Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2011, Sociology

The likelihood of being removed from the home following a substantiated case of maltreatment is much higher for black youth than for their white counterparts. There are two competing explanations in the literature. The first is that black children experience more serious forms of maltreatment and have fewer resources to remedy the maltreatment situation through informal means than do white children. The second is that there is an underlying bias within the child welfare system, where discriminatory beliefs about the perceived threat and dangerousness of certain groups and their abilities to care for their children may contribute to black children being disproportionately removed from their homes. The present study examines whether race has an effect on child placement within the child welfare system after taking into account various risk factors associated with race and placement. It also examines whether the factors influencing placement are the same for white and black youth. Findings illustrate a racial disparity in out-of-home placements supporting both of the competing explanations in the current literature. Parental mental illness and emotional abuse as the maltreatment type are identified as factors operating differently for black and white children within the child welfare system. Overall, the present study finds that two separate processes seem to be at play in the placement decisions of maltreated youth, and concludes with possible explanations for this differential treatment.

Committee: Stephen Demuth PhD (Advisor); Jorge Chavez PhD (Committee Member); Alfred DeMaris PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2020, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: School Psychology

African American male students are disproportionality disciplined, as they are more than three times as likely as White students to receive one or more out of school suspensions. This discipline gap has many implications, including the school- to- prison pipeline and the achievement gap, which impede the academic success of African American students. Social skills are important academic enablers, which can lead to fewer problem behaviors, and more prosocial behaviors such as academic engagement, which in turn counters time out of school with exclusionary practices. As such, there is a need for culturally enriched social skills programs explicitly aimed at providing African American males with the social skills needed to successfully navigate the school environment and reduce their contact with punitive discipline and the juvenile justice system. The current study used a culturally enriched social skills program titled Black to Success (B2S) with Afrocentric mentoring to examine the academic engagement, social skills, racial identity, and discipline referrals of African American male students in an urban school. Results indicated an increase in academic engagement following B2S implementation, as well as mixed results for racial identity, social skills, and office discipline referrals. Findings from this study suggest that culturally enhanced Social Skill Instruction with Afrocentrism and mentoring may increase prosocial behaviors while reducing problem behaviors for African American males.

Committee: Tai Collins Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Derrick Brooms Ph.D. (Committee Member); Janet Lee Graden Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2009, Social Welfare

Purpose: This project focused on individual and neighborhood characteristics associated with child maltreatment in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. It sought to better understand risk and protective factors associated with child maltreatment, specifically the roles of race and neighborhood disadvantage. It used an ecological framework that takes into account multiple levels, and incorporated a developmental perspective that suggests that risk and protective factors vary by child age. Particular attention was paid to race and racial disproportionality in the child welfare system.Methodology: This study used a multi-level discrete time hazard model to estimate the effects of individual/household and neighborhood factors on the timing of child maltreatment reports accepted for investigation and indicated/substantiated reports of child maltreatment. Findings: This study showed that younger children are at highest risk of being the subject of a maltreatment report, yet much of this increased risk is explained by mother's age, marital status, use of alcohol and tobacco during pregnancy, and child's birth weight and receipt of TANF. Additionally, being born to an African American mother greatly increases the likelihood of being the subject of a maltreatment report. However, once other individual and neighborhood factors are taken into consideration, the increased risk for Black children drops considerably and is no longer a significant predictor of investigated reports of child neglect or substantiated/indicated reports of maltreatment. This study found the hazard of child maltreatment to be greater among children living in impoverished and instable neighborhoods. Moreover, the impact of neighborhood characteristics was found to exert its strongest effect on reports of child neglect compared to all types of reports or indicated/substantiated reports of maltreatment. Finally, findings suggest that for Black children, the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and maltreatment (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Claudia Coulton PhD (Committee Chair); David Crampton PhD (Committee Member); Jill Korbin PhD (Committee Member); David Miller PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Social Research; Social Work; Welfare