Historical interconnections between Native Americans and many people of African descent in America created a group of Black Indians whose lineage continues today. Though largely unrecognized, they remain an important racially mixed group. Through analysis using qualitative feminist methodologies, this thesis examines the history and analyzes the narratives of African-Native American females regarding their racial identity and political claims of tribal citizenship. Their socialization, which includes kin keeping, extended families and the sharing of family stories, allows them to claim native ancestry because of the information usually passed down to them from mothers, grandmothers, aunts and other family members. Their culture and identity revealed that Black Indian women have particular attitudes regarding their racial identity. I conclude my investigation with the suggestion that Native and African American studies can be instrumental as an alternative method of studying American race relations and the ways race intersects with gender in the formation of identity politics.

Introduction: Sickle cell disease (SCD) affects predominately African Americans and is one of the most prevalent diseases in the United States (Schecter, 1999). Research has not sufficiently examined whether pain associated with SCD impacts quality of life or whether coping impacts this relation. The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between pain and quality of life in children with SCD and to determine whether coping moderates the relation. A secondary aim was to examine associations between age and pain, quality of life, and coping. A final exploratory aim was to examine the relation between racial identity and study variables. Method: 104 children (M = 12.93 years, SD = 3.17 years) with SCD and their parents participated during a regularly scheduled SCD-related medical visit. Parents completed a demographic form. Children completed the Pediatric Pain Questionnaire (PPQ), the Pain Coping Questionnaire (PCQ), the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL), Sickle Cell Disease Quality of Life (SCD-QoL), and the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI). Results: After controlling for site and gender, regression analyses revealed that pain (ƒÒ = -0.37) and emotion-focused avoidance coping (ƒÒ = -0.39) were significant predictors of overall generic quality of life (PedsQL Total Score), total R2 = 0.44, F (5, 93) = 13.88, p < 0.001. There was no significant pain x coping interactions found for overall generic quality of life. Child age was not associated with study variables. Exploratory analyses revealed the MIBI Centrality Scale was associated with PCQ Approach Coping, r (80) = -0.24, p < 0.05, and the MIBI Regard Scale was correlated with PCQ Problem-Focused Avoidance Coping, r (84) = 0.30, p < 0.01. Discussion: This study found that pain and emotion-focused avoidance coping were inversely associated with quality of life in children with SCD. Coping was not found to moderate the relation between pain and overall quality of life. The associations between racial identity and coping demonstrate the importance of further examining cultural factors in children with SCD. In addition, there continues to be a need for future research to focus on the psychosocial functioning of children with SCD.

African Americans’ experiences of racism have been found to be linked with higher levels of psychological distress. Coping responses to racism and racial identity may serve as moderators to this relationship. The present study uses an implicit measure to assess coping responses and racial identity. The main goal was to determine any correlation between implicit and explicit coping responses and racial identity, and between implicit coping responses to racism and explicit coping responses to general stress. A significant correlation was observed between implicit and explicit measures of coping responses and racial identity, and between implicit coping responses to racism and explicit coping responses to general stress. A significant correlation was also observed between implicit coping responses to racism and psychological distress. Findings indicate that implicit measures used in conjunction with explicit measures may provide a more comprehensive assessment of coping responses to racism and racial identity.

Asian Americans are believed to be immune to social barriers and challenges, because of their successes in the U.S. society. This belief, also known as the model minority myth, has caused Americans including Asian Americans themselves to believe that they are not faced with social challenges such as racism. The goal of this study was to examine the relationship among acculturation, racial identity, social context and sociopolitical awareness. Series of multiple regressions were conducted to examine the predictive model. The findings suggested three plausible models of perceived racism among Asian Americans. First two models suggested that racism should be distinguished from stereotypes. Third possible model suggested that racial identity and social context may mediate the relationship between assimilation and perceived racism. The study’s psychological and societal implications are discussed.

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a genetic disorder that affects approximately 1 out of every 600 African-American newborns (NHLBI, 2006). Research suggests that caregivers of children with SCD are at risk for maladjustment. The purpose of this current study was to build upon previous research regarding stress and coping of parents of children with SCD. Additionally, novel information regarding the effects of racial identity was explored. Participants included 103 caregivers (M = 41.1 years old, SD = 8.04 years) of children with SCD. Parents completed a demographic form, the Brief Symptom Inventory-18, Pediatric Inventory for Parents, Coping Health Inventory for Parents, and the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity. Results revealed that increases in caregiver stress associated with parenting a chronically ill child were accompanied by increases in caregiver psychosocial maladjustment. Caregiver coping did not significantly predict functioning nor moderate the stress-adjustment relation. Exploratory analysis revealed significant associations between parents’ racial identity and parenting stress.

Though the field of psychology is moving forward in its awareness of the importance of studying and addressing cultural issues, there is still a dearth of literature on the subject, especially in the area of anxiety (Heurtin-Roberts, Snowden, & Miller, 1997). The current study tested the following hypotheses 1) African-Americans’ self-reported concerns over confirming stereotypes would be related to their own self-reported levels of social anxiety. 2) There would be a negative relationship between how negatively African-Americans think others view African-Americans in general, and levels of social anxiety; 3) The relationship between public regard, concern over confirming stereotypes, and levels of anxiety would be partially mediated by beliefs about the probability and consequences of a negative outcome from their speech for group members. Results showed that the relation between public regard and fear of negative evaluations was fully mediated by the consequences of a negative outcome for group members.

Race has been considered to serve as a barrier to leisure for most Blacks. Such claims have been based on a few studies many of which are theoretically faulty. This dissertation research attempts to address the current shortcomings of the literature by exploring the relationships between racial socialization, racial identity, saliency, and the free-time choices of Black youth. Using a web-based survey, the relationship between the racial socialization behaviors of parents and development of racial ideologies is described. Findings provide support for the idea that specific race-related behaviors and messages and influence the development of one's racial identity. The results from the web-based survey are also used to test the Salience of Race in Leisure Questionnaire which is intended to determine the extent to which one considers race when selecting free-time activities. Finally, focus groups explore the race-related meanings that youth attach to their free-time activities. Findings provide information about the impact of racial socialization on the beliefs youth develop concerning Black and non-Black activities. In summary, this study provides a starting point for examining socialization and saliency as factors impacting the free-time decisions of Blacks. Much replication, extension and application research will be required to extend findings from current results using student and general population samples. The dissertation is organized in five sections. An introductory section presents the theoretical orientation for research. The second, third, and fourth sections explain the relationship between racial socialization, racial identity and saliency of race, and free-time activities. The final section provides a summary of the key findings of this dissertation.

This dissertation aims to investigate the shaping of a national literature within travel narratives written by William Bartram, Washington Irving, George Catlin, Thomas L. McKenney, Thomas Jefferson Farnham, and Francis Parkman. I focus attention on two issues: (1) National and racial identity, and (2) Territorial, cultural, and capitalist expansionism. National and racial identity construction is examined by clarifying how the narratives’ underlying voices—the National Symbolic and the Racial Symbolic—encourage the reading public to embrace the values vital in forging American collective identity. Identity invention is also seen in romantic representations of the American landscape and Native Americans. Between 1790 and 1850, the widespread trope of the Noble Savage and “distantiation” working in the Burkean aesthetics of the sublime were used as ideological frames for viewing “Others,” crucial in defining the American “self” by making the white Americans’ shift of association/dissociation with their primitivized Others possible. In order to analyze the narratives’ representation of expansionism as a national desire, this study investigates how romantic rhetoric and the appeal to morality (or the Law) were employed as decisive ideological foundations for rationalizing expansionism. Chapter I establishes the legitimacy of evaluating travel narratives as a significant part of America’s national literature. Chapter II reveals that democracy, masculine robustness, and the myth that Americans are a chosen people of progress are featured aspects in the portrayals of American pathfinders. Chapter III shows that the racial identity of “civilized whites” is forged in accordance with a miscegenation taboo informing negative portrayals of half-breeds and racial boundary crossing. Chapter IV illustrates that American freedom, simplicity, wholesome civilization, and youthfulness are presented as national characteristics through adapting the romantic tropes of the Noble Savage and the aesthetics of the sublime. Chapter V investigates the perverse mode of desiring in the iterative triangular relationship between romanticism, morality, and expansionism—the nation’s civilizing project par excellence. Chapter VI appraises the travel narratives’ roles in defining American selfhood and reflecting (and promoting) an imperialistic desire for expansion.

A large number of African American males have experienced risk and protective factors that may impede or enhance their success in the school setting. As a result of these risk and protective factors, they may or may not be at-risk for adverse outcomes behaviorally as well as academically. As indicated throughout the literature, to better serve behaviorally at-risk students, the educational system has responded by implementing methods such as zero-tolerance policies, increased security, and alternative education programs. While the former has been established throughout the literature, there has been a paucity of research on alternative education programs in general and even less with regard to African American male students. This study examined four levels of risk and protective factors, individual, school, community, and family, among African American males in both alternative and general educational settings. One hundred fifteen students ages 11 to 16 were assessed for demographics, self-efficacy, school engagement, and racial identity measures. The purpose of the study was to examine the differences between risk and protective factors among African American males in alternative and general education settings. Specifically, the individual level was examined in detail using the following risk and protective factors: self-efficacy, school engagement, and racial identity. This study also examined the impact risk and protective factors have in predicting the likelihood that an African American male would be placed in an alternative education setting. Both independent samples t-tests and hierarchical logistic regression analyses were used. Results indicated that there are statistically significant differences in levels of self-efficacy and school engagement between African American males in alternative education settings and general educations settings. No difference was found in levels of racial identity among the groups. Results from the hierarchical logistic regressions indicated that self-efficacy is a significant predictor. These findings show the importance for school psychologists to work with students to instill confidence to be successful in school settings. Also, since self-efficacy was shown to be a significant predictor of placement status in alternative school settings, it is important for school psychologists and school personnel to get involved with these students before they even become at-risk.

Race-related stress has been found to impact the mental health of African Americans in literature. Three manuscripts were developed for this dissertation. The first is a critical literature review identifying the multiple pathways by which racism can affect mental health, and the current research addressing this problem is presented. Second, a quantitative study looking at what type of coping mechanisms African Americans use when dealing with race-related stress and how racial identity statuses impact these coping mechanisms?; The third manuscript addresses the research question, among the identified coping mechanisms, is there a relationship with psychological distress? The first manuscript is a critical literature review which discusses racism, race-related stress, and coping resources. The aim of the paper is to identify the multiple pathways by which racism can affect mental health and the current research addressing this problem. Initially, views of racism and race-related stress will be identified; theories for use of stress will be examined, and how racial identity status influences the perception of racism. In addition, individual strategies for coping with racism will be discussed, as well as major approaches to coping that have received sufficient research with regard to their effectiveness for mental and physical outcomes. The purpose of the first quantitative study was to examine the relationships among race-related stress, racial identity status, and coping resources in African Americans in a sample of 294 African American adults. Results indicated that avoidance coping and seeking social support predicted higher levels of race-related stress. Problem solving coping did not predict race-related stress. In addition, racial identity status (pre-encounter and immersion-emersion) predicted avoidance coping where racial identity status (internalization) predicted more problem solving coping behavior. The findings emphasize the need to recognize how racial identity status influence styles of coping in African Americans. Implications for mental health providers are discussed. The purpose of the second study was to examine the relationships between race-related stress, coping resources, and mental health in African Americans in a sample of 294 African American adults. Results indicated they were a predictor of psychological distress and well-being in African Americans. Specifically, the avoidance coping mechanism led to participants in the study experiencing more psychological distress when using this coping resource. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the results, which confirmed our hypothesis that mal-adaptive coping strategies predicted psychological distress. The findings emphasize the need to recognize how coping styles influence mental health in African Americans. Implications for mental health providers are discussed.