Inequality and Stratification Commons^™

Alternative Shelter Evaluation Report, Jacen Greene, Todd Ferry, Emily Leickly, Franklin Holcomb Spurbeck

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

This report summarizes research by Portland State University’s Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative for the Joint Office of Homeless Services on the cost, participant experiences, and client outcomes in village-style and motel shelters as compared to each other and to traditional, congregate shelters.

Economic Analysis Of Population-Based Next Generation Sequencing For Breast Cancer, Sapphire Curelaru

University Honors Theses

Breast cancer develops due to accumulated DNA replication insults which causes cancer to uncontrollably proliferate. An individual's predisposition to developing cancer, as well as the composition of a tumor, can be sequenced using genetic tests. Myriad's BRACAnalysis CDx^® seems to be the most utilized genetic test. However, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) seems to be a better genetic test for breast cancer when compared to Myriad's BRACAnalysisCDx^® in terms of return-time, accuracy, efficiency, and healthcare cost. By using Next Generation Sequencing tests, stakeholders can save money on genetic testing which can be invested in more genetic tests. Payers can …

When Communities Face Drinking Water Crises, Bottled Water Is A 'Temporary' Solution That Often Lasts Years--And Worsens Inequality, Daniel Jaffee

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

As a sociologist, I study the social and environmental effects of the rapid growth of bottled-water consumption in the U.S. and beyond, and how it is linked to distrust of public tap water. In my new book, “Unbottled,” one chapter examines how these dynamics played out in Flint. As its example shows, communities can end up relying on bottled water – often at great expense – for years after a crisis.

Love Letters For Liberatory Futures, Jessica Rodriguez-Jenkins, Roberta Hunte, Lakindra Mitchell Dove, Antonia R.G. Alvarez, Alma M. O. Trinidad, Gita Mehrotra

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This collection of letters serves to explore the narratives of a collective of women of color in academia by examining individual, collective, spiritual, and institutional strategies for surviving and transforming our institutional spaces and the ways that White Supremacy has shaped our journeys. Multiple perspectives are viewed, and we have written to our children, our future social work students, our future selves, our BIPOC faculty siblings, and our feared enemies to envision and embody more liberatory futures.

Keywords: liberation, academia, BIPOC faculty, institutional racism, White Supremacy

People And Power: Person-First Language Usage And The Criminal Justice System, Casey E. Orr

Amplify: A Journal of Writing-as-Activism

Language is power. Word choice and terminology, especially those referring to people, are expressions of societal norms and institutional power. Dehumanizing crime-first terms and labels are abundant and common in criminal justice contexts despite being protested by system-involved individuals and activists. Instead, many advocate for person-first terms wherein identifying language emphasizes an individual’s humanity. With a peace-focused anthropological framework, this paper presents the case for person-first language in criminal justice contexts. It is evident that adopting first-person language usage regarding the criminal justice system is necessary after analyzing and considering the multiple sources, such as the voices of those who …

Conducting Oral History: Background And Methods, Katrine Barber

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

This chapter-length essay describes the practice of oral history through real world examples: the steps to conducting oral history interviews, things to consider when developing a project or an interview plan, and ethical considerations. How oral history has enlarged the historical record and changed scholarly interpretation of the past are highlighted.

Psu Student Housing Insecurity Interim Report, Jacen Greene, Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative, Portland State University

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Project Background

This study on student housing insecurity and homelessness was funded as part of a HUD FY2023 Community Project Funding Opportunity awarded to Portland State University. Phase 1 of the study, which led to this report by PSU’s Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative (HRAC), includes a literature review; a summary of PSU student survey results; a description of PSU programs based on interviews with staff and administrators; an analysis of programs at other institutions; and a set of recommendations for better addressing student housing needs. Phase 2 of the study will include the results of a comprehensive …

Menstruation Products And Perceptions: Breaking Through The Crimson Ceiling, Ava Colleran

Young Historians Conference

This paper examines different views on menstruation throughout history and their effects on social, political, and economic landscapes. The ancient Greeks, Romans, and Mayans all believed in the supposed ‘magical powers’ of menstrual blood. These societies held their own ideas on the limits of these magical abilities, and the good and evil forces they could be used for. Throughout these ancient societies, menstruation was used as a justification for the increased control of the state and men over women’s bodies. If menstrual blood did have these magical powers, it was a power that needed to be limited and controlled so …

(Un)Weighted Assumptions: Anti-Fatness & Health, Kieran Chase, Nell Carpenter, Madysen Schreiber

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

This lecture/discussion session aims to expand and add nuance to public health students’, professors’, and practitioners’ understanding of the interplay between body size and health. We will begin by naming and challenging common assumptions about the relationship between bodyweight and health outcomes. We will then argue for the consideration of weight-related stigma as a Fundamental Cause of Disease as defined by Phelan and Link, and for institutionally embedded anti-fat bias at the policy level (e.g., insurance policy, medical equipment) as a cause of population health inequity as defined in Whitehead’s Health Equity Framework. We offer these frameworks in contrast to, …

Understanding Backlash To Women's Rights Campaigns In Malawian Society With Lindsay Benstead, Lindsay J. Benstead

PDXPLORES Podcast

In this episode of PDXPLORES, Lindsay J. Benstead, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Middle East Studies Center (MESC) at Portland State University discusses her recent publication, Explaining Backlash: Social Hierarchy and Men’s Rejection of Women’s Rights Reforms. Benstead draws on social position theory to explore the resistance of empowered groups to social reform and women’s empowerment, and how messaging campaigns intended to advance gender sensitive policies increase adverse reactions in society.

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“Why You Always So Political?”: A Counterstory About Educational-Environmental Racism At A Predominantly White University, Martín Alberto Gonzalez

Chicano/Latino Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Using critical race counterstorytelling, I tell a story about the experiences of Mexican/Mexican American/Xicanx (MMAX) undergraduate students at private, historically and predominantly white university in the Northeast. Drawing on in-depth interviews, participant observations, pláticas, document analyses, and literature on race and space and racism in higher education, I argue that the racially hostile campus environment experienced by MMAX students at their respective university manifests itself as a form of educational-environmental racism. Through narrated dialogue, Aurora (a composite character) and I delve into a critical conversation about how educational-environmental racism is experienced by MMAX students through a racialized landscape in the …

Educational Myths Of An American Empire: Colonial Narratives And The Meriam Report, Madhu Narayanan

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Meriam Report is a remarkable historical artifact of the United States' colonial project. The idea of a stronger nation through education embodied in the report betrays the report's imperial core. The report's authors express moral outrage at the failure of the United States to respect the human dignity of Native Americans. To absolve these failures, the report repeatedly looks to education as the way forward. My interest is in the discursive construction of that argument, specifically how new discourses of progress, scientific management, and modern administrative principles were used to justify expansion of the federal government and solidify the …

The Power Of Counterstory With Martín Alberto Gonzalez, Martín Alberto Gonzalez

PDXPLORES Podcast

In this episode of PDXPLORES, Chicano & Latino Studies Professor Martín Alberto Gonzalez discusses the counterstory. As Gonzalez explains, counterstories are a narrative form of scholarly communication that uses stories to disrupt oppressive narratives established by empowered groups. Counterstory does so by pointing to the roles that systems of oppression, like white supremacy, racism, sexism, and capitalism, play in society, and higher education, in particular, by providing alternative narratives.

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Arts Course-Taking And Math Achievement In Us High Schools With Daniel Mackin Freeman, Daniel Mackin Freeman

PDXPLORES Podcast

In this episode of PDXPLORES, Daniel Mackin Freeman, a Ph. D. candidate in the sociology department at Portland State University, discusses the results of a study that asked if fine arts coursework is positively correlated to mathematics achievement in high schools at low, middle, and high socio-economic levels. Freeman and PSU sociology professor, Dara Shifrer recently publish the results of their study, "Arts for Whose Sake? Arts Course-taking and Math Achievement in US High Schools," online in Sociological Perspectives.

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3 Selections From "Upon The Body: Poems Of/To A Black Social Epi, Pt.Ii--Love//Resistance In The Time Of Covid", R. J. Petteway

Amplify: A Journal of Writing-as-Activism

The 3 poems included here are from a collection written between January and August 2020. The full collection—27 poems total—examines intersections of structural racism, racialized police violence, and COVID-19, drawing from generations of creative resistance produced and embodied by Black artists, activists, and scholars like Nina Simone, Langston Hughes, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Audre Lorde, Ida B. Wells, James Baldwin, and W.E.B. DuBois. The collection as a whole is crafted as counternarrative to public health’s ahistoric, apolitical, racist, and homophobic proclivities in times of crisis. The 3 poems here are from Part II, "LOVE//Resistance in the Time of COVID.” These selections …

As Librarians Convene Here, Multnomah County Library Showcases Work In Equity And Inclusion, Kathi Inman Berens

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

As more than 3,300 U.S. librarians flock to Portland for the Public Library Association conference March 23-25, they’ll witness up close Multnomah County Library’s groundbreaking work in diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice. The pandemic, and social justice work after the 2020 protests, have permanently influenced how the library delivers services.

Introduction: Into The Academy, Maika Yeigh

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Maika Yeigh, Co-editor of Northwest Journal of Teacher Education, introduces this special issue, Into the Academy, to put into practice the aims and scope of the journal, by “amplifying previously silenced and emerging voices, first-time authors, and those for whom the publication process has felt burdensome or laden with barriers.” Putting those aims into practice, the editorial board encouraged manuscripts with first-authorship belonging to new and emerging scholars, and the Board is thrilled and honored to present their work in this issue.

The Imperative For Climate Action At Portland State University, Stephen Percy

Office of the President Publications and Presentations

Portland State University President Stephen Percy announces the formation of the Climate Change Initiative.

Science In Service Of Man: Towards An Understanding Of Medicine As An Institution Of Control, Amanda M. Strother

University Honors Theses

This paper applies the theoretical work of Frantz Fanon to discuss healthcare as an institution that upholds the will of the dominant authority in the contemporary United States. The use of Fanon's work outside of its original context is justified by applying the internal colonialism theory. Correctional healthcare is discussed as an area of overtly controlling and dehumanizing medical care, highlighting caregiver loyalty to correctional authority and reciprocal distrust between prison physicians and patients. This inquiry proposes that clinical healthcare displays the same power relationships through loyalty to the business of healthcare and the reciprocal distrust between physicians and patients …

Survey Deficiencies As Quality Indicators In Oregon Assisted Living Communities, Ozcan Tunalilar, Sunny C. Lin, Paula C. Carder

Institute on Aging Publications

Background and Objectives License inspection data have commonly been used as a quality measure for nursing homes but has not yet been used to assess the quality of assisted living/residential care (AL/RC) communities. Drawing on resource dependency theory, we test the hypothesis that structural and environmental characteristics influence AL/RC quality as measured by deficiency citations (“deficiencies”) issued during license inspections.

Research Design and Methods Using data from 526 licensed AL/RC communities in Oregon that received a license inspection visit between 2008 and 2016, we examined the prevalence of deficiencies by type and year. We estimated regression models to identify structural …

Are They Safe? Are They Fed?: Reimagining Inclusion In Schooling During A Pandemic, Teresa Anne Fowler

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This paper, using the method of currere, offers a rendering of the relationship between technology, inclusion, and social justice within education amid a walking through of Roy's Pandemic as a Portal metaphor. Educators are sitting in a critical moment to which pedagogic approaches can shift from educators responded to students assumed needs towards students expressed needs as we are seeing happening during the global pandemic.

Toxic Stress Among Black And African American Oregonians, Roberta Hunte, Margaret J.F. Braun

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Toxic stress is a reaction to ongoing adversity such as abuse, neglect, poverty, racism, discrimination, and exposure to violence; it is powerful enough to change brain chemistry and architecture. Toxic stress and associated changes to the brain can lead to poor health outcomes later in life. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), racism*, and discrimination can trigger toxic stress and have long term consequences for the health of many people, particularly those in the Black and African American community.

The current project examined toxic stress and its impact on the health of Black and African American Oregonians. We looked at two indicators …

White ‘Alliahs:’ The Creation & Perpetuation Of The ‘Wise Indian’ Trope, Jessica Mehta

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine auto-fill features allows us to see how people search online, and the words they use, in real-time. Anonymous querying equates to anonymity, and by nature when we input key words or key phrases in search engines like Google we use succinct, brief, and to-the-point queries. What does this mean for how we search for Native American or “Indian” results? A 2019 SEO and keyword/phrase analysis revealed that the notorious “wise Indian trope” (similar to the “magical negro” trope) is still very prevalent today, particularly when comparing the keyword “wise” paired with non-Native races. …

How Long Can Neoliberalism Withstand Climate Crisis?, Julius Mcgee, Patrick Greiner

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The climate crisis is proving to be antithetical to the neoliberal machines that define current forms of social organization. On the one hand, reducing fossil fuel consumption, the largest contributor to climate change, requires collaborative efforts. These efforts must take into consideration the foundational role of fossil fuels in modern economies. We must acknowledge, for instance, that most peoples’ livelihoods are tethered to fossil fuels, which recent studies have demonstrated is not the result of random historical development but deliberate policy.1 Fossil fuels continue to be used as a form of social domination—a means to expropriate productive and reproductive …

Are The Goals Of Sustainability Interconnected? A Sociological Analysis Of The Three E’S Of Sustainable Development Using Cross-Lagged Models With Reciprocal Effects, Matthew Thomas Clement, Nathan Pino, Patrick Greiner, Julius A. Mcgee

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Conceptual discussions of sustainability emphasize the interdependent relationship between relevant social and environmental factors. Yet, traditional quantitative analyses of the topic have tended to estimate the exogenous or direct/indirect effects a predictor variable has on a particular measure of sustainability. We examine the endogenous, interdependent relationship between the three E’s of sustainability (economy, equity, and ecology), incorporating country-level data for 1990 through 2015 into cross-lagged structural equation models with reciprocal and fixed effects. Results from these longitudinal models suggest that over time, at the country level, increasing economic inequality reduces renewable energy consumption, with no evidence of reciprocal feedback. Keeping …

How Oregon’S Racist History Can Sharpen Our Sense Of Justice Right Now, Walidah Imarisha

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Writer Walidah Imarisha on eight years of talking about the brutal history of race in Oregon.

Name a small town in Oregon. I have most likely been there, talking about race.

For the past eight years, starting as part of Oregon Humanities’ Conversation Project, I’ve stood in front of thousands of attendees in packed libraries, community centers, senior homes, college campuses, and prisons.

I’ve seen it all: multiple people arguing the Ku Klux Klan was and remains a “civic organization,” chiding me for focusing solely on the “negatives” while adamantly denying they support racism or are themselves racist. I’ve received …

Centering Equity In Oregon’S 100 Year Water Vision: A Student-Led Policy Paper Prepared By The Oregon Water Stories Team At Portland State University, Clare T. Mcclellan, Sadie Boyers, Victoria Cali De Leon, Tony Cole, Laura Cowley-Martinson, Shersten Finley, Dustin Lanker, Julia Seydel, Aakash Nath Upraity, Janet Cowal, Melissa Haeffner

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this report is to provide evidence for the need to further intentionally incorporate equity into Oregon’s 100 Year Water Vision. Four case studies contextualize this need and highlight the variety of water issues throughout the state, supported by linguistic analyses of local newspapers. As Oregon policy-makers are responsible for ensuring working water systems for all Oregonians, we also suggest implementable criteria for the evaluation of equity in water issues and decision-making. This student-led and interdisciplinary report comes from the Haeffner-Cowal Oregon Water Stories research lab at Portland State University.

The Effects Of Historical Housing Policies On Resident Exposure To Intra-Urban Heat: A Study Of 108 Us Urban Areas, Jeremy Hoffman, Vivek Shandas, Nicholas Pendleton

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The increasing intensity, duration, and frequency of heat waves due to human-caused climate change puts historically underserved populations in a heightened state of precarity, as studies observe that vulnerable communities—especially those within urban areas in the United States—are disproportionately exposed to extreme heat. Lacking, however, are insights into fundamental questions about the role of historical housing policies in cauterizing current exposure to climate inequities like intra-urban heat. Here, we explore the relationship between “redlining”, or the historical practice of refusing home loans or insurance to whole neighborhoods based on a racially motivated perception of safety for investment, with present-day summertime …

Racial/Ethnic Differences In Multimorbidity Development And Chronic Disease Accumulation For Middle-Aged Adults, Ana R. Quiñones, Anda Botoseneanu, Sheila Markwardt, Corey L. Nagel, Jason T. Newsom, David A. Dorr, Heather G. Allore

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Multimorbidity–having two or more coexisting chronic conditions–is highly prevalent, costly, and disabling to older adults. Questions remain regarding chronic diseases accumulation over time and whether this differs by racial and ethnic background. Answering this knowledge gap, this study identifies differences in rates of chronic disease accumulation and multimorbidity development among non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Hispanic study participants starting in middle-age and followed up to 16 years.

We analyzed data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a biennial, ongoing, publicly- available, longitudinal nationally-representative study of middle-aged and older adults in the United States. We assessed the change in chronic …

Housing Segregation And Resistance In Portland, Oregon, Carmen P. Thompson

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Local researchers Greta Smith, Melissa Cornelius Lang, and Leanne Serbulo gathered at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Oregon, for a public history roundtable discussion moderated by Carmen P. Thompson, adjunct professor of Black studies and African American History at Portland State University. Inspired by the fiftieth anniversary of the federal Fair Housing Act, these researchers have uncovered and analyzed new sources related to the history of housing segregation — and resistance to that discrimination — in Portland, Oregon. This is a record of that event.