This thesis will examine the effects of residential segregation, exclusionary zoning, and gentrification on low-income minorities in inner cities. The research will show the relationship between housing inequalities and institutional classism and racism. In addition, the research will examine the use of public policies and regulations that maintain the existing isolation and concentration of minorities and low-income families through disinvestment.

Unlike major cities across the country, New Orleans did not have the power to expropriate property to engage in urban renewal projects after 1954. Yet city officials desperately sought to meet the ends of urban renewal, specifically through public claims of slum clearance and private motivation to speed along neighborhood segregation. Hamstrung in their efforts to move forward with taking residents' homes for private redevelopment, the city worked to reach its urban renewal goals by taking property for public works projects, including public housing. The city's decision to build the Guste and Fischer housing projects represents a case study of how officials, including Mayor deLesseps “Chep” Morrison, the City Planning Commission, and the Housing Authority of New Orleans, worked together to create a more racially separate city in the age of Brown v. Board of Education.

The theme of this study is spatial mismatch, a concept that gave rise to an ever-expanding body of research concerned with how and why residential and employment distributions have shifted within cities and across metropolitan areas. The concept grew out of John F. Kain's research on how racial discrimination and segregation affects the spatial patterns of people/subgroups and jobs in the postwar American urban environment. Specifically, "Housing Segregation" posits that housing-market discrimination is at the root of increased unemployment among inner-city, nonwhite workers; concurrently, the pace and volume of decentralization (of residents and employment) from central-cities reinforces low-income, overwhelmingly African-American isolation and immobility. This study contributes to the New Orleans literature by providing a pre- and post-Katrina snapshot of spatial mismatch. The analysis addresses research questions aimed at gauging the extent to which mismatch and job-isolation have changed for poor workers in the New Orleans metro area since Hurricane Katrina.

New Orleans has had a consistently high homicide rate for around twenty years, but limited research has committed to discovering a successful solution to the pre- and post-Katrina crime problem. Prior research has been conducted to analyze whether the Southern “culture of violence,” poverty, income inequality, unemployment, gun ownership and legislation, gangs, and residential segregation affect homicide, but no study applies these factors to New Orleans. Using a case study analysis that applies these variables studied in prior research to New Orleans and information acquired from the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reports, correlations are made between homicide in New Orleans and poverty, income inequality, and residential segregation. Implications show that homicide is affected by multiple factors. All of these factors should be analyzed when homicide is the focus of the research because homicide is not a result of one or two variables.

Metropolitan New Orleans Neighborhoods were surveyed in order to determine how bird populations responded to distance from the batture, percent canopy cover, stem counts, and understory vegetation. Surveys were conducted in the spring and summer of 2010. It was found that batture birds, urban birds, and pooled birds all had greater species richness and abundance in the spring in areas with more canopy cover, higher stem counts, more understory vegetation, and distances closer to the batture. In the summer, batture birds had greater richness and abundance in areas with more canopy cover, higher stem counts, and more understory cover. This group of birds also had greater richness nearer the batture in the summer, but there were no significant abundance tests. Urban birds showed no preferences for any of the vegetative variables, but showed some tendency to have greater richness further away from the batture. Pooled birds did not significantly respond to any of the variables during the summer. Fifteen individual species of birds were also analyzed to see how they responded to the same variables.

During the Indian Residential School period (1867-1960) in the Mackenzie River area of the Northwest Territories, Indigenous students at several schools administered by the Order of the Grey Nuns produced crafts and art items that were then exported to the Order’s motherhouse in Montréal. This collection of 275 pieces, ranging from garments and footwear to paintings and drawings, was repatriated at the request of the Fort Providence Métis Council to the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre (PWNHC), in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories in 2001. While locationally repatriated, the Grey Nuns collection has to date remained in storage at the PWNHC until 2015 when, in cooperation of PWNHC staff, I was able to carry out a preliminary examination of the collection. The objective of this examination was to: (1) temporally and spatially trace the movement of the pieces across Canada, situating the PWNHC collection within the residential school history in Canada; (2) to explore if the making of these pieces by the children who attended residential schools in the Mackenzie River Valley perpetuated Indigenous artistic traditions; (3) to determine whether the materiality of the collection exposes the complex interrelations between children’s crafting knowledge and the colonial structure; (4) to explore the potential and challenges of reconnecting this collection now at the PWNHC with its source communities today. This thesis reports on the analysis of a small subset of the collection’s contents. This sample, consisting of two pairs of moccasins, one pair of mittens and a single souvenir object, was analyzed for information pertinent to my main objectives, and especially what they indicate about hybridity and materiality regarding the different cultural influences, Métis, Dene and Euro-Canadian, that met in the Indian Residential school setting. The objects, made at the behest of the Grey Nuns in order to meet the demands of the Canadian tourism industry, and provide badly needed income to support their Northwest Territories schools, exhibit a combination of two, and even three, of these influences, notably in the items’ styles, decorative motifs and the materials employed in their creation. Of particular note, these sample objects portray distinct Métis and Dene artistic knowledge and traits. Their making speaks to the continuance of important Indigenous women’s traditions, knowledge that did not disappear despite the often hostile institutional environment around their creators. The collections offers another window on student-colonizer relations within some Indian Residential schools in the Lower Mackenzie region in the early twentieth century. / Graduate / 0326 / abra.wenzel@gmail.com

Thesis advisor: Jacqueline V. Lerner / The current study examines the development of social skills in delinquent adolescents in the context of the care they receive in a residential treatment facility (RTF). Reviews of prevention and intervention programs for delinquency have provided support for parent training and child social skills training as the most promising approaches to treatment. However, for adolescents in an RTF, their primary parental figures have become the care workers with whom they are placed. Based on their caregiving behaviors, these workers could provide an environment that counteracts or exacerbates the effects of the residents' prior experiences. Therefore, three major factors that may influence the social skills outcomes of adjudicated youth will be examined: (1) the prior effect of family life, (2) the current effect of youth workers, and (3) the possible interaction between (1) and (2). Using a sample of 82 delinquent adolescents (aged 13-18 years old at entry) and 41 of their caregivers from a RTF, OLS regression models indicate that several factors at the individual level and in the treatment milieu are important to consider when addressing social skills development for delinquent youth. At the individual level, adolescents identified as early-onset delinquents entered treatment with lower social skills, but also experienced the greatest improvement in these skills while in treatment. In addition, older youth and youth from larger households entered treatment with higher levels of initial social skills on average. When considering the behaviors of care workers, two caregiving measures were surprisingly associated with positive social skills growth - caregiver psychological control and attributions of internality and controllability. The unexpected relationships between caregiving and positive development are discussed with an emphasis on the unique characteristics and context of the present sample. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology.

Thesis advisor: David Takeo Takeuchi / Racism is a persistent and pervasive social problem embedded throughout U.S. society. Previous research has established that racism, particularly racial discrimination, is a strong risk factor of various health statuses among racial/ethnic minorities, but the contexts that modify the health burden of racial discrimination are less understood. This dissertation aims to investigate how race-related micro- and meso- level contexts modifies the link between racial discrimination and health. In addition, I pay attention to the moderating role of nativity status to address the potential differences in individuals’ perception on American racial/ethnic categorizations and experiences of racial discrimination. On the micro level, I focus on racial/ethnic identity given that it is particularly important cultural group membership status for many racial/ethnic minorities whose identities are rooted in collectivistic cultures. I test the identity-relevant stressor hypothesis which argues that stressful events can be particularly detrimental based on its pertinence to the valued identities of individuals. On the meso level, I pay attention to racial residential segregation, which has been identified as the hallmark of U.S. urban areas and the fundamental cause of racial/ethnic health disparities. This three-paper dissertation utilizes multiple existing population-based data sources. The first and second papers use data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III (NESARC-III). The third paper uses data from the 2000 U.S. Census and the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS). Several analytical strategies, including binary logistic regression, heterogeneous choice models, and nested logistic regression, are employed. Taken together, the present dissertation underscores great complexity in the link between race and health. Through the course of three studies, I show that the dynamics between race-related stressors and health status are not uniform, and should be understood in the realm of individuals’ social identity and their neighborhood environment. Specifically, the findings of this study contribute to expanding stress theory in the context of identity-relevance and living environments. Moreover, the study results evince that efforts to ameliorate racial health disparities should be accompanied by the consideration of the centrality of the race/ethnicity of individuals and their residential environments. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

O setor da construção civil é o maior e o que mais consome recursos em qualquer economia, considerando todas as suas fases, desde a fabricação de materiais até a ocupação e demolição. No Brasil, os edifícios são responsáveis por cerca de 50% do consumo de eletricidade e por 21% do consumo de água. Na cidade de São Paulo, a maior do país, o mercado imobiliário residencial é o principal mercado da construção e, por consequência, responsável por impactos socioambientais compatíveis. Desde 2007, ferramentas de certificação Green Building (internacionais e nacionais) ganharam força no mercado brasileiro, com destaque para os empreendimentos comerciais e de serviços. A partir de 2010, foram criados sistemas de avaliação voltados exclusivamente ao setor residencial, que ainda pouco explora o conceito de sustentabilidade nos projetos e canteiros de obra. Com base em um estudo detalhado do mercado da construção civil e das ferramentas de avaliação e normas técnicas brasileiras, foi possível definir 29 requisitos de sustentabilidade para a concepção e o desenvolvimento de projetos residenciais multifamiliares na cidade de São Paulo. Os requisitos (qualitativos) se desdobram em critérios (quantitativos) e devem servir de ferramenta para incorporadores e projetistas (com ênfase no arquiteto), durante a concepção e o desenvolvimento do projeto, incluindo a escolha do terreno e a especificação de materiais e sistemas. Abrangendo temas importantes como conectividade urbana, áreas verdes, uso racional de água, eficiência energética, materiais de menor impacto ambiental, gestão de resíduos, conforto ambiental e acessibilidade, os requisitos e critérios, uma vez adotados em projetos, resultarão em melhor desempenho econômico, ambiental e social do edifício ao longo de toda a sua vida útil, reduzindo as emissões de CO2, os custos operacionais e a exploração de recursos naturais, além de melhorar a qualidade de vida dos usuários. Entretanto, esta deve ser entendida como uma abordagem inicial, visto que ainda há muito a se pensar quando o assunto é sustentabilidade na habitação e a participação de todas as partes interessadas nesse processo de mudança (governo, incorporadores, construtores, projetistas, fabricantes de materiais e equipamentos, pesquisadores, consultores e consumidores) é de fundamental importância. / The civil construction sector is the biggest resources consumer in any economy, considering all phases, from the material fabrication to the occupation and demolition. In Brazil, buildings are responsible for 50% of electricity consumption and 21% of water consumption. In São Paulo city, the largest in the country, the residential property market is the main construction market and, therefore, responsible for compatible social-environmental impacts. Since 2007, Green Building certifications (international and national) became relevant in Brazilian market with highlights for commercial and service enterprises. In 2010, some evaluation systems were created exclusively for the residential sector, which is still less explored in terms of sustainability during design phase and construction sites. Based on detailed study of the civil construction market, evaluation tools and Brazilian technical Standards, it was possible to define 29 sustainability requirements for the conception and development of multifamily residential projects in São Paulo city. The requirements (qualitative) were translated into criteria (quantitative) and shall be used as a tool for developers and designers (with emphasis on the architect) during the conception and project development, including site selection and material and systems specifications. Covering very important issues such as urban connectivity, green areas, water efficiency, energy efficiency, materials with less environmental impact, waste management, environmental comfort and accessibility, the requirements and criteria, once applied in projects, will result in a better economic, environmental and social performance of the buildings throughout its lifetime, decreasing the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, operational cost and natural resource exploration and also improving the user´s life quality. However, this should be understood as an initial approach, since there it still plenty to be thought when it comes to sustainability in dwellings and the participation of all stakeholders in this process of change (government, developers, builders, designers, materials and equipment manufacturers, researchers, consultant and consumers) is extremely important.

Thesis advisor: Thomas O'Hare / Two primary community-based programs currently in use for people who suffer from severe, persistent mental illnesses are staffed group-homes, or intensive outreach residential programs, where the consumer lives independently and services are provided in vivo. This study utilized a cross-sectional relational design and employed a consumer survey to examine how the well-being of people with severe and persistent mental illness and who receive one of these residential services. Well-being refers to the general quality of a person’s life and living situation, including their own perceptions of the quality of their life. For the purposes of this study, well-being was operationalized as the product of three domains: 1). demographic/diagnostic characteristics, including age, gender, race, length of service, educational level, marital status, diagnosis, and intensity of residential support; 2). objective life satisfaction indicators, such as immediate social network, extended social network, independent living/self care, working/productivity, global functioning, freedom from crisis/hospitalization; and 3). subjective life satisfaction indicators, including satisfaction with living arrangements, money, leisure time, family, social life, and health. An analysis of demographic and diagnostic variables indicated that with the exception of education level, respondents living in group homes are very similar to their counterparts receiving supported housing. Independent functioning ability was significantly higher for respondents receiving supported housing services in eight areas, including cooking, shopping, housekeeping, personal finances, use of medications, active use of services, pursuit of recovery goals, and ability to find and use health care. Group home residents were significantly more likely to have substance abuse problems than respondents receiving supported housing, and were more likely to have problems that could put them or others at risk. Respondents living independently with supported housing services reported higher satisfaction with their living situation and with their relationship to their family. Group home residents were more satisfied about the availability of money for leisure activities. Exploratory analysis of the data using logistic regression suggested that such an analysis might be useful in identifying which qualities of applicants for residential services would provide a better “fit” to a particular model of treatment. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are addressed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.