MarieGuerda Nicolas:

We have reached a decision regarding your submission to Revista Interamericana de Psicologia/Interamerican Journal of Psychology, "Neighborhood Characteristics, Support, and Sociality & Exchange among Haitian Immigrants".

Our decision is to: Re-write and resubmit -- see comments.

Dr. Edil Torres Rivera
South University
edil.torres@sipsych.org
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In the article, Neighborhood Characteristics, Support, and Sociality & Exchange among Haitians, the authors conducted a study to, “describe neighborhood characteristics and experiences of Haitians living in these neighborhoods” (p. 1). The organization and clarity in writing are notable as the primary strengths of this manuscript. However, the overall purpose of the study seems to be lost in the writing, and does not read as well connected. The manuscript has some limitations that I believe need to be addressed before further evaluation:

1. Why is the current study focusing on describing community experiences of Haitian immigrants? What is the significance of seeking support from neighbors for this demographic? What does the current study add to existing literature? The authors should unpack these ideas further so as to connect the overall purpose of the current study in relation to clinical practice and direction of future research.

2. The implications do not read as specific to the results of the current study. The noted implications appear to be a laundry list of information to assess for with clients regardless of demographic information. It is unclear why the authors focus on relationships with neighbors and how building such relationships could be beneficial for Haitian immigrants. This section could benefit from further development.

3. The abstract is not specific in terms of the content of the manuscript. For instance, the conclusion of this writing claims that the findings suggest further need to understand the experiences of immigrants, while the abstract mentions nothing regarding this as one of the purposes of the current study. I recommend the authors rewrite the abstract to include the findings of the study.

4. It is recommended the authors differentiate between Black and African American. These terms are posed as interchangeable at points in the manuscript, and it is unclear if the authors are referring to racial group, ethnic group, or both. It may be appropriate for the authors to clarify an ethnic group (i.e., Haitian).

5. The manuscript needs to be edited for APA style, and several typographical errors including: missing commas; spelling out numbers throughout when unnecessary (numerals should be used to describe numbers 10 and above); varying font sizes (p. 3); lack of double-spacing.

Overall, while the topic of this paper is interesting, there are some disconnects present throughout which cause this work to read as somewhat disjointed. As stated, the purpose is not well connected or clearly defined. It is recommended the authors return to the manuscript to unpack some of the ideas presented, and connect the current study and findings to its potential significance in clinical practice


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Edil Torres Rivera, Ph.D., Editor
Interamerican Journal of Psychology
http://journal.sipsych.org/index.php/IJP