This dissertation, an ethnographic history of urban segregation and popular culture in the 1950s, is based on sixteen months of field research in Memphis and a year's archival work at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. I show that Memphians lived both race and music as part of specific urban rhythms and in changing urban spaces, creating and responding to a rich musical scene and new mass media. The music and its distribution crossed lines of class and race, and black and white people of different classes lived next to each other in many neighborhoods. My research makes clear that residential and musical juxtapositions almost never led to friendships or equal relationships of any sort across racial lines; I turn instead to detail the rich strangeness of this geography of juxtaposition and segregation, and the central place of music within it. Setting in motion a Memphis idiom of call and response, I take ethnography not only as a methodology but a theoretical concern, exploring the interrelations of theory and experience in both music and geography. Similarly, the dissertation attends to both production and reception, not only of music but of local meanings, including how white elites legitimized and in fact increased residential segregation in the postwar era by describing black and poor people as dirty, infectious, and polluting. Thus "culture" in my work denotes not simply music and dancing but the social construction of racial codes, as well as of bodies, ideals of citizenship, and styles of movement.

This dissertation is a study of organized, professional history in the American South centered on two formal associations: the Southern History Association (1896--1907) and the Southern Historical Association (1934--present), which sponsors the Journal of Southern History. The professional historians who led these associations emerged from the memorialization culture of the Lost Cause at the turn of the twentieth-century and formed the historical wing of the resurgent intellectual commitment to regional identity that fostered the so-called Southern Renaissance. As participant intellectuals in sectional reconciliation, constitutional disfranchisement, the Great Depression, World War II, and the incipient civil rights movement, these historians often found themselves at the center of important debates about regional identity and social change in the South. This dissertation follows the protracted intellectual and political battle first to segregate and then to integrate the southern historical profession and indeed the idea of "southern history" itself. Though largely white, these historians intended to be neither pro-Confederate, sectionally chauvinistic, nor nostalgic in motivation. Instead, they constantly negotiated between their regional devotion and their national ambition, and also between their sense of their own racial integrity and the counter-claims southern African Americans and reform-minded whites made over "the South" and the meaning of its past. These historical associations were not wholly reactionary but instead fostered both a real dedication to and substantive critiques of the South and its historical practice. This dissertation keeps in focus the subtleties of change in emphasis and in interpretation that enabled more radically activist historians to lay claim to the fractures in the South's "past" and put it to use to justify change in the present. Few historians abandoned the discourse of "southern history" when its definitions became too restrictive or untrue. Instead, white and black American historians transformed the field.

This dissertation investigates twentieth-century African American and Chicano/a novels that privilege childhood play as a site for defining the self through or against an array of social norms and dominant ideologies. Although narratives of children at play are a neglected category in literary criticism, the playing child often functions as a central literary figure for conveying the conflicted processes of self-definition for children on society's margins. In conversation with theories of play, I argue that a range of Chicano/a and African American texts predicate adult possibilities for either resistance or capitulation to conventional expectations on what transpires during childhood play. The writers in this study respond, in part, to the ideology of the early twentieth-century playground movement and its aim of instilling a sense of civic duty in the children of European immigrants. While playgrounds may have been designed to integrate certain children into U.S. society, they also excluded other children---in particular, children viewed as racial others---through segregation. Even though the children of both Mexican Americans and African Americans were not included in the play movement's goals and have continued to be excluded throughout the twentieth century, the child characters in the novels that I examine frequently contend with unsettling issues of national identity during play. Unlike the proponents of the play movement who viewed assimilation through play as a form of progress, the writers in my project often show that play is a site where capitulation to dominant values is neither progressive nor desirable for their child characters. Chapter one investigates childhood play as a key factor in determining how Chicano masculinities will be lived in relation to women, class, ethnicity, and national identity. Chapter two examines childhood play as a stage for rehearsing gender-specific adult identities that empower Chicanos but disempower Chicanas. Chapter three foregrounds childhood play as a crucial arena for working out the tensions caused by racism and sexism in relationships between African American women and girls.

This ethnographic study combines qualitative and quantitative research methods to examine the relationship between culture and language disability. Nine Cree and nine non-Cree couples, all parents of a language-disabled child, were interviewed. The parental responses from the two cultural groups were compared. Comparisons of interest included language socialization patterns, the influence of culture on the concept of language disability and perceptions of speech-language pathology service delivery. Few crosscultural differences in parental responses about caregiver-child interaction and about language disability were identified. It is hypothesized that a process of cultural blending may account for these findings. However, differences relating to the perception of speech-language pathology service delivery were found. While both groups described poor access to services, long waiting periods for intervention and insufficient quantity of service, there were differences in degree reported between the Cree and non-Cree families. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Objectives. The prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Manitoba North American Indians (NAI) is hypothesized to be increased above that of Caucasians (CAUC), but little studied. To evaluate this we studied the prevalence rate of SLE in a population of 1.1 million. / Methods. The provincial arthritis center database and the medical records of all rheumatologists, hematologists, nephrologists, and general internists with ≥1 SLE patients were searched for cases of SLE diagnosed between 1980 and 1996. A subset of 175 medical records was reviewed for demographics, SLEDAI scores, SLICC/ACR damage indices, clinical manifestations and therapy. A random survey of 15% of family physicians serving this population suggested that >85% of all SLE cases were identified. / Conclusions. The prevalence of S:E was increased twofold in this NAI population. NAI patients had higher SLEDAI scores at diagnosis, more frequent vasculitis and renal involvement, required more treatment later in the disease course, accumulated more damage following diagnosis, and increased fatality. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

This thesis introduces a conceptual framework centered around the idea of social anchorage, which is viewed as a component of the psychosocial adjustment of refugees as it enables them to recapture or redefine their social identity and, thus, to regain some control over their life. The main objective of this thesis is to estimate the effect of premigratory exposure to political violence on the social anchorage of refugees in the host country. / The sample is made up of 270 Southeast Asian and Central American refugees with school-aged children who had been living in Canada for a mean of 7 years at the time of interview. Social anchorage is measured by five types of social anchor (i.e., political, professional, religious, academic and community) and by two indices of the diversity of social anchorage. Three measures of exposure to political violence are investigated personal acute (i.e., threat and torture), personal chronic (i.e., imprisonment, reeducation camp, forced labor), and family exposure (i.e., acute and chronic). In addition to the analyses focusing on the estimation of the effect of exposure to political violence, exploratory analyses are also carried out to identify other factors such as transferable skills and socio-demographic characteristics that may affect social anchorage once exposure to political violence and ethnicity are taken into account. Approximated risk ratios are calculated from the odds ratios obtained by binary and ordinal regression analyses. / Data analysis shows that specific forms of political violence may act differently on the social anchorage of refugees from Southeast Asia and Central America and across ethnic groups. Overall, personal acute exposure tends to foster their social anchorage whereas personal chronic exposure tends to prevent it. Personal acute exposure appears to foster the probability of a wider range of social anchors in Southeast Asian refugees but to inhibit it in Central Americans whereas personal chronic exposure tends to have the opposite effect as it may be a driving force for Central Americans and a brake for Southeast Asians. Finally, when controlling for exposure to political violence and ethnicity, transferable skills (such as premigratory work experience compatible with an urban setting and level of schooling) and socio-demographic characteristics (in particular number of years spent in Canada, income category and age) contribute to the social anchorage of Southeast Asian and Central American refugees. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

This thesis is a study of narratives by eighteen children 10 to 13 years old who live in an Algonquin community of Quebec. The narratives, primarily of children's personal experiences, were collected in peer groups, and were told in English, the children's second language. The specific contributions of children to each other's narratives were investigated and are described. The structural properties of a subset of the narratives were also examined using high point analysis (Peterson & McCabe, 1983). Findings resembled those reported for non-Aboriginal children with respect to the inclusion of the narrative elements of orientation, actions, and evaluation. However, the positioning of these elements and the low incidence of others resulted in differences in the structure of the narratives. Other aspects of the narratives considered include theme, narrator role, and the use of reported speech. The characteristics of the narratives are discussed as means by which the children in the study constructed and co-constructed narrative meaning. / Information on the functional dimensions of narratives in the community and on the sociocultural context in which the children live is also provided in order to facilitate the reader's appreciation of factors that influence children's narrative production.

The aims of the study were to examine substance abuse and physical and mental health in an urban Aboriginal population. Data was collected through structured interviews (n = 202) with Aboriginals in the greater Montreal area. The majority were single, unemployed, and lived in the urban area for a long time (mean of 9.96 +/- .76 years). One third reported having a current substance abuse problem. Results indicated high levels of psychological distress augmented by substance abuse. Substance abusers were also more likely to have been the victims of abuse. / Ethnographic interviews with urban Aboriginals and community workers were also conducted (n = 30). One third were victims of abuse and 6 reported having a current substance abuse problem. Psychological and biological understructures were used in defining addiction and explaining substance use among Aboriginal peoples. Cultural traditions were viewed as integral components of substance abuse treatment and the need for outpatient treatment facilities and aftercare programs were indicated.

Objectives. To determine whether the emergency psychiatric treatment of patients with psychosis varies with immigrant status and ethnicity. Methods. Data on immigrant and ethnic status of psychotic patients admitted in 1999 were extracted from records of a general hospital in Montreal. Of the 217 subjects, 97 (44.7%) were immigrants, 125 were Euro-Canadian (57.6%),39 were Asian (18.0%), and 27 were Black (12.4%). All Asians and most Blacks (87%) were immigrants. Measures of emergency psychiatric treatment included use of seclusion, restraints, and medication in the emergency department. Multiple regression models examined the relationship of immigrant status and ethnicity to emergency psychiatric treatment controlling for age, gender, patient height and weight, and mode of emergency department admission (coercive versus non-coercive). Results. Immigrant status and Asian ethnicity were not associated with emergency treatment measures. Coercive mode of emergency department admission (i.e. by police or ambulance) predicted use of seclusion (p < .001) and restraints (p < .05), but being Black was independently and positively associated with received dose of emergency antipsychotic (p < .05). Being Black was also positively associated with police or ambulance contact prior to emergency department presentation (p < .01). Conclusion. While some aspects of the emergency treatment of psychosis seem to occur as a consequence of the mode of admission, the administration of antipsychotic medication may be motivated by patient ethnicity. These results point to the need for training of emergency department staff to reduce potential bias in treatment.

<p> Roman Catholic immigrants to the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries faced multiple issues as they attempted to acculturate into their new nation. Distrusted by Protestant-Americans for both their religion and their ethnicity, they were further burdened by the biases of their own church leadership. The Catholic leadership in the United States, comprised of earlier-arrived ethnic groups like Irish and Germans, found the Catholicism of the new arrivals from Europe and Mexico to be inferior to the American style. American bishops dismissed the rural-based spirituality of the immigrants, with its reliance on community festivals and home-based religion, as "superstition" and initially looked to transform the faith of the immigrants to more closely align with the stoic, officious model of the U.S. church. Over time, however, the bishops, with guidance from the Vatican, began to sanction the formation of separate "ethnic" parishes where the immigrants could worship in their native languages, thereby both keeping them in the church and facilitating their adjustment to becoming "Americans."</p><p> Additionally, immigrants to the western frontier helped transform the Catholicism of the region, since the U.S. church had only preceded their arrival by a few decades. Catholicism had been a major presence in the region for centuries due to Spanish exploration and settlement, but American oversight of the area had only been in place since 1848. Thus, the Catholic immigrants were able to establish roots alongside the American church and leave their imprint on frontier Catholicism. As the city of Pueblo, Colorado industrialized in the 1870s and 1880s large numbers of immigrant laborers were drawn to the city's steelworks and smelters. Pueblo's position on the borderlands established its reputation as a multicultural melting pot, and the Pueblo church ultimately incorporated many of the religious practices of the immigrants while at the same time facilitating their acculturation to American society through its schools, orphanages, and social-service organizations. The story of Pueblo's Catholic immigrants and their formation of a new ethnic identity is a microcosm of the American immigrant experience.</p>