Sociology Commons^™

Religious Orientation And Coping In Third Culture Kids, Kayla Zerbe

Honors Projects and Presentations: Undergraduate

This study examines the correlation between religious orientation and religious coping in Third Culture Kids (TCKs). Young adult TCKs often struggle with their identity, mental health, and cultural adjustment during the reentry process. Despite the unique struggles TCKs experience, very little research has been done on this population. Religion may play a role in the reentry process as support, challenge, or way of coping. The present study examines religion in TCKs through the lens of motivation, using the Religious Orientation Scale (ROS), which measures intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientation, and the Brief RCOPE, which measures positive and negative religious coping. …

Tourism, Mapping, Retail And Recreational Trails: A Case Study Of Connectivity Between Trails And Adjacent Downtowns In Anniston, Alabama, Usa, Jennifer Green

Theses

This study examines the estimated increase in economic impact on a geography’s local economy by creating cross-marketing efforts between expanding an established outdoor recreation trail to a closely located city downtown commerce district. This research will analyze the resulting potential rise in sales/lodging tax revenues for that city by mapping the trail and downtown district, and cross-marketing the other to users of both or either venue. Potential increase in economic impact will be estimated utilizing IMPLAN methodology by assessing the economic impact on the local economy that a percentage range of increased spending resulting from this cross-marketing effort could generate.

Brazilian Camming: The Monetization Of Intimacy In Online Sex Work, Fernanda Veiverberg

Master's Theses

This thesis addresses a form of online feminized labor in Brazil, which employs digital technology to relieve the urges for intimacy and monetary insecurity. Camming is a genre of online sex work, in which cam models sell their body image and attention online through computer-mediated interactions. It constitutes a profitable activity that employs body performance without physical contact between model and client, typical in most categories of sex work such as prostitution, and where the clients are not mere spectators as within the pornography industry because camming requires authenticity and communication. For that, I explored three conceptual spheres that combined …

Complex Stereotypes: Stereotypes Across The Intersections Of Gender, Sexuality, Age, Race/Ethnicity, And Social Class, Nicholas Heiserman

Theses and Dissertations

Research on stereotypes and their consequences often focuses on discrete categorical stereotypes in isolation from each other (e.g. gender or race categories), and rarely centers the fact that people belong to many social categories at once (e.g. gender and race categories). I address this issue using two large factorial experiment (N=1,762 and N=1,481) designed to measure two core aspects of stereotypes, warmth and competence, across the intersections of multiple social categories: Gender, Sexuality, Age, Race/Ethnicity (Chapter 3), and Social Class (Chapter 2). In Chapter 2, I develop a framework for analyzing intersectional complexity in these data, beginning with overall measures …

Moral Injury To Inform Analysis Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Amanda Julia Manea

Senior Theses

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that almost one out of ten veterans struggle with. Although the National Center for PTSD has made extensive progress in characterizing and developing new treatments for PTSD, most veterans still experience symptoms of PTSD following treatment. Novel avenues of investigation, such as developing algorithms to review electronic health record (EHR) data and better understanding moral injury, are being pursued to address the gap that still exists when it comes to treating veterans. Moral injury is the individual evaluation of exposure to a potentially morally injurious event (PMIE) and can lead to …

Racial Differences In Hormonal Contraception Use And Accessibility Among University Of South Carolina-Columbia Undergraduate Women, Ian L. Mencken

Senior Theses

The objective of this study is to see if there are racial disparities in hormonal contraception use amongst USC Columbia undergraduate women, similar to nationwide trends noted in previous studies. This research is important as undesired pregnancies are more prevalent for Black and Hispanic women, and recent legislative changes throughout the nation - and specifically in South Carolina - are challenging abortion rights, thereby increasing the importance of birth control in preventing an undesired pregnancy. Increasing access to hormonal birth control serves to increase body autonomy and a woman’s agency over reproduction, specifically in the face of these current challenges …

The Maldivian Language Predicament: Language Loss Through The Lens Of Students, Azka Hassan

Senior Theses and Projects

This study dives into Maldivian students’ experiences of learning languages in classrooms, as well as how they perceive their proficiency in English relative to their first language, Dhivehi. I investigated the issue of language loss and its contributors via a qualitative study which consisted of 9 semi-structured 45-60 minute interviews with lower secondary Maldivian students who are in public schools in Male’ city. (Key stage 4, ages 13-17) Through this study, I argue that the Maldives is suffering from language loss among youth because students often have negative experiences in Dhivehi classrooms and feel pressure rooted in higher social and …

Exploring The Use Of Cultural Values In The Evaluation Of Programs With Native American Tribes, Karen Lynn Alexander

Dissertations

This dissertation is a qualitative study that explores the importance of including cultural values in evaluation and whether this would lead to an increase in utilization of evaluation results. It was first wondered whether Native American values are included when evaluations are completed for Indigenous Tribes. A review of evaluations revealed that evaluations in the published literature are including general Native American values, although a document review alone was found to be insufficient as a method to capture the nuances related to value expression. It is suggested that more research is needed in the area of metaevaluation to include culturally …

“De Manhattan Pa El Bronx:” Dembow As The Sound Of Dominicanidad Ausente, Patricia Bautista Tiburcio , '23

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This research project begins with the question, what is the role of music in the lives and identities of contemporary Dominicanyorkers? As a Dominicanyorker and a student of sociology, this project begins from the embodied knowledge that Dembow music is actively doing something important in relation to how Dominican migrants and their descendants navigate their Dominican identity and belonging in present-day New York City. I claim that Dembow is the sound of a particular urban condition of diasporic identities, what I call following Dominican studies, “dominicanidad ausente.” To fully understand the role of music in identity development, I use ethnographic …

Vulnerability During The Pandemic And The Disruption Of The Medical Gaze, Yeh Seo Jung , '23

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

“Dancing With [Philly’S] Ghosts”: Recycled Materials And Meanings At An Artists’ Residency, Gabriel D. Straus , '23

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

What’s at stake in people’s relationships with objects? I examine this question based on two months of in-depth participant observation and twelve semi-structured interviews with artists from RAIR, an artist residency at a Philadelphia dump, where artists make work out of the discarded material fabric of a gentrifying, deindustrializing city (read: demolished buildings/dead peoples’ stuff). Building on the work of Karen Barad, a physicist-turned-philosopher who outlines an “onto epistemology” based on quantum mechanics, I explore how objects and people “intra-act” at RAIR to refigure time, reshape the city, and redefine the human. I demonstrate how a Baradian agential realist reading …

Navigating The Personal Statement In An Upper-Middle-Class Community, Natalia Abbate , '23

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This thesis examines college application choices, conceptions of pressure and ambition, and parenting styles as they affect personal statement success in an upper-middle-class suburb of Massachusetts. I draw on Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital and Adrie Kusserow’s theory of soft individualism to analyze five semi-structured interviews with Eastborough, MA parents, students, and a private college counselor. I show that Eastborough parents and students stigmatize peers with overt college ambitions despite enacting ambition themselves. They represent their soft individualism approach as a potential sacrifice for college chances, but it ultimately provides students with two things that college admissions officers value …

From Coffee Houses To Internet Speech: Civility And Moderation Within The Contemporary Public Sphere, Leslie Brown , '23

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This thesis explores the ways in which discourse occurring in online discussion forums can become toxic and fail as spaces that create public opinion within the contemporary public sphere. After a literature review of Habermas’ bourgeois public sphere and other scholars who connect the bourgeois sphere to our current iteration of the public sphere on the internet, an ideal type of a contemporary public sphere is constructed. Using this ideal type, the ways in which multiple online discussion spaces fall short of realizing the potential of the public sphere and the culture of discussion that has been cultivated within them …

Navigating Creative Careers On Social Media: Self-Employment And Neoliberalism, Katherine Carlson , '23

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This thesis describes and analyzes the working conditions of illustrators who work on social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and Patreon. Ultimately, it argues that the perceived perks of self-employment that artists publicly discuss on social media are paradoxical because they are limited by the social media platforms on which the artists post. Additionally, the cons of self-employment artists experience, such as burnout, are systemic issues, even though they are framed as personal problems on social media. The various solutions that artists used throughout the course of this project to combat these issues are individual, rather than collective. Finally, …

Get Out To Got Out: Residential Mobility And The Language Of Opportunity In A Black Southern Louisiana Family, Gabrielle Cosey , '23

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This study examines the migration of Black, middle and upper class members of my family from Black neighborhoods in Southern Louisiana into white neighborhoods. Most of the canon on Black residential patterns question why such high levels of residential segregation remain. Thus, the existing literature explores various structural and individual reasons as to why Black households, regardless of income level, continually reside in Black neighborhoods, even though they often exhibit higher rates of poverty and associated characteristics. This research project approaches the topic from the opposite end, centering its analysis on Black individuals who move into white neighborhoods, in order …

“I Don’T Want To Produce Academic Results”: Mapping The Daily And Costly Persistence Of First-Generation And Low-Income College Students Of Color, Aleina Dume , '23

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

At The Foothills Of The Highest Hill In The Swamp: A Policy Brief For East Little York, Major Eason , '23

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

Exploring Media Representations Of Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy In South Africa, Elizabeth Gallagher , '23

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

Care For The Land: Restoration As Interspecies Care Labor And Emergent Activism At The Hawaiian Fishpond-Scape, Cynthia Ruimin Shi , '23

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

In the last two decades, environmental NGOs on the islands of Hawai’I have been leading efforts to restore traditional land practices and foodways, among them fishpond, or loko i’a, which are traditional aquaculture infrastructures that ensure a stable production of fish protein. This ethnographic study of loko i’a restoration projects is informed by four months of fieldwork grounded in participant observation at Paepae O He’eia, a non-profit organization on the windward side of O’ahu heading the restorative effort at He’eia fishpond.

My thesis addresses the ethics of care, labor, and Indigenous worldmaking emerging from ecological and cultural restoration of fishponds …

Mariposas Mexas: Embodiment As Resistance At Swarthmore College, Ramiro A. Hernandez , '23

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

Quaker Interpretation: The Role Of Communication And Identity In The Production Of Quaker Values, Katalina I. Kastrong , '23

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

In this thesis, I examine the shift in Quaker language use over time, focusing on the formation of group identity, the accessibility of Quaker language, and legacy and silence in a history of racial discrimination. These aspects of Quaker practice are crucial in addressing concerns about inclusivity and justice work, providing the potential for greater metalinguistic intentionality. My research analyzes language's role in shaping such attitudes, beliefs, and action. I examine seventeenth century Quakers’ use of Quaker Plain Speech (QPS), observing that the progression towards modern Quaker language is uneven among these three areas of focus. I claim that these …

Exploring Happiness : The Life Course Study Of Older Shanghainese Women In Shanghai And Hong Kong, Archibald Malcolm Wang

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (Doctoral degree)

The main concern of this study is to investigate the effect of life course experience on the level of happiness among older women. To assess various independent variables of happiness. The paper analyzed the heterogeneous effect of older people's happiness through the SIT and SET theories from the Life Course Model. The importance of life course narration also concerns their backgrounds and personal experiences. Regarding the applied method, this research elected comparative studies and narrative analysis for fieldwork. The author collected primary data to assess the effects of happiness by two surveys, including 1000 women, to test the tandem studies …

Resistance/Refusal Of Violence In The Neoliberal City: Black Lgbtq+ Communities In Chicago And New York (1989 – Present), Marc Ridgell

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

Since the 1980s, Black queer and trans communities across U.S. cities have experienced racist and classist exclusion from gay neighborhoods, police and interpersonal violence in neighborhoods more generally, and medical racism in the HIV/AIDS crisis. Despite these forms of antiblack and anti-queer oppression, Black queer and trans people have performed acts of resistance and refusal to build community and experience better worlds. This research project examines how Black LGBTQ+ communities have responded to systems of racism, classism, queerphobia, and misogyny by claiming their “right to the city.” Specifically, this project explores how Black LGBTQ+ people in both Chicago and New …

Framing, Emotion, And Contradiction In The Tampa Bay Times’ Climate Change Coverage, Madison Veeneman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

How the media covers climate change is a crucial issue because it can impact public opinion and influence policy, and local newspapers are an understudied yet essential source of media. Previous media research has utilized framing approaches, considered ideology and hegemony, and begun to seriously examine emotion. The purpose of this research project is to synthesize these approaches to examine how the Tampa Bay Times covers climate change. Using research questions that focus on how the coverage is framed and how emotion is used, I collected two samples of articles from different newspaper sections and conducted textual analysis. I identify …

Deconstructing And Decolonizing Identities Of “Gender” And “Sex” When Viewed As Anti-Black: Black Narratives Outside Of The Binary, Didier Salgado

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

How is “Reality” experienced in the Black body? Is “Reality” an objective article which is outside of the realm of personal experience? Assigned sex is often assumed an objective biological phenomenon that exists everywhere and in all communities. Gender is often thought about as a socially constructed form of identity which is expressed in various ways. In this thesis, I critically examine the terror of “reality” on the Black body, looking at the ways that Black people who’ve experienced discomfort with gender and sex categories experience the “world” around them. Diving deeply into their own experiences and the meanings they …

The Invisible Victims Of Commercial Sexual Exploitation: Boys And Their Barriers To Access To Services, Amanda L. Connella

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While there has been a large body of research conducted on girl (under the age of 18) victims of commercial sexual exploitation, boy (under the age of 18) victims do not seem to receive the same attention. From the few studies that have been conducted, boys and young male victims of commercial sexual exploitation have been shown to have gender specific barriers that prevent them from getting help, yet not many papers explore this unique problem. Using survey data from key providers that work in programs that serve commercially sexually exploited boys, the present study fills this hole in the …

Finding Azadi: South Asian Canadian Women’S Experiences Of Sexual Well-Being, Syna Thakur

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Eighteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with cisgender women, age 20-40, and their shared experiences were compiled into two narrative composites. This study is informed by an intersectional-life course framework, exploring sexuality as a site of shifting power relations at the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels of participants' lives. This study identifies five predominant sexual constructions that South Asian Canadian women understand and experience over time. It also identifies five predominant strategies used by women to maintain a personally meaningful sexual life (sexual well-being). Participants’ fluctuating sexual well-being involving active negotiation of the relationship to one’s body, identities (including ethnoracial and religious …

Constructing A Theological Framework That Revitalizes The Missional Nature Of Churches Of Christ In South Australia, Mark Daniel Riessen

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This thesis addresses the need for a theological framework that revitalizes the missional nature of Churches of Christ in South Australia. The problem identified within this ministry context was a lack of clear theological principles that informed a common understanding of identity for missional engagement. The purpose of the project was to create a study guide that informs common theological commitments and grounds congregations for missional vitality. A research and development team made up of seven Church of Christ ministers from different backgrounds was assembled to design a curriculum that addressed the problem. Through eight two-hour sessions over four months …

A Comparative Analysis Of Double Reduction Policy In China, Hai Yan Wang

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

The "double reduction" policy in China is designed to reduce the workload of students and prohibit out-of-school training. However, the results are not as expected. This study aims to identify potential factors that could contribute to the success of China's "double reduction" policy. The data were analysed using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods (questionnaires for students and semi-structured interviews with teachers and parents). In total, 156 valid questionnaires were collected, and 3 teachers and 3 parents were interviewed. In addition, Finland and South Korea's experiences have been used for comparison for better improvement. The results indicate that inconsistent …

A Comparison Of Public Housing Policies For The Elderly In Hong Kong And Singapore, Sijing Bai

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

With the society’s development and progress, people are seeking a long and healthy life with improved life quality and a better living environment. Like many other economies worldwide, Singapore and Hong Kong are experiencing rapid population aging. The social welfare policy in Singapore is based on the individual and family as the foundation, the community as the middle-level organization, and the government taking a residual complementary role. In contrast, the elderly care model in Hong Kong can be divided into three types: aging in place, residential care, and aging out of Hong Kong. According to current statistics, Hong Kong has …