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During a short but intensive period stretching from late 2014 to early 2015 a mosque in Lund in southern Sweden was repeatedly vandalised with derogatory graffiti. This occurred simultaneously with many other attacks on Swedish mosques and highlighted an issue which is in need to be elaborated; islamophobic hate crimes. The purpose of this study is to describe how young male Muslims experience the violation of their mosque in Lund and what conclusions they draw from their experiences. This study aims therefore to contribute to a broader understanding of the potential consequences of islamophobic hate crimes. By reducing the empirical material into reoccurring themes and interpret these using social identity theories this study finds that the vandalism reinforces earlier feelings of not belonging. The vandalism is interwoven with earlier discriminatory experiences and further strengthens the feeling of disappointment and mistrust towards the majority society. It also, however, increases the willingness to work for a change by getting involved in youth associations which advocates increased communications with different groups in society to reduce islamophobia. The data in this qualitative study is collected using semi-structured interviews with five young men who regularly visit the mosque. The method of observation is also used to get a broader understanding of the interviewees’ experiences.

This dissertation examined interracial contact and racial prejudice among white, black, Asian, and Latino college students at 28 elite colleges and universities in the United States. The study used longitudinal analyses to identify how interracial contact among college students influenced students' racial prejudice. White students interacted almost exclusively with each other and with Asian students. Asian students interacted with each other and with white students. Latino students were the most integrated, they interacted with all other student groups at high rates. Black students were the most segregated in their interactions as students of other races had less interactions with them on campus. Cross-race interactions during college did not influence white students' exiting levels of traditional and modern racial prejudice. Cross-race interactions during college had limited influence on black and Asian students' exiting levels of racial prejudice, mostly for traditional forms of racial prejudice. Latino students exhibited the most interracial contact effects on their exiting levels of racial prejudice of all student groups with all traditional and modern forms of racial prejudice influenced by cross-race interactions. The consideration of race as a form of social identity was the most powerful influence on students' exiting levels of racial prejudice for all groups. The context of interracial contact at elite colleges and universities and the existence of racialized stages of interaction are discussed in the final chapter to understand the study findings. Lastly, a discussion of the potential implications of this study's results for future intergroup contact research is also presented. / Ph. D.

With student attrition in engineering most frequently occurring during the 2nd year due to perceptions of poor teaching and advising, curricular overload, and a lack of a sense of belonging, this study sought to address these concerns in a novel way through videos. This study was inspired by the success of existing on-campus mentoring services that enlist more advanced students to act as academic and cultural mentors, and sought to connect with students who may feel unwelcome or socially inhibited from attending similar services. On-campus support services have historically experienced service-level concerns with regards to overhead costs that have resulted in targeting specific audiences over restricted durations of time. Through these measures, both lack of awareness and social inhibition to attendance has resulted in some students not receiving the support that they need in order to succeed in engineering. To address this concern, this study developed and tested a video-based intervention on 2nd year students identified as 'at-risk-for-attrition' through GPA and self-reported measures of belonging in engineering. The intervention involved 18 junior- and senior-level engineering students participating in videotaped interviews that were segmented by topic into 305 videos and posted to a private Vimeo channel. These videos acted as static virtual mentors for the study participants. To evaluate the impact of these videos, an exploratory case study was conducted with 13 'at-risk-for-attrition' participants that included 7 women and 6 men. The participants completed a pre-intervention interview concerning their current status in engineering, a reflection of their first year, and perceptions of on-campus support services. Participants were then asked to watch one hour of videos, keep a notebook of their experience, and record the date and time that each video was watched. Once completed, participants participated in a post-intervention interview concerning their video choices, reactions, and outcomes of the experience, and any affordances that they saw in the intervention tool. Drawing on expectancy-value theory, the results of this study yielded a model for how participants made their video selections, how they reacted to virtual mentors and interpreted their video content, and how these reactions led to collective identity beliefs and intentions to act on the advice provided. Additionally, participants highlighted some of the affordances of offering mentoring through static videos. Of particular importance was the perception of shared identity between participants and mentors as a precursor to impacting future intentions to act on their advice. The findings led to recommendations regarding the redefinition of desired mentor traits for at-risk-for-attrition students was discovered, and also, the potential for offering virtual mentoring as a proxy or precursor to attending on-campus services without the program- and student-level concerns hindering current offerings. / Ph. D.

This thesis explores the complex link between Latino individuals' self-esteem and media depictions. This thesis was created with the intent to fill a current gap in communication research by providing original data and addressing the lack of quantitative research surrounding the Latino community. The Latino Perceptions of Realism in TV and Film Scale was created as a new tool to measure opinions about ethno-cultural portrayal. This thesis aims to clarify how Latino people's self-esteem is shaped by the perceived realism of media depictions, drawing on Social Identity Theory and Social Learning Theory. This thesis examines how Latinos are portrayed in movies to determine how media exposure affects how the Latino population views their self-esteem. This study uses empirical analysis to further our understanding of the relationship between media portrayal, social identity development, and self-esteem in the Latino community. The thesis offers original quantitative data using a survey-based approach. It introduces the Latino Perceptions of Realism in TV and Film Scale, a new survey tool for gauging perceptions of Latino interpretations of television and film Latino characters. Regression analysis was employed to investigate how media depictions affect the development of self-esteem in the Latino population. Key findings provide insight into the complex relationships between media portrayal and the way Latinos view their ethnic group in film and television. Demographic factors such as age and gender, the amount of media consumption, intellectual capacity, and work ethic were revealed as important determinants impacting the development of Latino self-esteem. This study contributes new data to the discipline of media effects research, extending the conversation on the stereotypical representation of Latinos in television and film. It also provides insight into how Latinos view their self-esteem based on character portrayals in film and television. / MACOM / This thesis examines the complex relationship between how Latino individuals identify and how the media portrays them. By providing new perspectives and addressing the lack of quantitative studies on the Latino population, this thesis aims to close a gap in communication research. The Latino Perceptions of Realism in TV and Film Scale is a new scale designed to gather feedback on how Latino culture is portrayed in media. Based on psychological theories, specifically Social Identity Theory and Social Learning Theory, this thesis explores how media representations affect Latino self-esteem. Through an analysis of the representations of Latinos in television and film, the study investigates how exposure to these representations affects how Latino viewers feel about themselves. This study uses empirical analysis to expand on our knowledge of the relationship between media representation, social identity, and self-esteem in the Latino community. The results provide insight into the complex connections between how Latinos view their own ethnic group in the context of film and television and how they are portrayed in the media. This study reveals a nuanced association between media consumption patterns and the self-esteem of Latinos. Latinos' identity and self-esteem are shaped by various factors, including their views of reality, the quantity of media they consume, and demographic traits. This thesis broadens the discussion on stereotyped portrayals of Latinos in the media. It offers insights into how these representations affect Latino self-esteem by bringing fresh data to the field of media effects research.