College of Behavioral & Social Sciences
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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..
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Item “It's how they found relief and comfort from all the tragedies that life throws at them on a regular basis”: Exploring the association between trauma, opioid use, and opioid use disorder in Washington D.C.(2024) Brown, Imani; Magidson, Jessica F; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In Washington D.C, African American residents of underserved neighborhoods are disproportionately affected by opioid use (OU), opioid use disorder (OUD), and opioid overdose deaths (OOD), highlighting the need for a more effective intervention to address these issues. Existing literature indicates an association between OUD and trauma, but this relationship is minimally explored in urban, African American communities. This study aimed to qualitatively explore the association between trauma, OU, and OUD from the perspective of community leaders and clinicians (N=78) working in Wards 7&8 of DC, the neighborhoods hardest hit by the problem. Data showed that interpersonal and intergenerational trauma contributed directly to OU and OUD, and that historical trauma and structural violence act synergistically with other traumas to contribute to OU and OUD. Findings suggest a need for early interventions to address the harmful effects of interpersonal and intergenerational trauma and underscore a need for culturally informed political and socio-economic interventions to address structural violence and historical trauma that perpetuate trauma, OU, and OUD.Item “You're biracial but…”: Multiracial socialization discourse among mommy bloggers with Black and non-Black multiracial children(Wiley, 2022-06-30) Reyna, Chandra V.Objective This study examines thematic content and discourse surrounding multiracial socialization between Black and non-Black multiracial families on multiracial mommy blogs. Background Mommy blogs have been recognized as a medium through which mothers challenge dominant representations of motherhood, create community with other mothers, and seek out advice. But little is known about how mothers write about and discuss race, racism, and multiracial socialization online. This study addresses this knowledge gap by analyzing how a niche of bloggers—mothers to multiracial children—construct narratives surrounding race, multiraciality, and multiracial socialization online and how their narratives differ by the racial makeup of the blogger's family. Method Using a MultiCrit framework, this study analyzes 13 mommy blogs written by mothers of color with multiracial children. Blogs were analyzed for thematic content related to race, racial identification, multiraciality, and multiracial socialization. Results The findings demonstrate that mothers' orientations to multiracial socialization vary depending on whether the blogger has Black or non-Black multiracial children. Bloggers who are mothers to Black multiracial children blogged frequently about their engagement in safety socialization, whereas mothers with non-Black multiracial children did not. Conclusion The stark difference between thematic content from bloggers with and without Black multiracial children highlights the differing experiences among Black and non-Black multiracial people, for mothers of Black multiracial children, and the implications anti-Black racism has on family processes.Item Working toward anti-racist perspectives in attachment theory, research, and practice(Taylor & Francis, 2021-09-16) Stern, Jessica A.; Barbarin, Oscar; Cassidy, JudeRecent social movements have illuminated systemic inequities in U.S. society, including within the social sciences. Thus, it is essential that attachment researchers and practitioners engage in reflection and action to work toward anti-racist perspectives in the field. Our aims in this paper are (1) to share the generative conversations and debates that arose in preparing the Special Issue of Attachment & Human Development, “Attachment Perspectives on Race, Prejudice, and Anti-Racism”; and (2) to propose key considerations for working toward anti-racist perspectives in the field of attachment. We provide recommendations for enriching attachment theory (e.g. considering relations between caregivers’ racial-ethnic socialization and secure base provision), research (e.g. increasing the representation of African American researchers and participants), and practice (e.g. advocating for policies that reduce systemic inequities in family supports). Finally, we suggest two relevant models integrating attachment theory with perspectives from Black youth development as guides for future research.Item BLACK SURVIVAL POLITICS: ORGANIZED MOBILIZATION STRATEGIES IN AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES TO END THE HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC(2016) Beadle Holder, Michelle; Collins, Patricia H; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study is to examine organizational patterns of African American activism in response the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Given their political, economic, and social disenfranchisement, African Americans have historically developed protest and survival strategies to respond to the devaluation of their lives, health, and well-being. While Black protest strategies are typically regarded as oppositional and transformative, Black survival strategies have generally been conceptualized as accepting inequality. In the case of HIV/AIDS, African American religious and non-religious organizations were less likely to deploy protest strategies to ensure the survival and well-being of groups most at risk for HIV/AIDS—such as African American gay men and substance abusers. This study employs a multiple qualitative case study analysis of four African American organizations that were among the early mobilizers to respond to HIV/AIDS in Washington D.C. These organizations include two secular or community-based organizations and two Black churches or faith-based organizations. Given the association of HIV/AIDS with sexual sin and social deviance, I postulated that Black community-based organizations would be more responsive to the HIV/AIDS-related needs and interests of African Americans than their religious counterparts. More specifically, I expected that Black churches would be more conservative (i.e. maintain paternalistic heteronormative sexual standards) than the community-based organizations. Yet findings indicate that the Black churches in this study were more similar than different than the community-based organizations in their strategic responses to HIV/AIDS. Both the community-based organizations and Black churches drew upon three main strategies in ways that politicalize the struggle for Black survival—or what I regard as Black survival politics. First, Black survival strategies for HIV/AIDS include coalition building at the intersection of multiple systems of inequality, as well as on the levels of identity and community. Second, Black survival politics include altering aspects of religious norms and practices related to sex and sexuality. Third, Black survival politics relies on the resources of the government to provide HIV/AIDS related programs and initiatives that are, in large part, based on the gains made from collective action.Item The Intersection of HIV Infection with HIV/AIDS Beliefs among African Americans(2007-08-02) Walton, Heather M.; Fassinger, Ruth E.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation describes a qualitative study of 15 African American, HIV-positive individuals who were clients in a day treatment program at an HIV clinic in the Washington, DC, area. Data were collected through semistructured interviews; grounded theory methodology was used to generate a theory of how the participants gave meaning to HIV. The theoretical model included Personal Context, Support and Education, Socio-cultural Meaning, and Personal Meaning, all of which related to the formation of a global meaning regarding HIV. The emergent theoretical model and its components are presented, and the implications of the study for research, practice, and advocacy are discussed.