Digital Commons Network^™

Applying The Ecological Model Of Human Performance And The Slutwalk Movement To Support Those Affected By Rape Culture In The Context Of Occupational Therapy, Angela Klukken, Sally Wasmuth

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Improving the occupational lives of others is at the heart of occupational therapy practice. Advocacy for clientele is central to this improvement, both at individual and structural levels. We argue that interventions in the Ecological Model of Human Performance (EHP) and the social movement theSlutWalk can offer increased opportunity for occupational therapists to address the harmful implications for clients affected by sexual assault and rape culture. In addition, through the principles of the EHP and the SlutWalk, we propose that occupational therapists can have a hand in eradicating the culture that facilitates and tolerates sexual violence. This paper …

Women’S Self-Concept, Sexual Activity, And Intimacy After Sustaining A Traumatic Brain Injury, Erin Skotzke

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can have a profound impact on how people think and feel about themselves and their abilities, values, goals, personalities, physical characteristics, and roles. Preliminary research findings suggest that barriers to developing a positive self-concept after injury in women include the desire to be perceived as “normal” after the injury or the feeling that society dismisses their injuries. In the field of occupational therapy, it is critical that therapists and researchers understand that self-concept can be altered after sustaining a TBI. This outcome can have a significant impact on participation in valued occupations, including participation in …

Gender, Science, And The Natural World: Essays On Medieval Literature From The 2020 Gender And Medieval Studies Conference, Linda E. Mitchell, Daisy E. Black

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

Introduction to the special issue of literature articles from the 2020 Gender and Medieval Studies Conference.

A Hive Of Her Own: Early Modern Women Beekeepers, Shannon Jane Garner

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

While much important work has been done on the early modern fascination with the political nature of bees and bee societies, this essay instead takes a closer look at the conflation of honeybees, women, and domestic spaces within the multi-generic textual ecology of early modern beekeeping. In the early modern period women were the primary beekeepers. As key participants in this art of sustained and intimate collaboration across species and environment, these women managed their own hives using the multifaceted skills of the early modern housewife, including textile arts, brewing, distilling, medicine, horticulture, and husbandry. This essay highlights the tension …

Miraculous Monstrosity: Birth And Female Sexuality In The Illuminated Scivias And Cloisters Apocalypse, Jenna M. Mckellips

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

This paper compares the illuminations in two medieval apocalypses, the Cloisters Apocalypse and Hildegard von Bingen’s Scivias, to inspect their similar constructions of female sexuality, motherhood, and monstrosity. It first analyzes the monstrosity of female sexual organs found in Hildegard’s portrayal of the Church and the Mother of the Antichrist. The paper then goes on to consider the uncanny slippage between images of birth and death in the Cloisters’s depiction of John and the Woman of Revelation 12. Ultimately, the paper not only explores the monstrosity of female bodies in apocalyptic manuscripts, but also concludes that medieval women’s …

Melusine, Invisible Leadership And The Future (In The Past), Jan Shaw

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

This paper considers the operation of “invisible” leadership in the figure of Melusine from the late Middle English romance Melusine. By invoking contemporary leadership theory, this paper identifies leadership maneuvers in Melusine that are similar to those often practiced by women today, but the discourses of gender identity then ultimately render Melusine’s leadership invisible, just as leadership discourses today often render female leadership invisible. By uncovering the operation of “invisible” leadership in the figure of Melusine and identifying commonalities with the leadership of women today, this paper aims to improve our understanding of the contemporary problem of the marked …

Gender, Social Networks, And Microenterprise: Differences In Network Effects On Business Performance, Seon Mi Kim

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article aims to find if female micro-entrepreneurs have different social networks that affect their business performance from males. This article uses the longitudinal Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamic (PSED) II data set (2005-2011) in the U.S. The key finding is that even in cases where female micro-entrepreneurs gained the same number of weak ties and resources from their networks as their male counterparts, their weak ties and gained resources did not help them to improve their business performance unlike their male counterparts. Implications for Microenterprise Development Programs and future studies are informed.

Rural Women And The Land Question In Zimbabwe. The Case Of The Mutasa District, Bigboy Toro

International Journal of African Development

Zimbabwean rural women make significant contribution to agriculture and are the mainstay of farm labor. Although they do the majority of agricultural work, men, for the most part, continue to own the land, control women’s labor and make agricultural decisions supported by patriarchal social systems. Women’s access to land is usually through their fathers, husbands, brothers or sons. This has made it difficult for women to gain equal access to land under the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP). Findings indicate that there are a number of challenges and constraints that are experienced by rural women under the FTLRP, which …

Being On The Mat: A Process Evaluation Of Trauma-Informed Yoga For Women With Substance Use Disorders, Amy B. Smoyer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Yoga practice is associated with positive health outcomes, including benefits related to managing substance use disorders and trauma symptomology. However, low-income vulnerable communities have limited access to yoga. This process evaluation of a trauma-informed yoga program for women with substance use disorders demonstrates the feasibility and utility of using noncertified yoga instructors to offer a basic yoga in community-based agencies. Participants describe outcomes related to relaxation, mindfulness, and movement that are well-aligned with their recovery needs. Study findings suggest the utilization of instructors with minimal training has the potential to expand research about and access to yoga among marginalized communities.

The War Of The Two Jeannes And The Role Of The Duchess In Lordship In The Fourteenth Century, Katrin E. Sjursen

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

In the mid-fourteenth century, two women headed opposing parties in a civil war for control of the duchy of Brittany in France. Conventional scholarship explains their involvement in politics and warfare as exceptions possible only during emergencies. Contemporary chronicles and the letters of the two women themselves, however, tell another story, one in which these two women participated in politics and warfare even before their husbands entered captivity. Their participation makes sense if we recognize that medieval society understood lordship as a form of shared governance performed by a noble couple. While separate roles did exist for the husband and …

Virgin'a End: The Suppression Of The York Marian Pageants, Andrea R. Harbin

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

With the rise of the Reformation in England, we see the abolishment of much of the religious drama of the late Middle Ages. The first pageants in York to fall victim to this were the pageants about Mary, which were produced by the weavers', drapers', and hostellers' guilds. While the content of the Marian pageants themselves made them a target of Reformational ire, public sentiment was still on the side of the Corpus Christi Play as a whole. Yet the guilds that produced the Marian plays were not as powerful as they had once been. All three of these trades …

Title Ix And The Impact Of Athletic Leadership, Ceceilia Parnther, Jennifer Deranek, Scott Michel

The Hilltop Review

Abstract

This literature review will discuss the history of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 and its value in higher education today through a critical feminist thought lens. It is known that despite Title IX, gender equality does not exist in intercollegiate athletics. In addition to discussing the history of Title IX, the article will highlight the challenges and triumphs of female athletic directors and senior women’s administrators and briefly discuss the role on coaches, athletic trainers and student-athletes.

Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 provided equal opportunities for women in athletics and academics …

A Heated Debate: Theoretical Perspectives Of Sexual Exploitation And Sex Work, Lara Gerassi

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The theoretical and often political frameworks of sexual exploitation and sex work among women are widely and enthusiastically debated among academic and legal scholars alike. The majority of theoretical literature in this area focuses on the macro perspective, while the micro-level perspective regarding causation remains sparse. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the philosophical, legal, and political perspectives pertaining to sexual exploitation of women and girls and addresses the subsequent controversies in the field.

Women's Work Attitudes, Aspirations, And Workforce Participation Before And After Relocation From Public Housing, Edith J. Barrett

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

For the past decade or so, public housing policies have focused on moving residents from concentrated housing developments into newly designed mixed-income developments or, through housing choice vouchers, into neighborhoods with lower concentrations of poor. These newer programs are driven by research that suggests public housing residents will have greater opportunity for financial self-sufficiency and, although not openly discussed, will better appreciate the importance of work when they live among higher income working residents. Using panel data collected from public housing residents relocated following the closure of a public housing development, this study explores the relationship between individual characteristics, neighborhood …

Exploring Barriers To Inclusion Of Widowed And Abandoned Women Through Microcredit Self-Help Groups: The Case Of Rural South India, Margaret Lombe, Chrisann Newransky, Karen Kayser, Paul Mike Raj

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Microcredit programs have been applauded as the magic bullet for the poor, especially women with limited financial resources. Building on previous research, this study examines effects of a microcredit self-help group (SHG) program on perceptions of social exclusion among widowed and abandoned women who participated in groups established after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami in Tamil Nadu, India (N=109). Data were collected on key aspects of the program such as loan amount and investment patterns, group experience, demographics, and perceived barriers to inclusion. Results indicate that investment patterns and group experience impacted the women's perception of barriers to social inclusion. …

Food Stamps And Dependency: Disentangling The Short-Term And Long-Term Economic Effects Of Food Stamp Receipt And Low Income For Young Mothers, Thomas P. Vartanian, Linda Houser, Joseph Harkness

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The Food Stamp Program (FSP) remains one of the most widely used of all U.S. social "safety net" programs. While a substantial body of research has developed around the primary goals of the program- improving food access, nutrition, and health among lowincome families-less attention has been paid to the broader goals of hardship and poverty reduction. Using 38 years of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we examine several immediate and longer-term economic outcomes of early adult FSP participation for a sample of3,848 young mothers. While FSP participation is associated with some negative outcomes in the immediate future …

"Like A Prison!": Homeless Women's Narratives Of Surviving Shelter, Sarah L. Deward, Angela M. Moe

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Relying on field observation and twenty qualitative interviews with shelter residents, this article examines how the bureaucracy and institutionalization within a homeless shelter fits various tenets of Goffman's (1961) "total institution," particularly with regard to systematic deterioration of personhood and loss of autonomy. Women's experiences as shelter residents are then explored via a typology of survival strategies: submission, adaptation, and resistance. This research contributes to existing literature on gendered poverty by analyzing the nuanced ways in which institutionalization affects and complicates women's efforts to survive homelessness.

Women's Experiences Of Victimization And Survival, Margaret Severson, Judy L. Postmus, Marianne Berry

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In an effort to more fully understand the experiences and aftermath of girlhood and adult woman physical, sexual and psychological victimization, research was undertaken that explored the prevalence and the consequences of such victimization, and the survival strategies women activate at various points in their lifespan in the aftermath of that violence. Women participants were recruited from five different communities; three urban, one rural and the only correctional facility for women in a Midwestern state. These venues were selected as ideal sites in which to secure a racially, ethnically and geographically diverse sample of women age 18 and older. Findings …

Women's Lives And Poverty: Developing A Framework Of Real Reform For Welfare, Mary Gatta, Luisa S. Deprez

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The historic 1996 welfare reform is typically regarded as a successful public policy. Using the limited success metric of "reducing welfare rolls," welfare evaluations and analysis have obscured the lived experiences of recipients, particularly among women, who are disproportionally represented among welfare recipients. While it is true that welfare numbers are down, those women who have been forced off or left behind are not doing well. In this paper we seek to explore and critically evaluate the lived experiences of women, to challenge mainstream understandings of women's "success" post-welfare, and propose a theoretical and methodological framework, based on an intersectional …

Economic Well-Being And Intimate Partner Violence: New Findings About The Informal Economy, Loretta Pyles

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between intimatep artnerv iolence (IPV) and women's participationin the informal economy (both legal and illegal) and their impact on economic well-being. This research was part of a National Institute of Justice (NIJ) study that was concerned with women's survival of childhood and adult abuse. For the 285 women that were in this sample, there were positive, medium correlations between IPV and various types of informal economic activity. Illegal informal economic activity, institutionalized informal economic activity, incarceration and physical abuse negatively impacted women's economic well-being.

For The Children: Accounting For Careers In Child Protective Services, Joan M. Morris

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper analyzes autobiographical essays from women who work as social service workers in child-protection agencies. Working long hours in relatively low-paying jobs, these women have limited prestige and autonomy and increasingly, come under close scrutiny and public criticism. They are clearly exploited in terms of the emotional and "mothering" labor they are expected to perform and are held personally accountable for daily decisions that could have dire consequences for the children they serve to protect. This paper is an investigation of how their narratives explain and justify their willingness to continue working in these situations and how their professional …

What Mothers Want: Welfare Reform And Maternal Desire, Patricia K. Jennings

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In this study I use participant observations,face-to-face interviews, and focus group interviews to examine how women on welfare read and negotiate culture-of-poverty discourse and the imagery that this discourse spawns. I spoke with two groups of young single mothers receiving welfare. The first group included young mothers between the ages of 18 and 23 who were attending high school in a community-based program that served women on welfare. The second group included mothers in their early to mid 20's who were attending either a local two-year college or research university. Education was a path of resistance for the women in …

Because A Better World Is Possible: Women Casino Workers, Union Activism And The Creation Of A Just Workplace, Susan Chandler

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Based on a re-analysis of data from a qualitative study of the work experience of 36 women casino workers, this article examines the contributions and personal characteristics of the 13 women in the sample who described themselves as committed union activists. These women, all leaders in the Hotel Employees, Restaurant Employees Union, were proud that collectively they had improved wages, benefits, and the conditions of work in Nevada casinos, and had created an environment that reinforced pride in a job well-done, provided job security, and promoted strong families and communities. These women's workplace experience serves as a reminder to the …