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Creating the Worst Block in the City: East 100th Street, 1900-1970
No full textThis dissertation, “Creating the Worst Block in the City: East 100th Street, 1900-1970,” is a study of the rise and collapse of a single block in New York City’s Spanish Harlem. The analysis of this one block in New York City functions as a window into a much larger narrative. A study of East 100th Street reveals the manifold intersections of race, class, political economy, governmental policy, social injustice, philanthropy, and media representations that dictate the course of 20th century urban American history. Substantial attention is paid to media depictions of people of color and the varied ways that this imagery promoted racist tropes and contributed to an emerging anti-urban sentiment, as well as to the political realignment that hampered efforts to aid those trapped in poverty. Tracing the history of the block reveals the evolution of a neighborhood which housed generations of striving immigrants, from the southern and eastern Europeans in the early twentieth century, to people of color who inherited the block after WWII. This study suggests that the seeds of post-war decline were sown early in the century, and that these diverse groups over time shared many experiences, a fact that seemed to have been ignored or forgotten by later generations. These constructed or flawed memories will be examined, as will the consequences.Additionally, this dissertation will fill an historiographical gap by establishing that East 100th Street deserves inclusion and equivalency in the ignominious canon of urban decline in New York City, alongside standard bearers such as the Five Points, Mulberry Bend, the Bowery, and Charlotte Street. While these prominent locations have been the focus of extensive study and debate over the last several decades, East 100th Street has been generally ignored. A dedicated study of East 100th Street not only fills a gap in the urban historiography, notably that of New York City, but it also offers vital insight into several of the most compelling contributory factors in the emergence of the nationwide post-WWII urban crisis
Rooted in Strength: Grounded in Research Communities and Building on Pedagogical Leadership
No full textThis article is a review of the book Rooted in Strength: Using Translanguaging to Grow Multilingual Readers and Writers by Cecilia Espinosa and Laura Ascenzi-Moreno
Trauma-Informed Teaching of Literature to Multilingual Learner Refugees: In Search for Balance between Cultural Responsiveness and Curriculum Sensitivity
No full textThe unprecedented refugee crisis since the onset of the pandemic changed the demographics of the student population and recontextualized culturally responsive literacy education. Many Multilingual Learner refugee students entering our classrooms bring with them experiences of mass exodus that have direct implications for teaching and learning. It is imperative to identify culturally responsive pedagogies that balance cultural representation with sensitivity toward multifaceted trauma endured by Multilingual Learner refugees. Using an ecological perspective as a theoretical framework, we examine tensions and critical considerations in choosing culturally responsive children’s and young adult literature as they apply to the context of three contemporary groups of Multilingual Learner refugees in American classrooms (i.e., unaccompanied minors crossing the U.S.-Mexican border, Afghan evacuees, and the Ukrainian refugees). The article calls for research in developing a critical and coherent understanding of trauma-informed, culturally responsive approaches in the selection and integration of refugee literature within classrooms and instruction. Pedagogical implications and considerations are discussed for all classrooms in building equity and access for Multilingual Learner refugees.
Shifting Power Dynamics in the Humanitarian Sector: The Realization of Localization and Decolonization by Humanitarian Professionals
No full textThis thesis investigates the relevance of non-Western epistmologies of wisdom in actualizing change in humanitarianism’s culture, approaches, and outcomes. Several authors, especially those from the Global South, point to the complicity of professional humanitarianism in the harmful reproduction of colonial and secular knowledge hierarchies. This thesis integrates their concerns with the insights of Buddhism and the cognitive philosophy of wisdom to construct a process tracing methodology called Self-Localization. Using this process, this thesis analyzes a case of South-South humanitarianism, Tzu Chi Phillippines’ response to the 2009 Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. Through that analysis, this thesis finds that an epistemology of internal cultivation was positively correlated with social approaches to humanitarianism and, in turn, some measures of self-localization. However, further research is required in order to discern whether or not subsequent moral hierarchies were harmful. In addition, this thesis recommends that humanitarian researchers and aid workers look to learn from teachers of wisdom, religious and spiritual actors, within their operational context
Social Determinants of Mental Health Diversion Success: The Influence of Social and Environmental Factors on Program Completion and Post-Program Recidivism
No full textPost-booking mental health jail diversion programs (such as mental health courts) were developed to address the economic, public health, and public safety burdens associated with the overrepresentation of people with mental illness (PMI) in the criminal legal system (Steadman et al., 1994). Despite widespread popularity of post-booking diversion programs, research is equivocal regarding their effectiveness as a means of reducing incarceration and rearrest rates for PMI (Lowder et al., 2018; Sirotich, 2009). A critical problem facing mental health diversion programs is the high rate at which participants drop out prematurely (Hiday et al., 2014; Ray, 2014), which is associated with increased rates of reoffending (Burns et al., 2013; Hiday et al., 2013). Prior diversion research has often focused on clinical or diagnostic factors that impact program retention and recidivism outcomes, and few have yielded consistent findings (Comartin et al., 2015; Seto et al., 2018; Verhaaf & Scott, 2015). Meanwhile, the role of broader social or environmental factors (e.g., housing instability, employment, financial resources) on diversion outcomes has rarely been examined, despite widespread knowledge that such factors are strongly linked to criminal and behavioral health outcomes outside of the diversion literature (Braveman & Gottlieb, 2014; Compton & Shim, 2015).Guided by the social determinants of health (SDOH) framework, the current study investigated the independent and cumulative effects of five social/environmental factors (education, employment, housing, neighborhood risk, financial problems) on program completion and post-discharge recidivism among mental health diversion participants. The study sample consisted of 446 individuals enrolled in post-booking mental health diversion programs in New York City. Of these participants, 181 were monitored for recidivism outcomes during the 6 months following program discharge. Broadly, SDOH factors measured at program intake were found to significantly predict program dropout, with several SDOH factors predicting program dropout even after accounting for demographic, clinical, and treatment variables. Though none of the included SDOH factors significantly predicted post-discharge recidivism, mediation analyses revealed significant indirect effects of SDOH factors on recidivism outcomes via intermediate effects on program completion status. Findings suggest that social and environmental factors have a significant influence on treatment and criminal legal outcomes among PMI in jail diversion programs. Ultimately, results indicate a need for greater attention to the social service needs of mental health diversion participants in order to improve the overall effectiveness of the mental health diversion model
Psychologists’ Perceptions of the Impact of the Collaborative/Therapeutic Assessment Model on Their Work
No full textPsychologist career satisfaction and burnout, particularly in those populations who do heavy assessment work, is largely understudied. Given mixed feelings throughout the field regarding assessment practices and gaps between supply of practitioners and increasing demand, it is important to understand how assessment practices can be improved for those who use them and undergo them. The collaborative/ therapeutic assessment model, developed by Finn and colleagues, challenges practitioners to frame assessment with a more empathetic and fair perspective that allows psychologists to share power with their clients. This qualitative study explored, with eight participants through semi structured interviews, the process of adopting the c/ta method into practice in hopes to understand whether the model provides benefits to assessors and clients alike. Five themes were drawn from the interviews using phenomenological methods and validity checks. The conclusions that the c/ta model can provide positive personal and professional benefits to assessors, increase equity and fairness of assessment, and subsequently, buffer against feelings of burnout or lack of job satisfaction were made. Study limitations and suggestions for further research were also discussed
“In Your Light, We See Light” Religious Education Through the Homily in the Coptic Orthodox Church
No full textThrough the practice of delivering the homily during the liturgical assembly in the Coptic Orthodox Church, the clergy have occupied a central role in presenting the Gospel and therefore in the religious education of catechumens and the baptized faithful. This dissertation seeks to answer the question: How can Coptic Orthodox clergy, particularly in the United States, informed by historical and modern approaches to catechesis and homiletics, offer homilies that provide evangelization, catechetical instruction, and adult faith formation through the liturgical season of the Great Fast? The study is divided into three focus areas: 1) the lectionary, 2) the homilist, and 3) the content of the homily. The final chapter is a recommendation for evangelization, catechesis, and adult faith formation through the homily. The answer to my question comes after a deep study of Scripture, of the writings of Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Cyril of Alexandria, Athanasius, John Chrysostom, Shenoute of Atripe, Rufus of Shotep, Constantine of Asyūṭ, Jirjis ibn al-‘Amid al-Makin, Habib Girgis, and of the religious educational writings of Anton Vrame, Harold Horell, Thomas Groome, Gabriel Moran and Maria Harris, among so many other scholars. With keen attention to the past, to the Gospel, to religious educational theory, to their own spiritual lives and to the listeners in their congregation, homilists can and should offer evangelization, catechesis, and adult faith formation in the homily to enlighten the hearts and minds of their listeners
Mirror Work: Impacting Culturally Responsive Practices Through Racial Literacy, Cultural Competence, and Professional Learning
No full textThe inconsistent roll-out of New York State’s Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education (CRSE) Framework left principals in a Bronx district with insufficient capacity to fully leverage the framework. Taking an Improvement Science approach, the aim of this mixed methods case study research was to deepen the racial literacy and cultural competence of principals in service of implementing shared and inclusive curricula aligned with the Framework. The study used three change ideas implemented in a single six-month Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle: 1) building healthy racial identities through conversations about race, 2) building cultural competence through culturally responsive lessons, and 3) implementing district professional learning on Culturally Responsive School Leadership (CRSL). The study addressed the lack of instrumentation to measure racial literacy and cultural competence by creating two innovative instruments, available for other scholars, using evidence-based frameworks in the research literature: the CRSE Self-Reflection Survey and the Cultural Competence and Racial Literacy Reflection Survey. The study found that a collectivist approach to building the racial literacy of school leaders increased principals’ critical self-awareness and fostered the use of common language to engage in difficult conversations about race. Designing opportunities for leaders to authentically connect to the community deepened their understanding of how school policies must serve as a catalyst to affirm the identities of students and their families. Using teams as a shared site of learning, providing opportunities to critically self-reflect, and providing job-embedded support empowered principals to immerse themselves in the vision of the Framework. The researcher advocates that equity is integral, not optional
Len
No full text“Len” was born in the Bronx to Hungarian immigrants who immigrated to the United States in their early twenties. Len’s mother was a housekeeper in Brooklyn until she married Len’s father, a factory worker. After marriage, Len’s mother became a homemaker, and both of Len’s parents moved to the Bronx. Len’s mother had aspirations for him to become a rabbi, and as a result, he attended yeshiva before electing to leave parochial school for high school. Len’s family lived within two blocks of the yeshiva for the first fourteen years of his life, and Len describes his childhood as insular and stifling, leading him to become a “rebel.”
Len began working at a young age in order to support himself. At around the age of fifteen, Len became a toy stuffer at a factory and traveled an hour and fifteen minutes each way before school in order to work. However, after Len’s father became ill, Len took up an office job which he began at 2:00 pm after school let out and worked until 8:00 pm, leaving him very little time for his studies. This continued through both high school and law school. Len describes his education as not being the best because he was spread too thin and had to rely on his photographic memory rather than being able to devote time to studying. In addition to his office job, Len worked summers at a hotel in the Catskills as a camp counselor.
Due to Len’s busy schedule, he describes himself as being poorly socialized. However, midway through college, he joined the YM-YWHA, allowing him to talk to more people his age and socialize. Len also joined a ski club through which Len met his wife, who was from Brooklyn. After getting married, Len and his wife moved to Queens, equidistant between Len’s parent’s home and his in-law’s home, but as the Bronx began changing, Len and his wife moved Len’s parents to the Pelham Parkway area where they lived until they passed.
Overall, Len describes his childhood as being unique because of the circumstances he was in. Going to parochial school had its merits and demerits for Len. However, Len believes that his early education gave him a foundation that allowed him to think philosophically despite the other constraints that made him feel stifled.
Keywords:
Yeshiva, DeWitt Clinton High School, City College Uptown, NYU Law School, Zionism, Communism, Socialism, St. Paul\u27s Place, Washington Avenue, Hunts Point, Pelham Parkway, Catskills, Great Depression, World War II, Korean Wa
Development and Validation of a Standardized Instrument to Assess Competency in Immigration Court
No full textIdentifying immigration court respondents with mental illness who are unable to meaningfully participate in their cases is key to preserve their procedural due process rights. Since the enactment of the Matter of M-A-M (2011) standard, immigration judges have increasingly relied on mental health professionals to assess immigrants’ competence to participate and represent themselves in immigration court proceedings. However, to date, there is no standard of practice or specialized assessment instrument to guide the evaluation of competency in immigration court. At present, evaluators are responsible for interpreting the legal standard and developing their evaluation procedures. This study examined the psychometric properties of an adaptation of the Fitness Interview Test-Revised (FIT-R; Roesch et al., 2006) for use in immigration court, the Fitness Interview Test-Immigration Court (FIT-IC), in a sample of 62 Spanish-speaking immigrants. Feedback from seven mental health experts was also obtained to assess the content validity of the FIT-IC. It was hypothesized that the FIT-IC would display good content validity, interrater reliability, and internal consistency. It was also hypothesized that performance on the FIT-IC would be associated with acculturation, symptoms of mental illness (i.e., psychotic, depressive, and posttraumatic symptoms), and intellectual functioning. The study findings showed that the FIT-IC had strong content validity, with mental health experts considering that all FIT-IC items addressed relevant psycholegal abilities for establishing a respondent’s competence. The FIT-IC items and sections also demonstrated moderate to excellent interrater reliability. However, the FIT-IC sections failed to display good internal consistency. Regarding the correlates of performance on the FIT-IC, acculturation to U.S. culture was significantly associated with more factual understanding of immigration court proceedings (Section I), but only after removing questions about understanding the concept of competency from Item 2. Performance on the FIT-IC was not significantly associated with intellectual functioning, psychotic, or depressive symptoms. Contrary to expectations, there was a significant correlation between PTSD symptoms and more understanding of legal rights and possible consequences of the proceedings (Section II). Although more research is needed with a larger sample of immigrants with severe mental illness, the FIT-IC holds promise as a new competency assessment instrument for immigration court