Prelims

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Symbolic Interaction and Inequality

Series Title Page

Studies in Symbolic Interaction

Series Editors: Shing-Ling S. Chen and Norman K. Denzin

Recent Volumes:

Title Page

Studies in Symbolic Interaction Volume 58

Symbolic Interaction and Inequality

Edited by

Norman K. Denzin

University of Illinois, USA

And

Shing-Ling S. Chen

University of Northern Iowa, USA

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Emerald Publishing, Floor 5, Northspring, 21-23 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL

First edition 2024

Editorial matter and selection © 2024 Shing-Ling S. Chen.

Individual chapters © 2024 The authors.

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters' suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83797-690-4 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83797-689-8 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83797-691-1 (Epub)

ISSN: 0163-2396 (Series)

A Tribute to Norman K. Denzin

Norman K. Denzin (1941–2023), the longtime editor of Studies in Symbolic Interaction, passed away in August, 2023. Regarded as the “Father of Qualitative Inquiries,” Prof Denzin is considered as one of the most important scholars in the 20th and 21st centuries. Other than editing Studies in Symbolic Interaction since its inception in 1978 to the time of his passing, for nearly half of a century, Prof Denzin had authored more than 30 books and countless journal articles, as well as launched and edited major journals and book series. Prof Denzin's long and successful career impacted generalizations of scholars worldwide. Prof Denzin's legacy shall endure and live on via the continuous publication of Studies in Symbolic Interaction, as well as other journals and book series he had launched and edited.

Shing-Ling S. Chen

Editor

About the Editor

Shing-Ling S. Chen is a Professor of Mass Communication in the Department of Communication and Media at the University of Northern Iowa. Trained by Carl J. Couch as a symbolic interactionist, she studies information technologies and social orders, as well as communication processes and social relationships.

About the Contributors

Kimberly M. Baker, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, Criminology, and Anthropology at the University of Northern Iowa. As a sociologist, her research focuses on rule enforcement and substance use. Her current research has turned to addiction-themed reality television shows. In particular, she focuses on the ways that treatment professionals and families interact with and respond to individuals with substance use problems.

Carlie Carter earned her BA in Psychology, with minors in Sociology and Childhood Studies from Christopher Newport University (CNU) in 2021. She has worked with Dr Linda Waldron and Dr Danielle Docka-Filipek on research focusing on first-generation college student experiences since 2020 and currently serves as a Post-Baccalaureate Research Fellow with CNU's Center for Education Research and Policy. Carlie is pursuing her MEd at the College of William and Mary where she was awarded a graduate assistantship to work with first-generation and low-income (FGLI) students as they transition into and throughout the university.

Zhuojun Joyce Chen is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Communication and Media at the University of Northern Iowa. The areas of her specialty are communication, culture, and community/society, media technologies, systems, process and effects, and research methods (quantitative, qualitative, and textual analysis).

Danielle Docka-Filipek, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. Her teaching expertise lies in race/class/gender inequalities, feminist theory/praxis, poverty and social welfare policy, sociology of mental health/illness, globalization, family/marriage, culture, law, and organizations, and teaching, learning, and inequality in higher education. Her current research projects include examining racial discourse and practices in US higher education via faculty and student encounters with the twin concepts of ‘diversity’ and ‘academic freedom;’ and first-generation students' and faculty members' well-being/mental health, work/family conflicts, and teaching/learning burdens amid the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her work has been published in Law & Society; Sociological Inquiry; Feminist Pedagogy; Innovative Higher Education; and Gender, Work, & Organization.

Julien Grayer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology, Criminology, and Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He was born in New Orleans where he received his Bachelor’s in Sociology at the Xavier University of Louisiana. He received his Master’s in Criminal Justice from the University of Alabama-Birmingham. His research focuses on racial criminalization, criminology, stigma, racial identity construction and racialization, and symbolic interaction. He received his doctorate in sociology from the University of Missouri where he developed his dissertation project exploring how Black undergraduate students navigate their identities and interactions in predominately white environments where they are often coded as criminally suspect or deviant.

Lilith Green is a second year PhD student and teaching associate in the School of Sociology at the University of Arizona. Their work is primarily concerned with identity work in marginalized populations and assessing the sociocultural and psychosocial implications of identity negotiation, especially in regards to gender, race, medicalized deviance, and medical gatekeeping. Their current project explores the ways that gender ambiguity and embodiment, particularly among non-binary patients, are problematized in patient-provider interactions to elucidate the medical policing of divergent identities. Additionally, they are part of a multi-disciplinary team of researchers who are examining BIPOC opinions on the validity and trustworthiness of medical and scientific institutions through the analysis of PEW national survey data.

Michael A. Katovich is a Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Texas Christian University. He has written on diverse subjects, linked to the concepts and theoretical tenets that emerged within the new Iowa School of Symbolic Interaction.

Robert Perinbanayagam is a Professor of Sociology (emeritus) at Hunter College, City University of New York. His works are influenced mainly by the ideas of the American pragmatic philosophers Charles Sanders Peirce and George Herbert Mead and those of the philosopher of language Kenneth Burke. He has been awarded the G. H. Mead Award and the C. H. Cooley Award by the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction and an award by the theory section of the American Sociological Association for his work The Presence of Self. His latest book is Dialogue, Dramas and Emotions (Lexington Books).

Amanda G. Pruit, PhD, LPC-S is a mental health practitioner and independent scholar in Nacogdoches, Texas. Her current research topics include graduate student experiences, academic environments, and emotional and mental health. Her work has appeared in Journal of Human Services, Training, Research, and Practice and Studies in Symbolic Interaction.

John C. Pruit is Associate Professor of Sociology at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. His research focuses on talk and interaction in education contexts. His book, Between Teaching and Caring in the Preschool (2019), considers preschool teachers' identity work in relation to early childhood education. He has published in journals such as Symbolic Interaction, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, and International Review of Qualitative Research.

Carol Rambo is Professor of Sociology at The University of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee. She was the editor of the journal Symbolic Interaction from 2008 to 2011. Her past research has delved into topics such as strip-tease dancing, mentally disabled parenting, childhood sexual abuse, trauma, and theorizing the craft of writing autoethnography. She has published her work in a variety of outlets including Deviant Behavior, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, and Qualitative Inquiry.

Courtney Styron is an independent researcher. She received her BA in Communication and Media from the University of Northern Iowa. Her research areas include Public Relations, and Mass Communication.

Rachel Thornton is currently pursuing a BA in Criminology and a BS in Mathematics, with a minor in Leadership Studies at Christopher Newport University. She is a Presidential Scholar in the Honors Program and the President's Leadership Program. Rachel works as an Undergraduate Research Apprentice through the Office of Research and Creative Activity at Christopher Newport University. She has been actively engaged in research into the experiences of first-generation college students with Dr Linda Waldron and Dr Danielle Docka-Filipek since 2021.

Linda M. Waldron, PhD, is the Co-Founder and Director of the Center for Education Research and Policy, and an Associate Professor of Sociology at Christopher Newport University. Her research and teaching focuses on educational inequality; first-generation college student experiences; inequities in student learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic; school shootings and discipline policies; bullying and cyberbullying; and the role of social media in the lives of teenagers and young adults. Her work has been published in several scholarly journals, including Youth & Society, Social Science Journal, Humanity & Society, and Sociological Studies of Children and Youth.