Counseling, Higher Education & Special Education Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2757
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Item Living in the Grey: Racial Sense-Making of Second Generation African Immigrants(2018) Belay, Kurubel; Griffin, Kimberly; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study explored messages of racial identity received by second generation African immigrants in order to better under their racial sense-making experiences. As a result of the growth in the Black immigrant population in the United States, which has grown to nearly 10% of the overall Black population (Pew Research Center, 2017), research has shown that Black immigrants experience and understand their racial identities differently than their African American counterparts (Jackson, 2010; Mwangi & Fries-Britt, 2015). Despite the scholarly attention given to Black immigrants, very little research exists on their second generation immigrant children, and how they make sense of their racial and ethnic identities in a U.S context. Given the impact of racial identity on academic experiences, social engagement, and psychological well-being (Chavous & Byrd, 2009; Cokley & Chapman, 2008; Harper, 2009), the continued growth and representation of this population in higher education warrants further inquiry. Guided by a reconceptualized model of the Learning Race in a U.S. context framework (Fries-Britt, Mwangi, Peralta, 2014), this research was guided by two research questions: (1) What messages do second generation African immigrants receive about their racial identities? (2) How do these messages inform their understandings of their own race and race generally? Employing a narrative inquiry methodology, this study examined how three, second generation African immigrants have made sense of their racial identities. Three salient themes emerged from the participant narratives that demonstrated how each of their understandings of race and racial identity were defined by environments bound by space and time. The findings of this study have implications for research and student affairs practice by providing a nuanced exploration of the racial identity constructions of this segment of the ever growing Black immigrant population.Item WELL-BEING AND NEGATIVE MOOD OF SOUTH ASIAN AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENTS: CONTRIBUTIONS OF ADULT ATTACHMENT, ACCULTURATION, AND RACIAL IDENTITY(2008-07-08) Patel, Sheetal; O'Brien, Karen M; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Traditional psychological theories of development (e.g., attachment theory) have been criticized for their inability to fully explain well-being and negative mental health outcomes in ethnic and racial minority populations (Rothbaum, Weisz, Pott, Miyake, & Morelli, 2000; Wang & Mallinckrodt, 2006). Specifically, the intersection of developmental theories and salient sociocultural variables in predicting the well-being of Asian Americans has not been well elucidated, as little research has been conducted in this area. Yet, the need for understanding the mechanisms underlying the well-being of Asian Americans has been rising as the Asian American population is the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the United States (Zhou, 2004). The goal of this study was to extend knowledge regarding the applicability of attachment theory using a cross-cultural lens. Specifically, this study examined the joint contributions of a traditional developmental theory and sociocultural variables to better understand optimal development and well-being among South Asian Americans. This study advanced knowledge by finding that for South Asian American college students, adult attachment, acculturation and racial identity account for robust variance in the prediction of self-esteem, anxious mood, and depressed mood. Adult attachment, acculturation and racial identity accounted for variance in self-esteem, and more specifically, avoidant attachment, anxious attachment, and racial identity's internalization accounted for unique variance in self-esteem. The variance in anxious mood was accounted for by adult attachment, acculturation, and racial identity, with racial identity's conformity status accounting for unique variance in anxious mood. Finally, adult attachment, acculturation and racial identity accounted for variance in depressed mood. Implications for research and practice are discussed.