Digital Commons Network^™

Teachers' Views On The Intersectionality Between Culture And Student Behaviors, And Experience Using Culturally-Responsive Behavior Interventions, Toshna Pandey

Theses and Dissertations

Students belonging to racially minoritized groups experience more frequent and intense disciplinary consequences for similar rule violations as their White peers. Factors such as deficit-oriented perceptions and implicit biases among teachers have contributed to the disproportionate exclusion of racially minoritized students, thus negatively affecting their social, emotional, behavioral, and school success. Using semi-structured interviews, this study sought to explore elementary school teachers’ views on the intersectionality between race/culture and student behaviors. Additionally, it also examined their experiences using behavior interventions effective for racially minoritized students. Findings suggest that participants often attributed challenging behaviors to student-level factors such as family and …

The Student Experience Of Higher Education During The Covid-19 Pandemic: How Class And Race Shape Socially Distanced Learning At A Public University, Alice M. Quach

Theses and Dissertations

While prior research has examined trends toward growing uncertainty and precarity for young adults within the economy and higher education, the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be exacerbating these existing inequalities and risks. Drawing from 30 semi-structured in-depth interviews with college students at a large Southern and urban public university, this study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting students’ learning experiences, and how those experiences are differentially shaped, in turn, by their class and race. This exploratory research illuminates our understanding of the multiple mechanisms by which the COVID-19 pandemic is shaping existing inequalities in the higher education system, mostly …

Come And Get Your Capital, Sis: The Use Of Twitter To Compensate For Gendered And Racialized Job Networks Among Creatives, Sasha A. Pierre- Louis

Theses and Dissertations

Due to racialized and gendered exclusion and discrimination, Black and women jobseekers do not have the same access to social ties in the labor market as white men. A number of Black Twitter users, particularly Black women, have cultivated networks on Twitter and elsewhere as explicit alternatives to this old boys’ network. This study aimed to understand how workers in creative industries—which tend to be more reliant on referrals—use Twitter to expand their social networks and gain access to job opportunities, and how their use of Twitter differed by race and gender. Four hashtags were queried through the Twitter application …

An Evaluation Of Differences In Motivations To Receive Cervical Cancer Screening And Follow-Up Care Between Black And White Women, Ashlee Sawyer

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Cervical cancer among Black women is a major individual and public health concern. Despite advancements in medical technology and policy, disparities in cervical cancer diagnosis and mortality still exist between White and Black women, with Black women having higher rates of diagnosis (10.0 vs 7.1 per 100,000) and mortality (4.1 vs 2.0 per 100,000). Previous studies have focused heavily on barriers to obtaining cervical cancer screening among Black women and efforts to improve screening rates. Despite speculation by researchers that gaps in receipt of quality follow-up care may contribute to disparities, its role in disparate mortality rates between Black …

Validation Of Virginia's Juvenile Risk Assessment Instrument, Jessica P. Schneider

Theses and Dissertations

Utilizing a validated risk assessment tool to predict future offending is recommended as best practices in corrections by a number of professional organizations (Latessa & Lovins, 2010). Guided by the risk-needs-responsivity model, risk assessment tools have evolved to help inform criminal justice practitioners by identifying offenders most in need of intervention or supervision, guiding the case plan to optimize outcomes (Bonta & Andrews, 2007). The Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) utilizes the Youth Assessment and Screening Instrument (YASI) at all stages of contact with youthful offenders, including intake, probation, commitment, and parole (DJJ, 2016). However, risk assessment instruments do …

Skin-Tone And Academic Achievement Among 5-Year-Old Mexican Children, Selamawit Hailu

Theses and Dissertations

Skin-tone based social stratification has been characterized as an enduring part of the U.S. racial landscape (Hunter, 2002). Despite the plethora of research that examines the racial disparities in education (e.g., Reardon & Portilla, 2015), and an emerging literature finding that lighter skin-tones are associated with higher educational attainment among adults (Hunter, 2002) few studies have examined whether similar processes emerge during early childhood. Thus, grounded in Garcia Coll and colleagues’ (1996) integrative model, we tested whether skin-tone predicted children’s academic achievement, and whether these relations were modified by children’s ethnic-racial identification (i.e., positive ethnic-racial attitudes and centrality). Consistent with …

Tommi's Place: An Adaptation And Commentary On Uncle Tom's Cabin, Vanessa L. Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

Harriet Beecher Stowe penned Uncle Tom’s Cabin which was published in 1852. This book exposed and condemned the atrocities of slavery. Her book became a bestseller and is said to be one of the primary reasons why slavery was eventually abolished. Though slavery has been dismantled the system of oppression which allowed the marginalization of others to thrive has never been eliminated. This system established a dominant culture; one which oppresses those of African descent and has endured for centuries. Tommi’s Place retells Uncle Tom’s Cabin in contemporary corporate America. Tommi’s Place reflects that this system of oppression is still …

Opening The Gates To Ap Equity: A Case Study Of A Central Virginia High School’S Practices, Policies, And Characteristics Toward Proportional Black Student Representation In Advanced Placement Enrollment, Andrew R. Armstrong

Theses and Dissertations

Advanced Placement (AP) courses engage high school students with college curriculum taught by trained high school teachers, with an opportunity for students to earn college credit by passing the end-of-course AP exam. AP has evolved into an indicator of school quality, instructional rigor, and a consideration in the college admissions process. AP enrollment and exam performance outcomes for White students disproportionately surpass those for Black students. This study attempts to inform practice, policy, and programming toward more equitable enrollment outcomes for Black students through a single case study. The selected case school was the only high school among 38 in …

Racial And Ethnic Differences In Receipt Of Immediate Breast Reconstruction Surgery: Do Hospital Characteristics Matter?, Jaya Shankar Khushalani

Theses and Dissertations

Immediate Breast Reconstruction Surgery (IBRS) is associated with better quality of life among women who undergo a mastectomy. Despite insurance coverage for IBRS, utilization of IBRS remains low. Data from publicly available sources for 2010-2012 are used to examine the association between hospital characteristics receipt of IBRS by patients. Minority-serving status, low bed size, for-profit ownership, non-teaching status, high competition, low density of plastic surgeons in the market and non-metropolitan location are associated with lower likelihood of receipt of IBRS.

Racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to receive IBRS. A mixed effects logistic regression model with interactions between Black/Hispanic …

Examining Ptsd Symptoms And The Effectiveness Of Group Therapy Among African American And Caucasian Veterans, Jennifer A. Coleman

Theses and Dissertations

Millions of Americans have served in the military, and improved survival rates in wars have increased the percentage of those who return home. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most prevalent mental health diagnoses for veterans. Although few studies have examined the link, previous research as well as the minority stress model and transgenerational trauma theories, suggest that race may be associated with PTSD, particularly in military samples. The current study examined whether there were differences in PTSD symptomology (global and symptom cluster-specific) based on veterans’ race and whether group therapy effectively reduced symptoms of PTSD. Data were …

Contexts Matter: The Relationship Between School Wide Student Demographics And Graduation Rates, Philip Riddle

Theses and Dissertations

Nearly 60 years after the Supreme Court Decision in Brown, segregation is still an ingrained facet of American public education. This study investigated the extent to which these continued patterns of segregation influenced graduation rates from high school. The study used data provided by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) on the 2011 graduating cohorts in 302 public high schools across the state. The results indicate that graduation rates for all students vary significantly as a function of the overall socioeconomic and racial composition of high schools. In addition, low-income students are significantly more likely to graduate in low-poverty high …

Racial/Ethnic Differences In Fatality Rates From Motor Vehicle Crashes: An Analysis From A Behavioral And Cultural Perspective, Huda Hamdan

Theses and Dissertations

Ethnic/racial minorities in the United States are overrepresented in fatalities from motor vehicle crashes (MVC). Growing evidence indicates that there are differences among racial/ethnic groups in risk of involvement in fatal crashes. Based on previous research, numerous factors may be involved in high racial/ethnic fatality rates from MVCs, including failure to use safety equipment, driving while under the influence of alcohol/drug, red light running, and speeding. Using data from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) and the FR300P Police Crash Report, this project explores differences in variables associated with traffic safety behavior and traffic law obedience between non-White …

Unlawful Assembly And The Fredericksburg Mayor's Court Order Books, 1821-1834, Sarah K. Blunkosky

Theses and Dissertations

Unlawful assembly accounts extracted from the Fredericksburg Mayor’s Court Order Books from 1821-1834, reveal rare glimpses of unsupervised, alleged illegal interactions between free and enslaved individuals, many of whom do not appear in other records. Authorities enforced laws banning free blacks and persons of mixed race from interacting with enslaved persons and whites at unlawful assemblies to keep peace in the town, to prevent sexual relationships between white women and free and enslaved black men, and to prevent alliance building between individuals. The complex connections necessary to arrange unlawful assemblies threatened the town’s safety with insurrection if these individuals developed …

Stature And Criminal Behavior, Rebecca J. Fish

Theses and Dissertations

Minorities are significantly overrepresented in America's prison population, and many studies have been conducted to determine possible causes for such a disparity. Few of these studies, however, have examined small stature as a potential contributor to criminal behavior. This study examines the relationship between criminal behavior and stature among American males. The heights, weights, stature scores (a function of the product of height and weight) and the body mass indices of criminals are examined as a whole, as well as by subgroup based on race, locality, and nature of the crime committed. The average weight of the male criminal population …