Digital Commons Network^™

Challenging Tunisia’S Homogenous Arabness:Post-Revolutionary Civil Society Activismfor The ‘Invisible’ Tunisian Amazigh, Xavier A. Torres De Janon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The 2010-11 Tunisian revolution brought to the forefront of the country an explosion of activism and organizing from civil society, including multiple voices urging for the defense, protection and/or recognition of Tunisian ‘minorities.’ An unprecedented Amazigh (pl. Imazighen, the indigenous population of North Africa) wave of activism from individuals and organizations appeared in the public sphere of the country, a population systematically denied and marginalized by the Tunisian dictatorships and society emboldened to stand up for their rights and challenge the status quo. In the post-revolutionary context of thispseudo-homogenous North African country, dominated by a strong Arab/Islamic ideology since independence, …

Displacing The Displaced: Challenging The International Framework For Palestinian Refugees In Light Of The Syria Crisis, Jasmin Fritzsche

Faculty Journal Articles

In 1948 approximately 750,000 Palestinians were displaced for the first time. As of 2014, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) counts over 5 million Palestine refugees. Many of those refugees no longer reside in their first country of asylum but have been repeatedly displaced following expulsions, political unrest and conflicts in host countries. In 2011, fighting broke out in Syria, creating over three million refugees fleeing mainly to surrounding Arab countries such as Lebanon and Jordan. Alongside Syrian citizens affected by the conflict is a population of about half a million …

“In Light Of Real Alternatives”: Negotiations Of Fertility And Motherhood In Morocco And Oman, Victoria E. Mohr

Student Publications

Many states in the Arab world have undertaken wide-ranging family planning polices in the last two decades in an effort to curb high fertility rates. Oman and Morocco are two such countries, and their policies have had significantly different results. Morocco experienced a swift drop in fertility rates, whereas Oman’s fertility has declined much more slowly over several decades. Many point to the more conservative religious and cultural context of Oman for their high fertility rates, however economics and the state of biomedical health care often present a more compelling argument for the distinct differences between Omani and Moroccan family …

“Education Should Be Number One”: Life Stories Of Migrant Crèche Teachers And Their Impact On The Early Childhood Education Of Vulnerable Youth, Romi Messer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project seeks to identify, examine, and analyze how the life experiences of African migrant women manifest in the aspirations, visions, and goals for their school children’s education and integration in society. The study focuses on the teachers and young children at the Union of Refugee Women’s Children Care Centre, an organization that provides early childhood education to children in refugee and economically disadvantaged communities. In this paper I explore how life experiences influence the curriculum and daily activities at the crèche as well as which skills the teachers find essential to pass on to the refugee and economically disadvantaged …

Agency Of The South Sudanese: Compensating For Health Care In Mungula Refugee Settlement, Lauren Schmidt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In reaction to the endemic violence, which has forced many South Sudanese to flee their homes and seek refuge within Uganda’s borders, the researcher spent the practicum interning with the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) in Mungula refugee settlement, under academic advisor Steven Mawa. As the organization is the leading health provider in the settlement, the researcher gained insight into the provision of social services to the population, which allowed an extensive study on the ability of the South Sudanese to compensate for shortages in care and various complications associated with doing so.

The researcher sought to entertain these inquiries …

Rough Hands: Family Conceptions Of Rural Morocco’S Agricultural Labor, A Case Study, Leah Kahler

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Conceptions of success for people in any capitalist context are tangled with social hierarchies of work. The rural women of Morocco have been specifically singled out as the objects discourses about their domestic and agricultural work, agency, gender identity and role, and their use of private and public space ownership. This project will examine the justifications, conceptions, and satisfaction with rural-agricultural work in a small-scale family farm in Morocco’s Al Hoceima province. Using the case study approach, I will live with a family in Sidi Bouafif and work alongside the family for an eight-day fieldwork period. Through participant observation and …

Assessing Young Males' Perspectives On The Cultural Competency Of Juvenile Justice Staff And Predicting Psychosocial Functioning, Crystal Catherine Rodriguez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The theory of symbolic interactionism explains how social interactions influence behavior. In this study, it is reasoned that culturally sensitive interactions may be associated with adjudicated youth behavior. The purpose of this project is to (1) examine the differences in adjudicated male youths' perceptions of the level of cultural competency in juvenile justice staff members and (2) to identify whether staff members' cultural competency is related to self-restraint, distress, and delinquent behavior in adjudicated male youth. Utilizing a cross-sectional design, adjudicated youths enrolled in a variety of re-entry and transitional programs were surveyed. Youths retrospectively assessed the cultural competency of …

Confucius, Yamaha, Or Mozart? Cultural Capital And Upward Mobility Among Children Of Chinese Immigrants, Wei-Ting Lu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines the determinants of upward mobility among children of Chinese immigrants. While most studies emphasize ethnic cultural capital as a primary determinant of Chinese upward mobility, this study proposes three new concepts to illuminate understudied processes promoting mobility. Specifically, this study argues that Chinese immigrants' interactions with classical music schools in the Chinese community help generate globalized cultural capital (resources from immigrants' participation in transnational networks), navigational capital (the ability to connect social networks together to facilitate community navigation through higher-status educational institutions) and aspirational capital (the ability of parents to acknowledge the barriers to upward mobility). These …

Fundamental Assumptions In Narrative Analysis: Mapping The Field, Dominique Robert, Shaul Shenhav

The Qualitative Report

The richness of narrative analysis resides in its unruly openness, but points of reference are needed to tame the variety in the field. This article suggests that researchers should grapple with two fundamental questions when conducting narrative analysis. The first pertains to the status attributed to narrative: it is defined as the very fabric of human existence or as one representational device among others? Emphasizing one answer over the other means mobilizing different theories of representation and therefore, suggesting different articulations between "narrative" and "reality." The second question refers to the perspective developed on narrative: Is it defined mostly as …

Getting Kids Out Of Harm's Way: The United States' Obligation To Operationalize The Best Interest Of The Child Principle For Unaccompanied Minors, Erin B. Corcoran

Law Faculty Scholarship

The government estimates by the end of the fiscal year over 90,000 children will enter the United States. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 58% of these children were forcibly displaced and are potentially in need of international protection. However, in U.S. immigration law unaccompanied children are often seen as illegal migrants and law enforcement prioritizes their “alien” status over their status as children. As the crisis escalates, many of these children are being housed at emergency shelters in icebox-cold cells – nicknamed hierleras, Spanish for freezers, with no access to food or medical care, while DHS …

My Story: An Authoethnographical Account Of Being A Phd Candidate, Rod Pitcher

The Qualitative Report

This paper is an autoethnographical account of my PhD candidature. It shows how the work affected my development as a researcher and also as a person. As I near the end I realise that the process of doing a PhD has changed me beyond recognition. I am no longer the naive undergraduate student of the recent past. I have developed beyond that. I discuss some of the important influences on me during my candidature and how they changed me and my way of thinking about myself and my work.

Collaborative Treatment Of Late-Life Depression In Primary Care (Germanimpact): Study Protocol Of A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial, Iris Wernher, Frederike Bjerregaard, Iris Tinsel, Christiane Bleich, Sigrid Boczor, Thomas Kloppe, Martin Scherer, Martin Härter, Wilhelm Niebling, Hans-Helmut König, Michael Hüll

Institute on Aging Publications

Background: Depression is not a normal side effect of aging, however it is one of the most prevalent mental health issues in later life, imposing a tremendous burden on patients, their families, and the healthcare system. We describe the experimental implementation of a collaborative, stepped-care model for the treatment of late-life depression (GermanIMPACT trial) in the German primary care context. GermanIMPACT was developed as an adaptation of a successful and widely used American model. The aim of the study is to evaluate the model’s applicability to the German primary care setting and its cost-effectiveness.

Methods/Design: The study will be conducted …

Threatening Others : Nicaraguans And The Formation Of National Identities In Costa Rica, Carlos Sandoval-Garcia

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

During the last two decades, a decline in public investment has undermined some of the national values and institutions of Costa Rica. The resulting sense of dislocation and loss is usually projected onto Nicaraguan “immigrants.”
Threatening Others: Nicaraguans and the Formation of National Identities in Costa Rica explores the representation of the Nicaraguan “other” in the Costa Rican imagery. It also seeks to address more generally why the sense of national belonging constitutes a crucial identification in contemporary societies. Interdisciplinary and based on extensive fieldwork, it looks critically at the “exceptionalism” that Costa Ricans take for granted and view as …

Living With Cancer Aged 75 And Older: A Biographical Narrative Case-Study, Nicholas David Hughes

The Qualitative Report

Aging is associated with greater incidence of disease and illness, including cancers. Extensive literature reports incidence, prevalence, and treatment of cancers in older individuals. The subjective perceptions of older individuals undergoing the experience of cancer remain largely unknown. The case-study reported in this article is derived from a larger study whose aim was to investigate the experiences of older people of living with cancer. Data were generated using narrative interviews with 20 individuals aged 76-87 diagnosed with one of four common cancers. Interview data were analysed using the concept of the “illness trajectory” (Corbin & Strauss, 1988). In this article …

Exploring The Subaltern Voices: A Study Of Community Radio Reporters (Crr's) In Rural India, Dhanraj A. Patil

The Qualitative Report

Despite India’s remarkable communication media revolution the rural subalterns remained uninformed, unheard and voiceless, who asks the question: Whose Media, Whose Voice? This created a space for community radio (CR) because it is of, for, and by the community. However, in spite of the alternative, counter-hegemonic, and participatory communication ethos, the contribution of CR’s and CRR’s lingered unexplored and unacknowledged. To bridge this gap, within the theoretical framework of alternative-media-theory this study has been undertaken. Based on case studies of India’s pioneer CR’s (Sangam Radio and Radio Bundelkhand) using media ethnography tools a qualitative inquiry was carried out. Findings suggest …

You've Got Mail: Identity Perceptions Based On Email Usernames, Laura Pelletier

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This study explores the idea that email recipients use the email username of the sender as a mediated cue to make basic assumptions of the identity of the sender. For this study 215 participants completed self-report surveys asking their perceptions of a fictional work group member including sex, age, race, and work productivity. Most participants were able to create a basic identity of their fictitious group member based solely on their email username.

The Use Of Recursive Frame Analysis On An Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy Session, Yanqun Peng

The Qualitative Report

Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) is an evidence0based therapy model. It has been viewed as an empirical approach to couple therapy, and it has lasting treatment effects (Johnson, 2004; Greenman & Johnson, 2013). However, Greenman and Johnson (2013) also argued that there is still a lack of research concerning the EFT process. This study focuses on connections between theory and practice by analyzing the EFT process. Recursive Frame Analysis (RFA), a tool developed by Chenail and Keeney to map therapeutic conversation (Chenail, 1993; Chenail, 1995; Keeney, 1987), is used here as a research method to examine Sue Johnson’s use of …

Reducing Confusion About Grounded Theory And Qualitative Content Analysis: Similarities And Differences, Ji Young Cho, Eun-Hee Lee

The Qualitative Report

Although grounded theory and qualitative content analysis are similar in some respects, they differ as well; yet the differences between the two have rarely been made clear in the literature. The purpose of this article was to clarify ambiguities and reduce confusion about grounded theory and qualitative content analysis by identifying similarities and differences in the two based on a literature review and critical reflection on the authors’ own research. Six areas of difference emerged: (a) background and philosophical base, (b) unique characteristics of each method, (c) goals and rationale of each method, (d) data analysis process, (e) outcomes of …

Selling Tradition: Impression Management And Draft Animal Agriculture Of A Mississippi Farmstead, Matthew Corbin Lance

Master's Theses

This thesis is a case study of a family of farmers in Mississippi’s Piney Woods who use horse-drawn equipment to grow crops. This practice is notable in the context of a larger agricultural system that prioritizes mechanization (particularly the use of tractors). The production style and their use of local direct selling via farmers markets allowed them to thrive economically because they were able to tap into a niche market of consumers desiring an alternative to the modern, conventional agricultural system.

Other literature on Alternative Food Networks (AFN) discusses the issues of alterity and appropriation—that is, whether AFN ventures are …

Executive Control In Hispanic Children: Considering Linguistic And Sociocultural Factors, Miriam M. Martinez

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Executive control represents a collection of high-order cognitive processes that are associated with important child outcomes, including academic achievement and social competencies. Despite the burgeoning interest in examining the development of executive control, less is known about the development of these skills among ethnic minority children. Hispanic children are currently the largest ethnic minority group in the United States and their diverse sociocultural and linguistic backgrounds provide an excellent context to study the influence of linguistic and sociocultural factors on the development of child executive control. The purpose of the three complementary studies reported in this dissertation is to contribute …

Methodological Considerations For Qualitative Research With Immigrant Populations: Lessons From Two Studies, Yu Lu, Mary W. Gatua

The Qualitative Report

Often, research strategies are guided by principles developed based on mainstream U.S. cultural norms. Immigrants, however, may differ in their cultural backgrounds and previous exposure to research. Commonly adopted research procedures, such as the informed consent process, may be culturally inappropriate for research with culturally diverse populations, and hence require cultural adaptations. Based on two qualitative studies, this paper describes the methodological issues encountered in the field when working with Chinese and Kenyan immigrants, and explains how these issues were resolved. Comparing and synthesizing experiences from the two studies, recommendations for methodological adaptations when working with immigrant populations are provided. …

Tolerance In The City: The Multilevel Effects Of Urban Environments On Permissive Attitudes, Christopher M. Huggins, Jeffrey S. Debies-Carl

Sociology Faculty Publications

Studies on urbanism often suggest a link between urbanites and increased tolerance. While most research supports this claim, it is hampered by several limitations: it focuses almost exclusively on the United States, it neglects classical arguments that urbanism is a macro-level as well as local phenomena, and it does not direct attention to the different mechanisms through which urbanism is believed to operate. In this paper, we reexamine the tolerance-producing capacity of urbanism by addressing these limitations. This study uses a large cross-national sample, multi-level modeling to examine urban factors at both the local and societal level, and two measures …

Introduction: Appreciating Difference, Barbara Lewis

Trotter Review

Are we a narrative nation, imagined and connected mentally, tied by a common history of disruption if not by contiguous geography? Lorick-Wilmot suggests that the stories we tell offer the basis of mutual understanding across distance and cultures and generations. In a reconfigured mental Diasporic cartography, where is our citadel, our castle (not to be confused with what Europeans named as slave castles of Africa)? The remains and monuments built in this hemisphere by iron will and the drive to change yesterday, uprooting it from the ground of inequality, still stand on the highest hill in northern Haiti, reminding us …

Between Two Worlds: Stories Of The Second-Generation Black Caribbean Immigrant, Yndia S. Lorick-Wilmot

Trotter Review

People have an endless fascination with character information since it helps us to predict the behavior of those we interact with (King, Rumbaugh, and Savage-Rumbaugh 1999). Stories or narratives serve as an extension of this fascination. They help us make better decisions even without supplying immediate information. When we each talk about the past, our stories not only disclose currently relevant social particulars, but also provide tools for reasoning about action—our own and others’. In many instances, the stories we tell offer explanations of an outcome that resulted when we acted upon something—or serve as indirect memories of a place …

Black Is Decidedly Not Just Black: A Case Study On Hiv Among African-Born Populations Living In Massachusetts, Chioma Nnaji, Nzinga Metzger

Trotter Review

Black or African American is a racial category that includes the descendants of enslaved Africans as well as members of foreign-born black communities who migrated to the United States from places abroad, such as Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Grouping native-born and foreign-born blacks into a single homogeneous racial category may make it easier to track disease and health outcomes; however, it masks the different cultural experiences, histories, languages, social and moral values, and expectations that influence health beliefs, attitudes, practices, and behaviors. It also ignores such factors as migration, which forces foreign-born populations to examine both their traditional …

Panoply: Haitian And Haitian-American Youth Crafting Identities In U.S. Schools, Fabienne Doucet

Trotter Review

In the United States, where race is a powerful factor for social stratification (Appiah & Gutmann, 1998; Glick-Schiller & Fouron, 1990a; Omni & Winant, 1986), foreign-born Blacks find themselves battling the demoralizing impacts of discrimination, racism, and xenophobia on a daily basis. In the school context, racist assumptions have been shown to predispose teachers to have lower expectations of immigrant students and other students of color, to view them more often as behavioral problems, and to assume that their parents do not value education (Doucet, 2008, 2011b; Suárez-Orozco, Suárez-Orozco, & Todorova, 2008). At the same time, the powerful influence of …

The Adaptation Of The Horn Of Africa Immigrant Students In Higher Education, Tekleab Elos Hailu, Heng-Yu Ku

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this study was to explore the challenges first generation immigrant students from the Horn of Africa encountered in their college learning in the United States and the strategies they used to succeed. The participants in the study were ten first generation immigrant students from the countries in the Horn of Africa. A case study was used as a qualitative methodological approach and three data sources namely questionnaire, intensive interviews, and observations were used to collect and analyze data. The results revealed that language difficulties, financial problems, lack of culture awareness, time constraints, and inadequate guidance are challenges …

Exercising Autonomous Learning Approaches Through Interactive Notebooks: A Qualitative Case Study, Vani S. Jaladanki, Kakali Bhattacharya

The Qualitative Report

Grounded in the theoretical framework of interpretivism, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the experiences of a teacher from an inner city high school in South Texas when using interactive notebooks to inform students’ understanding of physics concepts. The participant for the study was purposefully selected with an intention to gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences. Data collection incorporated multiple methods such as interviews, participant observations, and document analysis. Descriptive, In-vivo, process, and Labovian six-part model of narrative coding were used to reduce and manage data. The codes were grouped into eight categories. Two major …

Can Anyone With Low Income Be Food Secure?: Mitigating Food Insecurity Among Low Income Households With Children In The Tampa Bay Area, Edgar Allan Amador

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the US over the last few years, approximately 14.5% of households experience food insecurity at some point throughout the year. While studies on food insecurity in the US have determined that household income and specifically income available to spend on food is of critical importance to food security, it is still unclear why some households with low income are able to maintain food security while others experience food insecurity in a pattern characterized as not constant but recurrent. This dissertation compares households with children at different levels of food security and insecurity using the USDA Core Food Security Module …

Adult Third Culture Kids: Does Their Concept Of Home Have An Impact On Their Career Paths?, Kelly B. Wisecarver

Capstone Collection

For decades, social scientists have been conducting studies about Third Culture Kids (TCKs). TCKs are children who have been raised outside of their passport countries as a result of their parents’ professions abroad. One sociologist refers to TCKs as “prototype citizens of the future,” citing their backgrounds a playing a role in today’s increasingly globalized world. How have TCKs’ multicultural backgrounds and experiences shaped them? What types of professions are they prone to? What qualities and characteristics do they commonly share and why are they an important group to study? My capstone aims to address these questions.

The combination of …