Social Justice Commons^™

The Transnational Semiotics Of “Policing Murals”: How Representations Of Police Power In Murals Conceal And Reveal State Violence, Vivian A. Swayne

Doctoral Dissertations

Murals tell visual stories that legitimize/delegitimize formations of state power, conceal/reveal state violence, and attract collective interface from diverse parties. Scholars, artists, and organizers have studied murals as an aesthetic medium, tools for social movements, affective memorials, and episodes of conflict in the public space, but patterns and distinctions in the local, global, and digital duration of policing murals requires critical analysis. Policing murals refers to (1) murals made by police (and/or their advocates) to reproduce its preferred representations and (2) the censorship and control of unauthorized murals. Murals painted on police departments share semiotics globally, all of which conceal …

Reconciled To Leisure: The Relationship Between Christianity, Leisure And Restorative Justice, Hannah Janzen, Paul Heintzman

Movement and Being: The Journal of the Christian Society for Kinesiology, Leisure and Sports Studies

This paper seeks to explain the mutually reinforcing relationship between leisure and reconciliation from a Christian perspective. The paper begins by briefly defining the holistic approach to leisure from a Christian perspective, which will be the definition of leisure that is used throughout the paper. Christian teachings on reconciliation will then be outlined, both between the individual and God and between individuals. Restorative justice, the specific example of reconciliation that will be used in this paper, is defined as a process of justice that seeks to repair the harm that was caused through a crime.The paper then describes how leisure …

From Academia To Action: The Aligncare Journey In Pet Health Equity, Michael J. Blackwell Dvm, Mph, Candice Hinkle Mba, Katy H. Carpenter, Linda Daugherty Mpa, T' Fisher, Kayla Anderson Mssw, Jamie Clanin Dvm, Brittany Permaul Mph, Beth Fagiola

Social Work Publications and Other Works

Imagine a future where every family, regardless of their financial situation, has access to the veterinary care their beloved pets need, along with essential services such as housing and transportation. In this vision of aligned communities, pets are recognized as integral family members, and their well-being is vital to the entire family's health and happiness. AlignCare offers a pathway to this future by providing a comprehensive, community based One Health system that aligns resources and services to support families holistically.

This report details the research, development, and testing of AlignCare by the Program for Pet Health Equity at the University …

Chronic Inequities: Environmental & Structural Racism During Covid-19 And Hurricane Laura Disaster Recovery, Tomeka M. Robinson, Sabrina Singh

Critical Disaster Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the realities of systemic health inequities within the United States. While the virus has severely impacted the entire country, people of color bear the brunt of this pandemic, from surges of COVID-19 cases in their communities to spikes in unemployment rates. Simultaneously, citizens are dealing with the impacts of natural disasters such as hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. The common denominator concerning these two stressors is that they can be exacerbated by institutional racism. This can be seen in the case of a small city in Southwest Louisiana, namely, Lake Charles, which has become a …

Book Review: The Shaming State: How The U.S. Treats Citizens In Need, Steve Matthewman

Critical Disaster Studies

Salman’s book centers two different constituencies, in two different locations, in the 2010s, who have been impacted by two different disasters. The first group are Iraqi refugees who have been resettled in Wayne County, Michigan. Trying to start again over half a world away, they are trapped in the transit lounge of life, never able to move on, never able to properly belong. They found a state in recession, the automobile industry collapsing, the city of Detroit bankrupt. Their particular county had higher unemployment than the state’s average and a poor median income as well. Economically speaking, ‘Michigan fared worse …

If Not Us, Then Who?: Qtbipoc Graduate Researchers’ Experiences Researching Qtbipoc Communities, Vardaan Dua

Masters Theses

Experiences of minority graduate student researchers, specifically graduate student researchers that identify as queer and/or trans and Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (QTBIPOC) have been largely underrepresented in current scholarship. Utilizing reflexive thematic analysis and semi-structured interviews, in the current study we explored the experiences of 20 QTBIPOC graduate student researchers who conduct QTBIPOC research. Results revealed five thematic patterns, including: (a) recognizing, resisting, and reforming systemic oppression within academia; (b) encountering interpersonal oppression within academic contexts; (c) personal well-being and the role of QTBIPOC research; (d) relations among one’s personal identities and engagement in QTBIPOC research; and …

Interrogating Households In Anticipation Of Disasters: The Feminization Of Preparedness, Chika Watanabe, Celie Hanson

Critical Disaster Studies

It is now a maxim among scholars and policy-makers alike that disaster preparedness needs to involve community-based approaches in order to be effective. These include preparedness strategies in the household. But how do disaster preparedness policies and public discourses define “the household” in the first place? In this article, we explore how particular gendered notions of the household are reproduced in disaster preparedness policies and activities in Japan and the UK. Drawing on historical and cross-cultural analyses, we suggest that household preparedness efforts place the burden of labor on people coded as women—a phenomenon we call “the feminization of preparedness.” …

Access To Veterinary Care & Animal Welfare Organizations, Linda Daugherty Mpa, Sue Neal Dpa

Social Work Publications and Other Works

The purpose of this study is to better understand the challenges animal welfare organizations face around access to veterinary care and how these challenges impact the animals in their care. The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement (AAWA) and Program for Pet Health Equity (PPHE) at the University of Tennessee joined forces to conduct a survey of shelters and rescues at the national level. This study grew out of a project completed for the California Access to Care Working Group (CACWG) by PPHE that explored challenges experienced by animal shelters in California due to inequitable access to veterinary care. The CACWG …

Greenwashing “Brown Gold”: A Critical Analysis Of Anaerobic Digesters And California’S Neoliberal Environmental Programs In Wisconsin’S Dairyland, Sarah Emily D'Onofrio

Doctoral Dissertations

Large dairy farms, also known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), have turned to anaerobic digesters as the industry is increasingly pressured to find ways to lower their greenhouse gas emissions. Digesters are machines that turn animal waste from CAFOs into electricity and fuel which are then sold as “credits” in California’s market based climate change mitigation programs such as cap and trade and the low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) program. However, this dissertation not only challenges the assertion that digesters are “green,” but also that these programs are doing what they claim to do in a deregulated and re-regulated …

Indoctrination Into Hate: The Development Of Racial Neuroses Resulting From Racist Socialization Under White Supremacy, Aliya Kathryn Benabderrazak

Haslam Scholars Projects

Racial-ethnic socialization is critical to our unique and individual conceptualization of reality. This socialization occurs explicitly and implicitly across the lifespan and has significant implications for one’s behavior, social relationships, and ideological beliefs. Two of the most notable and impactful spheres in which racial-ethnic socialization occurs are within the family unit and schooling contexts. The treatment and teachings within these two spaces shape our social and psychological development. The first part of my project considers the neurosis of Whiteness as a psychological consequence of racist socialization within school settings and primarily White communities—as a macro example of the family unit—to …

Book Review: Under The Weather: Reimagining Mobility In The Climate Crisis., Raymond Murphy

Critical Disaster Studies

Under the Weather: Reimagining Mobility in the Climate Crisis is an insightful, important book that reports on a fine-grained investigation Sodero made of the consequences and response to the disasters resulting from Hurricane Juan in Nova Scotia in 2003 and Hurricane Igor in Newfoundland in 2010, with comparisons to Hurricane Sandy in New York, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, the 1998 ice storm in northeastern North America and the Icelandic ash cloud. One original feature is the focus on mobility, how indispensable it is in modern societies, how it is disrupted by extreme weather, and …

Digital Inclusion In The Lis Literature: An Intersectional Analysis, Hannah Nichole Fountain

Masters Theses

Digital inclusion refers to the conditions and degrees of access to information and communication technologies (ICT) among individuals and communities. This includes the variable determinants and outcomes associated with ICT connectivity, as well as efforts to mitigate digital exclusion. With the proliferation of ICT in the past 30 years, digital inclusion (and related concepts like the digital divide and digital literacy) has been a major focus of policymaking and public service efforts, with libraries serving as leaders in offering free public ICT and digital skills training. Digital inclusion research has commonly relied upon sociodemographic variables to survey determinants of …

For The Poor, It Was Just Friday: The Implicit Focus On Middle-Class Habitus In Conceptualizing Disaster, Amy Sorensen, Shelley Koch

Critical Disaster Studies

The importance of the academic study of disaster is in its potential application to policy and practice in times of dire circumstance and human suffering. In this paper, we situate the Covid-19 pandemic as an exemplar for an exploration of “disaster” using a framework that connects sociological theory and critical disaster studies. We use a Bourdieusian approach to situate the re-stabilization of the middle class habitus as implicitly central to disaster mitigation strategies. This theoretical approach illuminates the disconnect between critical disaster studies and on-the-ground disaster recovery approaches. It is this disconnect that leads to the disparate impact of disaster …

Genealogy Tells: Informing Health And Aging Policies Using East Tennessean Older Women's Family Histories, Perceptions, And Experiences Of Health Inequity, Heather Davis

Doctoral Dissertations

Older women face unique health inequities challenges. This study aims to provide an understanding of older women’s perceptions and situated experiences regarding the gendered health inequities they face and the social determinants (SDH) thereof. It examines how these health inequities are situated in older women’s genealogical (familial) and geographical health and mortality outcomes histories and how their perceptions and experiences of health inequities and their familial mortality outcomes histories are characterized by the geopolitical and social norms in which they live. The purpose of this project is to present policy and decision-makers with insights about and recommendations from older women …

Covid-19 Renters And Housing Instability: Combatting The Eviction Epidemic During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Knox County, Tennessee, Samantha B. Myers-Miller

Masters Theses

COVID-19 has exacerbated preexisting inequities in Knox County, Tennessee. The disruption to employment caused by the pandemic has imposed a great financial burden for many individuals who rent housing. The primary relief that was afforded to renters during the pandemic was enabled by a federal eviction moratorium order, where covered renters could defer payments to avoid eviction while the moratorium was in effect. Some additional rental assistance was provided to local governments through the federal CARES Act pandemic relief package. Despite these provisions, many people experienced housing crises in Knox County, where over 3,000 renters have faced eviction filing from …

Pandemics And Power: An Applied Analysis Of American Inequality, Megan A. Engle

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Pandemics represent both social change and continuance. While these public health crises bring about seemingly new issues, they also have a unique ability to reveal pre-existing problems within our society and perpetual social processes. Understanding historical patterns related to public health crises provides greater insight on the ongoing pandemic and American policy needs. Research reveals that, both historically and presently, systemic social injustices and economic inequalities are inflamed by such events. As a result, pandemics disproportionately affect minority groups in several interconnected ways. In examining public health theory, past pandemics, and the present moment, the effects of both power disparities …

Beyond Compliance: Critical Perspectives In Supporting Institutionally Underserved Survivors Of Sexual Violence, William A. Martinez

Masters Theses

Interpersonal and sexual violence on college campuses is rampant. While federal legislation exists to support survivors of interpersonal violence in higher education via the Violence Against Women Act, Title IX, and Clery Act, support specifically for institutionally underserved survivors of interpersonal violence (IUS) tends to be limited in nature. Because of this deficit, institutionally underserved students and survivors of interpersonal violence are often left unsupported by interpersonal violence prevention staff members (IVPSM). Through semi-structured interviews, this critical multisite case study collected information on the perceptions of IVPSM on IUS support and resources, identified gaps in education on how to respond …

Justice Involvement During Covid-19 And The Possibility Of Transitional Justice, Rachel A. Ponder

Doctoral Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced numerous unprecedented political, social, and economic challenges that resulted in unprecedented responses by policy makers. As result, existing inequalities and injustices rooted in a dense history of structural and institutional violence were uncovered and exacerbated. As of June 2021, at least 398,627 people in prison tested positive for COVID-19 and at least 2,715 had died (The Marshall Project 2021). In the United States, the inmate population is disproportionately made up of poor, people of color. This is a pattern that is rooted in the country’s long history of racism and white supremacy. This cycle continues as …

Infrastructures Of Trust And Care In Latin American Migrant Communities, Lily Hardwig

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

A Pilot Study On Counselor Trainees’ Social Justice Identity Development And Effective Pedagogy In A Multicultural Counseling Course, Shelby Messerschmitt-Coen, Gayle Garcia, Colette T. Dollarhide, Damon Drew

Teaching and Supervision in Counseling

Abstract: This pilot study examined social justice identity development for first- and second-year clinical and school counseling master’s students enrolled in a one-semester multicultural and social justice counseling (MCSJC) course. Counselor educators can incorporate social justice pedagogy in their courses to better equip counselors-in-training with the knowledge and skills necessary to act (Odegard & Vereen, 2010), which can foster the development of their social justice identities (Miller et al., 2009). Students enrolled in the MCSJC course reported their social justice identity at the beginning and end of the semester to determine identity development over time. In addition, pedagogical strategies were …

Climate Change And Human Responses, Caroline Znachko, Armando Anzellini, Katherine Parker, Christa Hicks

Anthropology Publications and Other Works

The Department of Anthropology’s Visiting Lecture Research Series is an ongoing edited volume compiling research products created by (under)graduate students for the Department of Anthropology’s Visiting Lecture Program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Each volume in the series, compiled by its own (under)graduate student editors and approved by the Department Head, includes original research products by participating (under)graduate students.

The Department of Anthropology’s Visiting Lecture Program, also known as Current Trends in Anthropology (ANTH357/550), is a symposium held annually each fall semester with a different theme for the purpose of exposing students to anthropologists from around the world and …

Variables Related To Viral Load And Cd4 Variance In Men Living With Hiv, Natalie Christine Blocher

Masters Theses

In 2018, 37,968 individuals were diagnosed with HIV in the United States (CDC, 2018). Self-identified men made up 81% of all newly diagnosed cases, particularly men who have sex with men (CDC, 2020). Achieving viral load suppression allows men living with HIV to obtain optimal health, maintain quality of life, and prevent the virus's spread (Sax, 2012). Past research in HIV treatment has mainly focused on individual health behaviors, such as medication adherence, to account for the variances in these variables; however, the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and chronic conditions have gradually become a subject of HIV treatment research. …

Toward A Voice-Centered Relational Anti-Racist Listening Praxis In Counselor Education, Michelle R. Bertrand

Teaching and Supervision in Counseling

Abstract This article outlines key elements of an anti-racist listening praxis in counselor education. It demonstrates how racism in relationships of teaching and learning impacts racialized subjectivities, and the personal, cultural and ancestral worlds these subjectivities articulate, in a way that limits the capacity of racialized practitioners to be relational subjects and uses them instead to reinforce White/Western normativity. It describes a way of both listening to and challenging these impacts by re-centering the “I” of racialized speakers and the personal, cultural and traditional knowledges, identities and preferred ways of being to which they refer in their stories. Examples of …

National Sex Offender Registration Policies And The Unintended Consequences, Sydney J. Selman

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Contemporary Black Civil Rights Activism Strategies In East Tennessee: Gaining Economic And Political Power In The Black Community, Lily Joy Crosby

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the contemporary Black civil rights movement in East Tennessee to gain a better understanding of the strategies being employed to mobilize publics. Though an important aspect of the public relations field, in public relations academia there is a lack of research centering on activism. Little has been explored outside of organizational settings, especially since the rise of technology and increased interconnectedness of the world. To learn more about the movement in East Tennessee, the researcher interviewed eight leaders of the contemporary Black civil rights movement across the East Tennessee region. The researcher …

Racism And Mental Health: When It Hurts To Be Black, Desiree Tallent

Black Issues Conference

This presentation provides information on types of racism, including personal, institutional and cultural aspects. The prevalence of racism among Black people is also highlighted. Additional attention is given to the negative emotional outcomes of experiencing racism as well as the resulting behavioral impact of experiences with racism among Black individuals. Special attention is given to how these issues may manifest in one’s personal life and student life. In addition to understanding how racism impacts mental and behavioral health, information is provided on positive coping methods which can lessen the dire effect of racism. These positive coping methods include the role …

Documenting Social Justice In Library And Information Science Research: A Literature Review, Joseph Winberry, Bradley Wade Bishop

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of social justice research in Library and Information Science (LIS) literature in order to identify the research quantity, what populations or settings were included, and future directions for this area of the discipline through examination of when related research was published, what contexts it covered, and what contributions LIS researchers have made in this research area.

Design/Methodology/Approach – This study reviews results from two LIS literature databases—Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts (LISTA) and Library and Information Science Source (LISS)—that use the term “social justice” in title, abstract, …