Digital Commons Network^™

Acculturation And Response Style On Mexican Americans On The Millon Index Of Personality Styles, Alicia Stephens Guffey

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This research investigated response style differences between highly acculturated and low acculturated Mexican-Americans on the Negative Impression (NI) and Positive Impression (PI) Scales of the Millon Index of Personality Styles (Millon, 1994). The MIPS is a questionnaire designed to measure personality styles of normally functioning adults. Research has suggested that culturally distinct response styles are common in less acculturated Mexican-Americans. If present, these culturally distinct styles could be misinterpreted and have a negative or harmful impact on the assessment of Mexican-Americans. Analyses of covariance on data from two culturally distinct groups of Mexican-American college students, with age, gender, educational level, …

Student Achievement, Parental Effort And Schooling, Andrew James Houtenville

Doctoral Dissertations

When evaluating public education programs that are aimed at improving student achievement, it is often assumed that a child's family background is an exogenous factor, albeit an important factor. However, parental decisions may be influenced by such programs. It is the assertion of Becker and Tomes (1976) that distortions in parental behavior (time allocation) may be one of the reasons that compensatory education fails to improve student achievement. In short, parents reduce their own effort when school services (schooling) is increased. However, theoretically parental responses are ambiguous; parental effort can increase or decrease in response to increased schooling. This dissertation …

Psychosocial And Sociostructural Determinants Of Mastery: The Context Of Age And Disability, Scott David Schieman

Doctoral Dissertations

The "active" and "potent" self has held a special interest to philosophers, psychologists, and sociologists since the inception of those disciplines. The present research uses sociological perspectives on social comparison and reference group theory to provide a framework for understanding the various dimensions of self-process in the context of age and disability. Specifically, this research examines associations between age, disability, and social status indicators as they impress upon personal agency or mastery.

This study uses secondary data that includes respondents aged 18 and over who resided in any of ten counties in Southwestern Ontario and were part of a two-wave …

The Female Coach In The World Of Collegiate Sport: Accommodation And Resistance To The Dominant Sport Culture, Nita Marie Lamborghini

Doctoral Dissertations

This research explores the nature and meaning of collegiate coaching as an occupation for women and the extent to which women coaches accommodate to and resist the dominant sport culture. This study includes a brief historical analysis of the roots of coaching as an occupation for women and the emergence and nature of the "female model" of sport. To further explore the nature and meaning of coaching and the extent of accommodation and resistance to the dominant sport culture, forty-six (46) in-depth interviews were conducted with women collegiate coaches currently employed at an NCAA affiliated institution. A brief survey and …

A Place In Town: Women Producing Cultural Stratification, Carrie Lynn Yodanis

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines how women in a working class, fishing community select and present cultural orientations to distinguish themselves from other women and create stratification. Based on data gathered through eight months of participant observation and 44 in-depth interviews, the research shows that local women choose and then reinforce social identities that reflect the norms, values, lifestyles of either the working class town, the wealthy summer colony, or people from outside the community. They present their cultural orientations through their work ethics, leisure activities, consumption practices, and family values and expectations. By producing these identities, women create and establish a …

Mothers' Helpers: The Resources Of Female-Headed Families In A Working Class Community, Margaret Walsh

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines why women form single parent households and how they maintain them in a rural community. In 1995 and 1996 I conducted in-depth interviews with 50 divorced, separated, and never-married mothers, and 10 interviews with people working in community service programs. My findings show how one group of women benefited from early financial investments from their own steadily employed parents who owned their home and raised a large family. These "strong" families are headed by women who finished high school and had work experience before getting pregnant. Although many of them gave birth out of wedlock, they had …

Strippers Reveal The Naked Truth: A Case Study Of Women Employed In The Stripping Occupation In London Clubs (Ontario)., Karen Joan. Orton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined twenty-four women employed in the occupation of stripping in two London, Ontario, strip clubs. Twenty-two of these women were of table dancer status, while the remaining two were of feature dancer status. The primary goal of this research was to describe the work world of dancers within the occupation of stripping. While research on the subject of stripping and strippers has most commonly been viewed from a deviance viewpoint, this research looked at strippers and stripping as a legitimate and chosen means of work for women. To this end, occupational theory was applied to the work world …

Use Of Informal And Formal Service By Noninstitutionalized Elderly Who Need Assistance., Lih-Yun Chen

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purposes of this study were to examine where elderly people obtained assistance for Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and for Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs), to explore the relationship between the types of support system the elderly used and selected variables, and to formulate a conceptual model to explain and predict the use of informal or formal service in elderly assistance. The hierarchial-compensatory model and the complementary model were examined. Both models were supported by parts of the findings. A random sample of 263 noninstitutionalized elderly was interviewed from five Labor Market Areas in Louisiana. Only those who …

Tracing The Emergence Of Corporal Phase Discipline And Punishment In A Modern Society: The Argentine Case (1969-1979)., Michael Victor. Agostinis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this research is to develop a social theory explaining why corporal phases of discipline emerge in recent modernized societies. This theory is generated from the historical analysis of Argentina throughout the years 1969 to 1979. Within this time period, a state developed terror apparatus was utilized between 1976 and 1979 to eliminate all forms of subversion. The theoretical bases of this research stem from two major sources. Michel Foucault's work in Discipline and Punish (1979) aided in the formulation of ideological arguments and Immanuel Wallerstein's World-systems theory assisted the structural analysis. In general, this research pays close …

Dying To Be Thin: The Social Construction Of The Female Beauty Ideal And Eating Disorders., Susan Elizabeth. Martell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although there has been a substantial amount of research conducted on females and eating disorders, little emphasis has been placed on social factors. Exploratory research was performed in an attempt to answer the question, "Can eating disorders be scientifically explained by psychological and/or biochemical factors at the expense of undermining certain social factors and their explanatory power in eating disorders. In short, should the explanation of eating disorders be viewed as a combination of psychological and/or biochemical factors as well as social factors, whose explanatory significance should not be overlooked?" Following the theory of social construction, and an Interpretive Interactionist …

Aboriginality And Rugby League In Australia: An Exploratory Study Of Identity Construction And Professional Sport., Darren John. Godwell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this exploratory study was to better understand the relationship between Rugby League and Aboriginality. The prevalence of Aborigines within the ranks of professional Rugby League players exceeds their proportion of the overall population. Many journalists have therefore speculated about possible explanations for this trend. To date the most common response has been to credit "black magic"--an innate physical ability possessed by Australia's Indigenous peoples. The primary question of this study was: What is the relationship between Rugby League and Aboriginality? This question was divided into three sub-problems in order to focus the data collection and assist with …

Down But Not Out: A Study Of A Men's Shelter From A Symbolic Interactionist Perspective., Scott Daniel. Rogers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Men living in a shelter was examined from the perspective of the individual. The research encompasses three main areas: (1) attribution of causes which lead to homelessness, (2) the homeless' own definition of their situation, and (3) the subjects' future plans relating to their family, employment and housing. The theoretical framework employed is Symbolic Interactionism. Following an Interpretive Interactionist methodology, 30 males living in the shelter were interviewed utilizing an open ended questionnaire. The research questions included the role macro and micro causes played in men becoming homeless. Other questions centred on the subject's definition of the situation and presentation …

The Link Between Economic Restructuring, Economic Deprivation, And Serious Crime In American Cities, 1970-1990., Graham Christopher Ousey

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation postulates that the economic transition from manufacturing to service employment is a major factor leading to high rates of economic deprivation and crime in major U.S. cities. By integrating theory and research from several substantive areas of sociology, I extend macro-level research in criminology and develop a social organization/social control explanation of city crime rates. I use both cross-sectional and longitudinal regression methods to investigate the direct and indirect effects of a city's industrial structure on race-disaggregated rates of homicide, robbery, and burglary. Based upon data from 113 major cities in the United States, I compute a series …

Family Context And Premarital Sexual Activity In Kinshasa, Zaire., Yanyi Kasongo Djamba

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Studies on sexual behavior in Africa have shown that the proportion of women with premarital sexual experience is high, but the factors associated with premarital sexual behavior have not been clearly identified. This is partly due to the separation between theory and research. This study attempts to fill this gap by constructing a new conceptual framework in which hypotheses of rational adaptation, social disorganization, and patrilineal bias theories can be empirically tested. Based on a life history approach, the present framework emphasizes the role of three dimensions of family background in shaping individual behavior: financial capital, human capital, and social …

Exploring Sexual Exploitation Of Children From A Criminal Events Perspective., Shelley. Young

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The literature surrounding child sexual assault is expansive, but most of it focuses on either the victim, the offender or one specific type of assault (i.e. incest). Few studies examine the social context in which sexual exploitation develops. The purpose of this research was to fill this gap by examining what routine activities, aspects of lifestyle and presentations of self facilitate access to and the sexual exploitation of children. Criminal events theory guided the analysis of 49 child sexual assault case-files from the Victim-Witness Assistance Program in Windsor, Ontario. While many of the results support the findings indicated in the …

The Disappearance Of Flq Terrorism And The Cycle Of Social Protest In Quebec, 1963-1976., Paul William. Lynd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the social conditions responsible for the lack of sustained insurgent terrorism in Quebec. Through the use of social movement and collective action theory, the relationship between FLQ terrorism and other forms of protest is investigated and compared with the growth of labour and separatist organizations. The years 1963 to 1976 are examined in an attempt to explain how terrorist activity changed over these years as the organization of the separatist movement changed. It was found that as the separatist movement grew and evolved into large and complex organizations, FLQ terrorism was replaced with conventional mass-based protest and …

Delinquents' Perceptions Of Family Upbringing: An Interpretive Interactionist Investigation Of Family Patterns Common In The Youth Of Criminally Charged Adults., Timothy John. Armaly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The area of family and deviance was examined from the perspective of the delinquent. The research investigated the question, "Do any patterns or similarities exist in how young men involved in crime perceive various aspects of their family lives during their childhood and teenage years?" Following an Interpretive Interactionist approach, 20 males sentenced to a period of probation for varying offenses, were interviewed utilizing an open ended questionnaire. Perceptions of such family aspects as discipline, communication with parents, affection, supervision, and other similar attributes were examined. Two distinct groups of individuals were revealed from the collected data. Group A, comprised …

Identity Development And Student Involvement Of African-American Undergraduate Students At Historically White Colleges And Universities In Southern Appalachia, Rosemary G. Bundy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study of African American undergraduates at Emory & Henry College, Tusculum College, Western Carolina University, East Tennessee State University, Appalachian State University, and University of North Carolina at Asheville was conducted to determine students' stages of identity development, level of involvement in campus activities, and demographic characteristics within historically White Southern Appalachian colleges and universities, both public and independent. Three research questions were answered by analyzing 21 null hypotheses using the t-test and the chi square test. Hypotheses were tested at the.05 level of significance. Data collected in this study revealed that the students' perceptions of identity development and …