Oppression is often mentioned in multicultural literature as a cognate to Racial Identity Development and Multicultural Competence. However, to this point, no studies have empirically examined the oppression construct in terms of relevant characteristics, processes, or relationships to other multicultural constructs. This study presents a conceptual model of oppression and explores psychometric properties of a scale designed to assess oppression attitudes of Master's level counselor-trainees enrolled in CACREP accredited programs. Expert panel review of the original 78-item instrument produced strong content validity evidence for the Oppression Attitudes construct. A pilot study (N = 83) was conducted for which an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) of the Oppression Attitudes Scale resulted in a 3-Factor solution representative of Personal Oppression Attitudes, Program-Related Oppression Attitudes, and Professional Identity-Related Oppression Attitudes of Master's level counselor-trainees. Construct validity evidence was supported during the field study (N = 248) via convergent and discriminant analyses, and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Correlations between OAS scores (i.e., higher scores indicate anti-oppressive attitude) and Multicultural Competency scores (r = .59, p < .01) on the Multicultural Counseling Knowledge and Awareness Scale (MCKAS), and between OAS scores and Phase-2 Racial Identity Development Scores (r = .23 to .65, p < .01) on the White Racial Identity Attitudes Scale (WRIAS) provided evidence of convergent validity amongst the theoretically related constructs. Correlations between OAS scores and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale-Form C (r = .14, p < .05), along with correlations between the OAS and Phase 1 White Racial Identity Attitudes (r = -.22 and -.64, p < .01) indicated adequate discriminant validity between the OAS and unrelated constructs. Internal consistency reliability for OAS subscales was examined during the pilot study (α = .91, .88, and .90) and the field study (α = .89, .87, and .80) indicating high subscale item homogeneity. Racial Identity Development scores and Multicultural Competency Scores were found to be predictors of Oppression Attitudes, adding support for the conceptual model. Additionally, beginning counseling students were shown to have significantly lower OAS scores than more experienced students, suggesting benefits to CACREP training.

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This dissertation adopts a ‘social criticism’ model in order to analyze racism in our contemporary world – particularly the United States. This analysis offers a detailed account of racism as rooted in social structural processes, and prioritizes oppression and domination as the chief wrongs resulting from racism. To do so, said analysis highlights norms, ideals, policies, and actions, that are often assumed to be ‘race neutral’ (e.g., impartiality, merit, ‘natural rights’, and autonomy), and the role they play in the production of racial injustice. More specifically, it exposes how these norms function to undermine human agency by restricting means for self-development and self-determination. As such, the role that inclusive and democratic deliberation can play in combating racial oppression and domination is developed. In light of this analysis, a defense of a ‘concrete morality’ which prioritizes the fight against oppression and domination, is made against an ‘abstract morality’ that adheres to ‘ideally just’ principles regardless of the injustice that results from doing so. Moreover, this project develops a ‘shared responsibility model’ for racial injustice, articulating varying degrees and kinds of responsibility we have for correcting it. It concludes by offering ‘democratic equality of difference’ as a normative ideal for cultivating racial justice. Generally, said ideal aims to: create basic conditions for the self-development and collective self-determination of all; cultivate a universally inclusive and ongoing process of democratic deliberation for solving collective problems; and attend to difference when deliberating about matters of justice. / Philosophy

Internalized racism is a contributing factor to the inability of African Americans to overcome racism. (Speight, 2007) Because this is a cognitive phenomenon over which individuals can have agency, it is important to study, understand, and seek out ways that African Americans are able to gain a liberatory perspective in the midst of a racist society. By using colonization psychology and post-traumatic slave psychology to define the phenomenon, and Jackson’s Black identity development model theory to ground and analyze participants’ process of liberation, this study used phenomenological in-depth interviewing to understand the experiences of African American and Black women who have gained more consciousness of their internalized racism. The researcher interviewed 11 U.S. Born African American and Black women for an hour and a half to gain their understanding of internalized racism and liberation. The study found that Black and African American women in a process of liberation 1) move from experiencing lack of control to an experience of having agency; 2) gain agency from developing greater knowledge and pride of a positive black identity; 3) replace negative socialization with a knowledge of self; and 4) are supported in their liberation by a systemic analysis of racism. The study also found that 1) internalized racism and liberation are complexly defined phenomena, 2) participants continued to practice manifestations of internalized racism while practicing a liberatory consciousness, which confirms the theories of the cyclical nature of identity, and 3) racial identity development models offer a framework for understanding a transition from internalized racism towards liberation but lack clarity about how transformation actually occurs.

Sweden has faced many societal challenges, including gang criminality, which has raised much concern among the public and politicians. After the elections in October 2022, Moderaterna, Sverigedemokraterna, Kristdemokraterna, and Liberalerna presented an agreement. ‘Tidöavtalet’ consists of 7 collaborative projects to solve the biggest societal problems in Sweden. It introduced several reforms to the Swedish society, which led human- and children's rights organisations to react in concern; for instance, Amnesty International indicated that the agreement showed a will to separate and stigmatize certain groups of people and make non-citizens that reside in Sweden suspicious (Amnesty International, 2022). This critical idea analysis aims to investigate ideas and ideologies expressed in the agreement and to what extent they reproduce and/or legitimize discrimination in Sweden. The analysis uses Young's "five faces of oppression" and the concept of justice. The theory provides an understanding of how disabling constraints of domination and oppression lead to different forms of injustice that violate people's inherent human rights and freedoms. The analysis of ‘Tidöavtalet’ discovered certain prevalent ideas in the agreement and shows that several reforms attempt to solve specific societal problems in Sweden in ways that contradict the state's studies, lack a child’s rights perspective and risk reproducing and legitimizing different faces of oppression.

Thesis advisor: Heather T. Rowan-Kenyon / Studies of college students’ development indicate the collegiate experience can have a negative impact on undergraduate women’s self-esteem (Zuckerman et al., 2016). Research also suggests mentorship programs that provide marginalized groups, such as undergraduate women, with faculty or administrative adult mentors have the potential to improve outcomes for the marginalized group (Crisp et al., 2017). However, it is important to consider the mentors may struggle against the same systemic marginalization they are working to help their undergraduate mentees successfully navigate. The Brazilian philosopher, Paulo Freire, built the concept of “critical consciousness” to explain how those who are oppressed come to understand the systemic nature of their oppression and subsequently seek to change the factors that lead to it (Freire, 1970). This grounded theory study sought to understand if mentors develop a critical consciousness of their own oppression through their involvement in a mentorship program designed to combat the institutionalized oppression that undergraduate women face. Nineteen interviews and two focus groups of mentors who served in the program were conducted. The following research questions guided this study: (a) How do mentors perceive that their involvement in the Summit program has impacted their awareness and understanding of institutionalized sexism and its effects? (b) How do mentors perceive that their involvement in the Summit program has impacted their motivation or ability to effect change related to institutionalized sexism? (c) In what ways have mentors enacted change on behalf of themselves or other women at the institution that they perceive to be connected to their involvement in Summit? The theory constructed from the data suggests a varying effect of the impact of serving as a mentor in the mentorship program on participants’ development of Critical Consciousness. Participants’ progression through the components of Critical Consciousness was complex when they considered their own experiences as women at the institution. Data indicates the community of the mentorship program played a fundamental role in participants’ development of Critical Consciousness of institutional sexism at the institution. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Amidst the turbulence of political shifts and the re-emergence of the Taliban, this phenomenological research shines a light on the lived experiences, aspirations, and challenges of female undergraduate students in an Afghan university. Through in-depth, qualitative interviews, this study unravels six pivotal themes shaping their collegiate journey: gender-centric oppression, systemic and structural barriers, academic hindrances, family support, and the motivation to endure and prevail amidst profound adversities, such as enforced gender apartheid and stringent clothing mandates. Within an intersectionality framework, this research not only bridges a critical gap in the literature but also serves as a crucial narrative for global academia and policy-making arenas, underlining the imperative for robust advocacy and policy reforms. The stark findings and nuanced insights gleaned from this study underscore the imperative to foster gender equality and educational access, whilst advocating fervently for the re-establishment of inclusive and supportive educational environments for all in Afghanistan.