Inequality and Stratification Commons^™

Introduction To Sociology: Class And Stratification, Dr. Marcia Morrison Ph.D.

Open Educational Resources

Abstract

This paper explores the intricate dynamics of class, stratification, and social inequality, emphasizing the interplay of wealth, power, and prestige in shaping individual opportunities and societal outcomes. Drawing on foundational theories from Marxist and functionalist perspectives, it examines the mechanisms by which economic and social structures reinforce or challenge class divisions. The analysis extends to the evolution of American economic disparity, particularly during the transformative 1980s, and examines policies aimed at addressing poverty, such as those articulated by Sar Levitan and the implementation of the Social Security Act. Through a nuanced discussion of cultural capital, the role of …

Why Are Men So Obsessed With Pornography? Andrea Dworkin Was Right, Robert Jensen

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

The Lived Experience Of Religious Trauma Among Transgender And Gender Diverse People: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Patrick T. Meyer

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Religion has served as a framework to support the psychological well-being of people across cultures throughout human history, yet there is growing scholarly and public interest in how religious institutions and people inflict harm on members through spiritual means. Extant literature demonstrated that transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people experience gendered microaggressions in religious spaces, and their social position within the church likely holds unique insights into the subjective experience of religious trauma. Even though research with people who have had adverse religious experiences has increased over time, little is known about TGD people who experience lasting psychological damage due …

Living Heritage, Resilience And Ethically Informed Infrastructures In Malawi, Martha B. Lerski, Frank Puluputu Mwale

Publications and Research

Rooted in a rural community’s needs, this paper explores how historically, and ethically informed infrastructures can support community engagement towards identification, documentation, and dissemination of local, traditional, and indigenous knowledge relating to climate change. The paper examines climate adaptation and sustainability issues through the lenses of community organizing and Library & Information Science best practices. It draws on a growing body of literature identifying a role for expanded epistemological and subject discipline perspectives. While the impacts of climate on material culture are increasingly recognized, intangible, and biocultural heritage have not received as much attention. Living heritage traditions and knowledge systems …

The Body In Extremist White Supremacism, Mehr Latif, Kathleen Blee, Matthew Demichele, Pete Simi

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

This article advances the study of racial extremism by analyzing how its practices of violence and sexuality are marked on the bodies of participants in the form of scars, physical stances, abuse, tattoos, pregnancy, injury, strength and size, using an extraordinarily rich and extensive set of narratives collected from lengthy in-person interviews with 47 former members of U.S. extremist white supremacist groups. It asks how embodied practices of violence and sexuality enable extremist white supremacist groups and actors, how embodied practices of violence and sexuality disable these groups and actors, and how gender matters in embodied practices in these groups. …

Balancing Care And Challenge: Integrating Trauma-Informed Learning And Desirable Difficulty, Cerise L. Glenn, Katie Lind, Jessica D. Mccall

Feminist Pedagogy

Amid changing landscapes of campus culture (e.g., new technologies, increasing accommodations requests, program reviews), we utilize pedagogical strategies to expand feminist frontiers in ways that re-energize and promote an inclusive culture of feminist pedagogy. By implementing “desirable difficulty,” we seek collaborative learning environments that address the changing needs of students and teachers while fostering learning effectiveness. Combining aspects of trauma-informed learning with desirable difficulty helps balance these demands with a culture of care, created through approaches designed to promote learning opportunities and meet student needs without overwhelming faculty.

Beyond Diversity Initiatives: Building A Community Of Care In Scientific Societies, Richelle L. Tanner, Kathryn Wilsterman

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

"In this Professional Biologist article, we present one such reframing that centers individualized care through structural changes. We argue that psychological and sociological motivations of belonging and social capital in the academy are funda- mental challenges contributing to the cultural problems within STEM fields and are particularly present within professional scientific societies. In support of this argument, we present survey- based data alongside significant literature from the humanities. In this reframing supported by existing organizational culture literature and our survey results, we suggest that scientific societies are uniquely positioned to promote significant cultural change within STEM by focusing on building …

Beyond The Genome: The Racialized Exposome, Flourishing, And Stress Biology In African Americans, A Non-Exhaustive Review, Enye Washington

University Honors Theses

Racial health disparities remain an enduring challenge in the United States, disproportionately impacting African American communities through higher rates of chronic disease and premature mortality. This non-exhaustive literature explores how the racialized exposome - a term denoting the totality of social, environmental, and structural stressors rooted in systemic racism - biologically embeds itself via stress-responsive pathways. Specifically, it examines the interaction between racial stress, flourishing, and key biological markers, including allostatic load and telomere length, considering the gut-brain axis. The review highlights robust evidence that chronic exposure to racial discrimination and structural adversity contributes to multisystem dysregulation and accelerated cellular …

The Role Of Neuroscience In Mental Health Management Within The Adhd Population, Kadi Rae Smith

University Honors Theses

Neuroscience-based educational interventions play a role in the management of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), including the regulation of ADHD-correlated depression and anxiety. Existing research shows that elevated rates of depression correspond to anxiety within the ADHD community; approximately 8.83% of the global population. Social ostracization and isolation are established contributors to depression and anxiety which are commonly comorbid with ADHD. The need exists for further investigation of the beneficial impact that an accurate, biological understanding of how the brain works has on the mental health of the ADHD population, and by extension their families, education systems, and medical industries. …

Urban-Rural Divide In Inequality’S Impact On Substance Abuse, Jonathan E. Flores

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

This thesis focuses on investigating the relationship between income inequality, measured through the Gini coefficient, and drug addiction, proxied through substance-related mortality. Specifically, this thesis focuses on how these dynamics vary across rural and urban counties in the United States, using population size as a proxy. County-level data from 2016 to 2020 were collected through both the CDC and the Census Bureau and subsequently analyzed using Stata, with crude death rates from drug and alcohol causes serving as a function of the Gini coefficient, labor force participation, racial composition, and other socioeconomic indicators. Through a quadratic version of the model, …

Structural Racism And Mass Shooting Events In Mountain West Cities, 2015-2019, Mohit Pande, Nicole Diaz Del Valle, Olivia K. Cheche, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

This fact sheet presents data on the link between social and demographic metrics of principal cities in four Mountain West metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs): Phoenix, AZ; Tucson, AZ; Denver, CO; and Las Vegas, NV. This fact sheet also reports the number of people affected by mass shooting events (MSEs) as originally reported in “Association Between Markers of Structural Racism and Mass Shooting Events in Major US Cities,” published by The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Surgery. The original article derives data from 865 MSEs across 51 MSAs in the United States.

Medical Debt In The Mountain West, 2022, Kian Parikh, Lara Karaalp, Otoniel Ramos, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Health

This fact sheet presents 2022 data on the prevalence of medical debt in the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. The Urban Institute report, “The Changing Medical Debt Landscape in the United States” includes data on medical debt estimates, hospital market concentration, as well as estimates of uninsured individuals, disabled adults, average household incomes, and racial compositions at the state and county level for the 50 states and Washington, DC. This fact sheet focuses on state-level differences on the prevalence of medical debt, as well as differences in the percentages of uninsured individuals and …

Fostering Inclusion And Belonging In Virtual Learning Environments: Strategies From Faculty Members For Enhancing Online Student Engagement, Tara Franklin, Tina Patterson

Tapestry: Journal of Research in Education

Despite the convenience and accessibility offered by online education, disparities persist in access, engagement, and success rates, disproportionately affecting all students, especially students with disabilities and neurodivergent learners. This difference highlights the barriers and challenges students with disabilities face on virtual learning platforms. Encouraging an inclusive and supportive environment where students feel comfortable disclosing their disabilities is essential for improving completion rates and fostering a sense of belonging in virtual learning environments. The study aimed to identify strategies faculty members use to foster inclusion and belonging for students enrolled in online courses. A cross-sectional study was conducted to collect information …

Podcast: One To Grow On – Why Black Studies Matter When Working And Living In Black Communities, Celia E. Ceballos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper examines the transformative potential of Black Studies in enhancing community work within Black and Brown communities in New York City. The research is driven by the author's firsthand experiences and the realization of the importance of Black Studies, which was largely absent from earlier education. Through the interdisciplinary approach of the Graduate Center’s MALS program, the author has gained a deeper understanding of key topics such as the legacy of slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movements, and the ongoing struggle for racial justice. This journey inspired the creation of a capstone project, …

Land Access As Liberation: A Qualitative Study On Faith, Food, And Farming Of Urban And Rural Black Land Stewards In The United States, Dominique Edwards

Dissertations

Since 1920, Black farmers in the United States have held less than 2% of the nation's farmland, a direct result of race-based discriminatory policies embedded within federal, state, local, and county-level institutions (Daniel, 2013). Structural barriers—ranging from exclusionary lending practices by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to the systematic dispossession of land through legal loopholes, heirs’ property laws, and violent racial terror—have contributed to this staggering decline in Black land ownership (Gilbert et al., 2002). The erosion of Black agrarian landholdings intensified in the latter half of the 20th century, as government programs, civil rights legislation, and technological advancements, …

Cultural Shadows: Vampires And The Shifting Fears Of The West, A Creative Exploration Of Vampire Media And Its Reflection Of Evolving Social Anxieties, Tasha Sayre

University Honors Theses

Cultural Shadows: Vampires and the Shifting Fears of the West is a creative-critical thesis that explores vampire media as a reflection of evolving social anxieties in Western culture. Focusing primarily on film and television, with reference to key literary texts, this study examines how the vampire figure is used to articulate and dramatize recurring societal fears—particularly those surrounding women's sexuality and autonomy, queer identity, and class-based inequality. Through close readings of influential vampire narratives, the thesis demonstrates how these stories mirror cultural tensions and moral panics, transforming the vampire into a symbol of both fear and fascination. Drawing on gender …

Do Myths Ever Die? Social-Cultural Changes And Mythical Transformations In Indigenous Amazonia: A Dialogue With Peter Gow, Aparecida M. N. Vilaça

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This is the first Peter Gow Memorial Lecture, given at the University of St Andrews in February 2024. Based on the analysis of different versions of Wari’ myths (Rondônia, Brazil) collected over forty years, the paper has two central objectives. The first is to engage with Peter Gow’s analysis of the mythical transformations resulting from the historical changes experienced by the Piro/Yine Indigenous people of Peru. The second is to discuss Lévi-Strauss’s suggestion that a myth can “die” after successive transformations, exhausting itself, taking the form of romantic tale or legendary tradition.

An X-Ray Of Mẽbêngôkre Houses In Terms Of Matrimonial Alliance, Vanessa R. Lea, Leandro Mahalem De Lima

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This article examines the matrimonial implications of the Houses, or matrihouses, of the Mẽtyktire subgroup of the Mẽbêngôkre (Kayapó-Jê) with the assistance of Puck (Program for the Use and Computation of Kinship Data) and Pajek software. In accordance with the greater legibility of graphics, statistical results have been converted into graphics whenever possible. The analysis is based on a revised version of a dataset spanning the years 1978 to 1982 and published on the site Kinsources. What began as a village census later morphed into genealogies, which served as the basis for the digital dataset. The matrihouses …

Ser Nhande’I Va’E, Da Concepção Aos Primeiros Passos: Uma Abordagem Etnográfica Sobre A Permanência, O Movimento E A Palavra, Maria Inês Ladeira

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

O evento do nascimento, assim como os ritos de passagem, são temas recorrentes na literatura etnográfica, com destaque aos resguardos, condutas e preceitos. Neste artigo, ao versar sobre o ato de nascer, refiro-me a alguns princípios referenciados na cosmologia guarani, na qual esse acontecimento é também um marcador – marco espaço/temporal – dos lugares habitados – isto é, ação de territorialização. Determinadas condutas pré e pós-parto são fundamentais para os Guarani Mbya e os Ava Guarani se socializarem com os demais viventes nas matas/terras que conformam seu território (Yvyrupa). A partir desse prisma, ressalto algumas propriedades e combinações …

Outras Antropologias E Seus Desafios Cosmopolíticos: Reflexividades Indígenas, João Paulo Barreto

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

Este texto é resultado “Dueto”/keynote com Tânia Stolze Lima do Congresso da Salsa em Letícia, intitulado: “Outras antropologias e os seus desafios cosmopolíticos”, proferida no dia 29 de novembro de 2023, onde propõe uma reflexão sobre os desafios enfrentados pelos estudantes indígenas no campo da Antropologia, especialmente no contexto universitário de pós-graduação. Como também discute os limites e tensões entre o pensamento indígena e a lógica ocidental acadêmica, marcada pela pretensão de universalidade e pela classificação redutora dos conhecimentos dos povos indígenas. Coloca-se em pauta a desconstrução dos corpos e pensamentos que os indígenas são submetidos ao adentrar na universidade, …

Embodying Altruistic Love: The Role Of Emotions In Teaching Black Students With Disabilities Within An Inclusive Elementary School, Joshua Armentrout

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Teacher emotions play a pivotal yet understudied role in shaping the educational experiences of Black students with disabilities (SWDs). This study examines how five special educators in a fully inclusive elementary school understand, experience, and navigate their emotions in relation to Black SWDs. Using a qualitative approach grounded in portraiture, this study explores the intersection of race, disability, and emotion, revealing how teachers internalize, resist, and negotiate dominant ideologies within the broader educational system.

Guided by a three-dimensional space framework from the field of narrative inquiry—temporality, sociality, and spatiality—this study traces how educators’ emotions are shaped by past experiences, social …

College Degree Attainment In The Mountain West, 2010-2020, Isabelle G. Graham, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet presents data on the gaps in college degree attainment in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The data appear in “Learning and Earning by Degrees: Gains in College Degree Attainment Have Enriched the Nation and Every State, but Racial and Gender Inequality Persists,” report published by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW), a research and policy institute within Georgetown University that focuses on the connections between education, career qualifications, and workforce demands.

The Digital Economy And Equitable Access To Jobs In The Mountain West, 2023, Isabelle G. Graham, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet presents data from a Brookings Institution report, “The future of the US digital economy depends on equitable access to jobs,” which compares the share of 2023 employment in highly digital jobs among women and minority groups for select U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). This fact sheet reports data for nine Mountain West MSAs: Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV; Albuquerque, NM; Colorado Springs, CO; Denver-Aurora- Lakewood, CO; Tucson, AZ; Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ; Salt Lake City, UT; Provo-Orem, UT; and Ogden- Clearfield, UT.

Affect, Efficacy, And Protest Intentions: Testing A Multilevel, Dual-Pathway Model Of Collective Action, Blaine G. Robbins, Steven Pfaff, Ross L. Matsueda

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

What are the consequences of affect and efficacy for protest intentions, and do these consequences stem from personal disposition and/or situational characteristics? Here, we test a dual-pathway model of collective action in which anger and efficacy operate at multiple levels of analysis. To test this model, we administer a factorial survey experiment of student protest to a random sample of undergraduate students (N = 880). We find that the effect of anger on protest intentions follows two routes—one dispositional and one situational—and that the effect of efficacy flows through a situational channel. We also find that anger and efficacy are …

A Tent Census: How Counting Tents Informs An Understanding Of Unsheltered Homelessness In Seattle, Karen A. Snedker, Jennifer Mckinney, Charles C. Lanfear

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Tents are a familiar sight across many U.S. cities, especially West Coast cities. In Seattle, given the high visibility of tents, public perceptions of a widespread problem, the uncertainty surrounding the city’s number of tents, and national data showing a rise in unsheltered homelessness, the authors decided to count tents. They conducted a tent census to obtain a full count of the number of tents in the city of Seattle as well as two resamples of highly populated areas of tents. In the tent census, and in the two resamples, the authors find support for three general expectations: the census …

Exploring The Experience Of Embodiment Of Diverse Leaders, Susan Lynn Flaming Yeats

Dissertations

The experience of embodiment is a complex phenomenon that spans a range of feelings: a sense of connection to one's physical body, a sense of capability to accomplish certain physical acts, an attunement to self-care behaviors, a connection to desire, and inhabiting the body as a subjective site (Piran, 2016). This can be a complicated experience for leaders who hold multiple intersecting identities (Hill et al., 2016). As new medical therapies promise radical weight loss possibilities, the experience of embodiment has taken on a new layer of complexity (Giorgis, 2024). For fat leaders who are also women of color, sexual …

Hope In Times Of Helplessness: A Literature Review On The Queer Art Of Resilience And Melancholia Via The Expressive Arts, Andrew Crowthers

Expressive Therapies Theses

This thesis explores the intersection of Queer resilience, expressive arts therapy, and community-building practices within marginalized communities – particularly focusing on how Queer communities have utilized art as means of survival, perseverance, and legacy in times of struggle. Queer communities have consistently turned to artistic gestures of expression as a way to not only resist oppression, but to also preserve collective memory and identity. In a world experiencing heightened stress, disconnection, and violence, finding ways to maintain hope is critical.

Through the lenses of trauma-informed expressive arts therapy, Queer aesthetic sensibility, and Queer melancholia, this paper examines how artistic practices …

From Oversight To Insight: Enhancing Vte Prophylaxis Through System-Level Improvements, Nehar Damle, Jessica Cobb, Jordan Feingold, Yunisse Gonzalez, Lamya Jaigirdar, Sheraz Qamar, Claire Ketchem

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Background

- Hospitalized patients – particularly those with prior venous thromboembolism (VTE), reduced mobility, severe sepsis, and operative procedures - are at significantly elevated risk for recurrent VTE events^1-4

- Although clinical evidence supports use of pharmacologic VTE prophylaxis in highrisk patients, gaps in delivery remain common (highlighted below):

• Miscommunication between managing teams
• Unclear documentation
• Lack of standardized peri-procedural protocols
• Challenges in care coordination

- Missed or delayed VTE prophylaxis represents a frequent and preventable threat to inpatient safety

- We present a near miss event involving a hospitalized patient with severe sepsis and history of pulmonary embolism within …

Utility Of Community Partnership And Sustainable Street Outreach, Daniel Lee, Hannah Klinghoffer, Mallika Kodavatiganti, Luke Benedict, Kelsey Van Housen, Ashley Wetzel, Lele Yang, Alisha Agarwal, Shane Nieves, Charlotte Harris, Jessica Lely, Vinh Dang, Ivel Morales, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Background

• 14,088 individuals experience homelessness (IEH) across the state of Pennsylvania, with over 50% concentrated in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia¹
• In late 2021, only 4 medical school programs existed that conducted street outreach to support individuals experiencing homelessness in Pennsylvania before the pandemic.² None existed at the undergraduate level.
• Street outreach has been linked to increased motivation of IEH to seek services by removing stigma via positive, nonjudgmental relationships.^3,4

Visiting Medical Student Stipends In The Us | An Analysis Of Equity Within Physiatry, Ashley Otto, Do, Mbs, Jeffrey Gray, Md, Summer Nestorowicz, Md, Adrian Oppong, Md, Ms, Oluseye Raymond, Md, Andrew Walrond, Md, Alexis Tingan, Md, Marisa Moreta, Do

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Introduction & Aims

Health inequities are ubiquitous throughout medicine especially pertaining to accessibility, affordability, and availability. These challenges disproportionately affect minorities- both patients and providers alike [3,4]. Patient outcomes have been shown to improve when treated by physicians of similar backgrounds [3,4,7]. The journey to improve outcomes begins with pre-residency rotations; medical students who can complete audition rotations have an increased opportunity to matriculate into said residency program. Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R), like many specialties, is disproportionately represented by men and Caucasians [1,5, 8] with the greatest drop in URM representation occurring between applicants and residents [Escalon]. This project …