Bachelor of Arts, Wittenberg University, 2023, Political Science

For a comprehensive understanding of attitudes toward the death penalty, it is crucial to examine the historical backdrop of racial inequality in the criminal justice system. By delving into the history of incarceration and influential policies from the abolition of slavery to the present day, this study seeks to uncover the potential connections between these policies and death penalty attitudes. Utilizing data from the Pew Research Center, bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to investigate the interplay among various variables, including race, partisanship, religion, age, and gender. The results revealed significant associations between all independent variables and attitudes toward the death penalty. Females exhibited a negative relationship, indicating a lower likelihood of supporting capital punishment compared to males. Religious denomination displayed a statistically significant relationship across all three categories, with Protestants, Catholics, and Mormons more inclined to support the death penalty. Party affiliation exhibited a statistically negative relationship, indicating that Democrats were less likely to support capital punishment compared to Independents and Republicans. Notably, race was found to be negatively associated with the death penalty, suggesting that black individuals are less likely to support it compared to their white counterparts. This finding can be attributed to the historical mistreatment and discriminatory practices faced by African Americans within the criminal justice system. Given the pervasive inequalities experienced by African Americans throughout history due to governmental policies, it is unsurprising to observe a substantial disparity in death penalty attitudes between African Americans and white individuals.

Committee: Staci Rhine (Advisor); Scott Rosenberg (Committee Member); Rob Baker (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; Criminology; Ethnic Studies; Political Science; Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1971, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: History

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2007, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2007, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1976, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2006, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2024, Leadership and Change

Law enforcement is a male-dominated field that has been slow to accept and promote African American women to positions of authority. As of 2016, there were only 3.1% Lieutenants and Sergeants, along with 1.6% Captains or higher that were African American women in the United States (Gomez, 2016). More recently, there has not been much change, as women are reportedly only 12% of the sworn officers and 3% of law enforcement leadership in the United States (Tumulty, 2023). Of that number, only 1% of African American women hold the position of Lieutenant or higher (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives [ATF], 2023). There are subtle barriers that women and minorities experience that keep them from moving up in the management hierarchy of law enforcement. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the lived experiences of African American women law enforcement supervisors related to the barriers encountered during their career, especially with promotion, and vital skills necessary for job performance. The study assessed advances, impacts on performance, peer intimidation, sexual harassment, discrimination, and other barriers that African American women face while pursuing top-level positions in law enforcement. The study included interviewing eight African American women law enforcement officers in Georgia, active duty and retired, that have held the positions of Commissioner, Chief, Captain, Lieutenant, Detective, Sergeant, and or Corporal. The following five themes emerged as a representation of their perceptions: (a) “Obstacles”: Operation Stumbling Blocks, (b) “Sabotage”: Monkey Wrench in the Works, (c) “Jealousy”: The Green-Eyed Monster, (d) “Overlooked”: Privy Passover, and (e) “Combative/ Overly Aggressive”: Angry Black Woman Syndrome. This study also has implications for lawmakers, departmental leads, and all level agencies of law enforcement to eliminate barriers, increase diversity, and practice e (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Stewart Burns PhD (Committee Chair); Diane Allerdyce PhD (Committee Member); Nadine Wheat PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Gender; Philosophy

Ed.D., Antioch University, 2024, Education

Racial trauma is deeply institutionalized within our educational system because of the primary focus on the dominant Western society ideology of culture, language, literacy, and academic standards. Due to minimum recognition in the mental health field or the education arena, the effects of such trauma are profound. They can account for social and behavioral dysfunctions seen in high school adolescent students of color as well as low academic achievement. The phenomenon of racial trauma in society is deeply tragic, with historical roots that pervade public high school campuses and classrooms. The premise of this research was founded on White dominance and privilege. Today, the effects of racial trauma have become dominantly prevalent and still trickle into the personal and academic lives of high school students of color. This study aims to understand the problem through the eyes and lived experiences of high school students of color. The overarching research question is: How does racial trauma impact the mental health of high school students of color? Individual interviews and narrative inquiry were used to encapsulate and validate the issues of racial trauma and its impact on students of color's mental health. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Committee: Emiliano Gonzalez Ph.D (Committee Chair); Leslie Jackson Ph.D. (Committee Member); Gary Delanoeye Ed.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2023, Political Science

Literature on historical U.S. housing policy has focused on the material gains and losses as impacts of these policies. This approach, while crucial, is missing an analysis of how the citizenship of people is affected by these policies. This thesis fills this gap in the literature, focusing on three eras of housing policy, the early FHA mortgage insurance program, the HUD low-income housing programs Section 235 and 221(d)(2), and the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program. These policies provide a platform to uncover hidden power in politics and the structural racial discrimination that exists. Examining the relationship between the government and program recipients through the lens of housing policy allows us to see disparate effects on citizenship.

Committee: Kathleen Sullivan (Advisor) Subjects: American History; Political Science; Urban Planning; Welfare

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1955, History

Committee: Virginia B. Platt (Advisor) Subjects: History

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1949, History

Committee: R. Stanley McCordock (Advisor) Subjects: History

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1955, History

Committee: Virginia B. Platt (Advisor) Subjects: History

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, Sociology

While federal anti-employment discrimination laws have helped diminish inequality at work, discrimination persists perhaps partly due to unequal handling of equal employment lawsuits. The ambiguity of antidiscrimination legislation leaves broad discretion in the hands of judicial decision-makers. This dissertation explores the different ways in which that ambiguity and discretion play out in judicial decision-making and addresses three specific questions: 1. What is illegal employment discrimination as defined by judges?, 2. What factors outside the case influence this definition?, and 3. How do judges arrive at their definition? To do so, I first explore how local social conditions and judicial identity can shape the enforcement of antidiscrimination law. Prior research demonstrates that the definition of discrimination can vary based on local normative ideas, while another line shows that a judge's race or gender can shape how related lawsuits are handled. I expand upon this research using a set of cases alleging race or sex/gender discrimination prosecuted by the EEOC in Federal Court combined with locality data, to analyze: (1) the impact of local context, specifically rurality, local political context, southern-ness; and (2) how judges' race and gender interact with the local cultural-milieu. Findings reveal that plaintiffs in race discrimination cases fair worse before white judges. Black judges, in comparison, are more plaintiff friendly in the south and politically conservative areas when compared to black judges outside the south and in more liberal areas. While female judges are generally more plaintiff friendly than male judges in sex cases, location has no discernible effect. Having identified that the interplay of judicial race and local context is particularly salient in race discrimination cases, I then build off studies in criminal law research and analyze how local levels of racial threat and judicial race can shape judicial decision-making. B (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Rachel Dwyer (Advisor); Eric Schoon (Committee Member); Vinnie Roscigno (Advisor) Subjects: Sociology

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Leadership Studies, Xavier University, 2021, Leadership Studies and Human Resource Development

This mixed-methods study explored how a Black female school principal serves a low-income urban school based on a partnership with a private STEM industry in an effort to improve students' math and science performance. Using Lidens et al.'s (2008) servant leadership instrument and ad-hoc survey items related to the principal's contribution level of improving students' academic performance, exploratory factor analyses identified the principal's servant leadership and partnership competencies in a sample of 49 school community members consisting of 15 teachers, 13 paraprofessionals, and 21 parents. The servant leadership and partnership competencies included empowering community and helping others succeed, problem solving for others and organization, ethical and critical thinking skills, others' needs and interests, and principal's partnership with a private STEM industry. One sample T-Test revealed that the school community members perceived the principal's servant leadership and partnership competencies significantly contributed to the improvement of science and math performance. Further, the principal's partnership competency was significantly and positively correlated with the following two servant leadership competencies: Problem solving for others and organization and Ethical and critical thinking skills. The principal perceived that students have built authentic relationships with their mentors including the private STEM industry's volunteered staff and tutors, thereby contributing to student academic growth and community engagement. The survey findings were consistent with the narratives of the principal as shown a positive correlation with the principal's servant leadership competencies and students' academic growth in math and science through the partnership with a private STEM industry. Therefore, the study's data provide evidence that the Black female principal is well equipped with the competencies necessary for a servant leader and for building a partner (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ahlam Lee Ph.D. (Advisor); Littisha Bates Ph.D. (Committee Member); Rhonda Norman Ed.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; Education; Education Philosophy; Educational Leadership; Educational Theory

PHD, Kent State University, 2021, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Sociology and Criminology

Racial inequality in hiring, wages, evaluations, and promotions is a prominent issue in the contemporary United States. Prior research demonstrates implicit biases advantage White job candidates over equally qualified job candidates from other racial groups. Other research finds individuals exert cognitive effort to rationalize and justify racial disparities in ways that reproduce inequality. This project explores the interplay between unconscious and cognitive processes in relation to job candidate selection. I use a mixed-methods experimental design that collects evaluations, neurological measurements, and qualitative interviews. Participants review a pair of resumes that signal race/ethnicity and work ability (i.e. work skill score—a work skill score is a tool used by companies around the nation to diversify their hiring practices). Neurological methods are used to investigate that assumption of status characteristic theory that more implicit and cognitive attention is given to resumes when status information is inconsistent. Qualitative interviews are used to observe how decisions are rationalized using colorblind and ignorance frames as found in race/ethnicity research. My findings suggest status-relevant information is not universally aggregated into individuals' evaluations of others as status characteristics theory predicts. Instead, the results of this study are comparable to recent race/ethnicity research that reveals how high status (White) individuals ignore, reject, or incorporate information in ways to maintain the (racial) status quo. The results of this study also demonstrate how incongruence between individuals' behavioral action and cognitive rationalizations may reproduce racial inequality. If the goal is to reduce racial inequalities, future research must examine interventions and mechanisms that simultaneously address behavioral and cognitive outcomes.

Committee: Carla Goar (Advisor); Carla Goar (Committee Chair); Lique Coolen (Committee Member); Tiffany Taylor (Committee Member); Jennifer Mueller (Committee Member); Angela Neal-Barnett (Committee Member); Will Kalkhoff (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Sociology

This dissertation examines how race, human capital, and criminal records coalesce to shape men's employment and job search strategies. Prison credentials are proposed as a solution to improve human capital and alleviate negative effects of criminal records in the labor market. Yet, their efficacy is mixed, with scholars attributing contradictory evidence to a lack of program integrity or methodological limitations. In Chapter 2, I develop a novel, alternative explanation, termed the prison credential dilemma, to highlight the relational aspects of hiring and raise the possibility of prison credentials signaling both human capital and criminal stigma. I use an audit study of 1,502 employers in five states to assess the effects of prison credentials on employer callbacks and whether effects differ by race. Applicants with prison credentials have higher probabilities of receiving callbacks than formerly incarcerated men without credentials. However, applicants without incarceration histories fare better than applicants with prison credentials. While the efficacy of prison credentials does not differ by race, Black applicants have lower probabilities of receiving callbacks than White applicants, and these combined main effects create racialized employment outcomes. Chapter 3 details the second theoretical contribution: conceptualizing job mismatching as a differential return to human capital. I demonstrate why job mismatching is a driver of inequality by using the employer audit to examine how applicants' race and criminal histories affect their abilities to receive callbacks for jobs that match their qualifications. Applicants with prison credentials are more often relegated to poorly paid positions, despite possessing credentials that signal their ability to perform specialist job duties. Among applicants without criminal records, White men without credentials more often receive callbacks for specialist positions for which they are underqualified while these opp (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mike Vuolo (Committee Chair); Ryan King (Committee Member); Dana Haynie (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2017, Leadership Studies

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the experiences in leadership advancement of African American women. Over 10 million African American women are in the civilian labor force (United States Department of Labor statistics, 2015). The population of African American women with degrees having significantly increased over thirty years, with 264% more Bachelor's degrees and 353% more Master's degrees being earned, however barriers to opportunities continue to exist (Nooks-Wallner, 2008). Although anti-discrimination laws have existed since 1964, covert discriminatory patterns continue and are often entrenched in workplace systems, which prevent advancement opportunities (Cook & Glass, 2013). Phenomenology was the qualitative research method utilized for this study. Phenomenology is a scholarly study method that provides meaning-making, to more effectively comprehend the perspective of an individual or group of individuals. Meaning is gained through attaining data about situations or events surrounding a specific phenomenon. The intention is to determine how and why it influences others as it goes beyond the surface to gain depth. This study gathered data through various methods, such as an advance questionnaire, semi-structured interview protocol, review of participant leadership samples, and resumes/curriculum vitaes. This study contributes to understanding the leadership advancement experiences from African American women who have ascended to director-level or higher positions, across various industries. The key themes in this study were strategic preparation, and self-determination and courage. The data collected illustrate these themes and ten associated sub-themes. The purpose is to gain understanding from the experiences that influenced the advancement of African American women within this study into leadership positions. Interviewing African American women who have ascended into leadership offered contextual insight into their lived experie (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Patrick Pauken PhD (Advisor); Paul Christian Willis EdD (Committee Member); Paul Johnson PhD (Committee Member); Dalton Jones PhD (Other); Angela Logan PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; Black History; Business Administration; Business Education; Education; Educational Leadership; Gender

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2017, Sociology

Federal anti-employment discrimination laws have succeeded in changing levels of diversity and inequality at work. Inequality and workplace discrimination, however, persist. One cause may be unequal enforcement of anti-discrimination laws; another may very well be the non-neutrality of the legal process itself. In this second regard, some research highlights ways in which a judge's race and/or gender might shape how cases are handled. Other works suggests that local social context (e.g., the geography of place and local politics) may matter as well. In this thesis I build on such prior work and, drawing on a set of EEOC workplace discrimination cases prosecuted in Federal Court and combining it with locality data, I analyze: (1) the impact of local context, specifically rurality and local and regional political context, and; (2) how judges race and gender interact with the local cultural-milieu. Findings reveal that white judges and rural judges are more defendant friendly in their motion decisions and case determinations. Meanwhile, white judges in the south and in conservative areas respond more conservatively to their social context than black judges. These specific effects of locality are more pronounced and significant in race compared to gender-specific discrimination cases. More generally, cases in rural locals witness more conservative decision-making and, thus, more negative outcomes for plaintiffs.

Committee: Vinnie Roscigno (Advisor); Rachel Dwyer (Advisor); Ryan King (Committee Member); Eric Schoon (Committee Member) Subjects: Law; Legal Studies; Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1978, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1976, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education