Substance use and abuse are problematic in the lives of adolescents, including interpersonal problems and scholastic problems. Risk for substance use has commonly been assessed at the individual level. This paper examines risk of adolescent substance abuse as a variable impacted by environmental or contextual factors surrounding the individual.…

Effective social justice movements, including those at the level of children's literature, address the ways different forms of oppression intersect and affect the experiences of diverse queer identities. Children's literature can help combat heteronormative discourse by instilling at a young age the inherent value of all people.…

Although racial inequality is frequently studied in education, skin tone stratification has received less attention from educational researchers. Inequality by skin tone, also known as "colorism", contributes to larger patterns of racial inequality for African Americans and Latina/os. Discrimination by skin tone affects many dimensions…

In this conceptual paper, the authors discuss how research about sexual harassment and campus racial climates for undergraduate students is relegated to separate silos. Drawing on intersectionality and critical race feminist frameworks, the authors juxtapose these strands of research with attention to ethnicity/race and gender, highlighting how…

In this article, we propose a shift in race research from a one-dimensional hierarchical approach to a multidimensional system of racial stratification. Building upon Claire Kim's (1999) racial triangulation theory, we examine how the American public rates Asians relative to blacks and whites along two dimensions of racial stratification: racial…

Numerous studies show the effectiveness of culturally responsive teaching with urban students of color. Yet few articulate the dynamics of how whiteness impacts the delivery of culturally responsive teaching. Using critical "whiteness" studies, critical race theory, and Black feminist concepts, this article interrogates the effectiveness…

This study is based on interviews with White students graduating from a student affairs preparation program as well as a literature review of whiteness in education. Applying "critical race theory," the author examined the ways that students and institutions protected whiteness. Institutions and those within them concerned with equity must have…

Charter schools have substantial bipartisan support for their expansion. Yet, the bulk of charter school research ascertains that the majority of students in charter schools do not significantly outscore their traditional school peers on measurable indicators of academic performance. Additionally, students in charter schools do not have comparable…

Several theories suggest that African American culture facilitates academic achievement, but others suggest that identifying with Black culture contributes to the achievement gap by undermining the academic performance among youth. These opposing perspectives are labeled "cultural compatibility theories" and "cultural incompatibility theories,"…

More youth live in poverty and poor youth comprise a larger share of the youth population than was the case a decade ago. This article first provides a descriptive analysis of children in poverty; examining the incidence of poverty among children by selected demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic characteristics with a particular focus on…

Understanding the progression of violent and nonviolent criminal activity remains a matter of theoretical debate. In the present study, the authors build on criminological theory and assess the extent to which the progression of violent and nonviolent criminal behaviors follows different trajectories. The authors rely on semiparametric mixture…

In this article we assess the literature on cultural explanations for ethno-racial differences in K-12 schooling and academic performance. Some cultural arguments problematically define certain ethno-racial identities and cultures as subtractive from the goal of academic mobility while defining the ethnic cultures and identities of others as…

This article develops an imbalance theory to explain physical violence against women in intimate relationships in South Africa. The theory proposes four typologies: dependence, compensation, submission, and transgression, through which imbalances in resource contribution and power distribution between spouses are hypothesized to contribute to…

Argues that race theory must be understood and evaluated in light of the European-defined nature of American society. Because American history is a created reality, it must be examined from an external position to really assess the role of institutional racism in formulating the social structures of American life. (SLD)

The concept of anomie is one of the classics of sociological theory. Developed by scholars such as Emile Durkheim and Robert K. Merton, the concept refers to the absence of clear social norms and values and to a lack of sense of social regulation. However, whereas Merton focused on features of relative deprivation that cause anomie, Durkheim was…