Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

From Gay Street To Turkey Creek: Knoxville’S Urban And Suburban Growth Machines, Katherine Leigh Morris

Masters Theses

Using growth machine theory, this study examines the newly built "lifestyle center" of the suburban Turkey Creek development and the redevelopment of the Gay Street corridor in downtown Knoxville, TN. Growth machine theory is one of sociology's predominant theories used to understand development and growth projects in metropolitan areas, and although not specifically defined in current literature, I suggest there are many differences in suburban and urban growth machines. This study examines the local dependency and organization of pro-growth coalitions; the tactics, ideology, and culture used to promote development projects; and community reactions. Upon completion of this project, I found …

Media, Accounts, And Coherence: ‘De Facto’ Impression Management Of A Transgressing Sport Star In The Chicago Tribune, Erin Maureen Austin

Masters Theses

Using the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case as an example, this thesis attempts to understand how the media, specifically The Chicago Tribune, maintain the consistency of a certain representation given changing or new information. A full analysis of all 274 news articles found in The Chicago Tribune from June 30, 2003 (the date the alleged sexual assault took place) through August 31, 2004 (the day before the charges were dismissed), revealed five devices by which journalists managed Bryant’s image. These devices are: (1) case is not paramount, (2) case is hindering basketball, (3) external lures are to blame, (4) …

Counterterrorism And The Deterrence Doctrine, Casey E. Cordy

Masters Theses

The United States presently focuses much of its energy on the prevention of terrorism through particular counterterrorism policies and strategies. Today, deterrence is the primary theoretical basis for counterterrorism policies. If the United States invests so heavily in deterrence as a counterterrorism strategy, is it successful? If not, what are its theoretical flaws? Who is best served by efforts to prevent terrorism through a deterrent project?

This thesis will argue that a more appropriate understanding of terrorism is necessary. In order to achieve a more holistic conception of the terrorism problem, efforts should be made politically and theoretically to incorporate …

A Closer Look At Maternal Directiveness During Toddlerhood In A Lower Socioeconomic Sample, Ann Elizabeth Koelz

Masters Theses

The current study describes the directive behaviors of seven mothers with their toddlers ranging in age from 12 to 35 months throughout the day. This study explores the behaviors of a sample with lower socioeconomic status without the use of unnatural measures or artificial environments that may enhance the likelihood of observing atypical behaviors and perhaps perpetuate a deficit-based interpretation of the poverty context. Nine hours of observation for each dyad were collected as part of a larger study concerning the daily experiences of toddlers with the exception of one participant who dropped out of the study after three hours …

Extraction, Ecology, Exploitation, And Oppression: The Political Economy Of Coal In Appalachia, William R. Wishart

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the social and ecological problems associated with mountaintop mining in central Appalachia. Theoretical insights from world system theorists and other political economists are used to trace the roots of these problems to the historical progression of different modes of extraction in the region. The restructuring of the region’s social, cultural, and ecological systems to meet the needs of core production over time has perpetuated its position as a resource extractive periphery. This occurred in three major modes: a frontier mode, an agricultural mode, and an industrial raw materials mode. The last mode has been characterized primarily by …

Does National Policy Influence Individual Car Driving Behavior: A Cross-National Study Of The European Union, Erika Lynn Borek

Masters Theses

This study examines how the national policy climate affects individual driving behavior in the European Union. Using secondary data from the International Social Survey Program: Environment II 2000 in conjunction with national scores from the 2001 and 2002 Environmental Sustainability Indexes, I analyze the relationship between three macro-level predictors and the reduction of individual car driving. My results indicate that the national environmental policy climate positively relates with the likelihood of individuals driving less. Further individual’s likelihood to reduce car driving is significantly affected by the individual’s type of employment, education level, family income level, gender, age, and concerns toward …

Academic Achievement And Depression Among Chinese Youth: The Role Of Gender, Qionghui Zhang

Masters Theses

A seemingly discrepant relationship between Chinese adolescents’ academic achievement, depression and gender was revealed from the literature. Chinese adolescent girls have higher academic achievement than Chinese boys (Duckworth & Seligman, 2006; Hunley et al., 2005; Liang & Sun, 2000; Nie, Zhang, & Zhang, 2001; Wan et al., 2003). Higher academic achievement was found to be inversely associated with depression among Chinese adolescents (Hesketh et al., 2002; Ji et al., 2001; Pritchard, 1996). It is then expected that Chinese girls have lower depression than Chinese boys. However, literature shows that Chinese girls have higher depression than Chinese boys (Hesketh et al., …

Infant Learning And Physiological Self-Regulation During The Visual Expectation Paradigm, Heather Sedges

Masters Theses

Learning during infancy is dependent on many factors. One such factor is physiological self-regulation. This study investigated the relationship between physiological self-regulation abilities and evidence of learning based on Visual Expectation Paradigm (VExP) performance. Alterations in High Frequency Heart Period Variability (HFHPV) assessed physiological self-regulation and were hypothesized to correspond with VExP performance. Findings revealed patterns of HFHPV change during the VExP and that HFHPV change negatively corresponded with a resting measure of HFHPV and VExP performance. Results suggested that resting HFHPV was a better predictor of learning during the VExP than patterns of HFHPV change evidenced throughout the task.

Child Characteristics, Parent-Child Interaction Style, And Self-Regulation As Predictors Of Externalizing Behaviors In Toddlers, Bridget Ellen Hatfield

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Falling Rate Of Profit Thesis Reassessed: Toward A Sociology Of Marx’S Value Theory Of Labor, John Hamilton Bradford

Masters Theses

Marx considered his theory of the falling rate of profit to be one of the most important discoveries in the field of political economy. According to Marx’s theory, productivity increases put downward pressure on prices and hence profits. Recurrent crises of capital devaluation are both the consequence and solution to this pressure, aggravating the loss of profits initially, but enabling the pursuit of profits via accumulation to once again ensue. Marx’s argument, however, has been the subject of intense dispute for over a century. His critics charge that Marx’s thesis is not only improbable but impossible.

This study is an …

From Sandbox To Altar: What I Didn’T Know, Thought I Knew, And Discovered About Learning And Relationships, Cherilyn L. Gardner

Masters Theses

In this theoretically-based thesis, I metacognitively explore the transactional relationship between critical inquiry and literacy development. Throughout the writing, I reveal my own learning in studying these concepts. Embedded in the discussion of research, readers will engage with my personal reflections, confessions, and applications of what I learned (and am still learning).

Through countless dialogues (academic and otherwise) and my study of literature and self, I found that literacy is much more than what it has been carved out to be by programs promising to raise standardized test scores. Additionally, by breaking the mold, I found that critical inquiry provides …

Meth Epidemic In Rural Tennessee: Construction Of A Social Problem, Brian Harold Langley

Masters Theses

Social constructionists argue that what problems are recognized as social problems in a society reflect the efforts of various individuals and organizations to frame particular issues as deserving of public attention and action. Illegal drugs (heroin, LSD, crack cocaine) repeatedly have been identified as social problems harming innocent victims (e.g., crack babies) and leading to various forms of criminal activity. The focus of this project is how media, specifically newspaper coverage, rose as claims makers identified methamphetamine (meth) production as a serious problem in rural areas of the southeast. Although the drug had been available under various names for decades, …

Cheating Death: The Demedicalization Of Cpr, Michelle Nicole Erwin

Masters Theses

My research explores cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as a case study of demedicalization. I will use an instrumental case study method to examine the history and setting of CPR. In order to gain a stronger understanding of CPR in particular, I will look in depth at the actors and organizations involved in the development, medicalization, and demedicalization of CPR. The purpose of this study is to better grasp how demedicalization occurs in a more general context by looking through the lens of CPR. I will adapt a framework that is used for examining medicalization authored by Peter Conrad (1980), to allow …