Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Lesbian Connection: The Negotiation Of Individualism In A Unique Community, Emily E. Lenning

Masters Theses

This research explores the issue of how individualism is situated within and expressed through a progressive, alternative, and constitutive community. The Lesbian Connection, a lesbian owned and operated publication, will be considered as it relates to the individual-focused dialogue that recent radical theorists claim to be of great importance to the formation of "ideal" communities. Content analysis will be used to investigate how lesbians choose to shape their own community identity while maintaining a sense of personal individualism. Additional attention will be afforded to how lesbians use interaction through text to shape community norms and identify common goals.

A Drug Free America? A Web Page Discourse Analysis, Darrin Kowitz

Masters Theses

Using the methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this research will seek to identify the ways in which social power is exercised through the creation and manipulation of linguistic categories within the text of the web page for the Partnership for a Drug Free America (PDFA). A preliminary examination of the web page identified three general mechanisms of power at work for the PDFA, the use of authority, fear inducement, and identity manipulation. The use of these mechanisms will be analyzed to explain ideological hegemony as the adoption of cognitive categories by individuals from social-structural, or institutional, sources.

An Evaluation Of City Hall Departmental Complaints In Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1993 And 1994, Monique R. Moore

Masters Theses

My research will evaluate the citizen complaints made to various departments in the Kalamazoo, Michigan's City Hall for the years of 1993 and 1994. The complaints were compiled on a monthly basis by the Citizen Action Center for the various departments. The number and types of complaints received and significant differences in the frequency and content of complaints or patterns of change from one year to the other were analyzed.

There was a consistent pattern in the content or types of complaints concerning the Public Works department from 1993 to 1994, but no consistent pattern for any of the other …

The International Criminal Court: A Sociological History, Dawn Rothe

Masters Theses

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has been touted as a new international response to the worst atrocities of mankind: crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression. Indeed, the implementation of a permanent international court is a historical tum. However, the course to which an international criminal court transpired dates back to the late 1800's. One hundred years of political, economic, and social contradictions have aided and abated the process of what is now the International Criminal Court. However, the dialectics between actors and institutions has been neglected in historical and legal analysis. The purpose of this thesis is …