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Mattering Versus Marginality: African American Student Perspective At Rowan University, Dante Dandridge

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to gauge the perceptions of African American students in the areas of social interaction, classroom climate, faculty interactions and administrative support and determining if these students felt marginalized or if they matter in those areas. The study also intended to find correlations between mattering and academic success as well as active campus participation with a feeling of mattering. The survey used was adapted from Lovely Durham, who condensed the survey Perceptions on Community, and handed out to a portion of the African American students at Rowan University.

A Sky Full Of Stars, Amanda Bishop

Children's Book and Media Review

Set against the backdrop of a small rural town in Mississippi during the 1950s, Rose tries to understand and find strength in the tumultuous era of the Jim Crow Laws. Rose is African American and lives with her family of sharecroppers. With her best friend Hallelujah, Rose attempts to understand what it means to be brave and to stand up for what you believe in. As racial tensions escalate throughout the South, Rose delves into civil rights protests, despite her grandmother's wishes. She wrestles with the decision to either stay in the South or join a family living in the …

Forgotten Bones: Uncovering A Slave Cemetery, Cynthia Frazier

Children's Book and Media Review

A worker was watching a backhoe dig a trench for a new sewer line when a human skull rolled out of the bucket and hit his shoe. As soon as the coroner determined that the skull was very old and that it wasn’t a part of a crime scene, bioarchaeologists were called in. This was the beginning of the third slave cemetery excavation in the Northern United States. Scientists carefully surveyed the area, found the remains of fourteen people. Through meticulous means, they determined the race, sex, health and age of the people when they died. DNA determined where the …

Let The Children March, Taylor Harris

Children's Book and Media Review

“Let the children march,” Dr. King encouraged, hoping peaceful protests would lead to change. So they did. The children marched. Police brought out high-pressure hoses and attack dogs, jailing hundreds of children in an effort to crush their protest. But courageous children kept marching, singing anthems of freedom even as they were jailed and abused. Their march made a difference. On the tenth of May in 1963, desegregation in Birmingham, Alabama began.

Maternal Responses To Children;S Exposure To Violent/Tragic News Media In A Sample Of Multiply-Traumatized, African-American, Low-Income Youth, Susanna Crowell Mcquarrie

Psychology Dissertations

Given children’s ready access to media, particularly to sensationalized media reports of violent/tragic news (Pew Research Center, 2013), it is important to understand whether and how exposure to this news affects children’s psychological functioning. Studies in the general population have found that media exposure to violence correlates positively with anxiety and posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms in children (Becker-Blease, Finkelhor, & Turner, 2008). However, little is known about the impact such exposure may have on children who are vulnerable to myriad health and mental health problems as a consequence of multiple traumas (Fowler, Tompsett, Braceiszewski, Jaques-Tiura, & Baltes, 2009). Moreover, given …

Responding To Change: Girl Scouts, Race, And The Feminist Movement, Phyllis E. Reske

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA) is to teach girls to be giving, self-sufficient, and independent in their homes and communities through volunteer work and earning merit badges. Open to all girls since its inception, the GSUSA offers Girl Scouts training in both gender-conforming and nontraditional vocations. However, during the first half of the twentieth century, segregation and domesticity was emphasized in American society. The organization began to focus less on careers, independence, and racial inclusion to preparing predominately white girls to be good wives and mothers. As Black Power and women’s liberation …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Experiences Of African American Women Superintendents In North Carolina, Latoia Aster Valentine

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of African American women superintendents in North Carolina. The theory guiding this study was Collins’ black feminist thought, as it clarifies and calls attention to the analysis of ideas and experiences specific to African American women, which relates to African American women superintendents in North Carolina. The central question of the study is “How do African American women describe their lived experiences in superintendent positions in the state of North Carolina?” This qualitative phenomenological study included six current and/or past African American women North Carolina superintendents. Data were …

“For Lack Of Knowledge, Our People Will Perish”: Using Focus Group Methodology To Explore African-American Communities’ Perceptions Of Breast Cancer And The Environment, Kaleea Lewis, Shibani Kulkarni, Swann Arp Adams, Heather M. Brandt, Jamie R. Lead, John R. Ureda, Delores Fedrick, Chris Mathews, Daniela B. Friedman

Faculty Publications

Among women living in the United States, breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death. Disproportionate racial disparities in breast cancer exist, with African American (AA) women consistently having the highest rates of breast cancer related mortality despite lower incidence. This study attends to the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) call to action recommending the identification of effective strategies for communicating accurate and reliable breast cancer risk information to diverse audiences. Using focus group methodology, this study explores how AAs perceive and decipher information related to breast cancer and its relationship to their environment. Six focus groups were conducted. …

Irish Whips And German Suplexes: Professional Wrestling And The American Immigrant And Minority Experience, Colin Rush Walker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Trends within sports and popular entertainment have long been regarded as great indicators of larger transitions in the social, political, and economic landscape of the United States. Repeatedly mined and often used for context, sports have become intrinsically linked to the broader discussions of people, their beliefs, ideals, and actions occurring in the historiography of American culture. However, one sport has regularly been passed over in these examinations. I argue that the modern day entertainment monolith of professional wrestling serves as one of the most important indicators of socioeconomic change in the history of the U.S., and that it plays …

Mckenzie, Ellen, Caroline Wheeler, Marwa Ibrahim

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

This interview features Ellen McKenzie, an African-American lesbian woman living in Portland, Maine. Having lived in Portland for almost her entire life, Ellen can provide insight on growing up in one of the only black families in her community, the intersections between race and sexuality, co-parenting children from a spouse’s previous marriage and generally navigating the world and her career as a queer woman of color. Throughout this interview, we hear a lot about her childhood and her family’s history as civil rights activists in Maine, her relationship with her spouse and and co-parenting their children with both her spouse, …

Understanding The Academic Achievement Of African American Scholars: An Intrinsic Case Study Of An Urban High School, Cluny Lavache

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

This qualitative intrinsic case study focused on the academic achievement and success of African American alumni students in an urban school district in New York City. The researcher sought to answer the following research questions: (a) How do urban, African American high school alumni perceive and describe the quality of education they received as impacting their studies and their success?; (b) How do alumni describe the social and cultural factors that contributed to and influenced the quality of education they received?; and (c) How do social and cultural factors influence their trajectory towards high academic achievement and/or success? Data were …

Understanding Academic Achievement Of African American Scholars- An Intrinsic Case Study Of An Urban High School By Cluny Lavache.Docx, Cluny Lavache

Cluny Lavache

Religion, Racism, And Ecological Stress Among African-American Families: A Qualitative Analysis Of Perceptions And Coping Strategies, Johnnie W. Jones

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Americans do not reside in what many consider now a Post-Racial society. A remarkable number of researchers found that African Americans are more likely than any other racial group to experience racism, manifested by racist attitudes and practices, which negatively affect their physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing (health). Very importantly, numerous scholarly works have examined racism and Black women qualitatively. Unfortunately, less has been known about the personal processes and meaning-making mechanisms of Black married couples and African American males in terms of how they cope with racism, and ecological stress. To address this gap, this study uses qualitative …

Racial Disparities In Breast Cancer Survival: The Mediating Effects Of Macro-Social Context And Social Network Factors, Ganga Vijayasiri, Yamile Molina, Ifeanyi B. Chukwudozie, Silvia Tejeda, Heather Pauls, Garth Rauscher, Richard T. Campbell, Richard B. Warnecke

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

ABSTRACT

This study attempts to clarify the associations between macro-social and social network factors and continuing racial disparities in breast cancer survival. The study improves on prior methodologies by using a neighborhood disadvantage measure that assesses both economic and social disadvantage and an ego-network measurement tool that assesses key social network characteristics. Our population-based sample included 786 breast cancer patients (nHWhite=388; nHBlack=398) diagnosed during 2005-2008 in Chicago, IL. The data included census-derived macro-social context, self-reported social network, self-reported demographic and medically abstracted health measures. Mortality data from the National Death Index (NDI) were used to determine 5-year survival.

Based on …

Stories Of Success: African American Speech-Language Pathologists’ Academic Resilience, Sarah M. Ginsberg

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Approximately 7.7% of the membership of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association identifies itself as being a minority in contrast with 23% of the United States population (ASHA, 2016; U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). In order to address this gap, undergraduate and graduate preparation programs need to be able to effectively attract, retain, and graduate clinicians that represent greater diversity. The academic resilience framework suggests that by learning about how students who are at-risk for failure were able to succeed, we can learn about how to improve the outcome for similar students. In this qualitative study, 11 African American speech-language pathologists were interviewed …

Increasing African American Student Success In Speech-Language Pathology Programs, Sarah M. Ginsberg

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

At this time just under 8% of the speech-language pathologists in the United States identify themselves as minorities (ASHA, 2016a) despite the efforts of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association to increase diversity. African Americans are poorly represented in the field at 3% of the membership (ASHA, 2016a). In order to identify potential mechanisms for increasing the diversity of the field, 11 African American Speech-Language Pathologists were asked to provide recommendations for improving African American student retention in speech-language pathology undergraduate and graduate educational programs. Participants offered recommendations for how to increase the success rate of African American students in speech-language pathology …

Impact Of Motivational Interviewing On Outcomes Of An Adolescent Obesity Treatment: Results From The Mi Values Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial, M. K. Bean, K. S. Ingersoll, P. Powell, Marilyn Stern, R. K. Evans, E. P. Wickham Iii, S. E. Mazzeo

Child and Family Studies Faculty Publications

The aim of this study is to examine outcomes from MI Values, a motivational interviewing (MI) intervention implemented adjunctive to obesity treatment. Adolescents (n = 99; 73% African American; 74% female; mean body mass index [BMI] percentile = 98.9 ± 1.2) were randomized to receive two MI sessions or education control. All adolescents participated in structured behavioural weight management treatment. Baseline, 3‐ and 6‐month assessments of anthropometrics, dietary intake and physical activity were obtained. Both groups had significant reductions in BMI z‐scores and energy intake and increased physical activity at 3 and 6 months (P < 0.05). MI participants reported greater reductions in 3‐month energy intake compared with controls. Participation in MI is associated with reduction in energy intake, consistent with better adherence to dietitian visits previously reported from MI Values. MI might be an effective adjunct to adolescent obesity treatment; future research is needed to determine if motivational interviewing can enhance BMI outcomes, via greater adherence to behavioural intervention.

Perceptions Of The Achievement Gap As Experienced Among Academically Proficient To High-Achieving African American Adolescents In The Rural Southeastern United States: A Phenomenological Study, Tony Antonio Dominic Roberts

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe how the achievement gap is perceived as a lived experience by African American adolescents in a southeastern United States school district. The perception of the achievement gap as a lived experience among African American adolescents is generally defined as the meaning this group ascribes to their lived experience in the academic achievement gap. The theory guiding this study was Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. Vygotsky theorized that sociocultural learning precedes cognitive development; therefore, African American adolescents’ sociocultural awareness of the gap, or the meaning or lack of definition in perceptions of …

Does A Student-Athletes' Socioeconomic Background Matter?, Carl E. Gilmore Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on college football players from low socioeconomic backgrounds (i.e., attended a Title I High School) and examines whether they are more likely to experience athletic success and influence the performance of the college football programs they attend relative to other student-athletes. The results show that, over the period 2010-2016, Title I players are more likely to be drafted or play in the NFL than other student-athletes. In addition, teams with more Title I players on their roster appear to reap some benefits. On one hand, Title I heavy rosters are associated with better conference records and are …

The Myth Of Promiscuity: Examining Black Male Sexual Narratives And Sexual Identity, Seth Young

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Black masculinity and sexuality are common topics across areas of philosophy, psychology, cultural studies and others. Yet, these topics are dedicated to the racial narrative of hypersexual Black male, the sexual objectification of Black men, and their presumed promiscuity. While such topics are important, there is little qualitative research that looks at the complexity and emotionality of African American men’s sexual experiences. Using the theoretical research on black masculinity and sexuality as its backdrop, this dissertation explores how heterosexual, African American men experience their sexuality. The study incorporates narrative inquiry and in-depth, semi-structured interviews to gather stories of five African …

Past, Present, Future: A Program Development Exploring Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (Ptss) Using Experimental Learning And Dance/Movement Therapy Based Approaches, Bria Campbell

Creative Arts Therapies Theses

The purpose of this program development project was to create a program that utilizes dance/movement therapy concepts integrated with Dr. Joy DeGruy's Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS) theory, specifically with suggestions for healing PTSS, to help African American Adolescents in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood understand, explore and heal from PTSS. The Delphi Methods was used to gather information from collaborators via individual interviews and follow up surveys. Collaborators, all experienced community leaders with African American adolescents in the Roseland neighborhood and similar neighborhoods, included one African American dance/movement therapist, one program developer, an arts and education director and an arts education …

Experiences Of African American Mothers Following Infant Death, Katina W. Jones

Nursing Theses and Dissertations

African American women have been disproportionately affected by unfavorable birth outcomes for decades. Infant mortality rates for non-Hispanic African American women have been almost twice as high as that of Caucasian women for years. The goal of this study was to: (1) understand African American mothers’ experiences with infant death and (2) discover how African American mothers manage their grief following the loss of an infant. A review of the literature revealed African American women experience infant loss at a rate of 13.31 deaths per 1,000 live births compared to 5.63 for Caucasian women and 4.75-9.22 for other racial and …

The Role Of Racial Ideology In The Relation Between Racial Discrimination And Psychological Well-Being Among African American College Students, Ciera B. Lewis

Psychology Theses

The present study examined whether two dimensions of racial ideology, specifically nationalist ideology and assimilationist ideology, moderate the link between racial discrimination and a comprehensive measure of psychological well-being (i.e., well-being, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms). The purpose was to understand how each ideology may be a risk or protective factor. The study was conducted with 339 African American college students attending a large ethnically diverse minority-serving institution. Results revealed that frequency of perceived racial discrimination was linked to poor psychological well-being. Nationalist ideology was not associated with psychological well-being outcomes and assimilationist ideology was associated with poor psychological …

Determinants Of Successful Weight Loss In Low-Income African American Women: A Positive Deviance Analysis., Elaine Seaton Banerjee, Sharon J. Herring, Katelyn Hurley, Katherine Puskarz, Kyle Yebernetsky, Marianna Lanoue

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVE: We set out to investigate the behaviors of low-income African American women who successfully lost weight.

METHODS: From an urban, academic, family medicine practice, we used a mixed methods positive deviance approach to evaluate 35 low-income African American women who were obese and lost at least 10% of their maximum weight, and maintained this loss for 6 months, comparing them with 36 demographically similar control participants who had not lost weight. Survey outcomes included demographics and behaviors that were hypothesized to be related to successful weight loss. Interviews focused on motivations, barriers, and what made weight loss successful. Survey …

Scholastic Liberation: Schools' Impact On African American Academic Achievement, Aaron M. Johnson

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

This article addresses some of the factors that contribute to low achievement observed in African American students. It is common that either schools or school districts are unable to fix the problem or they are unaware about how the beliefs and attitudes about African American students can contribute to their low performance in school. Furthermore, this article encourages school institutions to examine themselves and change school environments to align to the identities of African American students. African American students must be liberated from negative assumptions about them and to do that, individuals and the institution of school as a whole, …

Leadership From The Middle Pays It Forward: An Academic Administrator Of Color’S Career Development Narrative In Postsecondary Education, Cecil Dean Campbell

The Qualitative Report

The ongoing underrepresentation of administrators of color in higher education suggests that traditional career pathways make racial equities in administrative leadership elusive. This personal narrative explores middle-manager educational and career experiences—some often-overlooked aspects of higher education administration. Using leadership and career development theories, I draw on qualitative approaches to examine my own career journey as one academic affairs administrator of color who has experienced a history of career change, lay-off, and non-traditional moves within and across diverse institutions. Through an inductive approach for analyzing data in my career narrative, emergent themes incorporate data references “calling,” citizenship, and cultural change in …

Exploring The Lived Experiences Of African American Male Learners In Higher Education, Tara Jackson-Whitehead

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore how specific factors like college readiness, college affordability, and financial preparedness lead to college success for African American male learners attending historically Black colleges or universities located in Ohio. The state of Ohio continues to experience concerns with the low academic achievement of African American male learners. This study was explored through the implementation of three research questions: How do African American male learners perceive the effectiveness of their college readiness experiences to being successful in college? How do African American male learners perceive the effectiveness of their college affordability …

The Impact Of Teacher Motivation In Promoting Academic Achievement Among African American Male Students, Erroll Royal

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study investigated the impact of teacher motivation in promoting academic achievement among African American male students in an urban middle school in northeast North Carolina. In this quantitative study, the sample population was comprised of fifty 7th grade students and fifty 8th grade students. Eight teachers, (four science teachers, and four math teachers) both male and female were given the Teacher Efficacy Scale (see Appendix G). The results revealed that there was no relationship between teacher motivation and academic achievement among African American male students. Further research should include similar studies that would examine the impact of teacher motivation …

Article 1- "God Will Glorify Your Marriage": Marital Satisfaction And Relational Spirituality In Religious Black Couples Article 2- "A Godly Man": A Qualitative Exploration Of The Influence Of Religion On Black Masculinity And Fatherhood, Travis James Moore

Theses and Dissertations

Research suggest that Black couples tend to marry later, with less frequency, have marriages that do not last as long, and are more prone to divorce than other racial categories. However, religion may play an important role to counteract the negative marriage trends among Black heterosexual couples. As a growing subfield of family psychology this study examines the influence of religion on marital sanctification and relational spirituality among 33 Black married couples (N = 66). In-depth qualitative interviews with Black married couples were analyzed to see how religion informed and shaped perceptions of marital sanctification as well as unique relational …

The Systemic Issues Associated With Violent Crime In Predominantly African American Communities, Abraham Coles

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate the issues associated with violent crime in African American communities. The study discusses the theory of racism as a key factor in the societal conditions African Americans live in the United States. The researcher explains the methodology used. The study is a qualitative study, based on interviews of eight participants answers to twenty questions. The study discusses the research sites, who participated in the research study, and how the participants were selected. The study outlines the sampling method and why this method was chosen. The descriptive statistics of participants in the study …