Matching Items (4)
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- All Subjects: Sociology
- Creators: Colbern, Allan
- Status: Published
Description
The thesis for this study is that structural racism within the U.S. criminal system causes Black mothers to assume the emotional work of caring for incarcerated sons. This project was designed using an interpretive approach that employed a combination of qualitative and auto-ethnographic methods, drawing on grounded theory principle. Six interviews were conducted with mothers in order to gain in-depth insight into their lived experiences. An auto-ethnographic method was used to analyze the author’s own personal experiences as a family member of the incarcerated in dialogue with the experiences of the broader research population. Studies on the key finding of the psycho-social impacts on mothers with incarcerated sons have explored the relationship between the mental depression of mothers and their son’s incarceration. They have found that financial challenges, dwindling social connections, lousy parenting evaluations, as well as the burden of care of the grandchildren of the incarcerated sons are some of the mediating factors of this relationship. A second key finding also showed that incarceration have had social-economic effects on the prisoner’s families. These families experience extreme financial hardship as a result of incarcerated loved ones. Another finding showed the unique coping strategies for mothers included assuming care taking responsibility, maintaining family relationships, and budget control. Finally, this study found that there are challenges to re-entry experienced by mothers with incarcerated sons when their released. Research findings and original contribution to scholarly knowledge uncovered that Black mothers of the incarcerated in addition to working the Second Shift, are experiencing the phenomena of what is coined to be the “Third Shift.”
ContributorsWhite, LaTonya C (Author) / Keahey, Jennifer (Thesis advisor) / Colbern, Allan (Committee member) / Murphy-Erfani, Julie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Through the lived experiences of Georgian queer migrants, this thesis argues that the international and national refugee laws and practices are an essential starting point but remain weak and, in some cases, even exclusionary when it comes to protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQI) individuals. Specifically, this thesis documents the experiences of Georgian LGBTQ migrants to reveal the social, political, cultural, and economic factors in Georgia and recipient countries essential to shaping their experiences with belonging and protection. It critically explores how one’s LGBTQ identify shapes their sense of belonging in Georgia, how their identity played a direct role in deciding to migrate, and how queer migrants’ identities shape processes in migration and resettlement. Engaging the academic scholarship on citizenship and migration, this thesis contributes new insights for understanding how international and national institutions and laws overlap to create a restrictive regime that forces Georgian migrants to navigate asylum by detaching their claims from their persecution as LGBTQI individuals. Through centering the experiences LGBTQI, this thesis reveals injustices and harms as well as possible top-down legal remedies to improve identity-based protections in national anti-discrimination law and international asylum law.
ContributorsBerianidze, Levan (Author) / Colbern, Allan (Thesis advisor) / Firoz, Malay (Committee member) / Goksel, Nisa (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
There are many historical inequities regarding housing in the United States, such as the lack of access to affordable and secure housing for people of color, which is a result of centuries of exclusion. These problems remain ineffectively addressed or unaddressed by policy. Indeed, many community-based organizations report that housing policies fail to address the needs of the people—especially those in marginalized communities. Top-down approaches are efficient and more broadly applicable but miss important community-specific problems. Meanwhile, bottom-up approaches excel in highlighting community perspectives and the lived experiences of residents, but they are challenging to generalize across jurisdictions. This thesis captures community-based understandings of policy through in-depth interviews with community-based organizations (CBOs) and applies these understandings to develop a new quantitative framework for evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of housing policies that can be applied across the United States. The thesis also explores various housing policies through a multi-dimensional, intersectional, and forward-thinking analysis that centers marginalized communities.
ContributorsMoen, Anders Jacob (Author) / Colbern, Allan (Thesis advisor) / Pfeiffer, Deirdre (Committee member) / Lee, Sangmi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
This study explores how a teen center within a local police department in California impacts the lives of local Latinx youth. Through a mixed methods approach of surveys, focus groups, and interviews, the study explores Mexican American youth, the most populous Latinx youth in the United States who are uniquely challenged by varying immigration statuses, mental health, and academic barriers. Theoretically, the study draws out intersections unique to the Latinx youth experiences growing up in America and engages in inter-disciplinary debates about inequities in health and education and policing practices. These intersections and debates are addressed through in-depth qualitative analysis of three participant groups: current youth participants of the teen center’s Youth Leadership Council (YLC), alumni of the YLC, and adult decision makers of the program. Pre- and post-surveys and focus groups are conducted with the youth participants over the span of a full year, while they take part in the teen center program, capturing how the teen center directly impacts their academic achievements, feelings of belonging, mental health, and attitudes towards law enforcement, over time. Interviews with alumni and key decision makers of the teen center further reveal broader patters in how the YLC program positively impacts the lives of Latinx youth and the challenges it faces when federal immigration enforcement complicates local policy relations with local communities.
ContributorsGutierrez, Courtney Amanda (Author) / Colbern, Allan (Thesis advisor) / Cuadraz, Gloria (Committee member) / Lopez, Kristina (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019