Sociology Commons^™

Childhood Experiences And Domestic Violence: The Role That Interpartner Violence Plays In Relationship Functioning And Parenting Behaviors In Adulthood., J'Nelle Stephenson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is estimated that approximately 25% of women and 7.6% of men report experiencing violence from their romantic partner during their lifetime. Additionally, in households where interpartner violence occurs, there are between 3.3 and 10 million children in the United States alone. It is important to understand the cycle of domestic violence that can occur, as it can inform us about expected outcomes across time. This study examined mothers' childhood exposure to their own parents' domestic violence. It was hypothesized that childhood exposure to domestic violence would be related to unhealthy intimate relationships and to the development of maladaptive parenting …

My Plate, Your Food: Foodways Of International Students In Us' Colleges And Universities, Boniface Noyongoyo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research shows that the world is now more globalized than ever. In the education sector, students' movements have increased from the global South to the North as they look for a better tomorrow. Hence, international students in the US are from almost all countries around the world. The current study examines the changes in the foodways of international students since their arrival in the US The analysis is based on more than 260 surveys and 17 interviews of international students enrolled in US colleges and universities. The results from online self-administered surveys showed that international students' eating habit changes are …

Risk Factors Associated With The Arrest For Adolescent To Parent Abuse, Coleen Cicale

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored risk factors associated with the arrest for adolescent to parent abuse (ATPA) when compared to arrest for a similar violent misdemeanor against a non-parent. The phenomenon of ATPA is widely under-researched and there is little in terms of prevention policy or treatment. Using 18,548 risk assessment screens performed with adolescents (12-17) arrested in Florida for a violent misdemeanor, and guided by previous literature and social ecological and social bond theories, this analysis explored the relationship between risk factors (categorized as individual characteristics, beliefs, behavior, commitment and involvement and attachment) and arrest for ATPA versus arrest for a …

Invisible Labor: A Mixed-Method Study Of African American Women And Their Emotional Labor In The Academy, Danielle Buckingham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I examined how black women instructors and professors engage in emotional labor through performances in order to resist controlling images and stereotypes related to their race and gender. The goal was to add to the extensive literature on emotional labor and its impact on how women and people of color navigate white hegemonic institutions (Patton 2004; Harley 2007; Evans and Moore 2015). My hope is to contribute the perspectives and counter-narratives of African American women who are on the margins of race and gender. This can provide a more intersectional explanation for some of the social issues …

Cumulative Disadvantage, Poverty, And The Role Of Community Capitals: A Spatial Analysis Of Uneven Development In The Multi-State Delta Region, Katrina Danielle Alford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding space and how space impacts uneven development is crucial when examining inequalities within sociology. Uneven development perpetuates the segregation of space, highlighting disparities in power and inequalities that are rooted in spatial design and relations. Characteristics like geographic location and history have long-term influences on development, yet are not able to be easily changed within a community. Historical events have helped shape the successes and failures of communities, creating a "path dependence" that goes beyond any one individual's control. There are, however, locally-modifiable characteristics of people in spaces, such as human and social capital. These community capitals can be …

Demanding Reduction: An Exploration Of County-Level Characteristics Associated With Areas Of Human Trafficking In Florida, Madelyn Diaz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research on the prevalence of human trafficking (HT) is relatively scarce, even though more attention has been brought to this human rights issue in the past couple of decades. Widely known as a form of modern day slavery, trafficking of persons for sexual exploitative reasons to earn a profit for the trafficker occurs in every major city across the country, despite common misconceptions that it only thrives in foreign countries. To expand on limited existing literature on human trafficking, this research study explores possible correlations among areas of high violent crime rates, drug arrests, the presence of demand reduction strategies, …

State Gun Control Laws, Jacob Lafleur

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The gun control debate has been placed at the forefront of American politics, as some of the most deadly mass shootings have happened in the last year. Much of the research on the effectiveness of gun control laws have shown inconsistent results. The purpose of the study is to compare states with stricter gun laws to states with more lax laws. This in turn will allow policy makers to identify effective strategies to implement in states that are lacking effective laws. The study examined state gun laws for all 50 states using the Gifford's Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. …

Don't Do The Crime If You Can't Do A Man's Time: Examining Sentencing Disparities Using Offender Demographics, Vanessa Rinker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Looking back, America has seen its fair share of differences among its population, so it should not come as a shock that sentencing disparities are a serious criminal justice issue in the United States. Each year, thousands of people are sent to Federal prisons where they receive sentences for crimes they have been convicted of committing. The United States Sentencing Commission publishes these results annually. No matter the number of persons entering the prison system on the federal level, the number of female offenders often remains about the same (8555 in 2000; 9451 in 2007; and 9302 in 2008). While …

No Way Out: The Impact Of Intimate Partner Violence On Homelessness And The Consequences Of Poor Health Outcomes, Kristina Bryant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

IPV victimization leads many women who suffer from unstable housing into homelessness. These victims are in danger of severe negative health outcomes that are already prevalent in the homeless community, as well as seen in victims of IPV. This study seeks to explore the impact that IPV victimization has on negative health outcomes in the homeless community, compared to the negative health outcomes that homeless women face who are not homeless because of IPV victimization. This study hypothesized that women who are homeless because of IPV victimization face more severe negative health outcomes. The data for the current research is …

I'M Not Your Waifu: Sexual Harassment And Assault In Cosplay, Anime & Comic Conventions, Alexandria Ellsworth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Women face sexual harassment and sexual assault far too often with one in every six women sexually assaulted during their life (Tjaden & Thoennes, 1998). In the anime and comic community, women face sexual assault and harassment, often in open public spaces, due to these spaces being labeled as men's (Cote, 2015; Fox & Potocki 2015; Rodriguez 2015; Schott & Horrell 2000). Policies such as Cosplay is not Consent (Facebook, 2018) are not upheld or enforced by anime and comic conventions. Policies that are enforced, have clear and concise wording, and are enforced by staff and volunteers, who have been …

The Intersection Of Race And Class In Maternity Leave: Who's Left Out?, Christine Ittai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Maternity leave is a critical work-family policy that affects over two-thirds of the working U.S. female population. Although it has been studied extensively, especially since the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, the majority of the research has focused on White, middle-class, married, and educated working mothers. There is a plethora of information about access to maternity leave, utilization of maternity leave, length of maternity leave, and compensation during leave. However, there are several limitations in the research. A majority of studies use outdated datasets; measure family leave as a proxy for maternity leave; study paid …

Exploring The Community Impact Of Community-University Partnerships, Stacey D. Muse

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The field and movement of community engagement in higher education is one way for institutions of higher education to fulfill the public good mission. Community engagement practices have shifted to valuing democratically engaged partnerships between the community and campus (Saltmarsh, Hartley, & Clayton, 2009). However, the research on community engagement reveals a lack of understanding of community voice and perspective on if and how community-campus partnerships make a difference for community-based organizations partnered with institutions of higher education. This embedded case study begins to fill these gaps in the literature by examining the voice and perspective of community-based organizations partnered …

A Risky Business : Examining The Prevalence And Correlates Of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptomology And Social Support In Kentucky's Adult Correctional Staff., Ashley Terrell French

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and correlates of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomology among correctional staff, using a sample of staff who work in an adult facility for the Kentucky Department of Corrections (KY DOC). Participants (N=775) were asked to complete a written survey to indicate not only demographic variables (age, race, education, and gender) but also the amount of violent and traumatic events experienced, the duration of employment within the KY DOC, whether they were assigned to a custodial/security role, and whether they worked in a maximum security facility. Furthermore, their perceived level …

Identities And Persistence Of Family Farm Operators, Parker T. Arnold

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the identities of family farm operators and the challenges to maintaining viable farm operations in today’s agricultural economy. Employing a grounded qualitative approach, the author conducted 18 in-depth interviews with principal farm operators from Iowa and Tennessee. Using the insights of farmers from geographically different agricultural regions, this study notes how preserving family histories, socialization processes, and farming as a moral career inform operators’ understandings of themselves and the work they do. The analysis also focuses on how family farm operators contend with a globalized agricultural economy and the moral and ethical concerns of managing a …

An Exploration Of Dementia Friendly Communities From The Perspective Of Persons Living With Dementia, Catherine Hebert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The growing global prevalence of dementia coupled with a shift in public perception from a hopeless disease to the possibility of living well with dementia has led to the formation of dementia friendly communities (DFC). DFCs are a new phenomenon in the United States, with a gap in knowledge on input from people living with dementia (PLWD). This study investigated DFCs from the perspective of PLWD in Western North Carolina, with the following research questions:

1. How are interactions and relationships experienced by persons living with dementia in the community?
2. How is community engagement experienced by PLWD?
3. To what extent and …

The Pulpit And The People: Mobilizing Evangelical Identity, Tim Moser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using ten sermons from five prominent and politically active evangelical megachurch pastors taken from the 2016 presidential campaign season, this case study utilizes frame analysis to understand the political relevance of modern evangelical sermonizing. An inductive frame analysis allows the concept of a collective action frame to be observed as a process and for patterns to emerge from the source text. Within these sermons, ministers offer self-identifying evangelicals a vocabulary with which to understand and describe their own identity. In this context, the Bible is a powerful cultural symbol that represents an allegiance to traditions that are framed as the …

Moving Mountains : A Study Examining Long-Term Impacts Of Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining On Mortality In The Appalachian Region Using Geographic Information Sciences Techniques., James Howard Kent Pugh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the last hundred years, the Appalachian region has been dominated by the coal industry. It has also been and currently is one of the unhealthiest regions in the United States. Recent scholarship has examined the relationship between coal mining and health and mortality rates in the Appalachian region. The first study incorporates air quality and pollution data to examine if coal mining counties have higher levels of pollution and if this pollution contributes to mortality disadvantage. In the second study, I construct a population-based coal-exposure measure to better evaluate the relationship between coal mining and health I find that …

Southern Veils : The Sisters Of Loretto In Early National Kentucky., Hannah O'Daniel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the experiences of Roman Catholic women who joined the Sisters of Loretto, a community of women religious in rural Washington and Nelson Counties, Kentucky, between the 1790s and 1826. It argues that the Sisters of Loretto used faith to interpret and respond to unfolding events in the early nation. The women sought to combat moral slippage and restore providential favor in the face of local Catholic institutional instability, global Protestant evangelical movements, war and economic crisis, and a tuberculosis outbreak. The Lorettines faced financial, social, and cultural pressures—including an economic depression, a culture that celebrated family formation …

The Knowledge Economy : Increasing Human Capital On The U.S. I-65 Corridor., Brandon S. Mcreynolds

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In economics, the term growth often refers to the increase in economic activity between two points in time. Within the context of the United States of America, the language of growth has permeated beyond just economics and into other societal institutions due to spillover. As a result, growth is not just an economic term but rather a part of the culture of capitalism which impacts every area of society. The dissertation using growth machine theory and the global cities literature examines how in the knowledge economy, cities play a growing role in mediating the supply and demand for …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Ethnic Identity Development, Cognitive Complexity, Differentiation Of Self, And Reports Of Racial And Ethnic Microaggressions, Deshae C. Gatti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although individuals may not engage in racism consciously due to social undesirability, they may have biases that manifest in more subtle and unconscious ways. Research has found that people of color experiencing different racial and ethnic microaggressions in their everyday lives are subject to pervasive and negative impacts on their mental health, though little is known about the influence of one’s ethnic identity formation, affective processes, and cognitive processes. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the degree to which ethnic identity development, cognitive complexity, and differentiation of self were associated reported experiences of microaggressions. The analysis indicated that …

American Muslim Men And Stigma : The Use Of Religious Communities As Mechanisms For Stigma Management., Jack R. Allen Iii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The experiences of American Muslim men deserve further study because they are relevant to current civil rights discussions, especially in a social-political climate that is growing increasingly hostile toward the Islamic world. Despite acknowledging the significant impact of gender, relatively little research has focused exclusively on masculine Muslim experiences of stigmatization. This research addresses the experiences of religiously practicing Muslim men and addresses the following questions: How do Muslim men experience stigma in their communities? What experience do these men have with religious institutions? And finally, how do these experiences with religious institutions inform how these individuals manage stigma? Using …

A Qualitative, Exploratory Case Study Of Self-Reported Influences Affecting The Decision Of Homeless Sexual-Minority Students To Leave Home, Michael P. Hill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to identify commonalities regarding influences within the decision-making process that attributed to sexual-minority students voluntarily or involuntarily becoming homeless in lieu of remaining in their respective familial home. An exploratory case-study research design was utilized to determine common themes present in the self-described events that led up to the respective decisions of three volunteer participants, who identified themselves as sexual-minority youths at the time of transition, to leave home. Results of this study discerned five commonalities among the participants’ experiences, which influenced their experiencing homelessness. The detection of these commonalities may provide school administrators and other …

A Cross-Sectional Exploration Of Household Financial Reactions And Homebuyer Awareness Of Registered Sex Offenders In A Rural, Suburban, And Urban County., John Charles Navarro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As stigmatized persons, registered sex offenders betoken instability in communities. Depressed home sale values are associated with the presence of registered sex offenders even though the public is largely unaware of the presence of registered sex offenders. Using a spatial multilevel approach, the current study examines the role registered sex offenders influence sale values of homes sold in 2015 for three U.S. counties (rural, suburban, and urban) located in Illinois and Kentucky within the social disorganization framework. Homebuyers were surveyed to examine whether awareness of local registered sex offenders and the homebuyer’s community type operate as moderators between home selling …

The Effects Of Employment On Recidivism Among Delinquent Juveniles, Leigh Kassem

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Current research indicates an association between intense adolescent work (twenty hours or more per week) and delinquent behavior. It has been widely speculated that this relationship is spurious, occurring only as a result of other factors which are common to both offending and intense employment. The current study attempts to fill a gap in the literature by utilizing the Pathways to Desistance dataset to examine the evolution of the relationship between work and self-reported offending in a longitudinal sample of juvenile offenders. Work intensity and consistency, social capital, and expectations for success were analyzed as potential predictors of recidivism or …

Acculturation And Ethnic-Identification Of American Chinese Restaurant, Ting Shi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Immigration reform in 1965 enabled a large number of Chinese immigrants to settle in the United States. Chinese restaurants expanded quickly both quantitatively and geographically. This thesis researches the interactions between Chinese restaurant employers and employees and their customers. I focus on several Chinese restaurants in a mid-size Southeast U.S. city with a university and I analyze their methods for attracting culturally distinct groups of customers—local Americans and Chinese students or immigrants. I conducted participant observation in two Chinese restaurants and in-person interviews with 14 people from four restaurants whose roles are owners, managers, or servers. I found that Chinese …

On Growing Up Finnish In The Midwest: A Family Oral History Project, Ingrid Ruth Nixon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores what oral history interviews with my mother reveal about the familial and community dynamics that influenced Finnish-American children growing up on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula between 1930 and 1950. Close to four hours of oral history interviews were conducted with Viola Nixon, who is second and third-generation Finnish-American on her father’s and mother’s sides, respectively. After conducting a narrative analysis of the interviews, five themes emerged as significant to community function: family, language, education, work and church. I grouped some of these themes together to create three stories informed by materials drawn from the interviews, a cookbook, and …

The Old Deery Inn & Museum: An Ethnographic Case Study, Rebecca J. Proffitt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses qualitative ethnographic research methods to present a case study that explores the multiplicity of meanings and representations that are attached to the Old Deery Inn & Museum in Blountville, Tennessee. Within the community, the Inn functions as a center for cultural memory, with the physical structure itself acting as an artifact that holds community identity. This community narrative contrasts with the official narrative used by tourism entities that markets the Inn as a part of the Appalachian region, situating the Inn within a complex and intricately constructed identity of place that is shaped by lived experiences as …

Exploring The Social Trend Of Household Computer Ownership In Affecting The United States 1990'S Crime Drop, Alison Kimberley Bogar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During the 1990’s the world witnessed a crime drop throughout all categories of crime. Many researchers have sought to seek an explanation for this drop; however, there has been a lack of concrete findings to fully explain this phenomenon. The purpose of this study is to explore a further reasoning as to why this drop occurred, specifically throughout the United States. An unexplored factor to explain this phenomenon is the increase of household computer ownership during the 1990’s. During this decade, household computers and the internet became prevalent throughout the nation. This study utilized secondary data from the Uniform Crime …

Environmental Factors And School Disorder: The Role Of Urbanicty, Brandon S. Coffey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore the differential impact of various environmental and organizational factors on levels of school misconduct. Although we have a general understanding of this relationship, little effort has been made to determine whether the effects are influenced by urbanicity. The current study utilizes data from the 2007-2008 School Survey on Crime and Safety to address this gap in the literature by utilizing a series of negative binomial regression models that seek to determine differences between predictive factors in urban and rural settings. Results indicate that disorganization has a similar effect within urban and rural …

This Is A Black-White Conversation : Navigating Race, Class, And Gender At An Urban School., Jelisa S. Clark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examines how racial ideologies operate and shape experiences in an urban school. Using ethnographic methods, consisting of observations, formal and informal interviews, document analysis, I pose the following questions: (1) To what extent is OS premised on the Black male crisis discourse; (2) How do the students, faculty, and staff navigate the boundaries of race, class, and gender; and (3) How do racial ideologies (i.e., colorblind racism and Black male crisis discourse) influence the experiences of faculty and students? Findings suggest that colorblind ideology operates on various facets and on multiple levels in the school. By focusing on …