Race And Ethnicity (race + and_ethnicity)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Medical Sciences


Selected Abstracts


"Short Fried-Rice-Eating Chinese MCs" and "Good-Hair-Havin Uncle Tom Niggas": Performing Race and Ethnicity in Freestyle Rap Battles

JOURNAL OF LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 1 2010
H. Samy Alim
This article shows how emcees create local meanings of race and ethnicity in freestyle rap battles. We demonstrate how performers attach new social meanings to race and ethnicity in verbal duels, even as they also reproduce normative meanings around gender and sexuality. Further, we suggest that the construction of local, alternative meanings around race and ethnicity might actually help support dominant racial hierarchies by relegating "blackness" suitable for only a limited set of domains. Despite the enduring nature of these broader racial hierarchies, we conclude that performances are activities in which individuals contest and negotiate the social meanings of identities.,[performance, style, race/ethnicity, verbal duels, freestyle rap] [source]


The Couple That Prays Together: Race and Ethnicity, Religion, and Relationship Quality Among Working-Age Adults

JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 4 2010
Christopher G. Ellison
A substantial body of research has shown that relationship quality tends to be (a) lower among racial and ethnic minorities and (b) higher among more religious persons and among couples in which partners share common religious affiliations, practices, and beliefs. However, few studies have examined the interplay of race or ethnicity and religion in shaping relationship quality. Our study addresses this gap in the literature using data from the National Survey of Religion and Family Life (NSRFL), a 2006 telephone survey of 2,400 working-age adults (ages 18,59), which contains oversamples of African Americans and Latinos. Results underscore the complex nature of the effects of race and ethnicity, as well as religious variables. In particular, we found that couples' in-home family devotional activities and shared religious beliefs are positively linked with reports of relationship quality. [source]


Health Disparities Related to Race and Ethnicity

JOURNAL OF NURSING SCHOLARSHIP, Issue 3 2006
Sue Thomas Hegyvary Editor
[source]


Water Consumption and Nursing Characteristics of Infants by Race and Ethnicity

JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH DENTISTRY, Issue 3 2000
Keith E. Heller DDS
Abstract Objective: The purpose of this project was to determine racial/ethnic differences in water consumption levels and nursing habits of children younger than 2 years old. Methods: Data from the 1994,96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII) were used for these analyses. Water consumption and breast-feeding data on 946 children younger than 2 years old were used. Results: For black non-Hispanic children younger than 2 years old (n=121), 5.3 percent of the children were currently being breast fed. This percentage was less than that seen in other racial/ethnic groups. For white non-Hispanic children (n=620), this percentage was 10.8 percent; for Hispanic children (n=146), 12.2 percent; for "other" children, 18.5 percent (n=59). Black non-Hispanic children had the highest total water consumption (128.6 ml/kg/day) among all groups, white non-Hispanic had the lowest (113.2 ml/kg/day). These differences were not statistically significant in multivariate regression modeling. Black non-Hispanic children also drank moretap water (21.3 ml/kg/day) than white non-Hispanic children (12.7 ml/kg/day) and Hispanic children (14.9 ml/kg/day). The difference was statistically significant in multivariate regression modeling. Conclusions: The differences in breast feeding and water consumption observed among black children younger than 2 years of age could be a factor in the observed higher levels of fluorosis in black children compared to other children. [source]


Guidelines for Collecting and Recording the Race and Ethnicity of Juveniles in Conjunction with Juvenile Delinquency Disposition Reporting to the Juvenile Court Judges' Commission

JUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JOURNAL, Issue 2 2007
PATRICIA TORBET
ABSTRACT One of the most compelling reasons for accurate racial coding of juveniles involved in the juvenile justice system is to ensure that all youth are treated fairly, regardless of race or ethnicity. Pennsylvania juvenile courts and probation departments now have instructions and guidelines for collecting and recording race and ethnicity in compliance with Federal standards. These guidelines can be easily adopted by other states and jurisdictions. [source]


Race and Ethnicity in East Africa

AMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Issue 2 2001
J. Abbink
Race and Ethnicity in East Africa. Peter G. Forster. Michael Hitchcock, and Francis Lyimo. New York: St. Martin's Press, Inc., 2000. vi. 181 pp., notes, references, glossary, index. [source]


Lessons from History: Why Race and Ethnicity Have Played a Major Role in Biomedical Research

THE JOURNAL OF LAW, MEDICINE & ETHICS, Issue 3 2006
Troy Duster Ph.D.
Before any citizen enters the role of scientist, medical practitioner, lawyer, epidemiologist, and so on, each and all grow up in a society in which the categories of human differentiation are folk categories that organize perceptions, relations, and behavior. That was true during slavery, during Reconstruction, the eugenics period, the two World Wars, and is no less true today. While every period understandably claims to transcend those categories, medicine, law, and science are profoundly and demonstrably influenced by the embedded folk notions of race and ethnicity. [source]


Race and Ethnicity in Access to and Outcomes of Liver Transplantation: A Critical Literature Review

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 12 2009
A. K. Mathur
Racial/ethnic disparities in access to and outcomes of liver transplantation are an important topic given the increasing diversity in the United States. Most reports on this topic predate the advent of allocation based on the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD). For many patients with a variety of lethal conditions, liver transplantation is the only effective therapy, signifying the importance of equitable access to care. Racial/ethnic disparities have been described at various steps of the liver transplant process, including liver disease prevalence and treatment, access to a transplant center and its waitlist, receipt of a liver transplant and posttransplant outcomes. The purpose of this minireview is to critically evaluate the published literature on racial/ethnicity-based disparities in liver disease prevalence and treatment, transplant center referral, transplant rates and posttransplant outcomes. We identify the shortcomings of previous reports and detail the barriers to completing properly constructed analyses, particularly emphasizing deficits in requisite data and the need for improved study design. Understanding the nature of race/ethnicity-based disparities in liver transplantation is necessary to improve research initiatives, policy design and serves the broader responsibility of providing the highest quality care to all patients with liver disease. [source]


The conceptualization and operationalization of race and ethnicity by health services researchers

NURSING INQUIRY, Issue 2 2008
Susan Moscou
Racial and ethnic variables are routinely used in health services research. However, there is a growing debate within nursing and other disciplines about the usefulness of these variables in research. A qualitative study was undertaken (July 2004 , November 2004) to ascertain how researchers conceptualize and operationalize racial and ethnic data. Data were derived from interviews with 33 participants in academic health centers in differing geographic regions. Content analyses extracted manifest and latent meanings to construct categories depicting respondents' understandings of race and ethnicity in research. Race and ethnicity held several meanings but the subtext was often not clear because these terms were not operationalized. Measuring race and ethnicity quantitatively necessitated uniform classifications thus it was often necessary to impose a single racialized identity. Respondents recognized the problems with racial and ethnic variables but the majority still believed these variables were necessary and useful. Several researchers understood that racial and ethnic variables were used in ways that may stigmatize the populations studied. These respondents collected data on variables other than race and ethnicity to ascertain the causes of health differentials. The policy recommendation calls for a shift in thinking about how to use racial and ethnic variables in research. [source]


Higher fasting insulin but lower fasting C-peptide levels in African Americans in the US population,

DIABETES/METABOLISM: RESEARCH AND REVIEWS, Issue 2 2002
Maureen I. Harris
Abstract Background Fasting serum insulin and fasting serum C-peptide are risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes. Because of the higher incidence of type 2 diabetes in African Americans and Hispanic Americans, it is likely that these groups may differ from non-Hispanic whites in their levels of insulin and C-peptide. Methods We analyzed data from a nationally representative sample of adults in the US population for whom sociodemographic, clinical, and laboratory information were obtained. The data were used to describe distributions of fasting insulin and fasting C-peptide in non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Mexican American men and women aged ,20 years without a medical history of diabetes. Results Among men, Mexican Americans had higher insulin values than non-Hispanic whites and blacks. Among women, both Mexican Americans and blacks had higher insulin values than whites. For C-peptide, differences by sex and race-ethnicity paralleled those seen for fasting insulin with the exception that black men had significantly lower C-peptide values than whites and Mexican Americans. After adjustment for age, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), the higher levels for insulin in blacks and Mexican Americans remained; both black men and women had significantly lower C-peptide values than whites and Mexican Americans. The molar ratio of fasting C-peptide to fasting insulin was similar for men and women in each race-ethnic group. However, blacks had substantially lower ratios than whites and Mexican Americans. Conclusions We found wide variations in fasting insulin and fasting C-peptide levels by race and ethnicity in US adults that were not explained by confounding factors, primarily measures of obesity. Most notably, the higher fasting insulin and lower fasting C-peptide levels in blacks implies that there is a derangement in insulin clearance and an impairment in beta-cell function in blacks compared with whites and Mexican Americans. Published in 2002 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Addressing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care: Using Federal Data to Support Local Programs to Eliminate Disparities

HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, Issue 4p1 2006
Thomas D. Sequist
To reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care, managers, policy makers, and researchers need valid and reliable data on the race and ethnicity of individuals and populations. The federal government is one of the most important sources of such data. In this paper we review the strengths and weaknesses of federal data that pertain to racial and ethnic disparities in health care. We describe recent developments that are likely to influence how these data can be used in the future and discuss how local programs could make use of these data. [source]


Race and ethnicity impact on the maximum proliferative response in peripheral blood lymphocytes from HIV-seropositive individuals

HIV MEDICINE, Issue 6 2007
MA Kolber
Summary The effects of race and ethnicity on immunological function have not been fully studied in patients infected with HIV-1. To study such differences, 54 patients on virally suppressive highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) with CD4 counts >200 cells/,L had their peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) evaluated for response to recall antigen. Significant differences were found in the maximum responses for PBL from black individuals compared with those from white individuals, and the differences were highly significant when responses for African-Americans were compared with those for white-Hispanics. These findings support work delineating ethnicity and race as significant variables to be taken into account when looking at vaccination strategies and responsiveness to therapeutic pharmacological interventions. [source]


Effect of race and ethnicity on perceptions of inflammatory bowel disease

INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASES, Issue 6 2006
Darrell G. Finlay MD
Abstract Background and Aims: Historically, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) was thought to predominantly affect whites. However, IBD is now increasingly recognized in diverse ethnic populations. There is a paucity of studies of IBD in nonwhite populations, especially in Mexican Americans. The aims of this study were to compare the impact of IBD on the quality of life of whites, African Americans, and Mexican Americans and to evaluate differing patient understanding and beliefs regarding IBD. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire was administered to 148 patients between June 1999 and November 2003 at a university gastroenterology practice in Houston, Tex. Results: Caucasians (W) comprised 40%, African Americans (AA) 37%, and Mexican Americans (MA) 20% of the respondents. AA and W had predominantly Crohn's disease (CD), whereas MA had predominantly ulcerative colitis (UC; P < 0.05). We therefore compared W and AA with CD and W and MA with UC. W were more likely to tell their employers (57% vs 27.5%, P = 0.02), fellow employees (68% vs 43.8%, P = 0.02) and friends (100% vs 79%, P = 0.034) that they had CD. W and AA were equally as likely to have regular checkups by a physician, and there was no difference in the access to gastroenterologists or surveillance colonoscopy. There were fewer differences between MA and W with UC. MA were more likely to believe that UC was caused by stress (70% vs 37%, p = 0.044) and cigarette smoking. Conclusions: Significant differences appear among racial and ethnic groups with IBD regarding attitudes toward disease and impact on daily life. Appreciation of varying ethnic and racial perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs among patients with IBD may be critical to more effective management. [source]


Are men shortchanged on health?

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PRACTICE, Issue 4 2010
Perspective on life expectancy, morbidity, mortality in men, women in the United States
Summary Background:, Significant gender disparities exist in life expectancy and major disease morbidity. There is an urgent need to understand the major issues related to men's health that contributes to these significant disparities. It is hypothesized that men have higher and earlier morbidities, in addition to behavioral factors that contribute to their lower life expectancy. Methods:, Data was collected from CDC: Health United States, 2007; American Heart Association, American Obesity Association, and American Cancer Society. Results:, Men have lower life expectancy than women in most countries around the world including United States. This gender disparity is consistent regardless of geography, race and ethnicity. More men die of 12 out of the 15 leading causes of death than women. In addition, men have higher morbidity and mortality in coronary heart disease (CHD), hypertension, diabetes, and cancer. Conclusions:, Men's lower life expectancy may be explained by biological and clinical factors such as the higher incidence of cardiovascular metabolic disease and cancer. In the context of public health, raising awareness of cardiovascular and metabolic health is needed to reduce the gender disparity. In addition, consideration of preventive and early detection/intervention programs may improve men's health. [source]


The National Survey of American Life: a study of racial, ethnic and cultural influences on mental disorders and mental health

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF METHODS IN PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH, Issue 4 2004
James S. Jackson
Abstract The objectives of the National Survey of American Life (NSAL) are to investigate the nature, severity, and impairment of mental disorders among national samples of the black and non-Hispanic white (n = 1,006) populations in the US. Special emphasis in the study is given to the nature of race and ethnicity within the black population by selecting and interviewing national samples of African-American (N = 3,570), and Afro-Caribbean (N = 1,623) immigrant and second and older generation populations. National multi-stage probability methods were used in generating the samples and race/ethnic matching of interviewers and respondents were used in the largely face-to-face interview, which lasted on average 2 hours and 20 minutes. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) IV World Mental Health Composite Interview (WHO-CIDI) was used to assess a wide range of serious mental disorders, potential risk and resilience factors, and help seeking and service use patterns. This paper provides an overview of the design of the NSAL, sample selection procedures, recruitment and training of the national interviewing team, and some of the special problems faced in interviewing ethnically and racially diverse national samples. Unique features of sample design, including special screening and listing procedures, interviewer training and supervision, and response rate outcomes are described. Copyright © 2004 Whurr Publishers Ltd. [source]


Parental Influences on the Educational Outcomes of Immigrant Youth,

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION REVIEW, Issue 2 2004
Grace Kao
Recent research suggests that children with immigrant parents tend to outperform their counterparts with native-born parents. This article examines whether the relative advantage of children of immigrants can be traced to differences in the character of parent-child relationships. Using the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS), I examine whether parent-child interaction varies among racial and generational groups. Descriptive tabulations suggest that immigrant parents are less likely to share decisionmaking power and to talk about school in general than are native-born parents. However, immigrant parents are more likely to talk about college, and their children report that they are closer to their parents than youth of native-born parents. While differences in parent-child interaction account for some of the differences in educational achievement between racial and generational groups, significant variation by race and generational status remains. Finally, I found significant variation between parenting behavior and its impact on GPA by race and ethnicity. [source]


Functional Limitations, Socioeconomic Status, and All-Cause Mortality in Moderate Alcohol Drinkers

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 6 2009
Sei J. Lee MD
OBJECTIVES: To determine whether the survival benefit associated with moderate alcohol use remains after accounting for nontraditional risk factors such as socioeconomic status (SES) and functional limitations. DESIGN: Prospective cohort. SETTING: The Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative study of U.S. adults aged 55 and older. PARTICIPANTS: Twelve thousand five hundred nineteen participants were enrolled in the 2002 wave of the HRS. MEASUREMENTS: Participants were asked about their alcohol use, functional limitations (activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, and mobility), SES (education, income, and wealth), psychosocial factors (depressive symptoms, social support, and the importance of religion), age, sex, race and ethnicity, smoking, obesity, and comorbidities. Death by December 31, 2006, was the outcome measure. RESULTS: Moderate drinkers (1 drink/d) had a markedly more-favorable risk factor profile, with higher SES and fewer functional limitations. After adjusting for demographic factors, moderate drinking (vs no drinking) was strongly associated with less mortality (odds ratio (OR)=0.50, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.40,0.62). When traditional risk factors (smoking, obesity, and comorbidities) were also adjusted for, the protective effect was slightly attenuated (OR=0.57, 95% CI=0.46,0.72). When all risk factors including functional status and SES were adjusted for, the protective effect was markedly attenuated but still statistically significant (OR=0.72, 95% CI=0.57,0.91). CONCLUSION: Moderate drinkers have better risk factor profiles than nondrinkers, including higher SES and fewer functional limitations. Although these factors explain much of the survival advantage associated with moderate alcohol use, moderate drinkers maintain their survival advantage even after adjustment for these factors. [source]


Using the Survey of Consumer Finances: Some Methodological Considerations and Issues

JOURNAL OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, Issue 2 2007
SUZANNE LINDAMOOD
We identify and present original analyses of four methodological issues related to using Survey of Consumer Finances data sets and illustrate these issues with recent articles published in this journal. The issues are recognizing that the respondent is not necessarily the household head, reporting race and ethnicity in conformity with Survey of Consumer Finances and federal standards, using the repeated-imputation inference method to combine the five implicates in each survey year's data set, and discussing the use of weighted or unweighted data in multivariate analysis. We found a considerable variation in how authors dealt with these issues, which could hinder replication or comparison of research results. Authors and reviewers should consider methodological issues related to the Survey of Consumer Finances more carefully. [source]


"Short Fried-Rice-Eating Chinese MCs" and "Good-Hair-Havin Uncle Tom Niggas": Performing Race and Ethnicity in Freestyle Rap Battles

JOURNAL OF LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 1 2010
H. Samy Alim
This article shows how emcees create local meanings of race and ethnicity in freestyle rap battles. We demonstrate how performers attach new social meanings to race and ethnicity in verbal duels, even as they also reproduce normative meanings around gender and sexuality. Further, we suggest that the construction of local, alternative meanings around race and ethnicity might actually help support dominant racial hierarchies by relegating "blackness" suitable for only a limited set of domains. Despite the enduring nature of these broader racial hierarchies, we conclude that performances are activities in which individuals contest and negotiate the social meanings of identities.,[performance, style, race/ethnicity, verbal duels, freestyle rap] [source]


The Couple That Prays Together: Race and Ethnicity, Religion, and Relationship Quality Among Working-Age Adults

JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 4 2010
Christopher G. Ellison
A substantial body of research has shown that relationship quality tends to be (a) lower among racial and ethnic minorities and (b) higher among more religious persons and among couples in which partners share common religious affiliations, practices, and beliefs. However, few studies have examined the interplay of race or ethnicity and religion in shaping relationship quality. Our study addresses this gap in the literature using data from the National Survey of Religion and Family Life (NSRFL), a 2006 telephone survey of 2,400 working-age adults (ages 18,59), which contains oversamples of African Americans and Latinos. Results underscore the complex nature of the effects of race and ethnicity, as well as religious variables. In particular, we found that couples' in-home family devotional activities and shared religious beliefs are positively linked with reports of relationship quality. [source]


The Association of Couples' Relationship Status and Quality With Breastfeeding Initiation

JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 5 2007
Christina M. Gibson-Davis
Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Survey (N= 3,567), we examine the links between relationship status, relationship quality, and race and ethnicity in breastfeeding initiation. We consider four relationship types: married, cohabiting, romantically involved but not cohabiting (termed visiting), and nonromantically involved mothers. We find that even after adjusting for a wide range of sociodemographic factors, married mothers were more likely to breastfeed than unmarried mothers and that racial and ethnic differences in breastfeeding do not result from differences in marriage rates. Among unwed mothers, paternal provision of money or other assistance during pregnancy decreases the likelihood of breastfeeding. We conclude that relationship status, above and beyond demographic characteristics, is an important correlate of breastfeeding. [source]


Marital Processes and Parental Socialization in Families of Color: A Decade Review of Research

JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 4 2000
Vonnie C. McLoyd
Research published during the past decade on African American, Latino, and Asian American families is reviewed. Emphasis is given to selected issues within the broad domains of marriage and parenting. The first section highlights demographic trends in family formation and family structure and factors that contributed to secular changes in family structure among African Americans. In the second section, new conceptualizations of marital relations within Latino families are discussed, along with research documenting the complexities in African American men's conceptions of manhood. Studies examining within-group variation in marital conflict and racial and ethnic differences in division of household labor, marital relations, and children's adjustment to marital and family conflict also are reviewed. The third section gives attention to research on (a) paternal involvement among fathers of color; (b) the relation of parenting behavior to race and ethnicity, grandmother involvement, neighborhood and peer characteristics, and immigration; and (c) racial and ethnic socialization. The article concludes with an overview of recent advances in the study of families of color and important challenges and issues that represent research opportunities for the new decade. [source]


Does choice lead to racially distinctive schools?

JOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2002
Charter schools, household preferences
A persistent fear regarding school choice is that it will lead to more racially distinctive schools. A growing number of studies compares choosing households to non-choosing households, but few have examined the possibility that choosers sort themselves out based upon school preferences that are correlated with race and ethnicity. This report addresses this issue by analyzing the responses of 1,006 charter school households in Texas. It first examines the expressed preferences of choosing households, then compares expressed preferences with behavior. A comparison of the characteristics of the traditional public schools that choosers leave with the characteristics of the charter schools they choose indicates that race is a good predictor of the choices that choosing households make. Whites, African Americans, and Latinos transfer into charter schools where their groups comprise between 11 and 14 percentage points more of the student body than the traditional public schools they are leaving. © 2002 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. [source]


The Sexual Debut of Girls in Early Adolescence: The Intersection of Race, Pubertal Timing, and Friendship Group Characteristics

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 3 2004
Shannon E. Cavanagh
Scholars who have studied the effects of early pubertal timing on girls' sexual debut contend that this association may result from the company they keep. Although this basic biosocial model of adolescent behavior has been applied to various outcomes with diverse samples of adolescent girls, less work has contextualized this microlevel developmental phenomenon within the larger macrolevel structures of race and ethnicity. Using a sample of White, African American, and Latina girls (N=1,299) drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study conducted within-group multivariate analyses and found important differences in the linkages that make up this biosocial model by race and ethnicity, with the linkages strongest for Whites, followed by Latina, and African American girls. These differences in association may reflect differences in the social construction of girlhood across race and ethnicity. [source]


Educational Policy, Politics, and Mixed Heritage Students in the United States

JOURNAL OF SOCIAL ISSUES, Issue 1 2009
Kristen A. Renn
This article describes local, state, and federal policies related to collecting, aggregating, and reporting data on student race and ethnicity in U.S. K-12 and postsecondary education. It traces data policy from the 1997 decision by the Office of Management and Budget to change from single-race reporting to a format that permits respondents to choose more than one race, to the October 2007 issuance of final guidance from the Department of Education. Taking a K-20 perspective, I consider how policies for data collection and reporting may affect educational and developmental outcomes for students, as well as local, state, and national education policy environments. [source]


Guidelines for Collecting and Recording the Race and Ethnicity of Juveniles in Conjunction with Juvenile Delinquency Disposition Reporting to the Juvenile Court Judges' Commission

JUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JOURNAL, Issue 2 2007
PATRICIA TORBET
ABSTRACT One of the most compelling reasons for accurate racial coding of juveniles involved in the juvenile justice system is to ensure that all youth are treated fairly, regardless of race or ethnicity. Pennsylvania juvenile courts and probation departments now have instructions and guidelines for collecting and recording race and ethnicity in compliance with Federal standards. These guidelines can be easily adopted by other states and jurisdictions. [source]


Mestizaje and Law Making in Indigenous Identity Formation in Northeastern Brazil: "After the Conflict Came the History"

AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 4 2004
JAN HOFFMAN FRENCH
In this article, I explore issues of authenticity, legal discourse, and local requirements of belonging by considering the recent surge of indigenous recognitions in northeastern Brazil. I investigate how race and ethnicity are implicated in the recognition process in Brazil on the basis of an analysis of a successful struggle for indigenous identity and access to land by a group of mixed-race, visibly, African-descended rural workers. I propose that the debate over mestizaje (ethnoracial and cultural mixing) in the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America can be reconfigured and clarified by broadening it to include such Brazilian experiences. I argue that the interaction between two processes,law making and indigenous identity formation,is crucial to understanding how the notion of "mixed heritage" is both reinforced and disentangled. As such, this article is an illustration of the role of legal discourse in the constitution of indigenous identities and it introduces northeastern Brazil into the global discussion of law, indigenous rights, and claims to citizenship. [source]


The conceptualization and operationalization of race and ethnicity by health services researchers

NURSING INQUIRY, Issue 2 2008
Susan Moscou
Racial and ethnic variables are routinely used in health services research. However, there is a growing debate within nursing and other disciplines about the usefulness of these variables in research. A qualitative study was undertaken (July 2004 , November 2004) to ascertain how researchers conceptualize and operationalize racial and ethnic data. Data were derived from interviews with 33 participants in academic health centers in differing geographic regions. Content analyses extracted manifest and latent meanings to construct categories depicting respondents' understandings of race and ethnicity in research. Race and ethnicity held several meanings but the subtext was often not clear because these terms were not operationalized. Measuring race and ethnicity quantitatively necessitated uniform classifications thus it was often necessary to impose a single racialized identity. Respondents recognized the problems with racial and ethnic variables but the majority still believed these variables were necessary and useful. Several researchers understood that racial and ethnic variables were used in ways that may stigmatize the populations studied. These respondents collected data on variables other than race and ethnicity to ascertain the causes of health differentials. The policy recommendation calls for a shift in thinking about how to use racial and ethnic variables in research. [source]


Racial and ethnic disparities in work-related injuries and socio-economic resources among nursing assistants employed in US nursing homes,

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 10 2010
SangWoo Tak ScD
Abstract Background We aimed to estimate the proportion of nursing assistants (NAs) in the US with work-related injuries and insufficient socio-economic resources by race/ethnicity. Methods Data from the 2004 National Nursing Assistant Survey (NNAS), a nationally representative sample survey of NAs employed in United States nursing homes, were analyzed accounting for the complex survey design. Results Among 2,880 participants, 44% reported "scratch, open wounds, or cuts" followed by "back injuries" (17%), "black eyes or other types of bruising" (16%), and "human bites" (12%). When compared to non-Hispanic white NAs, the adjusted rate ratio (RR) for wound/cut was 0.74 for non-Hispanic black NAs (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.65,0.85). RRs for black eyes/bruises were 0.18 for non-Hispanic black NAs (95% CI: 0.12,0.26), and 0.55 for Hispanic NAs (95% CI: 0.37,0.82). Conclusions Minority racial and ethnic groups were less likely to report having experienced injuries compared with non-Hispanic white NAs. Future research should focus on identifying preventable risk factors, such as differences by race and ethnicity in the nature of NA jobs and the extent of their engagement in assisting patients with activities of daily living. Am. J. Ind. Med. 53:951,959, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Prevalence of steroid sulfatase deficiency in California according to race and ethnicity

PRENATAL DIAGNOSIS, Issue 9 2010
Wendy Y. Craig
Abstract Objective Estimate steroid sulfatase deficiency (STSD) prevalence among California's racial/ethnic groups using data from a previous study focused on prenatal detection of Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS). SLOS and STSD both have low maternal serum unconjugated estriol (uE3) levels. Methods Prevalence was estimated using three steps: listing clinically identified cases; modeling STSD frequency at three uE3 intervals using diagnostic urine steroid measurements; applying this model to determine frequency in pregnancies not providing urine. Results Overall, 2151 of 777 088 pregnancies (0.28%) were screen positive; 1379 of these were explained and excluded. Fifty-four cases were diagnosed clinically among 707 remaining pregnancies with a male fetus. Urine steroid testing identified 74 additional STSD cases: 66 (89.2%) at uE3 values < 0.15 MoM, 8 (10.8%) at 0.15,0.20 MoM, and 0 (0%) at > 0.20 MoM. Modeling estimated 107.5 STSD cases among 370 pregnancies without urine samples. In males, STSD prevalence was highest among non-Hispanic Whites (1:1230) compared to Hispanics (1:1620) and Asians (1:1790), but differences were not significant. No STSD pregnancies were found among 65 screen positive Black women. Conclusion The overall prevalence estimate of 1:1500 males is consistent with published estimates and is reasonable for counseling, except among Black pregnancies where no reliable estimate could be made. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]