Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Inside Nfl Marriages: A Seven Year Ethnographic Study Of Love And Marriage In Professional Football, Rachel Anne Binns Terrill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When women marry NFL players and subsequently become NFL wives, they are thrust out of the lives they have known and into a form of secondary socialization among other NFL wives. In this dissertation, I use ethnography and narrative inquiry, the first- person narratives of four NFL wives, interactive interviews with dozens of NFL wives, friendship as method, and my personal autoethnographic experiences to describe the social interactions between NFL wives, the themes of their marriages, and the trajectories of their identity formation and transformation of NFL wives during their time in the league.

I also use autoethnography and writing …

The Interrelationships Among Family Stress, Parenting Behavior, And Behavior Problems: An Investigation Of Internationally Adopted Chinese Girls, Cheryl Gelley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although there have been many studies investigating international adoptees' outcomes in relation to their pre-adoption experiences, there is a paucity of research investigating the influence of post-adoption experiences. Guided by the proximity of the family to the child in Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological systems theory of human development, this study addressed a gap in the literature by investigating the interrelationships among family-related variables (e.g., stress in family environment, parenting behavior) and 648 internationally adopted Chinese girls' behavior problems. Moderate, positive relationships were found between family stress and both internalizing (r = .43, p < .001) and externalizing (r = .59, p < .001) behavior problems. Modest, inverse relationships were found between authoritative parenting and both internalizing (r = -.08, p < .01) and externalizing (r = -.15, p < .001) behavior problems. Additionally, modest to moderate, positive relationships were found between authoritarian and permissive parenting and internalizing (r = .18, p < .001; r = .19, p < .001, respectively) and externalizing (r = .39, p < .001; r = .34, p < .001, respectively) behavior problems. Finally, authoritarian and permissive parenting behaviors were partial mediators between family stress and both internalizing (R² = .08, p < .001; R² = .08, p …

Multisensory Integration In Shark Feeding Behavior, Jayne M. Gardiner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Multimodal sensory input directs simple and complex behaviors in animals. Most research to date has been limited to studies of individual senses rather than multiple senses working together, leading to important advances in our comprehension of the sensory systems in isolation, but not their complementary and alternative roles in difficult behavioral tasks, such as feeding. In the marine environment, a prey item might emit an odor, create a hydrodynamic disturbance, such as from gill movements or swimming, be visible to the predator, produce a sound, and/or produce a weak electrical field. Therefore, the goal of this study was to investigate …

The Relationships Between Individual Characteristics, Work Factors, And Emotional Labor Strategies In The Prediction Of Burnout Among Mental Health Service Providers, Jessica Belle Handelsman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Relatively few empirical studies in the professional burnout literature have examined mental health providers (MHPs). Research on other professional groups has demonstrated that certain emotion regulation strategies, known as emotional labor (i.e., deep acting and surface acting), are common responses to perceived display rules (i.e., professional guidelines for emotional expression), and are differentially associated with burnout. The present study aimed to fill a gap in the literature by evaluating the empirical links between work stressors (i.e., role conflict, role ambiguity, and lack of autonomy), personality (i.e., extraversion), emotional labor (i.e., surface acting and deep acting), and burnout in a sample …

A Reflexive Approach To Capability Valuation And Determination In Sustainable Human Development: The 2010 Hillsborough County Transit Referendum, Eric James Fiske

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sustainable Human Development (SHD), rooted in Amartya Sen’s development theory on the capability approach, envisions achieving sustainable human capabilities at the local and global levels. One major area of contention within this field of research concerns determination and valuation of capabilities. How a community decides which capabilities should be developed is as important as the development itself. Some capability scholars argue that a small group of experts or “philosophers” should make this determination, while others argue that a deliberative democratic process needs to be followed. I seek to reconcile these two positions by introducing a third way of determining and …

Explaining The "Female Victim Effect" In Capital Sentencing Decisions: A Case For Sex-Specific Models Of Capital Sentencing Research, Tara N. Richards

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The potential influence of extralegal characteristics on the outcome of post-Furman capital cases (1972) has been a focus of criminal justice researchers and legal scholars. Much of this literature has assessed the impact of victim and defendant race on the likelihood of receiving the death penalty while a relatively underdeveloped body of research focuses on how victim sex may affect capital sentencing decisions. The present study uses focal concerns theory and the chivalry hypothesis to test the potential mediating effect of theoretical variables on the relationship between victim sex and juror capital sentence decision-making. In addition, it uses victim sex …

"Not If, But When": Sex, Risk, And Trust In Timing Gardasil Vaccine Decisions, An Exploratory Study Among Healthcare Providers And Middle-Class Parents In The U.S., Kathleen Marie Brelsford

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation research explores how values regarding sexuality, morality, responsibility, protection, trust, and risk — expressed through parent, daughter, and healthcare provider relationships and interactions — inform parental decisions regarding the Gardasil® vaccine. In particular, the research examines the competing and conflicting meanings that parents and providers ascribe to vaccination and how actors position the vaccine within a wider set of negotiated, value–laden discourses. Because these narratives are situated within a larger structural field that shapes the landscape in which providers and parents interact, relevant historical and structural factors, including vaccine policy, cost, and compensation are discussed.

Cuban Medical Internationalism: A Case For International Solidarity In Foreign Policy Decision Making, Eric James Fiske

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since the beginning of the Revolutionary government in Cuba, a comprehensive foreign policy involving medical personal and equipment has been implemented worldwide. Known as medical internationalism, thousands of doctors have been sent to developed and less developed nations in the spirit of solidarity and humanitarian aid. Even more, thousands of students have been given free medical education in Cuba at its world renowned university, the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM). Often, no monetary or direct political gain is made by Cuba and the doctors simply receive their normal government salary. While the success of Cuba's medical internationalism is well …

The Maghreb Maquiladora: Gender, Labor, And Socio-Economic Power In A Tunisian Export Processing Zone, Claire Therese Oueslati-Porter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study is about Tunisian women's work and lives in the present era of economic neoliberalism. The focus is women in the city of Bizerte, Tunisia, both those who work in Bizerte's export processing zone (EPZ), as well as those who work outside it. This study is a qualitative examination of formal and informal employment, set inside and outside of women's traditional political and economic domain, the home. Through ethnography of women's work and lives, this study's purpose is to contribute evidence against conflating women's "empowerment" with incorporation into global production. However, this study also lends itself to considerations of …

Shaping Topographies Of Home: A Political Ecology Of Migration, Carylanna Kathryn Taylor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Even from afar, transnational migrants influence how their households and communities of origin use natural resources. This study depicts the circulation of people, funds, and ideas within transnational families that extend from a Honduran village to the United States. Developing a "political ecology of migration" approach, I show how these circulations can reshape resource use practices and the socio-economic and bio-physical topographies of emigrants' former homes. The project advances anthropological thought by linking rich literatures on political ecology and transnationalism through a multi-method ethnography of transnational families. The study is also relevant to emigrants, community members, and practitioners interested in …

Dengue Fever In Tegucigalpa, Honduras: Use Of The Explanatory Model In A Sample Of Urban Neighborhoods To Contextualize And Define Dengue Fever Among Community Participants, Jose Enrique Hasemann

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project elucidated the explanatory model of dengue fever held by members of urban communities in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The study was conducted over a four-month period from May-August of 2011, and it was divided into two stages. The first stage of the project consisted of volunteer participation with dengue fever surveillance brigades in the three communities with the highest incidence of dengue fever during the beginning of 2011. This initial stage employed participant observation as its research method. The second stage was conducted in a different community within Tegucigalpa. The primary research methods employed during the second stage of the …

Prospects For Political Reform In China, Jody Lee Tomlin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study is intended to analyze levels of institutional confidence in China. The purpose is to measure the relationship between changing political and cultural values with modernization and levels of institutional criticism. To analyze institutional criticism modernization and political culture theories are used. Using these theories together offers explanatory power as to what political and cultural values may change and why changes in confidence in governance may occur. These theories include socioeconomic, traditional, and political values to measure institutional confidence in 1990 and 2007. The examination of traditional versus modernization values imply that individuals possessing these opposing values display different …

The Holistic Complementary Structure Of Western Bio-Medicine And Traditional Healing And Achieving Complete Health, Candace Gail Oubre

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Achieving complete health requires a deep understanding of complementary cultural competency sensitivity between physician and patient. This may include but is not limited to access to preventative health care resources, access to health educational resources and access to cultural healing resources, for example, shamans, Ayurvedic physicians, and herbal healers. Advocates of cultural competency emphasize great importance on knowledge of the patients' cultural background; however, the transcendence of this knowledge can be explained further through complementary cultural competency sensitivity. This is when the cultures of the physician and patient complement each other in terms of understanding what is in the patients' …

Does Crowding Obscure The Presence Of Attentional Guidance In Contextual Cueing?, Steven William Fiske

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The contextual cueing effect was initially thought to be the product of memory guiding attention to the target location. However, the steep search slopes obtained in contextual cueing indicate an absence of attentional guidance. We hypothesized that crowding could be obscuring the presence of attentional guidance and investigated this possibility in 2 experiments. Crowding was manipulated by varying the density of items in the local target region in a contextual cueing task. We observed a significant reduction in search slopes between the novel and repeated conditions when crowding was reduced. Enhancing crowding eliminated the contextual cueing effect. These findings suggest …

Emotional Reactivity And Regulation In Current And Remitted Depression: An Event Related Potential Study, Lauren M. Bylsma

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is thought to be characterized by emotion regulation deficits, including decreased use of adaptive strategies such as reappraisal, but little is known about the exact nature of these deficits and whether or not they are specific to the depressed mood state. The late positive potential (LPP) is a sustained positive deflection of the event-related potential (ERP) associated with responding to emotionally-valenced stimuli, and reappraisal strategies have been found to reduce LPP magnitude in response to emotional stimuli in healthy individuals, but this effect has not been examined in MDD. This study utilized ERPs to examine emotional …

Discovery Of A Functional Ecdysone Response Element In Brugia Malayi, Tracy Enright

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study was to determine whether functional ecdysone response elements (EcREs) exist within the genome of Brugia malayi, a parasitic nematode that causes lymphatic filariasis. The hypothesis that EcREs exist in B. malayi stemmed from previous demonstration of a functional ecdysone response system in B. malayi (Tzertzinis et al., 2010). Real-time PCR (qPCR) experiments were conducted to measure gene expression levels for twelve genes proximal to five putative EcREs in 20-OH ecdysone treated and untreated B. malayi embryos. Seven genes showed consistent upregulation with 20-OH ecdysone treatment. Each of the five putative EcREs had at least one …

A Retrospective And Prospective Comparison Of Hungarian Children Who Have One Or Two Episodes Of Depression, Vanessa Panaite

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Early onset depression is associated with high recurrence rates later in life. Recurrent depressive episodes during childhood may be particularly problematic, if additional episodes have a scarring effect that hinders healthy development. Distinguishing between first onsets and recurrences has been useful in understanding adult depression. This distinction has seldom been examined in pediatric depression, in part because it is difficult to enroll adequate samples of children with recurrent depression. We conducted archival analyses of carefully-diagnosed pediatric probands with depression first onset between ages of 4 and 12. Probands who reported one depressive episode (N = 435) were compared with probands …

Improvising Close Relationships: A Relational Perspective On Vulnerability, Nicholas A. Riggs

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I study the way couples improvise relationships together. I define improvisation as a kind of performance that leads to an interpretive practice where people develop the meanings of their relationships as they perform. Participating in a performance ethnography, my romantic partner, myself, and three other couples reflect on the way we perform together on stage. Adapting the popular improv performance format “Armando” and utilizing post-performance focus groups, I observe how the couples strive to make meaning together and negotiate a joint-perspective about how they played. Ultimately, I argue that attending to the way a couple improvises their …

Historical Archaeology Of The Pine Level Site (8de14), Desoto County, Florida, Jana Futch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 1866 the seat of Manatee County was moved to Pine Level, a newly-formed town in the wilderness of south Florida. By the 1880s, it contained stores, boardinghouses, churches, and government buildings. In 1887, Pine Level became DeSoto County’s first seat. However, when it lost county seat status to Arcadia only 18 months later, in 1888, Pine Level rapidly declined in population and importance, and eventually died out. The investigations of the Pine Level site detailed in this thesis were carried out as a public archaeology project, involving the DeSoto County Historical Society, University of South Florida, and the Florida …

American Muslim Identities: A Qualitative Study Of Two Mosques In South Florida, Azka Mahmood Mahmood

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Most existing research on Muslims and transnational Islam originates from Europe. However, the Muslim population in Europe differs from American Muslims in a number of important ways. In this research I aim to address the general paucity in sociological literature that originates from the U.S. and focus on the mosque as a space where American Muslim identity forms and evolves for both first- and second-generation American Muslims. I examine two American mosques in South Florida as the sites of the development of American Muslim identities based on ethnographic data and participant interviews. I find that the research sites perform functions …

Contextualizing Hiv/Aids Prevention And Treatment Programs In Zanzibar, Tanzania, Naheed Ahmed

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

International aid organizations and wealthy nations have contributed billions to combat the spread and treatment of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa; however, these programs have been critiqued for not addressing the socioeconomic and cultural context of the epidemic, instead relying upon generalized approaches. The prevalence rate in Zanzibar, Tanzania is low in the general population, but high among vulnerable segments of Zanzibari society, resulting in interventions focusing on particular groups (e.g. sex workers, drug users, and men who have sex with men). Through interviews with government agencies, non-profit organizations, medical professionals, vulnerable populations, and HIV/AIDS patients, this paper examines how local …

The State And The Legalization Of Dual Citizenship/Dual Nationality: A Case Study Of Mexico And The Philippines, Pamela Kim Anderson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this paper is to address the question of how does the inclusion or exclusion of political participation with dual citizenship or dual nationality impact the Philippines' and Mexico's efforts to achieve the economic and political benefits of dual citizenship from their citizens?

The hypothesis of the paper states that that if a sending state offers legal dual citizenship/nationality with political participation, then it will be successful at increasing the economic and political benefits provided by its emigrants; but if a sending state only offers legal dual citizenship/nationality without political participation than it will not be successful at …

The Relationships Between Frontal Alpha Asymmetry, Mood, And Emotional Memory, Ross Avila

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Frontal alpha asymmetry is often used as a metric to compare activation between homologous frontal brain sites. A positive asymmetry refers to greater activation in the left hemisphere than in the right hemisphere, while the opposite is true of negative asymmetries. Two expansive but largely separate bodies of research have examined the relationships between (1) frontal asymmetry scores and mood, and (2) mood and emotional memory performance. Specifically, one body of research has found that positive moods are associated with positive asymmetries while negative moods are associated with negative asymmetries. A second body of literature has examined the effects of …

Drug Courts Work, But How? Preliminary Development Of A Measure To Assess Drug Court Structure And Processes, Blake Barrett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The high prevalence of substance use disorders is well-documented among criminal offenders. Drug courts are specialty judicial programs designed to: 1) improve public safety outcomes; 2) reduce criminal recidivism and substance abuse among offenders with substance use disorders; and 3) better utilize scarce criminal justice and treatment resources. Drug courts operate through partnerships between the criminal justice, behavioral health and public health systems. Offenders participate in an intensive regimen of substance abuse treatment and case management while under close judicial supervision. Drug courts' effectiveness in reducing criminal recidivism and drug use has been documented through numerous primary studies as well …

Giving Meaning To Grief: The Role Of Rituals And Stories In Coping With Sudden Family Loss, Julia Janelle Barnhill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I seek to better understand the sensemaking process among surviving family members after a tragic loss of a teenage or young adult child. Using social constructionism (Gergen, 1991) as a theoretical framework, I focused on how meanings of loss are constructed through the use of language and other symbols. I specifically looked at the role of family stories and rituals in making sense of the sudden loss as well as how a survivor's role as a sibling or parent may impact the grieving process. The participants in my research were all members of families in which a …

The Role Of Discrete Emotions In Predicting Counterproductive Work Behavior, Jeremy Allen Bauer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current study investigates how discrete negative emotions are related to specific facets of counterproductive work behaviors (CWB). The sample consisted of 241 employees who reported their frequency of experiencing negative emotions and their frequency of committing CWBs in the workplace. For 103 employees, supervisor reports of employee CWB were also obtained. The findings provide evidence that a wide range of negative emotions are related to most of the sub facets of CWB. There was also some evidence that supervisor reports differ systematically from employee reports of CWB. The theoretical, methodological, and organizational implications are discussed.

Using Video Feedback To Improve Martial-Arts Performance, Angela Stefanie Benitezsantiago

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Video feedback has great potential to enhance performance in many settings. The following study used video feedback to enhance the martial arts performance of capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art that utilizes acrobatic movements (revesado, au de costa, and macaco). A multiple baseline across behaviors was used for 5 participants where baseline conditions consisted of standard coaching consisting of instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback and continued throughout the study. The intervention consisted of video feedback, in which the participants were filmed attempting a movement and immediately viewed the video afterwards, while receiving positive and corrective feedback from the instructor, using the …

Urban Greenways: The Case For The Selmon Greenway, Alana Brasier

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Across the country and world, cities are building urban greenways to achieve environmental, economic, and social objectives. Greenways are recreational trails that provide functions beyond recreation, such as stormwater management, economic development, community development, and aesthetic improvements. A plan to build an urban greenway in downtown Tampa is underway. The greenway is proposed to be built underneath and adjacent to the Selmon Expressway, in conjunction with a widening and redecking project. A feasibility study was performed and approved by the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization; now the biggest hurdle standing in the way of the Selmon Greenway is finding funding. …

Placing Reedy Creek Improvement District In Central Florida: A Case Study In Uneven Geographical Development, Kristine Bezdecny

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study is primarily about the theory of uneven geographical development. In an era when it is proclaimed that, through globalization, the world has become flat, the unevenness of economic and social development is often overlooked or suppressed. As the nexus between global and local processes, the urban space often becomes the site of conflict between those defining the hegemonic narrative of the space, from a global and flat perspective; and those experiencing heterogenous local narratives, whose uneven positions are reinforced by this hegemonic narrative.

This study explores the conditions of uneven geographical development in the urban space of central …

Up In The Air: The Global Economy, Economic Development, And Air Transportation In Tampa Bay, Florida, Clinton M. Elbow

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A globally integrated economy is one of the most prominent features of globalization and how city stakeholders respond to the global economy varies from city to city. Connecting to the global economy is often portrayed to be necessary for the continued economic development of a metropolitan area. Large transportation infrastructures such as airports represent one of the most visible ways of connecting to the global economy. Decisions made by city stakeholders regarding airports in order to reposition their city in the global economy have profound consequences for its residents. This thesis aims to examine the role played by air transportation …