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What Constitutes A Good Place To Age? A Qualitative Exploration Of The Concept Of Home In Varied Aging Contexts, Qi Wang

Sociology Dissertations

This dissertation research explores Chinese older adults’ perceptions of home in varied aging contexts and assesses the process of obtaining a feeling of home after relocation in an old age. Two sets of qualitative data were drawn for the study: one was collected in Atlanta, Georgia to understand Chinese older immigrants’ home-making experiences in the U.S. (n=21); the other one was drawn in Xi’an, Shan Xi Province to delineate manifestations and pathways that lead to older people’s feelings of home in six different long-term care (LTC) facilities in China (n=38). The study intends to highlight the multi-faceted meanings of home, …

Broken Bonds: The Role Of Place-Based Social Bonds In Shaping Public Housing Relocation Outcomes, Chandra Ward

Sociology Dissertations

In the last two decades, the Housing Opportunity for Everyone program (HOPE VI), has displaced hundreds of thousands of public housing residents into either mixed income developments or the private rental market. As part of the Urban Health Initiative project, this dissertation examines the impact of housing mobility policy implementation on Atlanta’s former public housing residents, focusing specifically on the disruption of place-based social ties and post-relocation well-being. Results indicate that overall relocation has little to no effect on financial stability for the sample. Social disintegration appears be the biggest factor in mental health outcomes, and there are differences in …

Black Girl Magic? The Influence Of The Strong Black Woman Schema On The Mental Health Of Black Women In The United States, Stephanie Hall

Sociology Dissertations

The Strong Black Woman Schema (SBWS) refers to the collective believes, behaviors, resources and responses Black women are socialized to embody. The SBWS was developed as a positive counterimage to the negative stereotypes of Black women, such as the mammy or the jezebel, and is an important image among Black women. Observations suggest that the SBWS may affect how Black women experience and interpret stress and mental illness. I assert the SBWS may serve as one comprehensive explanation for the mental health outcomes observed for Black women. Qualitative and quantitative studies have identified a set of characteristics (i.e. strength, emotion …

Mixed Messages: The Effect Of Social Location, Parental Communication About Sex, And Formal Sexual Education On Protective Sexual Behaviors, Eryn G. Viscarra

Sociology Dissertations

This dissertation tests if a young adult’s social location determines what type of information he or she will receive about sexual health from parents and formal sexual education programs. I also test whether sexual education mediates direct associations between social location and 4 protective sexual health behaviors: condom communication, consistent condom use, delaying sexual debut, and reducing the number of lifetime sexual partners. Using the 2011-2013 wave of the National Survey of Family Growth, I look for differences in sexual education and engaging in protective sexual health behaviors among white, Hispanic, and African American men and women ages 15-24. I …

Accessing Health: Examining Racial And Geographic Disparities In Diabetes Prevalence As A Result Of The Built Environment, Amanda Powell

Sociology Dissertations

Diabetes is a leading cause of premature death and disability in the United States and vulnerable populations may be at increased risk. Racial residential segregation, population density, and other factors influence the built environment, which in turn affects access to health-related facilities. Using the theory of fundamental causes, this study aims to determine whether neighborhood-level sociodemographic factors, the built environment, and subsequent access to health-related facilities are associated with diabetes prevalence in Georgia’s population.

A built environment assessment of all health facilities located in the state of Georgia was conducted using health data from the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance …

"Still Here, Still Queer" And We Ain't Going Nowhere: A Qualitative Study Of Community During A Second-Wave Of Activity, Neal Carnes

Sociology Dissertations

Are we witnessing the emergence of queer community? To answer this question, I interviewed self-identified queer people living in Atlanta, Georgia. During one-on-one and relational interviews, 31 participants reflected on how they understand and live queer, as well as socialize with other queers. An intention of this study is to advance theory; as such, this analysis inspected tenets asserted by “first wave” theoreticians and activists of the 1980s and 1990s. To test theory, I attend to queer as fluid, non-normative and diverse. The participants viewed their queerness in sexuality, gender, and political terms congruent with a first-wave framework. On the …

"Why Even Bother? They Are Not Going To Do It": Racism And Medicalization In The Lactation Profession, Erin V. Thomas

Sociology Dissertations

Research confirms that breastfeeding disparities persist and that lactation consultants play a key role in reducing them. However, there continues to be a limited availability of International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) in the US with racial minorities in particular facing persistent barriers in the certification process. Through semi-structured interviews with 36 IBCLCs across the US, this study takes a systematic look at breastfeeding disparities through the lens of the IBCLC. Specifically, this study addresses barriers to certification and employment discrimination faced by IBCLCs of color, race-based discrimination against patients, and the ways in which IBCLCs work to both medicalize …

One Step At A Time: The Dilemmas, Strategies, And Outcomes Of Bi-National Same-Sex Relationships During Doma And Beyond, Aline Jesus Rafi

Sociology Dissertations

For 17 years, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Public Law 104-199, 110 U.S. Statutes at Large 2419 (1996), prevented same-sex couples from enjoying the same federal benefits granted to heteronormative married couples. Among these benefits, the inability to provide immigration sponsorship for foreign-born spouses was particularly burdensome for bi-national same-sex couples. In this dissertation, marriage inequality serves as the backdrop for an investigation of bi-national same-sex couples’ dilemmas, strategies, and ultimate outcomes during and after the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Section 3 of DOMA. With the use of semi-structured interviews, I collected data from 30 individuals in …

'Tis Better To Give And To Receive: Social Support, Stress, And Mental Health In Dyadic Relationships, Stephanie Hansard

Sociology Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Research Questions: How do levels of perceived support within dyadic social networks interact to predict mental health outcomes for both network members? I examine whether one’s significant other’s level of perceived social support moderates the relationship between one’s own perceived social support and one’s own depressive and anxiety symptoms. I also consider whether stress may moderate the support-mental health relationship.

Method: I use Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling investigate how each respondent’s own perceived social support and each respondent’s significant other’s perceived social support predict each respondent’s levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms. I use a sample of 982 respondent dyads, …

Notorious But Invisible: How Romani Media Portrayals Invalidate Romani Identity And Existence In Mainstream Society, Melanie Covert

Sociology Dissertations

The Romani are a group of individuals that have been acknowledged in newspapers, television, movies and other forms of media but remain invisible as a people world-wide. Through the use of qualitative interviews, content analysis and qualitative synthesis, this study investigates why this phenomenon occurs in the United States as well as Europe. Overall, it was found that media portrayals negatively impact the Romani’s ability to successfully acculturate, increases their experiences of prejudice and discrimination and negatively impacts their social, physical and mental health. Romani media portrayals also appropriate the Romani’s ability to define themselves to mainstream society and impacts …

An Imperfect And Incomplete Quest For Freedom: An Extended Case Study Of Black American Counter-Framing And Resistance Strategies, Angela Luvara

Sociology Dissertations

Through this study, I aim to expand the body of knowledge related to Black counter-framing strategies employed in the United States. In this extended case study, I examine the ways in which young Black cis-hetero male creators living in Atlanta, Georgia employ the use of counter-frames to navigate and resist the dominant white racial frame. Specifically, I analyze their use of double consciousness, freedom, and alchemical capitalism as counter-frames as resistance. I advocate for a nuanced approach to examining resistance strategies that includes embracing imperfect and incomplete acts of resistance. By examining these resistance strategies, despite their faults, perhaps we …

Public Housing Relocation And Utilization Of The Food Safety Net: The Role Of Social Capital And Cultural Capital, Marcie Hambrick

Sociology Dissertations

HOPE VI, instituted in 1993 and subsequent related policies, resulted in the demolition of traditional public housing and the relocation of former residents. For former residents living on low incomes, combining housing subsidy and other social services is important to survival. One crucial type of social services support provides food supplements. Research indicates that among low-income families, many do not receive necessary food social services. For example, among eligibles, food stamp utilization is at 50 to 60%, and for Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children (WIC) rates vary from 38 to 73%. Research indicates that 35% of …

"Some Guys Do, But That's Not Me." Language Use And The Rejection Of Hegemonic Masculinity., Lanier Basenberg

Sociology Dissertations

Young men experience daily struggles to live up to an American ideal of masculinity that does not leave room for emotion, tenderness, and respect for their sexual partners – and they are beginning to reject this ideal outright. In this study I give young men the space and freedom to talk openly about sex in general and their sexual experiences in particular, with the goal of ascertaining how their talk illustrates and impacts their performance of masculinity. I employed a qualitative approach, including focus groups consisting of college men of all sexual orientations, and a comprehensive survey regarding their sexual …

Successful Sexual Aging: A Feminist Gerontological Examination Of Sexual Behavior And Health, Christina Barmon

Sociology Dissertations

As gerontology has shifted from emphasizing the problems of aging to exploring how older adults can thrive, researchers have increased their attention on new issues including sexuality and aging. A sometimes explicit, but often implicit assumption in this research, is that sex is good for you—that it is an integral part of a full and healthy life or successful aging. Although successful aging is one of the most commonly cited theories in social gerontology (Alley et al. 2010), it has not gone without criticism (Martinson and Berridge 2014). Using an unrefined successful aging framework for sex research has the potential …

Red, White, And Gay?: American Identity, White Savior Complex, And Pink Policing, Marik Xavier-Brier

Sociology Dissertations

In this dissertation, I examine the internal divisions in LGBT/Q communities. I illustrate how the notion of a single, unified community is not only fictive, but counter to the goals of liberation. Utilizing critical discourse analysis, I examine cultural artifacts of the contemporary gay rights movement to determine who has the power to shape domestic and international gay rights discourse. I analyze the role of gay citizenship through the same-sex marriage debates, the creation of the homonational soldier, and how gay rights is employed in international conflicts to strategically promote some countries as progressive, while denouncing others as backwards. I …

Neoliberalism And The Politics Of Social Enterprises In South Korea: The Dynamics Of Neoliberal Governmentality And Hegemony, Joohwan Kim

Sociology Dissertations

Social enterprises have been promoted globally as alternative economic institutions to neoliberalism for the last few decades. In this study, I explored how social enterprises and the subjectivities of social entrepreneurs emerged as new discursive formations and institutional mechanisms in the neoliberal transformation of governance strategies in South Korea. Three broader questions guide this study. First, how have social enterprises emerged as a new discursive formation and a new institutional mechanism in neoliberal South Korean society? Second, how are the new subjectivities of social entrepreneurs produced in ways that are consistent with neoliberalism? Finally what are the implications of the …

The Effect Of Social Capital On Hispanic Post-Secondary Educational Outcomes, Amy Stalzer

Sociology Dissertations

Hispanics have one of the lowest college enrollment rate of any racial/ethnic group in the United States, and for those who enroll, they are three times less likely than Whites to graduate with a four-year degree. Past research has explored racial and socioeconomic disparities for Hispanics and focused on educational attrition. This study takes a different approach, drawing attention to factors which positively influence college degree attainment. Specifically, utilizing a social capital and education retention theory framework, this study sought to understand how social capital factors may contribute to Hispanic educational outcomes. Using a national data set from the Educational …

Wed-Locked: Television And The Acceptance Of Same-Sex Relationships, Cory Albertson

Sociology Dissertations

2011 was the first year the majority of the American public were in favor of same-sex marriage—a nine point (and largest year-to-year) increase from 2010. That year gave the LGBTQ community a crucial win in the hard-fought cultural war over government validation of same-sex relationships. Not so coincidentally, 2010 saw mass media, specifically network television, depict same-sex relationships like never before. New shows like Modern Family, Glee and The Good Wife hit their ratings zenith alongside stalwarts like Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and House. But were the relationships depicted diverse in terms of roles, race, class and gender? …

Ill-Timed: The Effect Of Early Chronic Illness Onset On Young Adult Psychosocial Development, Eundria A. Hill-Joseph

Sociology Dissertations

Chronic illness affects nearly half of all American adults, yet this experience is often regarded as socially normative for older adults. In this study, I examined chronic illness onset early in the life course and its effects on mastery, a person’s self-perception as capable of coping with and managing life’s circumstances, and depressive symptoms as informed by the life course perspective and the stress process model. Using multilevel modeling of American Changing Lives Survey (ACLS) data, I examined the following questions: What is the relationship between early onset chronic illness and mastery? Second, what is the relationship between early onset …

Race, Gender, And High School Experience--Exploring Intersecting Factors Influencing Black Males? Educational Attainment And College Aspiration, Emmie Joanne Cochran-Jackson

Sociology Dissertations

The underrepresentation of Black males in college and university campuses has continued to raise alarming questions for parents, teachers, and policy makers. In this study I utilized Intersectionality theory to examine Black males’ experiences in high schools in order to gain an understanding of the factors that impact their educational attainment and subsequent development of college aspiration. Based on 30 qualitative interviews with 10^th, 11^th, and 12^th graders and 30 interviews with their parents, this study examined familial and social contexts in relations to Black male students’ educational attainment. Four key findings revealed that, 1) …

Acculturation And Mental Health Among Latino And Asian Immigrants In The United States, Elif Bulut

Sociology Dissertations

This study assesses race-ethnic group variations in acculturation experiences by identifying distinct acculturation classes, and investigates the role of these acculturation classes for mental health and group differences in mental health among Latino and Asian immigrants in the United States. Using 2002-2003 the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS), Latent Class Analysis is used to capture variations in immigrant classes (recent arrivals, separated, bicultural and assimilated), and OLS regressions are used to assess the link between acculturation classes and mental health. The findings reveal group differences in acculturation classes, whereby Latino immigrants were more likely to be in the …

A Sociological Investigation Of Early Gradutes In U.S. High Schools, Jeff S. Duvall

Sociology Dissertations

Traditional high school graduates are typically seen as the standard for “successful” high school graduation because they earned the customary credential of a diploma and did so along a culturally prescribed timeline (i.e., in Spring of the 12^th grade). While high school dropouts have long been recognized and researched as clearly deviating from cultural expectations of earning the standard credential and doing so “on time,” they are not the only type of “off time” student to do so. Early graduates, like dropouts, also pursue a non-traditional and off time high school exiting path, but because of a lack of …

Porn Sex Vs. Real Sex: Exploring Pornography's Impact On Sexual Behaviors, Attitudes, And Relationships, Stacy Gorman

Sociology Dissertations

For over forty years, researchers, activists, and policymakers have questioned how, if at all, pornography affects its viewers. Previous research has focused on how pornography relates to many factors including sexual risks, sexual permissiveness, violence, rape myth acceptance, and sexual behaviors. Much of this research, though, has been unable to identify the direction of the relationship between viewing sexually explicit material and various sexual attitudes and behaviors, and rarely studies a sample that is representative of the U.S. adult population. Instead, much of the research on pornography has relied on college student samples or other convenience samples. My study addresses …

The Effects Of School And Neighborhood Characteristics On Delinquency, Drug And Alcohol Issues, Early Childbearing, And Welfare Receipt, Bobette Otto

Sociology Dissertations

Little research has examined the impact of school and neighborhood racial composition on delinquency, arrest, incarceration, drug issues, early childbearing, and welfare collection. The purpose of this study is to explore these particular relationships. For this project, I use Add Health data. Based on past literature and theories concerning the consequences of racially segregated schools and neighborhoods, I hypothesized that students who attended/lived in schools/neighborhoods with a higher concentration of racial minorities would be more likely to participate in delinquent acts, get arrested, be incarcerated, have issues with drugs and alcohol, have a teenage pregnancy (or their partner did), and …

The Mental Health Consequences Of Losing A Parent: Does Culture Moderate The Impact Of Parental Death?, Daisuke Ito

Sociology Dissertations

The death of a parent represents a potential traumatic life event that has been linked to depression in both Japan and the United States. Yet experiences surrounding death and ways of grieving are framed differently across cultures. At the individual level, the majority of the bereaved people in both Japan and the United States attempt to maintain bonds with the deceased family members. Being complementary to the individual-level desire, Japanese death-related beliefs and practices seem to provide a tool to maintain bonds. In contrast, American death-related beliefs and practices may be at odds with the individual desires by encouraging the …

Unbearable Fruit: Black Women's Experiences With Uterine Fibroids, Ranell L. Myles

Sociology Dissertations

Uterine Fibroids, medically termed uterine leiomyoma, are benign tumors of smooth muscle cells that grow in the uterus. While they are the most common pelvic neoplasm in women and fewer than 1 percent of fibroids develop into cancer, uterine fibroids can cause infertility, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and greatly affect one’s quality of life. Black women have been disproportionately affected by fibroids; when compared to white women, Black women are: 2-3 times more likely to have fibroids, diagnosed at a younger age, more likely to have 7 or more fibroids, more likely to have more severe and more troublesome symptoms (anemia, …

Assume The Position: Exploring Discipline Relationships, Melissa E. Travis

Sociology Dissertations

Discipline relationships are consensual adult relationships between submissive and dominant partners who employ authority and corporal punishment. This population uses social media to discuss the private nature of their ritualized fantasies, desires, and practices. Participants of these relationships resist a sadomasochistic label of BDSM or domestic abuse. I conducted in-depth interviews and narrative analysis of social media to explore experiences and identities of people in discipline relationships. The sample includes social media bloggers and past and present participants in discipline relationships. I compared explanations participants give for wanting and participating in discipline relationships. I combine identity theory, constructionism, post-structuralism, and …

From No Hope To Fertile Dreams: Procreative Technologies, Popular Media, And The Culture Of Infertility, Evelina W. Sterling

Sociology Dissertations

Throughout history, both popular and scholarly literature depicted infertility as a devastating experience in a woman’s life. Infertility was unbearable, filled with stigma, and a perpetual state of conflict between those who cannot have children and the rest of the world who can. Until recently as treatments for infertility developed, families assumed childlessness as hopeless. While the process of overcoming infertility is still arduous, unpleasant and unpredictable, many options are available today to overcome infertility and have children. As a result, the portrayal of involuntary childlessness and infertility especially by popular media, changed significantly over the years. Current procreative technologies …

Exploring The Black White Achievement Gap: The Connection Between Upward Bound, Oppositional Culture, And The Multicultural Navigator Concept, Mia B. Hardy

Sociology Dissertations

Racial equality in the United States educational system has long been and continues to be a source of debate. Specifically, the disparities between whites and other minority groups have been increasingly more critical. Blacks and Latinos consistently score lower than whites on standardized tests and academic course work. There have been several explanations given for poorer school performance by certain minority groups than whites. In this dissertation, I explore the black white achievement gap through the examination of one widely known explanation, oppositional culture theory. This research investigates the major tenets of oppositional culture theory and the contemporary multicultural navigator …

The Dance Of Privacy: Disclosure Of Private Information In Semi-Public Settings, Amanda M. Jungels

Sociology Dissertations

From a sociological perspective, privacy is not an intrinsic part of our selves, but is a social agreement between us and others. Concealing information from others depends in large part on constructing boundaries around private information and doing what we can to ensure that the boundaries are maintained. Focusing on the social world of sex toy parties--a world where privacy and disclosure are delicately balanced--this research examines how disclosures of private sexual information, which are often regarded as taboo in contemporary American society, are carefully orchestrated and managed. Sex toy parties offer a unique venue to study how individuals navigate …