<p> This study builds on research that explains <i>why</i> differences in drug arrest rates exist across space and by race, and sheds light on <i> how</i> these differences are produced. By identifying police organizational arrangements and practices associated with race-specific drug arrest rates, this research highlights the influence law enforcement agencies have on producing drug arrests, and identifies potential mechanisms that help to explain how disproportionate drug arrest rates across space and by race are produced. Using data gathered from the Law Enforcement Management and Administration Statistics: 2000 Sample Survey of Law Enforcement Agencies, the Uniform Crime Reporting Program Data: Arrests by Age, Sex, and Race 1999, 2000, and 2001, and the 2000 decennial Census for city-level demographic information, findings demonstrate that police organizational arrangements and practices influence drug arrest rates.</p><p> Key findings from this study indicate that (1) the presence of specialized drug unit personnel and the practice of police agencies supplementing their budgets with drug asset forfeitures are significantly associated with higher drug arrest rates. The positive associations are twice as strong on the black population as the white population; (2) indicators of bureaucratic conditions of structural control, structural complexity and officer diversity are associated with drug arrest rates; and, (3) the practice of police agencies supplementing their budget with drug asset forfeitures is not significantly associated with black or white drug trafficking arrest rates, but is significantly and positively associated with black and white drug possession arrest rates. This indicates that drug asset forfeiture programs may not be achieving their originally intended goals of reducing drug crime by attacking the economic viability of the drug trade (i.e., drug trafficking), and provides preliminary evidence that drug asset forfeiture programs incentivize police agencies to target low level drug users, and minority drug users more specifically.</p>

<p> African American males are typically subjected to unbelievable barriers and negative trends, which include institutional racism, discrimination, multigenerational poverty, lack of education, chronic unemployment, and fatherlessness. These findings are rooted within historical contexts that paint a picture of American schooling filled with the denial of educational opportunities for African Americans. However, using a critical lens these descriptors are challenged and dispelled by critical educators, who examine the bleak historical and contemporary circumstances that African Americans and other communities of color experience as a result of structural inequality perpetuated by white-dominated systems of power. In this study, the framework of Critical Race Theory is used to make sense of how race and racism shape the experiences of historically oppressed people, and to tell the story of eight African American high school males in a Northern California city, who describe factors that contributed to their failure and success as high school graduates, and how these experiences shape their college pursuits. This study uses the methodology of hermeneutic phenomenology as a tool to focus on the voices of African American male students in an effort to centralize these voices. This ensures that educators are not speaking for these students, but rather are listening to their stories.</p>

This study examines the conflicting and differing political-economic crisis facing Kenya over time in an effort to explain people’s health and, especially women’s health in the areas of maternal mortality and morbidity. In that respect, this study has particularly assessed structural adjustment policies instituted by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in order to determine how they might have exacerbated the health conditions of women in Kenya. Since maternal mortality and morbidity in Kenya have escalated under structural adjustment policies, this study used two methodological approaches to assess the health situation: (1) the historical-comparative approach and (2) interviews with appropriate medical personnel. Basically, the historical approach allowed for a historical investigation of the imposition of colonial rule and the state policies on the general welfare of the Kenyan people, including the health care system. Interviews were used to assess specific behavioral patterns, conditions and circumstances related to the provision of health care services. Numerous factors such as the discrepancy between the growth in population and medical care, unsafe and clandestine abortions due to laws that prohibit abortion in Kenya, the problems of unmet need and poverty influence maternal mortality and morbidity. While the above explanations are relevant, it is important to note that the following factors are also relevant: 1. The colonial legacy is a factor. 2. The level of postcolonial appropriations to the health system which has declined over time; and 3. Post-1986 pressures placed on the government by the International Financial Institutions through structural adjustment policies. Conclusions drawn from the findings establish that, while other underlying endogenous causes have played an adverse role in the maternal health of Kenyans in particular, the problem has been exacerbated by the exogenous factors of structural adjustment policies.

This study examines the association between women with characteristics of Africana Womanism and hypertension (high blood pressure). An analysis was performed using data from the National Survey of Black Americans to determine the association between women with characteristics of Africana Womanism and hypertension. Data analysis consisted of univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses. An analysis of the data revealed that characteristics of Africana Womanism serve as a protective factor for hypertension in African-American women. The association between women with characteristics of Africana Womanism and hypertension when adjusting for age indicates that women with characteristics of Africana Womanism were 0.56 times as likely to have hypertension. African-American women have one of the highest rates of hypertension in the United States. The intersection of gender, race, and class has a direct impact on the health of African-American women. Cultural theoretical frameworks are critical for understanding the complex interaction of gender, class, and race on the prevalence of hypertension in African-American women and for eliminating the disparity in cardiovascular health outcomes experienced by African-American women as compared to white women. Adopting a theory such as Africana Womanism provides the necessary framework from which African-American women understand their lived experiences. It allows them the opportunity to operate from a positive cultural framework on a daily basis. Operating from this framework decreases the amount of stress and conflict that arises when African-American women operate from alien constructs such as feminism. Thus, by reducing the amount of stress and conflict, there should be a reduction in diseases-physical and mental. Africana Womanism offers internal resources that provide invaluable coping strategies for African-American women to fight the twin barrels of racism and sexism that they experience in the United States.

<p> African American Women Wounded Warriors&rsquo; Lived Experiences of Self-Directed Learning: Success Through the Veterans Administration Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program This study explored the self-directed learning lived experiences of African American women wounded warriors in their successful journeys through the Veterans Administration Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program. Garrison&rsquo;s (1997) self-directed learning served as the conceptual model to study the learning dimensions. Collins&rsquo; (2009) Black feminist epistemology served as the lens. Study data were collected by asking three African American female disabled veterans to discuss their lived experiences of motivation, self-management, and self-monitoring employed to obtain self-directed learning goals. Three 90-minute interviews were conducted with each participant to garner descriptive data about the participant&rsquo;s life history, details of the lived experience, and the meaning of the lived experience. </p><p> The study found that participants&rsquo; engagement with others stimulated their intrinsic motivation and encouraged their decisions to enter a self-directed learning program. The findings support the importance of participants&rsquo; utilizing personal accountability methods to self-manage the completion of self-directed learning plan objectives. The findings noted that the participants&rsquo; self-monitoring of information resulted in commonalities and differences regarding the acceptance of lived experiences espoused by others to validate knowledge.</p>

<p> This dissertation explores Martin Luther King, Jr.'s (1929-1968) ideas and philosophy in the context of dialogue with the moral and literary imagination. King was a leading thinker and voice for the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s in the United States.</p><p> Two fundamental philosophical ideas for King were love and empathy. This dissertation explores these ideas through discussion and dialogue. Notably, King's philosophy and claims are contrasted with the writings of John Dewey and Martha Nussbaum. The dialogue between the three scholars should afford readers the opportunity for different and perhaps meaningful questions related to the teachings and philosophy of King.</p>

<p> This thesis investigates what Black undergraduate women understand and take away from Hip-Hop music. Highlighting their matrix of domination and recognizing their intersecting identities, this thesis shows how identity and music work together in the listening experience of Black women, thus emphasizing how they invest this music with social value. The following questions are answered in this research: What does Hip-Hop mean to Black female students at an elite university? How do these Black female students experience and perceive Hip-Hop music? A basic interpretive design with focus groups was used to execute this study. Three focus groups consisting of six to seven participants per group, totaling 19 participants, were conducted. Findings included that the background of each participant influenced what Hip-Hop means to them. Overall, Hip-Hop music was valued by participants and listened to for many reasons of sociological relevance, including its influence of political consciousness and colorism. Future studies should explore the how different demographic groups experience and perceive Hip-Hop, including how diverse educational backgrounds may influence perception.</p>

<p>ABSTRACT Existing models and measures of well-being tend to be based on an individualistic, western worldview. In addition, when cross-cultural comparisons are made, diverse cultural groups within the same national border are typically not examined. The Multidimensional Well-Being Assessment (MWA) was developed because of the absence of a culturally relevant measure to assess the well-being of those whose worldview is more consistent with collectivism. Although much attention has been given to detrimental forces in the lives of African Americans, less consideration has been given to assessing well-being in this population. In this study, a nonrandom sample was used to examine the validity of the MWA. In addition, several demographic variables were considered to explore the relationship of the dimensions of well-being contained on the MWA. A total of the 169 persons who identified as African-American or as a Black person with African ancestry participated in the study. The MWA showed strong reliability on nearly all dimensional subscales, as well as a pattern of expected significant positive and negative correlations with multiple validation measures. Significant correlations between demographic variables (i.e., age, education, income, and gender) and several dimensions on the MWA were also found. This study has implications for future research and the MWA shows promising results with regard to its psychometric properties. It is a potentially useful instrument to utilize in research that seeks to deepen understanding of life satisfaction and wellness in diverse populations, with particular attention to unique findings within the African American population.

<p> Community colleges serve as a gateway to higher education for millions of Americans. An increasingly large number of African American males attend community colleges across the country. Based on the literature the retention and graduation rates of African American men are lower than any group of students attending community college. The purpose of this study was to examine the initiatives within the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) Minority Male Mentoring Program (3MP) that are influencing the success of minority male student participants based on student and program coordinator observation and participation. Furthermore, the study examined specific program barriers experienced by administrators and members that impacted program initiatives geared towards increasing the graduation and retention rates of participants. The study revealed the program had affected the success of students as well as identified specific barriers to the program&rsquo;s success. </p><p> This study examines the graduation and retention rates of two cohort years of African American males participating in the NCCCS 3MP Program from fall 2012 to fall 2015 and from fall 2013 to fall 2015. A comparison analysis completed in the two cohort years determined there was a slight increase in the graduation rates of African American male program participants compared to African American non program participants.</p>

<p> Parental engagement with schools is often considered one of the major contributing factors to a child&rsquo;s success in school. There is not, however, a definition of parental engagement that takes into account the social, historical, and cultural factors that shape a parent&rsquo;s view of their own engagement. This qualitative case study examines how African American parents in a high poverty, urban, charter middle school, come to understand practices and beliefs at their child&rsquo;s school, while building relationships with other parents and school staff. Through the lenses of critical race theory and cultural-historical activity theory, the researcher analyzes how the convergence of race, power, history, and culture frame perspectives of policy makers, those who work in schools, and parents. Through the voices of African American parents, in a socioeconomically disadvantaged school community, they define their own engagement.</p>