Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Socially Equal Energy Efficient Development: A Theoretical Reflection On Applied Work, Darcy A. Ayers

Masters Theses

This capstone is a “theoretically and experientially informed report” of the work I began as an AmeriCorps VISTA member in August 2021 and now do as Program Director for SEEED (Socially Equal Energy Efficient Development), a small Black-led nonprofit working to address racialized generational poverty in the communities of East Knoxville. The report serves as a record and reflection of my experience doing front-line anti-poverty work, primarily directing the flagship Career Readiness Program (CRP). I begin this report with a short recounting of the history of Knoxville’s urban development through a Black geographies lens and continue with a review of …

For The Poor, It Was Just Friday: The Implicit Focus On Middle-Class Habitus In Conceptualizing Disaster, Amy Sorensen, Shelley Koch

Critical Disaster Studies

The importance of the academic study of disaster is in its potential application to policy and practice in times of dire circumstance and human suffering. In this paper, we situate the Covid-19 pandemic as an exemplar for an exploration of “disaster” using a framework that connects sociological theory and critical disaster studies. We use a Bourdieusian approach to situate the re-stabilization of the middle class habitus as implicitly central to disaster mitigation strategies. This theoretical approach illuminates the disconnect between critical disaster studies and on-the-ground disaster recovery approaches. It is this disconnect that leads to the disparate impact of disaster …

Examining The Effects Of Family Stress And Family Strengths On The Quality Of Mother-Child Relationships In Married And Unmarried Black Families, Deonte Hughes

Masters Theses

Mother-child relationships are complex, diverse, and change in response to internal and external factors that affect families and family life. For instance, Black children are more likely to live in households with unmarried parents. Even more, Black families are disproportionately more likely to be in poverty than the general population. Research on Black families tends to center association between family structure and poverty as mechanisms affecting mother-child relationships. There is little research on the role of economic hardship on familial relationships in Black families. Additionally, there is little research on the role of family strengths on familial relationships in Black …

Non-Governmental Organizations' Involvement In Poverty Alleviation In Bangladesh, Taylor N. Scheffing

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Labeled as one of the poorest countries in the world, Bangladesh is accustomed to poverty. Beginning in the late 1970s and even more since the arrival of the millennium, Bangladesh had made significant strides towards economic development through poverty alleviation efforts brought on by the World Bank initiatives. However, widespread discontent with the World Bank has led to increased, dominant presence and involvement from non-governmental organizations. Non-governmental organizations typically share a public mission, where those in Bangladesh aim to work exclusively with those in disadvantaged, rural areas. This paper will be addressing the growing question: what are non-governmental organizations (NGOs) …

Does Globalization Improve Quality Of Life?, Laura E. Hirt

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Prenatal Stress And Poverty On Fetal Growth, Teresa Anne Lefmann

Doctoral Dissertations

Background. Prenatal stress has negative effects on the developing fetus through the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Programming of the stress response system during gestation has lifelong effects that put the infant at risk for multiple stress-related pathologies. Populations most vulnerable to prenatal stress are African-Americans and individuals of low socioeconomic status.

Methods. The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) research project, a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and individual state health departments, was utilized for this study. Tennessee data from 2009 were compiled from individual birth certificates and PRAMS questionnaire responses to examine three …

Working From Within: Observations Of Non-Governmental Efforts To Decrease Social Marginalization In Buenos Aires, Elisabeth Tilstra

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This essay is a modification of an excerpt from the senior thesis written for the Chancellor’s Honors Program at The University of Tennessee. The complete project—titled “Bringing the Outside In: An Examination of Non-Governmental Aid Organizations in Buenos Aires”—first examines the political and economic history of Argentina as a context from which to understand the current stage of actors in the social sector. Then, drawing from my fieldwork in the slums surrounding urban Buenos Aires, it introduces the twelve organizations I studied that work with issues of poverty and development, exploring organizational elements that aid or limit a nonprofit’s efficacy. …

Short-Term Missions: Reinforcing Beliefs And Legitimating Poverty, William Vaughan Taylor

Masters Theses

Every year more than a million short-term missionaries travel abroad. Many encounter intense poverty. Popular discourse suggests short-term missionaries return home radically changed. Social movement theory shows collective experiences can transform participants. In this thesis I explore the narratives of short-term missionaries to understand how they understand the poverty they encounter abroad. I have found short-term mission participants think about encounters with the poor in ways that produce contradictory beliefs and legitimate poverty. Interviewees consistently employed deficiency and fatalistic theories of poverty that provide little moral or practical justification for helping the poor. However, these beliefs conflicted with religious convictions. …

Baker Center Journal Of Applied Public Policy - Vol. Iv, No. I, Thomas Graham, Robert F. Durant, Robert M. Stein, John M. Scheb Ii, Colin Glennon, Hemant Kumar Sharma, Dorian Stiefel, Kristin Wagers, Mark Harmon, Cristina Reiser, Benjamin Signer

Baker Center: Publications and Other Works

This is the 4th volume of the Baker Center Journal on Applied Public Policy. It includes articles on nuclear nonproliferation, American political development, election issues, Tennessee state trial courts, attitudes related to rich and poor people, and two student articles on science, innovation, technology and economic growth and explosive trace detection at airports.

Bringing The Outside In: An Examination Of Non-Governmental Aid Organizations In Buenos Aires, Elisabeth B. Tilstra

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

When Mediated Poverty Stereotypes Align With Public Opinion: A Clear Predictor Of Ideology And Party In The U.S., Mark D Harmon

School of Journalism and Electronic Media Publications and Other Works

Attribution Theory observes that people have a compelling need to explain things, and those explanations break down into things internal to the self or to an outside force. This article notes how neatly that theory parallels work by Lakoff that conservatives and Republicans take a "stern father" approach to issues, finding individual fault for almost any problem, while Democrats and liberals look to external forces. Mediated portrayals of poverty tend to enforce the former view rather than the latter. Through secondary analyses of many polls, the researcher confirms that political ideology and party align at highly significant levels with how …