Gerald Lackey

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Org Design Expert and Enterprise Agile Coach with experience leading large-scale, multi-year transformations. Focus is on the development of Agile organizations with Lean business systems that accelerate growth and enhance productivity. Deep knowledge of, and passion for, heavy asset manufacturing organizations.

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Stress, Stress Theories

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology

Intergroup relations in three southern cities

Racial Distancing in a Southern City: Latino Immigrants' Views of Black Americans

The Journal of Politics, 2006

, for their support of our research. We would also like to thank the three anonymous reviewers wh... more

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Black Americans and Latino Immigrants in a Southern City

Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 2007

Dramatic demographic changes are occurring in the United States, and some of the most dramatic ch... more Dramatic demographic changes are occurring in the United States, and some of the most dramatic changes are occurring in the South from Latino immigration. Latinos, by and large, are an entirely new population in the region. How are Black southerners reacting to this new population? Using survey data gathered from a southern location, this article explores several questions related to whether Blacks see these new residents as friendly neighbors or economic competitors. Results suggest that Blacks and non-Blacks perceive a potential economic threat from continued Latino immigration, but Blacks are more concerned about the effects of Latino immigration than are Whites.

format_quoteAcknowledged that perceptions of job loss to Latinos influence Black attitudes towards immigration.format_quote

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McClain et al. Racial Distancing in a Southern City: Latino Immigrants ’ Views of Black Americans

Address and contact information for lead author: Paula D. McClain Addresses for co-authors on nex... more

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The Power of Family Ties in Immigrants' Lives

Gerald F. Lackey, Jr.: The Power of Family Ties in Immigrants' Lives (Under the direction of Barb... more Gerald F. Lackey, Jr.: The Power of Family Ties in Immigrants' Lives (Under the direction of Barbara Entwisle and Peggy Thoits) Although Latino immigrants have come to form a fundamental part of the U.S. social fabric, we do not, from a research standpoint, have a complete understanding of the social causes of some of the most pressing issues that face this population (e.g., weak English language use, declining mental health, or low levels of trust in the U.S. government). Previous work has focused on degree of acculturation as a common explanation across the three issues, but this explanation falls short in its ability to guide social policy or suggest meaningful interventions. This dissertation moves beyond acculturation to investigate the complex family relationships in which immigrants are embedded. The three articles that comprise the dissertation expand the existing literature by drawing on cross-disciplinary frameworks and investigating both positive and negative influences of families. Two data sets are used: the 2003 New Immigrant Survey (Jasso et al., 2003) and the 2006 Latino National Survey (Fraga et al., 2006). Three findings stand out across the three chapters: 1. The effects, both positive and negative, of family ties on language acquisition and depression are generally stronger for women compared to men; 2. Ties to children tend to have more costs and fewer benefits in terms of mental health and language acquisition; and 3. Effects of acculturation are relatively weak on depression and political trust. A few important caveats to this work are that it is conducted with cross-sectional data, knowledge of what specifically is passed along the tie is not available, and the datasets do not include illegal immigrants. Chapter I Advancing the Understanding of Immigrant Family Ties

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Black Elites and Latino Immigrant Relations in a Southern City: Do Black Elites and the Black Masses Agree?

The United States is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse as a function of immigration, ... more The United States is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse as a function of immigration, both legal and illegal, from Asia, Mexico, and Latin America. Latinos are the fastest growing population, and in 2000, Latinos replaced African Americans as the largest minority group in the United States. Although much of the media and scholarly attention has focused on demographic changes in traditional Latino immigrant destinations such as California, New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona, the rapid growth in Latino populations is occurring across the nation. The South has undergone a particularly dramatic alteration in terms of racial composition, with six of seven states tripling the size of their Latino populations between 1990 and 2000. This settlement of Latinos in the South is no more than ten to fifteen years old, and new immigrants from Mexico and Latin America are settling in states like North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee (Durand, Massey, and Carvet 2000). They bring ethnic and cultural diversity to areas previously defined exclusively as black and white. Not only have new Latino populations migrated to urban and suburban locations in the South, they also have settled in small towns and rural areas, reinforcing projections of the “Latinization” of the American South. Examples of these “New Latino Destinations” (Suro and Singer 2000) include cities such as Atlanta, Georgia; Charlotte, Greensboro-Winston Salem, and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee; and Greenville, South Carolina.

Obsessive–compulsive symptoms: The contribution of obsessional beliefs and experiential avoidance

Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 2009

Experiential (emotional) avoidance (EA), a core concept in the field of acceptance and commitment... more Experiential (emotional) avoidance (EA), a core concept in the field of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), involves an unwillingness to endure upsetting emotions, thoughts, memories, and other private experiences (e.g., body sensations). This unwillingness leads to unhealthy efforts to resist, escape, and avoid such experiences (Hayes, Wilson, Gifford, Follette, & Stroahl, 1996). EA is thought to play an important role in maladaptive behaviors and psychopathology (Zvolensky & Forsyth, 2002), and accordingly, is receiving increased research attention. Findings from this emerging body of work suggest EA is associated with depression, anxiety, trauma, and reduced quality of life (Hayes et al., 2004). EA has also been hypothesized to play a role in several psychological disorders, including substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, trichotillomania, generalized anxiety disorder and panic (e.g., Chawla & Ostafin, 2007). Some authors (Eifert & Forsyth, 2005) have suggested that EA plays an important role in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The symptoms of OCD include (a) unwanted, anxiety-evoking thoughts, images, and impulses (obsessions; e.g., images of germs, thoughts of violence), and (b) urges to perform behavioral or mental acts (neutralizing and compulsive rituals; e.g., hand washing, reassurance-seeking, thought suppression) in effort to resist the obsession and reduce the associated anxiety. Looking at this definition, it could be argued that EA is a main characteristic of OCD since this disorder involves resistance to, and escape from, upsetting private experiences-in this case, unwanted obsessional thoughts. In the only empirical study addressing OCD from an EA perspective, Twohig, Hayes, and Masuda (2006) tested an eightsession ACT treatment with four individuals with OCD and anecdotally reported that OCD symptom reduction was associated with reductions in EA. Because of the small sample, however, the relationship between EA and OCD symptoms was not systematically explored. The purpose of the present study, therefore, was to examine this relationship more precisely. We specifically sought to evaluate how well the construct of EA, relative to other wellresearched cognitive-behavioral theoretical constructs, predicts obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms. Cognitive-behavioral formulations of OCD (e.g., Rachman, 1997, 1998; Salkovskis, 1996) propose that clinical obsessions arise from maladaptive interpretations of otherwise normal negative intrusive (unwanted) thoughts. Research indicates that up to 90% of the population at large experiences the same kinds of cognitive intrusions as do those with OCD (Rachman & de Silva, 1978). Whereas individuals without OCD recognize the senseless

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Feeling blue in Spanish: A qualitative inquiry of depression among Mexican immigrants

Social Science & Medicine, 2008

Studies of the cultural construction of depression among Mexican immigrant men in the USA are rar... more Studies of the cultural construction of depression among Mexican immigrant men in the USA are rare. This paper is a qualitative inquiry into how this population of men identifies depression and its perceived causes and remedies. Data were gathered from seven focus groups with a total of 38 adult Mexican immigrant men. Results indicate that depresión (depression) is a valid and familiar concept among this group. While the reporting of somatic symptoms does occur, it appears that interpersonal problems and affective symptoms are among the most salient in identifying someone as depressed. The causes are described as predominantly social in origin, arising directly out of the participants&#39; experiences of immigration and adaptation. Similarly, the proposed remedies are primarily social in nature with an emphasis being put on help from the community, the family, or a professional. Colloquial terms are provided in both Spanish and English and direct quotes from the focus group discussions are included.

Racial Distancing in a Southern City: Latino Immigrants' Views of Black Americans

Journal of Politics, 2006

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Gerald Lackey

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