To encourage innovation and scholarship, the institute has established a Social Justice Fellowship Program that, through grants, funds faculty and student activities that advance social justice work, from humanistic inquiry to action research.
Previous grants have supported proposals that focus on issues that are both local and global. From youth development to elderly care; from political systems to individual recovery efforts, these projects have represented the same diversity as their recipients. The Social Justice Institute is proud to announce the current fellows:
Continuing Graduate Student Fellows 2023-2024
Biculturalism as Buffer: The Association between Bilingualism, Emotion Regulation, and Internalizing Symptomology in Latinx Youth
Elisa Borrero, PhD Candidate in Clinical Psychology
The proposed research study aims to elucidate the relationship between bilingualism, emotion regulation, and internalizing symptoms in
Latinx youth, clarify specific directions for future longitudinal research, and provide and disseminate culturally-mindful, practical recommendations for mental health providers and Latinx families alike. Latinx families and community organizations will be offered resources that promote cultural pride in the prevention and/or treatment of internalizing problems. Clinicians will be offered didactic materials that support culturally mindful assessment/treatment of and rapport with Latinx teen patients. We expect that Latinx bilingual youth with higher bilingual proficiency in English and Spanish will demonstrate more robust, flexible emotion regulation strategies and, in turn, report less internalizing symptoms. It is further hypothesized that Latinx youth with more bilingually proficient parents will exhibit more emotion regulation strategies and, in turn, report less internalizing symptoms.
Striving for reintegration: A study examining the experiences of incarcerated mothers
Amber Byrd Ndukwe, PhD Candidate in Sociology
This study will focus on Black incarcerated single mothers ages eighteen and up as they reenter society. Given that African Americans are disproportionately incarcerated in America, it will focus primarily on incarcerated mothers who are Black because they are likely to be represented in this population. There are approximately 2.5 million women and girls released from prison and jails each year. The study will study aspects of reentry, specifically how they repair, forge and build familial relationships, and how they deal with issues like housing and childcare. Furthermore, it will examine frequency of contact, familial networks, support networks, and custody or legality issues. The study will be a qualitative study that entails interviews both before and after they are released. This research is significant because the majority of incarcerated women are mothers, thus their experiences should be represented. More than 60% of women in state prisons, and nearly 80% of those in jail, have minor children. Unlike fathers who are incarcerated, most incarcerated mothers are single mothers, solely responsible for their young children. This research is unique in that it focuses exclusively on the experiences of incarcerated women and the intersection of motherhood and reentry. The research will add to the discussion of the carceral system in America and the public discussions of prison abolition and prison reform efforts.
New Graduate Student Fellows 2024-2025
Examining Risk and Protective Factors that Influence the Relation between Intimate Partner Violence and Housing Instability
Ashley S. Withrow, PhD Candidate at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences
Survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) face an increased risk of housing instability, which can lead to detrimental health consequences. There is a notable lack of literature focused on risk and protective factors which influence the relation between physical, sexual, and emotional intimate partner violence and indicators of housing instability. This mixed-methods dissertation will address the gap by examining how gender, race, age, and other social determinants of health contribute to housing risk for survivors of IPV. Furthermore, due to the profound gap in housing services in the United States, informal support systems are essential to the safety and wellbeing of IPV survivors, yet limited research has explored this area. The qualitative component of this study will blend a phenomenological design with novel application of eco-mapping to explore the experiences of intimate partner violence survivors who rely on family, friends, religious organizations, or other social networks, to achieve housing stability. Implications derived from the proposed studies will be communicated to practitioners in the field in hopes of advancing the equitable distribution of resources and development of interventions focused on the protective nature of social relationships.
Enduring the System: Black Mothers’ Intergenerational Experiences with Child Welfare
Chelsea Flannigan, PhD Candidate in Social Welfare
The proposed qualitative research study will examine intergenerational cycles of involvement with the child welfare system (CWS). Research suggests over 40% of mothers with open child welfare cases have their own history of CWS involvement as children. Complicating this statistic is the growing awareness of how the CWS disproportionately surveilles and polices families of color. Despite this evidence and the known correlations between parental and childhood involvement in the CWS, this population remains understudied in the literature. Using a transformative interpretive framework guided by abolition praxis and Black feminism, this phenomenological study will explore the experiences of Black mothers intergenerationally involved in the CWS through in-depth interviewing and photovoice methodologies. By amplifying the voices of those who have endured lifelong involvement with the CWS, this study seeks to develop a deep understanding of this phenomenon and challenge dominant narratives by identifying systemic factors that facilitate intergenerational involvement.
Understanding Disasters Through an Organizational Lens; A Preliminary Study of Disaster Response
Eleanor Gillerlane Hinkes, PhD Candidate, Medical Anthropology
This pilot study will examine the concepts of vulnerability, resilience, and health in the context of disaster response organizations and communities affected by disasters. Through qualitative interviews with organization workers and community members, this research aims to better understand; 1) how attitudes surrounding disaster response and perceptions of health, wellness, vulnerability, and resilience differ between organizations responding to disasters and communities experiencing disasters, 2) how social, political, and economic structures, with a specific focus on organizational and bureaucratic practices, impact the vulnerability, resilience, and wellbeing of communities, 3) what potential pathways can be identified for organizational and community practices to effectively engage and address gaps in disaster response. This study seeks to contribute to the understanding of how disasters and disaster organizations impact the health and wellbeing of communities, and highlight avenues to be further investigated in future research, including how organizations can utilize community-based approaches to inform disaster response policies and practices.
Faculty Grants 2024-2025
Culture Change for Climate Change: Community Attitudes and Perceptions of Climate Change
, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
In collaboration with , , and Ina Martin
Georgetown Professor of Philosophy, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò contends that climate change will “turn existing forms of injustice into overdrive at every scale of human life”. We aim to promote social justice through this project by working with our neighboring communities, to expedite the development of climate-positive solutions that achieve environmental justice goals. As the first step to collaboration with the community, we orchestrated a focus group study that investigates the attitudes and perceptions of climate change among residents of the predominantly Black communities adjacent to the university, as well as across a range of university stakeholders, including students, faculty, staff, and senior level administrators. This study investigates knowledge and perceptions of climate change and strategies to improve the quality of life for their communities and themselves. The goal of this research is to generate actionable insight to guide community partnerships. Through the generous support of the Social Justice Institute we will finalize our data analysis and report our results in a community event to be held Sat. Oct. 12th at the East Cleveland Public Library during Climate Action Month.
Young Adults' Perceptions of Hemp and Hemp-Derived Cannabinoids: How Blurred Lines Impact Equity in Public Health
, Adjunct Instructor, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, School of Medicine
In collaboration with
The emergence of novel hemp-derived psychoactive cannabis products (e.g., Delta-8, THC-A, THC-P) within the tobacco retail setting represents a growing public health concern. While Ohio legalized cannabis for adult use in 2023, these products notably do not fit within the purview of regulatory oversight because they derive from hemp plants containing less than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis, and are synthesized through a chemical process. Currently, there is no regulatory oversight of production or marketing nor are there any minimum age purchasing requirements for these products at the federal level or in the state of Ohio. Furthermore, for those populations who carry the inequitable burden of tobacco-related health outcomes resulting largely from decades of racially targeted tobacco marketing, the broad availability and marketing of these products may represent a significant parallel. This research seeks to conduct formative research on perceptions of these products among young adults who identify as Black or African American and Hispanic or Latinx in the Greater Cleveland area and Ohio. The primary hypotheses examined through this study include 1) young adults may not be able to distinguish these products from newly legalized cannabis, 2) young adults may perceive these products as appealing and accessible alternatives to those cannabis products available in cannabis dispensaries, 3) young adults may believe these products carry less risk compared to tobacco products, and 4) the same multi-level forms of racism that drive co-use of tobacco and cannabis products will be observed with respect to these products. Findings will be used to inform broader policy or health communication as well as provide the foundation for future research.