This is an examination of congregational life among Chinese Christians in New England. The study primarily focuses on (1) the attractions of Chinese congregational life for members and recruits, (2) the process of conversion and the social and organizational context in which it occurs, and (3) the implications of the study for conceptual models of conversion and church growth. Previous research on Chinese Christians has largely addressed cultural and identity issues regarding conversion to what is for the Chinese a foreign religion, as well as the social and political context of increased Chinese openness toward Christianity, especially among Chinese from the People's Republic of China. The existing literature addresses the attractions of Chinese churches, but there has been little effort to systematically compare among such attractions. Employing multiple methods (survey, informal interviews, and participant observation), this study focuses on how Chinese congregational life's attractiveness depends largely upon the relationship between three factors: social context, Chinese Protestant ideology, and interaction rituals. The findings presented here suggest that conversion is best supported when these three factors are isologous (or "in sync").

No description available.

Theories of emotion and intergroup relations predict a link between fear, outgroup perception, and behavioral intentions toward specific groups. However, surprisingly, past research has not empirically tested the impact of actually experiencing incidental fear on appraisals of in- and outgroups and socially impactful decision-making. Accordingly, the goals of this dissertation were three-fold: (1) to determine whether the experience of incidental fear increases biased decision-making targeted at racial outgroup vs. ingroup members; (2) to investigate whether some individuals are more impacted by fear than others; and (3) to explore the psychological mechanism underlying the biasing impact of fear. In Study 1, fear increased race biased decision-making for female (but not male) participants, and for those who chronically believe the world is a dangerous place. In Study 2, fear shunted attention selectively towards Black over White faces for female (but not male) participants; however, it did not produce race biased decision-making. In Study 3, fear did not modulate attention to danger-relevant stimuli or intergroup decision-making. The implications of these findings and future research directions are discussed.

A review of theories explicating identity processes and racial categorization demonstrate a growing trend towards continual adaptation and response to social context. However, current models of racial identity are characterized by relatively static, linear development. The current study introduces the construct of malleable racial identity in multiracial individuals as a means to resolve the current disconnect between racial identity models and definitions of race and identity as socially-constructed. Two methods of malleable racial identity were developed and tested, and predictors of malleable racial identity were explored. One hundred and twenty multiracial college students with parents from two different racial groups completed a series of measures assessing malleable racial identity, self-perception of skin tone, racial composition of social networks, and familial racial socialization practices. Three main findings emerged. First, confirmatory factor analyses provided preliminary support for the construct of malleable racial identity as assessed through an 8-item self-report measure. Second, individuals who identified as having darker skin tones reported greater levels of malleable racial identification. Third, shifts towards more racially homogenous academic environments during college were associated with increased levels of malleable racial identification. Improvements to study measures are described and results are discussed in terms of the implications for conceptualizations of race and identity.

The current research examines how members of groups that have been victimized by ethnopolitical violence cognitively construe their group’s experiences, and how these construals – referred to as victim consciousness (VC) – affect intergroup relations. It is proposed and shown in three empirical studies that VC can vary in its focus. On the one hand, some group members may construe their group’s experiences narrowly, and perceive their group’s victimization as unique (exclusive VC). On the other hand, ingroup victimization may be construed broadly such that outgroups who have been victims of group-based violence are perceived to be similar to the ingroup, and thereby included in a common victimized ingroup (inclusive VC). I propose that these contrasting representations mediate the effect of ingroup victimization on distinct outgroup orientations; specifically, exclusive VC should predict revenge or competitive victimhood, whereas inclusive VC should predict increased prosocial behavior toward victimized outgroups. Three studies (correlational and quasi-experimental) test the underlying processes and moderators of the two proposed forms of VC across different contexts.

This study investigates the Alpha-Omega Young Men's Association, a high school fraternity at H. D. Woodson Senior High School in the District of Columbia Public Schools. The goal of this fraternity is to provide a "father-figure" for urban Black males public school students who do not have positive role models in their homes. The study hypothesizes that a fraternal organization like Alpha-Omega can offer young males needed mentors or role models, and in so doing, raise their self-esteem as measured by the Self-Esteem Index (SEI). The study will further describe Alpha-Omega as an organization--how it operates, what happens on a day-to-day basis, and profile some of its members--both adolescents and adults. Administering an 80 item instrument to measure students' (1) perception of their personal traits and characteristics; (2) perception of familial acceptance; (3) perception of academic competence; (4) perception of peer popularity; and (5) perception of personal security of sixty-four samples was an attempt to assess any significant differences that imbued the attitude of the experimental group, as opposed to the control group over a two semester interim. While the SEI failed to yield a significant difference between the two groups, observed changes regarding academics, leadership skills, maturity, and self-esteem significantly differentiated the two groups. These findings hopefully will add to the continuous study of self-esteem measures of those urban Black males without fathers in the home, and those plagued by the social variables--poor parenting skills, negative single parenting, violence and crime, alienation, poverty, leaving school early, poor health and home provisions, and poor self concept--that are characteristic of their lifestyles. The findings further suggest that student organizations play an important role in fortifying the self-esteem of active participants. Some participants of the control group in this study scored equally or higher than members of the experimental group. Statisticians from the Howard University Computer Center, who treated the SEI data, concluded that treatment to some control group participants from sponsors and coaches paralleled that of the experimental group and influenced the outcome of the SEI results. Substantiation of the writer's premise--that male organizations can and do assist the self-esteem of male youth without fathers--was favorable in this study. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Minority underrepresentation in clinical research is an ongoing dilemma that is an impediment to discovering the most innovative therapies for all patients. Additionally, the lack of engagement of underserved minority populations in clinical research limits these patients to traditional standard of care treatment, preventing the potential for innovative therapies clinical research may have to offer. Healthcare providers in underserved communities may struggle with a plethora of barriers they must strategize to overcome to increase access and awareness regarding clinical research for minority patients. Some of these barriers may include: mistrust, lack of awareness of clinical trials for minorities, socioeconomic issues, health literacy and education, and communication. These can be improved with planning, better trials for minorities, commitment to the community, and patient education. / Urban Bioethics

An Afrocentric Critique of Race Dialogues: The Application of Theory and Practice in Africology is a critical examination of race dialogues based on the Afrocentric paradigm’s constructs of African agency, Afrocentric consciousness-raising and liberatory action. This dissertation critiques race dialogues based on Africology’s mission, function and philosophy to determine its applicability as an educational approach to eradicate racism. This dissertation explores the purpose, goals, motivations, process, impact and outcomes of race dialogues within Africology’s theoretical scope and frames the analysis within the desires, challenges, and possibilities for African-Americans’ relationship with European-Americans based on the major tenets of Malcolm X’s political and social philosophy. Malcolm X’s philosophy and activism provide the rationale for African-American liberatory practice, offer a historical critique of race relations in the United States, establish the terrain for productive, sustained and anti-racist race relations, and justify the need for interracial dialogues. As a result of this approach, this research reveals the compatibility of race dialogues to Africology on theoretical and axiological grounds and challenges the value of resistance to racial collaboration given Africology’s founding mission. While the philosophical and political tensions endemic to African-American-European-American relations continue to complicate educational strategies focused on improving intergroup relations, this critique acknowledges the possibilities that race dialogues can advance Africology’s curricular and pedagogical goals. / African American Studies

<p> Research suggested that multicultural team performance is influenced by several variables, but research on the topic has produced conflictive results. It has been suggested that bicultural individuals, due to their dual cultural schemas, can be very competent in mediating the effectiveness of bicultural teams through the use of boundary spanning and conflict perception competencies. Many studies on the topic of multicultural team effectiveness have been performed with college students or under simulated environments, which limits the generalizability of the. To address this research gap, this study provided empirical evidence on the effectiveness of multicultural teams in a real working scenario. A set of validated questionnaires previously published in peer review journals were used to survey 337 bicultural individuals that have been part of a multicultural team for more than one year. The individuals were surveyed on their experience using boundary spanning and conflict perception bicultural competencies and on their rating of the multicultural team effectiveness. Multiple regression analysis indicates that both boundary spanning and conflict perception bicultural competencies have a significant effect on the effectiveness of multicultural teams. Perception of conflict shows the most significant predictive relationship, with immediate conflict resolution, emotional conflict and disagreements on who should do what the most strongly related items to the effectiveness of multicultural teams.</p>

<p> Ethnic identity can be subject to both passive and overt review, which has the potential to cause traumatic fracture of identity. I am a second generation American-Puerto Rican, which can be defined as a person born in the United States of native Puerto Rican ancestry. Personal identity is constructed in part via social and linguistic associations that work with, and against, the cohesive development of an individual&rsquo;s claim to his or her identity. From the standpoint of a non-fluent Spanish speaker of Puerto Rican descent, I analyze the connection between place, language, and in particular, face-to-face communication, as these aspects come together in developing/disassembling identity. The major focus of this thesis concerns the power of the face as a point of (mis)recognition between people, the site in which a confrontation of identity takes place, in conjunction with spoken language. </p><p> The face is the essential locus on the body for recognizing that the person before you is indeed a person; from that point forth, identity is revealed and awareness of subjectivity constructed. Stuart Hall discussed the construction of identity through the concepts of the <i>enlightened subject,</i> the <i>sociological subject,</i> and <i>the post-modern subject. </i> I will be referring to an individual&rsquo;s identity in terms of these three models, while focusing on ethnic and cultural associations. It should be understood that in my discussion of face, &ldquo;face&rdquo; is not comprised solely of what rests above one&rsquo;s shoulders; rather, the concept incorporates the entirety of an individual&rsquo;s physical representation. I will question the ways in which language shapes identity, and how culture(s) and society reinforce it. I will also explore the conflict that unfolds when one is denied ownership of the identity that one has established as true. This analysis incorporates philosophy and cultural theory, including, but not limited to: Emmanuel Levinas&rsquo; &ldquo;Face of the Other,&rdquo; which professes that we must not inflict conceptual violence on the face of the person standing before us; additionally, Gloria Anzald&uacute;a&rsquo;s theory of the ethnic face and <i>haciendo cara</i> (making face), which states that minorities (women in particular) must construct layers of masks in order to adapt, and to deflect persecution. </p><p> Language defines the borders of &ldquo;face,&rdquo; and urges us to construct a binary of correct and incorrect, true and false. However, a person&rsquo;s identity cannot be false, because subjectivity exists beyond language. In the context of this thesis, I re-frame the individual&rsquo;s frustrations with misrecognition of ethnic identity, through my focus on face and fluency, or lack thereof, in a particular spoken language. Through my video practice, I have forged a new pathway to explore these dualities. In a self-revelatory process, this project guides the viewer through a mixed media visualization of ethnic authentication and judgment.</p>