Breast cancer is a global public health issue, and even though the incidence and mortality rates for this disease have declined, a substantial gap in mortality rates between U.S. women of color and European American women remains. Strategies have been initiated to decrease this gap, but they have not addressed the special needs of women of color residing in the United States, who tend to be diagnosed only after they have developed late-stage breast cancer. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the perceptions and behaviors of 20 first-generation Caribbean and South American-born women of color living in Atlanta, Georgia, related to breast cancer awareness, screening, treatment, and follow-up care. Qualitative data analysis was used to identify themes that included, but were not limited to, the role of genes in breast cancer, lifestyle influences and risk of breast cancer, environmental factors, positive perceptions of foods and their impact on breast health, the role of culture on health care decisions, fear of harm from radiation exposure, familial relationships, understanding why they sought screening and/or treatment, and familial health histories and increased risk of breast cancer. The participants' cues to take action were influenced by knowledge, health insurance coverage, confidence, educational attainment, age, income, family support, and self-motivation. Culture, race, or ethnicity had little to no effect on whether the women received breast cancer screening or mammography. The findings could facilitate social change by educating Caribbean and South American women of color in the United States about breast cancer and the need for screening, to reduce the incidence of breast cancer and the mortality rates among the target population and improving their quality of life.

Little is known about breast health behaviors in Afro-Caribbean women (ACW) residing in the United States, as they are often included in the collective group of African American women (AAW). The objective of this study was to determine the influence of a spiritually-guided intervention on breast health self-care (BHSC) attitudes in ACW residing in southeastern Florida using a concurrent triangulation mixed methods design. One hundred and seventeen women were recruited from three local south Florida Caribbean churches. Inclusion criteria included: (a) self-identification as Afro-Caribbean, (b) female aged 30 years or older, (c) living in the United States for at least 1 year, (d) able to provide informed consent, (e) able to speak and read English at the 8th grade level, and (f) no previous history of breast cancer. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This thesis analyses the themes of history, memory, and authorship in the works of four women playwrights from the French Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. In doing so, it aims to reveal the three levels of marginalization to which Caribbean women theatre practitioners are subjected: being a woman, being a French Caribbean woman, and being a French Caribbean woman who writes theatre. The thesis seeks to contribute to the expansion of the field of French Caribbean literary and drama studies, endeavours to redress the gender balance in studies on French Caribbean literature, and aspires to add to the existing body of work on French Caribbean women's writing. Therefore, the thesis aims to reveal and to analyse the world of French Caribbean women's theatre and to study how the playwrights address socio-political issues that affect their communities and influence their own writings and careers. The corpus consists of plays by Gerty Dambury, Ina Césaire, Maryse Condé, and Suzanne Dracius from the 1980s to the early 2000s. While focussing on a different theme, each chapter rests its analysis on theatrical works of a similar genre. The analysis of the plays deploys theories of the theatre pertaining to postcolonial drama and gender. The first chapter serves as an introduction to a group of female French Caribbean writers and their predecessors. The second chapter is a study of two historical plays, focussing on the collective experience of historical events and the role played by women in those events. The third chapter analyses plays that problematize the relationship between the collective and the individual. The fourth chapter looks at the image of the French Caribbean female artist and the multiple barriers she encounters in achieving creative independence.

Sexual abuse is often associated with long-term distressing effects. The experience of sexual abuse differs between survivors and the disclosure of the abuse is a complicated process that may have many particularities attached. For this study, I conducted an interpretative phenomenological analysis to understand how Afro-Caribbean women who experienced sexual abuse understand and make meaning of their experiences and the particularities attached to disclosure. Although prior research regarding sexual abuse has been conducted, research amongst Afro-Caribbean women has been minimal. Further absent from the sexual abuse literature is the lived experience of this population and the meaning they ascribe to their experience. This study utilized semi-structured interviews to elicit data from a sample of five women who identify as Afro-Caribbean or Afro-American women of Caribbean decent who experienced sexual abuse. The emergent themes from the analysis were identity of self as a sexual abuse victim, protection of self from the perpetrator, release of self during and after disclosure, and resilience of self. Themes from the analysis of the participant interviews revealed the experience of sexual abuse in the context of Afro-Caribbean women. This information provides valuable knowledge that may contribute to the larger field of marriage and family therapy by expanding the horizon of cultural awareness around this specific population.