A long standing program of research has found consistent and substantial evidence of the underrepresentation of people of color in national parks and has identified potential reasons for this underrepresentation and barriers to participation. However, little research has examined cases where the National Park Service (NPS) has begun to successfully address diversity issues and engage diverse audiences. Through exploration of programs that successfully engage diverse youth, this study identifies promising practices that can be incorporated into NPS diversity programs across the national park system. The study was conducted in two phases. Phase one examined the current state of knowledge and learning needs of the NPS related to relevancy among new and diverse audiences through the use of qualitative interviews with NPS staff and select individuals outside the NPS. The findings from the interviews were used to develop a conceptual model based on key themes for successful engagement. The model was then applied in phase two of the study through the examination of relevancy programs within the NPS. Phase two used case study research techniques to explore programs designed to engage youth of color at two NPS units, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area. This research examined how programs at the two study areas were successful at engaging youth of color. A model of deep engagement was developed, building on the model developed in phase one. The model of deep engagement highlights six processes through which parks can more effectively engage diverse and traditionally underserved audiences.

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine if race is an influencing factor in the way women school administrators described themselves or in the way they perceived an effective administrator. The researcher examined the effects of race on sex-role identity and examined the relationship between sex-role identity and perceptions of an effective administrator in terms of sex-role characteristics among black and white women school administrators.;Method. A sample of 105 black and 129 white female school administrators from eight urban school divisions was selected to complete the Bem Sex Role Inventory either for themselves or for an effective administrator. Half of the administrators in each racial group were asked to describe themselves and half were asked to describe an effective administrator. Results from a 76 percent mail return were subjected to analysis. It was hypothesized that self-perceptions of female administrators are influenced by race as are their perceptions of an effective administrator.;Results. Results of analysis of variance showed that black and white women administrators' perceptions of self are not significantly different, though black women tended to score higher on the masculinity scale. Both black and white women described the effective administrator as unlike themselves in terms of feminine traits. In terms of masculine traits white women administrators described an effective administrator unlike the way they described themselves, though there was no difference between self-scores and effective-administrator scores for black women administrators. as hypothesized, results of cross tabulation analysis indicated a significant relationship between race and sex-role with proportionately more black than white women administrators classified as androgynous, and proportionately more white than black women classified as feminine. Results indicated that black and white women administrators overwhelmingly perceive an effective administrator as masculine. When controlling for age, there was a greater percentage of both black and white women administrators classified as androgynous in the under 50 age group as opposed to 50 and over, with no significant relationship found between sex-role and race in either age group. A discriminant analysis showed that a number of items in the Bem Inventory were effective in determining the race of the individual who completed the instrument. Implications for future research were discussed.

In 1883 the case of Claybrook v. Owensboro was one of the first challenges to equal educational funding under the Fourteenth Amendment. The definition of the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause was vague and left blacks with little guidance about their new found constitutional rights. By analyzing the case along with legal, educational, and local racial attitudes toward blacks at the time, historians and educators can better understand the evolution of the Fourteenth Amendment in state and local issues. The case record from Federal Reports as well as the case file from the law final record book at the National Archives Southeast Branch were used in this analysis. Also, Emily Holloway, the great-granddaughter of the case's namesake, Edward Claybrook, was interviewed and provided information about the personal situation and status of the men who challenged the Owensboro school system. Records from the Freedmen's Bureau also provided evidence of racial attitudes and conditions in Kentucky. A Filson Club collection of letters from John Marshall Harlan, Justice of the United States Supreme Court and lone dissenter in Plessy v. Ferguson to Judge John Watson Barr, Justice of the United States Sixth Circuit in Paducah, also provide evidence of similar attitudes of both justices concerning race and equality. This case study offers a closer look at one of the first applications of the Fourteenth Amendment to education and a local government issue. In addition, the decision mentions for one of the first times the possibility of integration in the absence of equality. The evidence clearly shows a progressive attitude from the bench in the case as well as blatant inequalities between the black and white schools.

Diversity training in workplaces is occurring across the U.S. at a growing rate. These programs attempt to make work environments more pluralistic for everyone. Conflict and feminist theory both agree that those with less power will see issues in a different way than will those with more power. This research involved a questionnaire administered to employees at a governmental agency in a small city in the Southeastern United States. Indices were used to measure attitudes toward diversity and sexual orientation. T-tests and multiple regressions were employed to determine the differences in employees' attitudes toward the two dependent variables. Results from 175 returned questionnaires showed females, nonwhites, and employees with fewer years of employment had more positive attitudes toward diversity and equality based on sexual orientation than did males, whites, and employees with a large number of years in the workforce.

The purpose of this study was to analyze African American portrayals in televised advertisements over a sixday period in November 1995. A total of 799 advertisements were analyzed, including 205 that depicted at least one African American actor. Content analysis was used to describe the following, with respect to African American actors: age, gender, day and time of portrayal, occupational role, and products and services advertised. Comparisons were also made between frequencies of actors of different races and amount of time these actors appeared. When compared with previous studies of African American television portrayals, many improvements were observed as well as some setbacks, with respect to images of African American actors.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2008. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-150). Also available online in Scholars' Bank; and in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.

This dissertation is an ethnographic study of how members of the Indo-Guyanese community traveled from Guyana to New York City, carrying with them distinct understandings of Hinduism informed by their multiple dislocations and how they utilize religion as ideology and practice to help cultivate their identities as Indo-Guyanese Americans. I argue religion as a mobile concept, what I have termed as ‘religion on the move,’ gives a theoretical frame to understand how devotees adapt religion to help them navigate their identities in unknown territories. By studying more than devout individuals in places of worship, I have followed Caribbean Hinduism and Indo-Guyanese Hindus in New York City to various sites to appreciate how religion informs their experiences, operates on different scales (spatially, politically, and temporally), and negotiates power structures. I found that the Indo-Guyanese Hindu community asserts their ethnicity through Caribbean Hinduism to become visible, to overcome marginalization and to claim belonging in the United States. / 2019-10-17

abstract: In recent decades, the United States has experienced a wave of immigration, an economic recession, and several terroristic attacks. In response, the government has scapegoated and blamed undocumented immigrants of color for recent social ills. As a result, a large share of government resources has been allocated to the enforcement and processing of immigration violations. Consequently, the number of immigration cases processed in U.S. federal courts has spiraled to nearly 50% of bookings and 34% of federal sentencing cases. Yet, immigration offenses have received little empirical attention in the courts and sentencing literature due in part to differences in the way immigration offenses are processed compared to other federal offense types, and relatedly, the empirical difficulties immigration offenses pose for analysis. Nevertheless, the increased representation of immigration offenses in federal courts, along with the punitive rhetoric and heightened social control targeting undocumented immigrants of color, warrants a comprehensive assessment of how immigration cases are processed in U.S. federal courts. Accordingly, this dissertation seeks to identify inequality in the processing of immigration cases by examining: 1) cumulative disadvantage within immigration cases; 2) contextual disparity and how social context interacts with ethnicity to influence multiple federal court outcomes within immigration cases; and 3) ethnic disparity within immigration cases over time. Data come from the Federal Justice Statistics Program Data Series, the U.S. Census, the Uniform Crime Reports, Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections, the National Judicial Center, and the U.S. Department of Justice. The quantitative analysis addresses the first question by employing a cumulative disadvantage approach where multiple decision points are considered and the effects of prior stages on subsequent outcomes. The quantitative analysis proceeds to address the second question by using multilevel modeling for multiple court outcomes. The longitudinal analysis is separately conducted on sentence length for 18-year data, from 1994 through 2012, to assess racial and ethnic disparity over time. The results indicate that cumulative disadvantage is present within immigration cases, that social context influences certain decision points, and that ethnic disparity has diminished over time in some districts. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Criminology and Criminal Justice 2018

Breastfeeding provides both short- and long-term health benefits for infants and mothers, yet African American mothers are less likely to breastfeed than mothers of other racial backgrounds. Despite the optimal positioning of healthcare providers to encourage breastfeeding, African American mothers are more susceptible to inadequate breastfeeding support from providers than White mothers. Focusing only on mothers who breastfed, this study analyzes African American mothers' experiences with healthcare providers related to breastfeeding. Data consist of in-depth interviews with 22 primarily middle- and working-class African American mothers who breastfed. The interviews focused on decisions to breastfeed and support or assistance from healthcare providers. Data were analyzed thematically using initial and focused coding. During prepartum, 27% of the mothers' providers asked about breastfeeding decisions without further discussion, which resulted in some mothers seeking out their own research. This finding reveals the prepartum period as a critical point where more breastfeeding education can be implemented. During immediate postpartum, 59% of mothers received formula from the hospital, which resulted in either anger or indifference. Angry mothers stressed this as an obstacle to their breastfeeding goals. In addition to the other breastfeeding barriers African American mothers face, they faced the additional barrier of the provision of formula in this study. Also, in the postpartum period, of the fifteen mothers in contact with healthcare providers regarding breastfeeding, twelve mothers sought breastfeeding assistance from professional lactation consultants rather than regular providers. These findings point to the significance of lactation consultants in breastfeeding support. Future interventions could focus on the implementation of lactation consultants to the standard healthcare team. Questions remain regarding the extent to which these experiences reflect racial bias in healthcare settings. Regardless, our findings point to a need for greater breastfeeding support for African American women in maternity care settings, especially during the postpartum period.

Members of the Arab American community experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) face unique barriers to help-seeking and have different comfort levels with using formal and informal resources. This thesis surveyed Arab-Americans to identify perceived barriers and comfort levels with IPV help-seeking. A culturally informed and centered approach was taken to examine connections between individual level factors, perceived barriers and comfort levels in using resources. To do so, I gathered data via an online survey with 82 Arab American participants. Findings suggest that participants perceived the greatest barriers to seeking help for IPV are related to how others view and understand Arab Americans (i.e., "There is a stigma in how outsiders view Arab Americans" and "I feel my cultural values would not be taken into consideration") and that they would be more comfortable seeking help from informal resources, such as a friend or member of their family, compared to formal resources, such as calling the police or going to a homeless shelter. Participants who felt more connected to their local Arab American community perceived more barriers to IPV help-seeking and said they would feel less comfortable using informal and formal resources if they ever experienced IPV. Empirical evidence from this study suggests that Arab Americans believe that they would face many barriers and would feel uncomfortable in using more formal resources if they ever experienced IPV. To address these issues, it is important that those providing IPV resources better understand how they are being perceived by the Arab American community, and take steps to reduce those barriers and increase comfort levels in the Arab American community in using their services.