Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Islam And Democracy: An Empirical Examiniation Of Muslims' Political Culture, Moataz Bellah Mohamed Abdel Fattah

Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the following empirical puzzle: do the attitudes of ordinary educated Muslims stand as an obstacle toward the adoption of democracy? This research question calls for empirical/behavioral methodological tools that bring into focus contemporary Muslims' attitudes rather than ancient jurists' contributions. In other words, the dissertation shifts attention from ancient Islamic texts to contemporary Muslims' mindsets through written and web-bases surveys in 32 Muslim societies.

At the aggregate level, Muslim societies perplex with two types of sub-cultures: the culture of "dictator, but..." and the culture of "democracy-as-a-must." The former is the sub-couture of two groups of Muslims: …

Child Welfare And Devolving Federalism: An Analysis Of The Effects Of Federal Funding Schemes On Selected Child Welfare Outcomes In Michigan, Timothy J. Kangas

Dissertations

Child abuse and neglect has become a pervasive problem across the United States. Between 1985 and 1995 the foster care population in the United States grew by 79%, with costs soaring into the billions. During the mid-1990s, in an effort to address this issue, the federal government shifted from using a funding scheme identified with a traditional model of federalism to one identified with devolving federalism. In Michigan, the focus of this research, this shift in approaches occurred through the issuance of block grant funding for child welfare programming. The intent of this shift was to decentralize elements of the …

The Social Construction Of Rape Research: Exploring Epistemologies And Evaluating Methods, Edith M. Fisher

Dissertations

The most widely known national study of rape found that one in four college-age women has been the victim of rape or attempted rape. Conservative writers have criticized that study for overestimating the possible prevalence of rape in the U.S. My research uses more sensitive instruments and administration techniques, seeking to estimate the prevalence of rape in the lives of women at a large midwestern public university. I address questions about the validity of previous rape research and compare methods of collecting sexual violence information by questionnaire (322 mailed surveys and 300 interviewer-administered surveys). Additional interviews with 62 of the …

Controversial Maternal Roles Of Intrafamilial Child Sexual Abuse Cases, Rhonda Elliott Mcgee

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine Child Sexual Abuse case files, to determine which "maternal role": (a) protector, (b) co-victim, (c) co-perpetrator/conspirator, or (d) perpetrator was the most common in court cases studied in this research. The researcher also sought to find: (1) The most dominant maternal role in reference to percentage; (2) The effect, if any, of certain "role types"; (3) And the consequences and/or effects of selected variables (e.g. age, race, and gender) had in family court decisions and adjudications.

The target population consisted of forty-one cases of Child Sexual Abuse cases, adjudicated by the Family …

Recipes For Reform: Americanization And Foodways In Chicago Settlement Houses, 1890-1920, Stephanie J. Jass

Dissertations

During the late nineteenth century as tens of thousands of immigrants flooded American cities, public debate among reformers--who tended to be middle-class, white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants--began to center on the best ways to assimilate these foreigners into American society. Although some Americanization groups stressed language and citizenship training, two major reform movements focused on foodways as an important tool of assimilation.

This dissertation examines how both the home economics and settlement house movements attempted to Americanize ethnic food practices. It describes why reformers saw foodways as a viable and meaningful avenue for reform, as well as the varied responses that reformers …

Official Discourse And Public Opinion In Post-Communist Societies: The Role Of Government-Affiliated Intellectuals, Ekaterina M. Levintova

Dissertations

Post-Communist countries are unique in the sense that they are undergoing not a single, but multiple transitions. The extent of social change underway inthis region is truly monumental and researchers are faced with the daunting task of studying the extent of this transformation. Change is most evident when one studies formal institutions. But lies beneath, on the level of value orientations? The answer to this question helps us understand the real progress of post-Communist countries towards the goals of their transitions.

What were the political, ideological, economic, foreign policy, and ethnic relations attitudes of the post-Communist Russian and Polish elites …

Deconstructing Fordism: Legacies Of The Ford Sociological Department, Georgios Paris Loizides

Dissertations

Institutional theories of organizations state that organizations reflect society's wider values and norms. Less attention has been placed on the questions of whether and how private interest organizations influence wider societal values and norms. This study examines archival material, as well as published primary and secondary sources, relating to the history of the Ford Motor Company, in particular its Sociological Department, in an effort to assess the company's progressive era project to instill in its workforce a particular set of values and attitudes, which were seen by Ford as healthy, and appropriate. Though we are used to seeing Henry Ford …

School Counselors’ Perceptions Of Developmental Guidance: A Qualitative Study, Lori A. Pashnik

Dissertations

A developmental emphasis is the fundamental core of the school counseling profession. However, Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling Programs (CG&CPs) that have been identified as developmental have been shown to have significant gaps with regard to developmental theoretical concepts. In addition, counselors who are implementing CG&CPs are unsure of how to put developmental principles into practice. This study explored how elementary and middle school counselors who currently implement CG&CPs perceive the developmental philosophical foundation of the program. A focus group methodology was used for this study to gain an in-depth understanding of elementary and middle school counselors’ perceptions of developmental guidance. …

Formal And Informal Institutions: Gender And Participationin The Panchayati Raj, Aparna Thomas

Dissertations

In April 1993, the Parliament of India passed the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, reforming the structure of local governments. The amendment mandated that the composition of local councils include at least one-third women. This study explores the effects of the 1993 Indian women's reservation bill in changing policies at the local government level in ways that address women's interests. Specifically, the research addresses the following questions: (1) Are women really participating in panchayati raj politics, or are they merely present? (2) Do quotas as institutional mechanisms make a difference in agenda setting and policy outcomes? Although it may be early to …

Academic Performance, Persistence, And Cultural Congruence Of African American Males Attending Predominantly White Colleges And Universities, Darrell Johnson

Dissertations

The continued lack of success for African American males attending predominantly White colleges and universities is alarming and unsettling. Other racial minority groups are making positive gains relative to their post-secondary educational experiences. However, the African American male lags behind in virtually every index of success in higher education. This trend could produce serious social, economic and cultural implications for the African American community and the entire country.

For African Americans, a strong sense of culture is important to their ability to achieve high levels of mental and psychological functioning, particularly in environments they perceive to be hostile or unwelcoming. …

Working With Heterosexual Allies On Campus: A Qualitative Exploration Of Experiences Among Lgbt Campus Resource Center Directors, Melissa A. Bullard

Dissertations

The scholarly literature has just recently begun to address the role that heterosexual allies can play in responding to the unique needs and challenges facing LGBT people. As Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Campus Resource Centers are expanding in number and scope on college and university campuses across the United States, heterosexual allies have increased opportunities to support and advocate for LGBT people. Yet very little is known about what heterosexual allies do, or how their presence and actions impact LGBT people. The purpose of this study is to identify and describe the experiences that LGBT individuals have with …

A Comparative Study Of Factors Related To Adoption, Management, And Impact Of Police Consolidation And Amalgamation In Norfolk, County, England, And Kent And Ottawa Counties, Michigan, United States, Terry Lee Fisk

Dissertations

The evolution of law enforcement in the United States has created a circumstance where thousands of smaller communities are served by a police agency, some of which may not have the capability or resources to provide adequate police service. Many of these are agencies operate within a geographical area where they are joined by common boundaries, yet each operates as an autonomous police force. One possible solution to this quandary is to consolidate those existing agencies experiencing difficulties in the provision of police services into single, larger departments with combined resources.

The purpose of this research was to determine what …

Exploring The Behavioral Function Of Work Monitoring, Don H. Rohn

Dissertations

A number of studies have suggested the key difference between effective and ineffective managers is the extent to which managers engage in a particular form of monitoring - work sampling (Komaki & Minnich, 2002). Effective managers observe employees instead of relying on self-reports or secondary sources of performance. A factor contributing to the effectiveness of work sampling may be an increase in desired behavior as a function of reactivity to the presence of an observer. In spite of the large volume of research on the effects of observer presence on various physiological responses and task performances (Guerin, 1993), a study …

Comparative And Contributive Effects Of Process And Human Performance Improvement Strategies, Joseph R. Sasson

Dissertations

Organizational leaders know that the success of their organization depends on the organization's ability to either produce better products or produce equally good products at a lower cost to consumers. Interventions aimed at improving organizational performance stem from two primary perspectives. One perspective emphasizes changing system factors (e.g., equipment and processes) and the other perspective emphasizes changing human performance factors (e.g., performance specifications and behavioral consequences). The current study evaluated the comparative and contributive effects of process improvement techniques (Kock, 1999; Melan, 1992; Rummler & Brache, 1995) and human performance improvement techniques (Daniels, 1989; Gilbert, 1996; Rummler & Brache, 1995), …

The Theory Of Transpersonal Leadership: A Grounded Theory Study, Christine M. Wallace

Dissertations

This research suggests a new approach to leadership. Using a Glaserian grounded theory methodology, a new process theory of leadership was developed based on the data. These data included 26 interviews and numerous observations of individuals and situations. The result is described as the Theory of Transpersonal Leadership. This theory delves into the internal process that takes place within individuals as they make decisions regarding leadership within their own lives. The theory also includes the explanation of discovered concepts from this research. These concepts include: the Catalytic Confluence, Demand Morphism, and Symbolic Mutualism, which explain the major points within the …

Continuous And Interrupted Exposure Therapy In The Treatment Of Public Speaking Anxiety, Stacey A. Waller

Dissertations

Current research suggests that exposure-based interventions are the treatment of choice for anxiety disorders (Barlow & Wolfe, 1981; Barlow, 1988; 2002; Zinbarg, Barlow, Brown, & Hertz, 1992; Foa, Rothbaum, & Kozak, 1989). While the evidence to date supports the efficacy of these procedures, the precise mechanisms by which they achieve symptom reduction are not yet fully understood. Most theoretical explanations of exposure therapy appeal to the respondent and operant conditioning processes from which the procedure was originally derived. While it is frequently argued that in order to achieve operant and respondent extinction, exposure must be delivered continuously, without interruption (Barlow, …

The Use Of Computer-Based Programmed Instruction As A Supplemental Tool To Train Behavior Analysis Concepts, Jason T. Otto

Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation was to produce effective computer-based programmed instruction modules to serve as supplemental training for an ongoing college seminar in behavior analysis. Computer-based programmed instruction supplemented a checklist of a strategy for diagramming behavioral contingencies in the first study and supplemented difficult textbook material in the other studies. In all, the instruction involved 31 concepts, rules, or objectives. Microsoft ®PowerPoint® and Macromedia Flash(TM) were the authoring tools used to develop these supplemental modules. The modules involved multiple-choice-branching programming, which students completed as homework assignments that were delivered with a compact disk (Studies 1-4) and the World …