This thesis explores the historical development of the criminal justice system across four eras. The system has been utilized to control and exploit Black people for economic gain. After the American Revolution, and the rise of the penitentiary, many argued that imprisoning individuals for labor was reminiscent of the institution of slavery itself, which highlights the criminal justice system's potential to target and control Black people. During the pre-Civil War era, white slave owners established slave patrols to prevent enslaved Black people from leaving their plantation, and to control the movement of Blacks more broadly. These early slave patrols provided an institutional foundation for the later development of the modern police force. During Reconstruction, the Ku Klux Klan adopted the methods of slave patrols to maintain white supremacy and control over Blacks with lynching becoming everyday occurrences. During the Jim Crow era, Black communities faced widespread discrimination, and the system was used to enforce racial segregation and maintain white dominance. The Civil Rights Movement marked a turning point against Jim Crow. However, the post-Civil Rights era was met with the War on Drugs and the rise of mass incarceration, which disproportionately affected Black communities. To gain equality, Black people have consistently been met with backlash, often supported by the criminal justice system. While reforming the system is necessary, it is unlikely to eliminate racism and white supremacy. A more comprehensive approach is needed to address the root causes of these issues and ensure equality and justice for all.Keywords: white supremacy, racism, color-blind, police violence, slave patrol, slavery, convict leasing system

In this paper, we offer three legal bases for the continued legality of abortion in the U.S. in alternative to the current rationale set by Roe v. Wade. After a brief history of abortion law and rhetoric that shows the abortion debates to center on unanswered assumptions about the value and nature of human life, we first propose, through philosophical analysis, that an embryo does not merit the same legal protections as a born human because the status of being unborn marks it as fundamentally different from one. Secondly, we examine the legal principle of bodily integrity and demonstrate its clear application to the pregnant women, whose right over her own body, we argue, is unjustifiably curtailed by anti-abortion laws. Finally, we proffer that abortion is justified even if we grant the embryo personhood by applying the legal concept of medical power of attorney to the rights that parents have over their children.

Androgen has been shown to affect functioning of the central nervous system by modulating neural circuitry during in-utero development subsequently affecting parts of the brain implicated in the evaluation of socially relevant stimuli. This can suggest an examination of underlying neurobiological mechanisms that may influence androgen in the brain and likewise human cognition and behavior. Since the index and ring finger ratio is associated with androgen related outcomes, this study sought to identify a relationship between a participant's implicit race association test score and left-handed ring (4D) and index (2D) finger ratio. Specifically, we found that higher androgen exposure in our female subjects equated to a stronger bias for European American faces over African American faces.

This ethnographic study investigates the lives and identities of immigrant youth in Arizona. It explores their efforts to resolve their Mexican and American identities as shifting immigration policies threaten their immigration status. These youths are DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients, former unauthorized migrants brought to the United States as children by their families and granted temporary lawful status and work authorization by the Obama administration in 2012. Arizona is home to nearly 26,000 DACA recipients. Through participant observation, and in-depth interviews (structured and unstructured), this study examines DACA recipients' distinctive and ambivalent integration as Americans. The author's own experience as a DACA recipient provides an insider's perspective, creating an auto-ethnographic exploration of identity that opens insights into the experiences of others. Narratives elicited from eleven DACAmented young adults provide an ethnographic lens through which to explore the complex concept of belonging, an often-contradictory attempt to find acceptance in American society while also embracing their cross-border cultural formation. Examination of their everyday experiences shows that the acknowledged privileges granted by the DACA program do effectively further enculturate DACA recipients into American society; yet capricious U.S. and Arizona immigration policies simultaneously contest the legitimacy of DACA recipients' decisive inclusion into the state and the nation. The coherence of their identities is thus destabilized, obligating them to adopt identities that are either fixed, conflictual, fluid, or new.

African American females must endure the distinct intersection of anti-black racism and misogyny, or misogynoir, which persists through the perpetuation of stereotypical images. The endurance of these controlling images adversely impacts young black girls in unique ways that often go unnoticed. Black and Pink: The Intersection of Blackness and Girlhood in America examines the historical origins of misogynoir in America and its continued impact on modern black girls using the lens of bell hooks' literature. This includes how black females are masculinized, sexualized, and impacted by Eurocentric beauty standards in America. and These themes are further explored through a series of watercolor paintings, inspired by hooks' memoir, Bone Black.

Women and people of color are some of the most underrepresented groups in the STEM field (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). The purpose of this study was to uncover the barriers that undergraduate Hispanic women, as well as other women of color, face while pursuing an education in a STEM-related major at Arizona State University (ASU). In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 adult participants to dig deeper into the experiences of each woman and analyze how race and class overlap in each of the women's experiences. The concept of intersectionality was used to highlight various barriers such as perceptions of working versus middle-class students, the experience of being a first-generation college student, diversity campus-wide and in the classroom, effects of stereotyping, and impacts of mentorships. All women, no matter their gender, race, or socioeconomic status, faced struggles with stereotyping, marginalization, and isolation. Women in STEM majors at ASU performed better when provided with positive mentorships and grew aspirations to become a professional in the STEM field when encouraged and guided by someone who helped them build their scientific identities. Working-class women suffered from severe stress related to finances, family support, employment, and stereotyping. Reforming the culture of STEM fields in higher education will allow women to achieve success, further build their scientific identities, and increase the rate of women graduating with STEM degrees.

The purpose of this study is to aid in the Career Development of the Millennial Generation within the University setting through the use of the Career Services online Career Guide. To connect Millennials, also called Digital Natives, with a fulfilling career, Career Services must be open to relating to them through the use of technology and providing more effective online resources. The power to quickly communicate information using web-based services and social media is rendering in-person student services a thing of the past. In order to make recommendations on the subject, current literature will be reviewed pertaining to the Millennial generation's background, adaptation to modern technology, work ideology, and generational personality characteristics. Next, the information will be analyzed and applied to a project updating the Career Services website, more effectively educating Millennials on how to use a degree to find a career and by recommending ways in which student services and receptive employers may change to better facilitate the needs of this rising generation.