Social Work Commons^™

Black Women's Search For Meaning: An Existential Portraiture Study On How Black Women Experience The 4 Existential Givens, Tamiko Lemberger-Truelove

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

The purpose of the phenomenological, qualitative study was to explore how select Black women experience the four ultimate concerns of existence, including freedom, isolation, meaninglessness, and death. Existential psychology, from which the four existential givens emerge, is deeply grounded in existential philosophy, which rarely connects key principles and tenets of existentialism to the experiences of Black women. The existential givens have been posited as a universal framework and yet because Black women are faced with multiple forms of marginalization the current study operates from the assumption that universal experiences are filtered through patently Black experiences. To explore how the existential …

African-American And Black Women's Process Of Learning, Unlearning And Resisting Internalized Racism, Bianca M. Blakesley

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this study was to address the research question, how do African American/Black Women unlearn internalized racism, and to understand the relationship between internalized racism and racial identity development. Internalized racism was defined as the acceptance of negative, stereotypical or devaluing ideas and beliefs about ones own racial group, and about oneself as a member of that group.

A series of 11 interview questions explored the processes in which Black women learn and unlearn racism over time. Thirteen self-identified Black/African-American women were interviewed regarding their experiences. They were further questioned regarding their methods of coping with and resisting …

Cultivating Resilience : Antidotes To White Fragility In Racial Justice Education, Katherine E. Roubos

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative study explores what skills, tools and approaches may be helpful antidotes to white fragility in racial justice education. This study is in response to the challenge posed by white fragility, as defined by Robin DiAngelo (2011) in which white people experience such extreme emotions in response to learning about racism in the USA that they become either defensive such that they are unable to engage in a learning experience, or so swept up in guilt or shame that they require substantial emotional tending in order to continue to engage in the educational experience. Robin DiAngelo frames this phenomenon …

Accessing Alternative Response Services : A Multi-Level Examination Of Family And Community Characteristics On Racial Equity, Tana D. J. Connell

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Although research has identified factors associated with child welfare involvement, less attention has been given to how Black families are assigned to types of child welfare services. The advent of alternative response pathways allows child protective workers to assign child abuse prevention services to families based on the type and seriousness of the maltreatment, history of prior reports and age of the child. Given the history of disparate outcomes in child welfare for Black families and the fact that alternative response pathways are a promising approach for improving outcomes for families, this study examines the effect of family and community …

Let's Talk About Race : ǂB A Study Of Racial Discourse And Self-Esteem In Transracial Adoptees, Hyun-Zie Hong

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study examined the relationship between racial socialization in transracial adoptees and their self-esteem in adulthood. This study also sought to explore if this relationship was different for transracial adoptees who were adopted domestically, and those who were adopted internationally. An online survey was administered to 50 adult transracial adoptees, featuring the Ethnic and Racial Socialization of Transracial Adoptee Scale and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. All study participants were adopted in or into the United States. The results of this study indicated that differences in self-esteem scores by adoption origin approached significance. Other significant findings showed a positive correlation between …

We Were Treated Like Machines : Professionalism And Anti-Blackness In Social Work Agency Culture, Mark D. Davis

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This exploratory study sought to answer two overarching research questions: (1) To what extent is there color-blind anti-Black bias in the way that professionalism is defined and enforced in social work agency culture? (2) What are exacerbating and ameliorating factors for this anti-Black bias? I developed a mixed-methods online questionnaire and recruited 246 participants via e-mail and Facebook. Participants were mostly White female social workers 18-39 years old, though the sample was disproportionately African American as compared with the general social worker population. When participants were asked if they perceived anti-Black bias in professionalism at their agencies, 42.7% answered yes …

Deconstructing Latinx Racial Paradigms : Cross-Cultural Constructions Of Race And Their Impact On Dominican-American Racial Identity, Jacqueline I. Cosse

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Conversations in the United States around Latinx populations often discuss Latinx racial identity as a singular entity. Though Latinx is a gender-neutral term for Latino and Hispanic populations, the terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” have slowly become umbrella terms for the racial and ethnic identities of people from over 20 different countries and cultural backgrounds. The amalgamation of these varying cultures and communities into a singular racial categorization results in a reductive framework: one that limits individualization within Latinx-American racial identity. These limitations were looked at via qualitative research with specific reference to Dominican populations: a community whose racial categories reference …

"You Have To Know Whether Or Not You Can Really Compassionately Hold White Folks" : Perspectives Of Instructors On White Msw Student Engagement With Race And Racism Course Material, Eleanor H. Broh

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative, exploratory thesis explores the perspectives of instructors of courses on race and racism in social work masters programs. It looks at how these instructors are teaching race and racism content and how White students in their classes engage with the content. In doing so, this study addresses a gap in the social work literature on pedagogy for race and racism, which often fails to address the particular dynamics of teaching this material to White students in the United States.

Through qualitative, semi-structured interviewed with eleven instructors, this project describes the many ways White students engage with this material, …

How I Got Over : Young African American Men Tell The Story Of How They Achieved Academic Success : A Descriptive Study, Rebecca M.C. Ramer

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

African American males fall behind their White counterparts in almost every measure of academic success. College completion rates for Black males are the lowest among all racial/ethnic groups in the United States. This exploratory study interviewed 13 African American men who were currently enrolled in college or who had graduated college. The goal of the study was to identify factors that these successful men identified as having contributed to their academic achievement. Thirteen men between the ages of 18 and 40 who identify as African American participated in semi-structured interviews that were recorded and then analyzed using a grounded theory …

Toxic Stress : Exploring Mental Health Narratives Of Environmental Justice In Richmond, California, Elizabeth Gonzalez

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this exploratory study was to gather narratives of residents and/or community members who perceive the presence of the Richmond Chevron Oil Refinery in their community as a psychological stressor. The study used semi-structured interviews with eight community organizers and activists to gather qualitative data providing personal accounts of the possible psychological impact of living near a toxic facility with great political power in the city. The common trend among the narratives was the tendency of the participants to focus on a macro interpretation of how mental health is affected by a corporate giant. A collective sense of …