Sociology Commons^™

Education, Job Complexity And Income In Segmented Labor Markets, Stephen F. Brusko

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Sociological Analysis Of The New Christian Right, Wesley E. Miller

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of Sexual And Non-Sexual Assault Prosecution, Susan Caringella-Macdonald

Dissertations

In 1974 the state of Michigan enacted what has come to be referred to as model rape legislation. A salient objective of the Criminal Sexual Conduct (CSC) Code in this state was to facilitate the comparable rather than unique handling of sexual assaults in the criminal justice system. The primary purpose of this study was to discern whether or not this objective of equitable case treatment was realized through implementation. The focus of this research was therefore directed towards the discovery of differences in sexual and non-sexual assault case prosecutions. Specific aspects of legal change involving corroboration requirements, consent and …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Denominational Affiliation And Religious Orientation And Death Perspectives Of The Clergy, Donald Philip Gillespie

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of religious belief and religious orientation to death perspectives. The population was the clergy of three denominations: Conservative Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Southern Baptist. Virtually no research has been completed which explores these issues among this occupational group.

Research on religious orientation and death perspectives has been fraught with methodological difficulties. The major problem has been the unidimensional conceptualization of the variables. Multidimensional scales were used in this study to avoid that problem. These scales (refined by Spilka) were subjected to factor analyses which resulted in the formulation of new …

The Changing American Catholic University, Donald R. Lamagdeleine

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Androgynous Coping Behaviors: A Test Of Bem's Sex-Role Theory, Roy Lucas Lukman

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this research was to elucidate the ministry of lay elders as it is suggested in the New Testament and to construct a model for the ministry of local church elders in the Inca Union Mission.

Method. This study was documentary and theological. The primary source was the New Testament, specifically the gospels, the book of Acts, and the epistles. Secondary literature was employed to support the biblical findings of the elders' tasks.

Conclusions. In harmony with the teaching of the Scriptures regarding early church organization and leadership, elders are selected by the local church and ordained …

The Self Perceptions Of School Principals Compared To Their Actual Performance On Certain Affective Traits, Michael L. Holtgren

Dissertations

Problem. The role of the school principal is paramount in the operation of a school system, and affective behavior is an essential part of that role. It was the purpose of the study to determine if a discrepancy exists between the self-perceptions of principals as affective educators and their actual performance.

Method. Thirty-two school principals, their superintendents, and a sampling of their teachers were studied. The self-perceptions of the principals were identified concerning eight affective traits and eight school-climate factors. The superintendent and teachers evaluated their principal's performance on these traits and factors.

The Charles F. Kettering Foundation "School Climate …

Middle-Class Delinquency: A Study Of White Suburban Boys, Kenneth B. Ehrensaft

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Design, Field Test, And Description Of A Model For Collaborative Long-Range Community Planning, Ozzie D. Parks

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to design and field test a model for collaborative long-range community planning. A model was designed on the basis of research found in the literature, tested in a community setting, and evaluated regarding its effectiveness.

The problem delineated for the study was the lack of collaborative long-range planning in our society, particularly at the community level. A review of the literature in this field indicated that although long-range planning is considered to be important, it is seldom practiced successfully. The study's response to the problem was to design and field test a model which …

Factors In The Control Of Corporations: Structural And Bureaucratic Impediments, Doris Jean Cubbernuss

Dissertations

The extent to which corporate power, in and of itself, is considered a problem in U.S. society is a function of the perceived role of the corporation in social, political, and economic structures. Recognition of the inordinate powers of large corporations in the social and political, as well as economic, institutions of the society serves as an impetus for the analysis of the structures and processes designed to control corporate activities. The structural and bureaucratic impediments to these control mechanisms are illustrated in the Ford Pinto case. The activities of the Ford Motor Company, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, …

Occupational-Educational Maturity: A Measure Of Career Awareness, Ralph George O'Sullivan

Dissertations

This study was an attempt to develop the research concept of occupational-educational maturity, and then test it within a population of ninth-grade, public school students from Grand Rapids, Michigan. This research concept was a composite variable which consisted of the alignment, or goodness of fit, between students' occupational aspirations and their educational expectations. The focus of the study was to determine whether or not students' expected levels of educational attainment or vocational training were appropriate prerequisites for entry into the students' desired occupations. No previous studies have directly addressed this idea, nor have they attempted to measure students' occupational-educational maturity …

The Black Seventh-Day Adventist Family In South Africa : A Needs Assessment And Implications For Family Life Education, Velile S. Wakaba

Dissertations

Problem. Problems have been identified in the African family that is caught up in a cross-cultural situation between the traditional African culture and the Western culture. This study set out to collect and organize information about the changing patterns of African family life and the new structures which have emerged. The magnitude of the problem and the size of the population involved call for a serious attempt to understand the situation and to suggest probable solutions.

Method. Six churches were chosen as a sample, three from the Trans-Orange Conference and the other three from the Cape Field. Adult and youth …

The Empirical Development Of A Preparation For Marriage Curriculum For Twelfth-Grade Students, Kevin John Howse

Dissertations

Problem. The purpose of this project was to develop an instructional product that would enrich the student's knowledge about dating and marriage, and teach specific relational skills.

Method. A systematic procedure was undertaken in the development and validation of the product. First, the content of a pre-marriage course was identified through an examination of a large sample of family-life texts, a survey of teacher criticisms and recommendations pertaining to the text Marriage (Christensen, 1980), and an analysis of a group of 317 youth using the Search Institute instrument, Youth Research Survey (Strommen, 1977; see appendix E). Second, the proposed content …

Perceived Family Emotional Relationships, Person Orientations, And Expected-Job-Satisfaction Among Teachers In Training In Mexico : A Test Of Anne Roe's Theory Of Vocational Interest And Choice With The General Culture Group, Saul Torres

Dissertations

Problem. Anne Roe claims that occupational interests and person orientation develop to a significant extent from the complex interaction of family emotional relationships in the formative years. She describes three basic family patters (Accepting, Concentrating, and Avoiding) of needs satisfaction as antecedents to the two types of person oriention within eight occupational group classifications. Research has mostly failed to support her global occupational predictions. This study explored the specific predictions for a General Culture Group.

Method. A sample of 298 subjects was used from the population of 311 teachers in training at the University of Montemorelos, N. L., Mexico. …

Yinger's Substructure Of Religion: A Chinese Replication, Peter Chao

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Marx' [Sic] Theory Of Social Classes In View Of The Polish Workers' Movement After World War Ii, Wladyslaw Majkowski

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Fertility Patterns In Kerala, India: An Assessment Of The Role Of Modernization And Family Planning In Determining Fertility Norms And Behavior, Marilyn Fernandez

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Demographic And Institutional Change On The Image And Reputation Of An Urban Community, Gail Danks Welter

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Structural And Organizational Forces In The Etiology Of Corporate Crime, Beti Thompson

Dissertations

In an effort to gain understanding of the etiology of corporate crime, a theoretical framework for examining the problem has been developed. This framework includes structural features such as a capitalistic organization of society, the importance of political economy, the importance of market structure, and the importance of corporate influence over the legal environment, in understanding corporate crime. Corporations within this society are affected by the structural features of society. Organizations are organized according to capitalistic principles and effectively force their employees into certain kinds of actions and activities. It was theorized that such organizational factors might have an influence …

Self Care As An Innovation In Health Care Delivery: The Health Systems Agency As Medium And Barrier, Yvonne Marie Vissing

Dissertations

This is an inquiry into the attitudes of Health Systems Agency Boards of Directors toward the use of self care as part of the health and delivery system. Self care is viewed as a current social movement in health care. Contributions and limitations of both classical social movement theory and resource mobilization theory were examined for their utility in understanding and making predictions about the self care movement. Self care attitudes of the boards of directors from all eight Michigan Health Systems Agencies (HSAs) were analyzed through the Self Care Attitude Index (SCAI). Data were gathered via self-administered, mail questionnaires. …

College Students' Attitudes Toward Affirmative Action Policies For Non-Whites And Women, Susan Ann C. Tong

Dissertations

This research was designed to assess college students' attitudes toward affirmative action policies for non-whites and women. As suggested by a review of the literature, five hypotheses were posited as possible factors related to attitudes toward antidiscrimination public policies. In addition, seven demographic variables were examined as control variables.

This study indicated that the majority of respondents were most in favor of equal opportunity and least in favor of discrimination-in-reverse. However, there were significant differences toward affirmative action based on the race and sex of the respondents. Non-whites overwhelmingly supported discrimination-in-reverse and did not favor equal opportunity. The converse was …

Ascribed Status And Suspension: The Mitigative Effects Of Family Normative Climate, Kathryn Mary Johnson

Dissertations

Assessed in this study were the effects of perceived normative climate within the home on school suspension, under varying conditions of ethnicity and social class. The guiding objective of this investigation was to determine whether certain perceived family academic normative climates can reduce or eliminate the commonly found association of socio-economic status or minority-nonminority status with suspension from school.

The contention herein is that the literature on family climate in general has application for the study of suspension. In order to do this, however, a conceptual typology of various types of normative climate, drawn from a symbolic interactionist perspective, is …

A Study Of The Self-Esteem Of Delinquent Male Adolescents And The Perceived Degree Of Their Parents' Child-Rearing Practices, Dayton Chin Chong

Dissertations

Problem. Many developmental psychologists are concerned about how par­ents' child-rearing practices influence adolescents' self-esteem, for self-esteem provides one of the foundations for the development of personality. Is it possible that parents' child-rearing practices contribute to the development of a low self-esteem which in turn influences behavior? This study was conducted to determine the relationship of self-esteem of delinquent male adolescents to the perceived degree of their parents' child-rearing practices.

Method. The study involved 132 delinquent male adolescents who matriculated during the fall semester of 1979 at Starr Commonwealth, Albion, Michigan. The males ranged from 12 to 18 years of age, …

Selected Personality Constructs As Correlates Of Personnel Appointment, Appraisal, And Mobility In Seventh-Day Adventist Schools, Merle A. Greenway

Dissertations

Problem. Despite tentative postulations and explorations of the person/job interaction, the specific relationships between personality and occupational behavior are not clearly understood. In particular, the relationships between human temperament and various aspects of personnel administration in an educational setting are generally unknown. The purpose of this study was to profile the temperament traits of professional educators in the Seventh-day Adventist school system, grouped on the basis of occupationally relevant selection variables; and to investigate the role of personality as it relates to personnel appointment, appraisal, and mobility.

Method. A demographic questionnaire and the Temperament Inventory were administered to 486 teachers, …

The Life Course Patterns Of Chicago Area Women: A Cohort Analysis Of The Sequencing And Timing Of Related Roles Through The Middle Years, Cheryl Allyn Miller

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Test Of A Sociological Causal Model Of Alcohol And Deviant Drinking Patterns, Ruby E. Ivens

Dissertations

There is no widely accepted comprehensive sociological theory of the etiology of alcohol use or misuse. More generally, there are frames of reference in which are found statements about the nature of the relationship between societies or groups of people and specific drinking behaviors. This study will present a theoretical model which is derived from available descriptive literature and empirical research.

The review of pertinent literature reveals two general social factors that seem to be associated with drinking patterns. First, members of a society are socialized from an early age to drinking norms and behavior. In a simple society socialization …

Creating Deviance: The Collective Stigmatization Of Cigarette Smoking, Ronald Jay Troyer

Dissertations

This study focused on the changing norms regarding cigarette smoking. Banned by a number of states in the early 1930s, the behavior was socially and legally accepted during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s only to once again become the object of public approbation and official sanctions in the 1970s. Examining events in both time periods, this research attempted to determine how and why this behavior came to be defined as deviant.

In explaining the negative public attitudes toward and official restrictions of the habit some commentators had cited the medical evidence that smoking has deleterious health consequences while others had …

Status Inconsistency And Attitudes Toward Collective Bargaining At Western Michigan University, Thomas R. Radecki

Dissertations

Status inconsistency has been extensively investigated as an explanatory variable since the pioneering research of Lenski (1954). A wide range of substantive outcomes have been examined as dependent variables. The findings have been disparate. While a number of studies have found support for the concept, a substantial body of negative results have been reported.

Recently, a controversy has developed in the literature. On one side of the controversy are those who feel the concept has little value as an explanatory variable--adding nothing beyond status alone. Supporters of the concept see it as an important explanatory variable and a determinant of …

Accountability And University Teaching: Toward The Systematic Mediation Of Professional Power, Paul Alan Dorsey

Dissertations

Between 1965 and 1980 American higher education has witnessed the emergence of several related developments which challenge traditional conceptions of the autonomy of higher education: affirmative action, the managerial revolution in higher education, the student consumer movement, the strengthening of statewide coordination of higher education, the accelerated movement to collective bargaining, and the increasing involvement of the courts in college and university affairs. This study identifies and articulates the nature and significance of emergent qualitative dimensions of structural change, for which these developments are structural indicators, and argues that they constitute a new, emergent form of occupational control over university …

The Affects Of Parent Death, Long Term Illness And Divorce On Children Running Away From Home, Robert J. Ackerman

Dissertations

There is considerable variation in the estimation of youth, ages 12-17, who run away from home in America. This study using national self-report data estimates the proportion of youth who run away between the ages of 12-17 and the extent to which the loss of a parent contributes to running away by youth. Different types of parent role loss are examined as well as the effects of which parent is absent on running away.

Information on running away is assessed in a National Center for Health Statistics survey of approximately 6,768 youth ages 12-17. The proportion of youth who reported …