University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School January 2012 Resisting Criminalization through Moses House: An Engaged Ethnography Lance Arney University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the African American Studies Commons, Other Education Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Scholar Commons Citation Arney, Lance, "Resisting Criminalization through Moses House: An Engaged Ethnography" (2012). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/4278 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Resisting Criminalization through Moses House: An Engaged Ethnography by Lance A. Arney A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Anthropology College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Co-Major Professor: Susan D. Greenbaum, Ph.D. Co-Major Professor: S. Elizabeth Bird, Ph.D. Rebecca K. Zarger, Ph.D. Bárbara C. Cruz, Ed.D. Cheryl R. Rodriguez, Ph.D. Date of Approval: October 24, 2012 Keywords: urban poverty, community engagement, social justice, nonprofit organizations, neoliberalism Copyright © 2012, Lance A. Arney Dedication This work is dedicated to all the Sulphur Springs children and youth who generously shared their lives and stories with me over the last five years. I hope that my work through Moses House comes close to adequately giving back for what all of you have done for me. To Granddaddy Taft and Uncle Harold: I am truly honored to have been allowed to be a part of Moses House. I hope that the work I did, in some measure, has lived up to your expectations. There is so much more to do. Acknowledgments I would like to gratefully acknowledge all the nurturing support I received from my dissertation committee, who were always encouraging yet critical. My intellectual and professional development is the result of your generously given guidance. To my mentor and advisor, Susan Greenbaum, I owe very special thanks. Your support for this work has been unwavering from start to finish, and your infinite wisdom has saved me from making many errors, as a scholar and an activist. I thank all the children, youth, and families in Sulphur Springs who welcomed me into their community and shared countless hours of their lives with me. Some of you have become great friends, and some of you have become family. This warmed my heart with comfort when the solitude of academic life seemed unbearable. Finally, I thank all my wonderful colleagues in the Anthropology Department and elsewhere at USF—you all know who you are—for fostering vigorous intellectual discussion about common interests and passions, and for sharing your time to simply have fun. You provided me with motivation when I lacked it and aid when I needed it. I hope that one day I can fully reciprocate, if I have not already. i Table of Contents List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... iii Abstract ................................................................................................................................ v Chapter One: Introduction .................................................................................................. 8 Establishing Relationships for an Engaged Anthropology ....................................... 8 Collaboratively Identifying the Research Problem................................................ 12 Research Objectives and Justifications ................................................................. 16 Overview of Findings ............................................................................................. 21 Structure of This Dissertation ............................................................................... 25 Chapter Two: Review of the Literature ............................................................................. 26 Criminalization, Critical Paradigms, Radical Criminology, and Criminal Anthropology .................................................................................................. 26 African Americans, Urban Poverty and Crime, and the “Culture of Poverty” .......................................................................................................... 37 Neoliberal Governance of the Urban Poor through Criminalization .................... 46 The Carceral-Assistential State and the Ghetto–Prison Symbiosis ....................... 51 Class, Power, Discourse and the Study of Prisons, Crime, and the Media............ 59 Disparities in the Criminalization of Racial and Ethnic Minority Youth Living in Poverty .............................................................................................. 67 Processes of Criminalization in the Lives of Youth ................................................ 74 Youth Experiences and Perspectives on Criminalization ...................................... 84 The Social Reproduction of Class Inequality through Schooling .......................... 87 Multicultural and Anti-Racist Education ............................................................... 90 Counter-Hegemonic Resistance to Deficit Theory and the “Culture of Poverty” .......................................................................................................... 96 Critical Pedagogy and Transformative Knowledge .............................................. 102 Social Justice through Multicultural Education and Critical Pedagogy ............... 106 Community Engaged Participatory Action Research and Activist Anthropology ................................................................................................ 113 Participatory Action Research with Youth .......................................................... 119 NGOs, the State, Neoliberalism, and Development ........................................... 128 Chapter Three: Research Methods, Data Collection, and Analysis ................................. 146 Research Objectives and Potential Benefits ....................................................... 146 Participant Inclusion Criteria, Recruitment, and Sampling ................................. 151 ii Institutional Review Board, Confidentiality, Anonymity, and Informed Consent ......................................................................................................... 155 Methods .............................................................................................................. 159 Data Storage ........................................................................................................ 161 Data Analysis ....................................................................................................... 162 Chapter Four: Fieldwork Setting ..................................................................................... 163 Social History and Geography of Sulphur Springs and Spring Hill ...................... 163 Demographic Statistics ........................................................................................ 172 Chapter Five: Engaging with Moses House ..................................................................... 175 Prior History of USF Community Engagement in Sulphur Springs ...................... 175 Gaining Access to the Community ...................................................................... 178 Volunteered Labor, Class Solidarity, and Commitment to Social Justice ............ 181 Building Trusting Relationships through Share Experience, Empathy, and Advocacy ....................................................................................................... 185 Moses House Museum ....................................................................................... 195 Reorganizing and Revitalizing a Grassroots Nonprofit Organization from the Ground Up .............................................................................................. 202 Moses House at the Rec Center .......................................................................... 210 Taft Richardson Tribute Project ........................................................................... 215 Street Music Workshop ....................................................................................... 219 Bone Sculpture Workshop .................................................................................. 226 Summary ............................................................................................................. 236 Chapter Six: Resisting Neoliberalism and Criminalization through Moses House .......... 237 A New Home in Mann-Wagnon Memorial Park ................................................. 237 Policing Strategies Targeting Youth ..................................................................... 243 Responding to a Fee Increase Policy at City Recreation Centers ........................ 256 Financial Literacy and Poverty ............................................................................ 265 Being Governed through Assistance and Policing .............................................. 270 Advocacy and Mentoring through Critical Dialogue ........................................... 277 Summary