Date of Award

5-2026

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Master of Social Work

Department

School of Social Work

First Reader/Committee Chair

Loveland, Emily

Abstract

According to California Department of Justice data, Latino drivers accounted for the largest share of any racial or ethnic group for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) arrests. Latino men are disproportionately affected by DUI arrests and alcohol-related harms in California, yet little is known about how they themselves understand and navigate life after a DUI. This study examines Latino men’s narratives of life before, during, and after a DUI conviction. Prior scholarship has largely relied on quantitative data to show that Latino men are overrepresented in DUI statistics. What remains underexplored are Latino men’s first-person, culturally grounded narratives of what happens after conviction. Using a qualitative narrative approach, the study will conduct one-time, semi-structured interviews with approximately 12–15 Latino men (age 18+) living in Imperial County with at least one DUI conviction. Interviews will be analyzed with narrative analysis in the narrative mode, attending to plot, turning points, characters, and context to construct stories and themes. The goal is to generate practice-relevant insights about how participants describe the day-to-day challenges and coping strategies of living with a DUI record and to identify leverage points for more culturally responsive prevention messages, DUI program design, and social work interventions with Latino men.

Download

  Contact Author

Share

COinS