Other Sociology Commons^™

Social Bonding In Social Isolation: Social And Religious Support For Substance Use Recovery During Covid-19, Lindsey Chapman

All Theses

The importance of social bonds in supporting those in substance use recovery is illustrious through applications of social bonding theory. However, the effect of COVID-19 restrictions on these essential relationships has not been widely studied. The initial survey instrument studying social support, religious support, and substance use patterns before, during, and after COVID-19 was met with methodological difficulty in reaching the target population through email. This instrument was adapted into a semi-structured interview guide and methodology evolved to include participation either in-person or over Zoom. Through 14 in-depth interviews with people in substance use recovery programs, themes of isolation, peer …

Historical Trauma: Literary And Testimonial Responses To Hiroshima, Mariam Ghonim

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of trauma is controversial in literature. While one may be able to come up with ways to describe trauma in fiction, representing historical trauma is a hard task for writers. Some argue that trauma can not be described through those who did not experience it, while others claim that, provided some elements are added, one can represent trauma to the reader. This thesis focuses on twentieth-century historical traumas related to a nuclear catastrophe and explores the different literary and testimonial responses to the catastrophic man-made event of Hiroshima (1945). In this thesis, Kathleen Burkinshaw’s historical fiction The Last …

Quality Of Life For Women With Chronic Lyme Disease: A Socioeconomic Investigation, Dale M. Jones

Doctoral Dissertations

This is a mixed methods investigation of how chronic Lyme disease, including Lyme-like diseases and co-infections, affects the quality of life of women who have chronic Lyme. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used during three phases of research: a 91-question survey instrument followed by focus group discussions and written narratives. The research considered the socioeconomic impact on quality of life in five areas: obtaining a diagnosis, relationships and personal support systems, struggles with the medical system, the ability to work, and access to treatment. There were 500 responses to the survey, of which 373 were analyzed; 11 participants in …

Happiness And Policy Implications: A Sociological View, Sarah M. Kahl

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The World Happiness Report is released every year, ranking each country by who is “happier” and explaining the variables and data they have used. This project attempts to build from that base and create a machine learning algorithm that can predict if a country will be in a “happy” or “could be happier” category. Findings show that taking a broader scope of variables can better help predict happiness. Policy implications are discussed in using both big data and considering social indicators to make better and lasting policies.

Examining The Cross-Cultural Competence Of United States Christian Missionaries Engaged In Developing Indigenous Leaders: A Mixed Methods Study, Craig W. Goodman

Dissertations

For the past two millennia, missionaries have crossed from one culture to another to bring the Christian message to all cultures of the world. Questions about the effectiveness of these mission efforts have been asked and researched by many; however, one key question remains unanswered: what personal attributes help a person to be more competent at crossing cultures as they interact with people from other cultures? Although cross-cultural competence has been studied in a variety of fields over the past 50 years, the models and assessments used have never been applied to Christian missionaries.

To address this deficiency, this parallel …

The Great Resignation: A Content Analysis Of News Sources' Portrayals Of The Covid-19 Labor Shortage., Mackenzie Williams

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

When workers left the labor market in large numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic, proclamations of a labor shortage emerged extensively throughout the news. In this study, I analyze the coverage of the worker shortage among three news sources with different political orientations. Several themes emerged from analyzing a total of 75 articles. The findings showed that the perspective shown in the article, the cause of the labor shortage, restaurant worker portrayal, support of solutions, and opinion of the labor shortage all differed based on the political identity of the news source. This research supports previous findings that show there is …

Possessed: New Horror Films In The Era Of Neoliberalism, Bethany C. Nelson

Doctoral Dissertations

Since its inception, the horror genre has been reflective of cultural fears. In neoliberal society, horror cinema has experienced a cultural revival that has challenged the conventional boundaries of the genre and expanded our current understandings through a convergence of neoliberalism and gothic horror with unprecedented popularity in the cultural imaginary. The conjuring universe, one of the highest grossing and most popular horror universes to date, presents a key space for cultural criminologists, like horror and film fans, to engage with the terror of the neoliberal world through mediated new gothic images, resulting in a gothic criminology. Through an ethnographic …

Do Black Girls Receive Later Developmental Disability Diagnoses?: Results From A National Study Of Children In The United States, Danequa Forrest

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

This study sought to analyze if age at diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, and developmental delay varies by race and sex for children between ages 6 and 17 years old. I used data from the 2011 Survey of Pathways to Diagnosis and Services (“Pathways”), a follow-up survey to the 2009/10 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN). With this nationally representative dataset, I was able to perform ordinary least squares linear regression in Stata 13. Results determined that Black girls were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder about two years later than White girls, nearly …

The People Who “Burn”: “Communication,” Unity, And Change In Belarusian Discourse On Public Creativity, Anton Dinerstein

Doctoral Dissertations

The main intellectual problem I address in this study is how everyday communication activates the relationship between creativity, conflict, and change. More specifically, I look at how the communication of creativity becomes a process of transformation, innovation, and change and how people are propelled to create through everyday communication practices in the face of conflict and opposition. To approach this problem, I use the case of communication in modern-day Belarus to show how creativity becomes a vehicle for and a source of new social and cultural routines among the independent grassroots communities and initiatives in Minsk. On one level, I …

Transformation As Desistance Inside: Temporality And Identity Reconstruction Among Men With Life Sentences, Richard Stover

Honors Theses

This thesis is an investigation of destistance strategies among men sentenced to life in prison in a medium security prison in Pennsylvania. Desistance here is defined as the process leading to the cessation of formally deviant behavior. Drawing from life narrative interviews conducted among 22 men, I argue that desistance is intrinsically tied to how inmates conceptualize themselves within the institutional context of the prison and can be expanded to include people who are still incarcerated. I build off of Peggy Giordano and colleagues symbolic interactionist perspective on desistance and expand it to chart how men with life sentences order …

What Makes Collaborative Evaluation Approaches Collaborative? A Q Methodology Study On Program Evaluators’ Perceptions, Dax M. Weaver

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore program evaluators’ perceptions about what they consider to be the essential practices, elements, or attributes of collaborative evaluation approaches (CEAs). This topic was investigated because of the increasing use of CEAs within the field and the ambiguity about what does and does not constitute a CEA. Several researchers have proposed frameworks that attempt to define the essential elements that distinguish CEAs from other evaluation approaches; however, the literature still lacks consensus on their exact nature. It was through an examination of evaluators’ viewpoints on the subject using Q Methodology that this study …

The Ferguson Effect In Contemporary Policing: Assessing Police Officer Willingness To Engage The Public, Christopher Mercado

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Researchers suggest that as public scrutiny and video recording of violent/tumultuous police encounters increase, police would back away from proactive enforcement, resulting in an increase in crime—the Ferguson Effect. Recent scholarship refined these concerns over police disengagement with the study of de-policing, while other scholars explored police self-legitimacy, in order to explain law enforcement behavior, given the immediacy and ubiquity of social media and digital communication. This study surveyed 792 law enforcement officers from 10 different police agencies in the United States, to ascertain if police officers’ personal and contextual characteristics influence their decision to either take enforcement action (i.e., …

Painting Intimacy: Art-Based Research Of Intimacy, Michal Lev

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This art-based research explores whether — and, if so, how — the process of painting, together with witnessing and reflection on the process and imagery, further an understanding of intimacy. The research also examines the conditions that favor intimacy, the obstacles to intimacy, and the particular features of artistic media, processes and reflection, through the editing of video footage, that can further the intimate experience. The participants in the study were five adults (including the researcher) between the ages of thirty and eighty who were familiar with the creation of visual art. Among them were three women and two men …

Narcocultura As Cultural Capital For Latinx Youth Identity Work: An Online Ethnography, Emiliano Villarreal

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Why would young Latinxs want to be, talk, look, and act like narcos? This work analyzes the ways in which narcocultura has become an important source of cultural capital for many Latinxs. Narcocultura is the assemblage of music, video, television, and other forms of cultural production that feature figures of transnational narcotrafficking as central protagonists of their narratives. Based on a yearlong online ethnography, I examine the ways in which Latinx Facebook users appropriate and recontextualize narcocultura in their identity work through the lenses of LatCrit theory, critical discourse analysis, and personal lived experiences, which provided the departing point for …

Critical Political Correctness In The Era Of Properness, Isaac Tapia Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In an Era of Properness, opinions, beliefs, expressions, attitudes, and actions are suppressed through Repressing Situationalities with the ultimate goal of portraying an acceptable and mainstream proper personal display. Repressing situationalities are stances an individual takes that limits it from attempting or reaching their full potential on diverse objectives as they are disempowering states of mind and body linked to deterministic, fatalistic and conformist ideological frameworks. Inner motives and external pressures play a critical role in how decisions are made, especially those related to behavior. This Dissertation investigates and describes from an advocacy and participatory worldview, how mainstream Repressing Situationalities …

"Because I'M A Citizen:" The Experiences Of Transfronterizo College Students In Higher Education Along The U.S.-Mexico Border., Juan Jose Mendoza

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Transfronterizo college students are students who reside in México while attending college or university in the United States. This study will be expanding the transnational literature in two ways. First, this study addresses how citizenships status impacts transnational college students. In particular, the study explores how citizenship status affects the everyday lived experiences of transfronterizo college students along the U.S.-México border. The focus of my research is to investigate how citizenship status affects transfronterizo college students’ decisions to enroll in college in the U.S. while living along the U.S.-México border. The current study draws on data collected from November 2016 …

Student, Athlete, Or Neither At All: A Closer Look Into The Experiences Of Black Basketball Players In The Ncaa, Armando D. Dunn

Senior Projects Spring 2019

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Imaginarios De Paz De Los Niños Del Grado 5 De La Institución Educativa Carlos Julio Umaña Torres Del Municipio De Tópaga, Karen Lisseth Núñez Cruz, Manuela Andrade Claro, Cindy Catherine Nieto Feo

Licenciatura en Español y Lenguas Extranjeras

Este artículo es el resultado de la investigación “La Paz Como Herramienta para el Desarrollo Social de un País”, desarrollada en el municipio de Tópaga, en el departamento de Boyacá. La pregunta que surgió para el desarrollo del presente trabajo fue “¿cómo los estudiantes del grado 5º de la institución educativa técnica Carlos Julio Umaña Torres, en el municipio de Tópaga, definen y conciben la construcción de paz a partir del perdón, reconciliación y derechos humanos?” Teniendo en cuenta el objetivo principal que fue conocer los imaginarios que tienen los niños y niñas sobre la construcción de paz, derechos humanos, …

Justifying A New Beginning: The Case Of An Urban, Jewish Congregation In The 1970s, Tirza Ochrach-Konradi

Scripps Senior Theses

This research applies C. Wright Mills’ theory of vocabularies of motive to reveal the collective narratives, which were used to justify the atypical founding of an urban Jewish congregation in the 1970s. Prior to and during this period, US Jewish communities were migrating out of city centers into their surrounding suburbs. Most Jewish congregations followed their congregants and moved into the suburbs. This study identifies the collective justifications within the Hatchala Chadasha community, which are the accepted reasons for the organization’s atypical urban location and organizational structure. The findings of this research are based in the examination of interviews with …

The Predictors Of Juvenile Recidivism: Testimonies Of Adult Students 18 Years And Older Exiting From Alternative Education, La Toshia Palmer

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this descriptive, qualitative study was to identify and describe the importance of the predictors of juvenile recidivism and the effectiveness of efforts to prevent/avoid juvenile recidivism as perceived by previously detained, arrested, convicted, and/or incarcerated adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education in Northern California. A second purpose was to explore the types of support provided by alternative schools and the perceived importance of the support to avoid recidivism according to adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education.

Methodology: This qualitative, descriptive research design identified …

Campus Climate Sexual Assault Survey (2015) Analysis, Felicia Rosin

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The issue of sexual assault has garnered widespread attention in recent years, as is evident by the growing number of high-profile cases and mainstream social movements. With this increasingly bright spotlight, it is no surprise that The University of Akron has interest in improving the sexual violence education programs offered to students. In 2015, the university conducted a survey to gather information on the campus climate surrounding sexual assault. This analysis dives into a deeper analysis of the data gathered in an attempt to pinpoint areas that require the university’s attention. The analysis covers topics identified by Dean of Students …

Differences In Mental Health Education Across Baby Boomers, Generation X, And Millennials, Ashlyn M. Avera

Honors College Theses

There is no denying that mental illness has gained a strong prevalence in the United States. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, approximately one in five adults in the United States experiences a mental illness in any given year. Although mental health stigmas have played a role in the past, it does not mean they must continue to play the same role in the future. Research is now looking toward ways to decrease mental health stigma through increasing mental health knowledge. This study examines the starting point for which a society becomes literate in mental health. Using a …

A Tradesperson’S Transition To Vocational Technical (Vt) Teaching, Susan J. Sylvia

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative study examined survey and interview data collected from tradespeople who transitioned to vocational technical (VT) teaching in regional vocational technical schools in Massachusetts. This study included two research questions that inquired about how tradespeople’s prior experiences, beliefs, and thoughts influenced or inspired them to pursue a transition to vocational technical (VT) teaching and about how their anticipated transitional experiences aligned with their actual transitional experiences. The survey phase included 170 respondents. Survey responses provided an overview of participants, which was integral in identifying four interview participants who were digitally recorded during one-to-one interview sessions. A multiple Case Study …

Food Justice And Practices In The Five Points Community Of Knoxville, Tennessee: A Survey Of Residents Living In An Urban Food Desert, Sylvia Isabel Duluc-Silva

Masters Theses

This thesis identifies the views related to traditional and alternative food systems and practices among residents living in East Knoxville, Tennessee, which has been designated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a food desert. These views were obtained from a mail survey sent out to adult residents living in the community who were responsible for obtaining food for their household. Its foundation is based on general place-based theory and findings associated with environmental and food justice literature. It builds upon this work by identifying and describing key variables and how they may be related via a theoretical …

Cognitive And Emotional Processes Involved In The Experience Of Objects As Holy Or Transcendent, Lotte J. Pummerer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, attitudes about religion/spirituality have become more pluralistic (Pew Research Center, 2015a). At the same time, the number of individuals who identify themselves as nonreligious, atheist or agnostic are growing (Pew Research Center, 2015b), yet we are lacking words and research to describe their attributions of transcendence in language not bound to religious concepts. This study aims at examining both concepts – holiness and transcendence – in their similarities and differences through assessing cognitive and emotional processes involved in experiences of objects.

The study consisted of two parts with a total of 206 Christian and 52 nonreligious/atheistic/agnostic participants. …

A Theoretical Analysis Of Isis Indoctrination And Recruitment, Trevor Hawkins

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper is an attempt to use various theories in the social sciences as a tool to understand the mechanisms employed in ISIS indoctrination and recruitment tactics. There is a discussion of theories that have been developed in the field of influence psychology, rationalizing the context of indoctrination within this area of study. There is a discussion of proposedly relevant materials in philosophy, specifically simulacrum and linguistic deconstruction. These components are extrapolated to interpret a first person account of ISIS indoctrination, the first-ever ISIS recruitment film, and a Radical-Islamist periodical Inspire Magazine. Using a form of propaganda film analysis, and …

Understanding How Intentionally Unplugging From Cell Phones Shapes Interpersonal Relationships And The Undergraduate College Experience, Jadelin P. Felipe

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of what motivated college students—the Unplugged Students—to intentionally use their cell phones less and how they understood the impact that unplugging had on their interpersonal relationships and college experience. Nine undergraduate college students from four private schools were interviewed in one-on-one semi- structured interviews. These students, considered non-users, provided a particularly useful perspective as these students made a conscious choice to counteract social norms and experienced both being plugged in and unplugged. Cell phones and the act of unplugging proved to make up a complex and more nuanced topic than …

The Experiences Of Siblings Of Individuals With Disabilities: A Holistic View, Ashley Mc Adams

Educational Studies Dissertations

The research on siblings of individuals with disabilities has rarely addressed the perceived benefits of having a sibling with a disability. The existing research on the experience of siblings of persons with disabilities is also limited to European American families (Sage & Jegatheesan, 2010). With families from different cultures, I sought to capture the experiences of brothers and sisters who have siblings with disabilities. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationships of siblings with disabilities and typical developing siblings, and present a holistic picture from the perspective of the typical developing siblings. These gaps in the literature …

Liberal Arts, Religion, And Irreligion: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Of Student Religiosity And Secularity At The Claremont Colleges, Jennie Frishtick

Scripps Senior Theses

This study measures levels of religiosity and secularity among students at the Claremont Colleges, including students’ (ir)religious affiliations, beliefs, and practices. The religious landscape in the U.S. is shifting in multiple ways, and young adults feature prominently in these changes. Using data from an online survey of students, the present study addresses the following research questions: What is the (ir)religious makeup of the student body at the Claremont Colleges? Do the observed patterns mirror those of the general U.S. population? The results of this study show that the sample population at the Claremont Colleges is much less religious than the …

Using Social Network Analysis To Investigate The Relationship Between School-Based Team Communication Networks And Implementation Of Positive Behavior Support Systems, Shannon K. Barry

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between school-based team communication networks and implementation of school-wide reform efforts and initiatives, namely Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). The study employed social network analysis (SNA) to determine if a relationship was present between the structure and properties of the team communication network and the level of implementation of PBIS, the position and properties of the PBIS leadership team and the level of implementation of PBIS implementation, and the quality of internal process for collaboration of the PBIS leadership team and PBIS implementation. It was predicted that schools in …