Digital Commons Network^™

The Effect Of Change In Medi-Cal Dental Coverage On Dental Care Utilization Among Medi-Cal Beneficiaries, Min H. Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

One of the most important factors in accessing dental care is having dental insurance. For people with low incomes, Medicaid is the main source of health insurance. Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program. Adult dental services were mostly eliminated in Medi-Cal in 2009 due to the economic downturn and partially restored in 2014. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of change in Medi-Cal dental coverage, specifically the partial restoration of adult dental coverage in 2014, on dental care utilization among Medi-Cal beneficiaries. The partial restoration significantly increased the utilization rates in dental clinics from 2014 to 2017 …

The Roles Of Gender And Ethnicity In College Student Bereavement, Rachel E. Weiskittle

Theses and Dissertations

The developmental stage of emerging adulthood often poses substantial challenges that negatively impact bereavement experiences (Schultz, 2007; Tanner & Arnett, 2009). Some emerging adults may be even more at risk for adverse grief outcomes due to individual differences such as gender and ethnicity, but very few studies have investigated these variables within the population. We addressed this gap in the literature by investigating the influence of gender and ethnicity on college students’ bereavement experiences using the Hogan Grief Reaction Checklist (HGRC; Hogan, Greenfield, & Schmidt, 2001) Results indicates a significant relationship between ethnicity and levels of personal growth, use of …

Framing Ethnic Variations In Alcohol Outcomes From Biological Pathways To Neighborhood Context, Karen G. Chartier, Denise M. Scott, Tamara L. Wall, Jonathan Covault, Katherine J. Karriker-Jaffe, Britain A. Mills, Susan E. Luczak, Raul Caetano, Judith A. Arroyo

Social Work Publications

Background

Health disparities research seeks to eliminate disproportionate negative health outcomes experienced in some racial/ethnic minority groups. This brief review presents findings on factors associated with drinking and alcohol‐related problems in racial/ethnic groups.

Methods

Those discussed are as follows: (i) biological pathways to alcohol problems, (ii) gene × stress interactions, (iii) neighborhood disadvantage, stress, and access to alcohol, and (iv) drinking cultures and contexts.

Results

These factors and their interrelationships are complex, requiring a multilevel perspective.

Conclusions

The use of interdisciplinary teams and an epigenetic focus are suggested to move the research forward. The application of multilevel research to policy, …

Exploring The Dynamics Of Identity Based Conflict And The Possibility For Its Sustainable Management: A Study Of The Persistent Ethno-Religious Conflict In Wukari Area Of Taraba State, Nigeria, Jude A. Momodu, G.I. Matudi, Abiodun L. Momodu

Ethnic Studies Review

This article explores the dynamics of identity-based conflict and the possibility for its management. The study in particular focuses on the persistent ethno-religious conflicts in the Wukari Area of Taraba State, Nigeria. The real issues precipitating the persistent ethno-religious conflicts and the costs of the conflicts were clearly brought to the fore. The study proposes a new paradigm for managing social conflicts at the community level through the 'use of community solutions for community problems' which will involve the constructive participation of all of the stakeholders in the community. This paper concludes by making a proposal for the establishment of …

[Review Of] Mentoring Faculty Of Color: Essays On Professional Development And Advancement In Colleges And Universities, By Dwayne Mack, Elwood D. Watson, And Michelle Madsen Camacho, Eds., Marie Sarita Gaytán

Ethnic Studies Review

Looking back at my graduate school years, the most vital mentorship I received came in the form of sometimes brutal, but often measured honesty from a small set of trusted advisors and advanced graduate students. Their guidance was critical to my journey because they talked openly about the obstacles they faced in navigating work/life balance, spoke candidly about dealing with unsupportive colleagues, and relayed freely the challenges they encountered in their attempts to gain legitimacy as academics or scholars-in-training. In short, much like the earnest insight shared by the authors of Mentoring Faculty of Color: Essays on Professional Development and …

Ethnicity And Impressions Of Personality Using The Five-Factor Model: Stereotyping Or Cultural Sensitivity?, Andrea Kay Cooper, David Chin Evans

Ethnic Studies Review

The current research investigates whether communities use ethnicity as a cue when forming personality impressions of others. Past research has shown that dress, smiling, hairstyle, and even facial symmetry of targets produce systematic differences in personality impressions across the domains of the Five Factor model of personality. We investigated whether the stated or apparent ethnicity of groups and individuals also produce stereotypic impressions of personality. This study compared impressions across members and non-members of the target groups and examined "cue utility" i.e. whether impressions of the groups agreed with aggregated self-impressions by group members. In all, the results clearly suggest …

The Impact Of Overt And Relational Victimization On Adolescents' Well Being: Moderating Effects Of Ethnicity At The Individual And School Level, Krista Mehari

Theses and Dissertations

The sociocultural influence of ethnicity on peer victimization among youth has received little attention in the research literature. Individual ethnicity within school ethnic composition may influence the frequency of victimization and the effect of victimization on adolescents’ well being. The current study investigated these issues using a data set of 5,581 sixth grade students attending 37 schools located in four sites. Multilevel models examined the extent to which individual ethnicity within school ethnic composition influenced the frequency and impact of overt and relational victimization on changes in life satisfaction. Ethnic differences were found in the frequency of victimization, but these …

Ten Year Trends (1992 To 2002) In Sociodemographic Predictors And Indicators Of Alcohol Abuse And Dependence Among Whites, Blacks, And Hispanics In The U.S, Raul Caetano, Jonali Baruah, Karen G. Chartier

Social Work Publications

Background

The objective of this paper is to examine 10-year trends (1992–2002) in the number and type of indicators of DSM-IV abuse and dependence among Whites, Blacks and Hispanics in the U.S.

Methods

Data are from the 1991–1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey (NLAES; n = 42,862) and the 2001–2002 National Epidemiologic Study on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC; n = 43,093). Both surveys used multistage cluster sample procedures to select respondents 18 years of age and older from the U.S. household population.

Results

Increases in the prevalence of alcohol abuse between 1992 and 2002seem associated to a rise in …

"For Heart, Patriotism, And National Dignity": The Italian Language Press In New York City And Constructions Of Africa, Race, And Civilization, Peter G. Vellon

Ethnic Studies Review

"For Heart, Patriotism, and National Dignity": The Italian Language Press in New York City and Constructions of Africa, Race, and Civilization" examines how mainstream and radical newspapers employed Africa as a trope for savage behavior by analyzing their discussion of wage slavery, imperialism, lynching, and colonialism, in particular Italian imperialist ventures into northern Africa in the 1890s and Libya in 1911-1912. The Italian language press constructed Africa as a sinister, dark, continent, representing the lowest rung of the racial hierarchy. In expressing moral outrage over American violence and discrimination against Italians, the press utilized this image of Africa to emphatically …

Exchange, Conflict And Coercion: The Ritual Dynamics Of The Notting Hill Carnival Past And Present, Jennifer Edwards, J. David Knottnerus

Ethnic Studies Review

This study investigates patterns of social relationships involving the Notting Hill Carnival. Two theoretical approaches are employed elementary relations theory and structural ritualization theory - to explain how the carnival has been strategically used in very different ways by various groups to accomplish their objectives. We suggest the Notting Hill Carnival is a special collective ritual event that has played a crucial role in three quite different structured arrangements involving coercion, conflict, and exchange since its beginning in Trinidad and subsequently in London. Four time periods where distinct changes in the nature of these relationships have occurred are examined: (1) …

Ethnicity And Financial Exclusion: How Fringe Banking Has Taken Hold In Ethnic And Immigrant Neighborhoods, Marie-Christine Pauwels

Ethnic Studies Review

The latest FDIC survey (2012) on Americans excluded from regular banking services reported that between 8% and 20% of American households have either little or no relationship with a bank, savings institution, credit union, or other mainstream financial service providers. The only option for these customers, many of whom are ethnic minorities and immigrant communities, is to turn to AFS - Alternative Financial Services-the official name of fringe banking. Fringe banks like Ace Cash Express, EZLoans, or Mr. Payroll deliberately target the low- to moderate-income inner-city residents, often because these neighborhoods have become deserted by regular banks, making it difficult …

Trends In Alcohol Services Utilization From 1991–1992 To 2001–2002: Ethnic Group Differences In The U.S. Population, Karen G. Chartier, Raul Caetano

Social Work Publications

Background:  During the early 1990s in the United States, changes to the provision and financing of alcohol treatment services included reductions in inpatient treatment services and in private sector spending for treatment. We investigated trends in alcohol services utilization over the 10‐year period from 1991–1992 to 2001–2002 among U.S. whites, blacks, and Hispanics.

Methods:  Data come from 2 household surveys of the U.S. adult population. The 1991 to 1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey and the 2001 to 2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions conducted face‐to‐face interviews with a multistage cluster sample of individuals 18 years of …

The Influence Of Ethnicity And Gender On The Relationship Between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Status And Cardiovascular Responding, Alison Eonta

Theses and Dissertations

Past research has found inconsistent effects of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) status on cardiovascular responding. Inconsistencies may be explained by demographic differences in study samples. In this study, the influence of gender and ethnicity on the relationship between PTSD status and cardiovascular responding was explored. Participants’ (N = 245) heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) readings were taken throughout baseline and anger recall periods. For all gender by ethnicity groups, baseline HR was higher in participants with PTSD than without PTSD, except for Black men. Whites with PTSD had lower baseline SBP than Whites …

Historical Consciousness And Ethnicity: How Signifying The Past Influences The Fluctuations In Ethnic Boundary Maintenance, Paul Zanazanian

Ethnic Studies Review

Theorists tend to limit 'history's' role in the dynamics of ethnicity to that generally played by collective memory. By bringing the notion of historical consciousness to the fore, new possibilities may, however, emerge for discerning how history, as one cultural mode of remembering among many others, impacts both ethnicity delineations and fluctuations in boundary maintenance. In encapsulating the many forms of commemoration as well as the different dimensions of historical thinking, the contribution of historical consciousness accordingly lies on how group members historicize temporal change for moral orientation in time. By likewise signifying past events for negotiating their ethnicity and …

Chang-Rae Lee's A Gesture Lite: The Recuperation Of Identity, Matthew Miller

Ethnic Studies Review

In Chang-rae Lee's A Gesture Life, the elderly, wellrespected and fastidious Franklin "Doc" Hata begins an introspective journey toward a revitalized and reimagined identity. For Lee, this journey affords the chance to address ethnicity and immigration under a unique transnational context. The novel chronicles how an identity can be recuperated (i.e., healed) through personal and cultural reconnections to the body and to memory. I purposefully use the word "recuperate" in both the traditional and theoretical senses. "Recuperation" results from Hata's moving back into his past to grow forward in self. Simultaneously, he "heals" his self, physically and psychologically, from various …

Ethnic Politics, Political Corruption And Poverty: Perspectives On Contending Issues And Nigeria's Democratization Process, Dewale Adewale Yagboyaju

Ethnic Studies Review

It is common to interpret African politics in tribal or ethnic terms. In the case of Nigeria, the dominant political behaviour can be defined, on the one hand, in terms of "incessant pressures on the state and the consequent fragmentation or prebendalizing of state-power" (Joseph, 1991:5). On the other hand, such practices can also be related to "a certain articulation of the factors of class and ethnicity" (ibid). For a better understanding of the essentials of Nigerian politics and its dynamics, it is necessary to develop a clearer perspective on the relationship between the two social categories mentioned above and …

Memories Of Home: Reading The Bedouin In Arab American Literature, Anissa J. Wardi, Katherine Wardi-Zonna

Ethnic Studies Review

In an urban neighborhood with a large Jewish population near my home, there is an Arabic restaurant. Name, menu and ownership mark its ethnic identification, yet its politics are otherwise obscured. An American flag, permanently placed in the restaurant's window since 9/11, greets American customers with a message of reconciliation. I am one of you, it says: come; eat; you are welcome here. In a climate where "Arabs, Arab-Americans and people with Middle Eastern features, everywhere are struggling to merely survive the United States' aggressive drive to 'bring democracy to the Middle East'" (Elia 160) and where the hostility toward …

Use Of Multiple Methods: An Examination Of Constraints Effecting Ethnic Minority Visitor Use Of National Parks And Management Implications, Nina S. Roberts, Donald A. Rodriguez

Ethnic Studies Review

Understanding outdoor recreation participation and national park visitation by members of ethnic minority groups has been a particular focus of outdoor recreation researchers for the past twenty years. Attracting ethnic minorities, and understanding their recreation needs and interests, demands a multi-faceted approach and sustained commitment not only by the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) but by other resource management agencies as well.

The Tastes From Portugal: Food As Remembrance In Portuguese American Literature, Reinaldo Silva

Ethnic Studies Review

Contemporary Portuguese American literature written by Thomas Braga (1943-), Frank Gaspar (1946-), and Katherine Vaz (1955-) share a profusion of topics - with ethnic food being, perhaps, the most representative one. What these writers have in common is that their roots can be traced to Portugal's Atlantic islands - the Azores - and not to continental Portugal. They are native Americans and write in English, though their characters and themes are Portuguese American. Some of them lived close to the former New England whaling and fishing centers of New Bedford and Nantucket, which Herman Melville has immortalized in Moby-Dick and …

Artisans And The Marketing Of Ethnicity: Globalization, Indigenous Identity And Nobility Principle In Micro-Enterprise Development, Robin M. Chandler

Ethnic Studies Review

As a constructed category of human difference, 'ethnicity' has given way to 'culture' in its shared genealogy in the new millennium. Public knowledge about such phenomena as 'ethnic cleansing', debates on immigration, and the use of ethnicity as both a dependent and independent variable in research and policy are central realities in the domestic and foreign policies of many nations. The social psychology of group affiliation, nationalism, and the use of ethnicity (as well as gender) in workplace diversity, or the deployment of ethnicity in electoral politics continues to perplex and complicate human social interaction.

(In) Visible Fissures And The "Multicultural American: Interrupting Race, Ethnicity, And Imperialism Through Tv's Survivor, Sarah Hentges

Ethnic Studies Review

One of the longest running reality TV shows, with 15 seasons as of 2007, Survivor is an important text for considerations of race and ethnicity, legacies of imperialism, and the idea of the "multicultural" America. Survivor provides an evolving adventure narrative -one that relies upon the legacies of the past, like colonialism and imperialism, as well as the myths of the present and future, like tourism as a means of survival in a globalized economy. As these imperial contexts are adapted Survivor provides moments for (mostly white or white-identified) privileged, "multicultural" first-world Americans to participate in neo-colonial cultural and economic …

Binge Eating In Ethnically Diverse Obese Adolescents, Clarice K. Gerke

Theses and Dissertations

Rates of pediatric obesity in America are reaching epidemic proportions. Studies using both community and treatment-seeking samples of obese adolescents indicate that a subset engage in binge eating behaviors. This study investigated the prevalence and severity of binge eating behaviors among 86 primarily African American 11 to 17 year old adolescents seeking outpatient treatment for obesity. This study also examined the associations of stressful experiences (specifically, weight-related teasing, trauma, and daily hassles) with binge eating, as well as potential mediators and moderators of these relationships. Twenty-eight percent of the sample reported at least one episode of binge eating in the …

[Review Of] Jeff Karem. The Romance Of Authenticity: The Cultural Politics Of Regional And Ethnic Literatures, Helen Lock

Ethnic Studies Review

The "romance of authenticity" to which the title of Jeff Karem's timely new study refers is the romance between the American reading public and the regional or ethnic writer who is viewed as providing an "authentic" cultural viewpoint, often to the extent of becoming regarded as the premier representative of that culture. Karem's argument, however, is that too much "symbolic weight" (205) is often attached to the work of writers seized upon as "representative." They are asked to bear the burden of providing a vicarious and definitive immersion in a particular culture, and therefore their work is judged mostly in …

[Review Of] Joan Nagel. Race, Ethnicity, And Sexuality: Intimate Intersections, Forbidden Frontiers, Enrique Morales-Díaz

Ethnic Studies Review

One of the most significant points about Joane Nagel's text is its broad approach to the idea that ethnicity is sexualized and that the boundaries that on the surface seem to separate the two concepts are actually extremely thin and transparent. Thus, according to Nagel, "Ethnicity and sexuality are strained, but not strange bedfellows" (14). She supports this statement throughout her text, providing specific examples to argue her case. Her approach to the subject at hand also coincides with her goals for the book, "to illustrate the power and ubiquity of sexuality as a feature of racial, ethnic, and national …

In Search Of A "Singular I:" A Structurational Analysis Of Passing, Dawkins Marcia Alesan

Ethnic Studies Review

It is easy to envision the socio-cultural phenomenon of passing as a relic of a bygone era, yet passing is markedly more. From a historical perspective, "passing-as-white" is a strategy of representation through which light-skinned, white-looking, legally non-white Americans attempt(ed) to reconcile "two unreconciled ideals:" their limited opportunities as non-white people in a segregated society with their idealized life goals as full American citizens (DuBois, 1903; Candy, 1998). Recent scholarship on the phenomenon explains that passing is more than a masquerade. Passing can be accidental, incidental, or a committed lifestyle that is noted: when people effectively present themselves as other …

The Ethnic Impulse In Frank X. Gaspar's Poetry And Fiction, Reinaldo Silva

Ethnic Studies Review

Although a compelling and award-winning voice in contemporary American literature, the work of Frank Xavier Gaspar (1946-) has not received the attention it deserves. Apart from an article by Alice R. Clemente,(1) to my knowledge, there are no other scholarly publications touching upon his writings, all of which published in the course of the last seventeen years. While his work appeals to all audiences in the United States of America and even abroad -- Portugal in particular -- his poems dealing with issues related to his ancestral culture and ethnic background are the ones which have sparked the attention of …

What's In A Name? Racial And Ethnic Classifications And The Meaning Of Hispanic/Latino In The United States, Keith M. Kilty, Maria Videl De Haymes

Ethnic Studies Review

The first national census was conducted in 1790, and has been repeated at ten year intervals ever since. While census taking has been consistent, the way individuals have been counted and categorized on the basis of race and ethnicity has varied over time. This paper examines how the official census definition of Latinos has changed over the twenty-two census periods. The modifications of the official definition of this group are discussed in relation to changes in national borders, variations in methodology used for census data gathering, and shifting political contexts.

[Review Of] John Carter, Ethnicity, Exclusion And The Workplace, Bridget A. Teboh

Ethnic Studies Review

This important volume attempts to evaluate and measure the impact of equal opportunities in the National Health Service and in part, on higher education (4) (i.e. the progress of ethnic minorities through their respective career hierarchies). The major dynamics at work are the desire on the part of excluded social groups to try to gain access into other occupational areas and the success of dominant social groups in closing a particular niche. Those of us who are interested in or confronted by ethnicity in our professional spheres should read this book.

[Review Of] Andrew Pilkington, Racial Disadvantage And Ethnic Diversity In Britain, Simboonath Singh

Ethnic Studies Review

Andrew Pilkington's Racial Disadvantage and Ethnic Diversity in Britain (2003) is a comprehensive and systematic study of race and ethnicity in contemporary Britain. The approach taken is decidedly sociological but incorporates an inter-disciplinary perspective, drawing upon areas such as History, Politics, Geography and Cultural Studies. In Chapter 1 the author makes a fine conceptual distinction between core concepts such as race and ethnicity and theoretically subscribes to the more dynamic social constructionist approach to ethnicity as an acceptable alternative to previous models. Racialization is invoked as an alternative problematic of racism to alert the reader to the dangers of reification …

Thomas Braga's Portingales: A Celebration Of Portuguese American Culture, Reinaldo Silva

Ethnic Studies Review

Profoundly fascinated by and connected to the ancestral culture, Thomas Braga in Portingales (1981) believes he can best express his condition as a so-called hyphenated American if he expresses himself in English rather than in Portuguese. Fully aware that English, as opposed to Portuguese, will connect him with broader audiences so as to convey his ethnic experience, Braga's poems are subtle reminders to mainstream America of the enormous contributions of the peoples of Portuguese descent to the building of the United States of America.