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This Pipe's For You : A Qualitative Exploration Of Glass Shop Owners' Networks, Legitimacy And The Glass Pipe Arts Movement, Anna K. Ryan Jan 2012

This Pipe's For You : A Qualitative Exploration Of Glass Shop Owners' Networks, Legitimacy And The Glass Pipe Arts Movement, Anna K. Ryan

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The goal of this dissertation was to gain an insider perspective of the glass shop industry. A qualitative methodology was employed to gather in depth information from 15 participants who owned glass shops. Through interviews and extensive fieldwork, I was given the opportunity to delve into the work lives of innovative and goal oriented entrepreneurs. My motivation for engaging in this research was to uncover the processes that quasi-legitimate business owners utilized in order to operate under paraphernalia laws, which define the products they sell as illegal. Throughout my research, I learned that today's head shops have evolved from their …


New Destinations In Context : Explaining The Changing Geography Of Immigrant Settlement, Chris Galvan Jan 2012

New Destinations In Context : Explaining The Changing Geography Of Immigrant Settlement, Chris Galvan

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The main objective of this dissertation is to determine what factors predict the growth or decline in foreign-born populations over the last three decades. In order to present a comprehensive analysis, this project also examines racial and ethnic differences within foreign-born population growth and the role that the unit of analysis has in affecting results in such analyses. These objectives are motivated by a number of gaps in the current literature on foreign-born population growth, especially the research on population growth in new destinations of immigrant settlement. Specifically, the primary contributions of my dissertation are that it addresses the following …


Occupational Stress And The Homosexual Police Officer, David John Barton Jan 2012

Occupational Stress And The Homosexual Police Officer, David John Barton

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation analyzed occupational stress among homosexual officers. Previous researchers have investigated occupational stresses experienced by racial, ethnic and gender minority police officers; however, research has not examined the occupational stresses experienced by homosexual officers. This study utilized an internet survey to gather quantitative data that were statistically analyzed for similarities and differences in how homosexual officers perceive stressors common to all officers and stressors experienced only by minority subgroups, including discrimination. Because homosexual officers have the unique ability to disguise their minority status, this study also examined whether the officers' choices to reveal or conceal their sexual preference affected …


How Patrol Officers Make Decisions : Comparing A Structural Model To A Process Model, Heidi Bonner Jan 2012

How Patrol Officers Make Decisions : Comparing A Structural Model To A Process Model, Heidi Bonner

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

A heavy research emphasis on the discretionary decision-making actions by police has led researchers to conduct a substantial amount of work regarding the individual, situational, organizational, and neighborhood influences on police behavior. The culmination of all this work results in one main conclusion - the majority of findings regarding the causes of police behavior are mixed. Further, current models of police behavior account for only a small amount of the variation.


Flowers In The Trenches : The Experiences Of Women In The Landscaping Profession, Paul E. Calarco, Jr. Jan 2012

Flowers In The Trenches : The Experiences Of Women In The Landscaping Profession, Paul E. Calarco, Jr.

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This research project aims to provide an in-depth analysis of women in the landscaping field. It is important to expand on the literature on nontraditional blue-collar occupations, as more women are moving into these jobs in this 21st century. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (2001), the landscape and horticultural services industry is ranked 11th in the top twenty fastest growing service industries, almost two times the average for job growth. This occupation represents a significant, viable and fruitful arena for sociological investigation, as well a fantastic occupational option for women.


Grace Under Fire : Altruistic Behavior And The Risk Of Criminal Victimization, Andy Lucas Blaize Davies Jan 2012

Grace Under Fire : Altruistic Behavior And The Risk Of Criminal Victimization, Andy Lucas Blaize Davies

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Two studies investigate whether the perceived risk of criminal victimization reduces altruistic behavior as social disorganization theory predicts it will. The first study, of 160 nation-states, suggests not. Rather, the relationship depends on national culture. In highly religious countries, for example, the perceived risk of victimization actually appears to increase altruistic behavior. The second study, an experiment conducted on samples both of undergraduate students and internet users, suggests that certain individuals for whom the risk of criminal victimization may be particularly salient - volunteers worried they may be put in harm's way, and fatalists paranoid about the inevitability of victimization …


Migration And The Well-Being Of Left-Behind Children In China, Lin Guo Jan 2012

Migration And The Well-Being Of Left-Behind Children In China, Lin Guo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The rise of the floating population in China has greatly stimulated researchers' interest in studying the trends and characteristics of internal migrants, as well as their roles in China's economic transformations. Recent estimation from the Bi-Census data of 2005 suggests as many as 58 million children (under age 18) are left-behind in migrant-sending regions while their parents are away working. The absence of these migrant parents from the home may bring both short- and long-term consequences for their left-behind children. This dissertation aims to provide a systematic examination of the impact of parental migration on the well-being of rural left-behind …


Borders That Matter : Trans Identity Management, Reese C. Kelly Jan 2012

Borders That Matter : Trans Identity Management, Reese C. Kelly

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation presents the responses, strategies, and meaning-making processes that forty trans (transgender) people engaged in when confronted with or when preparing for the possibility of encountering two different types of identity checkpoints, or what I regard as "borders": situations where sexed bodies and presentations of self would be matched against identity documents or records, and the use or attempted use of sex-segregated facilities. The project addresses the questions: In what ways do trans people prepare for and respond to identity inspections in border crossing scenarios? What strategies do they employ in order to successfully border cross? What effect does …


China As A Multi-National Country : A Novel Interpretation Of Chinese Nationalism, Zhaojin Lu Jan 2012

China As A Multi-National Country : A Novel Interpretation Of Chinese Nationalism, Zhaojin Lu

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Chinese nationalism in official discourse is conspicuously reflected in CCP's territorial claims to Tibet and Taiwan, where local nationalism is challenging the official definition of China as a unitary multi-national country as the constitution describes. Conventional wisdom, utilized by political propaganda, is considering the contemporary Chinese national boundary as the legacy of "Chinese history", of which the popular version is deliberately depicted in public educational materials. This paper presents a qualitative content analysis of history textbook used in high school in China, showing the historical narratives, as a result of selection, about the Chinese nationhood boundary in ancient China, especially …


Neighborhood Contexts And Academic Achievement : An Analysis Of Hispanic Children In Immigrant And Native-Born Families, Suzanne E. Macartney Jan 2012

Neighborhood Contexts And Academic Achievement : An Analysis Of Hispanic Children In Immigrant And Native-Born Families, Suzanne E. Macartney

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Hispanic children in the U.S. have made great strides in academic achievement. Yet gaps persist between Hispanic children and a number of their peers. This research investigates whether this diverse population of children may be better understood as two groups with different academic needs and assets: those in immigrant families and those in third and later generation families.


Qualifying Adjuncts : Academic Worth And The Justification Of Adjunct Work, Nicholas Denman Pagnucco Jan 2012

Qualifying Adjuncts : Academic Worth And The Justification Of Adjunct Work, Nicholas Denman Pagnucco

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation studies the organization of adjunct instruction within Departments of English and Mathematics at three colleges - a public research university, a private masters granting teaching college, and a public community college. Four questions lie at the core of this project. First, what higher principles and standards of evaluation (i.e. forms of worth) are used among full-time faculty and administrators to justify and criticize adjuncts and the college's use of them? Second, what tests of worth have been institutionalized to evaluate adjuncts? Third, how does the college avoid the potential accusation of exploitation? And fourth, how does being an …


Patterns Of Adolescent Drug Offending And Their Consequences In Making The Transition To Adulthood, Matthew David Phillips Jan 2012

Patterns Of Adolescent Drug Offending And Their Consequences In Making The Transition To Adulthood, Matthew David Phillips

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The life course perspective in criminology acknowledges that as an individual moves through successive stages in life, a host of factors in various domains influence the individual's developmental and behavioral patterns. The criminological literature is also replete with research that suggests an individual's involvement in drug offending has negative repercussions in these domains of life. Further, specific drug offenses are thought to affect outcomes in differing ways. Drug offenders are far from a homogeneous group, and that heterogeneity can produce vastly different outcomes. From a life course perspective, adolescence then becomes a particularly important stage since this is the time …


Health Behind And Beyond Bars : Understanding The Link Between Incarceration And Health, Lauren C. Porter Jan 2012

Health Behind And Beyond Bars : Understanding The Link Between Incarceration And Health, Lauren C. Porter

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The primary aim of this dissertation is to better understand the link between incarceration and health. Drawing on a sample of young adults from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), the effect of incarceration on self-rated health, serious injury, STD infection, cold/flu symptoms, and blood pressure is assessed. The effect of incarceration on health behavior is also examined, including diet, smoking, binge drinking, and physical activity. In order to rule out selection bias, current and former inmates are compared to respondents who have been arrested (or arrested and convicted of a crime), but not incarcerated. Findings suggest …


The Causes And Consequences Of Self-Protective Behaviors In Violent Encounters, Ráchael Anne Powers Jan 2012

The Causes And Consequences Of Self-Protective Behaviors In Violent Encounters, Ráchael Anne Powers

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Self-protective behaviors are strategies that a victim utilizes during the course of a violent incident to either prevent its completion or to avoid or minimize physical injury. Research regarding the use of self-protective behaviors in violent incidents has focused predominantly on sexual assault, and the research that has examined non-sexual assaults has been limited with regard to the study sample, considered outcomes, and included covariates. To extend beyond prior work, this dissertation seeks to explore more thoroughly the use and consequences of self-protective behaviors in non-sexual assaults using the National Crime Victimization Survey. Self-protective behaviors were measured along two dimensions …


State Homeland Security : Variation And Patterns Among The U.S. States, Lisa N. Sacco Jan 2012

State Homeland Security : Variation And Patterns Among The U.S. States, Lisa N. Sacco

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation examines the homeland security organizations of the 50 states, and describes what systems the states have created for homeland security policy and structure. The purpose of this dissertation is to determine how each state homeland security organization was developed, describe each organization, and ascertain if patterns of homeland security have emerged among the states. This descriptive study also uncovers philosophical differences in the states' interpretation of homeland security.


Pay It Forward : The Effect Of Social Support On Crime, Jessica Singer Jan 2012

Pay It Forward : The Effect Of Social Support On Crime, Jessica Singer

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this research is to explore the relationship between social support and crime. In 1994, Frank Cullen wrote an innovative article which was designed to construct social support as an organizing principle for criminology. Using this work to frame this research, I hypothesize that social support will be negatively related to crime. I explore this relationship on two levels of analysis. First, I investigate the relationship between state-level support and crime rates using a dataset that I constructed from a variety of sources. Second, I investigate the relationship between individual-level support and crime and deviance using data from …


The Role Of Self-Esteem In The Treatment Of Youth In Residential Treatment Centers : An Examination Of Delinquency And Rearrest After Discharge From Treatment, Camela M. Steinke Jan 2012

The Role Of Self-Esteem In The Treatment Of Youth In Residential Treatment Centers : An Examination Of Delinquency And Rearrest After Discharge From Treatment, Camela M. Steinke

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this research was to explore the effect of self-esteem on rearrest and delinquency for a population of youth who have been committed to, and received services through, a residential treatment center.


Impulsivity, Criminogenic Opportunity Structures, And Delinquency, Matt Vogel Jan 2012

Impulsivity, Criminogenic Opportunity Structures, And Delinquency, Matt Vogel

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Impulsivity has emerged as a strong predictor of delinquency. A growing body of research suggests that neighborhood disorganization moderates the association between impulsivity and delinquency. However, there are several competing perspectives on the direction of this moderation, and the empirical research has generated a small body of discordant findings. This dissertation addresses the research linking impulsivity, neighborhood disorganization, and delinquency in two ways. First, I propose that the inconsistent findings to date might be attributed to variation in measurement and modeling strategy across earlier studies. Second, I argue that the mechanisms underlying the differential effect of impulsivity on delinquency across …


Decisions To Exert Social Control In A Neighborhood Context : Social Dilemmas And Solutions, Shaohua Yu Jan 2012

Decisions To Exert Social Control In A Neighborhood Context : Social Dilemmas And Solutions, Shaohua Yu

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Prior literature on urban crime study has long indicated that residents' participation in informal social control activities is crucial in achieving low crime rates in urban neighborhoods. The question of what factors determine individual residents' decisions on whether or not to support collective crime prevention efforts, however, has yet to be addressed. The present study approaches this issue by bridging it with another important area of research-the study of social dilemmas-that explain cooperative tendencies in human groups. By defining informal social control as a form of collectively desirable action, the study tested the hypothesis that the solutions to social dilemmas …


Public Attitudes Toward Crime Control In Contemporary China : A Multilevel Analysis, Yue Zhuo Jan 2012

Public Attitudes Toward Crime Control In Contemporary China : A Multilevel Analysis, Yue Zhuo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study applies the Western sociological theories in the Chinese context and systematically explores crime control attitudes in contemporary China. This research links individual-level data from the 2005 China General Social Survey with contextual-level data from China Procuratorial Yearbooks, Chinese Population Census 2000, and China Statistical Yearbooks. A multilevel framework informed by the instrumental perspective, the constructionist/conflict perspective, and the symbolic perspective is adopted to examine the individual-level and contextual-level social factors that affect the three dimensions of public attitudes toward crime control - satisfaction, spending, and due process.