Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Origins Of Greek Cypriot National Identity, Elena Koumna

Masters Theses

Discussions of Greek Cypriot identity have conventionally been dominated by primordial arguments, contributing to the creation and maintenance of stereotypes and mythologies about the ethnic conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. In order to examine the validity of the primordial thesis, modernist and constructionist approaches on nationalism and identity are considered (Gellner 1983; Hobsbawm 1990; Anderson 1991; Hroch 1985; Smith 1991). Nationalism and identity formation are analyzed in the context of"stages," where the social composition of each stage and the degree of modernization are examined. The findings of the thesis largely support the hypotheses that pinpoint the articulation of Greek …

Re-Cycling The Menstrual Cycle: A Multidisciplinary Reinterpretation Of Menstruation, Heather H. Rea

Masters Theses

This thesis offers a reinterpretation of the human female menstrual cycle that understands the process as positive, functional, and practical experience. Standard western definitions and understandings of menstruation use negative terminology and focus on menstrual blood as an indicator of failed conception. This view contributes significantly to the negative perception women have of menstruation in general, their own menstrual cycles, and ultimately of their femaleness. This fundamental, physiological process that symbolizes femaleness, the menstrual cycle, has been defined both, bio-medically and culturally, as a negative experience. I propose a reconceptualization of the menstrual cycle that is not only a tool …

Spatial And Temporal Variations Of Cloud-To-Ground Lightning In Southern Michigan, Michael A. Crimmins

Masters Theses

Lightning has a profound impact on many aspects of modern day society. Understanding its temporal and spatial distributions is fundamental in learning to coexist with its destructive power. This study surveyed the spatial and temporal distribution of cloud-to-ground lightning over southern Michigan using data provided by the Detroit Edison Company. Flash density and 'lightning day' maps were produced for every year of the 1985 to 1995 study period and then averaged to determine long term trends. A temporal analysis determined the distribution of lightning from the inter-annual down to the diurnal scale.

The spatial analysis indicates both deficiencies in the …

Thomas Jefferson And The United States Constitution: A Comparative Study Of Jefferson As Maturing Political Thinker To Jefferson The Political Operative, Thomas A. Parker

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to use historical, qualitative, and comparative methods of research in studying the life of Thomas Jefferson, his views on governance, and his impact on the highest law of our land, the United States Constitution. Thomas Jefferson's constitutional thoughts and theories evolved first as a maturing political thinker and later as a political operative on the state, national and international stage. His beliefs were shaped by many factors including Jefferson's own principles and character, his scholarship via learned men and life experiences, American and overseas events in and out of his control, titles and offices …

Perceptions Of Americanization In Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, John W. Mcconnell

Masters Theses

This thesis examines perceptions and interpretations of American cultural influences in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. It is aimed at describing typical discourse genres and evaluative patterns in which these cultural influences are interpreted by various social groups of Costa Rican society. The study is based on a series of qualitative interviews and observations conducted in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica in the summer of 1996. The findings show that there exists a largely positive reaction to these images and objects emanating from the United States, and behind this positive evaluation lie attitudes of conformity, fatalism, and reification. The study contributes to …

The Impact Of Women' S Traditional Caregiving Roles On Their Paid Labor Force Participation Throughout Their Lifecourse, Paulina X. Ruf

Dissertations

Since women are the majority of caregivers to older and/or disabled relatives, the increasing number of women in the labor force has meant that more caregivers are also employed. In an effort to expand our understanding of the perils and benefits of women's caregiving roles, the present study examines the impact of women's traditional caregiving roles on their paid labor force participation throughout their lives. This qualitative study involved semistructured, in-depth interviews with sixteen women (i.e., six in their 50s, four in their 60s, and six women in their 70s), to answer the question, "how do family caregiving roles cumulatively …

Black Women Build Community: An Examination Of The Radcliffe Black Women Oral History Project, Dawn Michelle Hinton

Dissertations

This study investigated the unique position of Black women in the creation of community. Narratives from the Radcliffe Black Women Oral History Project were the source of information used for this work. These 20 oral narratives were collected between 1978 and 1982 by the Schlesinger Library. The women studied were involved in various community activities and represent Black women from various social classes and geographical locations. An in-depth reading of each of the narratives identified three themes: life-informing work, community-building, and religion. The theme of life-informing work was identified because the work and community involvement of the narrators had a …

Loss Of The Lifelong Partner: Implications For Social Adaptation, Anora Ackerson Grinwis

Dissertations

The death of a partner has long been recognized for its ability to alter the lifestyle of the survivor. This life event can be even more significant for older adults who may be facing loss in several areas of their lives simultaneously. The focus of this qualitative study is on how older adults socially reconstruct their lives following a partner's death. The social construction of reality (Berger and Luckmann, 1966) guides design and analysis. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 29 individuals following the death of a lifelong partner, described as a relationship of 45 or more years. Participants had been …

The Effects Of Social Skills Training And Reciprocal Social Skills Training With Parent/Guardian(S) On Behavior And Recidivism Of First Time Adjuncted Youth, Kathleen A. Bailey

Dissertations

This research investigates the effect of social skills training on 46 first-time adjudicated males, ages 13 through 15 and placed on traditional probation. The independent variable was the type of group. Three types of groups were conducted: Group I (youth who received social skills training with their parents or guardians), Group II (youth who received social skills training without parents’ or guardians’ participation), and Group III (a control group of youth who did not receive social skills training). The dependent variable was the Jesness Inventory scales and subscales scores, and the type of offenses (status, misdemeanor, and felony). The research …

Sexual Politics And Subversion: Feminist Utopia As Praxis, Jennifer Sue Boyers

Dissertations

Literary studies meets up with sociology as feminist utopian fiction Is examined for what sociologist Dorothy Smith (1990) labels normal narrative and counter-narrative articulations of gendered structures of power. The method of analytical Induction Is used both In the choosing of the four novels for study and the resulting textual analysis. Ursula Le Guln's The dispossessed (1974), Marge Plercy's Woman on the edge of time (1976), Suzy McKee Chamas's Motherllnes (1978), and Sally Miller Gearhart's The wandereround (1979) are examined for their constructions of dystopian normal narratives, as well as for their reconstructions of subversive utopian counter-narratives, both articulating gendered …

Temporary Employment: The Spanish Experience, Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes

Dissertations

In an effort to promote employment flexibility and reduce the unemployment rate, Spanish authorities deregulated temporary employment in the early 1980s. Nonetheless, the deregulation of temporary employment took place at the margin, favoring the development of a dual labor market in which temporary workers constituted a second class of workers involuntarily employed and enduring limited advancement opportunities.

Using data from the Spanish labor force survey, Spanish temporary employment and job transitions into and out of temporary employment are examined. The study first evaluates the incidence of Spanish temporary employment and its involuntary and demand-led character. Secondly, the analysis reveals temporary …

An Examination Of Self-Efficacy In Master’S Level Counselor Trainees, Matthew G. Rushlau

Dissertations

This research is an investigation into changes in individuals’ belief of self-efficacy as they advanced through master’s-level counselor training. Differences were examined between reported levels of beliefs of self-efficacy for a group of 30 master’s students involved in counselor practicum training and 31 master’s students involved in basic counseling coursework. Participants completed the Counselor Self-Estimate Inventory (COSE) (Larson et al., 1992) at the beginning and end of an academic semester. Data generated by the COSE included an overall score on beliefs of counselor self-efficacy along with five subscale scores of various aspects of counseling, consisting of Micro-Skills, Process, Difficult Client …

The Impact Of Social, Political, And Economic Forces On Enviromental Protection Efforts, Jung Sam Park

Dissertations

The researcher's purpose in this study was to determine whether there was a relationship between environmental protection efforts (the dependent variable) and social, political. and economical forces (the independent variables), and to suggest strategies for the improvement and promotion of environmental protection efforts.

Data on 10 environment-related indicators (variables) were collected from 191 countries by using published statistical information on their social. political. economical, and environmental conditions. These indicators were analyzed to determine which indicators had the most powerful relationship to environmental protection efforts.

Descriptive statistics, bivariate regression analysis, bivariate correlation coefficient analysis, multiple regression analysis, multivariate correlation coefficient analysis. …

Resource Colonialism And Native Resistance: The Mining Wars In Wisconsin, Linda Marie Robyn

Dissertations

In recent years powerful multinational mining corporations have attempted to mine various minerals found on Indian lands in the northern region of Wisconsin. These lands are currently protected from corporate incursion by treaties between the Chippewa people and the United States government. The Chippewa are using the treaties as an obstacle to corporate access to their lands and to protect their lands from the environmental devastation that will occur from proposed mining ventures.

This case study utilizes a power-reflexive method to analyze the power of the state to control rich mineral resources known to be on reservation lands. Under examination …

Max Horkheimer’S Critical Theory Of Religion:The Meaning Of Religion In The Struggle For Human Emancipation, Michael R. Ott

Dissertations

Over the past thirty years much has been written about the critical theory of society that was produced by a small group of left-wing Hegelians in the Institute of Social Research in Frankfurt am Main, Germany and in the United States. However, except for the pioneering work of Rudolf Siebert, little has been written about the critical theory of religion as a fundamental and dynamic element of the entire critical theory’s struggle for human emancipation. This study seeks to make a contribution in the development of the critical theory of religion as a corrective to the one-sided, positivistic development of …

Panther Stories: A Gendered Analysis Of The Autobiographies Of Former Black Panther Members, Monica Marie White

Dissertations

Literature on the influences and contributions of women within the Black Panther Party has been scant. Much of the documentation is written by and is about males. This dissertation uses the autobiographies of former Black Panther members, both male and female, to explore their experiences while in the organization. Each author's political ideology and his/her perceptions of sexism and racism and distinctions in the writing style of men and women are considered. Seven single-authored autobiographies written by former Panther members were analyzed both individually and comparatively. There were similarities among all members of the group, such as their support of …

Crisis Communication And Organizational Image: A Study Of The Nasa Challenger And Exxon Valdez, Amy O'Connor

Masters Theses

This study examines the communication activities of two crises: the NASA Challenger and Exxon Valdez and investigates the effect of accommodative and defensive statements attributable to each crisis on organizational image. The survey design queried respondents about organization image with questions about trustworthiness, responsibility and willingness for future involvement with the organization, based on statements provided. Results indicated that when organizations issue accommodative statements during a crisis, participants rated overall organizational image more positively than when defensive statements were given. Research findings are discussed based on the symbolic approach to crisis communication and the investor response theory. The implications for …

Betrayed. The Legacy Of The African American Soldier, Timothy Hampton

Honors Theses

America has called upon its citizens on many occasions to defend its interests. Once called upon, American citizens usually respond with enthusiasm, courage, and great composure. They become American soldiers. The citizen/soldier's obligation is to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic," and to "bear true faith and allegiance to the same...." (Department of Defense Form No. 4, 1992). With this affirmation, military campaigns are launched. Missions are undertaken. Battles are fought. Ultimately, people die fighting for this nation.

Perceptions Of Corporate Crime: Assessing The Seriousness, Dale J. Ardovini-Brooker

Masters Theses

Many studies have been done concerning the seriousness of traditional street crime. There is a need in the field of criminology to expand our knowledge about how serious corporate crimes are. A key feature of seriousness is how researchers measure it. Using a survey, I analyzed people's perceptions of corporate crime. I had the respondents indicate the seriousness of the crime and harm by using a Likert Scale as well as identifying the appropriate sanction/sentence for the company convicted of the crime. This proved useful in attempting to identify how seriousness is measured by the sanctions/sentences imposed by the respondents. …

Spatial Analysis Of Agricultural Cucurbita Sp. Varieties In The Eastern Broadleaf Province, Kathleen M. Baker

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research was to explain and quantify twentieth century agricultural distributions of the genus Cucurbita in the United States to determine the effect of temporal changes in economic utilization and a variety of historical, environmental and social circumstances on those distributions. Geographic information system (GIS) methods were combined with statistical software techniques to analyze the spatial and temporal trends of pumpkin and squash growth in one region (the Eastern Broadleaf Province, as defined by Bailey) of the United States from 1982-1992.

Counties with fewer frost free days, later spring frosts, more accumulated growing degree units throughout the …

The Relationship Between Organizational Culture And The Practice Of Program Evaluation In Human Service Organizations, Lorraine Marais

Dissertations

There are many obstacles for human service organizations in evaluating programs. Some of these barriers are the difficulty in defining human behavior and the change that needs to be evaluated, human service programs that take a long time to show results, agency capacity to do evaluation, and cost (Young, Hollister, Hodgkinson, & Associates, 1993). Another subtle yet powerful influence on the practice of evaluation in nonprofit organizations may be organizational culture (Schein, 1990). If an organization is going to employ self-evaluation, an organizational culture may be needed that will support such efforts. This study was designed to assess the relationship …

Laterality Of The Perception Of Computer Presented Written Sexual Words By Right-Handed Males And Females, Randall W. Stewart

Dissertations

The right hemisphere of males has been shown to possess a greater capacity for accurate perception of emotional non-verbal material (pictures) than the left hemisphere. The same is true for females, but with a smaller difference between the two hemispheres. Some previous research has partially confirmed these relationships using tachistoscopic presentation of emotional words. The present study, using briefly exposed computerpresented sexual words, compared perception accuracy with respect to a sexuality rating of clearly sexual and clearly non-sexual words, in the right versus the left visual field, and with males versus females. As with previous research using verbal stimuli, the …

The Impact Of Selected Barriers On Students Completing Community College In Michigan, Terri Lynn Burt

Dissertations

Research studies have been conducted to investigate barriers that inhibit the ability of adult students to obtain a postsecondary education (Powell, 1989; Shields, 1990). These studies suggest that there are three distinct categories that could be used to describe this phenomenon: (1) situational, (2) dispositional, and (3) institutional. The overall purpose of this study was to determine what barriers, if any, are experienced by nontraditional African-American students in selected Midwest community colleges in comparison to White adult students according to selected demographic variables (e.g., age, sex, marital status, number of children, employment, status, income, and race). More specifically, this study …

Mdma And Learning: Effects Of Acute And Neurotoxic Exposure, Thomas P. Byrne

Dissertations

In two experiments, the effects of MDMA were examined on the acquisition of lever-press responding by rats exposed to procedures in which water delivery was delayed by 0, 10, or 20 seconds. In the first experiment, naive, water-deprived rats received an intraperitoneal injection of MDMA (0, 1.0, 3.2, or 5.6 mg/kg) prior to one experimental session. Response acquisition was observed under all conditions at all drug doses. MDMA increased both response rates and reinforcers earned in a dose-dependent fashion, but only when reinforcement was immediate. Under conditions of delay, MDMA had no effect on the number of lever presses emitted …

A Computer/Tutorial System Compared With A Workbook/Tutorial Systeg For Presenting Instructional Material To At-Risk Elementary School Students, Vincent O. Hodge

Dissertations

Two different ways of presenting instructional material and reacting to students’ responses were compared. One, taking advantage of several features of multimedia instruction involved a desktop computer and various computer-presented consequences of correct and incorrect responses (largely chosen by the student). The other consisted in presenting the same instructional materials (the SRA primary curriculum) in a workbook form with tutors' comments and praise as the main form of response consequence. The two methods were compared with respect to various measures of student and system performance, including student accuracy (percent correct responses), types of errors, amount of correct response repetition (over-responding), …

The Effects Of Counselor Skills Training On Levels Of Counselor Cognitive Complexity, David K. Duys

Dissertations

This study measured the impact of an intensive counseling skills training course on levels of cognitive complexity in novice counselors. Graduate level counseling students were assessed at the beginning of a basic counseling skills training course and again at the end of the course by obtaining written responses to a stimulus questionnaire. A control group was recruited consisting of other graduate counseling students who were taking other courses during the same time interval and who were not exposed to the basic counseling skills course. Participants in the control group were tested using the same instrument and their scores were compared …

Influence Of Psychiatric Diagnostic Training On Counseling Students’ Development Of A Model-For-Helping And Professional Identity, Jerry E. Mclaughlin

Dissertations

Over the years, numerous proposals have been made in the counselor education (CE) literature about what counseling philosophy can best lead the profession to a distinctive professional identity (Bauman & Waldo, 1998; Fong & Lease, 1994; Guterman, 1994). An issue in this debate is whether psychiatric diagnostic training forms a part of a counseling philosophy (i.e., model-for-helping) and professional identity that is more focused on client psychopathology than on normal developmental issues. This study explored how training and experience in psychiatric diagnostic categories (PDCs) influenced counselors’ development of their counseling philosophy and professional identity.

Focus-group interviews were held at four …

The Treatment Utility Of The Arousal Predisposition Scale In Predicting The Outcome Of Exposure Therapy With Small Animal Phobias, Ellen I. Koch

Masters Theses

This study evaluated the effectiveness of an in vivo, one-session exposure procedure modified from that described by Lars-Goran Ost for the treatment of small animal phobias. This study also assessed the ability of the Arousal Predisposition Scale to predict treatment outcome. Subjects received treatment for snake, spider, rat, mouse, or crawling insect phobia. Three groups were utilized (treatment, phobic control and non-phobic control). The treatment session included both behavioral and self-report measures of anxiety. Almost all treatment subjects showed dramatic improvement on both of these types of measures during posttest and one-month follow-up. The treatment and non-phobic control groups were …

Community Empowerment And Social Policy Design: A Case Study Of The Creation Of A School-Based Health Center, R. Ian Costello

Masters Theses

Studies of community empowerment have shown the benefits of involving recipient communities in the process of designing and implementing social aid programs. One of these benefits is the empowerment of previously disenfranchised individuals and communities. Through qualitative ethnographic research, this thesis shows how residents of one low-income community in South-West Michigan have become more empowered through their involvement in the design and implementation of a school-based health center.

Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Doctoral Students Mentoring Relationships With Faculty In Counseling Psychology A Qualitative Study, Julianne S. Lark

Dissertations

Mentoring is often endorsed within broader discussions of the education and training of students in counseling and psychology (e.g., Ellis, 1992; Gelso & Fretz, 1992; Kilburg, 1991), although, there is very little in the professional literature about these relationships (Carden, 1990). Out of the small amount of professional training literature on lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) issues, Buhrke and Douce (1991) have provided the only discussion of counseling psychology trainees who themselves are LGB. There are no other published sources that discuss the practice of mentoring with LGB students in counseling psychology.

This qualitative study investigated (LGB) doctoral students’ mentoring …