Browsing by Author "Melvin Thomas, Committee Member"

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Access to Authority and Promotions: Do Organizational Mechanisms Affect Workplace Outcomes Differently for Blacks and Whites?
(2004-12-03) Wright, Delmar Anthony; Melvin Thomas, Committee Member; Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Committee Chair; Michael Schulman, Committee Member
In this study I examine the effects of two organizational mechanisms on the race gap in promotions and authority attainment. Previous work in the area has treated promotions as a means to obtaining authority invested positions, while the present research examines promotions and authority simultaneously, and as conceptually distinct. This research also examines the effects of both social closure and homosocial reproduction on promotions and authority, something previous research has failed to accomplish. Using the North Carolina Employment and Health Survey (NCEHS), I examine the effect that social closure through training time may have on Black's relative chances of having authority, and the influence of homosocial reproduction by linking the racial composition of jobs with the likelihood of receiving a promotion and having authority. Results from these analyses indicate that Blacks are more likely to receive promotions and authority positions in jobs with a higher percentage of Black employees. The results also indicate that Black employees with increased education also increase their likelihood of being promoted, and Blacks have less authority in private sector jobs, both conclusions showing support for the particularistic mobility thesis. This analysis provides empirical support for homosocial reproduction.
Does It Matter if You're Black or White? Skin Color and Psychological Well-being Among Middle-school Youth
(2006-08-02) Williams, Zaynah Ayisha; Maxine Thompson, Committee Chair; Melvin Thomas, Committee Member; Michael Schwalbe, Committee Member
The purpose of this research is to examine how dissatisfaction with skin color, as a component of perceived physical attractiveness, is associated with adolescent depression and self-esteem, controlling for skin color, beliefs toward skin color, gender, socioeconomic status, perceived discrimination, and peer and teacher stressors. Using a diverse sample of 388 middle-school students, I employ ordinary least squares regression to test hypotheses about the gender-specific and skin color specific effects of dissatisfaction with skin color on adolescent depression and self-esteem. The results show that dissatisfaction with skin color is positively related to depression and negatively related to self-esteem among adolescents. However, black or brown-skinned African American youth who are dissatisfied with their skin color experience higher levels of depression in comparison to white youth who are dissatisfied with their skin color. Implications of the findings are discussed.
An Extension of the Intergroup Contact Theory: The Effects of Black-White Contact and Interracial Friendships on Whites' Racial Attitudes
(2004-08-04) Macomber, Kristine Claire; Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Committee Member; Thomas J. Hoban, Committee Chair; Melvin Thomas, Committee Member
Using data from the 1998 General Social Survey, this thesis examines the effects of black-white contact and close interracial friendships on whites' attitudes towards blacks. Intergroup contact theory maintains that contact between people of different groups reduces prejudices and improves attitudes. The majority of previous contact studies have focused on casual black-white contact in neighborhoods and workplaces. Emerging in the current literature is a focus on more personal contact between blacks and whites, as in close friendships. I hypothesize that a positive relationship exists between whites' having a close black friend and their attitudes towards blacks. I also hypothesize a positive relationship between contact and attitudes. I use OLS regression models to test both hypotheses. The results of the analysis support the second hypothesis. The key finding is a statistically significant positive effect of neighborhood contact on whites' attitudes towards blacks. In support of intergroup contact theory, this significant finding suggests that a necessary condition for contact effects on attitudes is equal status between blacks and whites.
Get Away from the Altar: Attitudes Towards Same Sex and Multi Racial Relationships
(2004-09-27) Bloch, Katrina Rebecca; Melvin Thomas, Committee Member; Barbara Risman, Committee Chair; Don Tomaskovic-Devey, Committee Member
This paper explores the social processes that influence attitudes that legitimate the cultural discrimination toward same sex unions and multi racial marriage. Both types of relationships remain marginalized in today's society. Utilizing the 2000 and 2002 General Social Survey datasets, I assess if race, sex, religion and gender ideology affect attitudes toward same sex and multi racial couples in a similar manner. Parallel logistic regression models are run to explore the role of race, sex, religion and gender ideology in explaining attitudes towards both same sex marriage and multiracial marriage. The results suggest that the processes that influence white attitudes are similar for both types of relationships. However, the attitudes of the black sample are not so easily predicted. While the lack of statistical significance within the black population may partially be explained by a small sample size, the results do suggest that the processes leading to negative attitudes towards both types of relationships may be different for blacks and whites. Possible explanations are provided and suggestions for future research addressed.
Illuminating Individual-Level Sources of Crime for African Americans and Whites: An Examination of Four Theories
(2006-11-17) Latimore, Traronda; William R. Smith, Committee Member; Ronald Czaja, Committee Member; Charles R. Tittle, Committee Chair; Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Committee Member; Catherine Zimmer, Committee Member; Melvin Thomas, Committee Member
This research addresses two important theoretical questions in the sociological study of race and crime: (1) If racial differences exist between African Americans and Whites, can self-control, general strain, social bonding, and social learning theories account for the differences? (i.e., the "racial gap" issue) and (2) Are the processes specified by these theories the same for African Americans and Whites? (i.e., the "racial generality" issue). Using data from randomly selected African American and White adults who live in Wake County, North Carolina, several answers to these questions are suggested. Concerning the "racial gap" issue, this study finds no significant differences in offending between African Americans and Whites. Concerning the "racial generality" issue, the results offer considerable insight into the individual-level sources of crime for both groups. Collectively, the findings offer limited support for social bonding theory and mixed support for self-control, general strain, and social learning theories. The implications of these results, particularly as they pertain to criminological theory and social policy, are also discussed.
Institutional Racism: Is Law Used as a Tool to Perpetuate Racial Inequality?
(2008-07-21) Chambers, Cheryl; Richard Della Fave, Committee Chair; Martha Crowley, Committee Member; Gail O'Brien, Committee Member; Melvin Thomas, Committee Member
Law is a mechanism we use to instigate social change and bring about equality. It is also the tool that has been used to institutionalize, legitimize and perpetuate inequality. In the past beliefs of racial inferiority and savagery may have resulted in legislation designed to perpetuate a group's subordinate status. Laws and public policy are created within an historical and political context. Is there a connection between social climate and the advent of federal drug legislation? In this research, conflict and racial inequality perspectives are applied to the role of the economy and politics to foster understanding of opium laws in the late 1800's and early 1900's, the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, and the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 and the contexts from which they emerged. It is hypothesized that an historical analysis of the Congressional discussions surrounding these drug laws will illustrate that competition and threat, economic and/or political, were present prior to the enactment of the laws. Analyses indicate that while economic and to a limited extent political competition between Chinese immigrants and white Americans affected the passage of the opium laws, economic and political competition had little effect on the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act or the Anti-Drug Abuse Act. While vilification of and anti-minority sentiment during the opium legislation was clear and recognizable, it was almost non-existent during the marijuana legislation, and present in only nuances in the 1980's. Over time there was a shift from vilifying a minority group to vilifying the drugs. The study concludes that racism was embedded in three of the four opium laws but does not support it being embedded in the Marihuana Tax Act. While racism was embedded in the Anti-Drug Abuse Act it was more subtle than in the opium laws.
Prison, Race and Space: The Impact of Incarceration on Career Trajectories and Labor Market Outcomes
(2003-04-22) Johnson, Kecia Renee; Melvin Thomas, Committee Member; Rodney Engen, Committee Member; Patricia McCall, Committee Member; Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Committee Chair
There are a number of reasons to expect that incarceration will have long-term, negative consequences for economic/labor market success, and that the consequences may be especially acute for minority ex-offenders. This study replicates and extends Bruce Western's research on the impact of incarceration for wage mobility. I integrate Western's life course approach to examining the impact of incarceration with a discussion of stratification processes that produce inequality in employment and earnings outcomes. I hypothesize that incarceration results in career earnings penalties over and above those associated with foregone human capital accumulation. I suspect that incarceration contributes to a decline in earnings for minority ex-offenders. At the individual level, I replicate Western's research by estimating fixed-effects models to examine wages across the career trajectories of white, Latino and African American men from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth for 1979-1998. When estimating these models, I test whether human capital accumulation that occurs inside or outside the labor market mediates the incarceration-earnings relationship. Furthermore, I examine how local labor market characteristics influence ex-offender career trajectories. I propose that prison records, race/ethnicity and spatial characteristics such as, violent crime rates, unemployment rates, minority concentration, and residential segregation influence the job prospects of workers within metropolitan areas. At the spatial level, I estimate random effects models to examine how local labor market characteristics shape the earnings trajectories of white, Latino and African American male ex-offenders. The individual level results supported the hypotheses that incarceration has a negative effect on earnings and that ex-offenders have lower earnings trajectories than non-offenders. This study did not replicate Western's finding that the earnings penalty experienced by those who had been incarcerated varies by race/ethnicity. The spatial analysis results suggest that the prison effect on wages is not influenced by the spatial characteristics associated with the local labor market. However, the results indicate that the spatial characteristics of the labor market influence race/ethnicity wage disparities across the career. This study makes a contribution to the existing literature on the consequences of incarceration by linking attributes of ex-offenders, emergent career dynamics and local labor market prospects within a stratification framework.
Race, Class and Trust: Perceptions of the Police in North Carolina
(2006-07-26) Warren, Patricia Yvonne; Melvin Thomas, Committee Member; Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Committee Chair; William R. Smith, Committee Member; Matthew Zingraff, Committee Member
The purpose of this research is to re-examine factors that affect perceptions of the police. Previous research has consistently argued that African Americans are more likely to question police legitimacy (Reis 1971; Bayley & Mendelsohn 1969; Weitzer 1999; Weitzer & Tuch 2004; Sampson & Bartusch 1998). Much of this research has emphasized the importance of race, social class, and community context. However, there has been little effort in this research to situate these findings in a theoretical context. Therefore, this research used two theoretical frameworks — identity theory and cognitive bias theory - to explain the race gap in perceptions of the police. Two outcomes were estimated to assess the race gap in perceptions of the police behavior — perceptions of police treatment and perceptions of police fairness. The first set of models captured how racial and class identity impact perceptions of police treatment. In essence these models assessed what are the race and class differences in perceptions of disrespect by the police. They also examined the extent to which perceptions of disrespect are tied to identities or a more generic process. The next, set of models examined the importance of race and class identities and their impact on perceptions of police fairness. These models were estimated in order to assess what factors people use to make assessments about police fairness. African American citizens, respondents who have heard negative stories about police behavior, those who believe police engage in racial profiling and those respondents with more long-standing distrust of social institutions in society are less likely to trust the police and they are also more likely to perceive disrespect by the police. It is also the case that personally experiencing disrespect by the police, hearing negative stories about police behavior, belief in police profiling and distrust of the other governmental institutions explains a large portion of the race gap in perceptions of the police.