As the number of Islamic institutions increases in America, the need for greater understanding of the Muslim community, and the challenges faced by this minority, increases as well. This project seeks to provide such knowledge by exploring one of these rapidly growing institutions founded and funded by Muslims, private Islamic schools. Absent from media and literature is an understanding of Islamic schools and the experiences of youth as their attendees. This project addresses this gap through an ethnographic focus on female students at one Islamic school. Data was collected via interviews, focus groups, observation, and participant observation. This student-centered approach provides qualitative insight on the perspectives of Muslim girls on identity, schooling, and community in order to foster greater understanding of the mission, social function, and practices of Islamic schools.

While the literature on democracy and its relationship to trust provides little consensus regarding the role of trust, researchers have emphasized the importance of generalized trust over particularized in relation to democracy. This research marks a departure from this consensus, and exposes the neglected role of personal relationships in fostering successful democracy. One of the key measurements of democracy in a country is social trust. There are three forms of trust: generalized, particularized and institutional. Previously, the measurement of social trust focused on the importance of generalized trust, that is, trust in those we do not know (Putnam, 1993; Fukuyama, 1995, et. al). Generalized trust is marked as having the greatest benefits for democracy. Those who are generalized trusters have the will to bridge across ethnicities and join civic groups in larger numbers. Institutional trust is society's trust in its institutions. Countries ranking high on institutional trust are also believed to have positive democratic outcomes. By contrast, particularized trust is often dismissed because it is seen as highly atomizing and, therefore, incapable of making bridges to ethnic others resulting in a bankruptcy of democratic values. Thus, the combination of institutional and generalized trust has been the main crux of measurement and understanding in relation to a country's ability to democratize. The problem with this approach is two fold: first, it assumes the unidimensionality of trust and ultimately resigns a country of trusters to one category or the other with often negative impacts. The reality is, we are not solely one truster or the other: we are a combination of each form of trust. Secondly, this approach is Western in focus and does not account for the differentiation within cultures and is therefore unable to truly account for trust in a society. Nor does it account for new forms of trust and civil society in the new digital age. Recently, some questions about the legitimacy of this approach have surfaced and new methods have been employed to ascertain the true nature of social trust, however these methods have also fallen short (Gibson 2001; Bhary, et. al. 2005). Because trust is one measure used to determine the amount of democracy in a nation or the ability for it, accurate description is vital. Here, the author will take a new approach and focus on the importance of the often overlooked particularized trust, as well as control for the importance of institutionalized trust. Using Khodyakov's (2007) research on trust and the Soviet case as the launching pad, the author will empirically examine trust in the former Soviet Union today. Using the most recent World Values Survey data, a new trust variable will be constructed that will be better able to capture the true, dynamic nature of trust. Placing this new trust variable in a Bayesian hierarchical linear model which will control for country level variables, it will be revealed that particularized trust can and does have positive impacts on support for democracy, debunking current notions to the contrary.

Despite positive steps toward the suppression of racial discrimination in the United States capital punishment process, the enduring effects of a cultural legacy of Black oppression (e.g., slavery; segregation; lynching) and historic and systemic racial discrimination in the criminal justice system have persisted to the present day. The purpose of the current study is to explore whether this enduring cultural legacy still exists by examining whether juries in rape-involved capital murder trials in North Carolina are more likely to recommend a sentence of death when the defendant is a Black male and the victim is a White female (compared to White male victims and White female victims). Within an analytic induction framework, the current study utilizes qualitative hypothesis testing to critically test each of the rape-involved homicide cases in an effort to elucidate the legal (e.g., circumstances of the case) and extra-legal (e.g., race of the defendant and victim, respectively; multiple dimensions of the ECL) factors that influence death sentence recommendations in North Carolina during this time period. The qualitative analysis involves the comprehensive reading and documentation of case narratives and newspaper articles in which I re-sort (i.e., reclassify) the hypothesis-supporting, hypothesis-non-supporting, and hypothesis-rejecting cases while considering the salient circumstances of the trial (e.g., aggravating circumstances; perceived brutality of the crimes committed) and the influence of multiple dimensions of the ECL (e.g., the liberation hypothesis; credibility of the White female victim). Findings from the qualitative analysis failed to show support for the ECL hypothesis (24.1% of trials showed support for the hypothesis, 19% of trials rejected the hypothesis, 57% of trials did not show support for or reject the hypothesis). While the findings did not show support for the ECL hypothesis in any context, the rich information uncovered in the extensive review of LexisNexis case narratives and newspaper articles that had a direct bearing on the qualitative findings and interpretations that could not be identified in a quantitative approach to the data (e.g., a juror’s expression of racial attitudes that was the single greatest piece of evidence showing support for the ECL; detailed descriptions of especially brutal trial circumstances that may have influenced jury sentencing decisions; the perceived credibility or chastity of the victim; the inclusion of relevant trials and exclusion of trials not appropriate for analysis) demonstrates the value of a qualitative approach to the study of racial discrimination in jury sentencing decisions.

The purpose of this study was to explore how racial bias affects perceptions of intimate partner violence (IPV). Public perceptions of IPV have been studied under numerous contexts to ascertain how characteristics of victim and the offender can affect these attitudes. A portion of this body of research has been dedicated to understanding the role of race in perceptions of IPV and a large portion of the findings have been mixed due to the interaction of biases and attitudes about race and IPV. Very few studies have looked at multiple forms of IPV in comparison with one another while also studying the sole effect of racial bias on these attitudes. This study aimed to explore how racial bias affects perceptions of multiple forms of IPV. Through a survey design that utilized vignettes to present three forms of IPV, participants were randomly assigned to one of four racial dyads for the offender and victim in the vignette and then asked a series of questions about the vignette that measured perceptions of seriousness of the scenario, offender and victim culpability, and punitiveness of punishment. Participants’ attitudes towards domestic violence, racial bias, and violence in general were also measured using known attitudinal scales. The final sample consisted of 401 participants who were recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and completed the online survey. Findings from this study suggested a role of racial bias on the sample’s perceptions of the seriousness of the scenario, offender culpability, and labeling the vignette a violation of the law.

Modern homelessness is one of the most pressing social and political problems of our time. Several hundred thousand people experience homelessness in the United States each year, and the U.S. Department of Housing, which attempts to count those people, has admitted that their statistics are conservative estimates at best. A recent archaeological study (Zimmerman et al 2010) examining material culture associated with homeless communities in Indianapolis has suggested that those who are considered chronically homeless have generally abandoned wage labor and are instead pursuing urban foraging as a subsistence strategy. In order to better understand the structures of homeless communities, I have expanded this archaeological and ethnographic form of inquiry and used it to present evidence of material culture and foraging patterns among the urban homeless near Tampa. I used participant mapping to obtain 20 individual maps that show each informant’s catchment area, and I performed surface survey of material culture found at camp sites in a four-square-mile area. I found that individuals tend to make homes wherever they are and that much of the material culture reflects what could realistically be expected in any house or apartment. I also found that individuals utilize many resources across the landscape to obtain food, water, clothing, and shelter but must simultaneously remain invisible. This shows that homeless individuals are economic outcasts who must survive outside of yet are still quite dependent on society. Ultimately, this research shows how anthropology can be used to advance a scientific understanding of a specific set of economic processes and how these affect people.

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a type of Dementia and a neurodegenerative disease that is characterized by the gradual degrading of both memory and cognitive functions. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the prevalence of AD is increasing globally. Currently, AD is the sixth leading cause of mortality in the United States. As the ageing population increases in the United States, it is possible that AD will move up the ladder in the top cause of mortality. Although the prevalence of AD in most urban parts of developed nations such as the United States is widely known, little is known about the prevalence and early diagnosis of the disease among the rural populations. According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on deaths from AD between 1999 and 2014, most mortality are concentrated in the rural counties of the Appalachian region of the United States, where the mortality rate has increased by an alarming 75%. Our study focuses on the Northeast Tennessee region, which is a prominent part of the Appalachian region. We examine the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease in the Northeast Tennessee region compared to other parts of the state of Tennessee. We sought to understand whether there is a likely association between the disease and the rural counties in the Northeast Tennessee region. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study that computes and compares between the Prevalence Odds Ratio (POR) of the 2013 to 2015 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Public Use Files data on rural versus urban counties in the Northeast Tennessee region followed by the Northeast Tennessee counties versus other counties in Tennessee. In addition, we collected primary data from 44 experts and professionals working in AD-related fields within the Northeast Tennessee region using an online survey that captures the perceived observation of the experts and professionals about the increasing prevalence of AD over the last five years. Results: Findings show that the rural counties within the Northeast Tennessee region had 18.3% (POR: 1.183, C.I: 1.113-1.258), 4.7% (POR: 1.047, C.I: 0.982-1.117), and 19% (POR: 1.190, C.I: 1.121-1.264) increased odds of prevalence of AD compared to the urban counties within the region in 2013, 2014, and 2015, respectively. Similarly, the Northeast Tennessee region as a whole, had increased odds of 22.7% (POR: 1.227, C.I: 1.203-1.250), 22.5% (POR: 1.225, C.I: 1.202-1.249), and 21.2% (POR: 1.212, C.I: 1.189-1.235) of AD compared to all other counties in Tennessee during the same periods. Conclusions: Statistical analysis and findings from experts and professionals working with patients with AD in the Northeast Tennessee region show that there are more cases of AD in the Northeast Tennessee region compared to the last five years. We suggest early screening strategies for possible decrease in the morbidity and mortality rates in Northeast Tennessee region.

Video games are an almost universal adolescent leisure activity. Though some in the scholarly field are concerned about the effects of violent video game content on adolescent social outcomes, others believe that the benefits of video game play have been overlooked. A literature review was conducted to examine the evidence for positive and negative outcomes of video game play on adolescents. There were 14 articles identified and subsequently reviewed. Findings demonstrated a unique link between video game play and antisocial (e.g., aggression), prosocial (e.g., generosity), and pragmatic (e.g., problem-solving skills) outcomes. However, the results also suggest that much of this research is atheoretical and does adequately consider the roles of relational context. Discussion of the potential roles of relationships, theoretical applications, strengths and limitations of the research, and future directions are provided.

After release, 5 in 6 prisoners are rearrested within 9 years. A growing emphasis is on the importance of healthy family relationships in reducing recidivism and only a handful of studies have provided information on relationship education (RE) for incarcerated individuals. This study adds to this emerging effort and examines the pre/posttest results of a RE program, using a sample of 727 incarcerated adults. We find significant improvements in individual well-being (anxiety and depression) and couple functioning. Further, we find greater change in the individual domain for those in a relationship compared to those who were not.

This study determines the religious differences associated with the perceptions, intentions, and usage of online dating amongst emerging adults. Symbolic interaction theory informs how the symbols associated with online dating impact perceptions, intentions, and usage among a sample of 447 emerging adults, between 18-30 years of age. More religious individuals were found to typically use online dating less, have more negative perceptions, and hold more concerns about online dating, showing that religious beliefs and norms may still associate online dating as a sexual culture rather than a method for finding dating or long-term partners. The association of religiosity and resultant relationships was found to be mediated by frequency and concerns about online dating, but not perceptions. As technology continues to grow and online dating expands to become more acceptable, more online dating sites related to specific intentions will likely arise. Implications for practitioners and future research are provided.

Although the number of black/white marriages has significantly increased since the 1970s, interracial marriage is far more common between whites and members of other minority groups, making black/white pairing still rare (Carolyn, Sitawa, & Murray, 2013). As Rockquemore and Brunsma (2001) argued, blacks and whites continue to be the two groups with the most spatial separation, the greatest social distance, and the strongest taboos against interracial marriage. In this qualitative study, common themes will be analyzed to contribute to literature regarding black/white interracial romantic relationships. The research question guiding this exploratory qualitative study will be to explore how black/white couples describe their experience and what these pairings reveal about black/white race relations presently. Grounding the research in the bioecological theory, this study allows for an intimate portrayal of the two races as they navigate interacting systems.