Oppression (Psychology)

It is an axiom among both researchers and the public that American perceptions of the police are racially divided. Previous studies have traditionally focused on interracial perceptions, and have found support for social variables (e.g. education) and legal variables (e.g. prior arrest). The current study seeks to determine if legal oppression or social oppression are better predictors of negative attitudes toward the police among a sample of black university students. Ordinary least squares regression seeks determine which set of factors better predict police perceptions. This intra-racial examination allows future research to parse nuances among police perceptions in the black community. The implications of these results and future directions are discussed, in particular for the continued development of a black criminology (Unnever, Gabbidon, & Chouhy, 2019).

This mixed methods, multisite case study examined the relational ecology of two urban middle schools that had adopted school-wide restorative practices (SWRPs) and the changes that occurred as a result of the reform initiative. The study was conducted in two Title I middle schools in the Oakland Unified School District in California. A positive relational ecology existed in these two urban middle schools, and this ecology was built on the interacting and interrelated themes of relational trust, being heard, a relational-based, student-centered culture, and a commitment to the principles of social justice. The positive relational ecology created a strong foundation upon which change could occur at the organizational, individual, and pedagogical levels. Various structures within the schools, including circles, instructional leadership teams, student councils, and peer mediation, created space for teachers and students to be heard and empowered, which subsequently facilitated change and growth for many administrators, teachers, and students. High turnover, lack of initial and ongoing training, and the development of quasi- or non-restorative processes jeopardized program fidelity. Findings revealed that in these restorative schools, relational ecology and change were inseparable, and that they moved and influenced each other. A positive relational ecology created an environment that enabled leaders and staff to feel safe as they embarked upon the journey of change. Changes in the ways that members of the school communities related to each other on a daily basis provided additional motivation to continue the change effort, and these changes then strengthened the relational ecologies. Findings of this study are significant and have implications for schools and school districts, policy makers, and teacher and leader education programs. Future research should include longitudinal, mixed methods studies that assess the school culture before and after implementing SWRPs, as well as experimental or quasi-experimental designs that compare restorative and non-restorative schools. Such studies may provide more empirical evidence that links healthy relational ecologies to student achievement, less teacher turnover, decreased conflict, and healthier communities, thereby strengthening the case for rejecting punitive and discriminatory zero tolerance school discipline policies and adopting restorative justice in education instead.

This dissertation puts economically disadvantaged American women at the center of analysis. I turn to standpoint theory to demonstrate that low-income women construct knowledge out of resistance to systemic oppression in their everyday, concrete worlds. In addition, I create a distinct theory on low-income women's standpoint to show that poor and working-class women are grounded in and produce knowledge from the messiness of contradictions and the murkiness of ambiguity in the immediate, material world. Therefore, their forms of resistance is as complex, ambiguous, and messy as the world from which they struggle. Discerning and analyzing low-income women's standpoint does not create a value hierarchy that places more worth on one form of resistance than on another. Nor does it make an ethical judgment on how low-income women resist or uphold moral absolutism that categorizes their acts of resistance as "good/healthy" or "bad/dysfunctional." Rather, uncovering and examining low-income women's standpoint focuses on how poor and working-class women struggle to be whole, complex beings who daily fight against economic oppression under structural limitations and within contradictory situations. Low-income women's standpoint theory acknowledges the messiness of life and the imperfection of humanity. Furthermore, it illustrates that knowledge is an ongoing process of seeking "truth"; there is no one correct way of finding "truth." Hence, low-income women's standpoint theory shows that there is "truth" in the murkiness and confusion of contradictions and ambiguity. My dissertation is set up as the following: in chapter one, I explain what poor and working-class women's standpoint is and highlight how their resistant knowledge is grounded in their immediate and everyday world; in chapter two, I examine how low-income female performing artists and writers openly express their sexuality as "bad girls" through their art and writing to claim sexual agency; in chapter three, I analyze how low-waged female workers encountering structural limitations negotiate power relations in the workforce; and, in chapter four, I look at how low-income women deal with emotional pain and anger as they resist being crushed by economic and social oppression.