News & Events
UNCG Sociology graduate student Jasmine Gibbs presents research at the Southern Sociological Society conference
UNCG Sociology graduate student Jasmine Gibbs recently presented research at the Southern Sociological Society meeting. We asked Jasmine about her interests, scholarship, and future plans.
What are your main interests in Sociology?
My main sociological interests are in race, gender, and mental health. More specifically, I am currently interested in Black/White biracial identity. I am also interested in prison abolition and transformative justice practices.
Tell us about the research you presented at SSS.
The work I presented at SSS came from a project I have been a research assistant on since my sophomore year of undergraduate study. I worked under my mentor at NCA&T, Dr. Jeannette Wade, and her colleague, Dr. Ramine Alexander, to examine the physical and psychological impact of the controlling Strong Black Woman (SBW) image on Black women in emerging adulthood (18-25 years old). We conducted focus groups before and after Covid-19. We used Black Feminist Theory and Cheryl Woods-Giscombe’s Superwoman Schema to interpret our results and understand how Gen z women internalize the rigid expectations and the resulting physical or mental health challenges. At SSS, I used a subset of this data and focused on mental health pre and post-Covid. The events of 2020, including Covid-19 and police violence, resulted in negative mental health outcomes including isolation and anxiety, but participants also noted feeling more open about expressing their emotions and increased conversations about mental health with family and friends.
What are your future plans?
My future plans are to enter Ph.D. school after I graduate with my MA from UNCG! I am excited to continue my education and hopefully shed light on the experiences of vulnerable, underrepresented, and understudied communities.
