Background: Studies have shown that racial and ethnic Minorities have poorer access to medical care when compared to Whites. Much of the research regarding Minority access to care issues reflects national data that has made it difficult to extrapolate findings to accurately reveal disparities that exist within a particular community. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was an association between race and access to medical care in the state of Virginia.Objectives: To determine if there is an association between race/ethnicity and access to medical care when comparing different Minority populations to the White population; assess any differences between Minority populations with regards to access to medical care, and identify other risk factors that may modify the association between race/ethnicity and access to medical care. Methods: Data was collected from the 2002 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for N= 4,392 Virginian respondents. Descriptive statistics and prevalences were done to assess the sample based on unweighted data. The weighted sample was then applied for univariate and multivariate analyses with 95% confidence intervals (CI) to examine the risk estimates (odds ratios/ORs) and assess the relationship between race/ethnicity and access to medical care. Pearson chi-square analyses determined which variables to control for in the logistic regression model. SPSS 13.0 software was used for all analyses.Results: Blacks and Hispanics were more likely to be at risk for not having access to medical care (crude ORs = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.19-1.21 and 1.64, 95% CI = 1.61-1.66, respectively) when compared to Whites. Relative to Whites, Asian/Pacific Islanders and Native Americans were more likely to have access to health care (crude ORs = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.70-0.73 and 0.90, 95% CI = 0.84-0.93, respectively). After adjustment for confounders, there was a significant inverse association found between Minority populations and not having access to medical care when compared to Whites. Adjusted ORs for Blacks = 0.71, 95%CI = 0.70-0.72, for Asian/Pacific Islanders 0.80, 95%CI = 0.75-0.80, for Native Americans = 0.74, 95%CI = 0.70-0.78, and Hispanics = 0.59, 95%CI = 0.58-0.60. With regard to the adjusted ORs, there were no notable differences found between the different Minority populations. The relationship between race/ethnicity and access to care appeared to be modified by other predictors in the model. Specifically, female gender, being young or of middle age, no insurance status, poor health status, and little or no income, became stronger predictors for determining those groups who were more at risk for not receiving access to medical care in Virginia as oppose to race. Conclusion: The study strongly recommends that continued surveillance is needed to monitor access to care for Minority populations in the state of Virginia. Further research would be needed to assess these populations access over time, determine how interactions between race and other risk factors affect access, and design interventions that will succeed in teaching us more about the causal pathways that lead to such racial inequalities in access to medical care.

This study examined the relationships between cultural characteristics, communication variables, and medical outcomes in HIV-positive racial/ethnic minority patients. Participants included 33 patients and 5 providers across two urban, community medical clinics. The patient sample was 61% African American, 24% Latino, and 15% Other/Mixed. The majority (73%) were male. Providers included one White female physician, one White male nurse practitioner, two White female nurse practitioners, and one White male physician assistant. In this descriptive study, patients completed self-report ratings of their desire for engagement in decision-making prior to their scheduled medical consultation. After their consultations, patients rated their provider regarding engagement in decision-making, interpersonal communication, and working alliance. Patients also completed measures of acculturation, fatalism, familism, and mistrust. Providers rated their engagement of patients in decision-making, the patients’ interpersonal style, and working alliance immediately after the consultation. Measures of CD4 count and viral load were obtained from patients’ medical records. Cultural characteristics were not related to patient desire for engagement in decision-making. Patient perceptions of being highly informed and involved in decision-making were not related to satisfaction or immune functioning. Patient perceptions of provider affiliation and control, and the complementarity between these two, were also not found to have any significant relation to satisfaction or immune functioning. Though working alliance was not found to have a significant relation to any outcome, the relation between patient perception of a stronger working alliance and higher satisfaction was marginally significant. A match between patient and provider on the bond subscale of working alliance was found to correspond to IMI affiliation complementarity. Though the hypotheses were not supported, certain demographic variables were significantly associated with outcomes. For example, use of antiretroviral medications was associated with lower viral load and gender (i.e., being male) was related to lower CD4. The limitations of this study and directions for future research are discussed.

The paper is a review of contemporary theoretical and curricular approaches to sexual minorities in education. It analyses the curricula documents, the theoretical bases of access to (sexual) minorities in education in the Czech Republic and relevant documents available in English-speaking countries on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender-related (LGBT). Document analysis was performed using the "snowball" method. The aim is to analyse the situation in the Czech Republic and compare it with results from abroad, then there are the proposed recommendations for the curriculum revision. The conclusion brings a list of materials and their contents in the Czech Republic and a comparison with foreign materials written in English. KEYWORDS curriculum analysis, minorities, LBGT, Czech Republic

Many researchers say that the multiculturalism in Russia has emerged recently, but this term started to dеvеlop few dеcades ago. During this time period we have seen its significant change and improvement. Russian sociеty culturally is very divеrse. There are many different nаtions, culturеs, religions, and even civilizations living in Russia. The uniqueness of Russia consists in the fact that those different culturеs are its indigenous people. There is probably no other stаte in the world with such a high number of different culturеs living together relatively peacefully for centuries. Also, culturally diverse population of Russia is not composed of migrаnts as in the case of Europe or the USA. For this purpose the beginning of the thesis is dedicated to understanding of the term multiculturalism, cultural diversity, minority groups and similar. Multiculturalism developed significantly especially in the phase of last events which took place in the Wеst. The 9/11 has brought several changes. Also, the latest incidents (and the speeches of the several lеadеrs) in Europe have shown Europeans and the rest of the world that the situation in immigrаnt welcoming rеgions is not positive as before. This makes the policy of multiculturalism even more complicated in the light of present developments. The...

1 Abstract This diploma thesis deals with the contemporary Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) providing normative frameworks for Muslim minorities living in Europe. The Muslim minorities in Europe vary significantly in their ethnic, social, and religious background; yet in many cases they bring to Europe coherent system of ethical and legal rules. Nevertheless, these normative systems differ according to the country of origin and religious background of the respective minorities. Therefore, in Europe that is a constant struggle between the various interpretations of Islam and different Muslim authorities. The situation of Muslims living in the non-Muslim legal system is not regulated by the classical Islamic law and therefore jurisprudence is becoming the primary mechanism for dealing with normative issues. The key institute for contemporary Islamic jurisprudence is iftā, i.e. delivering fatwas in response to real or hypothetical individual inquiries. This diploma thesis argues that the traditional and established Muslim authorities, such as imams in mosques and muftis trained in the countries of origin, are increasingly being challenged by global Muslim authorities and individual interpretation of Islam. The ideological background of these newly established authorities range from the liberal Islam to...

The diploma thesis is focused on medial models of the minority group's equal perception development by preschool aged children. The theoretical part discourses in the wider context of the socialisation process about aspects important in this relation. It turns to the topics of social learning, attitudes towards minorities, attitudes' formation, mass communication and its impact on preschool children. The empiric part focuses on analysis of the chosen both electronic and printed medial production assigned to Czech preschool children, including comparison between Czech and foreign production. Within the analysis the either presence or absence of such medial models is investigated, which might have an influence on Czech children's attitude forming towards minority groups. Consequently it is evaluated whether between identified models such models exist, which could have a potential for actuating recipient in the sense of equal perception development towards minority groups.

This Final Thesis is concerning the question of Kurdish minority which is currently dwelling in the Turkish state. I tried to make a clear picture about historical development of both nations, Turkish and Kurdish. The main hypothesis should reveal whether prevail the effort of Kurdish people to reconstruct own state -- new Kurdistan or whether are they attempting to obtain autonomy of Turkish government on the present. One part of this Thesis covers the interrelations in between those two groups of nations.

According to public health research, bisexual men are at elevated risk for contracting STIs and HIV relative to other sexual minority groups (e.g., gay men, lesbian women) as well as heterosexual people; yet, no studies to date have examined contextual factors that may contribute to this sexual health trend. Using a minority stress theory framework, the present study tested the direct and indirect associations of anti-bisexual discrimination with risky sexual behaviors in a sample of 508 self-identified bisexual men (age range = 18 - 76), with internalized biphobia, bisexual identity concealment, and substance use mediating this relation. Bisexual identity centrality’s direct relations with internalized biphobia, bisexual identity concealment, and risky sexual behavior were also tested. A path analysis was used to analyze the data. Results indicated that anti-bisexual discrimination yielded significant direct positive associations with internalized biphobia, bisexual identity concealment, and risky sexual behavior. Internalized biphobia, but not bisexual identity concealment, yielded a significant direct association with substance use, which yielded a significant direct positive link with risky sexual behavior. Bisexual identity centrality yielded significant direct negative associations with both internalized biphobia and bisexual identity concealment, but it yielded a nonsignificant association with risky sexual behavior. Internalized biphobia also yielded a total indirect link with risky sexual behavior through the mediating role of substance use. Implications of these findings for clinical practice and future research with bisexual men are discussed.

The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate a scale that measures gender role construction and the various components associated with this process in men of color (i.e., African American, Latinx, and Asian American men). Existing psychological models for understanding this paradigm have primarily focused on the experiences and worldviews of White, Euro-American men without taking into consideration the various societal influences and socializing agents that uniquely impact this process in men of color. In an attempt to more accurately capture this process in people of color, through qualitative data, Miville, Bratini, Corpus, Lau, and Redway (2013) developed the Multicultural Gender Roles Model, which described eight unique components people of color may experience in their gender roles negotiation. For this study, the Multicultural Gender Roles Model (MGRM) was adapted for the development of the Multicultural Gender Roles Scale – Male Version (MGRS – Male Version). Qualitative research from the MGRM and feedback from experts in gender/gender roles research contributed to the development of 69 items that were analyzed through an exploratory factor analysis resulting in a 41-item measure. Exploratory factor analysis of data from 200 men of color resulted in 5 factors reflecting experiences men of color undergo in the gender role development process: (a) Transforming Self-Perceptions, (b) Negative Psychological Symptomatology, (c) Understanding Impact on Others in Family, Community, and Society, (d) Intersecting Identities, and (e) Navigating Emotions related to Privilege and Oppression.

This dissertation shows how gay, trans and queer performers in Brazil, Portugal, and Angola, working in traditionally misogynistic, homo- and transphobic popular music genres, have successfully claimed and refigured those genres and repertoires through iterations of transgender voices and bodies. I show how Pabllo Vittar, Fado Bicha and Titica refigure normative gendered conventions of sex and song through trans formations of popular music genres. I locate them within a genealogy of queer Luso-Afro-Brazilian popular music practices and performances that deploy trans formations of voice, body, and repertoire. I trace a genealogy of transgender voice in Brazilian popular music to Ney Matogrosso’s 1975 debut release, through which I reveal a cacophony of queer, indigenous and Afro-Brazilian intersections; and in Portuguese popular music to António Variações 1982 debut, through whom I trace a fado genealogy of Afro-diasporic cultural practices, gender transgression and sexual deviance. Finally, I locate Titica’s music in practices of the black queer diaspora as a refiguring of Angolan postcolonial aesthetics. Together, these artists and their music offer a queer Luso-Afro-Brazilian diaspora in spectacular popular music formations that transit beside and beyond the Portuguese-speaking world, unbound by it, and refiguring hegemonic Luso-Afro-Brazilian discourses of gender, sexuality, race and nation.