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Mixed Race Masculinity In 2020 And Beyond, Christina M. Wan

Sociology Dissertations

Studies that center mixed-race identity and the experiences of mixed-race people do not often focus exclusively on mixed-race men. Simply put, more scholarship examines mixed race femininity than mixed race masculinity (strmic-pawl 2023). This project highlights the experiences of 17 mixed-race men, focusing on answers to the research question: “How are mixed-race men navigating multiple racial identities?” This qualitative dissertation is a journey into the lived experiences of mixed-race men at the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, culture, and more. Drawing on Gloria Anzaldúa’s ([1987]2012) conceptualization of the borderlands, this project tells the stories of those who are situated at …

Black And Foreign: Haitian Immigrant Identities And Well-Being In America, Mollie Innocent-Cupid

Sociology Dissertations

Black Immigrants who come from Black majority nations must face a unique assimilation to the United States’ racial hierarchy, which places them at the bottom as a racial minority. While theoretical models address the double-consciousness of being a Black American, racial identity models fail to address the identity negotiations of this “invisible immigrant” (Bryce-Laborte 1972) minority group. Black Immigrants experience a deterioration in mental health as they increase their exposure to American society. This trend continues with each subsequent generation, causing second and third generations to display significantly poorer health than Non-Black immigrants.

Haitian Immigrants, who are considered one of …

Relationships To Alcohol Among Black Queer Women And Non-Binary People, Brittany Jean Taylor

Sociology Dissertations

Black queer experiences with alcohol use are largely still underrepresented in the sociological study of substance use. Available research indicates Black/African-American queer women are drinking at higher prevalence rates than white queer women. However, little is known about the relationships Black/African-American queer women (and non-binary AFAB people) form and maintain with alcohol. Even less is known about how relationships are formed and maintained over time. This dissertation attempts to center the relationships that Black/African-American queer women and non-binary people have with alcohol through a conceptual model that bridges anti-racist, queer, and medical sociology theoretical frameworks. Eighteen semi-structured, in-depth interviews were …

What’S Behind School Choice? Middle-Class Parents In France, Race, And Decisions Over Public Middle Schools, Anthony E. Healy

Sociology Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the role of race in school choice among French middle-class parents. It finds that institutional policies and individual practices combine to foster school segregation, which among immigrants may only be seen as racism. This qualitative study involves semi-structured interviews of 29 parents at three typical schools in the Parisian suburbs where a confluence of geographic and policy factors grants school choice impetus despite official restrictions. In building on a model from Ball (2003), the parents fall into four qualitative types in actions on school choice. Conducted amid a period of terrorist, political, and economic incidents in 2016 …

Black On Both Sides: An Examination Of Race And Class In The Ghetto Mecca, Jonathan P. Grant

Sociology Dissertations

ABSTRACT

From Spike Lee’s School Daze to The Real Housewives of Atlanta, mainstream entertainment has portrayed Atlanta as a “black mecca,” largely due to its consortium of black colleges, expansion of minority-owned businesses and growing black middle class. This title is called into question with research showing that Atlanta maintains high levels of poverty and income inequality. While a disproportionate number of blacks in Atlanta and the United States live below the poverty line, 75 percent of blacks in the U.S. report income above the poverty line. However, most research on African Americans emphasizes disadvantaged communities and many stories …

"Big Black Beasts": Race And Masculinity In Gay Pornography, Desmond Goss

Sociology Dissertations

Although there is a good foundation of feminist research at the intersection of performative labor, pornography, and sexuality, there are few (if any) published studies that examine race in porn content intended for gay men’s consumption. What’s more, existing research samples solely from corporatized porn, which is expressly produced, scripted, and directed. Bound by the conventions of the market, however, corporate pornography must abide by a consumer demand that reflects white machinations of black sexuality rather than the self-proclaimed sexual identity of African American men. Instead, I employ an exploratory content analysis of pornographic videos categorized as “ebony” on a …

Mixed Messages: The Effect Of Social Location, Parental Communication About Sex, And Formal Sexual Education On Protective Sexual Behaviors, Eryn G. Viscarra

Sociology Dissertations

This dissertation tests if a young adult’s social location determines what type of information he or she will receive about sexual health from parents and formal sexual education programs. I also test whether sexual education mediates direct associations between social location and 4 protective sexual health behaviors: condom communication, consistent condom use, delaying sexual debut, and reducing the number of lifetime sexual partners. Using the 2011-2013 wave of the National Survey of Family Growth, I look for differences in sexual education and engaging in protective sexual health behaviors among white, Hispanic, and African American men and women ages 15-24. I …

Notorious But Invisible: How Romani Media Portrayals Invalidate Romani Identity And Existence In Mainstream Society, Melanie Covert

Sociology Dissertations

The Romani are a group of individuals that have been acknowledged in newspapers, television, movies and other forms of media but remain invisible as a people world-wide. Through the use of qualitative interviews, content analysis and qualitative synthesis, this study investigates why this phenomenon occurs in the United States as well as Europe. Overall, it was found that media portrayals negatively impact the Romani’s ability to successfully acculturate, increases their experiences of prejudice and discrimination and negatively impacts their social, physical and mental health. Romani media portrayals also appropriate the Romani’s ability to define themselves to mainstream society and impacts …

The Effects Of School And Neighborhood Characteristics On Delinquency, Drug And Alcohol Issues, Early Childbearing, And Welfare Receipt, Bobette Otto

Sociology Dissertations

Little research has examined the impact of school and neighborhood racial composition on delinquency, arrest, incarceration, drug issues, early childbearing, and welfare collection. The purpose of this study is to explore these particular relationships. For this project, I use Add Health data. Based on past literature and theories concerning the consequences of racially segregated schools and neighborhoods, I hypothesized that students who attended/lived in schools/neighborhoods with a higher concentration of racial minorities would be more likely to participate in delinquent acts, get arrested, be incarcerated, have issues with drugs and alcohol, have a teenage pregnancy (or their partner did), and …

Is Smart Growth Fair Growth: Do Urban Growth Boundaries Keep Out Racial Minorities?, Elizabeth P. Ruddiman

Sociology Dissertations

As many American metropolitan areas spread outward, urban sociologists are interested in the effects of sprawl and in efforts to limit suburban expansion. To rein in urban sprawl, land use measures known as “smart growth initiatives” are gaining popularity. Urban growth boundaries are the particular type of initiative examined in this research. An urban growth boundary delineates where development is encouraged and where it is discouraged or prohibited. My first research question is whether urban growth boundaries contribute to the exclusion of racial minorities. I also explore whether urban growth boundaries affect residential segregation. I study 86 places throughout the …

Making Education Work: The Effects Of Welfare Reform On The Educational Goals And Experiences Of Tanf Participants, A. Fiona Pearson

Sociology Dissertations

After U.S. welfare was reformed in 1996, many states eliminated their educational programs and replaced them with "work-first" options. This study uses in-depth interviews and content analysis of current and proposed welfare legislation to examine how these policy changes have shaped the experiences of postsecondary students participating in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and to determine whether or not proposed policy changes in TANF reauthorization legislation meet the needs of students. To fulfill the first objective of this study, I conducted interviews with 20 TANF participants who were using enrollment in a postsecondary institution as a means …