This study has a twofold purpose. The first is to determine the consequences related to labeling deviant behaviors, especially as these effects are reflected in the person who labels and defines deviant behavior. The second is to evaluate the medical model of abnormality in relation to the labeling of deviant behavior.

This thesis aims to investigate the black church and black community in James Baldwin¡¦s first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain. Particularly, it probes how and why the religion, namely Christianity, casts a loaded shadow for African Americans. I argue that Baldwin, on the one hand, vigorously illustrates a bodily pious black community by bombarding us with heaps of biblical texts and church songs; on the other hand, he serenely indicts a spiritually hollow black church by narrating a blues-like comically sad tone. I discuss Baldwin¡¦s relentless wrestle with God in Chapter One. I suggest reading Go Tell It on the Mountain together with Baldwin¡¦s essay, The Fire Next Time, to flesh out the weighty issue of religion in the text. Since black community and black church generally symbolizes each other in the early history of Africa American lives, I make a detour to explore the emergence and development of the Black Church in Chapter Two. It is also an attempt to explain how the white God in the U.S.A. becomes black and how and why black community eventually accepts the then indifferent God to be their own. In Chapter Three, I look into the importance (and impotence) of the epitome of black community¡XHarlem¡Xin terms of its geographical location, position, and structure within the capitalist metropolis, New York. This chapter travels with John Grimes, the protagonist, to see the white man¡¦s world and to investigate the impossibility and oxymoron of ¡§black flâneur.¡¨ Then I discuss in Chapter Four the performing arts of the Black Church, as well as the secular music outside of the Black Church. Baldwin intelligently borrows God¡¦s spear and shield¡Xthe language in the Bible and the music played inside (and later outside) the Black Church¡Xas his writing tool to tell a gospel-like parable. At last, I would conclude that GTIM serves as a parable of the secular world for Baldwin has sung a blues gospel to the world.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / Post-apartheid South Africa has strived for change through the implementation of preferential procurement policy legislations such as the Black Economic Empowerment Act, Employment Equality Act, as well as the right to education for all has opened opportunities for many who were previously disadvantage. Being black in apartheid South Africa meant being middle class came with many constant difficulties of negotiating boundaries with community members that were not middle class and spaces that were middle class but white, thus raising several racial dynamics not experienced at ‘home.’ Being black in post-apartheid South Africa has also come with difficulties of constantly evolving social identity changes and categorisation.

Thesis advisor: Dennis L. Shirley / This research study is a historical analysis of Boston school desegregation viewed through the lens of Black Bostonians who gave rise to a Black Education Movement. Its purpose is to place Boston’s school desegregation history in a markedly different context than many of the narratives that evolved since Morgan v. Hennigan (1974). First, it provides a historical connection between the 18th and 19th century long road to equal schooling and the 20th century equal educational opportunity movement, both led by Black activists who lived in Boston. Second, it provides a public space for the voices of 20th century activists to tell their accounts of schooling in Boston. The narrators in this study attended Boston public schools and became leaders and foot soldiers in the struggle to dismantle a racially segregated school system. Ten case studies of Boston’s Black activists provide the foundation for this study. They recount, through oral history, a community movement whose goal was to save children attending majority Black schools from a system that was destroying them. Two theoretical perspectives, Critical Race Theory and Resiliency, inform the research design and findings. The findings shed light on agency from within the Black community, what changes were expected in the schools, the range of views regarding the intent of desegregation, and how systemic racism was the force that drove this community to dismantle a system that violated the 14th Amendment rights of Black students. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

<p>Using the novels, <em>The Bluest Eye, Sula </em>and <em>Song of Solomon</em>, the purpose of this essay is to examine Toni Morrison’s characters in the setting of the black community with emphasis on gender, participation in society and the class differences which exist within the black collective. All of the characters in the narratives exist in communities which are defined by the racial barriers formed by the surrounding white societies. Due to her concern with the inter-relatedness of race, gender and class as they are lived by the individuals, Morrison gives her characters physical and psychological qualities which enhance their chances for survival and fulfillment, thus leading to the survival of the black community. Through her characters in <em>The Bluest Eye, Sula </em>and<em> Song of Solomon</em>, Toni Morrison portrays the black community with reference to blackness and the inner struggles of the individual as well as the class differences and social structures within the collective. It can be concluded that the black community is an important part of today’s society as the contemporary individual must embrace his/her culture and heritage, which is found in the unity of the collective.</p>

Using the novels, The Bluest Eye, Sula and Song of Solomon, the purpose of this essay is to examine Toni Morrison’s characters in the setting of the black community with emphasis on gender, participation in society and the class differences which exist within the black collective. All of the characters in the narratives exist in communities which are defined by the racial barriers formed by the surrounding white societies. Due to her concern with the inter-relatedness of race, gender and class as they are lived by the individuals, Morrison gives her characters physical and psychological qualities which enhance their chances for survival and fulfillment, thus leading to the survival of the black community. Through her characters in The Bluest Eye, Sula and Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison portrays the black community with reference to blackness and the inner struggles of the individual as well as the class differences and social structures within the collective. It can be concluded that the black community is an important part of today’s society as the contemporary individual must embrace his/her culture and heritage, which is found in the unity of the collective.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 172-178). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 172-178). Also available on the Internet.

No presente estudo utiliza-se a Teoria das Representações Sociais, iniciada por Serge Moscovici, ao publicar a obra La Psychanalyse son image et son public em 1961. Para o autor, as representações sociais são originadas a partir das definições de linguagem e comunicação configurando-se em uma conexão de idéias, metáforas e imagens mentais em constante dinâmica, sendo sustentadas pela comunicação. Essa perspectiva teórica se propõe a entender como os indivíduos e grupos sociais compreendem o mundo, sua realidade e as circunstâncias nas quais se comunicam, compartilham idéias, ações, crenças, ideologias e interagem entre si e com os outros. Este estudo tem como objetivo compreender como os indivíduos constroem e reconstroem os conceitos e as práticas de saúde, as relações estabelecidas entre saúde e doença e como caracterizam as práticas tradicionais de saúde existentes na comunidade negra de Itamatatiua - Maranhão. No que se refere à metodologia utilizou-se os principíos da etnometodologia aliados à etnografia, com o intuito de perceber os modos de dizer e fazer saúde na comunidade. Mediante pesquisa de campo verificou-se que os itamatatiuenses vivem um momento de transição social, política e econômica que vem se repercutindo nas práticas de saúde. A manutenção e utilização de praticas tradicionais de saúde, que envolvem chás, ervas de giraus, emplasto, garrafadas, benzimentos e curandeirismo continua a ser observada, coexistindo com as práticas institucionais do Programa de Saúde da Família. As construções simbólicas em torno da saúde estabelecem relações complexas em uma rede que envolve o momento de transmissão oral; a promessa de saúde e a fé em Santa Teresa; questões territóriais que se traduzem em título de cidadania quilombola e melhoria de qualidade de vida; cultura da cerâmica como base econômica; transição alimentar com a entrada no mercado de consumo dos alimentos industrializados; modo de vida, na maior parte das vezes, harmonioso; relações conflituosas entre os múltiplos saberes em interação, que envolve o conhecimento reificado institucionalizado e o conhecimento popular. Concluí-se que através da oralidade as experiências práticas de saúde das gerações antepassadas se consolidaram e hoje se colocam em paralelo as práticas institucionalizadas governamentais e privadas, constituindo um conjunto de representações características dessa comunidade. / In the present study, we have used the Theory of Social Representations, initiated by Serge Moscovici, when he published the work La Psychanalyse son image et son public, in 1961.For the author, social representations are derived from the definitions of language and communication in setting up a connection of ideas, metaphors, and imagery in a constant dynamics, and being sustained by communication. This theoretical perspective proposes to understand how individuals and social groups understand the world, their reality, and the circumstances in which they communicate, share ideas, actions, beliefs, ideologies, and interact among themselves and with others. This study aims to understand how individuals construct and reconstruct the concepts and practices of health, the relations between health and disease, and how to characterize the traditional health practices existing in the black community of Itamatatiua - Maranhão. Regarding the methodology, we have used the principles of ethno-methodology allied to ethnography, in order to understand the ways of saying and doing health in the community. The field research revealed that people from Itamatatiua live a moment of social, policy, and economic transition that have been reverberating in health practices. The maintenance and use of traditional health practices, which involve teas, seedbed herbs, plasters/patches, potions, blessings, and faith healings continue to be observed, coexisting with the institutional practices of the Family Health Program. The symbolic constructions around health establish complex relationships in a network that involves the time of oral transmission; the promise of health and faith in Santa Theresa; territorial issues that translate into quilombola citizenship title and improved quality of life; ceramic culture as the economic base; dietary transition with the entry of processed foods in the consumption market; way of life, in most cases, harmonious; conflicting relations among multiple knowledge in interaction, which involves the institutionalized reified knowledge and popular knowledge. We conclude that, through oral speech, health practices of past generations have consolidated and currently are placed in parallel with governmental institutionalized and private practices, constituting a set of characteristic representations of this community.

No presente estudo utiliza-se a Teoria das Representações Sociais, iniciada por Serge Moscovici, ao publicar a obra La Psychanalyse son image et son public em 1961. Para o autor, as representações sociais são originadas a partir das definições de linguagem e comunicação configurando-se em uma conexão de idéias, metáforas e imagens mentais em constante dinâmica, sendo sustentadas pela comunicação. Essa perspectiva teórica se propõe a entender como os indivíduos e grupos sociais compreendem o mundo, sua realidade e as circunstâncias nas quais se comunicam, compartilham idéias, ações, crenças, ideologias e interagem entre si e com os outros. Este estudo tem como objetivo compreender como os indivíduos constroem e reconstroem os conceitos e as práticas de saúde, as relações estabelecidas entre saúde e doença e como caracterizam as práticas tradicionais de saúde existentes na comunidade negra de Itamatatiua - Maranhão. No que se refere à metodologia utilizou-se os principíos da etnometodologia aliados à etnografia, com o intuito de perceber os modos de dizer e fazer saúde na comunidade. Mediante pesquisa de campo verificou-se que os itamatatiuenses vivem um momento de transição social, política e econômica que vem se repercutindo nas práticas de saúde. A manutenção e utilização de praticas tradicionais de saúde, que envolvem chás, ervas de giraus, emplasto, garrafadas, benzimentos e curandeirismo continua a ser observada, coexistindo com as práticas institucionais do Programa de Saúde da Família. As construções simbólicas em torno da saúde estabelecem relações complexas em uma rede que envolve o momento de transmissão oral; a promessa de saúde e a fé em Santa Teresa; questões territóriais que se traduzem em título de cidadania quilombola e melhoria de qualidade de vida; cultura da cerâmica como base econômica; transição alimentar com a entrada no mercado de consumo dos alimentos industrializados; modo de vida, na maior parte das vezes, harmonioso; relações conflituosas entre os múltiplos saberes em interação, que envolve o conhecimento reificado institucionalizado e o conhecimento popular. Concluí-se que através da oralidade as experiências práticas de saúde das gerações antepassadas se consolidaram e hoje se colocam em paralelo as práticas institucionalizadas governamentais e privadas, constituindo um conjunto de representações características dessa comunidade. / In the present study, we have used the Theory of Social Representations, initiated by Serge Moscovici, when he published the work La Psychanalyse son image et son public, in 1961.For the author, social representations are derived from the definitions of language and communication in setting up a connection of ideas, metaphors, and imagery in a constant dynamics, and being sustained by communication. This theoretical perspective proposes to understand how individuals and social groups understand the world, their reality, and the circumstances in which they communicate, share ideas, actions, beliefs, ideologies, and interact among themselves and with others. This study aims to understand how individuals construct and reconstruct the concepts and practices of health, the relations between health and disease, and how to characterize the traditional health practices existing in the black community of Itamatatiua - Maranhão. Regarding the methodology, we have used the principles of ethno-methodology allied to ethnography, in order to understand the ways of saying and doing health in the community. The field research revealed that people from Itamatatiua live a moment of social, policy, and economic transition that have been reverberating in health practices. The maintenance and use of traditional health practices, which involve teas, seedbed herbs, plasters/patches, potions, blessings, and faith healings continue to be observed, coexisting with the institutional practices of the Family Health Program. The symbolic constructions around health establish complex relationships in a network that involves the time of oral transmission; the promise of health and faith in Santa Theresa; territorial issues that translate into quilombola citizenship title and improved quality of life; ceramic culture as the economic base; dietary transition with the entry of processed foods in the consumption market; way of life, in most cases, harmonious; conflicting relations among multiple knowledge in interaction, which involves the institutionalized reified knowledge and popular knowledge. We conclude that, through oral speech, health practices of past generations have consolidated and currently are placed in parallel with governmental institutionalized and private practices, constituting a set of characteristic representations of this community.