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The Family In Tocqueville's "Democracy In America": Understanding Difference In The Age Of Equality, Nicholas R. Noloboff

Master's Theses and Capstones

The American family in Tocqueville's Democracy in America presents a novel association to humankind; at its heart are natural bonds between generations, spouses and siblings that offer, through public recognition, new opportunities for both individual and civic improvement. Through an exposition of Democracy's American family, this paper addresses how the association helps remediate the greatest dangers of the age of equality: a tyrannical majority, materialism, individualism and ultimately, democratic despotism. It finds that the chief virtue of the American family comes from the natural, complementary gender differences that define marriage in American public opinion; in particular, the social recognition that …

Transcending The Body: The Role Of Divine Mind In The Practice Of Christian Science Healing, Sarah L. Gibb

Master's Theses and Capstones

Christian Science has been largely ignored in sociological inquiries of modern religious institutions. This research project aims to uncover how Christian Science practitioners understand their world in terms of the origins of illness, the gender division of labor, and their role as healers within the Christian Science community and the world. I distributed questionnaires to practitioners in California and the New England region, analyzing the responses using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The practitioners in this sample (N = 33) are overwhelmingly white, middle-aged to older women with higher-than-average levels of educational attainment and income. Thematic analyses reveal that in …

The Effects Of Market Transition On The Distribution Of Health Care In China: 1991--2000, Rachel Marks

Master's Theses and Capstones

This research aims to examine the changes in the availability and accessibility of health care available to Chinese citizens over a nine year period. I use market transition theory as a framework for examining these changes. Market transition theory posits that as a government moves from a socialist system to a market-based economy, a new stratification order will emerge. Changes in the Chinese health care system are examined using 1991 and 2000 data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey. Using ordinary least-squares and logistic regression, I analyze differences in access and availability of health care between ethnic groups, rural …

The Disneyization Of Service Work In Financial Organizations, Karen Schreiner

Master's Theses and Capstones

In recent years, financial companies have adopted "the Disney Way" in their approaches to customer service. Along with other organizations, financial companies place emphasis on the service they provide and are training associates to stage a "show" for their customers. Financial organizations increasingly look toward Disney as a model for customer "delight", and use Disney's methods of training to mold associates who are constantly smiling and friendly, use a company-written script, and "perform" as part of their job duties.

My study investigates the nature of performance-based customer service through a content analysis of bank teller employment advertisements and banking advertisements …

Gender Socialization: Implications For Gender Differences In Self-Concept Among Adolescents, Erin D. Libby

Master's Theses and Capstones

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the relationship between traditional gender socialization and self-concept during adolescence, in the domains of athletic competence, physical appearance, social competence, and close friendship.

The sample used in the study consisted of 33 eighth graders, of which 19 were female and 14 were male. Participants completed an instrument developed by the researcher to measure level of gender socialization, along with Harter's (1988) Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (SPPA) to measure self-concept in the above-referenced domains.

The Mann-Whitney U-Test was used to test distributions of means. Results were not statistically significant and therefore failed …

Perceptions Of A Generation Gap By Contact And Perceptions Of Intergenerational Responsibility, Michelle L. Stransky

Master's Theses and Capstones

As the Baby Boomers begin to retire in 2011 and federal monies become more strained, it will be useful to determine whether there are actual divisions or points of agreement between grandparents and grandchildren in regards to value differences. Cross-sectional data from the Longitudinal Study of Generations are used to examine the differences in perceptions of intergenerational responsibility and a generation gap between grandparents and grandchildren. Variations in these potential differences as a function of grandparent-grandchild contact and caregiving are also examined. Findings indicate grandparents perceived more responsibility toward younger generations while grandchildren perceive more responsibility toward older generations; grandparents …

The Effect Of Involvement On Collegiate Binge Drinking: An Examination Of Competing Social Theories, Lauren Rinaldi Magrath

Master's Theses and Capstones

The perils of collegiate binge drinking are well documented in popular media, frequently in light of athletic or Greek participation. This study was designed to better understand relationships between an expanded list of involvements and the frequency of binging by applying competing theories. Social bond theory predicts all conventional involvements will serve to prevent deviant behavior. In contrast, subcultural theory suggests some involvements will serve to support deviance. Using the College Alcohol Study and OLS regression, this study examined the relationship between involvements and binging, and if the processes operate by gender. The study found some results in alignment with …

The Role Of Peer Networks In Mediating And Moderating Racial Disparities In Youth Violence, Louis F. Burdi

Master's Theses and Capstones

In the present study the influence of peer networks in mediating and moderating racial disparities in youth violence is examined using wave I and wave II of the National Youth Survey (N=1725). Data on peer attitudes and behavior, and individual self-reported incidences involving violent behavior were analyzed through a series of regression models. This study asserts first, that peer association and socioeconomic status mediate racial differences in violence; second, that an interaction between race and differential association and an interaction between race and socioeconomic status exist that affects violent behavior; lastly, an interaction effect will exist between socioeconomic status and …

The Curious Incident Of The Law Firm That Did Nothing In The Night-Time, Nancy B. Rapoport

Scholarly Works

This essay argues that organizations (here, the Milbank, Tweed law firm) often ignore obviously bad behavior by their employees because of various psychological and sociological factors that prevent them from recognizing the behavior as bad in the first place.

Socially Disorganized Rural Communities, Kenneth D. Tunnell

Justice Studies Faculty and Staff Research

The article talks about the social disorganization of rural communities in the U.S. It is stated that family farming has been on the decline for decades, with the numbers of farmers dropping by 16 million since 1950 and farms decreasing by over 4 million during the past century. It is inferred that a part of a community's history and way of life are being forfeited when local business are closing. According to the author, the theory of social disorganization emphasizes social integration and stability as necessary conditions for community. It offers some of the disadvantages of disorganized communities, such as …

Le Roman Camerounais À La Traversée Des Savoirs Anthropologique, Ethnologique Et Sociologique, Abomo-Maurin Marie-Rose.

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

The Cameroon novel situates itself at the crossroad of knowledges. It brings back to life some practices drawn from ancestral tradition, and shows them to be forms of social science. Thus, the writer acts as an ethnologist who studies the customs of a community. However, contrary to the field researcher, the novelist recreates the situations in which the scientific phenomena occur. various disciplines take place.

Analysis Of The West Virginia Child Abuse And Neglect 2005 Court Improvement Program's Re-Evaluation, Kathryn Alexandra Rood

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This is a secondary Analysis of the West Virginia Child Abuse and Neglect Circuit Courtroom system based on the 1995 and 2005 Court Improvement Programs State Evaluations. This article focuses on the West Virginia child abuse and neglect court in relation to Reasonable Efforts Policy. The Evaluations gathered responses from the Judges, Prosecutors and Caseworkers. We reviewed the responses using Jacob and Eisenstein's courtroom workgroup model. Our analysis reveals that policy as an ideal and in practice enacts power over the courtroom workgroups ability to comply with federal standards. These standards and policy requirements create tension and precedence for an …

Sociology Multiple Course Revisions Form 2 11/01/2006, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.

Privacy By Design, C. Nippert-Eng

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In the United States, “privacy” largely centers on the degree to which an individual feels in control of the accessibility of whatever she or he feels is “private.” In this paper I explore this conceptualization of privacy, drawing on the work of U.S. scholars as well as 74 mostly middle and upper-middle class individuals who were interviewed during a formal study of privacy from June 2001-December 2002. I examine the ways in which participants try to achieve privacy as they pursue the principle of “selective disclosure and concealment.” I suggest that the affordance of such selectivity may be a key …

Soc 4901 Course Proposal 10/26/2006, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.

Soc 4902 Course Proposal 10/26/2006, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.

Soc 3122 Course Proposal 10/24/2006, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.

Sociology 2006 Apr Self-Study & Documents, University Of New Mexico

UNM Academic Program Review

UNM Sociology APR self-study report, review team report, response to review report, and initial action plan for Fall 2006, fulfilling requirements to the Higher Learning Commission.

Sociology Form A: Discipline Summary 09/27/2006, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.

Sociology Multiple Course Revisions 09/27/2006, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.

Toward A Feminist Theory Of The Rural, Lisa R. Pruitt

ExpressO

Feminists have often criticized law’s ignorance of women’s practical, lived experiences, even as they have also sought to reveal the variety among those experiences. This article builds on both critiques to argue for greater attentiveness to a neglected aspect of women’s situation: place. Specifically, Professor Pruitt asserts that the hardships and vulnerability that mark the lives of rural women and constrain their moral agency are overlooked or discounted by a contemporary cultural presumption of urbanism.

Professor Pruitt considers judicial responses to the realities of rural women’s lives in relation to three different legal issues: domestic violence, termination of parental rights, …

Low Income Status By Population Groups, 1961-2001, Roderic Beaujot, Jianye Liu, Don Kerr

PSC Discussion Papers Series

Abstract not available

Children And Youth In Canada: Recent Demographic Changes, Jianye Liu, Don Kerr, Roderic Beaujot

PSC Discussion Papers Series

Abstract not available

Then The Burning Began: Omaha, Riots, And The Growth Of Black Radicalism, 1966-1969, Ashley M. Howard

Student Work

Throughout the 1960s, America witnessed one metropolis after another suffer from major civil disturbances. The first of these incidents occurred in Selma, Alabama, but it was not until Watts, California exploded that the nation began to take notice. As America was throttling towards a major race war, nobody anticipated the Midwestern town of 'Omaha, Nebraska to experience the same disturbances larger cities had. Although the life of average Omaha blacks was better than that of many of their urban counterparts, black Omahans still faced frequent job discrimination, lack of adequate educational facilities, and general disenchantment with Northern ghetto life. Between …

Understanding The Psychosocial Development Of Neighborhoods: Implications For Situational Policing, Jeri Kirby

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Community policing strategies are aimed at reducing crime and getting neighbors more involved. These goals of achieving safe neighborhoods seem just outside of the police department's reach. The police have been unable to achieve sustained satisfaction with the residents while also deterring crime and disorder. Research has suggested that collective efficacy within neighborhoods has a strong relation to the level of crime and disorder (Sampson, 1999). Assuming that neighborhoods have unique properties/characteristics, other researchers explored the idea that neighborhoods behave like groups and develop through identifiable stages (Nolan, 2004). Using qualitative methods inside the Pittsburgh Police Department and in four …

Wooster Magazine: Summer 2006, Karol Crosbie

Wooster Magazine: 2001-2010

This edition of the Wooster Magazine was published in the summer of 2006. Sally Whitman's 13 year journey on completing her bachelors degree is featured on page three. Students will no longer be registering for classes in person, but rather online through the Scotweb system. Twenty student's IS abstracts are featured from page eight to thirteen. English professor, Daniel Bourne is featured along with a few of the poems he has written. Professor Anne Nurse's sociology class, Criminology and Deviance, is highlighted for the fact that half of the class is made up of inmates from the Indian River Juvenile …

Max Weber, Talcott Parsons And The Sociology Of Legal Reform: A Reassessment With Implications For Law And Development, Chantal Thomas

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Notorious Murders, Black Lanterns, And Moveable Goods: Transformation Of Edinburgh's Underworld In The Early Nineteeth Century, Deborah A. Symonds

University of Akron Press Publications

The year 1828, when William Burke, William Hare, and their wives murdered nearly a score of Edinburgh’s poor and sold their bodies, is a time when entrepreneurial criminals in Edinburgh’s Old Town flourished. Young thieves ransacked a warehouse for tea, women pretending to be prostitutes lifted gentlemen’s watches, and fine linens disappeared from washerwomen’s houses. What Symonds reveals is a shadow economy where the most numerous of all criminals and thieves practice their trade not out of poverty and misery, but because it is their means of earning a living. Laborers and immigrants struggled to make a few pennies, and …

Influences Of Early Life Conditions On Old Age Mortality In Old Québec, Alain Gagnon, Ryan Mazan

PSC Discussion Papers Series

Increasingly, bio-demographers are turning to infancy and childhood to gain a better understanding of old age mortality. However, evidence of a link between early life conditions and survival until old age is fragmentary, and the intervening mechanisms remain unclear. Drawing from data on a cohort of French-Canadian children born in the 17th and 18th centuries, we study the effects of infant exposure to infectious diseases (as revealed by the infant mortality rate in the year of birth) on later life mortality. A series of Cox proportional hazard models are used and we control for other familial and environmental conditions prevalent …

Demographic Decisions And Demographic Well-Being, Rajulton Fernando

PSC Discussion Papers Series

Abstract not available