Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Giving Back Not Giving Up: Generativity Among Older Female Inmates, Regina White Benedict

Doctoral Dissertations

Extensive research has been conducted to understand the experience of incarceration, with the focus on hardships inflicted on inmates via incarceration. In addition, the current graying of America‟s prisons has gained some attention from both policymakers and the general public. However, despite the recent upsurge in concern and interest in matters pertaining to prison inmates, the focus by and large remains on young males. Meanwhile, studies addressing the experience of incarceration for older females are virtually non-existent. Generativity, defined as the desire to give back and execution of that desire, is regarded as a universal life stage first occurring sometime …

The Relationship Between Preschool Teachers’ Beliefs About School Readiness And Classroom Practice In Tennessee Child Care Programs, Joanna Hope Denny

Doctoral Dissertations

Over the past two decades, children’s school readiness has gained national attention. This has resulted in a variety of national, state, and local initiatives often with an emphasis on accountability. However, the beliefs of those who are held accountable (teachers, administrators, and parents) are rarely included in the development of such systems. This study sought to identify any relationships between teacher beliefs about school readiness with parents’ beliefs or directors’ beliefs about school readiness. Additionally, the study examined predictors of teacher beliefs and whether teacher beliefs were related to teachers’ practices in the classroom.

This study used a statewide sample …

The Construction Of Social Networks Of Support In A New Latino Gateway, Meghan Elizabeth Conley

Masters Theses

Beginning in the early 1990s and continuing through today, emerging Latino destinations such as Knoxville, Tennessee experienced tremendous growth in their population of Latina/o immigrants. Given that our traditional theories of immigrant adjustment address the formation of social networks exclusively in established immigrant gateways, and primarily based on observations of men, there is no reason to assume that Latina/o immigrants in emerging destinations build networks in similar ways as those in established destinations. This thesis first explores why some immigrants choose to migrate to Knoxville, Tennessee. Second, this thesis explores the extent to which the dominant theoretical frameworks of immigrant …

Why Females Fight: Predicting Political Activism Among Palestinian Female Youth, Carolyn Reagh Spellings

Masters Theses

A distinct focus on female youth experiences in political contests has been lacking in the literature on youth and political violence despite many female youth’s involvement with armed groups. The first Palestinian Intifada (1987-1993) saw the participation of many female youth alongside both teenage boys and men. This is notable especially given the patriarchal culture of Palestinian society in that women and young girls are traditionally confined to the private sphere. Additionally, public interactions with men and young boys could be viewed as improper and threats to one’s honor and purity may ensue. In light of these facts, the purpose …

Contested Legitimacy: Coercion And The State In Ethiopia, Dima Noggo Sarbo

Doctoral Dissertations

Most studies on Africa that analyzed the institution of the state emphasized the colonial origins of state formation, tracing the crisis of socioeconomic and political development to that specific historical trajectory. Colonialism has shaped the characteristics of modern African states, but it is also important to address institutional factors, methods of governance, and state-society relations in the post independence period. As Ethiopia was not directly constituted by European colonialism, a study of the Ethiopian state provides an opportunity to look at how the state has performed, and how it relates to its own society, without the colonial baggage. This case …

The Bolivarian Alternative For The Americas: Rethinking Economic Integration After The Failures Of Neoliberalism, Shannon D. Williams

Masters Theses

The deteriorating societal conditions that have accompanied the implementation of the neoliberal model in Latin America have been well documented. This analysis draws heavily on this work to identify the emergence of de-industrialization, displacement of food production, exclusion of basic human services, and excessive unemployment following the application of neoliberal reform. Such ill effects have ushered in a strong anti-neoliberal current that has opened up new spaces for discussion and debate about alternative development models for the region. Perhaps the most radical alternative to emerge is the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA). ALBA’s architects have been explicit in their …