Norwood

Carolette Norwood

Professor & Department Chair of Sociology and Criminology, Howard University

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About Carolette

Norwood's current research interests include exploring the simultaneity and particularities of feminism(s) in the African Diaspora within and across geographical and global context; sexual health disparities at the intersection of gender, race, sexuality, place and space; stress, trauma and mental health wellbeing among midlife African-American women; and spatial distribution of HIV across the Cincinnati MSA. Norwood is also engaged in an innovative body of work that explores interracial intimacy broadly, and with specific focus on “Interracial (or Biracial) Fertility”. This work explores the historical policies regulating racial contact and intimacy as well as racial classifications in the United States. She earned her PhD in Sociology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and was an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow at the Université de Montréal in African Demography. 

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Publications

"Condom Attitudes and Use among African America College Women Students" (with Yuanting Zhang). Journal of Black Sexuality and Relationships 2, no. 1 (2015): 84-99.

Assesses the social cognitive factors, such as knowledge of risk, perceived efficacies, and perceptions of risk and barriers, on condom attitudes and usage of 424 female African American undergraduates at a large urban university.

"Perspectives in Africana Feminism " Sociology Compass 7, no. 3 (2013): 225-236.

Discusses perspectives in Africana feminist thought in three regions: Africa, North America, and the Caribbean. Highlights the great commonalities in Africana women’s lived experience under colonialism and slavery that helped shaped and develop this distinct brand of feminism.

"Body Image Concerns among African American College Women " (with Germine Awad & Mercedes Martinez). Journal of Black Psychology 41, no. 6 (2014): 540-564.

Examines body image concerns among African American women. Examines unique issues pertaining to beauty and body image for African American college-age women. Analyzes data pertaining to issues related to hair, skin tone, body type, and message sources. Suggests a reconceptualization of body image for African American women where relevant characteristics such as hair and skin tone are given more priority over traditional body image concerns often associated with European American women.

"Factors that Influence HIV Testing among Non-Marginalized African American Women" American Journal of Health Studies 26, no. 4 (2011): 208-216 .

Assesses socio-behavioral influence on HIV testing among non-marginalized African American women. Discusses how risk perception, perceived barriers, and positive attitudes towards condoms are significantly associated with decreased odds of getting tested.

"Microcredit and Women's Empowerment in Rural Ghana" Journal of International and Development Studies 4 (2014): 128-158.

Builds on the few formal studies of informal banking systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, and evaluates the extent to which participation in these systems is associated with women’s empowerment status. 

"Women, Microcredit, and Family Planning Practices: A Case Study from Rural Ghana" Journal of Asian and African Studies 46, no. 2 (2011): 169-183.

Examines the influence of informal banking club participation on family planning practices in rural Ghana. Tests the thesis that family planning practices are improved by club participation in an African context, using rural Ghana as a case study. Suggests that club membership and membership length is not associated with family planning practices; however, age, education level, number of children and empowerment status are.