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Lonely Monsters, Patricia Davis Jan 2015

Lonely Monsters, Patricia Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lonely Monsters is a full-length feature screenplay that explores the ways in which a classic damsel narrative may be reconsidered. It offers ideas on how death and girlhood may find symmetry. The characters within Lonely Monsters deal with loss, identity of the self versus the world's ideas on self-identity, place, gender, and class. Utilizing the elements of a fairy tale, the narrative seeks to complicate the roles of gender in a cautionary tale. Set in the fictional Florida town of Puerto Palmera, an economic divide between the Estates and the Glades makes for a ripe, troublesome environment for a foul …


Modeling Risk For Sexually Transmitted Infections In Women In A Court-Ordered Substance Treatment Program, Frances Deavers Jan 2014

Modeling Risk For Sexually Transmitted Infections In Women In A Court-Ordered Substance Treatment Program, Frances Deavers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Developing a comprehensive model of Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) risk factors and their inter-relationships is vital to improving methods of risk identification and treatment delivery. The CDC posed three general categories that may serve as a framework for such a model: sexual network, individual behavior, and social/ structural risk. None of the extant risk models incorporate measures from all three categories. Additionally, none of these models, generally focused on individual behavior, use medical data on infection as their outcome variable. This is problematic because the ultimate outcome of infection is also influenced by sexual network and social/ structural variables, in …


Minnie And Ivy: Minnie Moore-Willson, Ivy Stranahan, And Seminole Reform In Early Twentieth Century Florida, Sarika Joshi Jan 2014

Minnie And Ivy: Minnie Moore-Willson, Ivy Stranahan, And Seminole Reform In Early Twentieth Century Florida, Sarika Joshi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During an era when the Seminoles were little regarded in Florida, despite mass Indian reform nationwide, Minnie Moore-Willson of Kissimmee and Ivy Stranahan of Fort Lauderdale attempted to bring reform to the state. Living amongst members of the tribe, both women used their familiarity with Seminole life and practices, as well as their political and social connections, to enact change for the tribe. This was done, respectively, through the creation of reservations and attempting to increase educational and vocational opportunities for tribe members. This thesis examines the lives and activism of Minnie Moore-Willson and Ivy Stranahan over the first two …


Positive Political Outcomes From Feminist Islam In Afghanistan: Identifying Development Program Features That Raise The Status Of Women, Margaret Courtney Barnard Jan 2014

Positive Political Outcomes From Feminist Islam In Afghanistan: Identifying Development Program Features That Raise The Status Of Women, Margaret Courtney Barnard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Existing literature establishes a connection between elevating the status of women in less developed countries and positive political outcomes including: increased national stability, decreased likelihood of civil conflict, and international stability. In particular, the literature suggests that working within the dominant cultural framework of a country makes development projects more successful. This thesis expands upon these bodies of literature and examines the outcomes of the work of two major development agencies in Afghanistan, the UN and USAID in the area of women's education and healthcare. The thesis analyzes some specific characteristics that influence the effects of these programs in the …


Living Between Two Worlds: Conflict, Investigation And The Change, Noura Abdulhameed Shuqair Jan 2013

Living Between Two Worlds: Conflict, Investigation And The Change, Noura Abdulhameed Shuqair

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Beginning with my exploration of art as an aesthetic object, this paper shows the growth of my work and concept. Through my practice, I have been able to understand the contradictions in my traditional society and western modernity. It has helped me grapple with my own beliefs, and begin to confront those I don't agree with.


The Gender Gap In Technical Communication: How Women Challenge The Predominant Objectivist Paradigm, Nathan Bower Jan 2012

The Gender Gap In Technical Communication: How Women Challenge The Predominant Objectivist Paradigm, Nathan Bower

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Women are currently underrepresented in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how this underrepresentation translates to a gender gap in the field of technical communication and how this gap causes women to challenge the predominant objectivist paradigm in the field. Through an investigation of peer-reviewed journal articles, periodicals, critical theory, and articles published in online magazines such as Slate, I identify the gendered nature of modern technology and discuss to what extent a shift in the predominant paradigm has occurred in the professional arena. In looking at several theoretical approaches …


Adherence Practices Of Caucasian Women With Hypertension Residing In Rural Florida An Exploratory Study, Jeanne M. Hopple Jan 2011

Adherence Practices Of Caucasian Women With Hypertension Residing In Rural Florida An Exploratory Study, Jeanne M. Hopple

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Elevated blood pressure is often a silent process affecting multiple organ systems. Risk for heart disease is associated with poorly treated or unrecognized hypertension that is more common among women than men. Non-adherence to prescribed treatment regimens has been identified as a major reason for inadequate hypertension management. This exploratory descriptive qualitative study using narrative inquiry investigated adherence practices among Caucasian women with diagnoses of hypertension from a rural area of Florida. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding from women who …


Mixed Signals At The Intersection The Effect Of Organizational Composition On Ratings Of Black Women's Management Suitability, Laticia D. Bowens Jan 2011

Mixed Signals At The Intersection The Effect Of Organizational Composition On Ratings Of Black Women's Management Suitability, Laticia D. Bowens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historically, Black women‘s workplace experiences have been understudied, partially due to an implicit assumption that their experiences are subsumed by research on Black men and/or White women. This oversight is even more evident in the field of management. However, considerable attention has been given to the debate about whether Black women are at a double advantage (i.e., as supposed affirmative action ―two-for-one bargains‖) or at a double disadvantage due to their double marginalizing characteristics. Empirical research in the area has found support for each side, furthering the debate, but also advancing an overly simplistic explanation for a set of experiences …


Exploring Women's Life Course Experiences With Weight Using Story Theory, Poff Allison Edmonds Jan 2011

Exploring Women's Life Course Experiences With Weight Using Story Theory, Poff Allison Edmonds

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study included women who had gone through the menopausal transition and had experienced obesity, and it focused on their weight histories and experiences across the life course. The goal of this research was to add to the body of knowledge concerning weight gain by applying a novel middle range theory (story theory). Story theory was used to collect and interpret from women’s life course stories the critical themes and patterns of their weight gain. Oral accounts were elicited during personal interviews from a convenience sample of ten women recruited from a weight loss and exercise program in Central …


Understanding The Female Conceptualization Of Sexual Addiction And The Role Of Addiction Treatment, Megan Douglass Jan 2010

Understanding The Female Conceptualization Of Sexual Addiction And The Role Of Addiction Treatment, Megan Douglass

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Beginning with the diagnosis of nymphomania in the 19th Century, there has been widespread and continued interest across the mental health and bio-medical realm of what constitutes normality of female sexual behavior, and of the boundary at which sexual desire is deemed to be excessive, and thus abnormal. However, research questions that specifically investigate the subjective female voice and perspective in considerations of so-called hypersexuality or sex addiction remain understudied. This research project proposes to examine the cultural pathways and systemic foundations which have historically in the West problematized female sexuality by investigating women's own perceptions of sexual addiction and …


Bullying: Out Of The School Halls And Into The Workplace, Lucretia Cooney Jan 2010

Bullying: Out Of The School Halls And Into The Workplace, Lucretia Cooney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study is to identify those people at most risk of being bullied at work. While much research is being conducted on school bullying, little has been conducted on workplace bullying. Using data gathered from a 2004 study conducted by the National Opinion Research Center for the General Social Survey, which included a Quality of Work Life (QWL) module for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), linear regressions indicated significant findings. As predicted, workers in lower level occupations, as ranked by prestige scoring developed at National Opinion Research, are more likely to be …


Vibia Perpetua's Diary: A Women's Writing In A Roman Text Of Its Own, Melissa Perez Jan 2009

Vibia Perpetua's Diary: A Women's Writing In A Roman Text Of Its Own, Melissa Perez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Writing the history of women in antiquity is hindered by the lack of written sources by them. It has been the norm to assume that the only sources that can tell us something about them are the sources written by men. This thesis challenges this convention as it concerns the social history of Rome through the exploration of a written source by a woman named Vibia Perpetua. She was a Roman woman of twenty-two years from Roman Carthage, who was martyred on March 7, 203 C.E. The reason that we know of this Roman woman and what happened to her …


Bloudy Tygrisses: Murderous Women In Early Modern English Drama And Popular Literature, Alexandra Hill Jan 2009

Bloudy Tygrisses: Murderous Women In Early Modern English Drama And Popular Literature, Alexandra Hill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines artistic and literary images of murderous women in popular print published in sixteenth and seventeenth-century England. The construction of murderous women in criminal narratives, published between 1558 and 1625 in pamphlet, ballad, and play form, is examined in the context of contemporary historical records and cultural discourse. Chapter One features a literature review of the topic in recent scholarship. Chapter Two, comprised of two subsections, discusses representations of early modern women in contemporary literature and criminal archives. The subsections in Chapter Two examine early modern treatises, sermons, and essays concerning the nature of women, the roles and …


Art Therapy Treatment With Incarcerated Women, Bonnie Erickson Jan 2008

Art Therapy Treatment With Incarcerated Women, Bonnie Erickson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effectiveness of art therapy in decreasing symptoms of trauma and psychological distress in women who were incarcerated in county jails in the Southeastern United States. In order to protect the integrity of the study, control subjects were in different dormitories from the treatment subjects. While the dormitories were randomly assigned to treatment or control, the subjects were not. The dependent measures were paper and pencil tests, the Outcome Questionnaire (OQ-45.2) and the Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) given at pretest and posttest. A demographic questionnaire was completed in the first session to better characterize the participants. In …


A Study Of Gender Equality At Private And Public Two-Year And Four-Year Florida Institutions, Stacey Lazenby Malaret Jan 2007

A Study Of Gender Equality At Private And Public Two-Year And Four-Year Florida Institutions, Stacey Lazenby Malaret

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to examine the perception of gender equality from the viewpoint of women administrators at Florida public and private two- and four-year institutions. Potential respondents were chosen from American College Personnel Association and/or National Association of Student Personnel Administrators databases. The data used for this study were obtained from 32 female administrators (50% response rate) who completed a self-administered online questionnaire, distributed to potential respondents in August and September, 2007. Collected data were entered into an SPSS database. Through data analysis, confidence intervals were reported for each survey item. Comparable means were studied for each of the six …


The Importance Of Addressing Acculturative Stress In Marital Therapy With Hispanic American Women, Mary Hammons Jan 2007

The Importance Of Addressing Acculturative Stress In Marital Therapy With Hispanic American Women, Mary Hammons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between acculturative stress and marital distress among Hispanic American women and to explore the potential mediating roles of variables believed to be important to marital functioning among ethnic minorities and immigrants (e.g., acculturation, ethnic identity, social support, etc.). Based on data from 103 Hispanic American married women, pressure to acculturate toward the dominant culture of the U.S. was found to significantly correlate with the amount of distress the women reported in their marital relationships. Two variables were found to partially mediate the correlation. Perceived social support and recent stressful life …


10x The Talent = 1/3 Of The Credit: How Female Musicians Are Treated Differently In Music, Meggan Jordan Jan 2006

10x The Talent = 1/3 Of The Credit: How Female Musicians Are Treated Differently In Music, Meggan Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is an exploratory, qualitative study of female musicians and their experiences with discrimination in the music industry. Using semi-structured interviews, I analyze the experiences of nine women, ages 21 to 56, who are working as professional musicians, or who have worked professionally in the past. I ask them how they are treated differently based on their gender. Three forms of subtle discrimination are inferred from their narrative histories. First, female musicians are mistaken for non-musicians. They are encapsulated into inferior roles, like "the gimmick," "good for a girl," and "invisible accessory." Second, band mates and band managers control women's …


Attainment Of Doctoral Degree For American Indian And Alaska Native Women, Rosalin Hanna Jan 2005

Attainment Of Doctoral Degree For American Indian And Alaska Native Women, Rosalin Hanna

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) population is challenged with diverse learning styles, high-risk behaviors, low economic status, low enrollment predictions, lower total education achievement, or lower graduate level higher education. However, AI/AN doctoral degree recipients may be successful due to diverse sources of support. Data from 1992 to 2002 SED was analyzed using Chi square tests to observe the trends of the total number of AI/AN women receiving doctoral degree compared to trends to African-American/Black, Hispanic, Asian, White, Other / Unknown women doctoral degree recipients. A two-way contingency table analysis was conducted to compare the difference in the total number …


The Effects Of Exposure To Feminist Ideology On Women's Body Image, Rachel Diane Peterson Jan 2005

The Effects Of Exposure To Feminist Ideology On Women's Body Image, Rachel Diane Peterson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Body image disturbance has become an increasing problem among women (Cash & Henry, 1995). Thus researchers have begun to focus on methods of prevention and intervention. Programs utilizing psychoeducation and Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory, for example, have been found to reduce body image dissatisfaction and related symptomatology. The information provided and potential impact are limited, however, because the interventions do not offer women an adaptive method of interpreting the many appearance-related messages they experience. This study sought to determine if exposure to feminist theory of body image may act as a buffer – a filter through which cultural messages about …


Women's Experiences With Distance Education, Jane Elizabeth Moody Jan 2004

Women's Experiences With Distance Education, Jane Elizabeth Moody

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines issues that affect women in online learning, and discusses four women's particular experiences in the University of Central Florida's distance learning program. Online education involves aspects of support and communication that may affect women's learning experiences either positively or negatively. Distance learning may also allow women to pursue their education while still taking care of their families and outside work. In order to get a better idea of how distance learning impacts women, I discuss several studies that examine how distance learning affects women in particular. I identify three areas from this literature that seem to be …