This is a qualitative study of 13 homeless African American women living in several shelters in the semi-rural South. The study focuses on their powerful stories of their lives and the trauma, abuse, substance abuse and economic problems that led them into homelessness. The study began as an ethnographic study after the model described in Leininger‟s „Stranger to Trusted Friend Enabler‟ and evolved into a creative mixed methodology of Interpretive Description that integrated elements of Ethnography, Phenomenology and Narrative. „Darkness‟ and „Turning to Light‟ is a synthesis of the participants‟ vivid narratives presented in two major themes. Darkness explores the participants‟ spiral downward into depression, drug use, abuse (physical, sexual, psychological) and economic loss to the Darkness of „Rock Bottom‟. Turning to Light follows their struggle back to „the light of life‟; becoming independent, regaining their children and their health, desiring to “help someone” and building their futures. The major theme heard as the women tell their stories is how they rely on their spiritual beliefs and practices, no matter how dark life becomes. They expressed that their spiritual connection to God nourished their soul and gave them a sense of well being and hope. Previous research cited supports the contention that their spirituality improves the prospects of healing and promotes positive health care outcomes. Understanding difficult life experiences through the homeless African American women‟s eyes provides a framework from which environments of care and interventions of change regarding social, political, religious or healthcare programs can be developed. The recognition of spirituality can lead to programs that further strengthen this source of support, hope and resilience. Nurses are in a unique position to influence the lives of these people. They meet them in emergency rooms when they are injured, in clinics when they are ill and in mental health clinics when life is overwhelming. The women identified helpful nursing characteristics: 1) respect for the patient‟s humanness, the impact of her life experiences on her current situation and prospects of healing, 2) respect for the patient‟s spirituality regardless of the nurse‟s personal beliefs, 3) acknowledgement of the humanness of the patient by being fully present during the time of the patient‟s vulnerability, and 4) holistic care.

Research has shown that African-Americans are least likely to receive adequate palliative interventions leading to concerns about the quality of health care in general and palliative care in particular for this population. Acknowledging patient preferences are essential in administering quality health care especially when a patient's condition is terminal. But when African-Americans are least likely to complete living wills or durable power of attorneys for health care and more likely to continue to request life sustaining treatments when near death, conflicts between patients and medical professionals can result.<br> Recognizing patient spirituality and addressing their spiritual needs can help the patient, family or surrogate decision-maker come to terms with, if not make sense of, their life-threatening illness and eventual mortality. This may be especially salient for African-Americans because of their history of victimization of racial discrimination and ensuing overwhelming challenges with sometimes tragic consequences. Models and approaches used to assess the spirituality of African-American patients must be culturally appropriate and performed by professionals with interpersonal communications skills and an awareness of how their implicit bias can impede the integrity of the clinician-patient interaction. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts; / Health Care Ethics / PhD; / Dissertation;

<p> The African American community&rsquo;s relationship with the police has historically been strained for more than a century. How that tumultuous relationship affects African American mother&rsquo;s perceptions of police and confidence in the ability for police to interact safely with their sons has not been explored thus far. It is the intention of this study to explore and offer insight into the experience of African American mothers with sons and potential police interactions. This qualitative study utilized a focus group setting to gather information. Within two weeks of the focus group 6 participants withdrew, the focus group ultimately included 6 participants. Participants voiced their need to educate their sons about police, Blackness being a risk factor, the emotional burdens of ensuring safety, strategies used to promote safety in potential police interactions, and possible solutions to strained community police relations. Participants developed strategies to increase safety by asking their sons to be compliant, stay under the radar, utilize family support, recreational and community resources. While there was a lack of confidence and mistrust of the police, participants maintained hope that with training and positive community interactions there can be improvement in safety during police interactions.</p>

<p> We expect all students to achieve and succeed in school, yet current data shows that 23.6% of African American students in Arkansas drop out of school (Bailey &amp; Dziko, 2008). The African American male high school dropouts are much higher than the number of male dropouts from other ethnic groups. As the researcher reviewed the current data about African American dropouts, it was the impetus behind this study. Although many have discussed and written about African American male dropouts in educational forums, essays, short stories, dissertations, and even movies, few have captured the experiences of the African American males in qualitative research, allowing them to have a voice.</p><p> The study focused on the African American males&rsquo; perspectives and their educational experiences during high school and how these experiences influenced their decisions to drop out of high school. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the reasons why African American males decided to drop out of high school. The researcher engaged subjects in an in depth assessment of the issues that influenced their decisions to leave high school. The researcher felt that, in order to glean a true picture of the facts as it relates to the African American dropouts, it was imperative to relate the issues to those who were affected. As we examine this dilemma, it is very important that educators understand how African American students might respond or not respond in the learning environment.</p>

<p> This project was developed to help black clergy and churches become effective in developing a place that supports families dealing with issues of Domestic Violence; since historically the black church has been a place of refuge and support for the black community and more specifically black women and children. </p><p> Chapter 1 defines Domestic Violence and states the Hypothesis, details the problem regarding the lack of an effective response by black clergy and predominately black churches regarding addressing issues related to domestic violence. Theological foundation supporting a call to action for clergy to understand that scripture speaks against violence and should not be misconstrued to justify violence in families struggling with these issues. </p><p> Chapter 2 the Literature review will focus on the problems and reasons why Black clergy and predominantly Black churches do not have a better awareness and response regarding domestic violence. The literature review will also address the significance of focusing on domestic violence in Black Churches. </p><p> Chapter 3 will explain the Methodology used to approach the subject of domestic violence with black clergy. Chapter three will further examine the project tool and the significance of having a pre-and post-survey following a Domestic violence awareness video; to achieve positive results for black clergy to bring about a difference for black churches to respond to parishioner&rsquo;s issues related to domestic violence. </p><p> Chapter 4 will affirm the hypotheses and analyze the qualitative research data collected regarding black clergy response pre-and post-survey. Chapter four will also summarize the research project and its findings. </p><p> Chapter 5 will conclude with researcher&rsquo;s final thoughts and suggestions for black clergy and churches moving forward in remaining actively involved with issues related to domestic violence.</p>

<p> The Great Dismal swamp straddles the North Carolina and Virginia state lines. From the seventeenth century until the Civil War this remote landscape became home to thousands of Maroons. These Maroon communities were comprised of runaway slaves, Native Americans and disenfranchised Europeans. The swamp was not only part of the passage for the Underground Rail Road (UGRR) but it was also a destination for individuals who lived on high ground and islands throughout the swamp. These self emancipated individuals developed complex modes of communitization. This dissertation uses a variety of theoretical perspectives, including agency theory, diaspora, and marronage to aluminate and understand the conditions and cultural transformations that took place over the course of several centuries and generations. The examination of these different communal groups will show that the each possessed and left behind different archaeological assemblages. Towards the end of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the outside world began to view the swamp as an exploitable resource and commodity. This led to increased forays by the outside world into the swamp and increased the possibility of contact with remote communities living on mesic islands deep in the swamp&rsquo;s interior. As the outside world penetrated the interior of the Great Dismal Swamp it required the communities to adapt and transform. This dissertation will examine the cultural and communal transformations of a community that resisted contact with the outside world in response to loggers and canal laborers arriving in the deep interior of the swamp. The Great Dismal Swamp Landscape Study excavated The Crest of the nameless site during the 2009-2013 field seasons. These excavations ran in conjunction with American University&rsquo;s Archaeological Field School. The excavations revealed a new architectural feature and artifact assemblage that represent a cultural transformation and the emergence of a new mode of communitization. These features and artifacts will be examined using a lens of agentive action to shed new insights into the Maroons who occupied a mesic island deep in the Great Dismal Swamp.</p>

<p> This quantitative survey questionnaires study compared the teacher-student interactions (TSI) and academic achievement of African-American and African immigrant undergraduate males. The academic achievement gap between different population groups provided the impetus for the study. While African Americans have been described as under-achievers in the literature, their African immigrant counterparts have at times been dubbed a model minority. However, studies on differences in TSI between the two groups are scant. Students&rsquo; perceptions of TSI were assessed using two existing instruments, the <i>Experience with Faculty Scale and Student-Professor Interaction Scale.</i> Grade Point Average (GPA) was used as proxy for academic achievement. Traditional (ages 18-24) undergraduate Black male students at an Upper-Midwestern university constituted the population for the study. With a sample size of sixty (n1=30, n2=30), hypothesis testing was done using Chi-Square, the Fisher Exact test with Freeman-Halton extension, and Ordered Logistic Regression. Although the study did not show statistically significant differences in TSI as well as academic achievement between the two groups, it revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups in how often students discussed their career plans and academic ambitions with faculty. Moreover, contrary to prior literature; African immigrants in this study did not significantly outperform African Americans on self-reported GPA&mdash;casting doubt on the depiction of African immigrants as a monolithic group and a hyper successful model minority. Two incidental and yet important findings also emerged from the study. First, among students reporting having positive TSI, African immigrants were twice as likely as African Americans to describe it as very strong. Second, only one-fourth of the participants hailed from non-college-educated households. The meaning of the findings and implications for higher education are discussed. </p>

<p> Self-worth is commonly used as a barometer for psychological well-being in adolescence. As low-income urban African American youth are often exposed to contexts that may undervalue their worth (e.g., racial discrimination), positive self-perception may be especially crucial for their well-being. The current study focused on the development of global self-worth and two self-concept domains (i.e., social acceptance and physical appearance) within a large sample of African American adolescents. Analyses sought to: (a) identify classes of adolescents who demonstrate different trajectory classes of self-worth and domain-specific self-concept; (b) examine if gender predicts class membership; and (c) examine links between class membership and depression. </p><p> Participants were a community sample of 610 urban and predominantly low income African American adolescents who reported their global self-worth, perceived social acceptance and physical appearance from grade 6 through 12. Depressive symptoms were reported in the year following grade 12. Growth mixture modeling was used to identify latent classes of children who showed different patterns of change in global self-worth and domain-specific self-concepts from grade 6 through 12. Additional analyses explored whether gender predicted class membership, and if class membership predicted depressive symptoms in the year following grade 12.</p><p> Analyses indicated that a one-class solution fit best for global self-worth: overall, this sample showed <i>high and increasing</i> development of global self-worth. However, there was heterogeneity in the development of self-concept related to social acceptance and physical appearance, each demonstrating a two-class solution. For both domains, the majority of adolescents placed in a high and increasing trajectory class. A second group of adolescents demonstrated <i>moderate</i> and <i>stable</i> growth of social acceptance and physical appearance. Youth placed in the <i> high and increasing</i> physical appearance trajectory class were more likely to be male. Symptoms of depression were significantly higher in the year following grade 12 in the trajectory class of social acceptance marked by lower self-perception ratings. Results shed light on specific patterns amongst African American adolescents that may require intervention, and provide a foundation for examination of determinants and outcomes of domain-specific self-perceived competence.</p>

This paper asserts the existence of the African American middle class novel as a genre in the African American literary tradition that has heretofore been neglected by literary critics. The premise of this argument is that conventional African American literary studies privilege novels concerned with the African American folk to the exclusion of portrayals of African Americans of middle and upper socio-economic class and cultural groups. A study of the Modem Language Association's catalogue of African American criticism and a review of novels widely accepted as representative of African American literary tradition were used to indicate how class status is often neglected as a subject. A study of the literary standards of the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement revealed the development of prescriptive literary conventions. Four exemplary twentieth century middle class novels were critiqued: Walls of Jericho by Rudolph Fisher, Plum Bun by Jessie Redmon Fauset, Meridian by Alice Walker, and Sarah Phillips by Andrea Lee. The novels were found to contribute to discourse on the intersection of race and class for African Americans by challenging stereotypes, advocating moral standards across class lines, and criticizing systems of oppression.

<p> The percentage of African American women in leadership roles has not increased as significantly as women in general. This exploratory qualitative study examined African American leaders&rsquo; perceptions of their common challenges as they advance to executive leadership and their personal capabilities required to attain leadership. The intent was to understand the factors that contribute to their rise to executive leadership. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.) </p>