Digital Commons Network^™

Being Left Behind, Not Staying Behind: A Look At College-Aged African American Males, Lauren Fortune

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

The purpose of this Ed.S. project is to examine the barriers African American males face and their resiliency factors. The information will be used to educate others about the issues faced by this group and what factors positively impact their success. The participants consisted of six African American Males who attend James Madison University and are between the ages of 18-22. A qualitative research design was used. The interviews were semi-structured with a five-question interview protocol. There were specific themes that emerged from the research that were barriers as well as resiliemcy factors. Barriers included the impact of fathers and …

Drive Toward Freedom: African American: The Story Of Black Automobility In The Fight For Civil Rights, Xavier Macy

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Looking across the 20^th century, this thesis seeks to understand the relationship African Americans developed between automobility and the fight for civil rights, filling a gap left in the historiography of both the automobile and the Civil Rights Movement. Historians of the automobile have almost exclusively focused their lens on white suburbia and the “autotopias” that Americans created, while historians of the Civil Rights Movement ignored the automobile entirely. This thesis hopes to begin to fill that void by explaining how African Americans exploited the technological system of the automobile to create forms of transportation accessible to African American …

Exploring The Factors Of Persistence For African American Senior Nursing Students, Yolanda Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

African American nursing students experience commonalities within their college experience. Often these students may be faced with challenges, barriers, and/or struggles that may place a hindrance on their success in meeting their educational goals. This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach to explore African American female nursing students perceptions of faculty-student relationships and its implications for persistence. Four African American female nursing students and two nursing faculty agreed to participate in this study. This research study offers an examination of past and present research regarding the history of African American nursing students, health disparity, social justice and diversity within the …

The Digital Divide Through The Lens Of Critical Race Theory: The Digitally Denied, Stacy Gee Hollins

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to examine African American community college students’ availability to technological resources and how that availability affects their success. In this study, technological resources include access to the internet, software, hardware, technology training, technology support, and community resources. This study included six community college professors and six African American community college students enrolled in a Midwest community college. A major tenet of Critical Race Theory, storytelling, was used to give voice to students who lack sufficient access to technological resources referred to as the digitally denied. Data from this study can create an …

A Hidden Culture Of Carelessness: A Comparative Qualitative Study Of Gender Inequality And Its Implications For African American And South African Black Women Higher Education Administrators, Dawn S. Singleton

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and compare the lived and career experiences of Black women higher education administrators in the United States and South Africa. This comparative study elucidated the women’s experiences while giving voice to Black women, whose experiences and status are often further marginalized under new managerial practices. This research used the theoretical lenses of intersectionality and carelessness, a new managerial practice within higher education, to uncover the challenges, opportunities, and contexts experienced by these women within gendered, racialized organizational structures and practices. A major finding of the research is that Black women shared …

Maternal Predictors Of School Readiness Among At-Risk Head Start Preschool Children, Rachel Chase

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Preschool has been identified as a critical period during which children who are at-risk for school difficulties are most responsive to intervention (National Institute of Mental Health, 2002; National Research Council & Institute of Medicine, 2001). Because of this, school readiness has recently become a prioritized area of interest for the educational system, the health care industry, and the federal government. However, many efforts to comprehensively prepare a child to begin school have not been successful because factors beyond the educational system (e.g., parenting/parent attributes, environmental stressors, and other demographic characteristics) have not been closely considered nor adequately researched. Therefore, …

Imagining Home: Tracing The Bond Between African Americans And Africa From 1619 To 1936, Darrell W. B. Kefentse

History Dissertations

This dissertation explores the intellectual, cultural, and political links between African American communities and the changing fortunes of Ethiopia. This I feel marks an important contribution in African American history and the broader global histories of the African diaspora. This dissertation also moves to demonstrate the multiple ways in which Ethiopia marked a conceptual beacon and point of reference in the struggle for African American belonging and achievement. In the broader sense, it incorporates the dynamic relationship between Anglo-Saxon Europeans, Africans, and those of the African diaspora. By tracing the founding of the North American colonies and the consequences of …

A Culturally-Sensitive Model Of The Development Of Child Anxiety., Jenny Marie Petrie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Explanatory models significantly enhance the understanding of etiological influences that place children at risk for anxiety, yet little is known about processes that promote resilient outcomes in children. While contextual factors influence risk and protective processes, cultural constructs have not been incorporated into existing models of anxiety and the role of culture remains obscure. The current study proposes a culturally sensitive model for understanding the etiological and mitigating processes underlying anxious symptoms in ethnic minority youth, and preliminarily tests basic components of the proposed model within a non-clinical community sample of 49 African American (AA) parent-child dyads who completed self-report …

Postemancipation Landscapes And Material Culture: The Bethel Community And The Benjamin W. Jackson Plantation, Sarah Elizabeth Loftus

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation explores the history and archaeology of a postemancipation community that developed around the Benjamin W. Jackson Plantation in Bethel, Texas, particularly concentrating on the transformation of the landscape through the rise of black land ownership and material culture collected at two households occupied by generations of the Davis family. The Davises were tenant farmers whose ancestors were previously enslaved on the plantation and members of the family continued to occupy the lands through the 1950s. In the decades following emancipation the antebellum landscape of the Benjamin Jackson plantation and the Bethel community in East Texas were slowly transformed …

The Effect Of Colorist Images On Appearance Concerns Of Black Women, Leah Boepple

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

American culture supports a colorist system that values lighter skin tones in women of color, and these norms are communicated in some part by images present in our society. Previous research has not explored the impact that colorist images may have on the psychological health and appearance concerns of women of color. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether exposure to images of Black women who more closely meet colorist beauty standards (i.e., lighter skin) would negatively impact women’s psychological health and general appearance concerns. It was hypothesized that participants exposed to colorist images of Black women …

African American Males Pursuing Stem Degrees: A Phenomenological Case Study, Dante Edwards

Middle and Secondary Education Dissertations

A disturbing epidemic in the United States is there are too few African American males that graduate from high school and go on to pursue degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) (Harper, 2012). An explanation as to why this is so may reside in their experiences while in high school. By using attribution theory as a theoretical framework, this study allowed its participants to identify those events that led them to pursue STEM degrees as undergraduates. Applying a phenomenological case study as a methodology uncovered the essence of the phenomenon of four African American males’ lived experiences in …

The Role Of Fathers On Masculinity And Obesity In African American Adolescent Males, Ailton S. Coleman

Doctoral Dissertations

African American adolescents suffer higher rates of obesity than European American adolescents. Greater prevalence in obesity among African American adolescent males is a particular concern for public health as adolescent obesity is linked to an increase in later life co-morbidities and earlier mortality, which African American adult males already experience at higher rates.

The goal of this dissertation was to understand socio-behavioral factors associated with obesity in African American adolescent males. To accomplish this goal, three different studies were conducted, including a systematic literature review. The systematic review examined research that focused on paternal influences on adolescent weight status.

Study …

Does Change In Physical Activity Predict Mental Health Outcomes In Pre-Adolescent African American Girls?, Sarah A. Burkart

Masters Theses

Pediatric obesity is a significant clinical and public health issue for African American girls in which low physical activity (PA) is a contributor. The mother-daughter relationship (MDR) has rarely been examined in the context of improving health behaviors such as PA and mental health outcomes (MHO) within this population. PURPOSE: To examine if change in PA following a 12-week culturally-tailored mother-daughter PA intervention predicts change in MHO variables (self-esteem, depressive symptoms, body image dissatisfaction) and MDR in pre-adolescent African American girls. METHODS: Mothers (n=27; age=36.0±17.0 years; body mass index (BMI)=34.0±7.4 kg/m²) and daughters (n=27; age=9.0±1.4 years; BMI=20.3±5.7 kg/m …

Hope Among Resilient African American Adolescents, Jessica Briana Mcclintock

Dissertations (1934 -)

African American youth have historically been disproportionately affected by an array of environmental stressors that have put them at higher risk for poor adjustment outcomes (Adams III et al., 2003; Mcloyd, 1990). Despite their hardships, not all of these youth fall victim to negative environmental influences (Miller & MacIntosh, 1999). Many exceed expectations and their lives take positive trajectories that lead to positive adaptation (Hunter, 2012; Miller & MacIntosh, 1999). This positive adaptation in spite of significant risk is referred to as resilience (Cicchetti, 2010). While the importance of resilience has been well documented in European Americans, the majority of …

Dreams Deferred: A Critical Narrative Analysis Of African American Males In Pursuit Of Higher Education, Martinique Starnes

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Many studies have been conducted on the achievement gap between Caucasian and minority students (Bankston & Caldas, 1998; A. Brown & Donnor, 2011; Howard, 2008; O’Conner, Lewis, & Mueller, 2007; Osborne, 1999), as this gap has been a persistent problem for decades. However, despite more students of color gaining access to institutions of higher education, there is still a severe gap in college graduation rates (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2011), with African American males being the least likely group to be found on college campuses (Dunn, 2012), and thus, possessing the lowest college graduation rate. St. Peter Claver …

Sacred Spaces: A Narrative Analysis Of The Influences Of Language And Literacy Experiences On The Self-Hood And Identity Of High-Achieving African American Female College Freshmen, Michelle Flowers Taylor

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Late-adolescent African American students face unique difficulties on their journey to womanhood. As members of a double minority (i.e., African American and female) (Jean & Feagin, 1998), certain limiting stereotypes relevant to both race and gender pose challenges to these students. They must overcome these challenges in order to excel within the various and changing environments they move through on a daily basis (hooks, 1981, 1994). Within the context of social justice, this dissertation provides insight into the role that language and literacy practices play to help enable the positive and affirming development of self-hood of African American college freshmen. …

Tongues Untied Truth Revealed: Body Image, Social Media, Identity Development, And Meaning-Making In Overweight And Obese Black Gay Msm, Amari Ja-Lynn Enam

Dissertations

This phenomenological study explored the meanings attributed to internalized messages about body image within the context of identity development from the perspectives of overweight/obese men of African descent (OMAD) among a group of 6 men who have sex with men (MSM). I was interested in those messages that have been incorporated, adopted, or integrated into OMAD-MSM’s sense of self. Informants shared body image-related experiences from interactions with family, friends, dating/sex partners, and the media/social media.

Academic literature has explained identity development processes among African Americans through various lenses but research has not adequately explored the convergence of multiply oppressed social …

Swamp Surburbia And Rebellion Against A Culture Of Crime: The Birth Of Black Skateboarding In The Big Easy, Aubrey Edwards

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This research addresses a significant gap in previous work on the formation of urban and suburban black skateboarding subcultures. By using data generated through oral histories, photographs, mapping, and literature review, this study explores why black youth initially began skateboarding in New Orleans in the mid-2000s. In contrast to the scholarly literature and local popular perception, this visual anthropological study aims to provide an alternative origin story of black skateboarding in Post-Katrina New Orleans, and to examine the continuing popularity of the sport within the young black community.

Susceptibility For Hepatitis B Infection Within The United States Population With Special Focus On African American Females., Dajuana Phillip

Public Health Theses

In 2010, the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected 1.2 million people in the United States, many of whom were unaware of their infection (CDC, 2010). The available research on HBV infection is predominately among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islander. HBV infection and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection share similar modes of transmission. Very little HBV research has been dedicated to the African American females; who accounted for 29% of the new HIV cases among young adolescents in 2010 (CDC, 2010). Due to the common mode of transmission of HIV and Hepatitis B many persons at risk for …

Gendered Racism And The Moderating Influence Of Racial Identity: Implications For African American Women?S Well-Being, Justin L. Williams

Psychology Dissertations

Intersectionality theory has been put forth to explain how gender and race dually impact and act upon African American women (e.g., Settles, 2006; Thomas et al., 2008). Although there is a growing body of literature on the negative effect that perceived racism has on Black/African Americans well-being and that sexism has on women’s well-being, there is a paucity of research on the intersection of racism and sexism (i.e., gendered racism) and its influence on African American women’s well-being (e.g., Perry, Pullen, & Oser, 2012; Thomas et al., 2008). To address this gap in the literature, the current study examined gendered …

Promoting Oral Health Knowledge In African American College Students, Terri Huff-Simmons

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Objective. The primary aim was to assess African American college student's knowledge of oral health and healthcare access.

Methods. The project was a quantitative descriptive study using a pre and posttest design. A pre questionnaire containing items regarding oral hygiene and oral health based on the recommendations of the American Dental Association (ADA) as well as questions about access to oral healthcare was distributed to African American college students to measure their knowledge. A demographic questionnaire was distributed. Students participated in a 20-30 minute oral health educational program. A post-test was given 4-6 weeks after the initial pre-test.

Results. …

A Phenomenological Study: African American Clergy Response To Violence Against Women, Milicia Antoinette Tedder

Doctoral Dissertations

Violence against women and religious participation are two phenomena that are pervasive across many African American communities. African American women experience intimate partner violence (IPV) at a rate higher than the majority of racial groups in the U.S. Although many African American women highly depend on their faith and church to navigate their experiences with IPV, scant attention has been given to the role that Black clergy have in responding to IPV against women. As a result, clergy leaders’ responses to IPV were examined in this study. This study utilized a phenomenological method to understand African American clergy leaders’ responses …

Examining African American And Caucasian Female Proteges' Perspectives About The Relationship Of Their Mentors' Performance Of Mentoring Functions And Race, Lisa D. Summerour

Ed.D. Dissertations

This researcher examined the perspectives of African American and Caucasian female protégés regarding the five career development mentoring functions of sponsoring, coaching, protecting, challenging, and exposing; and the six psychosocial mentoring functions of role modeling, acceptance, counseling, friendship, socializing, and parenting to examine African American and Caucasian female protégés’ perspectives on their mentors’ mentoring behaviors. The researcher also examined the perspectives of African American and Caucasian female protégés regarding the importance of race in their mentoring dyads. The results indicated that no statistically significant differences existed between the African American and Caucasian female protégés within the five career development mentoring …

Assessing The Nutrition Knowledge And Body Image Perceptions Of Minority Freshman At East Tennessee State University, Michele L. Becerra

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The health status of African American and Hispanic communities is in need of intervention. These minority groups have a health disparity gap from other races. The incidences of hypertension, diabetes, and obesity are greater in the African American and Hispanic communities. There is a need to continue addressing the specific health issues, along with ideas of body perception, plaguing the African American and Hispanic populations in the United States. Such disparities typically include those who follow “western” diets, have a lack of exercise, are predisposed to chronic illness, as well as have a need for continuous education of the subject …

Experiences Of African American Female First Generation College Students, Ashley Green

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenology study was to gain a better understanding of the experiences of African American, female, first generation college students attending a large, predominantly White research university and to understand what motivates them. The major research question guiding this study was: How do African American, female, first generation college students (in good academic standing) describe their college experience? The researcher asked the participants to discuss their challenges, how they responded to challenges, sources of motivation, and factors that contributed to their success in college.

Through individual, face to face, interviews with 10 African American, female, FGC …

Circle Of Care And Hope: An Adaptation And Empowerment Mental Health Healing Model For Blacks, Judy Edvaline Vansiea

Theses and Graduate Projects

PURPOSE- To engage and empower Black people with a "Circle of Care and Hope" that helps them to overcome their unequal access to effective mental health treatment. PROJECT DESCRIPTION- Black people in the United States have experienced unequal access to effective mental health care treatment due to centuries of oppression by the dominant Caucasian culture in the United States. This history has caused many Black people to distrust the purely Western and Caucasian-dominated model of mental health treatment. In response to this problem the author has adapted and integrated three healing modalities: multiple Western, theoretically-based therapies; culturally appropriate practices for …

Race/Ethnic Disparities In Treatment Patterns Among Newly Diagnosed Primary Prostate Cancer Patients In Florida, Vonetta L. Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Study Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine whether there were differences in patterns of care between African American (AA) and Non-Hispanic White (NHW) men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer in Florida, and how the treatment patterns compare with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) initial treatment recommendations.

Materials and Methods: This retrospective cohort study utilized data from the Florida Cancer Data System (FCDS), to identify incident cases of prostate cancer diagnosed between 1982 and 2012. The variables of interest included: race/ethnicity, marital status, age at diagnosis, stage at diagnosis, tumor grade, year of diagnosis, and treatment modality …

Good To Great: A Case Study Of An African American Literacy Coordinator’S Role In Transitioning A School From Dependence On A Scripted Reading Program To Balanced Literacy, Kimberly A. Chase

Dissertations

This study considers the change process and the impact of race on the implementation process as a Literacy Coordinator transitioned an elementary school from Open Court to balanced literacy. A retroactive case study was used to examine the Literacy Coordinator’s actions and decisions, teachers’ perspectives, and the effects of race on the implementation. Findings suggested that the roles of the Literacy Coordinator involved duties that pull from the specific responsibilities of a reading specialist, literacy coach, reading educator, and an administrator. Furthermore, teachers reported a change in their practices and beliefs due to participation in the implementation process. Finally, findings …

Exploring Trends In Disproportionality Of Emotional Disturbance Classification After The Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (Ideia), Ghirmay Alazar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study was to systematically investigate the trends of disproportionate representation of African American students in special education when compared to Caucasian special education students in emotional disturbance category as well as the trends in disproportionality of emotional disturbance classification after the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA). African American students in special education are disproportionately represented when compared to Caucasian special education students but uncertainty persists regarding the nature and the extent of the problem (Aud et al., 2010; Countinho & Oswald, 2002; Skiba et al., 2006, 2008). This study employed a mixed methods multiple …

No Rush To Motherhood: The Lived Experience Of African American Never Pregnant Sexually Active Female Teens, Monique Jenkins

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of sexually active never pregnant African American female adolescents living in an underserved neighborhood including discussions on their thoughts about ways other teens can similarly avoid pregnancy. The study was conducted using a Hermeneutic phenomenological qualitative approach as described and outlined by Merleau-Ponty as well as the van Manen technique to analyze data obtained in this study. This study contributes to the nursing literature and was conducted to understand the essence and meaning of pregnancy avoidance as experienced by sexually active, never pregnant African American female teens within the context …