The purpose of the current study was to combine the factors previously determined to be related to African American help seeking into a single path model and, using structural equation modeling (SEM), determine the relative influence of each factor in the attitudes toward seeking mental health services (see Figure 2.2) among a community sample of African American adults from several metropolitan areas in the US. As such, SEM was utilized to compare the relative fit of two opposing models within this sample, one where a path from economic barriers to help-seeking attitudes was estimated freely and one where that path was constrained. Many have argued that for African Americans, economic constraints are barriers to seeking help. While existing literature fails to consistently support this contention, the current study does suggest that social status does carry significant weight in predicting attitudes toward seeking mental health services. Acculturation was not as strong of a predictor. Limitations , including the use of an abbreviated help-seeking scale, were discussed. In addition, implications for African Americans seeking services were also discussed.

Religiosity is considered to be an important component of the cultural orientation and worldview of African Americans. African American women, in particular, have been found to be unique in their level of religious devotion and activity compared to other demographic groups but there has been minimal research examining the positive effects of religiosity over time. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the role of religiosity dimensions and ethnic identity in predicting self-esteem, social support, healthy behaviors, and licit drug use in African American women over time. Results indicate that behavioral and cognitive components of religiosity predict different indicators of well-being. Specifically, behavioral religiosity was found to be predictive of healthy behaviors while cognitive religiosity was found to be predictive of self-esteem. Results also indicate that examining ethnic identity as a moderator may offer a richer context in understanding the differential effects of religiosity in well-being for African American women. Limitations and recommendations for future research were also discussed.

This study investigates African-American college students’ beliefs about foreign language learning, foreign language anxiety, motivations for language learning, and the extent to which the racial composition of a campus environment plays a role in those factors. 571 students across four universities completed three survey instruments: modified versions of the Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (Horwitz, 1986), the Academic Motivation Scale (Vallerand et al., 1992) respectively, the Foreign Language Classroom Academic Scale (Horwitz et al., 1986), and three open-ended questions on being African-American and learning a foreign language. Findings noted that one of three motivation factors for language learning was significantly different for campus environment. Post-hoc analyses indicated that participants at HBCUs were less likely to be the least motivated by short-term extrinsic goals for learning a foreign language than those at a PWI. African-American participants reported higher levels of foreign language anxiety than mixed groups of participants in previous studies and there were no significant differences in foreign language anxiety regarding campus environment and gender; but, there were significant differences for academic classification and the individual universities. Two of three motivation factors correlated with foreign language anxiety. Long Term Intrinsic: Discovery and Satisfaction—had a positive relationship with anxiety only at Predominantly White Institutions (PWI), whereas, Short Term Extrinsic: Minimal Investment had a negative relationship with foreign language anxiety at both PWIs and HBCUs, This factor also had the highest relationship with anxiety. The beliefs analysis indicated that African-American college students across campus environments displayed more similarities in their beliefs about foreign language learning than differences. Findings also noted few differences when compared to prior studies with other language learner groups. The belief category “African-American Expectations,” noted that African-Americans strongly believe that they are capable of learning a foreign language, and that learning a foreign language would benefit them in the future. The open-ended questions provided a wide range of perspectives to several of the beliefs about language learning, as well as motivation and anxiety from African-American college students. One major theme that emerged from the analysis focused on pressures African-American students face in the foreign language classroom. / text

The purpose of this study was to compare self-concepts of Negroes and Jews. The historical background conditions influencing the development of the Jews and Negroes are beyond the scope of this work and are therefore mentioned only incidentally. Two aspects of these two groups are under consideration: (1) How well or poorly do Jews and Negroes function in contemporary American society? (2) What sort of family life is characteristic of Jews and Negroes? These two aspects are considered important in connection with self-concepts, for the first is at least in part a manifestation of the self-concept, and family life is considered important as the major factor in the development of the self-concept. The self-concept and its development are treated more fully in a later part of this paper.

African Americans have been disproportionately affected by HIV since the beginning of the epidemic and the disparities have worsened over time (CDC, 2013a). African Americans comprise about 12% of the U.S. population but represented about 44% of all new HIV infections in 2010 (CDC, 2014a). Young people (age 13–24) accounted for 26% of all new HIV infections in 2010, despite persons in this age range comprising just 17% of the population (CDC, 2014c). Young African Americans (age 13-24) are affected in particular. In 2010, they comprised 57% of infections in this age range (CDC, 2014c). Substance use is a major factor in the sexual risk taking of young people. Substance use has been associated with risky behaviors such as unprotected sex and having multiple partners, which may put one at risk for contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2002). This may help to explain why STIs are more prevalent among 18 to 24 year olds than any other age group. Prevalence estimates suggest that young people (age 15–24) acquire half of all new STIs (Satterwhite et al., 2008). Program evaluation is a social science activity that entails “collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and communicating information about the workings and effectiveness of social programs” (p. 2) (Rossi, Lipsey, & Freeman, 2004). This dissertation is an evaluation of the Raise 5 Project, which aimed to provide HIV and substance abuse prevention services to the African American students attending Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). The project utilized four strategies: 1) evidence based interventions, 2) peer education and awareness, 3) HIV testing and counseling, and 4) a social marketing campaign. Two forms of evaluation, process and outcome, were utilized to assess the Raise 5 Project. Process evaluation assesses service utilization (i.e., program engagement) and program organization. This process evaluation sought to determine if the project’s four strategies operated as intended. Outcome evaluation assesses the intended outcomes of a program. This outcome evaluation examined if participants in the project’s evidence based interventions had reduced substance use and risky sexual behaviors.

Background: African Americans have disproportionately higher burden of prostate cancer compared to European Americans. However, the cause of prostate cancer disparities is still unclear. Several roles have been proposed for calcium and vitamin D in prostate cancer pathogenesis and progression, but epidemiologic studies have been conducted mainly in European descent populations. Here we investigated the association of calcium and vitamin D intake with prostate cancer in multiethnic samples. Methods: A total of 1,657 prostate cancer patients who underwent screening and healthy controls (888 African Americans, 620 European Americans, 111 Hispanic Americans, and 38 others) from Chicago, IL and Washington, D.C. were included in this study. Calcium and vitamin D intake were evaluated using food frequency questionnaire. We performed unconditional logistic regression analyses adjusting for relevant variables. Results: In the pooled data set, high calcium intake was significantly associated with higher odds for aggressive prostate cancer (ORQuartile (1 vs. Quartile) (4) = 1.98, 95% C.I.: 1.01-3.91), while high vitamin D intake was associated with lower odds of aggressive prostate cancer (ORQuartile 1 vs. Quartile (4) = 0.38, 95% C.I.: 0.18-0.79). In African Americans, the association between high calcium intake and aggressive prostate cancer was statistically significant (ORQuartile 1 vs. Quartile 4 = 4.28, 95% C.I.: 1.70-10.80). We also observed a strong inverse association between total vitamin D intake and prostate cancer in African Americans (ORQuartile 1 vs. Quartile 4 = 0.06, 95% C.I.: 0.02-0.54). In European Americas, we did not observe any significant associations between either calcium or vitamin D intake and prostate cancer. In analyses stratifying participants based on Body Mass Index (BMI), we observed a strong positive association between calcium and aggressive prostate cancer and a strong inverse association between vitamin D intake and aggressive prostate cancer among men with low BMI (<27.8 kg/m(2)), but not among men with high BMI (>= 27.8 kg/m(2)). Interactions of race and BMI with vitamin D intake were significant (P-Interaction < 0.05). Conclusion: Calcium intake was positively associated with aggressive prostate cancer, while vitamin D intake exhibited an inverse relationship. However, these associations varied by race/ethnicity and BMI. The findings from this study may help develop better prostate cancer prevention and management strategies.

Black feminist scholars such as Lisa Anderson describe the most common stereotypes as that of the mammy, the mulatta, and the mistress. My research analyzes how each of these negative stereotypes are articulated or challenged in contemporary plays and films by bringing together scholarship that critiques dramatic representation, mass media that disseminates those representations, and social media that reveals popular perceptions of race. I utilize Black feminism to critique the stereotypical representation of Black women in dramatic works, and critical race theory to consider the social and political environment that allows these representations to proliferate. After setting up the historical context of stereotypes from the slavery era to the present day in chapter two, each of the following chapters explore one specific stereotype, beginning with the mammy in chapter three, moving to the mulatta in chapter four, and ending with the mistress in chapter five. Each of these chapters focuses on two case studies include one successful play and one film with a nation-wide release that features Black female characters and plays on mainstream networks. With theatrical case studies ranging from Lydia Diamond's Voyeurs de Venus (2006) to Lynn Nottage's By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (2013), films from The Help (2011) to Dear White People (2014), my work questions how these stereotypes persist and create meaning in popular culture. The work addresses the following questions: How have the mammy, mulatto, and mistress stereotypes functioned and persisted in dramatic works and popular culture in the contemporary era? How do contemporary works adapt, challenge, reinterpret, and reimagine these stereotypes? What does this suggest about shifts in representations of Black women in the contemporary United States? / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Theatre in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2018. / August 9, 2018. / Black Feminism, Critical Race Theory, Mammy, Mistress, Mulatta, Stereotypes / Includes bibliographical references. / Elizabeth Osborne, Professor Directing Dissertation; Tamara Bertrand Jones, University Representative; Jerrilyn McGregory, Committee Member; Kris Salata, Committee Member.

This dissertation examines the use of photography in civil rights educational efforts from 1957 to 1972. Photography played an important role in the long civil rights movement, resulting in major legal advances and greater public awareness of discriminatory practices against people of color. For most civil rights organizations and many African Americans, education was seen as the single most important factor in breaking down social and political barriers, and efforts toward equal education opportunities dramatically increased following the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. My dissertation therefore investigates photography’s distinct role in documenting the activities of three educational initiatives—the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957, the Mississippi Freedom Schools formed the summer of 1964, and the Black Panther liberation schools established in Oakland, California, in 1969—to reveal the deep and savvy understanding of civil rights and Black Power organizations of the relationship between educational opportunities and political power.

The history play is among the United States' oldest theatrical forms, and since its inception the genre has been used to represent and interrogate questions of identity and citizenship. Over the last quarter of the twentieth century until the present day, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of history plays that focus on questions of race and representation. “Race and Performative Historiography in American Theatre, 1991-2014” provides an explanation for this surge, revealing that theatre-makers (playwrights, directors, actors, and designers) drew on a long tradition of metatheatrical techniques on the American stage to make race central to their representation and creation of history. This dissertation scrutinizes some of these techniques, which I have termed Performative Historiography, as these techniques rewrite the way the audience understands our national and racial past. Combining extensive performance analysis, archival work, race theory, and American theatre history, "Race and Performative Historiography" expands the discipline's understanding of the role of the theater in representing America’s racial past, present, and future. Each chapter of “Race and Performative Historiography” describes one of these techniques: sedimented time, historical synecdoche, and revision and repetition. These techniques provide theater-makers new ways of making vivid the past, exposing embedded power structures and forms of prejudice, as well thinking through and against national myths and structures of thought. Not only do these chapters describe these techniques, but they trace how these playwrights and directors give new life to older American theatrical forms: elements from minstrelsy (such as black, white, and red face), melodrama, and Living Newspapers of the Federal Theatre Project. Tracing the afterlives of these forms, I reveal how the juxtaposition of these older traditions with contemporary models of representation creates new theatre forms, and shows that even the most daring of the new American playwrights draw on a long and storied tradition. The history play has always been a genre that American playwrights have turned to define who we are, and where we have been, as a nation. "Race and Performative Historiography" dissects the means by which they make those claims.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 103-108. / by Deborah Sharon Alexander. / M.C.P.