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Racial, ethnic and gender disparities have been found among a variety of health variables, but to date no study has comprehensively examined whether similar differences exist between sleep variables such as duration, efficiency and quality, in early adolescence. There is a general consensus among previous literature that adolescence is a time when a decrease in total sleep time and an increase in sleep problems are observed. Previous literature, however, mainly focused on the influence of puberty to explain these changes. the current study examined if differences exist between 1462 Caucasian, Hispanic/Latino, and African American early adolescents (ages 10-14 years) on sleep duration, efficiency and quality. Results showed that adolescent boys reported significantly longer sleep durations, better sleep quality, shorter sleep onset latencies, and later rise times than girls. Results also showed that sixth graders slept longer than seventh and eighth graders, and that seventh graders woke up much earlier than the other two grades. Lastly, results showed that Caucasian students reported longer sleep onset latencies and lower sleep efficiencies than African American students. Trends were observed for boys having greater sleep efficiencies than girls and for Caucasian students sleeping longer than Hispanic students. Based on the differences observed in our sample, introducing sleep education in middle school is discussed.

Research has long established that racial/ethnic minority residential segregation is related to a variety of social problems, including poor health and health care outcomes. Yet, little research in this area has attempted to tease out the mechanisms underlying this association. Furthermore, within this work, few studies address this relationship for racial/ethnic minority groups outside of the Black/White differences. In this dissertation, I argue that community organizations and service providers in neighborhoods provide important local sites which can improve residents' access to key health-related resources. I put this forward as a mechanism which can link segregation to health and health care outcomes, in that racial/ethnic minority neighborhoods are less likely to have a variety of such establishments compared to their White counterparts. I test this mechanism through a series of three empirical studies. In the first, using a nation-wide health data set combined with metropolitan area measures, I examine the association between racial residential segregation and poor self-rated health. I include the three largest racial/ethnic minority groups in the U.S. - Blacks, Latinos, and Asians. I find that the segregation of each group is related to a greater likelihood of poor self-rated health. However, for Black respondents, this is partially accounted for by economic variables at the metropolitan level, and for Asian respondents, is fully accounted for by recent immigration. In the second study, I analyze the distribution of health-related facilities by segregation status using a nation-wide Census data source. I find that racial residential segregation for Blacks, and to a lesser extent Latinos and Asians, is related to a decrease in the density of such facilities, including food sources, fitness facilities, pharmacies, a number of health care organizations, civic society, and social services. The inclusion of socio-economic indicators removes this effect for most of the health care organization outcomes, across all three groups. In the third and final study, I examine this full pathway using the case of the Phoenix urbanized area. Using a 2013-2014 survey of families about their children's health care utilization combined with area-level Census measures, I test where families are able to obtain care for their children, if any location, in light of what is physically proximate to them in space, and how this may be patterned or constrained by the segregation status of their local neighborhood. I find that Latino and Native American segregation is related to a decreased number of health care facilities. Further, the lack of such facilities is related to a decreased likelihood of families being able to utilize a physician's office as their regular source of care, versus a clinic or health care center. However, for those who do not have a regular source of care, or who utilize an emergency room, this seems to be patterned more by economic considerations, chiefly whether or not the child has health insurance. Further, the distribution of health care organizations also accounts for a sizable portion of the effect of segregation on health care utilization choices. As a whole, this dissertation demonstrates that segregation, for a number of racial/ethnic minority groups, is related to a lower density of a number of health-related organizations, both in a nationwide analysis, as well as through an extended case study of the Phoenix area. Moreover, using the Phoenix case, I find that the lack of such facilities is consequential, and that at least for certain health care providers, patterns where families are able to go for their children's health care needs. This suggests that the distribution of health-related organizations and service providers across communities may serve as an important explanatory mechanism to understand the association between segregation and a variety of health and health care outcomes.

Studies investigating the etiology of delinquent involvement have pointed to two influential theories: Differential Association Theory and Social Control Theory. Both theories suggest that bonding can impact delinquent behavior. Strong friend relationships influence delinquent involvement while strong parental relationships serve as a positive influence in the curtailment of adolescent delinquency. Indeed, a great deal of research has shown that both friends and families are an integral part of adolescent delinquent involvement. Although these theories provide us with a framework for understanding adolescent delinquency, the contextual nuances of the connections among friend relationships, parental relationships, and delinquency are still unclear. In this project, I investigate the gender and race/ethnicity of the respondent as well as the predominant race/ethnicity and gender of the respondents’ friendship networks to better understand how both friend and parent-child relationships affect adolescent delinquency. I utilize data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS). Results suggest that both friend relationships and parental relationships impact respondent delinquency; however, such effects differ by the gender and race/ethnicity of the respondent. Furthermore, the predominant race/ethnicity and predominant gender of the respondents’ friendship network appear to effect delinquent involvement for some groups and not others. The exploration of this topic provides a much-needed look into some understudied areas in human behavior. The long-standing tradition of investigating the role of peers in criminal offending has certainly examined the importance of family and the dynamics of friendships. However, few studies have incorporated both gender and race/ethnicity in their investigations into the relationship between friendships and delinquency. In addition, this study is unique in that it examines friendship network characteristics and how they relate to delinquency. Furthermore, this project explores how family and friend influences on delinquent behavior vary across different groups. Neither of these aspects have been adequately explored in past research. It is the purpose of this study to being to fill this gap in the literature and highlight how both gender and race/ethnicity influence involvement in delinquency. / text

The purpose of this study was to compare final grades of dual enrollment students in English Composition I (ENGL 1010) and College Algebra (MATH 1130) at VSCC. The study focused on whether students admitted to these courses using COMPASS Writing and/or Math scores are as successful as students admitted to these courses using ACT English and/or Math subscores. Additionally, the researcher examined whether there were differences related to gender and race-ethnicity for each course by entry method. Final courses grades were used to determine success. The population consisted of 4,156 dual enrollment students and was broken down into 2 groups: ACT-admitted dual enrollment students and COMPASS-admitted dual enrollment students. For this study 5,138 dual enrollment grades were used in calculations. Chi-square tests were used to determine significance in the final grades of both groups of students. The quantitative findings revealed no significant difference between ACT-admitted students and COMPASS-admitted students when comparing final grades in English Composition. There was a significant difference within the two groups when comparing final grades in College Algebra with ACT-admitted students scoring significantly higher grades than COMPASS-admitted students. Additionally, findings indicated COMPASS-admitted females scored more grades of A than ACT-admitted females in English Composition while ACT-admitted males earned more grades of A than COMPASS-admitted females. The difference was significant in College Algebra with both ACT-admitted females and males being at least twice as likely as COMPASS-admitted females and males to score grades of A. While there was no significant difference when comparing final grades between the white ACT-admitted students and white COMPASS-admitted students in English, significance did exist for the White students in College Algebra. White ACT-admitted students had significantly higher percentages of grades of A than white COMPASS-admitted students in College Algebra. Lastly, although data could not be analyzed for non-Whites in English Composition or College Algebra, when reviewing the percentages for both courses, ACT-admitted students’ A grade percentages were higher.

Policy feedback theory argues that public policies shape mass political behavior by teaching citizens about their relationship to government. However, most studies assume that the entire public has a uniform reaction to policy. I reevaluate this assumption by examining how feedback from policy varies by groups and across contexts. I argue that, because policy sends different signals to those targeted by policy than those outside policy’s target group, these groups should have opposite reactions to the way policy is implemented in their community. And, for those targeted by policy, feedback effects should depend on how likely individuals’ are to have direct contact with policy. I also argue that since policy is not created or implemented in isolation, scholars must also how residential context affects where we are likely to see feedback effects and where the effects of policy will be muted. The first half of the dissertation tests my arguments by exploring how criminal justice policy affects the political behavior of blacks and whites. Using data from two national surveys and information on racial inequalities in local law enforcement, I find that racially skewed criminal justice outcomes is linked with stronger feelings of racial identity for highly educated blacks and stronger feelings of national identity for blacks with low levels of education. I also find that racially unequal criminal justice enforcement is associated with negative political orientations and lower rates of participation for highly educated blacks. Whites, however, respond positively to similar criminal justice outcomes when they reside in areas with large black populations. The effect of criminal justice policy on political behavior for both blacks and whites is stronger in contexts where policy is more salient—areas with large black populations. In the second half of the dissertation, I analyze how immigration enforcement affects the identities and attitudes of Latinos and Anglos. Here, I use data from two national public opinion surveys and information on county-level immigration enforcement to test my arguments. I find that native-born Latinos are more likely to feel tied to their ethnic group in areas with a large foreign-born population where many immigrants are deported. Foreign-born Latinos’ ethnic identity is unaffected by policy. I also find that high levels of immigration enforcement are associated with less restrictive immigration attitudes for foreign- and native-born Latinos, especially in areas with large foreign-born populations I also find some evidence that Anglos hold more restrictive attitudes toward immigration in response to high levels of immigration enforcement.

In order to survive assimilative pressures since the time of colonization, the marginalized Mapuche people have been forced to hybridize with dominant normative gender, ethnic, and religious constructs of the Chilean state. Historically competing beliefs and practices fueled imperious, state-driven hegemonic modes of domination through structural oppression of the Mapuche in attempt to normalize the distinct indigenous population. When assimilation failed, the enduring clash of beliefs and practices led to the construction of indigenous difference as deviant and inferior to justify marginalization of the Mapuche people. This thesis illustrates how contemporary issues of health embody the deeply rooted conflict between the Mapuche and the Chilean nation. It examines three examples of the clash, resistance, and adaptation of Mapuche health practices and concepts within the construction of the state in this assimilative process. These three instances of unequal hybridization of cultures are 1) the development of the traditional Mapuche healer, the machi, 2) the incidence and conceptualization of sexually transmitted disease within the Mapuche community, and 3) the change in food practices and consumption in Mapuche communities.

This study examined autonomy and relatedness in mother adolescent interactions as longitudinal predictors of adolescent involvement in dating aggression. Research indicates that dating aggression, defined as perpetration and/or victimization of physical, psychological, or sexual aggression, affects one-third to two-thirds of adolescents. Most studies of adolescent dating aggression have been cross-sectional, have lacked a developmental theoretical perspective, and have not adequately investigated contextual differences in dating aggression. This study adds to the existing literature in that it applies a developmental framework to a multi-method, longitudinal study (n=88) of adolescent dating aggression. Adolescents’ and their mothers’ demonstrations of support for and inhibition of autonomy and relatedness during a coded interaction task observed when adolescents were 16 years old were examined as predictors of adolescents’ reports of perpetration and victimization of physical and psychological aggression two years later, exploring gender, race/ethnicity, and environmental risk as moderators. It was expected that promotion of autonomy and relatedness would be negatively related to adolescent reports of involvement in dating aggression, whereas inhibition of autonomy and relatedness would be positively related to adolescent reports of dating aggression. Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that, as expected, maternal inhibition of relatedness predicted slight increases in reports of psychological perpetration and victimization. However, maternal support for autonomy was related to increases in perpetration of psychological aggression for all adolescents and increases in perpetration and victimization of physical aggression for girls, but not boys. Adolescent support for autonomy was related to increases in perpetration of physical aggression only for environmentally at-risk teens and to increases in psychological perpetration for racial/ethnic minority participants, but not for Caucasians. It was also found that girls reported more physical and psychological perpetration than boys, and that racial/ethnic minority participants reported more physical perpetration than Caucasians. Results indicate that autonomy is a dynamic developmental process that operates differently as a function of the various ecological contexts in which adolescents live, as marked by gender, race/ethnicity, and risk, in predicting adolescent involvement in dating aggression.

This study used data from the 2008 wave of the Health and Retirement Study to examine variations in relationships among selected psychosocial characteristics, race/ethnicity and expectations of nursing home utilization in the United States, with a particular focus on Latino/a subgroups. This study sought to test a modified version of the Andersen and Newman model of health service utilization. Findings revealed that expectations of nursing home utilization remained lower among Latino/as than in the Non-Latino White sub-groups, even when levels of need, enabling, and predisposing factors were controlled for. However, for Mexican Origin respondents (who are often arbitrarily combined with other individuals of various Latino nationalities as one homogenous group) never differed significantly from the White reference group. The inclusion of the selected psychosocial characteristics (attitudes towards one's own aging, personal mastery, religiosity, and perceived family support/ family satisfaction) increased the explanatory power of regression models tested. Having a high sense of personal mastery, as well as having a more positive attitude towards one's own aging, were associated with lower expectations of nursing home use. An important implication of this study is that the Latino/a population in the United States should not be treated as a homogenous, pan-ethnic group, particularly in regards to health service use. Also, psychosocial characteristics are relevant when considering expectations for nursing home use

This historical narrative examined the impact of institutional and individual racism during the Post Civil Rights Era by analyzing the life and work of minister, businessman, and educator, Reverend Harry H. Singleton, II of Horry County. South Carolina. Special attention was given to Singleton’s role in the integration of Horry County Public Schools. the Conway High School football boycott, and his work as a civil rights leader with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Further, incidents in Singleton’s life and career as a civil rights activist reflect the legal support of district courts in South Carolina. particularly in the case of Harry H. Singleton v. Horry County Board of Education. Based on the research, Singleton’s life is reflective of an African-American leader whose contributions to race relations on the grassroots level was indicative of his life experiences growing up in Edgefield. South Carolina and his commitment to correcting racism in Horry County, South Carolina from 1965 to 2005.