Digital Commons Network^™

Re-Cycling The Menstrual Cycle: A Multidisciplinary Reinterpretation Of Menstruation, Heather H. Rea

Masters Theses

This thesis offers a reinterpretation of the human female menstrual cycle that understands the process as positive, functional, and practical experience. Standard western definitions and understandings of menstruation use negative terminology and focus on menstrual blood as an indicator of failed conception. This view contributes significantly to the negative perception women have of menstruation in general, their own menstrual cycles, and ultimately of their femaleness. This fundamental, physiological process that symbolizes femaleness, the menstrual cycle, has been defined both, bio-medically and culturally, as a negative experience. I propose a reconceptualization of the menstrual cycle that is not only a tool …

Community Empowerment And Social Policy Design: A Case Study Of The Creation Of A School-Based Health Center, R. Ian Costello

Masters Theses

Studies of community empowerment have shown the benefits of involving recipient communities in the process of designing and implementing social aid programs. One of these benefits is the empowerment of previously disenfranchised individuals and communities. Through qualitative ethnographic research, this thesis shows how residents of one low-income community in South-West Michigan have become more empowered through their involvement in the design and implementation of a school-based health center.

A Multiplicity Of Goals In A Migrant Household, Patrick James Maher

Masters Theses

This paper explores data collected on Mexican migrants who were living in southwestern Michigan during the Spring and Summer of 1994. Its purpose is to examine the role of the family among one migrant household and to determine whether the findings coincide with other studies completed on Mexican migrant families.

The data examined indicates two major problems in applying its findings to current migration literature. The first involves the concept of a 'united family unit' and the second relates to the notion of a 'common family goal.' The data suggests that the theory on which these concepts are based must …