Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Since the publication of William Julius Wilson’s The Truly Disadvantaged (1987), there has been a resurgence of theory and empirical studies on the effects of segregation. Two issues in the field are addressed in this paper. First, a new method for directly assessing the effects of contextual variables on individuals is offered to address longstanding methodological concerns. Second, the model is applied to determine the effects of racial and economic segregation on racial differences in employment. The results indicate that black men are less likely to be employed in cities with higher levels of economic segregation, but are not affected by residential segregation. The employment chances of white men, black women, and white women are not affected by either racial or economic segregation.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This qualitative research project documents experiences of nearly 100 elderly African Americans who lived during Jim Crow. The long lasting psychological effects connected with the racial violence that occurred are a critical aspect of legal segregation. Stress is a process (Pearlin 1999) and African Americans found themselves dealing daily with extreme social, political, and economic constraints as well as psychological outcomes such as fear, anxiety, shame, trauma, and insurmountable stress. In addition, “social outcomes such as public humiliation, stigmatization, exclusion, imprisonment, banishment, or expulsion are all highly consequential and sometimes devastating for human welfare” (Jackman 2002).
I will document and explore symptoms of a “segregation stress syndrome” for the chronic, enduring, extremely painful experiences and responses to official segregation that are indicated by numerous respondents in this research project. Preliminary findings indicate that the symptoms of “segregation stress syndrome” are similar to PTSD symptoms documented in psychiatric literature. However, “segregation stress syndrome” differs from PTSD because the traumatic experience was not a one-time occurrence; it was sustained, over time, in African American communities. In addition, the racial violence that occurred during legal segregation was a form of systematic chronic stress, the type that has been shown to emerge and be more “insidiously and persistent” (Pearlin, 1999:400). Lastly, the historical and collective trauma that ensued has contributed to an intergenerational aspect of “segregation stress syndrome.” The intergenerational aspect predisposes some younger African Americans to psychological damage, stress, and trauma even though contemporary forms of racial violence are seemingly less damaging.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Using multi-dimensional scaling and latent space representation, we depict occupational segregation by sex, race, and ethnicity across 60 detailed sex-race-ethnic groups. Although sex is the primary basis for occupational segregation, our analyses show considerable occupational segregation by race, Hispanicity, and ethnicity. Employers appear to be indifferent to ethnicity among European-ancestry groups, and these groups are apparently similar in their qualifications and preferences. Ethnicity plays a small role in the segregation of black workers; it matters more among Hispanic groups, and is important among Asian groups. Using multidimensional scaling, we determined that two dimensions structure the patterns of segregation we observed. Although occupational segregation is not necessarily hierarchical and the segregation index captures only nominal and not ordinal differences, the substantial effects on the sex-ethnic median earnings of their positions on the dimensions underlying the structure of segregation shows that occupational segregation in the U.S. labor market is fundamentally hierarchical.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Although spatial factors are thought to contribute to poor employment outcomes for racial and ethnic minority men, very little is currently known about how jobless men from different racial and ethnic backgrounds are spatially distributed. This study examines the spatial segregation of white, black, Hispanic, and Asian jobless men from employed men of any race in U.S. metropolitan areas in 2000. Jobless black men are much more highly segregated from employed men that are jobless men in other racial and ethnic groups. Multivariate models reveal the important role that racial and ethnic residential segregation and suburbanization play in the spatial segregation of jobless men. Contemporaneous industrial structure, contrary to expectations, seems to have a very limited impact on the spatial segregation of jobless men.