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Grave Exclamations: An Analysis Of Tombstones And Their Use As Narrative Of Self, Lacey Jae Ritter Jan 2012

Grave Exclamations: An Analysis Of Tombstones And Their Use As Narrative Of Self, Lacey Jae Ritter

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

We establish our selves through narratives--with others and by ourselves--during life. What happens, however, when a person dies? The following paper looks at the way narratives about the deceased's selves are created by the bereaved after their loved ones have died. The paper focuses on the narratives created on the deceased's tombstones, as these are available to the public and last the longest of all final declarations of the person's identity (i.e., obituaries, funeral programs, eulogies). Because I am interested in the way narratives of the self are constructed postmortem, a symbolic interactionist approach was used. The study focuses on …


Manning Up: A Look At Women In The Military And Their Sense Of Self, Kari Elizabeth Davis Jan 2012

Manning Up: A Look At Women In The Military And Their Sense Of Self, Kari Elizabeth Davis

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study is to uncover identity shaping in women of the military. I interviewed eleven women from various branches of the military to uncover changes in their sense of self, emotion management, and role person merge. Six of these my respondents were deployed to combat zones. The women of this study went to basic training and learned how to be a soldier. They go through a process of "manning up" where they leave behind prior behaviors and beliefs and display a masculine front in order to be successful in their military careers. They also demonstrate a role …


Gender Differences In Cigarette Smoking: The Relationship Between Social Perceptions Of Cigarette Smokers And Smoking Prevalence, Juhee Woo Jan 2012

Gender Differences In Cigarette Smoking: The Relationship Between Social Perceptions Of Cigarette Smokers And Smoking Prevalence, Juhee Woo

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This research is a descriptive study of gender differences in cigarette smoking. By comparing U.S college students with Korean college students, the researcher seeks to examine if there is a relationship between the extent of gender difference in social perceptions of cigarette smokers and the extent of gender difference in smoking prevalence. Results show that female smokers are more negatively evaluated than male smokers in both countries but the gender differences are greater in the Korean sample than the U.S sample. Likewise, the gender differences in smoking prevalence are greater in the Korean sample than the U.S sample. Consequently, this …


Exploring Gerotranscendence And How It Relates To Depression And Attitudes About Death, Adam Duane Massmann Jan 2012

Exploring Gerotranscendence And How It Relates To Depression And Attitudes About Death, Adam Duane Massmann

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Tornstam's theory of gerotranscendence can be defined as a "shift in meta-perspective from a materialistic and rational view to a more cosmic and transcendent one, normally followed by an increase in life satisfaction" (Tornstam 1989:55). The theory of gerotranscendence, a relatively new theory about aging, is based on a number of previously existing theories all of which in Tornstam's opinion have failed to explain the changes associated with aging. The current research attempted to identify whether or not the signs of gerotranscendence were generalizable to a moderately sized Southern Minnesota city. The researcher was also interested in whether or not …


Memory Priming In Elderly Individuals Diagnosed With Dementia, Jessica Lee Deselms Jan 2012

Memory Priming In Elderly Individuals Diagnosed With Dementia, Jessica Lee Deselms

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of the current study was to examine the efficacy of a novel memory enhancement procedure for individuals with dementia named "memory priming." Three elderly individuals with a diagnosis of dementia participated in the study. Baseline procedures involved identifying low-probability items that served as targets for the intervention and moderate-probability questions that served as control items. A variation of a reversal design was implemented to compare three different conditions: the memory priming intervention and two control conditions that involved reading aloud and a watching a video. The results of the study indicated that individuals with moderate-to-severe memory impairment do …


Determining Musical Preferences In Persons With Dementia: Comparing Caregiver Options To Stimulus Preference Assessment, Eva Christine Igler Jan 2012

Determining Musical Preferences In Persons With Dementia: Comparing Caregiver Options To Stimulus Preference Assessment, Eva Christine Igler

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The music therapy literature supports the use of individualized music in order to reduce problem behaviors among individuals with moderate to severe dementia; however, these interventions frequently rely on family members and/or staff to choose preferred music. Family members and caregivers are often inaccurate when choosing preferred stimuli for cognitively impaired individuals. The purpose of this study was to determine if family members and caregivers could accurately identify the preferred music of individuals with dementia. A single stimulus preference assessment was used to empirically determine preferred music and then these results were compared to family member and caregiver rankings. The …