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Appalachian Studies Commons™

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Social and Behavioral Sciences

Selected Works

Articles 1 - 13 of 13

Full-Text Articles in Appalachian Studies

I’M Afraid Of That Water: A Collaborative Ethnography Of A West Virginia Water Crisis, Luke E. Lassiter, Brian A. Hoey, Elizabeth Campbell Mar 2020

I’M Afraid Of That Water: A Collaborative Ethnography Of A West Virginia Water Crisis, Luke E. Lassiter, Brian A. Hoey, Elizabeth Campbell

Brian A. Hoey, Ph.D.

On January 9, 2014, residents across Charleston, West Virginia, awoke to an unusual licorice smell in the air and a similar taste in the public drinking water. That evening residents were informed the tap water in tens of thousands of homes, hundreds of businesses, and dozens of schools and hospitals—the water made available to as many as 300,000 citizens in a nine-county region—had been contaminated with a chemical used for cleaning crushed coal. This book tells a particular set of stories about that chemical spill and its aftermath, an unfolding water crisis that would lead to months, even years, of …

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Mothered, Mothering & Motherizing In Illness Narratives: What Women Cancer Survivors In Southern Central Appalachia Reveal About Mothering-Disruption, Kelly A. Dorgan, Kathryn L. Duvall, Sadie P. Hutson, Amber E. Kinser Dec 2017

Mothered, Mothering & Motherizing In Illness Narratives: What Women Cancer Survivors In Southern Central Appalachia Reveal About Mothering-Disruption, Kelly A. Dorgan, Kathryn L. Duvall, Sadie P. Hutson, Amber E. Kinser

Kelly A. Dorgan

Informed by a mothering-disruption framework, our study examines the illness narratives of women cancer survivors living in Southern Central Appalachia. We collected the stories of twenty-nine women cancer survivors from northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia using a multi-phasic qualitative design. Phase I consisted of women cancer survivors participating in a day-long story circle (n=26). Phase II consisted of women cancer survivors who were unable to attend the story circle ; this sample sub-set participated in in-depth interviews (n=3) designed to capture their illness narratives. Participants' illness narratives revealed the presence of: (1) mothering-disruption whereby cancer adversely impacted the mothering role …

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Personal Identity Changes Of Female Cancer Survivors In Southern Appalachia, Kathryn L. Duvall, Kelly A. Dorgan, Sadie P. Hutson Dec 2017

Personal Identity Changes Of Female Cancer Survivors In Southern Appalachia, Kathryn L. Duvall, Kelly A. Dorgan, Sadie P. Hutson

Kelly A. Dorgan

Navigating personal identity changes through the cancer journey can be challenging, especially for women in a culture that places emphasis on traditional gender roles and values close-knit families. Drawing on a story circule approach, this study examined the intersecting identities of female cancer survivors in southern Appalachia. Stories of 29 female Appalachian cancer survivors from Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia were collected via a mixed methods approach in either a day-long story circule (N-26) or an in-depth interview (N=3). Transcripts from both phases were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim; NVivo 8.0 facilitated qualitative content analysis of the data. Inductive analysis revealed …

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Omnibus Survivorship Narratives: Multiple Morbidities Among Female Cancer Survivors In South Central Appalachia, Kelly A. Dorgan, Kathryn L. Duvall, Sadie P. Hutson Dec 2017

Omnibus Survivorship Narratives: Multiple Morbidities Among Female Cancer Survivors In South Central Appalachia, Kelly A. Dorgan, Kathryn L. Duvall, Sadie P. Hutson

Kelly A. Dorgan

This study examines the illness narratives of female cancer survivors living in Southern Central Appalachia. Stories of 29 female Appalachian cancer survivors from northeastern Tennessee and southwcstmn Virginia were collected via a mixed methods approach in either a day-long story circle (n=26) or an in-depth interview (n=3), Qualitative content analysis was used to guide an inductive analysis of the tTanscript<;, What emerged was that as participants survived cancer, they also survived other health conditions, their intorsccting stories yielding an omnibus survivorship narrative.

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Navigating Family Cancer Communication: Communication Strategies Of Female Cancer Survivors In Central Appalachia, Kathryn L. Duvall, Kelly A. Dorgan, Sadie P. Hutson Dec 2017

Navigating Family Cancer Communication: Communication Strategies Of Female Cancer Survivors In Central Appalachia, Kathryn L. Duvall, Kelly A. Dorgan, Sadie P. Hutson

Kelly A. Dorgan

In a multiphasic study, the stories of 29 female Appalachian cancer survivors were collected through either a day-long modified story circle event (n=26) or an in-depth interview (n=3). Qualitative content analysis was used to identify emergent themes in the data. The analysis revealed 5 types of family cancer communication including both pre-diagnosis and postdiagnosis cancer communication strategies

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Big Mama And The Uncertain Leap, Kelly A. Dorgan Dec 2017

Big Mama And The Uncertain Leap, Kelly A. Dorgan

Kelly A. Dorgan

Excerpt:I live in a place that evokes fear, a place deformed by layers and layers of pulse-racing images, of intoxicating whiskey-dark stories.

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Barriers To Family Cancer Communication In Southern Appalachia, Kathryn L. Duvall, Kelly A. Dorgan, Amber E. Kinser Dec 2017

Barriers To Family Cancer Communication In Southern Appalachia, Kathryn L. Duvall, Kelly A. Dorgan, Amber E. Kinser

Kelly A. Dorgan

This study examines cultural issues surrounding family cancer communication in Appalachia, providing insight into participants’ communication choices regarding their illness within their families. Stories of 29 female Appalachian cancer survivors from Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia were collected via a mixed methods approach in either a day-long story circle (N=26) or an in-depth interview (N=3). Qualitative content analysis was used to identify unique barriers to family cancer communication in Appalachia. Two barriers emerged: 1) the health of other family members and 2) cancer in a “taboo” area. These findings suggest that Appalachian female cancer survivors struggle with similar issues as …

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Mothered, Mothering & Motherizing In Illness Narratives: What Women Cancer Survivors In Southern Central Appalachia Reveal About Mothering-Disruption, Kelly A. Dorgan, Kathryn L. Duvall, Sadie P. Hutson, Amber E. Kinser Dec 2017

Mothered, Mothering & Motherizing In Illness Narratives: What Women Cancer Survivors In Southern Central Appalachia Reveal About Mothering-Disruption, Kelly A. Dorgan, Kathryn L. Duvall, Sadie P. Hutson, Amber E. Kinser

Amber E. Kinser

Informed by a mothering-disruption framework, our study examines the illness narratives of women cancer survivors living in Southern Central Appalachia. We collected the stories of twenty-nine women cancer survivors from northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia using a multi-phasic qualitative design. Phase I consisted of women cancer survivors participating in a day-long story circle (n=26). Phase II consisted of women cancer survivors who were unable to attend the story circle ; this sample sub-set participated in in-depth interviews (n=3) designed to capture their illness narratives. Participants' illness narratives revealed the presence of: (1) mothering-disruption whereby cancer adversely impacted the mothering role …

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Barriers To Family Cancer Communication In Southern Appalachia, Kathryn L. Duvall, Kelly A. Dorgan, Amber E. Kinser Dec 2017

Barriers To Family Cancer Communication In Southern Appalachia, Kathryn L. Duvall, Kelly A. Dorgan, Amber E. Kinser

Amber E. Kinser

This study examines cultural issues surrounding family cancer communication in Appalachia, providing insight into participants’ communication choices regarding their illness within their families. Stories of 29 female Appalachian cancer survivors from Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia were collected via a mixed methods approach in either a day-long story circle (N=26) or an in-depth interview (N=3). Qualitative content analysis was used to identify unique barriers to family cancer communication in Appalachia. Two barriers emerged: 1) the health of other family members and 2) cancer in a “taboo” area. These findings suggest that Appalachian female cancer survivors struggle with similar issues as …

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Exploring Gender And Economic Development In Appalachia, Melissa Latimer, Ann M. Oberhauser Dec 2000

Exploring Gender And Economic Development In Appalachia, Melissa Latimer, Ann M. Oberhauser

Ann Oberhauser

 Gender relations have influenced the distribution, causes, and consequences of social and economic inequality in the Appalachian region.  Labor market studies that examine gender-based sources of inequality  greatly expanded our understanding of poverty in Appalachia for both  women and men (Billings and Tickamyer 1993). Researchers, who incorporate gender into their analyses, consistently have documented that  women are more vulnerable to poverty than men in this region (Latimer  2000; Tickamyer and Tickamyer 1991). The increased attention to gender  issues within Appalachian studies reflected the heightened awareness of  how gender - in addition to race, class, and ethnicity - shape economic  development …

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Unraveling Appalachia's Rural Economy: The Case Of A Flexible Manufacturing Network, Ann M. Oberhauser, Amy Pratt, Ann-Marie Turnage Dec 2000

Unraveling Appalachia's Rural Economy: The Case Of A Flexible Manufacturing Network, Ann M. Oberhauser, Amy Pratt, Ann-Marie Turnage

Ann Oberhauser

 Many households and communities in rural Appalachia engage  in diverse economic strategies that often are ignored in analyses of  economic restructuring in the region (Gaventa, Smith, and Willingham 1990; Obermiller and Philliber 1994). This paper highlights  the complex nature of rural economies and particularly informal
 activities that intersect with kinship and community-based social  networks. Different scales of economic activity are examined as  shifts in global capital impact and are influenced by local strategies  that include formal as well as informal activities. This analysis uses  a case study of a network of home-based machine-knitters to illus-
 trate these social and spatial …

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The Home As "Field": Households And Homework In Rural Appalachia, Ann M. Oberhauser Dec 1996

The Home As "Field": Households And Homework In Rural Appalachia, Ann M. Oberhauser

Ann Oberhauser

Locating Lydia's house in rural McDowell Country had been a challenge. We finally stopped at a small post office to ask directions and were directed to a house across a nearby stream. As we reached our destination, a dozen chickens, two goats, and several puppies greeted us in the front yard. Lydia stepped onto the side porch and invited us inside. "Be careful on the stairs," she warned, "my husband still hasn't fixed them rotten boards." Upon entering a small kitchen, Lydia showed us some pictures of the children in her home-based day care. In the living room, a coal-burning …

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Industrial Restructuring And Women's Homework In Appalachia: Lessons From West Virginia, Ann M. Oberhauser Dec 1992

Industrial Restructuring And Women's Homework In Appalachia: Lessons From West Virginia, Ann M. Oberhauser

Ann Oberhauser

This paper analyzes the relationship between industrial restructuring and women's homework in Appalachia. Since the early 1970s, industrial restructuring in this region has led to substantial job loss in mining and manufacturing industries and increased employment in the service sector. These employment shifts, coupled with Appalachia's long tradition of informal sector activities, make homework a viable income-generating strategy for women. This paper first addresses some of the literature on the geography of gender and industrial restructuring. Second, women's homework is analyzed as an economic strategy in response to industrial restructuring. In the third section, the types and significance of women's …

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