Community-Based Research Commons^™

The Weight Of Categories: Geographically Inscribed Otherness In Botkyrka Municipality, Sweden, Beiyi Hu

Publications and Research

This paper asked a paradoxical question: why have immigrants to Sweden (particularly refugees) become geographically, economically, and symbolically segregated despite the putatively generous provisions of Sweden’s welfare state? I sought to understand how people and institutions perceived and deployed categories that created geographically inscribed “Otherness” through a year-long fieldwork in Botkyrka Municipality of the Greater Stockholm area. My analysis weaved together three models for explaining social segregation: the relational, the symbolic, and the spatial. I then augmented these models by taking into account the legal and bureaucratic frameworks that influence social exclusion, as well as historical factors of geographical exclusion. …

Repairing Trust: Young Men In Neighborhoods With Cure Violence Programs Report Growing Confidence In Police, Jeffrey A. Butts, Sheyla A. Delgado

Publications and Research

Researchers at John Jay Research and Evaluation Center found evidence to suggest the presence of Cure Violence — a place-based, public-health approach to violence reduction that relies on “outreach workers” and “violence interrupters” to prevent high-risk individuals from using violence to resolve conflicts — increases confidence in police in affected neighborhoods.

The Effects Of Cure Violence In The South Bronx And East New York, Brooklyn, Sheyla A. Delgado, Laila Alsabahi, Kevin T. Wolff, Nicole Marie Alexander, Patricia A. Cobar, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

New York City launched its first Cure Violence program—which uses community outreach to interrupt violence—in 2010 with funding from the U.S. Department of Justice. By 2017, there were 18 programs around the city. This report examines Man Up! Inc. in East New York, Brooklyn, and Save Our Streets South Bronx. Each neighborhood was compared to another neighborhood similar in demographics and crime trends but without a Cure Violence program. There is promising evidence that Cure Violence may help to create safe and healthy communities.

Walking As Ontological Shifter: Thoughts In The Key Of Life, Bibi (Silvina) Calderaro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

With walking as ontological shifter I pursue an alternative to the dominant modernist episteme that offers either/or onto-epistemologies of opposition and their reifying engagements. I propose this type of walking is an intentional turning towards a set of radical positions that, as integrative aesthetic and therapeutic practice, brings multiplicity and synchronicity to experience and being in an expanded sociality. This practice facilitates the conditions of possibility for recurring points of contact between the interiority perceived as ‘body’ and the exteriority perceived as ‘world.’ While making evident the self’s at once incoherence with it-self, it opens to a space beyond the …

Embodying Rhythm Nation: Multimodal Hip Hop Dance As A Site For Adolescent Social-Emotional And Political Development, Lauren M. Roygardner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This exploratory study employed qualitative methodology, specifically values analysis, to learn more about how being involved within Hip hop dance communities positively relates to adolescent development. Adolescence was defined herein as ages 13-23. The study investigated Hip hop dance communities in terms of cultural expertise (i.e. novice, intermediate and advanced/expert) to look specifically at dance narratives (i.e. peak experience narratives and “I dance because” essays) and hip hop dance performances. The primary purpose of this dissertation was to (1) explore how adolescents use multimodal Hip hop dance discourse for social-emotional development and critical consciousness, and to (2) understand how values …

Deconstructing Rape Culture Through An Exploration Of Consent, Desire, And Pleasure, Yael Rosenstock

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Desire and pleasure based education combats the notion of passive consent by prioritizing positive experiences for all members involved in sexual activities. A focus on desire requires that we learn and listen to our partner’s needs and respect their boundaries. It questions a patriarchal script of sex in which male pleasure, specifically when penetrating a partner, is the critical part of the sexual act. Sex motivated by mutual desire and pleasure forces us to step back and learn, not just about our partners but ourselves, so that we may communicate our wants and needs effectively.

To understand how to navigate …

Becoming Ghosts: The Public Veiling Of Puerto Ricans In New York City, Samantha Pina Saghera

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In recent years Puerto Ricans in New York City have become difficult to locate in the public realm. This is a paradox given that Puerto Ricans make up the largest Hispanic subgroup in the larger metropolitan region. This study examines how, when, and why Puerto Ricans became publicly invisible in New York City.

Demographic, media-based, political, and cultural changes have all contributed to the decline in Puerto Rican ethnic visibility. The consequence is that although Puerto Ricans continue to be racialized (as evidenced by their socioeconomic indicators), their racialization cannot be seen in the public realm. Instead, Hispanic characteristics are …

Young Men In Neighborhoods With Cure Violence Programs Adopt Attitudes Less Supportive Of Violence, Sheyla A. Delgado, Laila Alsabahi, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

New York City neighborhoods with operating Cure Violence sites show stronger declines in less violence-prone attitudes. This databit displays data collected by the NYCCure study at JohnJayREC. It demonstrates that the presence of Cure Violence in a neighborhood is associated with significant reductions in the willingness of young men to use violence in conflict situations.

Different Names For Bullying, Marco Poggio

Capstones

“There's all different forms of bullying,” says Steven Gray, a Lakota rancher and former law enforcement officer living in South Dakota. In this look into Gray’s life, we learn about two instances of bullying: the psychological and physical harassment that pushed his son, Tanner Thomas Gray, to commit suicide at age 12; And the controversial construction of an oil pipeline in an ancient tribal land that belongs to the Lakota people by rights of a treaty signed in 1851, which Gray sees as an institutional abuse infringing on the sovereignty of his people. Gray is involved in the movement that …

Media Representation Of Asian Americans And Asian Native New Yorkers’ Hybrid Persona, Min Huh

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Asian Americans, having been degraded in the realm of popular media and neglected in the consumer market, have been unable to obtain a voice or leave a trace in American pop culture. The meager representation that Asian Americans rarely have is highly controlled through a distorted lens, inclined to paint them in a grotesquely exaggerated light for comic relief. The absence of Asian Americans in the media has compelled the Asian American youth to adapt the personas of different cultures in their desires for social and cultural mobility. These factors have given birth to a hybrid persona among Asian Native …

Perceptions Of Violence In Morrisania (The Bronx), Sheyla A. Delgado, Jeffrey A. Butts, Laila Alsabahi

Publications and Research

The NYCCure study measured changes in violent norms and attitudes in areas of New York City operating Cure Violence programs. Respondents were men aged 18-30 from the Morrisania area of The Bronx.

Perceptions Of Violence In Bedford-Stuyvesant (Brooklyn), Sheyla A. Delgado, Jeffrey A. Butts, Laila Alsabahi

Publications and Research

The NYCCure study measured changes in violent norms and attitudes in areas of New York City operating Cure Violence programs. Respondents were men aged 18-30 from the Bedford-Stuyvesant (Bed-Stuy) area of Brooklyn.

Respondent-Driven Sampling: Evaluating The Effects Of The Cure Violence Model With Neighborhood Surveys, Kwan Lamar Blount-Hill, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

This report gives insight into how researchers at the John Jay Research and Evaluation Center used Respondent-Driven Sampling (RDS) to measures changes in violence-related attitudes and values of young men (age 18-30) in at-risk neighborhoods and compares areas with and without Cure Violence programs. The RDS method allows researchers to reach difficult-to-recruit populations and helps to increase the credibility of the study.

Perceptions Of Violence In The South Bronx, Jeffrey A. Butts, Sheyla A. Delgado, Marissa Mandala

Publications and Research

The NYCCure study measured changes in violent norms and attitudes in areas of New York City operating Cure Violence programs. Respondents were men aged 18-30 from the South Bronx.

Perceptions Of Violence In East New York (Brooklyn), Sheyla A. Delgado, Jeffrey A. Butts, Marissa Mandala

Publications and Research

The NYCCure study measured changes in violent norms and attitudes in areas of New York City operating Cure Violence programs. Respondents were men aged 18-30 from the East New York area of Brooklyn.

Perceptions Of Violence In Harlem, Sheyla A. Delgado, Jeffrey A. Butts, Marissa Mandala

Publications and Research

The NYCCure study measured changes in violent norms and attitudes in areas of New York City operating Cure Violence programs. Respondents were men aged 18-30 from the East Harlem area of Manhattan.

Interference Archive: A Free Space For Social Movement Culture, Alycia Sellie, Jesse Goldstein, Molly Fair, Jennifer Hoyer

Publications and Research

This paper discusses activist archives within the context of community archives and the practices of archiving activism. Interference Archive (IA), a volunteer-run independent archive in Brooklyn, New York, is presented as one example of an activist archive. We explain the manner in which IA functions as a transmovement and prefigurative “free space” under Francis Poletta’s typology of movement spaces. Through this explanation, we illustrate how the structures of free spaces can help us understand the way activist archives forge connections between communities and the ways that they create new networks of solidarity through the archival process.

Staying Connected: Keeping Justice-Involved Youth “Close To Home” In New York City, Jeffrey A. Butts, Laura Negredo, Evan Elkin

Publications and Research

When justice-involved youth are supervised by local agencies and placed with locally operated programs rather than being sent away to state facilities, they are better able to maintain community ties. They stay connected with their families, and they are more likely to remain in local schools. Policy reforms that localize the justice system are often called “realignment.” New York’s “Close to Home” (or C2H) initiative is a prominent example of youth justice realignment. Launched in 2012, it is the latest chapter in a decade-long commitment by New York State and New York City to improve the justice system for young …

Effectiveness Of The Cure Violence Model In New York City, Jeffrey A. Butts, Kevin T. Wolff, Evan Misshula, Sheyla A. Delgado

Publications and Research

New research from the John Jay College Research & Evaluation Center (JohnJayREC) suggests that the Cure Violence strategy may effectively reduce the incidence of homicide. Researchers at John Jay worked with analysts at the New York Police Department (NYPD) to assemble information about violence in New York City neighborhoods and compared areas with and without Cure Violence programs. The analysis focused on programs in three areas: two in Brooklyn and one in Manhattan. All three areas were operating Cure Violence programs as of 2010, and homicides were tracked through 2013. When the study compared homicide rates in those areas with …

Open Scholarship For Open Education: Building The Justpublics@365 Pooc, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz, Polly Thistlethwaite, Jessie Daniels

Publications and Research

This article outlines the collaboration between librarians at the Graduate Center Library of the City University of New York (CUNY) and JustPublics@365 (http://justpublics365.commons.gc.cuny.edu/about/), an initiative designed to open scholarly communication in ways that connect to social justice activism, part of which involved producing an open, online interdisciplinary course with a geographical focus on East Harlem. This Participatory Open Online Course, or POOC, was developed locally without a licensed provider platform or licensed scholarly content. It was designed to be open to CUNY students, to citizens of East Harlem, and to a global public with an interest in social …

“Documenting The Untold Stories Of Feminist Activists At Welfare Rights Initiative: A Digital Oral History Archive Project.”, Cynthia Tobar

Publications and Research

This chapter recounts the creation of a digital oral history archive documenting the Welfare Rights Initiative (WRI), a grassroots student activist and community leadership training organization located at Hunter College. The author examines, through these oral history interviews, social movement activity at the level of a grassroots organization as exemplified by WRI, which was developed to aid student welfare recipients to become agents of social change and actively involve them with policymaking. The project depicts the experiences of members in this feminist grassroots organization and provides us with new insights to the origins of advocacy, documenting the singular historical importance …

Promoting Cancer Prevention And Control In Community-Based Hiv/Aids Service Organizations: Are They Ready, John A. Guidry, Erica I. Lubetkin, Geoffrey Corner, Jennifer Lord-Bessen, Mark Kornegay, Jack E. Burkhalter

Publications and Research

Community-based organizations (CBOs) serving persons living with HIV or AIDS face the challenge of an aging population with more chronic diseases. This study assessed cancer programming needs of AIDS service organizations (ASOs) in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut by conducting a community needs assessment. Sixty (58%) of 103 organizations completed the survey. ASOs conduct activities most related to early steps along the cancer care continuum, but they also express great interest in expanding cancer-focused programming into new areas. ASOs have resources or capacities in assisting HIV+ clients with mental health or substance abuse problems, but there exists a need …

Pioneers Of Youth Justice Reform: Achieving System Change Using Resolution, Reinvestment, And Realignment Strategies, Douglas N. Evans

Publications and Research

In the past three decades, state and local governments implemented various reform strategies to reduce the youth justice system’s reliance on confinement facilities and serve as many youths as possible in their own homes or at least in their own communities when removal from the home is warranted. The various reform strategies may be conceptualized as relying on three distinct but interrelated mechanisms: resolution, reinvestment, and realignment (Butts and Evans 2011). Resolution refers to the use of managerial authority and administrative directives to influence system change; reinvestment entails using financial incentives to encourage system change, and realignment employs organizational and …

Study Guide For United In Anger: A History Of Act Up, Matt Brim

Open Educational Resources

The United in Anger Study Guide facilitates classroom and activist engagement with Jim Hubbard’s 2012 documentary, United in Anger: A History of ACT UP. The Study Guide contains discussion sections, projects and exercises, and resources for further research about the activism of the New York chapter of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power). The Study Guide is a free, interactive, multimedia resource for understanding the legacy of ACT UP, the film’s role in preserving that legacy, and its meaning for viewers' lives.

Resolution, Reinvestment, And Realignment: Three Strategies For Changing Juvenile Justice, Jeffrey A. Butts, Douglas N. Evans

Publications and Research

In recent decades, legislators and administrators have created innovative policies to reduce the demand for expensive state confinement and to supervise as many young offenders as possible in their own communities. This report reviews the history and development of these strategies and portrays their methods as following one of three models: resolution, reinvestment, and realignment.

Process Evaluation Of The Chicago Juvenile Intervention And Support Center, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

Researchers investigated the operations of a pre-court diversion program that provides services and supports to station adjusted youth offenders after contacting the Chicago Police Department but before they have been formally arrested and referred to the Cook County Juvenile Probation Department. The purpose of the study was to determine the suitability of the program for evaluation and to work with staff to enact any procedural modifications that may be needed to facilitate future evaluation activities.

"I Am", Sonali Gulati

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

It was the summer of 1999 in Toronto at my very first public screening of my film titled "sum total" that someone asked me what my next film project was. And I had barely formalized my ideas in my head but I spoke from my heart and spoke of this film about parents of gay and lesbian youth living in India. It had only been a year and a half since my mother had passed away and that feeling of regret of not having come out to her before she died was on my mind.

Positive Youth Justice: Framing Justice Interventions Using The Concepts Of Positive Youth Development, Jeffrey A. Butts, Gordon Bazemore, Aundra Saa Meroe

Publications and Research

Positive youth development could be an effective framework for designing general interventions for young offenders. Such a framework would encourage youth justice systems to focus on protective factors and risk factors, strengths, problems, and broader efforts to facilitate successful transitions to adulthood for justice-involved youth. The positive youth development approach supports youth in successfully transitioning from adolescence to early adulthood by encouraging young people to develop useful skills and competencies and build stronger connections with pro-social peers, families, and communities (Butts, Mayer, & Ruth, & Ruth, 2005). Young people engaged with trustworthy adults and peers to pursue meaningful activities and …

Sexual Difference And Black Communities, Barbara Smith

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

During my fellowship year I have had the opportunity to deepen my understanding of Black lesbians and gays' historical relationship to large Black communities through interviews with a variety of informants. I have especially made progress in my research concerning Black lesbians and gays in Cleveland, Ohio (which was the focus of my CLAGS colloquium) and in my documentation of Black educational institutions as identifiable locations of lesbian and gay life.

To Tell The Truth: The Lesbian Herstory Archives: Chronicling A People And Fighting Invisibility Since 1974, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

A portrait of the Lesbian Herstory Archives by a volunteer, describing the archive in its original home in Joan Nestle's Upper West Side New York City apartment that she shared with Mabel Hampton. Originally published in Out/Week Magazine.