Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Elements Of Postfeminism: The Current Landscape Of American Politics?, Laura Delorenzo Denison

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to establish the meaning and definition of postfeminism along with an assessment of whether it accurately represents the current era of thinking. It is an historical, descriptive, qualitative analysis of the feminist movement from its inception with the central focus on the newest strand of feminist thought, postfeminism. The progression toward these conclusions entails an outlining of the waves of feminism and the strands of thought within these eras as well as a discussion of third wave feminism, modern feminism and generational differences between the waves. The focus on postfeminism begins with an exploration …

Climatic Adaptation And Postcranial Metric Variation In Precontact North America, Kathryn A. King

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate patterns of variation in the postcranial skeleton of prehistoric American populations as they are related to variation in climate. Two ecogeographical rules proposed by Karl Bergmann (1847) and Joel Allen (1877) describe expected patterns of variation with widespread, warm-blooded species. Modern humans in the Old World largely conform to this pattern (Holliday 1997a). This study seeks to explore if the same patterns are present in the New World.

Skeletal material from 25 North American bioarchaeological collections was used in this analysis. A series of 29 measurements of the postcranial skeleton were collected …

An Investigation Of The Relationships Among Work Values, Personality Traits, Job Satisfaction, And Career Satisfaction, Shannon Danielle Salyer

Doctoral Dissertations

In this study, the relationships among work values, personality variables, job satisfaction and career satisfaction were investigated. The specific work values assessed in this research included: achievement, autonomy, challenge, creativity, ecology, family, informality, income, leadership, leisure, geographic locale, excitement, work space aesthetics, social responsibility, security, expertise, integrity, power and teamwork. Personality was assessed broadly by using the Big Five personality variables and narrowly, using more specific constructs of personality. An archival data source was used consisting of a sample of 457 employees from various industries. Several research questions were addressed answered including: How are work values related to broad and …

Type I Diabetes Mellitus In Children And Pre-Adolescents: Affective, Behavioral, And Social Correlates, Meredith P. Schwartzman

Doctoral Dissertations

Type I diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is the most common metabolic disorder among children and adolescents (Wysocki, Greco, & Buckloh, 2003) and research has indicated that children with T1DM are more likely to develop clinical depression and anxiety relative to children without T1DM. Building on this literature, the present study utilized a multi-method assessment strategy of self- and parent-reported depression, anxiety, behavioral regulation (i.e. internalizing and externalizing behaviors), social competence, personality, and family dynamics to identify whether preadolescents with T1DM were distinguishable from children without T1DM, and also whether psychosocial differences were evident in the T1DM group as a function of …

A Theory Of Multi-Transitions And The Chinese Welfare State, Bo Li

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation I introduce an institutional approach for the research of the Chinese welfare state and the measure of people’s welfare benefit. I demonstrate that multiple institutional transitions due to the economic reforms initiated in the early 1980s have since dramatically changed the Chinese welfare state and the way welfare benefits are distributed. Multiple institutional transitions discussed in this dissertation are structural changes associated with the state-owned enterprise (SOE) reforms, the rapid industrialization, ever-growing urbanization, and large-scale decentralization of the fiscal system. Through the exploration of the data from the 1988 and 1995 Chinese Household Income Project (CHIP), I …

Felony Disenfranchisement Legislation: A Test Of The Group Threat Hypothesis, Angel Dawn Geoghagan

Doctoral Dissertations

The group threat hypothesis is part of the conflict theoretical perspective, which has been one of the most dominant and useful theories in the fields of criminology and criminal justice for decades. The usefulness of this perspective relates to the understanding it provides of how the law can be used by those in power as a measure of control. The use of law as a method of control has a long history in the US society, and there are many examples from which to pull. This project examines the use of one set of laws, felony disenfranchisement legislation, to determine …

Eight Karats Of Justice: Analysis Of The Grassroots Resistance Movement Against Goldmining In The Villages Of Bergama, Turkey, Banu Aysu Koçer

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores and analyzes the grassroots movement against goldmining in the villages of Bergama, Turkey. The struggle of Bergama villagers started out as a local ecological resistance movement in the early 1990s and gradually transformed into an environmental justice movement with national implications when activists adopted a rights-based discourse by incorporating into their claims the notions of justice, democratic participation, and citizenship rights.

Since goldmining investment in Bergama was a manifestation of significant shifts in the global corporate mining industry starting in the 1980s, and of changes in the world political economy, an account of these shifts is presented …

The Social Ecology Of Parenting: Systematically Modeling The Antecedents Of Supportive And Intrusive Parenting, Julie A. Schluterman

Doctoral Dissertations

One of the significant contributions of this study is its inclusion of the role of social contextual factors in determining parenting. I built on the ecological model proposed by Belsky (1984). As such, the parenting model tested in this dissertation included individual level determinants of parenting: 1) parent characteristics (e.g., developmental history), and 2) child characteristics (e.g., behavior problems). Yet, rather than include a social context domain as described by Belsky, I distinguished between within family context (e.g., interparental hostility) and external to family context (e.g., work-family conflict, neighborhood disorganization) as social contextual sources of stress and support to the …

Groundwater: A Community’S Management Of The Invaluable Resource Beneath Its Feet, Nancy D. Brannon

Doctoral Dissertations

Understanding the impact of human decisions on vital resources is a core task of environmental sociology, which studies the interaction between human society and the environment. The overarching theme of this research is the economicenvironmental relationship in U.S. public policy, using a case study of a specific environmental resource problem in a specific region. It fuses basic assumptions of two economic growth models (treadmill of production and the urban growth machine) to examine the extent to which these assumptions permeate the worldviews of policymakers and those who advise them. When the growth imperative is a priority in their …

Evaluation Of A Psychoeducational Program Designed To Affect Attitudes Associated With Intimate Partner Violence In An Inmate Population, Melani Magee Wheeler

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a group intervention designed to impact male attitudes associated with the perpetration of intimate partner violence in a correctional setting. Specifically, the group intervention addressed gender role stereotypes and conflict, healthy and unhealthy entitlement attitudes, attitudes toward women, and effective communication and anger management. The group intervention also sought to increase positive attitudes toward seeking psychological assistance among participants. Results of the MANCOVA did not support the efficacy of the psychoeducational program in impacting attitudes among inmates. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Comparison Of Developmental Assets Of Early Adolescents In Two Urban Youth Programs, Keesha Yvette Chapman

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess the presence of developmental assets of youth participating in two programs that have similar goals but are organized differently. One program was structured around a theoretical and empirical model of youth development (i.e., developmental asset framework) and one program was not organized around this framework. Gender was examined to determine if differences in reports of developmental assets existed across programs in relation to gender.

Data were obtained from 40 youth between the ages of 10 and 14 participating in both programs. A 47-item questionnaire was administered to participants in small groups at …

Co-Occurring Disorders: An Outpatient Latent Class Analysis, Kathleen H. Darby

Doctoral Dissertations

Over the past 20 years researchers and health care practitioners have come to realize in addition to high prevalence rates, individuals with co-occurring disorders did not represent a homogeneous group (Drake, et al., 1998: 2001; Lehman, et al., 1994: 2000; Mueser, et al., 2000). It is essential to consider the heterogeneity of co-occurring disorders when considering new treatment modalities. Thus, it becomes pivotal to identify these differences for treatment approaches and program goals. Research shows that heterogeneity of treatment populations can be reduced through empirically-derived homogeneous groups based on multivariate analysis (Ries, et al., 1993; Lehman et al., 2000; Mueser, …

Cigarette Papers: Cigarette Advertising And Promotion In College And University Student Newspapers, A Case Study Of The Orange And White At The University Of Tennessee, Elizabeth Crisp Crawford

Doctoral Dissertations

This historical dissertation discusses the relationship between cigarette advertising and student publications at colleges and universities across the United States. This study uses The Orange and White at the University of Tennessee as a case study. Cigarette advertisements were printed in student publications from the 1920-1921 academic year to the 1963-1964 academic year and provided a needed source of revenue for student newspapers. This research examines the tactics and strategies that the tobacco industry used to target youth in the absence of federal legislation. This dissertation is divided into five chapters, which explain in detail the relationship between student publications, …

Predicting High School Truancy And Academic Performance Among Students In The Appalachian South, Melissa Kathryn Hunt

Doctoral Dissertations

Truancy and academic underachievement are significant problems among adolescents. Considering the historical emphasis on studying delinquency in populated urban areas, a more concerted effort is needed to examine this issue in rural areas to determine the extent to which findings are culturally generalizable. As a move in this direction, truant behavior was examined in an East Tennessee county in the southern region of the Appalachian Mountains. The primary objective of this exploratory investigation was to assess personality, behavioral, religious, and environmental factors most associated with high school absenteeism and academic achievement in the Appalachian south. Participants were 374 adolescents in …

Myths, Metaphors, And Mass-Mediated Reality: U.S. Press Coverage Of Bird Flu And Avian Influenza Pandemic, 1996-2006, Kunka Dineva Ignatova

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined U.S. press coverage of the H5N1 bird-flu virus and the possible influenza pandemic in the period 1996 - 2006. One elite and three regional newspapers were used. Framing analysis facilitated by the QDA Miner revealed that militaristic, race, natural disaster and Christian/biblical metaphors, as well as the myths of the “other world,” the “hero,” the “victim,” and the “plague,” created fear that helped to perpetuate the story and keep it on the media agenda. This was a story that the press constructed both scientifically and metaphorically, relying on scientific facts as well as on cultural myths and …

Saying Yes When You Mean No: A Phenomenological Analysis Of Consensual Unwanted Sexual Activity, Samantha C. Litzinger

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to conduct a phenomenological analysis of the experience of consensual unwanted sexual activity (CUSA). College men and women (N=10) in relationships ranging from casual to committed who were enrolled at a university in the southeastern United States were interviewed about experiences of CUSA. Interviews were conducted in person with participants who were asked to answer the following research question: “Describe a time in which you did not want to participate in some sexual activity, but you decided to anyway.” Interview transcripts were analyzed using phenomenological research methods in the context of an interpretive research …

Fracture Biomechanics Of The Human Skeleton, Anne M. Kroman

Doctoral Dissertations

Trauma analysis is a growing area of physical and forensic anthropology. The analysis of fracture patterns is useful in determining cause and manner of death, as well as making inferences about past populations. Traditionally, anthropologists have categorized bone trauma into the discrete categories of blunt, ballistic, and sharp trauma. While these descriptors provide a practical approach, anthropologists need to change the way that trauma is perceived and analysis of fractures is conducted. Bone trauma is best viewed as a continuum (rather than discrete independent categories), with the variables of force, acceleration/deceleration, and surface area of impacting interface governing the appearance …

Racial Identification Among Rural African American Adolescents, John Walter Miller Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation critically examines the influence that environmental racial composition has on the racial identification development of African Americans adolescents. Theoretical models that describe the formation of racial identity are examined chronologically, and research compiled within social work literature on the topic of racial identification is examined. Although previous studies have examined how African American adolescents over the age of 15 deal with the complexities of racial identity development, to date there is no literature that examines how middle school age African American adolescents navigate the same waters. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between environmental …

The Experience Of Retiring From Sport Following A Career In High School Football: A Phenomenological Investigation, Douglas J. Muccio

Doctoral Dissertations

The major objective of this research was to explore the experience of retiring from high school football. Previous research has neglected qualitative investigations of high school athletes’ experiences of retirement. High school football was chosen due to its popularity and importance in American communities. The purpose of this study was to give participants an opportunity to voice their experiences of retiring from high school football so that others may be better able to understand and learn from their experiences.

The phenomenological method was used to interview ten retired high school football players identified as elite based on team and individual …

Conflict, Connection, And Aggression In Adolescent Romantic Relationships, Sharon C. Risch

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation describes two projects aimed at understanding the role of conflict, connection, and aggression in adolescent romantic relationships. The first project is an empirical investigation that seeks to understand how the developmental task of separation-individuation is negotiated in adolescents’ romantic relationships via their communication processes. We hypothesize that participants who exhibit higher levels of connection and lower levels of conflict will be less physically aggressive and feel more satisfied in their relationships. We also hypothesize a moderation model whereby participants who exhibit conflict in the context of higher levels of connection will have better relational outcomes than participants who …

Impediments To Presence: Oblivious And Reactive Mindlessness, Noah L. Roost

Doctoral Dissertations

Mindfulness and mindlessness are often theoretically and psychometrically treated as opposing poles of a single dimension (e.g. Langer, 1989; Kabat-Zinn, 1990; Brown & Ryan, 2003). The present study examines the possibility of two differing styles of mindlessness, an oblivious form based upon defensive avoidance of experience and a reactive form based upon ruminative reaction to experience. These differing styles of mindless are theoretically similar to adult attachment status. The avoidant attachment style is conceptually related to an oblivious style of mindlessness in that both involve a defensive denial of certain aspects of experience, particularly those aspects that evoke feelings of …

Validation Of The Air Force Family Needs Screener, Wendy J. Wyse

Doctoral Dissertations

The Air Force Family Needs Screener (FNS) has been utilized as a screening measure for risk of both child maltreatment and intimate partner violence (IPV) within the context of a military primary prevention program called the New Parent Support Program (NPSP) since 1988. However, this measure has only been validated with the initial pilot samples used in its development. The current study sought to assess the reliability, dependability, factor structure and predictive capacity of the FNS using a new sample of mothers. In addition, this study sought to develop shortened versions of the FNS in order to determine if they …

The Origins Of A War Of Secession: A Comparison Of Namibia And Botswana, Eric D. Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

This work is an attempt to define a comprehensive contemporary model of the causes of wars of secession, state and illustrate its gaps, and develop new theories to accentuate and improve that model, and through comparative case studies perform some elementary tests of their validity. My theoretical paradigm is dependent on an assumption that the ultimate causes, as captured under the rubric of institutions and structures, of an event involving rational but free-willed human beings are inadequate to explaining the onset of radical, extraordinary politics in general and wars of secession in particular. On the contrary, proximate causes, in the …

Middle To Late Holocene Environmental Change And Human Impacts In Seasonally Dry Neotropical Forest Of Northwestern Costa Rica: Sedimentary Evidence From Six Lakes, Martin R. Arford

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents evidence of long-term changes in climate, fire, and vegetation in northwestern Costa Rica, as revealed by sediment profiles from lakes on the seasonally dry, lower Pacific slope of Miravalles volcano in Guanacaste province (10.7^o N, 85.2^o W). Sediment cores were recovered for pollen and charcoal analysis from six lakes formed by volcanic activity approximately 8200 years ago.

Six regional pollen zones were delineated based on changes in pollen and sediments, and dated by AMS radiocarbon determinations on macrofossils. The basal pollen zone (Zone 6, prior to 8000 cal yr BP) comprises elastic sediments that correspond …

Hope, Coping Style, And Dietary Behaviors Of Early And Late Postgastrectomy Stomach Cancer Patients, Cynthia Collins

Doctoral Dissertations

Stomach cancer is the second leading cause of all cancer deaths worldwide and will increase yearly as the population increases (Lambert, 2000). Psychosocial interventions to promote optimal adaptation to stomach cancer and the special circumstances of gastrectomy should be guided by research on personality characteristics, other psychological factors and the health behaviors which characterize phases of recovery. Although coping styles of gastrectomy patients had been examined in an earlier study, no study had been conducted from a biopsychosocial perspective. In the present study, a group of stomach cancer patients (15) surviving less than five years postsurgery were compared to a …

Mindfulness In Everyday Life: An Empirical Study Of Mindfulness As It Is Experienced In Ordinary Life Among Long-Term Vipassana Practitioners, Jacqueline Kracker

Doctoral Dissertations

This phenomenological look at the experience of mindfulness in everyday life situations is framed against the background of traditional Theravadin Buddhist descriptions and contemporary Western psychoanalytic ideas of the experience of mindfulness. The research laid out by Pollio, Henley, and Thompson (1997) and by Thomas and Pollio (2002) was used. In-depth, open-ended interviews are conducted with none participants who were judged to have stable, long-term (four years or longer) vipassana meditation practices, as determined by three full-time vipassana teachers. The emergent thematic structure includes six major themes and several subthemes: (1) Present and Aware, (2) Spacious and Open, including subthemes, …

Repealing State Legislative Term Limits: A Comparative Analysis, Troy Christopher Goodale

Doctoral Dissertations

The proposed research is a comparative case study of State governments that have attempted to repeal State legislative ‘term limits’ (N = 8). The study will examine the institutional processes and the behavior of political actors culminating in an institutional output in the form of legislative statutes and judicial decisions concerning the repeal of term limit legislation. The theoretical propositions explored in this research are derived from decision-making theories, democratic theories of representation, and the findings of the literature on State legislative term limits. The States selected are Florida, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. All of the legislative and judicial …

Examining The Ability Of The Halstead -Reitan Battery And The Wide Range Achievement Test To Utilize Severity In Discriminating Among Alzheimer's Dementia Patients, Gina Gibson-Beverly

Doctoral Dissertations

Measuring change in cognitive status is essential for the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of brain dysfunction. Psychological abilities are differentially affected by brain dysfunction severity, as some abilities are more vulnerable to brain dysfunction than others. Neuropsychological assessments can be viewed as a continuum of "hold" and "don't hold" tests. "Hold" tests assess abilities that remain stable in spite of brain dysfunction, while "don't hold" tests measure skills that are significantly compromised by brain impairment. The present study ranks the Halstead-Reitan Battery (HRB) and the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) subtests based on their ability to discriminate between two levels …

Strategic Alliances By Financial Services Firms, Hua Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

The importance of strategic alliances in the financial services industry is increasing; however, research focusing on strategic alliances is limited. In this dissertation, I intend to enhance the existing literature by examining the effect of strategic alliances on the value of financial services firms and the level of cooperation between partner firms involved in strategic alliances. The specific objectives of the dissertation are to examine the market reaction to strategic alliance announcements, to examine the preand post-announcement long-run abnormal stock performance and operating performance for the participants of strategic alliances, and to examine joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions after …

Evaluation Of A Sleep Hygiene Program To Improve Inmate Sleep Quality, Jennifer F. Hodges-Crowder

Doctoral Dissertations

Research investigating the effectiveness of treatments for inmates with poor sleep quality appears minimal. Some difficulties related to poor sleep quality can be addressed effectively with little time and expense. Studies show that psychoeducational interventions are effective in reducing sleep complaints and improving sleep quality in a variety of populations including college students and adults. However, the effect of sleep hygiene interventions on inmate sleep complaints is unknown. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate a psychoeducational intervention program aimed at improving prison inmate sleep habits, length, and quality.

Participants of this study were inmates at a department …