Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Volunteer Trustees In Urban United Way Agencies, Rosemarie Scoti Cook

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of role and function of trustees and chief professional officers (CPOs) in non-profit, human services agencies that are members of the United Way of South Hampton Roads. Thousands of volunteer hours are expended annually in serving on boards of directors in the Hampton Roads area. These trustees who serve are legally accountable for the agencies, and have certain duties prescribed by their by-laws. However, role confusion and conflict exist over specific duties of trustees.

Responsibilities of for-profit board members were divided into four areas: management--control and oversight; adherence to legal …

Preface, Mary Jo Deegan, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

To us, as feminist professors, the structural inequality of women is obvious. To our nonfeminist students, however, this inequality is often invisible. They believe, optimistically, that all women's problems have been solved or will be by the time they complete their undergraduate education. They are firm believers that American society is egalitarian and radically different from the world of ten or twenty years ago. This book is oriented toward our students and our vision. We, too, believe that people are flexible and can change, and that the United States Constitution guarantees equality for all citizens. We know, however, that women's …

Novels, Thought Experiments, And Humanist Sociology In The Classroom: Mari Sandoz And Capital City, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Based upon teaching Mari Sandoz' allegorical novel, Capital City, as part of Introduction to Sociology for three semesters, this report outlines the characteristics of sociologically useful novels from a humanist perspective. A key characteristic is the extent to which novelists not only conduct thought experiments but also stimulate student thinking and research. The pedagogical dimensions of thought experiments are explicated and the positive outcomes of using a novel-and group study projects based on a novel-are reported.

'Asking Directions’ And Pedestrian Wayfinding, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This paper reports a study of the social ecology and systemic aspects of "asking for directions" in an urban area. Interviews were conducted with 100 randomly selected pedestrians at spatially stratified locations representing a variety of urban environments in Lincoln, Nebraska. The interviewer, posing as a "lost" pedestrian, asked respondents to give directions to local landmarks and then unobtrusively recorded their responses on a concealed tape recorder. Respondents generally provided accurate, distance-conserving directions with low levels of spatial complexity. Responses were friendly and often tailored to the unique environmental attributes characterizing each location. An outline of the process whereby a …

The Sociology And Experiences Of Pedestrians, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This paper introduces the sociological and experiential studies included in this special issue of Man-Environment Systems. Sociological and experiential perspectives and their interconnections are briefly explored. A sociology of sociology perspective is adopted and argues that architects, planners, engineers and other managers of vested, status guo interests fail to systematically incorporate the burgeoning social scientific work on pedestrianism due to the inherent and unavoidable political character of walking.

Bomb Talk: Framing The Unthinkable, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Our cultural apparatus appears ill-equipped, if not unable, to conceptualize or frame the present nuclear reality in a way that lets us effectively come to grips with it as it really is: a deployed, targeted, industrialized capacity to instantaneously annihilate all human life. This paper demonstrates that we key or transform our nuclear reality in virtually every conceivable way, thus normalizing it and treating it culturally the same as any other phenomenon, including the most mundane. I argue therefore that we have before us the immense and challenging task of finding a way – working with flawed and inadequate intellectual …

A Cross-Cultural Analysis Of Several Forms Of Parenting: Mother, Genitrix, And Mater, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Melissa Stern was born March 27, 1986, in New Jersey. For one so young, she has experienced or been the subject of interstate flight and fugitive hegira, legal battles involving her own court-appointed attorney, social controversy, the voracious attention of an insensitive media industry, and a place in history as the famous Baby "M". Judge Sorkow (1987: 26-27), in his opinion awarding custody of Melissa to her genetic father and terminating all parental rights of her genetic mother, notes professional evaluations indicating Melissa to be a "a mellow, alert, easy-to-care-for child who is blessed with a 'sunniness of disposition that …

Physically Disabled Women And New Directions In Public Policy, 1977-1987., Mary Jo Deegan

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Women with physical disabilities now demand new directions in public policy. Starting a mere decade ago, in 1977, a driving momentum redefined the self-concepts, expectations, and united actions of disabled women. This burgeoning social movement is documented here through the geometric growth of writings articulating the vision of a more active and independent group. An overview of this Iiterature and its policy implications is provided.

Friendship Between Women : The Influence Of Incest, Laurie Lockert

Dissertations and Theses

This study focused on the mother/daughter relationship in father/daughter incest and how that relationship influences women's friendships with other women. Many researchers have concluded that females who were sexually abused by male authority figures, i.e., father, step-father, grandfather, older brother, minister, babysitter, will have impaired relationships with men. Clinicians surmise that the enormous betrayal of trust involved in the incest leads the child to generalize from her experience with one male to all males. Victims express feelings of distrust, fear of intimacy, and fear of personal expression in all male/female relationships. Studies suggest that in families where father/daughter incest has …