Master of Arts, Miami University, 2020, Economics

I use data from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and the Florida Highway Patrol to test for racial bias in traffic stop outcomes and to analyze racial bias training in Pittsburgh. The primary empirical obstacles are selection and omitted variable bias. Selection occurs when officers select into patrol areas or individual interactions based on race, which leads to different racial groups of officers interacting with different distributions of motorists. The omitted variable problem arises from unobservable civilian factors which may be correlated with civilian race and receiving traffic citations or getting arrested after a traffic stop. I use high speeds on the highway and stops made in low visibility conditions to argue for random officer assignment to each interaction in Florida. I utilize fixed effects regressions to capture within-officer civilian race effects and then I compare civilian race effects across officer racial groups to combat omitted variable bias. I find suggestive evidence of widespread bias in both datasets, and that racial bias training in Pittsburgh may have backfired in the realm of traffic stop outcomes.

Committee: Deborah Fletcher (Advisor); Austin Smith (Committee Member); George Davis (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology; Economics

PHD, Kent State University, 2024, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a genetic form of anemia that disproportionately impacts Black Americans. Treatment options for adolescent and young adults (AYA) with SCD include curative treatments (hematologic stem cell transplants and gene therapy); however, these treatments are costly with limited availability. As such, many AYA must manage their SCD with medications or blood transfusions. Adherence to medications has positive benefits such as decreased hospitalizations and pain crises; however, AYA with SCD struggle with adherence. As such, researchers have sought to identify areas in which adherence can be improved for AYA with SCD. While perceived racial bias has been cited as a barrier to treatment for Black Americans and AYA with SCD, research is limited on the impact perceived racial bias by the medical team has on adherence. As such, the current study sought to explore the relationship between trust in the medical team and adherence, and to explore whether trust in the medical team mediates the relationship between perceived racial bias with the medical team and adherence. Participant recruitment consisted of recruiting AYA with SCD and caregivers of AYA with SCD. Participants were excluded if they were not English speaking, had significant disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder, did not live with their parent or legal guardians, or had received a hematologic stem cell transplant. Recruitment took place over the course of seven months. Eligible participants were emailed the study information, consent, and surveys; two follow-up emails were sent for individuals who had not completed the surveys. Thirteen caregivers and seven AYA were recruited and completed the surveys. All participants were Black, and none of the participants identified as being Hispanic/Latinx. The majority of AYA were taking medication to manage iron overload from blood transfusions (N=5), and only two were taking hydroxyurea. Parents reported a variation of medication management (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Beth Wildman (Advisor); Aimee Smith (Committee Member); Amy Sato (Committee Member); John Updegraff (Committee Co-Chair) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2023, Educational Leadership

Existing literature has shown that disproportionality in special education remains a persistent and significant issue that has garnered attention in educational research. Asian American students were found to be underrepresented in the identification of Specific Learning Disability (SLD). The consequences of disproportionality can be detrimental, leading to educational inequity, limited opportunities, and potential long-term negative impacts on students' academic and socioemotional development. Research evidence has suggested that disproportionality can arise due to various factors, and educators' biased perception is one of the contributors. This research aimed to examine the extent to which school psychologists make decisions based on their explicit and implicit attitudes toward Asian American students and investigate whether knowing the existence of risk for under-identification impacts their evaluation outcomes. A survey was designed, consisting of a hypothetical case vignette, the Internalization of the Model Minority Myth Measure (IM-4) of model minority stereotype, and a set of demographic questions. A total of 552 responses from school psychologists and school psychologist interns nationally were collected and analyzed. The binary logistic regression results showed that the interaction of student's race and the risk ratio prompt significantly impacted school psychologists' identification decisions for SLD, suggesting the existence of racial bias during the decision-making process. However, these two factors did not affect their confidence levels. Additionally, this research also explored school psychologists' perceptions about Asian American students. Results showed that participants reported that they tend to neither disagree nor agree with the Model Minority Stereotype (MM)-Achievement Orientation and somewhat disagree with the MM-Unrestricted Mobility belief. A MANOVA test revealed that participants' roles and the percentage of Asian American studen (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Amity Noltemeyer (Committee Chair); Joel Malin (Committee Member); Kevin Bush (Committee Member); Sujay Sabnis (Committee Member); Michael Evans (Committee Member) Subjects: Asian American Studies; Education; Special Education

Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.), Xavier University, 2023, Psychology

Racial disparities among adults and juveniles pervade the current US (retributive) justice system, with White and younger offenders often getting more lenient treatment. Very little research has explored the possibility that Restorative Justice (RJ) practices may be subject to the same biases. The current study explored how opinions about RJ were impacted by the offender's racial identity, the offender's age, and factors associated with respondent's identification with the offender. Participants (N=225) were randomly assigned to 1 of 6 survey vignettes. Each depicted the same road rage incident but varied the race (African American, European American, Hispanic) and age (17 years old/35 years old) and accompanying mugshot photo. Participants rated the appropriateness of seven potential consequences, which included retributive justice and RJ practices. Contrary to predictions, no significant differences in consequence severity appropriateness ratings emerged across offender race, age, or their interaction. Overall, participants rated RJ outcomes as significantly more appropriate for all offenders than retributive justice outcomes. However, results indicated that participants' who reported higher racial bias rated more severe consequences as more appropriate for African American offenders and LatinX offenders but did not show this pattern for European American offenders. Racial bias showed significant positive associations with identifying as non-White (r = .37) and with political conservatism (r = .28). The findings suggest that RJ practices are viewed positively by most individuals and as equally appropriate for all offenders.

Committee: Susan Kenford Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Kathleen Hart Ph.D., ABPP (Committee Member); Jennifer Gibson Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Criminology; Hispanic Americans; Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Social Work

Racial disproportions in discipline within the U.S. public school system have been documented since the 1970s and continue to grow despite decades of research and intervention. A solid base of research ruling out individual student- and family-level factors as main causes of the racial disproportions has amassed, however, deficit narratives, stereotypes, and biases about students and families of color continue to be documented throughout the literature. Likewise, interventions directing change toward student and family behaviors and claiming to be “race neutral” by applying the same behavioral expectations and discipline decisions across all students, continue to fail at reducing disproportionate discipline outcomes for students from marginalized groups. A large portion of the literature about teachers' perceptions of students also does not accurately account for the intersectional nature of students' multidimensional identities. Further, many studies fail to use analysis methods that accommodate the complexity of school data. Through the lenses of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Disability Studies (DisCrit), the current study aimed to test relationships between various dimensions of student identity (race, gender, disability, and socioeconomic status) and U.S. public elementary school teachers' perceptions of students in areas vulnerable to systemic identity-based stereotypes (student academic capability, effort, oppositionality, aggression, and parent involvement). Specifically, the current study used structural equation modeling with secondary data collected from 1,251 elementary school students and their teachers in a southeastern U.S. state, to test structural relationships between student identities and teacher perceptions across areas vulnerable to stereotypes. Relational patterns between student identities and areas of teacher perception in the study largely mimicked patterns of identity-based stereotypes in society. For example, Black stude (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Natasha Bowen (Advisor) Subjects: Education; Elementary Education; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Multicultural Education; Social Research; Social Work; Special Education; Teacher Education; Teaching

Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, 2022, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

The number of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, also known as BIPOC, students in public schools has surpassed white student enrollment. This trend is projected to continue to increase as white student enrollment is projected to decrease. Students of color face challenges in the current school systems through their subjection to bias, microaggressions, and systemic racism. These negative experiences stay with the student long after the actual event and can lead to behavioral issues, social emotional issues, as well as mental and physical health implications. Students of color in transracial adoptive families are not immune to negative racial experiences even though their parents are white. This qualitative study focuses on the significant experiences of transracial families as they relate to racism, aiming to tell the stories of the families' experiences with racism within their public schools. Implicit Bias, Microaggressions, Systemic Racism, and Cultural Competency Theory provide the theoretical framework for this study. The families who participated were referred through network sampling in two counties in Northeast Ohio. Data for the study was collected using demographic surveys and virtual interviews. The stories of the participating transracial families are compelling, highly personal, and extremely emotional. The results yielded the following nine significant findings: (1) Racial Identity Awareness, (2) Evidence of Racial Bias, (3) Microaggressions, (4) Significant Race Related Events, (5) Evidence of Strong Emotions, (6) Trauma Related to Racism, (7) Trauma Related to Adoption, (8) Systemic Racism is Still Evident in PK-12 Schools, (9) Cultural Competence Matters, and (10) Increased Parental Awareness. School administrators and teachers would benefit from the findings of this study to help inform and increase awareness of the significance of cultural competence in PK-12 school communities.

Committee: Jane Beese EdD (Committee Chair); Rodney Rock EdD (Committee Member); Patrick Spearman PhD (Committee Member); Charles Vergon JD (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership

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

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2020, Psychology - Clinical

Black Americans are 3.49 times more likely to be shot by police officers than their White counterparts. The “racism epidemic” in the United States has been investigated by psychologists in which a first-person shooter task (FPST) was created to better understand racial implicit bias when deciding to shoot a target (e.g., Black or White males holding a gun or ordinary item (e.g., wallet, phone). It has been shown that mental depletion increases racial bias when deciding to shoot and that stress increases the accuracy of only shooting Black armed targets. Interventions have been aimed at police officers to help decrease fatigue and use of excessive force. These interventions utilize the awareness of visceral signals, or interoception. Increased interoceptive ability has been linked to better decision making, attention, and visual scanning. Furthermore, mindful body awareness has been found to decrease implicit racial bias and to recover participants that have been depleted. Mindful interoceptive awareness can be researched by utilizing interoceptive sensibility (IAS; self-reported interoception), specifically via the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) which breaks IAs down into eight different dimensions. This study assessed the potential protective effects of trait mindful interoception on implicit racial bias (deciding to shoot or not shoot) when depleted and not depleted. It was expected that depleted individuals would exhibit more bias compared to controls. We also expected those with increased IAs to exhibit less racial bias in both groups, especially in the depletion group. Investigating the effects of IAs on racial bias may better inform interventions to decrease the amount of bias exhibited during high stakes decisions. Data were collected from an online community sample through Live Amazon Turk (MTurk) with an effective sample size of 82 participants. A three-way mixed-model analysis of variance (ANOVA) utilizi (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Peter Mezo Dr. (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, Sociology

Compared to the research investigating police use of force at the encounter-level, there are relatively fewer studies examining how neighborhood context influences the decision to use force. This dissertation adds to the research on neighborhood context through the investigation of two overarching research questions. I first examine whether neighborhood racial composition and degree of disadvantage are associated with the frequency and severity of force after encounter-level variables are controlled. Second, I examine whether the frequency or severity of force change following incidents of violence by the police or against the police. Using an interrupted time series design for this question, the study analyzes whether the trajectory of force by Rochester (N.Y.) officers was altered following the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2014, and by the death of RPD officer Daryl Pierson on September 3, 2014. As such, the dissertation examines the extent to which the risk of being subjected to police use of force is influenced by where and when a citizen encounters an officer. More broadly, the dissertation examines how social context influences legal decision-making, as well as the role that law, as governmental social control, plays in preserving social order. Findings indicate that both the frequency and severity of force are higher in neighborhoods with larger percentages of Black and Hispanic residents once encounter-level variables, degree of neighborhood disadvantage, and crime rates are controlled. A likely explanation for this finding is that police officers, like many Americans, including other actors in the criminal justice system, are acting on an implicit racial bias that characterizes Black individuals as being prone to criminality and violence. Officers perceive that disadvantaged neighborhoods present elevated threats to officer safety because more Black individuals live there. Consequently, implicit racial bias re (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ryan King (Advisor); Paul Bellair (Committee Member); Hollie Nyseth Brehm (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology; Sociology

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD), Wright State University, 2020, School of Professional Psychology

Jurors, representatives of the communities from which they are selected, are tasked with the responsibility of reaching a verdict in an impartial, unbiased manner. Previous research has found that bias and negative attitudes impact juror decision-making, despite practices that are in place to dismiss potentially biased jurors, such as voir dire. Studies have found a correlation between racial biases and juror verdicts. Additionally, a correlation has also been found between insanity defense attitudes and a juror's propensity to favor (or not favor) a Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI) acquittal. However, there has been limited examination of the impact of racial bias on juror decision-making in cases of NGRI, as evidenced by a lack of available research in this area. The Insanity Defense Attitudes – Revised (IDA-R) scale is a validated measure of venirepersons (potential jurors) attitudes surrounding NGRI. The IDA-R and a demographic survey were issued to jury-eligible participants from a Midwestern state, following a NGRI case vignette featuring either a White or African American male defendant. All participants met minimum criteria to be an Ohio juror. Findings include the overestimation of NGRI pleas in criminal court, the underestimation of NGRI acquittals, and a correlation between higher IDA-R scale scores and Guilty verdicts among participants. Additionally, race of the participant appeared to predict final verdict for some groups.

Committee: LaTrelle Jackson PhD, CCFC, ABPP (Committee Chair); Michelle Schultz PsyD (Committee Member); Christy Tinch PsyD (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2018, Psychology - Experimental

In the extant literature on mock jurors' perceptions of child sexual abuse victims, little attention has been paid to the potential impact of child race on legal judgments. The present research investigated the influence of child race (Black vs. White), defendant race (Black vs. White), and child age (12 years vs. 17 years) on mock jurors' legal judgments for a hypothetical teacher-student sexual abuse case. Child race did not solely impact mock jurors' legal judgments or perceptions of the mock CSA case, but did interact with other variables to influence case outcomes and mock jurors' perceptions. Child age directly affected legal judgments and interacted with additional extralegal factors as well as mock juror gender. No significant main effects of defendant race were observed in the present study, yet this extralegal factor interacted with child race and age to impact mock jurors' defendant guilt ratings. Mock juror gender differences as well as mock jurors' racial and authoritarian attitudes, beliefs in a just world, and endorsements of racially-based sexual stereotypes were also examined in the present study. Mock juror gender differences were found for various legal judgments related to both the defendant and child complainant. Mock jurors' endorsements of the “Jezebel” stereotype was strongly related to legal judgments for the case while mock jurors' authoritarian attitudes, racial attitudes, and beliefs in a just world were minimally associated with their legal judgments. The study's findings may be used to educate legal professionals—as well as jurors—on the impact of extralegal factors and individual biases in child sexual abuse cases.

Committee: Kamala London Newton PhD (Committee Chair); Jason Rose PhD (Committee Member); John Jasper PhD (Committee Member); Stephen Christman PhD (Committee Member); Jerry Van Hoy PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2016, Communication

Virtual environments offer a unique space to investigate human interactions with diverse groups. Many inequalities in society can be traced to many learned behaviors that pertain to one's racial identity. Past research has found that negative social influence of minority group stereotypes are experienced within virtual environments much the same way that they are in the real world. Embodying an avatar of a different race may activate a person's stereotypes towards that race, making it difficult to take the perspective of a person from that avatar's race. Narrative research has shown that lowering a participants' self-concept increased their willingness to take the perspective of a minority by revealing the identity of the character later in the story as opposed to early. The current study randomly assigned participants to not only embody a Black or White avatar, but also to one of two conditions which revealed the racial identity of their avatar early or later in Second Life, an online virtual world. The results indicate that manipulating the avatar's race and time of revelation to the participant had no effect on their implicit and explicit bias, their ability to take the perspective of the racial group the avatar belonged to, or their behavior. Implications for the Proteus Effect and perspective-taking within virtual environments are discussed.

Committee: Jesse Fox PhD (Advisor) Subjects: Communication

Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.), Xavier University, 2015, Psychology

Abstract The present study investigated the relationship among explicit biases against Arabs/Arab Americans, diagnosis, prognosis, and perceived cultural competence. Individuals of Arab descent are at heightened risk for prejudice and discrimination due to events such as those that occurred on September 11, 2001 (Moradi & Hasan, 2004; The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, 2009). The participants for this study included 161 advanced psychology graduate students and predoctoral interns. For participants who were of the traditional age (25-34 years old) for advanced graduate psychology training, a small negative relationship was found between perceived cultural competence and less explicit biases towards Arab individuals in the predicted direction. This negative relationship between perceived cultural competence and explicit biases towards Arabs was also found within the ethnic minority participants. Higher perceived cultural competence predicted a lower severity of diagnosis of a hypothetical Arab client, but only for the 25-34 years old participants. Higher levels of explicit biases against Arabs predicted a better prognosis of a hypothetical Arab client, but only for the male participants. This relationship had a small effect size and it was not in the predicted negative direction. These results contribute to the current literature, as this topic has previously been unexamined in the literature. These findings may offer implications for diversity education for graduate programs and internships.

Committee: Anna Ghee Ph.D. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Counseling Psychology; Mental Health; Middle Eastern Studies; Psychology; Psychotherapy; Social Psychology

Master of Arts in Professional Communication, Youngstown State University, 2014, Department of Communicaton

There has been an issue with racial bias in the sports broadcasting and reporting industry, as well as with sports fans. This study looks further into the issue of racial bias through both lenses listed above. To help look at racial bias in sports media, there will be closer examinations of Agenda Setting Theory, and Framing Theory. To look closer at racial bias in sports fandom, the Social Identity Theory will be used to help ground the issue. There will be some specific cases that will be discussed to provide more insight to both sides of the issue. After a thorough literature review, there will be a study that looks specifically at a case of racial bias from the perspective of the media and the perspective of the fans. The case of National Football League player Richard Sherman will be the case examined. The issue at hand is a post-game interview Sherman gave after a big win in the playoffs of the 2013-2014 season. This mixed method study looks at media reports and fan perceptions on the Richard Sherman case.

Committee: Adam Earnheardt PhD (Advisor); George McCloud PhD (Committee Member); Max Grubb PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2014, Political Science

In this dissertation, I use data collected from three experiments to examine the dynamics of racial ingroup bias. In particular, I look at the extent to which same-race politicians are either sanctioned or protected when they are linked to negative political events. I examine how different scenarios, or failure events, could have an impact on ingroup members' judgments of a same-race elected official. In the first empirical chapter, I use an experiment to test the effects of an incumbent mayor's race and the condition of his city on judgments of accountability for the incumbent (and candidates in an upcoming election). The second empirical chapter examines this bias in the context of an alleged scandal (i.e., sexual infidelity, financial impropriety), and considers whether socially reprehensible transgressions can be politically damaging, insofar as they preclude the accused elected official from the benefits of their group's protection. Finally, the third empirical chapter experimentally explores the limits of black racial group loyalty as it relates to marginalized subgroups and subtypes of African Americans. Specifically, it investigates whether non-protypical black officials (i.e., female, homosexual, Republican) of the ingroup benefit similarly from ingroup bias when they are linked to a negative political event. In general, I argue that racial minorities (i.e., blacks), disadvantaged by unequal representation, engage in group-serving biases that tend to protect same-race politicians who are beset by political or moral dilemmas.

Committee: Ismail White Ph.D. (Committee Co-Chair); Kathleen McGraw Ph.D. (Committee Co-Chair); Wendy Smooth Ph.D. (Committee Member); Thomas Nelson Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Political Science