WHAT’S GOOD IN DA HOOD? HOODOLOGY IN ORGANIZATIONS by QUEEN JAKS Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Organizational Behavior CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY January, 2021 2 CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES We hereby approve the thesis/dissertation of Queen Jaks candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy*. Committee Chair Diana Bilimoria Committee Member Corinne Coen Committee Member Melvin Smith Committee Member Robert Bonner Date of Defense November 24th, 2020 *We also certify that written approval has been obtained for any proprietary material contained therein 2 3 Copyright ã 2020 Queen Jaks ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 3 4 DEDICATION This is for the streets that raised me, that made me. This is for all those in the gutter struggling in style. This is for all the souls who feel no existence in this society. You are the universe. They are nothing without you. To all those in the hood. This is our time. Rise up. 4 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ 7 LIST OF FIGURES....................................................................................................... 8 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. 10 CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................ 12 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 12 HOOD CULTURE & HOOD IDENTITY IN ORGANIZATIONS .............................................. 16 SOCIAL CLASS IDENTITY ............................................................................................ 20 SOCIAL CLASS CULTURE ............................................................................................ 23 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................................... 26 CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................ 27 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................... 27 HOOD CULTURE ......................................................................................................... 28 Language ............................................................................................................... 28 Codes & Requirements .......................................................................................... 31 Youngins & OGs .................................................................................................... 33 A Woman’s Place .................................................................................................. 34 HOOD VS GHETTO ...................................................................................................... 36 HOOD CULTURE VS BLACK CULTURE.......................................................................... 39 WHITE, LATIN, ASIAN & IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE ...................................................... 41 CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................................ 46 METHODS .................................................................................................................. 46 SAMPLE ..................................................................................................................... 47 STUDY 1..................................................................................................................... 49 Data & Procedures ................................................................................................ 49 STUDY 2..................................................................................................................... 50 Data & Procedures ................................................................................................ 50 DATA ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................ 51 RESEARCHER REFLEXIVITY ........................................................................................ 56 CHAPTER 4 ................................................................................................................ 58 FINDINGS ................................................................................................................... 58 HOOD IDENTITY & CODE-SWITCHING MODEL ............................................................. 60 INTERPRETATION OF PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY ............................................................ 62 UNDERSTANDING OF HOOD CULTURE & HOOD IDENTITY ............................................ 63 FEELINGS OF DETACHMENT FROM HOOD CULTURE ..................................................... 79 CURRENT RESIDENCE ................................................................................................. 81 HOOD & NON-HOOD IDENTITY EXPERIENCE ............................................................... 82 NEGATIVE IDENTITIES ................................................................................................ 85 ACT OF CODE – SWITCHING IN THE WORKPLACE ......................................................... 88 5 6 OCCUPATION .............................................................................................................. 92 RACE ......................................................................................................................... 94 OBSERVATIONS .......................................................................................................... 95 ANALYSIS OF REFLECTIONS ........................................................................................ 97 MEMBER CHECKS ..................................................................................................... 103 CHAPTER 5 .............................................................................................................. 106 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................ 106 MANAGERIAL & ORGANIZATIONAL IMPLICATIONS .................................................... 107 CHALLENGES & LIMITATIONS ................................................................................... 111 FUTURE RESEARCH .................................................................................................. 112 APPENDIX ................................................................................................................ 114 STUDY 1 – INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ............................................................................ 114 STUDY 2 – OBSERVATION TOPICS ............................................................................. 117 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 119 6 7 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1 DEMOGRAPHIC DATA…………………………………………………………………………….…...…49 TABLE 2 DATA FREQUENCY ………………………………………………………………………………....…………59 TABLE 3 TRAITS WITH SUPPORTING LITERATURE…………………...………………………………………………….….68 7 8 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1 DATA STRUCTURE ……...……………...…...……………………………………………...…………………53 FIGURE 2 HOOD IDENTITY & CODE-SWITCHING MODEL……………...…….……………………………………………………………61 8 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Shout-out to everybody that invested and believed in me. You know who you are. Special thanks to the hand that fed me during this PhD program: NSF AGEP (Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate) Award, “Northern Ohio Alliance AGEP (NOA- AGEP)”, NSF # HRD-1432950, 2015-20. 9 10 What’s Good in da Hood? Hoodology in Organizations Abstract by QUEEN JAKS Hoodology, or the scientific study of the hood, is introduced through an examination of Hood culture and Hood identity in this dissertation. Hood culture is often connected with behaviors and beliefs thought to be oppositional to the workplace. It is often debated whether it is even a culture and if it is, its relevance in management and organizations is questioned. Hood identity, like Hood culture, is not respected or acknowledged in a professional environment. The purpose of this dissertation is to gain an accurate meaning of Hood culture and Hood identity to decrease biases among management and deem a culture and identity acceptable in the workplace. Two studies were conducted simultaneously to achieve this. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for Study 1 to formulate definitions of Hood culture, Hood identity and its presence in the workplace. Study 2 involved participation observation, with the goal of providing additional support to claims made in Study 1. In Study 2, observations of those who identified as Hood, from Study 1, were documented. Grounded theory practices were used to analyze the data. Reflexivity was also implemented using a series of researcher reflections. The main finding of this dissertation was the positives/advantages that those from the hood can offer to organizations. Another major finding was that code-switching in the workplace 10 11 was more likely to occur with those who identified as Hood compared to those who did not identify as Hood. These findings not only directly contribute to theories surrounding social class, Ghetto literature, diversity and inclusion, and organizational behavior but also inform institutional