Minority Group

We propose a communication analogue to Allport's (1954) Contact Hypothesis called the Parasocial Contact Hypothesis (PCH). If people process mass-mediated parasocial interaction in a manner similar to interpersonal interaction, then the socially beneficial functions of intergroup contact may result from parasocial contact. We describe and test the PCH with respect to majority group members' level of prejudice in three studies, two involving parasocial contact with gay men (Six Feet Under and Queer Eye for the Straight ...

This thesis consists of three empirical studies in economics of education on the determinants and consequences of language-in-education (LiE) policies. The “Environmental settings – Inputs – Processes – Immediate outcomes – Long-term outcomes” (EIPOL) evaluation model is applied to LiE policies and programs and serves as the overall framework of this research (see Introductory Chapter). Each study then targets at least one stage of the EIPOL framework to test the validity of the “green” vs. “free-market” linguistic theories. Whereas the two first studies derive models tested empirically in the African context, the third is tested on a sample of countries from the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS). The first study, Rationales to Language-in-Education Policies in Postcolonial Africa: Towards a Holistic Approach, considers two issues. First, it explores the factors affecting the choice of an LiE policy in 35 African countries. The results show that the countries adopting a uni...

This paper describes and analyzes the use of Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed (TO) as a form of academic and social support used in a program for bilingual teachers. We use critical discourse analysis to understand how TO works to disrupt monologic relationships and reestablish dialog. Our analysis tracks one scene of oppression as described by a bilingual paraprofessional. Our findings suggest that an awareness of both the language tools that structure individual relationships and the larger forces shaping what different individuals can and can not say potentially gives our participants the option to approach conflict in new ways—to take up confident, expansive roles and to project new futures for themselves and others.

Racial and ethnic achievement gaps narrowed substantially in the 1970s and 1980s. As some of the gaps widened in the 1990s, there were some setbacks in the progress the nation made toward racial and ethnic equity. This article offers a look below the surface at Black-White and Hispanic-White achievement gap trends over the past 30 years. The literature review and data analysis identify the key factors that seem to have contributed to bifurcated patterns in achievement gaps. The conventional measures of socioeconomic and family conditions, youth culture and student behavior, and schooling conditions and practices might account for some of the achievement gap trends for a limited time period or for a particular racial and ethnic group. However, they do not fully capture the variations. This preliminary analysis of covariations in racial and ethnic gap patterns across several large data sets has implications for future research on the achievement of minority groups.

In India the genealogy of the concept of minority rights is drawn from its pre-independent past and is intrinsic to the nationalist doctrine that emerged. Indeed minority groups were endowed with certain self-preservation rights, albeit extremely limited, in the new Constitution. This single fact has driven theorists to laud the commitment of the Indian polity towards minority entitlements. Amidst such celebratory euphoria, however, the disquiet, deceit and aversion with which the prevailing nationalist opinion engaged with the concept, is often overlooked. This essay seeks to trace the trajectory of the idea of minority rights as it evolved within the Constituent Assembly as much as outside it in the public domain. In the process, the essay interrogates the constitution of the public sphere as an arena, rational and autonomous of state influences.

The emergence of the Latino population as the largest and diverse minority group in the U.S. presents challenges and opportunities for health practitioners, leaders and policy makers. Some evidence suggests that Latinos, and immigrants in particular, exhibit better health outcomes than would be expected given their average socio-economic status. Yet, overshadowing this positive health outlook are socio-economic, health system and policy barriers which disproportionately impact Latino health and well-being. This paper briefly discusses the Latino health paradox. It identifies the socio-economic, health systems barriers and public policies that threaten any potential health advantage. Finally, it suggests policy and prevention strategies for promoting the health of the largest emerging minority group in the U.S. Latinos.

What is the quality of support available to those who experience everyday racism? How can we as psychologists, whether we are people of color or not, provide the support that clients want and need from us? Interviewing 19 adults who volunteered to talk about racism and other "isms" in their lives, we shed light on what it's like to be

Core curriculum and multicultural education are two major approaches advocated in the current school reform movement. This article argues that neither of these approaches adequately addresses the problem of those minority groups who have not traditionally done well in the public school. Core curriculum advocates falsely assume that as a result of instituting a core curriculum, demanding higher standards, and patching up supposed individual deficiencies, all students will perform as expected. Multicultural education advocates inadequately design their program to focus on cultural differences in content and form. This article contends that the crucial issue in cultural diversity and learning is the relationship between the minority cultures and the American mainstream culture. Minorities whose cultural frames of reference are oppositional to the cultural frame of reference of American mainstream culture have greater difficulty crossing cultural boundaries at school to learn. Core curr...

The latest wave of immigration1 to the United States—mainly from Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America—has permanently altered the racial and ethnic composition of the United States.2 One consequence is that Latinos replaced African Americans as the largest ethnic minority group at the turn of the new century. Many communities, both inside and outside traditional destination points in the southwestern