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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Perceived Stigma And Stigma Management Of Midwest Seculars, Christopher R. H. Garneau Aug 2012

Perceived Stigma And Stigma Management Of Midwest Seculars, Christopher R. H. Garneau

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Prior work demonstrates that atheists and other secular individuals experience especially low trust among the American public. This line of research suggests that those with no religious belief encounter societal stigma related to their non-belief. Yet it is unknown how non-believers perceive and manage stigma. I explore perceived stigma and stigma management strategies employed by atheists, agnostics, and other secular individuals in the Midwest using a mixed methods approach. Results from survey data from more than 2,200 secular individuals as well as 24 in-depth interviews with seculars living in the Midwest show that prejudice and discrimination are common experiences for …


Abortion And Distress: The Role Of State-Level Restrictive Policies Regarding Reproduction, Elizabeth Straley May 2012

Abortion And Distress: The Role Of State-Level Restrictive Policies Regarding Reproduction, Elizabeth Straley

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Does state legal context modify the association between abortion and distress among women in the United States? Adjusting for individual characteristics that could be associated with distress based on stress and stigma frameworks, I examine if state legal context modifies the association between abortion and distress using a nationally representative sample of American women ages 25-45. The use of state-level factors as a proxy for social context in this research has not been part of previous studies of the consequences of abortion. In order to appropriately examine the cross-level modifying effects of state level legal context on abortion status with …


Influences Of Farming Background On Farm Women’S Employment Motivations, Alexis Swendener May 2012

Influences Of Farming Background On Farm Women’S Employment Motivations, Alexis Swendener

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

An important change in the dynamics of family farming is the financial difficulties they have encountered and the resulting solution of sending a family member to earn a wage in off-farm employment. This study utilizes survey data from Washington family farm women to explore how they navigate their unique social context concerning the decision and reasons they choose to work off-farm. In particular, I examine whether women who grew upon a farm or have spent a large percentage of their lives on farms are more or less likely to work off-farm. An identity theory approach is utilized to hypothesize that …


The Sociology Of Harriet Martineau In Eastern Life, Present And Past: The Foundations Of The Islamic Sociology Of Religion, Deborah A. Ruigh Apr 2012

The Sociology Of Harriet Martineau In Eastern Life, Present And Past: The Foundations Of The Islamic Sociology Of Religion, Deborah A. Ruigh

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This paper is a critical analysis of Harriet Martineau’s philosophical stance and epistemological modes, her systematic sociological methodology, her use of this methodology, and her sociology of religion. How to Observe Morals and Manners (1838), Eastern Life, Present and Past (1848), and other relevant works will be used to examine Martineau’s evolving epistemological modes as well as her sociology of religion. How to Observe, Martineau’s treatise on systematic sociological methodology and cultural relativism, will serve as an exemplar for analysis of Martineau’s methodological practice as evidenced in Eastern Life. The research problem herein is three-fold: (1) to examine …


Hard Work, Overcoming, And Masculinity: An Ethnographic Account Of High School Wrestlers' Bodies And Cultural Worlds, Bryan Snyder Apr 2012

Hard Work, Overcoming, And Masculinity: An Ethnographic Account Of High School Wrestlers' Bodies And Cultural Worlds, Bryan Snyder

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The dissertation explores the cultural worlds of high school wrestlers at an inner-city school in the Mountain West region of the United States. The data upon which this dissertation is based come from a ten-month ethnography, where I conducted “observant participation” (Wacquant 2011) and semi-structured, open-ended interviews with members of this school’s wrestling team. I approached both my data collection and analysis through cultural-sociological frames. Although I intend to contribute to a number of areas of specialization, in this dissertation I use high school wrestling as a site to ask basic questions about key sociological themes such as meaning, identity, …


A Phenomenology Of The Meaning Of Motherhood For African American And Hispanic Women Who Do Not Have Children In The United States, Amy M. Clark Apr 2012

A Phenomenology Of The Meaning Of Motherhood For African American And Hispanic Women Who Do Not Have Children In The United States, Amy M. Clark

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the meanings that childfree African American and Hispanic women place on motherhood and to better understand what impact these meanings may or may not have on the changing demographic of minority women who do not have children. This study used qualitative interviews and the method of phenomenology to elicit descriptions from a sample of African American and Hispanic women who do not have children. Specifically, the goal of this study was to explore how African American and Hispanic childfree women conceptualize their understanding of motherhood and to understand how these conceptualizations …