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Sociology

Rhode Island College

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Social Data Analysis: Qualitative And Quantitative Approaches, Mikaila Mariel Lemonik Arthur, Roger Clark Jan 2023

Social Data Analysis: Qualitative And Quantitative Approaches, Mikaila Mariel Lemonik Arthur, Roger Clark

Faculty Publications

Social data analysis enables you, as a researcher, to organize the facts you collect during your research. Your data may have come from a questionnaire survey, a set of interviews, or observations. They may be data that have been made available to you from some organization, national or international agency or other researchers. Whatever their source, social data can be daunting to put together in a way that makes sense to you and others. This book is meant to help you in your initial attempts to analyze data. In doing so it will introduce you to ways that others have …


Stonewalling In The Brick City: Perceptions Of And Experiences With Seeking Police Assistance Among Lgbtq Citizens., Danielle M. Shields Jan 2021

Stonewalling In The Brick City: Perceptions Of And Experiences With Seeking Police Assistance Among Lgbtq Citizens., Danielle M. Shields

Faculty Publications

Extant research has documented police interactions between racial and ethnic minority populations, including negative perceptions of and experiences with the police; police corruption and misconduct; and the deleterious effects of negative relationships with the police, such as reduced legitimacy and mistrust. Comparatively, exchanges between lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ) populations and the police have received limited attention. This is despite work suggesting that LGBTQ citizens face an elevated risk of victimization, and a possible reticence in reporting their victimization, resulting from negative perceptions of police, fear of mistreatment, or even experiences of harassment and abuse by police. To …


Conformity To Masculine Norms Predicts U.S. Men’S Decision-Making Regarding A New Male Contraceptive, Katherine Lacasse, Theresa E. Jackson Jan 2019

Conformity To Masculine Norms Predicts U.S. Men’S Decision-Making Regarding A New Male Contraceptive, Katherine Lacasse, Theresa E. Jackson

Faculty Publications

Health decision-making is often explained by affective and cognitive processes, but this processing is rarely explored in relation to gender norms. We investigated how conformity to specific masculine norms are linked to the affective and cognitive processes that lead to U.S. men’s decisions regarding a new male contraceptive. U.S. male college students (N = 151) completed an online survey. They read a description of a long-acting reversible contraceptive, then completed questionnaires measuring their affective and cognitive responses, their information-seeking and willingness-to-try the contraceptive, and their conformity to masculine norms. Participants reported less willingness-to-try the contraceptive when they endorsed masculine …


The Rights Of Queer Children, Robyn Linde Jan 2019

The Rights Of Queer Children, Robyn Linde

Faculty Publications

The ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (crc) has long been hailed as a major event in the realisation of children’s human rights, combining the need for protection with a desire to grant agency through recognition of the evolving capacities of the child. Yet the idea of children’s agency as articulated in the crc excluded sexual identity and expression, and ushered in an incomplete emancipation for lgbtiq children; children who are gender non-conforming; and children whose sexual expression otherwise conflicts with heterosexuality – hereafter queer children. I argue that while the crc granted …


Women's Sexual Satisfaction And Overall Well-Being: Examining Relationship Satisfaction, Sexual Agency, Sociosexual Orientation And Relationship Status, Christine M. Curley Jan 2019

Women's Sexual Satisfaction And Overall Well-Being: Examining Relationship Satisfaction, Sexual Agency, Sociosexual Orientation And Relationship Status, Christine M. Curley

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

Medical and psychological research has found a strong association between sexual satisfaction and overall well-being. However, few studies have addressed whether the relationship between women’s sexual satisfaction and overall well-being differs for women of different ages. This mixed-method study recruited 347 women aged 18 to 76 and found (1) a positive significant association between age, relationship satisfaction, and sexual satisfaction and overall well-being, and higher levels of sexual satisfaction are associated with higher levels of overall well-being. However, age was unrelated to sexual satisfaction and overall well-being, and; (2) while relationship satisfaction interacted with sexual satisfaction and overall well-being, there …


Experiences Of Hiv Stigma And Spirituality Of Older Black Men Living With Hiv, Warren. L. Miller Jan 2019

Experiences Of Hiv Stigma And Spirituality Of Older Black Men Living With Hiv, Warren. L. Miller

Faculty Publications

Previous research on HIV stigma and the use of spirituality by people living with HIV/AIDS is scarce. Moreover, the research with older Black men who have sex with men is scant. This study aimed to investigate experiences of HIV stigma and the use of spirituality among older HIV positive Black men who sleep with men. In-depth interviews were conducted with a sample of ten men. Data were analyzed utilizing to the modified van Kaam data analysis method. Three major themes were identified that explores the participants lived experiences with HIV stigma and use of spirituality: experiences of stigma reinforcing the …


Gatekeeper Persuasion And Issue Adoption: Amnesty International And The Transnational Lgbtq Network, Robyn Linde Jan 2018

Gatekeeper Persuasion And Issue Adoption: Amnesty International And The Transnational Lgbtq Network, Robyn Linde

Faculty Publications

Network theory is a valuable tool for understanding how transnational human rights advocacy emerges and develops; how norms become salient; and how nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) gain prominence within networks. This article evaluates political network theory through the case study of the transnational lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) advocacy network. Through interviews with key figures at human rights and LGBTQ NGOs, I suggest that the transnational LGBTQ network emerged through contestation with the human rights gatekeeper, Amnesty International, and its US section, AIUSA. This process of contestation would produce a specific type of gatekeeper activism that would become a …


Fatally Female: A Study Of The Treatment Of Women In True Crime Narratives, Jessica R. Washak Jan 2018

Fatally Female: A Study Of The Treatment Of Women In True Crime Narratives, Jessica R. Washak

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

This thesis studies book-length literature from four cases of violent crime—the unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short in 1947, the prosecution of O.J. Simpson by Deputy Assistant District Attorney Marcia Clark, the shooting at Columbine High School by Harris and Klebold, and the trial of American exchange student Amanda Knox for the murder of her roommate in Italy in 2007–in order to analyze the way in which authors characterize the women and events involved in each case. Regardless of their positioning to the crime, the women who are close to these cases are repeatedly criticized by those chronicling their actions for …


Supporting People As They Age In Community: Housing, Rachel Filinson, Maureen Maigret Sep 2017

Supporting People As They Age In Community: Housing, Rachel Filinson, Maureen Maigret

Faculty Publications

Aging in community can be a healthier, happier option for many seniors, but only if they have the right resources and support, starting with suitable housing. Homes must be affordable for retirees on fixed incomes and adapted for those with physical limitations. Older people living on their own need access to community services to keep them healthy and connected. Without affordable, age-friendly housing and access to services, aging in community can be stressful, isolating, and limiting, rather than empowering.


Supporting People As They Age In Community: Information And Service Access, Rachel Filinson, Maureen Maigret Jul 2017

Supporting People As They Age In Community: Information And Service Access, Rachel Filinson, Maureen Maigret

Faculty Publications

As people age, they often rely on the support of public and private programs to help them live healthy, independent lives. What if older people and their caregivers had access to a single website, phone number, or office that could connect them with all the support and resources they need, from applying for Medicare benefits and finding long-term care facilities to accessing transportation and meal delivery services?


Public Higher Education’S Role In Shaping A Workforce In Rhode Island: The Case Of Rhode Island College, Francis J. Leazes Jr., Mikaila M. L. Arthur Jan 2016

Public Higher Education’S Role In Shaping A Workforce In Rhode Island: The Case Of Rhode Island College, Francis J. Leazes Jr., Mikaila M. L. Arthur

Faculty Publications

Skilled human capital plays a major role in sparking innovation, enhancing productivity, raising incomes, and driving economic growth. State prosperity depends heavily on attracting well-educated workers because these workers enjoy significantly higher per-capita incomes and perform well on other economic measures. The knowledge-based economy places a higher premium on an education that challenges those entering the workplace to be able to think beyond the immediate job they will seek. If the most desirable high-value technical businesses cannot find enough skilled workers in Rhode Island, they will neither come to the state or stay in it. Furthermore, in today’s economy, we …


Building Age-Friendly Community: Notes From The Field, Rachel Filinson, Marianne Raimondo, Maureen Maigret Jan 2016

Building Age-Friendly Community: Notes From The Field, Rachel Filinson, Marianne Raimondo, Maureen Maigret

Faculty Publications

Building age-friendly communities is a global as well as a national concern. The purpose of this paper is to explore fundamental tensions underlying the formulation of age-friendly goals and their implementation, based on a review of age-friendly projects and reflections on the journey towards age friendliness in one state (Rhode Island). The authors conducted a comprehensive investigation of the relevant literature on previous age-friendly initiatives, which included case studies of individual projects, meta-analyses of age-friendly work, and educational toolkits for promoting age-friendly community. They also collected original data from ten focus groups with older adults, interviews with key informant service …


Playing The Way To Equality In The Civil Rights, Feminism, And Lgbtq Movements, Lauren Mcdonough Mar 2015

Playing The Way To Equality In The Civil Rights, Feminism, And Lgbtq Movements, Lauren Mcdonough

Open Books -- Open Minds: All Submissions

Music culture is where a group of people share a common involvement, or interest, in music. This culture spans across time and area as music evolves. Whether it be rap or country, classical or punk, people have found their niches in the world of music. People relate to music, and it makes them feel good. Music comes with an emotional attachment in this way. This bond is seen between listeners and performers, as well as the listeners themselves. This common love of music is seen very blatantly, as it’s played on every kind of social media, and is seen in …


Teaching Progress: A Critique Of The Grand Narrative Of Human Rights As Pedagogy For Marginalized Students, Robyn Linde, Mikaila M. L. Arthur Jan 2015

Teaching Progress: A Critique Of The Grand Narrative Of Human Rights As Pedagogy For Marginalized Students, Robyn Linde, Mikaila M. L. Arthur

Faculty Publications

With the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, education about human rights became an important focus of the new human rights regime and a core method of spreading its values throughout the world. This story of human rights is consistently presented as a progressive teleology that contextualizes the expansion of rights within a larger grand narrative of liberalization, emancipation, and social justice. This paper examines the disjuncture between the grand narrative on international movements for human rights and social justice and the lived experiences of marginalized students in urban environments in the United States. Drawing on …


"How Did They Do It? A Structural Analysis Of Portuguese American Political Incorporation In Rhode Island (1937-2012).", Dulce Soares Scott, Marie R. Fraley Jan 2014

"How Did They Do It? A Structural Analysis Of Portuguese American Political Incorporation In Rhode Island (1937-2012).", Dulce Soares Scott, Marie R. Fraley

Elected and Appointed Officials Project

No abstract provided.


Lentils In The Ashes: Excavating The Fragments Of Ancestral Feminism, Janice Okoomian Jan 2013

Lentils In The Ashes: Excavating The Fragments Of Ancestral Feminism, Janice Okoomian

Faculty Publications

In this paper, I have argued that the family can sow the seeds of feminism through the lived feminism of its members, even when tho se members are not activists . I also argue that it is essential for us to tell our mother line stories if we are to fully comprehend where we wish to stand as feminists. Narrative is always political, and narratives of the past-our individual pasts and our collective pasts-require a theoretically grounded reader in order to be fully understood. Fredric Jameson put s it thus: "Only a genuine philosophy of history is capable of respecting …


Terrors Of Girlhood, Julie Casali Jan 2013

Terrors Of Girlhood, Julie Casali

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

Since the birth of the genre, American horror filmmakers have posed female characters as prey and objects of sexual desire. Adolescent women in particular act as both the victim and as eye candy for viewers. From the damsel in distress to the rape victim seeking revenge, women in horror films exist to be antagonized, and so often, their exhibition of femininity and sexuality determines the severity of their suffering. Moreover, though the popular horror film narrative tends to explore the fringes of human nature, few horror films openly deal with the fears and concerns of women outside of threats to …


Working-Class Students And Historical Inquiry, Leslie Schuster Jun 2012

Working-Class Students And Historical Inquiry, Leslie Schuster

Faculty Publications

For the past twelve years, I have been teaching a lower division introductory historical methods course that uses active learning to introduce students to the issues and practices of historical methods, the "how to" of historical inquiry, research and writing. While there are many models for such a course, including the one described by Jeffrey Merrick in the February 2006 issue of this journal, the design of such a course at my institution requires consideration of an often-overlooked dimension. The student body at Rhode Island College (RIC) is primarily working class, mirroring a significant transformation in the traditional college student …


Blogging About Summer Reading, Janice Becker Place May 2012

Blogging About Summer Reading, Janice Becker Place

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

The purpose of this study was to investigate what happened when grade 11 high school honors students blogged about their summer reading under the monitoring of a teacher during vacation. I proposed that an educational blog might serve as an effective tool during summer vacation to help students retain skills or learning while at a physical distance from their school and teacher. In addition to the blog’s transcripts, a pre-project survey, post-project survey,and post-project interviews provided complementary data to inform my analysis. Qualitative analysis was applied to the blog discussion entries for evidence of peer learning, scaffolding, critical thinking, and …


Becoming An Administrator, F. Patrick Lattuca Iii May 2012

Becoming An Administrator, F. Patrick Lattuca Iii

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

This study is part of a limited but growing body of research that examines and describes the social side of pulic school administration. Most training programs that prepare public school administrators are highly effective with regard to providing students the theoretical foundation that surrounds administrative roles, but as the literature illustrates, there is a gap between theory and practice. This autoethnographical dissertation addresse this gap by providing an analytical description of what individuals do when acting as a public school administrator. Specifically, this study follows the transition into an assistant principalship and how the author was socialized into that role


What's Best For Women: Examining The Impact Of Legal Approaches To Prostitution In Cross-National Perspective And Rhode Island, Malinda Bridges May 2012

What's Best For Women: Examining The Impact Of Legal Approaches To Prostitution In Cross-National Perspective And Rhode Island, Malinda Bridges

Honors Projects

This research analyzes legal approaches to prostitution on a cross-national level in order to determine if legal methods that regulate prostitution have an effect on prostitution. In order to examine these concepts, legel approaches were first identifed in the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Following this analysis, the effects of these legal approaches are reported. Instead of working from a strictly sociological standpoint, this project focused greatly on the legal aspects that affect prostitution.


Generational Differences: A Look At Dialectic Formation In Cranston, Rhode Island, Michaela Delgallo May 2012

Generational Differences: A Look At Dialectic Formation In Cranston, Rhode Island, Michaela Delgallo

Honors Projects

In most dialects, the pronunciation of the words bear and beer is different. However, dialects found in Charleston, SC and New Zealand merge the vowel sounds found in these words. In both locations, it appears that there is a sound change in progress, resulting in different pronunciations among generations. Cranston, RI may also have this merger and may be undergoing a sound change as well.
To explore this possibility, acoustic recordings and analyses have been made of 18 participants from Cranston. Each participant produced different pairs of words that contained the vowels heard in beer and bear. Three different …


Perceived Job Readiness Among The Previously Incarcerated, Amy Audet Apr 2012

Perceived Job Readiness Among The Previously Incarcerated, Amy Audet

Honors Projects

This study aims to determine the primary factor in employment readiness for previously incarcerated individuals. Ex offenders were were surveyed for job readiness using a scale developed in the studies' literature review. This scale emcompasses factors such as skills, knowledge, confidence and goals. Surveys were also done according to age, age of first incarceration, incarceration history and job training history. Because this population is marginalized, this study may bring new awareness about the effects of employer discrimination and the need for future programs to increase job readiness among the previously incarcerated individuals.


Biased Visual Attention To Out-Group Members' Skin Tone Does Not Lead To Discriminatory Behavior, Sathiarith Chau Apr 2012

Biased Visual Attention To Out-Group Members' Skin Tone Does Not Lead To Discriminatory Behavior, Sathiarith Chau

Honors Projects

According to the racial phenotype theory, the extent to which members resemble or depart from the physical prototype of a particular race will determine how strongly the perceiver associates them with preconceived racial stereotypes. For Blacks, skin color was predicted to be a primary feature attended to and those with dark skin were more negatively stereotyped. The current study aimed to explicitly measure visual attention during judgment of faces through the use of eye-tracking. Past methodologies measuring the attention to skin tone and its relationship to stereotype judgment were not directly measured. The study used a mixed model design: Label …


Sex Education In Our Schools, Kelley Conti Apr 2012

Sex Education In Our Schools, Kelley Conti

Honors Projects

This research project involved interviewing 42 parents with children between the ages of 12 to 18-years-old regarding their views and opinions on sex education for today’s youth. All 42 parents agreed they wanted a more informative sex education for their children than what they were exposed to as children. This included those with formal sex education as well as those that learned from peers, siblings or in their neighborhood. Another aspect all parents agreed on was the need for a more comprehensive sex education. Thirty-eight parents thought abstinence should be included as an option in sex education classes but not …


Beyond The Black Horizon, Aaron Bruce Jan 2012

Beyond The Black Horizon, Aaron Bruce

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

Although U.S. colleges and universities continue to discuss creative ways to increase the number of African American collegians participating in study abroad, this research is limited when revealing the unique perspectives of African American collegians who have studied abroad. Traditionally an emphasis on program success has been placed on the quantity of study abroad participants rather than the quality of African American student support and engagement; the personal reflections through the lens of African American race and identity are often overlooked. A series of culturally responsive, guided interviews were conducted with African American collegians from a variety of institutions across …


Weeds, Tamar Mekvedijian May 2011

Weeds, Tamar Mekvedijian

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

This is a short story collection about a family. The stories are linked but aren't necessarily connected, with family members appearing in more than one story. It is about the bonds of family, and the struggle we have against the health of our bodies.


Analysis Of 45 Nahua/Mexica/Aztec Children's Books, Yaocihuatzin Apr 2011

Analysis Of 45 Nahua/Mexica/Aztec Children's Books, Yaocihuatzin

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

Given the legacy of 500 years of colonization and miseducation of Indigenous peoples, how can Nahua/Mexica/Aztec children's books be decolonized and made appropriate to the twenty first century?


Apartheid Transition: Assessing A Black Township Education In South Africa's Disparate Social System, Adrienne Gerard Apr 2011

Apartheid Transition: Assessing A Black Township Education In South Africa's Disparate Social System, Adrienne Gerard

Honors Projects

An analysis of township education in South Africa and why outcomes are still so poor despite varied attempts y the post-Apartheid government to elevate these previously disadvantaged schools to the level of the country's primarily white schools. This paper looks into financial reason as well as policies, teacher qualification and domestic culture.


The Female Singing Voice, Shirley Guerreiro Feb 2011

The Female Singing Voice, Shirley Guerreiro

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

A study of perceived changes that may occur to the voice within the menstrual cycle The study examines factors that may affect women's voices and examines if there is a change occurring in the female singing voice during the premenstrual phase of the menstrual cycle. Journals and questionnaires of premenstrual vocal and physiological symptoms of seven female voice students were used during two menstrual cycles. Vocal Teacher journals were also used to see if relationships could be found. The median score for various variables were calculated to produce graphs for visual comparison looking for relationships between days of the menstrual …