Social Justice Commons^™

Maine Regional Care Teams: Collaborating To Improve Youth Wellbeing In Maine, Emma Schwartz, Jillian Foley, Jill Ward, Ahmen Cabral, Timothy Atkinson

Justice Policy

This report provides a look back at the past three years of the Regional Care Team initiative, which helped connect 165 youth to community-based resources in those first three years through a collaborative multi-systems model. The report details the extent of cross-system collaboration that continues as a part of this initiative and summarizes feedback from partners, examines data on youth referrals, their histories of system involvement, and funding. The report recommends next steps to expand prevention, community intervention, and reintegration supports for youth.

Beautiful Resistance: Nonfiction Theatre Rehearsal Processes, Politics, And Prefiguration In War, Ash Marinaccio

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Beautiful Resistance: Nonfiction Theatre Rehearsal Processes, Politics, and Prefiguration in War examines nonfiction theatre rehearsals and devising processes in and about conflict and war. I use the term “nonfiction” to refer to the vast body of collaborative theatre, facilitation, movement, puppet, and performance practices, knowledges, and techniques included under the capacious umbrella of “theatre of the real.” I propose that nonfiction theatre rehearsals are sites of prefiguration, possessing the potential to create a space where systemically oppressed communities can build alternative futures in the present. While there are multiple frameworks for understanding prefigurative politics, within this dissertation, I employ the …

In My Softest & Most Liberatory Dreams: Reflections On Holding Complexity & Decentering Whiteness, Richard C. Clark

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As the world contends with a global pandemic, climate catastrophes, white supremacy, coloniality, and concurrent genocides my attention splinters. In an act of futurity, or future making, I ask myself: What is needed to move from this place toward softer, more liberatory futures? This body of work finds its answer in exploring two interrelated concepts: Decentering Whiteness and Holding Complexity. Decentering Whiteness is the process of working toward a future where all the personal, spiritual, educational, epistemological, social, structural, psychological, financial, and systemic ties to white supremacy are unraveled. Holding Complexity weaves together knowledges of care, accountability, intersectionality, and …

Applying An Intersectional And Multi-Systemic Level Approach To Adei Institutional Assessments In Social Work Higher Education, Diana A. Melendez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Institutional Anti-racism, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ADEI) tools and assessment models are needed to support schools of social work in demonstrating compliance with the Council on Social Work Education’s (CSWE) 2022 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS). This study develops a new tool and model for ADEI institutional assessment in social work higher education using a collaborative, intersectional and multi-systemic level approach. The primary aim of the project was to develop and test a new tool to gather and document experience(s) of coloniality within a social work higher education institution, from multiple stakeholders’ perspectives, as a usable model of ADEI …

Community Awareness Of Domestic Violence In Arumeru District, Arusha, Tanzania, Rehema John Magesa

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Domestic violence continues to be prominent among many communities worldwide despite different efforts and strategies geared towards eradicating it. Women and girls are among the main victims of this violence. Lack of or limited awareness of the problem perpetuates the problem. However, much of the levels of awareness of the problem are lacking. This study aimed to establish community awareness of domestic violence and the levels of awareness and determine the association between respondents' characteristics and the level of awareness of gender-based violence. The study employed both probability and non-probability sampling techniques to acquire the respondents. One hundred women and …

Strengthening U.S. Jail Systems’ Response To Infectious Diseases: An Evaluation Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Erinn Bacchus

Dissertations and Theses

Jails across the United States were struck with increased infections and deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies have shown the structural make up of jails, lack of preparedness plans, and overcrowding contributed to health risks and poor health outcomes both inside jails and local communities. Yet little research has been dedicated to strengthening jail responses to infectious disease outbreaks spanning prevention measures, data collection, and reentry planning. Gaps include information on the (1) myriad infectious disease mitigation strategies used in jails and adherence to CDC prevention guidelines, (2) development of a standardized epidemiologic surveillance system, and (3) experiences working at …

Death With Dignity: Queer Representation In Deathcare Systems, Esmé Ringelstetter

University Honors Theses

This thesis examines the ways that elderly members of the LGBT community lack representation within deathcare systems. Currently, the LGBT community is vastly underrepresented in research relating to the dying process and deathcare. This lack of representation creates barriers for LGBT individuals at the end of their lives and creates difficult end-of-life experiences. I utilized previous research that studied how LGBT populations interact with and are treated by a variety of death care-related systems, including health systems, legal systems, and therapeutic systems. This research highlighted the need for the LGBT community to be better represented within both research relating to …

We're Here To Stay: Nonviolence And The Disability Rights Movement, Sky Mcleod

University Honors Theses

Nonviolent resistance is an effective tool for enacting large scale change including the advancement of civil rights. Disabled Americans have often used nonviolent protest and civil resistance to this aim. Despite this rich history of activism, the history of the Disability Rights Movement has largely been missing from scholarship on nonviolent resistance. Similarly, historical accounts in Disability Studies provide a fragmented perspective on the use of nonviolent resistance by Disabled people. This thesis delves into this under-appreciated history. From the League of the Physically Handicapped in the 1930s to Trump’s inauguration in 2016, this paper traces the progress of the …

Shake Ya Ass, But Watch Yourself: An Intersectional And Decolonial Approach To Exploring The Sexualization Of Female Recording Artists And The Empowerment Of Women In The United States, H.B. Rebeka

Dissertations

This dissertation, titled Shake Ya Ass, But Watch Yourself: An Intersectional and Decolonial Approach to Exploring the Sexualization of Female Recording Artists and the Empowerment of Women in the United States, critically examines the phenomenon of sexualization of women in the music industry and its impact on female empowerment. Through an intersectional and decolonial feminist lens, the study delves into the historical and socio-cultural contexts that shape the portrayal and perception of female recording artists in the United States.

The research traces the roots of feminism and the commodification of racial stereotypes through music, exploring how female empowerment has been …

An Exploration Of Contributors To Intergenerational Trauma Transmission In American Families: Parental Life Experiences And Parenting Styles., Shantrell P. Sutton-Mckenzie

Dissertations

Preexisting research on intergenerational trauma transmission primarily addresses biological and behavioral routes of transmission, leaving little room for systemic influences. This research reviews preexisting biological and behavioral contributors and explores systemic contributors to intergenerational trauma transmission in American families as it relates to post-traumatic growth, parental centrality distress, and parenting styles. It was that post-traumatic growth and parental centrality of distress (comprised of ACES, centrality of events, and access to community resources) and PTG predict parenting styles. The research hypothesis was partially supported. It was found (1) Post-traumatic growth, ACEs, and perceived access to community resources while parenting added significantly …

Black Women And Social Movements: A Narrative Analysis, Nantasha Williams

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The contributions of Black women in social justice movements are not well documented in the scholarly literature. Their roles as activists have been expunged from the history in America over centuries. This study revealed Black women’s experiences within social movement spaces. The purpose of this dissertation study was to discover the struggles, successes, and strategies of the lives of high-profile Black women activists working in contemporary spaces that are often co-inhabited by Black men and/or white women; it elevated the voices of Black women activists. The study employed a narrative analysis methodology utilizing open-ended individual interviews with three prominent Black …

Abriendo Puertas: Exploring The Challenges To Homeownership And Housing Stability For Latinos In Massachusetts, Lorna Rivera, Phillip Granberry, Bianca Ortiz-Wythe, Michelle Borges

Gastón Institute Publications

This report speaks to the current state of housing for Latinos in the Commonwealth; and it’s not great. Areas where Latinos still face inequities are compounded in a way that directly impacts access to housing and thus, ability to build generational wealth, or at the very least housing stability. We have solutions to these issues, like rent control, transfer fees, zoning changes, and even tax credits. What we lack is enough political power to have our voices make a larger impact, as Latinos own their homes at 32.7% , this issue is directly correlated to our low homeownership rates, often …

Twenty Years Of Community-Based College Success: Oral Histories From Practitioners, Partners, And Peer Mentors Supporting City University Of New York (Cuny) Students, Benjamin J. Carey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

For the past twenty years, community-based college success programs have supported a generation of young people entering all twenty-five City University of New York (CUNY) Colleges. As the country’s largest urban university system, CUNY has historically been a major engine of economic mobility for young people in New York City. However, gaps in academic preparation and navigational support have weakened student persistence and graduation rates. Community-based organizations (CBOs) that have provided college access support to New York City public school students since the 1980s began to extend their services into college to provide targeted interventions and improve student outcomes. Grounded …

Worldbuilding: A Theory Of Resilience In Transgender And Gender Expansive Young People, Jennifer Debower

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Transgender and gender expansive (TGE) young people have long histories of surviving, resisting, and even thriving despite hostility. However, dominant narratives rarely explore their stories of agency and resilience. This research aims to address that gap by asking: Where are the stories of TGE youth's strength, creativity, and resistance? What lessons lie within them? Using a critical, constructivist grounded theory approach, this study examines how 16 TGE young people navigate and challenge transphobia’s precarious conditions. Results suggest that because the current realities do not make space for their existence, TGE young people find strength in creative practices (fashion, hair, body …

We Cannot Labor Our Way Out Of Oppression: An Exploratory Study Of Wealth Through Black Women’S Lived Experience, Tiffany N. Younger

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

An exploratory qualitative phenomenological study was used to explore Black women’s experiences with wealth accumulation. The aims of this study were to better understand how Black women navigate financial obligations as heads of households and the impact of the wealth gap on their lives. The research on the wealth gap, informed by U.S. values and culture, has assumed the accumulation of wealth is the baseline/default goal or aspiration for all individuals. More specifically the subaims of this study sought to examine the extent to which the structural, interpersonal, disciplinary, and hegemony impacts Black women’s wealth status. Furthermore, this study sought …

Equivision Habitat: The Collective Dreamworks, Shixuan Zhou

Masters Theses

近年来，武汉这座充满活力的城市在经济快速增长的同时，也经历了重大的社会变革。城市的天际线不断扩大，新的商业和住宅区正在迅速涌现，吸引了更多的中产阶级家庭。作为武汉的长期居民和观察者，我看到了这种向中产阶级社会转变的诱惑力，但我也敏锐地意识到随之而来的社会成本。武汉向中产阶级社会的转变不仅体现在消费水平的提高和生活方式的转变上，更重要的是，体现在城市空间和社区角色的重新配置上。曾经为低收入居民提供住房的旧社区正在被改造成高端公寓和商业空间。虽然这种转变改善了城市的整体形象，但也导致了原住民的流离失所。这种深刻的变化凸显了中产阶级化的双刃剑性质。在这种背景下，我开始关注那些被这一进程边缘化的人的声音和需求。老年居民失去了熟悉的社区环境，年轻人尽管渴望加入新兴的中产阶级，但仍在为高昂的生活成本而苦苦挣扎。这种日益加剧的社会分层，让我深刻反思了城市更新的公平性和可持续性。本文提出了一种基于集体所有权和通过社区土地信托进行管理的社区模式。这种模式将土地所有权从个人转移到社区集体，确保开发活动优先考虑社区的长期福利，而不是短期的商业收益。其目的不仅是提供经济适用房，还旨在培养一个具有共同愿景的社区，探索在城市发展的同时维持社会多样性和包容性的方法。

Examining Transit Service Improvements With Internet-Of-Things (Iot): A Disparity Analysis, Shailesh Chandra, Robert Valencia, Vamsi Krishna Oruganti

Mineta Transportation Institute

Literature shows that poor service reliability of transit often leads to uncertain waiting times at transit stations, diminishing their popularity and usage, and this particularly affects low-income populations more likely to rely heavily on transit. This research delves into an in-depth analysis of the inequality assessment of the Los Angeles (LA) Metro Rail lines, with a particular focus on evaluating the potential impacts of integrating Internet of Things (IoT) technology. This study investigates how IoT could influence service connectivity, accessibility, and the existing disparities in transit services. The primary goal of this study is to assess how the implementation of …

Using A Historical Approach To Teach Social Justice: A Classroom Model, Mary L. Troy, Timothy Powers, Emily Lee Chong

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

Social Justice epitomizes the Ignatian ideal of “men and women for others”. Utilizing Ignatian pedagogy, faculty at Jesuit colleges and universities can help students explore and understand the link between historical events and current social justice issues. This article demonstrates and applies a six-step model of utilizing history as a tool for social justice. The model can be adapted for any field of study at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Teacher Beliefs And Experiences Addressing Healthy Racial And Ethnic Identity Instructionally Through Social Emotional Learning, Juliana Gutierrez

Theses and Dissertations

Children and youth develop within an ecological context that includes family, peers, and broader social environments including school. Children’s understanding of their ethnic or racial group and the meaning they attribute to belonging in that group is also shaped by interactions in their school environment. Most research on school-based social-emotional learning (SEL) programs has focused on student behavioral and academic outcomes. However, as SEL spreads across U.S. K-12 schools, questions have emerged surrounding how children from diverse racial and cultural groups and unequal opportunity can benefit from universal SEL programs. Using a mixed-methods design, this study explores teachers’ understanding and …

Women’S Work, Child Poverty, Collective Action And The 1936 Employment Act Recalling Rosie Hackett, Kathleen Lynn, Muriel Gahan, Bob Collis And Hilda Tweedy, Anne Murphy

Level 3

No abstract provided.