Sociology Commons^™

An Assessment Of Proposed Sex Offender Mobility And Residency Restrictions In Nevada, Samantha Dawn Beecher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research explores the impact of sex offender exclusion zones and residency restrictions proposed by Nevada Senate Bill 471. This law would prohibit sex offenders from being within 500 feet of places where children congregate and living within 1,000 feet of these places. Analyses conducted using Geographic Information Systems demonstrate the degree to which offender mobility, housing, employment, and access to social services may be restricted should the law be adopted and enforced. Data are also used to assess the potential impact of the law on victimization patterns. Policy implications, data limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

An Evaluation Of Group Differences In Mentoring Programs' Perceived Outcomes, Jennifer Sue Anderson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Mentoring programs, like Big Brothers/Big Sisters (BBBS), focus on targeting at-risk youth in a preventative effort to increase pro-social behaviors as well as improving one's confidence, competence, and caring. These factors are important as they are indicative of the types of attachment bonds that insulate juveniles from delinquent behavior. Using data from a BBBS located in the Southeast part of the United States, the current study examined whether different groups of juveniles in mentoring programs are considered to be equally successful in promoting feelings of confidence, competence, and caring. Employing a series of one-way ANOVAs, no significant relationships were found …

Targeting Youth—Hit Or Miss? Juvenile Certification In Clark County, Nevada Examined, Brittnie Turquoise Watkins

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Juvenile certification is the method by which a juvenile may be removed from juvenile court jurisdiction and placed in the adult criminal court jurisdiction. In many cases, juvenile courts exercise judicial certifications, in which a judge determines if the case will be heard in juvenile or adult court. Many factors influence a judge's determination of certification outcomes. Legal factors include dangerousness, amenability, and maturity of the youth. Extra-legal factors include race and sex. Although judges are believed to be impartial, prior research has found that these bias factors may influence outcomes. This study assesses what factors are influential in one …

Quest For Quotidian: A National Survey Of Non-Heterosexual Attitudes Toward Marriage, Troy A. Mcginnis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Marriage equality remains a legal impossibility for same-sex couples in most states, and opponents are concerned that expansion of marriage to include gays and lesbians would radically redefine the institution. Findings from an online survey of lesbians, gays and bisexuals— a non-random sample of 466 adult men and women age 18 to 74 in 37 states— strongly suggest that many non-heterosexuals' attitudes reflect neither a radical departure from core definitions of marriage, nor a rejection of traditional "family values," but instead signal an assimilationist position favorable to traditional marriage norms rather than a liberationist position critical of the institution.

Parasocial Relationships With Celebrities: An Illusion Of Intimacy With Mediated Friends, Amanda R. Laken

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research looked at parasocial interactions among college students. The study looked at the differences in gender and parasocial interaction, ethnicity/race and parasocial interaction, and the type of entertainment the celebrity was in and parasocial interaction. The research looked at celebrities as themselves and not as the characters they play as previous studies have. The research consisted of a revised parasocial interaction scale along with basic demographic questions. Although there have been studies examining levels of worship among different celebrities, they have been no correlations or differences stated concerning parasocial interactions. In addition, there has been no previous research stating …

African American Parental Beliefs About Resiliency: A Delphi Study, Vita L. Jones

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Resiliency is a concept that has been discussed in the fields of anthropology, psychology, sociology, and education for over 30 years. Most authors define resiliency as the ability to triumph over adversity. The term associated with children/youth who rise above negative situations is resilient. A subgroup of students who are disproportionately affected by negative perceptions from society and who often find themselves in negative situations are African American children/youth. It appears that these students encounter less social fit in school, have a higher propensity for at-risk behavior, and experience less favorable academic and social outcomes.

This study involved a Delphi …

The Sociology Of Scenes, The Sacramento Poetry Scene, Dana Nell Maher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

For this ethnography, I use my feminist perspective, grounded theory, participant observation, and autoethnographic techniques to explore an urban poetry scene. I suggest that scene studies are a viable alternative to community studies and that we move our articulation of social experience to reflect it as it occurs, on a multitude of continuums. My goal with this project is to develop, use, and discuss the utility of a definition of scene that is intended to be useful to scene studies researchers. To this end, I both evaluate an outdated definition of scene (Irwin 1973 & 1977), and define the three …

Women's Health And Fitness Magazines: An Accurate Portrayal?, Jennifer M. Shymansky

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study is a content analysis examining the representation of health information, particularly the leading causes of death, in cover story headlines of one year of the top women's health and fitness magazines: Prevention , Shape , Fitness , Self , Health and Women's Health. The study is grounded in social responsibility theory, a normative media theory. The findings show that women's health and fitness magazines' cover story headlines predominately discuss diet and exercise for weight loss, rather than the leading causes of death facing women. This under representation of actual societal health concerns can limit the vast readerships' health …

Gray Zones Of Modern Genocide, Megan Dale Lee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Italian-Jewish chemist and Holocaust survivor Primo Levi wrote in his work The Drowned and the Saved about the "Gray Zone," or holding place for all things difficult to categorize about his experiences in the Nazi camp Auschwitz. Because human tendency is to divide things in a rigid dichotomy, he argued, anything without a set role is brushed aside. I have extended this Gray Zone to include mutually shared situations from modern genocide including: the relationship of race/land to genocide, the "Forced Victim-Perpetrator" (victim forced to commit atrocities against his or her own people), and the complex international reaction to genocidal …

A Stranger Determined To Remain One, William Gamson

Bios Sociologicus: The Erving Goffman Archives

This interview with William Gamson, Professor of Sociology at Boston College, was recorded over the phone on January 8, 2009. Dmitri Shalin transcribed the interview, after which Dr. Gamson edited the transcript.Breaks in the conversation flow are indicated by ellipses. Supplementary information and additional materials inserted during the editing process appear in square brackets. Undecipherable words and unclear passages are identified in the text as “[?]”.

As Goffman Was Talking About Remedial Interchanges, He Took A Glass Of Water And Spilled It On Rosenberg’S Lap, Samuel Heilman

Bios Sociologicus: The Erving Goffman Archives

This interview with Samuel Heilman, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the City University of New York, was recorded over the phone on December 1, 2008. After Dmitri Shalin transcribed the interview, Dr. Heilman edited the transcript and gave his approval for posting the present version in the Erving Goffman Archives. Supplementary information appears in square brackets. Undecipherable words and unclear passages are identified in the text as “[?]”. The interviewer’s questions are shortened in several places.

What Makes Women Tired? A Community Sample, Donna E. Stewart, Susan Abbey, Marta Meana, Katherine M. Boydell

Psychology Faculty Research

We aimed to determine the major health concerns or problems of women and their personal attributions for the causes of their primary health concerns. We used a survey of women from the Toronto area attending a women's health symposium. Completed questionnaires were returned by 153 (85%) of 180 women attendees. Persistent fatigue was the primary and most commonly cited health concern. Fatigue was ranked first by 42 (27.5%) women and among the top 10 concerns by 123 (80.4%) women. Women attributed their fatigue to a combination of home and outside work (63.4%), poor sleep (38.2%), lack of time for self …

Erving Was A Brilliant Scholar And A Mensch, Joseph Gusfield

Bios Sociologicus: The Erving Goffman Archives

This interview with Joseph Gusfield, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the the University of California, San Diego, was recorded over the phone on December 19, 2008. Dmitri Shalin transcribed the interview, after which Dr. Gusfield edited the transcript and gave his approval for posting the present version in the Erving Goffman Archives. Breaks in the conversation flow are indicated by ellipses. Supplementary information and additional materials inserted during the editing process appear in square brackets. Undecipherable words and unclear passages are identified in the text as “[?]”.

Take Pride In America In Southern Nevada: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Covering January 6, 2009 – April 5, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Anti-littering Programs

• Team set annual priorities

• Requests for Information sent to determine recycling feasibility

• Preliminary field data form developed for GIS database project

• Team presented assessment report to SNAP board

• Planning for Phase III media campaign begun

• Five clean-up events conducted this quarter

• Team provided 778 cubic yards of roll-off space for clean-ups

Latin American Migrants In The Las Vegas Valley: Civic Engagement And Political Participation, John P. Tuman

Institute for Latin American Studies

Funded by a grant from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (with support from the MacArthur Foundation), this project is part of a broader national study that examines Latin America migrants in selected cities in the United States. The goal of the project is to explore patterns of civic engagement and political participation among Latin American migrants and Latinos in the Las Vegas, Nevada, metropolitan area. A secondary, but not less important, goal is to understand the factors that contribute to or inhibit the ability of individuals from Latin America to acquire U.S. citizenship. The issues addressed by this …

Inside Unlv, Shane Bevell, Diane Russell, Michelle Mouton, Gian Galassi

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Southern Nevada Agency Partnership Cultural Site Stewardship Program – Program Expansion And Steward Retention: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending March 31, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Cultural Site Stewardship Program

• Two steward training classes were given this quarter training 41 new volunteers.

• Total trained stewards reach 428.

• The Cultural Site Stewardship brochure was approved and completed.

• Program sustainability issues were discussed at February SNAP meeting.

Nevada Interagency Volunteer Program: Helping Hands Across Public Lands – Phase Ii: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Covering January 1, 2009 – March 31, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Get Outdoors Nevada

• The number of records in the volunteer database increased by 3.5%.
• A total of 1,676 database records were archived due to inactivity resulting in a reduction of 26% in the number of current records in the database. The database currently contains 4,957 records.
• Website activity increased, recording an average of 68,086 hits per month, an increase of 22 % from last quarter, with an average of 5,228 pages viewed per month.
• The new website design was launched along with the release of a monthly electronic newsletter.
• How to Succeed with Volunteers training was conducted for SNAP teams and well received …

Remembering Erving Goffman, Frederick Elkin

Bios Sociologicus: The Erving Goffman Archives

Frederick Elkin, Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Anthropology at York University, wrote this memoir at the request of Dmitri Shalin and gave his approval for posting the present version in the Erving Goffman Archives. The memoir was received on March 7, 2009, with the addendum received on March 9, 2009.

Rural Communities And Awareness Of Doe Environmental Management Programs At The Nevada Test Site: Do Outreach Efforts Matter?, Helen R. Neill, K. K. Snyder, Janet Ward

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

Are residents living in communities around the Nevada Test Site aware of environmental remediation activities and do outreach efforts contribute to awareness? Through a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas administered a mail questionnaire to 14,083 residents and received 1,721 responses. Approximately 90% of the respondents reported awareness of past nuclear tests at the Nevada Test Site; 63% reported awareness of low-level radioactive waste disposal at the site; and 41% are aware that the Yucca Mountain Project for high level waste disposal is part of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management and not …

Dmitri Shalin Interview With Jack Whalen About Erving Goffman Entitled "I Read Presentation Of Self, And It Was Like Nothing I Ever Read – “Oh, My God, That Is Sociology?”", Jack Whalen

Bios Sociologicus: The Erving Goffman Archives

This conversation with Jack Whalen, Principal Scientist at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), in their Computing Science Laboratory, was recorded on August 1, 2008, during the ASA meeting in Boston. After Dmitri Shalin transcribed the conversation, Jack Whalen corrected the transcript and gave his permission to post the present version of the exchange in the Goffman archves. Breaks in the conversation flow are indicated by ellipses. Supplementary information and additional materials inserted during the editing process appear in square brackets. Undecipherable words and unclear passages are identified in the text as “[?]”. The interviewer’s questions are shortened in several …

Remembering Erving Goffman, Aaron Cicourel

Bios Sociologicus: The Erving Goffman Archives

Aaron Cicourel, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of California San Diego, wrote this memoir and gave his approval for posting the present version in the Erving Goffman Archives. The memoir was received on February 18, 2009.

I Became Aware That Many Students Looked Up To Erving, Gerald Handel

Bios Sociologicus: The Erving Goffman Archives

Gerald Handel, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at The City College and The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, wrote this memoir at the request of Dmitri Shalin and gave his approval for posting the present version in the Erving Goffman Archives. The memoir was received on February 11, 2009.

He Was A Heck Of A Nice Guy, Kind Of Shy, And The Kids Liked Him, Robert Habenstein

Bios Sociologicus: The Erving Goffman Archives

This interview with Robert Habenstein, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Missouri, was recorded over the phone on December 23 and December 29, 2008. Dmitri Shalin transcribed the interview, after which Dr. Habenstein and Dr. Patricia Morrow Habenstein approved posting the present version on the web. Breaks in the conversation flow are indicated by ellipses. Supplementary information and additional materials inserted during the editing process appear in square brackets. Undecipherable words and unclear passages are identified in the text as “[?]”. The interviewer’s questions are shortened in several places.

Dmitri Shalin Interview With Victor Lidz About Erving Goffman Entitled "Remembering Erving Goffman", Victor Lidz

Bios Sociologicus: The Erving Goffman Archives

Dr. Victor Lidz has given his permission to post this communication on the EGA site.

Take Pride In America In Southern Nevada: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Covering October 6, 2008 – January 5, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Anti-littering Programs

• Douglas Joslin has resigned from his Project Manager position

• Zia Engineering submits draft report

• GIS project meetings lead to preliminary proposal

• HECTOR announced as the winning name in the name the mascot contest

• Five clean-up events conducted this quarter

• Team provides 619 cubic yards of roll-off space for clean-ups

Erving Goffman Was A Brilliantly Imaginative, Original Sociologist And A Pathmaking Ethnographer, Who Had A Deep And Lasting Influence On The Students Who He Mentored In His Distinctively Challenging Way, And On The Discipline Of Sociology To Whose Development He Was Fervently Committed, Renee C. Fox

Bios Sociologicus: The Erving Goffman Archives

This interview with Renée Fox, Annenberg Professor Emerita of the Social Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, was recorded over the phone on November 28, 2008. After Dmitri Shalin transcribed the interview, Dr. Fox edited the transcript and approved posting the present version on the web. Breaks in the conversation flow are indicated by ellipses. Supplementary information and additional materials inserted during the editing process appear in square brackets. Undecipherable words and unclear passages are identified in the text as “[?]”. The interviewer’s questions are shortened in several places.

Las Vegas: The Perils Of Deception Fueled Growth, William J. Smith, Ahmad Safi

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

There are two types of deception – the deception of others and self-deception. Las Vegas thrives on both. Many would be aware of the importance of the first type of deception for the health of the Las Vegas economy, as they would for Macau, Monte Carlo, etc. Without the symbol of wealth to achieve elite global tourism status, and the ‘moth to the flame’ illusion of the likelihood of visitors to get ‘lucky’ and win great wealth, there would be no Las Vegas as it is known today. There is no other major reason to come to the city. There …

Inside Unlv, Diane Russell, Michelle Mouton, Cate Weeks, Stephanie Strow

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Dmitri N. Shalin

Bios Sociologicus: The Erving Goffman Archives

We would like to bring to your attention the Erving Goffman Archives (EGA). Located on the web site of the UNLV Center of Democratic Culture, this web-based, open-source project serves as a clearing house for those interested in the dramaturgical tradition in sociology and biographical methods of research, http://www.unlv.edu/centers/cdclv/ega/index.html. The EGA collect critical studies and biographical materials about Erving Goffman and his era. Postings on the EGA web site are divided into several overlapping sections: “Documents and Papers,” “Biographical Materials,” “Critical Assessments,” and “Comments and Dialogues.”The biographical section contains previously published materials, as well as new interviews and memoirs.