Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

What's Wrong With Me?: An Autoethnographic Investigation Of The Co-Cultural Communicative Practices Of Living With Tourette Syndrome During Adolescence, Mark Congdon Jr.

The Qualitative Report

Using an Autoethnographic methodology, this essay explores how I was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome. My experience illustrates a dynamic and difficult process of understanding and negotiating assimilation, using a variety of communication strategies related to self-perception, perceptions of others, and interactions with others. Using Co-Cultural theory (CCT) as a theoretical framework, three themes emerged from my experience: (1) nonassertive assimilation: negotiating with relationships of authority, (2) aggressive assimilation: negotiating relationships with peers, and (3) nonassertive separation: the convergence of negotiating relationships of authority and with peers. It is my hope that my story expands the awareness and conversation among and …

Beauty Through Control: Forming Pro-Anorexic Identities In Digital Spaces, Kay A.S. Mccurley

Masters Theses

Pro-anorexia is a complex, multi-layered phenomenon that exists only online. The women who participate in these websites are learning to negotiate how to manage an identity that is normalized within the group but stigmatized within larger society. Using an open-ended survey, distributed online directly to pro-ana website users, I aim to illustrate pro-anorexic experience. After a brief demographic sketch of typical pro-anorexic spaces, I examine pro-anorexia in depth by asking three primary research questions: 1) how do pro-anorexics craft their online identities within the community; 2) how do individuals interact with one another in a highly contested and heavily policed …

Stigmatization And Racial Selection After September 11, 2001, Patrick Leon Mason, Andrew Matella

Patrick L. Mason

During the 2000s Arab and Islamic American racial identity selection was subjected to an exogenous racializing event, viz., public and private reaction to the Al Qaeda attacks of September 11, 2001. The Al Qaeda attacks clearly demarcate a period in which there was a structural increase in the intensity of US stigmatization of persons with Islamic religious affiliation and Arab ethnicity. This stigmatization created an exogenous reduction in the expected payoff to acculturation relative to non-acculturation. This paper uses self-identification as white as its measure of acculturation and the fraction of all hate crimes directed at Muslims as its measure …

New Portlandia: Rock N' Roll, Authenticity And The Politics Of Place In Portland, Oregon, Jeffrey Ross London

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This work is concerned with the situation of indie musicians and their relationship to the urban imaginary of the city of Portland, Oregon. Central to this inquiry is the interplay between music makers and the evolving cultural economy of the city. There are several key issues that arise in Portland for participants in the indie music scene, in the new, high-rent lifestyle city. The regional Northwest ecology of indie rock music and the collective memory of the underground has been brought into the mainstream as an advertisement for the city, an identity for its new residents and for cultural tourism. …

Wanted More From Moore, Rashida Aluko-Roberts

SURGE

I was very excited when I first picked up Wes Moore’s book The Other Wes Moore. After hearing that it was chosen as the common reading text for the incoming class, and also being given the opportunity to co-facilitate a discussion based on the book, I was even more excited.

However, as I read the book, I found myself more frustrated than fulfilled. [excerpt]

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.

Becoming Mom: Understanding Challenges And Presentations Of Self Among Mothers, Annakeiko Frink Reichel

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

When a woman becomes a mother it is arguably one of the most life changing and defining moments of their lives. Becoming a mom and the emotions that are involved in the process are often a neglected topic in the United States. It is clear that the social world assumes mothers will automatically adjust to the role of being a mom without asking questions such as, what are the challenges moms face after having children? Or more importantly, how is a mother’s identity shaped after having children and while adjusting to the role as mom? The first author (AR) became …

Examining The Process Of Identification In The Mathematics Classroom And The Role Of Students’ Academic Communities, Richard J. Robinson

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this research was to provide insight into the identities students develop as they interact in a high school mathematics classroom. A normative divide developed which eventually split the classroom into two distinct academic factions: those who resisted the emerging local definition of what it meant to do mathematics and those who did not resist (i.e. complied or identified). A secondary purpose of this research was to understand the role of students’ academic communities in mathematics identity development. Student narratives helped uncover mathematical spaces outside the classroom that each developed their own unique definition of what it …

A Collaborative Autoethnographic Search For Authenticity Amidst The "Fake Real", Trenia L. Walker, Colette M. Taylor

The Qualitative Report

This manuscript explores the importance of "authenticity" for the maintenance self-identity for social justice educators in higher education. A collaborative dialogue between two female faculty authors of different ethnicities explores and interprets how to balance one’s own situated understanding of themselves, shared discourse community, and a social justice paradigm. The authors systematically juxtapose their reflections on their experiences as educators in higher education to examine points of similarity and difference. By sharing and interrogating their individual experiences in higher education, the authors argue that the relationship between authenticity, identity, and social justice is complex and multifaceted. The authors conclude by …

The Secret Life Of Your Personal Information: Government Resources On Identity Theft, Washington State University

Consumer Fraud

Bibliography and photographs of a display of government documents from Washington State University.

The Relative Impact Of Identity On Lgbt Api Outness: A Quantitative Analysis, Jessica Lee

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the United States, the intersecting relationship among race, sex, gender, and sexuality plays a significant role in one's identity development and socialization. Especially for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Asian Pacific Islander (API) individuals, such interplay presents a continuous task of processing and presenting different identities. Employing a national sample of over 500 LGBT API individuals and utilizing multivariate regression analysis, this thesis explores how LGBT API individuals' sexual and racial identities affect their decisions in coming out to family, friends, co-workers, and other community members. Findings indicate that the level of discomfort in racial/ethnic and/or LGBT community …

Latinas Converting To Islam In New York: Habitus’ Influence In Modern Identity Formation, Amalia Alonzo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper explores the topic of religious conversion in relation to Pierre Bourdieu's theory of habitus, with a focus on Catholic Latina converts to Sunni Islam. Bourdieu suggests that these types of religious choices are not choices at all, but predetermined by an individual's history, culture, and setting. That is, an individual already has dispositions that are taken for granted. While this study's participants report that Islam is a new religion for them and not a continuation of their Catholic faith (as habitus would suggest,) this study shows that these converts retain dispositions that are consistent with their previous religious …

The Importance Of Motherhood And Fertility Intentions Among U.S. Women, Julia Mcquillan, Arthur L. Greil, Karina M. Shreffler, Andrew V. Bedrous

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Fertility intentions are associated with achieved fertility; therefore, understanding the factors associated with fertility intentions is important. Considerable research has examined factors associated with fertility intentions, but no one has explored the importance of motherhood to women. Guided by life course and identity theories, we use the National Survey of Fertility Barriers, a data set collected from a random sample of U.S. women aged 25–45 in 2004 through 2007, to assess the relationship between importance of motherhood and fertility intentions. Adding importance of motherhood to a model including other variables associated with fertility intentions increases the variance explained by 6.4 …

Toys Don't Have A Gender: Gender Play And Aggression In A Small Co-Operative Play Based Preschool, Bryn Peterson

Honors Theses

In this thesis I explore the relationship between gender and free-play in a small, cooperative preschool in Niskayuna, New York. While psychologists and sociologists have studied gender in young children, I found that children had been largely overlooked in the field of anthropology. While some anthropologists have historically believed that children do not fully understand their culture and cannot be reliable informants, I believe that there is much we can learn by understanding children's games - which often reflect our culture. Through observing children's free play I was able to analyze gender conforming/nonconforming play, aggression, and the themes of the …

The Bronx: Creating Fashion Identity Through Race, Class, Hip-Hop Culture And J.Lo, Milesska Jordana Contreras-Hernandez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The following thesis is a three-part look at the way that fashion identity is created, practiced and understood in the Bronx. The majority of the thesis focuses on the area of Fordham Road, which is an area that is regarded as one of the biggest producers of fashion and consumption in the working class borough. This paper provides a look at the history of the borough to understand how an area like Fordham was shaped. Fordham is an area consisting of a variety of small and large businesses that cater to the members of the surrounding communities. These residents are …

Studying The Study: Reflections On Exploring The Health And Disability Narratives Of Long-Term Sickness Benefits Recipients In The Uk, Kayleigh Garthwaite

The Qualitative Report

Researching sensitive topics such as sickness and disability can encompass a wide range of demands that must be continually negotiated throughout the research process by both the researcher and research participants. Therefore, a studying the study approach is important when exploring the quality and ethical practice in qualitative research on sensitive issues with vulnerable populations. This becomes especially important within a UK context when considering the negative discourse surrounding the sickness benefits process in the UK. Drawing upon semi-structured interviews with 25 long-term sick and disabled benefits recipients in the UK, the study sought to uncover the health and illness …

"I'M More Than The Sum Of My Parts": Multiracial Identities And The Creation Of Racial Meaning, Hannah D. Johnson

Sociology Honors Projects

This paper examines the ways that multiracial individuals understand and give meaning to their identities. Specifically, how do we—as a culture and as individuals—conceptualize and construct multiracial identities? What is the relationship between the way people identify themselves and the way they are identified by others? What do people mean when they say they are mixed race? Through a series of in-depth interviews with 11 individuals who self-identify as multiracial or mixed race, I find that racial identities are fundamentally multifaceted; they can be asserted by an individual, ascribed by an outsider, deeply rooted in culture and heritage, employed as …

Representation In Kenya, Its Diaspora, And Academia: Colonial Legacies In Constructions Of Knowledge About Kenya's Coast, Jesse Benjamin

Jesse Benjamin

This paper explores the construction of knowledge in Kenya in the context and aftermath of colonialism and underdevelopment. Those communities that were politically and economically marginalized in Coast Province over the past century were also displaced in terms of academic opportunities, resulting in fewer social science scholars from Mijikenda and other non-Swahili communities in both Kenyan and diaspora universities. Underdevelopment studies in Africa and Kenya are briefly reviewed, and the colonial history of asymmetric social relations at coastal Kenya is traced. Finally, key debates over identity and history are examined within this context and shown to be exacerbated by diasporic …

Is Gaining, Losing Or Keeping A Self-Identified Fertility Problem Associated With Changes In Self-Esteem?, Elizabeth A. Richardson

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Because motherhood is an expected and valued identity in the United States, becoming a mother should lead to an increase in self-esteem and perceiving a problem becoming a mother should lead to a decrease in self-esteem. Little research has examined the combined experience of both identifying with a fertility problem and becoming a mother or not over time. Guided by identity theory framework, this study uses two waves of data from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers (NSFB) to examine how change and stability in motherhood status and perceived fertility barrier status is associated with changes in self-esteem among women …

Emergency State Cultural Imagination And Expression Among Afro-Descendant Youth In Pearl Lagoon, Jennifer Lunceford

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Various societal factors demonstrate that Pearl Lagoon is in state of emergency. The youth today live in a Pearl Lagoon that is gradually losing cultural ground. However, the young people are not silent witnesses to this decline. The youth desire to learn more about their cultural traditions. Many of them romanticize their community’s past and emphasize the importance of their traditions, even though others are breaking away from their customs. The younger generation also critiques their community. This is hopeful because Pearl Lagoon needs cultural rescue. Technology is increasing the youth’s exposure to the outside world, which is not necessarily …

Real Projects, Virtual Worlds: Coworkers, Their Avatars, And The Trust Conundrum, Michael F. Lohle, Steven R. Terrell

The Qualitative Report

This qualitative study informs project managers of the impact that the authentic projection of coworker identity via avatars has on trust and potential project management success when teams use virtual worlds to collaborate. By exploring the common experiences and reactions of potential virtual team participants to a demonstration that showed how to customize avatars and use them to communicate with others, it facilitated the development of a grounded theory that confirms whether the projection of authenticity via avatars is an antecedent of team trust and real project management success. Real management success was the main objective, since it is vital …

Support Groups For Men: Encouraging Healthy Relationships With God And Others, John Henry Mckinney Ii

Doctor of Ministry

Over several decades, societal shifts have dramatically impacted masculinity. One school of thought, hypomasculinity, views men as dominant, controlling, and abusive. Their approach to reforming men is pedagogy. Hypermasculinity—another school of thought—considers culture as domesticating men. Often, they see reform occurring through men’s support groups.

There is an intentional design to domesticate men, making them softer and more manageable. Obviously, there is nothing immoral about desiring the transformation of man. The issue is not the desire but the methodology supporting it. So, how is change to be successfully implemented?

Some churches are offering men support groups. Such groups provide recovery …

Anchoring Identity In Faith: Narrative Of An Anglo-Asian Muslimah In Britain, Imran Mogra

The Qualitative Report

This article is based on a narrative of an Anglo-Asian Muslimah, studying in a prominent university in the city of Birmingham, England. The trainee teacher was a suitable candidate for my research for the additional characteristics, which she had. She was born as a Muslimah in England, she was neither totally Asian nor English in reality; she was the daughter of a Pakistani mother and an English father. Using narrative analysis, several key themes, such as family, friendship, and cultural practices, emerged. These themes shed light about her life experiences. Significantly, she reveals the important influence of Islam and faith …

Pinning Motherhood: The Construction Of Mothering Identities On Pinterest, Kate Griffin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the new social media site, Pinterest, to uncover the processes through which mothers construct self- and public-identities. Despite being valued at over $3.8 billion dollars (Perez 2013), having an impressive user retention rate (Moore 2014), and having a highly gendered user base (Tekobbe 2013), Pinterest has been the site of limited sociological inquiry. Seventeen semi-structured qualitative interviews on mothering and Pinterest use were conducted with central Florida mothers who have a Pinterest account and at least one child between 6 months and 10 years old. Through analysis based in a grounded theory approach, three central themes emerged …

The Forest Has A Story: Cultural Ecosystem Services In Kona, Hawai‘I, Rachelle K. Gould, Nicole M. Ardoin, Ulalia Woodside, Terre Satterfield, Neil Hannahs, Gretchen C. Daily

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Understanding cultural dimensions of human/environment relationships is now widely seen as key to effective management, yet characterizing these dimensions remains a challenge. We report on an approach for considering the nonmaterial values associated with ecosystems, i.e., cultural ecosystem services. We applied the approach in Kona, Hawai‘i, using 30 semistructured interviews and 205 in-person surveys, striving to balance pragmatism and depth. We found spirituality, heritage, and identity-related values to be particularly salient, with expression of some of these values varying among respondents by ethnicity and duration of residence in Hawai‘i. Although people of various backgrounds reported strong spirituality and heritage-related values, …

Exploring Customer Contexts: How A Communitarian Business Model Enables Meaningful Customer Relationships, Deirdre Duffy

Conference papers

Broadly this study explores the individual’s constructions of identity as situated within historically and locally particular cultural practices. Following this approach facilitates a better understanding of how consumers negotiate the world around them. In turn this provides marketers with valuable insights that better equip them to engage with their customers. The subject matter is the male consumer engaging in bodywork practices to construct a desired body type. The subjects are situated within two discursive regimes: practices of self-presentation and national sport. Moreover, looking across these contexts reveals situational differences that contribute further to managerial decision-making, helping build stronger customer relationships.

Spectacles Of Reform: Theater And Activism In Nineteenth-Century America By Amy E. Hughes (Review), Jocelyn Buckner

Theatre Faculty Articles and Research

In Spectacles of Reform Amy Hughes advocates for “spectacle as methodology” (4), a means of interpreting spectacle in nineteenth-century melodrama, as well as a wide variety of other media, that rehearses and reforms concepts of citizenship and identity related to race, class, gender, and morality. Through this lens, Hughes seeks to answer the questions “where and how do activist spectacles appear before and beyond the theatrical encounter?” and “why is spectacle kept alive through reinvention, revision, and repetition long after the drama is over?” (5). Hughes traces her theory of the spectacular instant through three popular sensation themes of the …

Academically Resilient Minority Doctoral Students Who Experienced Poverty And Parental Substance Abuse, Marcia Boatman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is a lack of research on the academic resilience of minority, first-generation, online doctoral students (MFOD) who experienced poverty and parental substance abuse (PSA). The purpose of this study was to explore how MFOD who overcame poverty and PSA developed academic resilience. Resilience theory and Kember's model of attrition in online programs provided a conceptual framework for this study. The research questions guiding this qualitative study concerned how MFOD perceive and interpret their academic resilience and protective factors. A purposeful sample of 6 students participated in semistructured interviews. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was conducted, which included a case by …

"The Struggle For The Supremacy Of The Coast": Baseball And Identity In Boothbay Harbor, Maine, Christopher G.F. Hoffman Ma

All Student Scholarship

During the summer months of the first decade of the twentieth century, the Boothbay Harbor region was invigorated with baseball fever. By 1900, Americans had come to understand baseball as its national game, and Boothbay Harbor discovered and nourished the game in the final decades of the nineteenth century. But as the twentieth century began, baseball became more than a game: it was a business, a spectacle, and an opportunity for inhabitants of the region to define themselves based upon the team they supported.

“I’M A Jesus Feminist”: Understandings Of Faith, Gender, And Feminism Among Christian Women, Megan Pritchett

Scripps Senior Theses

The emergence of the Christian Right and the feminist movement in the mid-to-late 20th century have had a significant impact on the political, psychological, and social landscape of the U.S., and this is especially true for Christian women who sit at the cross-roads of these movements. To understand the context surrounding this group, I examine different areas of sociological literature: the primacy of gender and religion in identity formation, Christian marriage and gender roles, the “culture wars” of the Christian Right, and a brief overview of feminist theory. Utilizing qualitative research methods, I interviewed 13 self-identified Christian women to learn …