration process in three rural communities in Missouri. Community development specialists and rural economists have widely used SLSM, which has evolved since original development in the 1980s. The framework represents the relations among several variables (e.g., human capital, social capital, economic capital) to explain people's livelihoods. This presentation will focus on the development of social capitals among Latino newcomers. Participants were Latino adults, 24 men and 26 women, who resided in one of three rural communities in different areas of the state. Focus groups interviews in Spanish were conducted with males and females separately in each community. The presentation will describe the categories that emerged from the analyses related to the process by which Latino newcomers build relationships within the community. Specifically, we highlight the common venues for developing relationships and accessing resources within the community. Implication of the findings for community building will be discussed