Sociology

This research will examine graduation rates from the 1999-2000 school year until the 2012-13 school year, which will shed light on the long-term impact of neoliberal policy on inequality. I begin with a discussion of the history of school reform in NYC, starting with the Brown v. BOE verdict and finishing at the current neoliberal reform era, to understand how various reform strategies have aimed to reduce segregation and inequality. I then use a dissimilarity index to examine changes in racial segregation by performance between 2000 and 2013, using high school graduation rate quartiles to measure performance. In the last empirical chapter, I use growth curve modeling to understand the factors that are associated with changes in graduation rates. I model the impact of several factors that measure the presence of neoliberal reform and inequality on graduation. These measures include: racial and socioeconomic composition, the impact of mandatory regents, being a small school and failing on NYC school accountability report. This research finds that policies aimed at desegregation have been unaggressive and poorly implemented, and this has resulted in persistent segregation. Neoliberal policies assume that by increasing individual choices and accountability, that all students will make the choices that are in their best interest, and inequality will be reduced. This indirect strategy proves to be ineffective. White students have experienced increased access and isolation amongst the best performing schools, while Black students have become increasingly segregated in the worst performing schools. Growth curve modeling shows a consistent increase in graduation rates over this time. This increase is lessened for schools that serve above average black, Hispanic, and free-lunch eligible students. These schools have the lowest graduation rate.

Temple University – Theses

Sociology

Established in 1965 as a part of President Johnson’s War on Poverty effort, the federal community health center (CHC) program is a primary source of federally-subsidized quality health care services for medically-vulnerable populations in the United States. Despite its current role as a medical safety-net for the nation’s health care system, the CHC program did not begin as a public health program, but rather as a social justice program. Since its formalization, the CHC program has enjoyed relatively consistent Congressional support as a cost-effective means of providing primary healthcare to indigent populations; however, the narrative of the program has shifted overtime from a focus of empowerment and lifting communities out of poverty, to the fortification of the national health care system as a cost-effective provider of quality healthcare care for all. In this manuscript, I argue that this transition from community empowerment and the mitigation of fundamental causes of disease to a more risk-based emphasis on the issue of access, has diminished the urgency around the engagement of the structural effects of poverty on health in favor of a “one size fits all” approach to the provision of basic health care. In an effort to objectively quantify the effects of geographic access on health as a means for evaluating the success of the contemporary program, this research project explores the extent to which proximal access to a CHC is significantly associated with various self-reported indicators of positive health outcomes. My primary research method is multivariable regression utilizing secondary data from the 2012 Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey, the 2008-2012 5-year American Community Survey Estimate, and the Health Resources and Services Administration Data Warehouse. Using statistical modeling, I test the effect of CHC access on three distinct measures of individual health: (1) self-reported health status, (2) the likelihood of having pain lasting 6 months or more, and (3) the likelihood of having a usual source of health care. Within each model, I also test a series of interaction terms through nested sub-models to uncover any conditional effects of access for selected social groups. This statistical design offers the opportunity to explore whether the main association between access to a CHC and health varies based on the social characteristics and/or social environment of the individual. The findings of my analysis suggest that the effect of CHC access varies for different social groups, with less disadvantaged groups, such as poor non-Hispanic whites with high social capital, and poor individuals living in areas of low disadvantage, receiving the greatest benefit from proximal CHC access. However, individuals at the extremes of social disadvantage benefit least from CHC access alone. I argue that while the provision of CHC access is a noble and necessary tactic for fighting the persistence of health disparities in our medically-vulnerable communities, focusing on access alone is…

Political Science

What is the individual’s preferred income tax rate? How much income tax progressivity do people want? How do individuals form these preferences? This dissertation answers these questions by leveraging the 1996 International Social Survey Program – Role of Government III survey and the anchoring and adjustment heuristic. When researchers ask individuals for their income tax preferences most respondents construct their preference on the spot using few cognitive resources. Individuals also want their income tax preference to be reasonable (i.e., the state can afford basic goods and services), so individuals anchor their preferences on existing state tax policy, their own income tax rate, and their previous responses when applicable. After individuals establish an anchoring point, they make adjustments based on ideological beliefs, level of trust, and self-interest; however, the effects of these adjustments are mediated by the institutional structure of the state. The results of the ordinary least regression models point to four conclusions. First, individuals behave as reasonable cognitive misers. They anchor their income tax preferences on the status quo, and their previous responses. This result explains cross-state differences in income tax preferences. Second, liberal individuals prefer progressive taxation in individualistic states (i.e., states with means-tested welfare states, majoritarian governments, and pluralist interest group systems), and flat taxes in cooperative regimes (i.e., states with expansive welfare states, consensus regimes, and corporatist interest group systems). Third, trusting individuals prefer flat taxes, and preferences for progressive taxation are a means to ensure tax evaders pay their fair share. Fourth, the effects of self-interest on tax preferences are limited, and only influence tax preferences on those earning one-times and eight-times the wages of a full-time unskilled worker.

Temple University – Theses

Sociology

In the U.S., wealth is unequally distributed across racial and income groups. Scholars have promoted numerous strategies to address inequalities in wealth, but evidence about their effectiveness is limited. This dissertation examines whether community-based organizations can help low-income individuals improve their credit usage and credit scores as part of a strategy to help them build their wealth. Credit histories and scores influence access to affordable loans and other forms of credit as well as employment and housing opportunities, insurance rates, and utility and rental deposits. As a result, credit plays an important role in individuals’ ability to weather financial crises, increase savings, and build wealth. Specifically, I assess the impacts and implementation of a program model that integrates financial education and counseling into employment services for low-income job seekers. The study uses a comparison group design to assess program impacts, comparing the outcomes of program participants to those of a matched group of low-income individuals who were seeking assistance from public employment agencies that did not offer financial or credit counseling. I use multivariate regression analysis to assess differences in the outcomes of program participants and comparison group members and to examine whether some organizations were more effective than others in helping participants achieve the outcomes. I also conduct a qualitative assessment of the organizational, programmatic, and contextual factors that influenced program implementation and outcomes across the five organizations in the study. I found that community-based organizations can help low-income individuals make progress in building positive credit histories. By combining financial education and counseling with employment services, the programs increased job seekers’ receipt of financial counseling relative to the comparison group, and program participants were more likely than comparison group members to have an increase in positive activity on their credit reports two years after entering the program. However, overall the program did not increase the likelihood that participants had a credit score or that they had a prime score after two years. Only program participants who had substantial recent credit activity when they entered the program were more likely than their counterparts in the comparison group to have a prime credit score after two years. Some organizations were more effective than others in helping low-income individuals achieve the targeted credit outcomes. Four of the five had impacts on whether participants had positive activity on their credit reports. One organization also had positive impacts on the likelihood of having a credit score and of having a prime score among all individuals who received financial counseling while two others had positive impacts on scores for subgroups of participants. One organization had no positive effects. The implementation analysis revealed that environmental, organizational, and…

Sociology

My dissertation examines the depression prevalence, symptom patterns and dimension, and mental health service use among Chinese Americans. The purpose of this research is to, 1) provide epidemiological data on the prevalence of depression among Chinese Americans, 2) examine sociocultural impacts on the prevalence and specific symptoms patterns of depression, and 3) generate implications for more culturally-sensitive approaches in psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. I use secondary data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Studies (CPES). The CPES consists of three nationally representative surveys conducted between 2001 and 2003. Each of three substantive chapters attempts to a set of issues, and together they contribute to the literature on generational differences in mental health status and help-seeking behaviors among Chinese Americans. The first substantive chapter examines depression prevalence and correlates among different generations of Chinese Americans, using non-Hispanic whites as a comparison group, using weighted multinomial logistic regression. Results of the study indicate that Chinese Americans in general have a lower risk of depression than do non-Hispanic whites. Moreover, the prevalence and correlates of depression do not show a linear trend of difference from first to second to third-or-higher generation Chinese Americans, and then to non-Hispanic whites; rather, the risk of depression and its associated with social relational factors present distinct patterns for first and second generation Chinese Americans, compared to third-or-higher generation Chinese Americans and non-Hispanic whites. Specifically, friend network and extended family network play different roles in their influence on depression risk for different generations of Chinese Americans. In the Chapter Four, I conduct exploratory factor analysis to examine two subgroups of Chinese Americans, the foreign-born and the US-born, and compare them to the non-Hispanic whites. I also conduct weighted binary logistic regression to examine the patterns of depressive symptoms for Chinese Americans (separate by nativity status) and compare the two groups to non-Hispanic whites. I also examine how demographic characteristics and social factors are related to different dimensions of depressive symptoms for each group. I also find very similar factors structures of DSM-IV depressive symptoms among foreign-born Chinese Americans, US-born Chinese Americans, and non-Hispanic whites. For all three groups, suicidal ideation or attempt is a construct that is distinct from the rest of the symptoms items. The three groups have different social correlates, yet there are only minor differences in the social correlates for each one of the four depression dimensions within each group. Chronic physical condition is the most consistently significant predictor, for the negative affect, somatic symptoms, and cognitive symptoms among the two Chinese groups, and for all four dimensions of depression among non-Hispanic whites. Finally, in…

Sociology

Many observers have noticed a sharp divergence of household incomes in the last few decades that seems unrelated to the traditional explanations of inequality like economic development. My dissertation examines the question of how the rise of neoliberalism—or the market über alles—impacts this inequality in countries around the world. High inequality is known to hinder economic growth, social mobility, democratic functioning, social capital, and to adversely affect health and education outcomes, as well as to exacerbate racial and residential inequality. Equality, meanwhile, is seen as desirable in its own right as a matter of social justice. Neoliberalism is a likely suspect because it emerged at the same time and in the same places that inequality began to rise after three postwar decades of decline. It is also a particularly competitive form of capitalism, and thus produces more winners and losers at both ends of the income distribution. With its focus on profits, it is much more beneficial to income derived from capital gains at the expense of wages, deepening the typical class divide under capitalism. Finally, neoliberalism is an elite consensus formed without any public participation, and these special interests shape the economy and society to the benefit of this privileged minority. I find four major shortcomings of existing research related to my research question. First, all but the most recent research has had to rely on sub-standard data for cross-national comparisons, which I address using Frederick Solt’s (2009) Standardized World Income Inequality Database (SWIID). Second, past analyses of cross-national data have improperly handled between-country variation, which I address using a dual fixed-effects modelling approach. Third, there are operationalization problems with neoliberalism, in which past research has failed to capture the phenomenon in its entirety. I address this by developing a new multi-dimensional measurement approach. Moreover, there is a determined failure by many to fully consider neoliberalism as a likely explanation because it contradicts the myth of liberal democracy and capitalist benevolence. Along these lines, the fourth shortcoming is that most popular explanations of rising inequality blame otherwise benign trends such as globalization and technological advancement. This obscures the political nature of neoliberalism, especially how the rich are able to dominate political economy at the expense of the masses. In doing so, it makes it appear that inequality is just a byproduct of progress, that we must accept it as inevitable, and that only palliatives are available. The reality, however, is that neoliberalism is neither inevitable nor progressive and requires systemic change to rectify. I address the research question with three research components. First, I develop a definition of neoliberalism in contrast to existing theoretical narratives, namely globalization, neo-Keynesianism, dependency theory, and economic freedom. I argue neoliberalism is a social and…

Sociology

My dissertation examines three factors that influence women's workplace inequality: the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Meritor Saving Bank v. Vinson, and women "opting out" (i.e., voluntarily leaving) of work to take care of their families. Each of the three essays attempts to resolve one or more fundamental questions in the literature on women's workplace inequality. Additionally, each of these factors is described in its own essay, and these essays are presented in chronological order of the events they discuss. The first substantive chapter, Chapter Two, examines the association between the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) and women's employment rates, men's employment rates, and women's disadvantage in employment rates. The PDA declared pregnancy discrimination a type of sex-based discrimination, making it illegal under Title VII. Among other provisions, the PDA extended temporary disability benefits (TDB) to pregnant workers who were already covered by TDB for non-pregnancy-related conditions. This extension was designed to increase the likelihood of women's returning to work after giving birth. There is a debate within the literature on whether the PDA positively affected women, hurt women, or had no effect on women. This paper uses difference-in-difference modeling with Current Population Survey data from 1968 to 2010 to weigh in on this debate. There is a positive association between the PDA and the difference between men's and women's employment because it narrows the gap between women's and men's employment rates. However, the PDA had no effect on women's employment rates and a negative effect on men's employment rates. Chapter Three examines the association between wages and the 1986 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, which declared workplace sexual harassment illegal under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. I test two hypotheses, a "naïve hypothesis," which argues that anti-sexual harassment policies increase women's wages, and a "critical hypothesis," which contends that these policies hurt or had no effect on women's wages. Using a difference-in-difference model with Current Population Survey data from 1977 to 2010, I find that there is a negative association between Meritor and women's wages. Furthermore, I find no association between Meritor and either men's wages or the gender wage ratio. Finally, Chapter Four examines the association between women opting out and socioeconomic status (SES). I explore two contrasting storylines within the opting out literature. The first storyline focuses on the lives of high-SES women and the likelihood that they opt out. The other storyline focuses on the lives of low-SES women and the likelihood that they opt out. It is important to note that neither storyline denies the existence of the other, but research that focuses solely on one class of women may miss a significant part of the story. Using the Current Population Survey from 1980 to 2009, I first describe the trends of opting…