Theses and Dissertations from UMD
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item Strengthening High School Transition and Attendance: Exploring Multi-level Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Absenteeism Among African American Adolescents(2021) Holder, Sharifah; Green, Kerry; Public and Community Health; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Chronic absenteeism is a growing problem in the United States and is associated with poor educational and health outcomes including high school dropout, criminal justice system involvement, chronic disease, mental health concerns and early death. African American children in low income, urban areas are at elevated risk for chronic absenteeism based on factors at all levels of the social ecological model including mental health concerns, systemic and individual racism, parental, peer, and teacher relationships, school and neighborhood climate. The transition to high school is a critical moment when absenteeism rates increase dramatically. This study used a mixed method approach to better understand chronic absenteeism in urban high school settings. A survey gathered data from a cohort of ninth grade students transitioning into high school and regression analysis was used to identify risk and protective factors that may explain chronic absenteeism (n=216). A total of 30 in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with five chronically absent and five regularly attending ninth grade students from a predominately Black school. Critical Race Theory was used as an analytic lens for the thematic analysis of the semi-structured interviews. Participants discussed challenges and opportunities that arise when transitioning to high school including finding a friend group, coping with anxiety, planning for the future, navigating a new school environment and maintaining ties to rapidly changing communities. Findings suggest that African American students possess many strengths including skilled navigation of social situations, adaptive coping strategies for emotional distress, creating a team of adults and peers for motivation and support, aspirational planning for future goals, and vocal resistance to oppression that can be further developed or cultivated to support positive attendance behaviors and contend with the impact of systemic racism that can sometimes be disregarded in predominately Black schools. Implications include the increased need for student voice in decision making processes, enhanced curriculum that addresses social emotional learning and gives students agency in determining individualized learning plans, school discipline reform, and community engagement. These findings are critical to transforming dominant narratives about chronic absenteeism in low income, African-American communities and providing feasible recommendations to improve educational and health outcomes.Item `Fried chicken belongs to all of us': The Zooarchaeology of Enslaved Foodways on the Long Green, Wye House (18TA314), Talbot County, Maryland(2014) Tang, Amanda; Leone, Mark P; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This project analyzes the zooarchaeological remains excavated from three slave quarters, located on the Long Green of the Wye House Plantation (18TA314). The zooarchaeological data used dates from about 1650 until 1865. The dissertation focuses on how the late 18th century - archaeologically c. 1770 - was a period of immense change at Wye House and this caused coinciding changes in food consumption. Faunal data is combined with historical and archaeological information to assess the validity of utilizing African-American food patterns. The dissertation interrogates the role of archaeologists in reifying racism and in the reproduction of inferior histories for African-Americans based on dominant narratives. The research incorporates the consideration of other social, political, historical, and economic variables to assess the development of local and regional cuisines. This dissertation evaluates why designations of Soul Food and African-American foodways emerged, how this cuisine compares to Southern Cooking, and the ideologies behind keeping the two cuisines separate.Item Affect and Cognition as Antecedents of Intergroup Attitudes: The Role of Applicability and Judged Usability(2009) Leary, Scott; Stangor, Charles; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)When making intergroup evaluations we experience cognitive and affective responses. Given that the content of the cognitions or affective reactions are applicable and judged usable, each has the potential to influence one's attitudes towards that group. In a Pilot Study participants reported significantly more disgust than fear when thinking about gay men, and significantly more fear than disgust when thinking about African-Americans. Studies 1 and 2 provided initial support that these specific emotional responses to social groups are moderated by the extent to which that information is judged as usable. Data from Study 3 did not fully support my hypotheses, as personal relevance did not moderate the extent to which affect was related to social distance. Implications and limitations are discussed.Item Black/African American Students' Perceptions of Mathematical Success and Success Factors at a Community College(2007-12-17) Marshall, Alycia Ana; Fries-Britt, Sharon L.; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this dissertation was to examine Black/African American students' perception of mathematical success and the various factors that they perceived to attribute to this success within a community college setting. The research questions guiding this study were: 1. How do mathematically successful, Black/African American students define mathematical success? 2. What are the factors (e.g., sociocultural, institutional, personal and disciplinary) that mathematically successful Black/African American students identify as directly impacting their mathematical success within a community college environment? 3. What are Black/African American students' perceptions of the relationship between these factors (e.g., sociocultural, institutional, personal and disciplinary) and their individual mathematical success at the community college level? The study sought to understand a variety of success factors including sociocultural, institutional, personal, and disciplinary factors, as the students perceived them to impact their mathematical success at the community college level. Through qualitative methods and a case study design, the current study has gained insight into the mathematics education of six, high-achieving African American students at the community college level. Data has been collected through individual and focus group interviews with African American students who have successfully completed several mathematics courses (e.g., Calculus I, Calculus II, etc.) at a predominantly White, community college in the Mid-Atlantic region of Maryland. Interview data from the six participants was collected, transcribed, and analyzed drawing from sociocultural perspectives. Findings indicated that these students perceived various disciplinary, personal, and sociocultural support factors to directly impact their mathematical success at the community college level. Throughout several identified success factors, major findings included an epic of caring conveyed to students through social interactions with others and a perceived relationship between mathematical success and liking mathematics as a discipline. The results of this study should help to inform the current understanding of African American success and achievement in the area of collegiate mathematics. Various implications for practice, policy, and research in this area are also presented.Item Physical and psychological aggression and the use of parenting styles: a comparison of African-American and Caucasian families(2006-08-09) Johnson, Alexis Karen; Werlinich, Carol; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to examine differences in the relationship between physical and psychological aggression and the parenting styles of 24 African-American and 22 Caucasian parents. The sample of 92 participants came from pre-existing data of couples and families who attended therapy at the Family Service Center at the University of Maryland, College Park. Physical and psychological aggression were measured by a self-report instrument of conflict behaviors, the Conflict Tactics Scale, Revised. Parenting practices were measured with the Parenting Practices Questionnaire. A Pearson's correlation or analyses of variance were used to determine if a relationship existed between the level of physical and psychological aggression and parenting styles, and whether this relationship varies by the race/culture of the family and gender of the parents. The findings suggest that the interaction of race and gender impacts the parenting styles of African-American mothers. Clinical implications are suggested.