Sociology Commons^™

Rape Myth Acceptance And Rape Attitudes In Campus Hook-Up Culture, Karolina Staros

Masters Theses

This study examines the norms of hooking-up and compares these norms to rape culture in order to measure rape myth acceptance or supportive attitudes towards rape as they manifest in hook-up culture on campus. By consulting what is already published in scholarship about rape culture and rape myths, this study builds on the very limited literature on hook-up culture.

This study uses mixed methods to inquire about norms of hook-up culture and measures the rape myth acceptance and rape attitudes by gender of respondents in a Midwest campus environment. By addressing the issues that students face with gender inequality and …

Income Inequality And Social Stratification: The Effect Of Market Versus State In Transitional Urban China, Qiong Wu

Masters Theses

The rise of inequality in China is one of the most serious social problems in the reform era in China. Previous studies have debated the relative importance of human capital, political capital, and other factors in determining personal income. By using a new dataset from 2006 China General Social Survey (CGSS2006), I replicate earlier tests to measure whether the market or state has more impact on incomes as a way to the competing hypotheses related to human versus political capital.

The results of the ordinary least squares regression analysis show no significance in party membership, state ownership, and work experience, …

Hoodie Today, Gown Tomorrow: An Ideological Rhetorical Analysis Of Gender-Neutral Clothing, Meridith Irene Styer

Masters Theses

The fields of psychology and sociology have long understood the importance of clothing in self-formation, this study extrapolates this social-science understanding into the realm of rhetorical analysis. This study looks at gender-neutral clothing and its role in meaning making and self identification for women. With a rhetorical basis from Richards and Ogden, this research uses the feminist works of Brummett and Butler to uncover both the positive and negatives effects of gender-neutral clothing on a woman's self-identification and perceptions. Through the presentation of a diffuse narrative and evaluation of the same, gender-neutral clothing is read and decoded for meaning. This …

I'M Ok, You're Not: Assessing Variable Influence On Perceptions Of The Mentally Ill Among College Students, Phillip Wagner

Masters Theses

Due to the alarming level of stigma associated with individuals with a mental illness, this present study seeks to understand the variables that influence perceptions of the mentally ill. The research questions for this study are as follows: RQ1: What are the latitudes of acceptance, rejection and non-commitment that college students identify in their perceptions of the mental health community?, RQ2: Does gender influence college student perceptions of the mentally ill?, and RQ3: Does the level of religious involvement that college students identify correlate to their perceptions of the mentally ill? The 257 participants completed an online survey that assessed …

Social Media Networking Strategies For The Yale New Haven Center For Emergency Preparedness And Disaster Response (Ynh-Cepdr)/ Yale New Haven Health System Center For Healthcare Solutions (Ynhhs-Chs), Amanda Smith

Masters Theses

This paper investigates the uses and gratification of social media for both personal and organizational usage among employees at the Yale New Haven Center for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response/Center for Healthcare Solutions in New Haven, Connecticut. The purpose of this thesis is to assess and evaluate the relationship between YNH-CEPDR/CHS' usage of social media tools and the organization's employees' personal attitudes, beliefs and usage of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Employees of CEPDR/CHS were surveyed regarding the function of social media for emergency management communication and the promotion of products and services. Results suggest that while employees generally agree …

You Sir Are A Fine Young Gentleman. Thank You, My Lady: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Eighteenth Century Conversations Regarding Gentility And Gender, Kati Overbey

Masters Theses

This study rhetorically analyzed the eighteenth century work of Richard Steele and Joseph Addison's The Spectator and Eliza Haywood's The Female Spectator using Kathleen Turner's framework for rhetorical history as social criticism integrating text and context. Ten essays from The Spectator as well as ten essays from The Female Spectator were selected based on content and subject matter regarding manners and gentility. When Turner's framework for analysis was applied to the essays, defining characteristics of gentility were revealed. A presentation of the results of the textual and contextual analysis of these twenty selected essays is provided. An analysis of the …

A Cross-National, Longitudinal Test Of Institutional Anomie Theory, Marc Alan Kittleson

Masters Theses

Institutional anomie theory, developed by Messner and Rosenfeld (1994), explains variations in crime rates across geographic areas and time as resulting from the interrelationship between social institutions and culture. Their theory predicts that when the institution of the economy dominates all other social institutions, and when norms and values focus heavily on monetary success, crime rates will be higher than when there is less dominance of the economy. Institutional anomie theory has been tested using a number of different methods and data from county-level to international-level aggregates. This study addresses the research question of whether variations in crime victimization can …

Transition In Conceptualizing The Transgender Experience: A Measure Of Counselor Attitudes, Rachel N. Rehbein

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine counseling practitioner attitudes regarding the diagnosis, conceptualization and treatment of trans gender clients, and to observe possible factors affecting counselor views of trans gender individuals and their presenting issues. The Counselor Attitude Survey (CAS) was designed to measure coonselor attitudes toward trans gender individuals. This measure was distributed to 1000 members of the American Counseling Association throughout the United States and United States territories, resulting in 66 total respondents. Support was found regarding the association between counselor attitudes toward the transgender population and religious and political affiliations. Much of the literature states …

Breaking Protocol: The Failure Of The Bush Administration To Ratify The Kyoto Protocol As A State Crime, Jacquelynn A. Doyon

Masters Theses

Using the Kyoto Protocol as a centrifugal focus point, this research conceptualizes the failure of the United States to act on global warming as a state crime. The decision of the United States not to ratify the protocol was largely based on economic justifications. However, the actions taken following the Kyoto Protocol indicate that the US government was instead dedicated more to their own economical interests, rather than those of the state was a whole. Through the exploration of possible economic and political motivations, the research identifies ulterior motives of the Bush administration that have proved to be detrimental to …

Supporting Divorcing Parents In Japan, Akemi Kishimoto

Masters Theses

The purpose of this current study was to investigate the level of acceptance among professionals in Japan for initiatives and services for families experiencing divorce. Questionnaires were mailed to 1963 professionals. Seventy questionnaires were returned from Family Court Officers (n = 3), Counselors at the Family Problem Information Centers (n = 8), family law attorneys (n = 2), university faculty (n = 53), and unspecified (n = 4). Results are summarized as follows: laws and rules about divorce in Japanese society, including historical aspects; focusing on children's interests; visitation and postdivorce relationships; educating the public, parents, and high school students; …

Where Was The Government? In Inquiry Into The Events Of September 11, 2001, Elizabeth A. Bradshaw

Masters Theses

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 have forever changed the geopolitical landscape. Yet despite the significance of such an event, those working in the field of state crime have been reluctant to investigate the role of the United States government in failing to prevent the attacks. Utilizing the five criteria of state crime put forth by Kauzlarich, Mullins and Matthews (2003), the actions and inactions of the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the Federal Aviation Administration are examined. Drawing on the testimonies of government officials …

An Evaluation Of The Challenge Day Program, Deborah S. Higgins

Masters Theses

This research is an evaluation of the Challenge Day anti-bullying program conducted in four Kalamazoo County schools. An analysis was conducted of survey data collected as part of the Challenge Day intervention. T-test comparisons of means were prepared for pre-test and post-test survey responses. This was done for each school that participated in the program: Vicksburg Middle School, Vicksburg High School, Parchment Middle School, and Parchment High School. Changes were noted as either positive (an increase in positive behaviors, attitudes, perceptions or a decrease in negative behaviors, attitudes, perceptions) or negative (a decrease in positive behaviors, attitudes, perceptions or an …

Too Little, Too Late: The Current Generation Of College Women And Sexual Health Education, Nicole C. Schumaker

Masters Theses

This research was conceived when I acknowledged the ways in which women of my generation have been educated about their bodies and about their sexuality. In a review of the literature on adolescent female sexuality, there is substantial evidence to suggest that in regards to early female sex education, adolescent sexuality is linked with danger, victimization, and passivity. Accordingly, it is asserted that these understandings of female sexuality disallow young girls to see themselves as initiators and decision-makers thus compromising their development of sexual subjectivity and responsibility in adulthood.

Data for this project were collected through ten semi-structured interviews with …

From Sandbox To Altar: What I Didn’T Know, Thought I Knew, And Discovered About Learning And Relationships, Cherilyn L. Gardner

Masters Theses

In this theoretically-based thesis, I metacognitively explore the transactional relationship between critical inquiry and literacy development. Throughout the writing, I reveal my own learning in studying these concepts. Embedded in the discussion of research, readers will engage with my personal reflections, confessions, and applications of what I learned (and am still learning).

Through countless dialogues (academic and otherwise) and my study of literature and self, I found that literacy is much more than what it has been carved out to be by programs promising to raise standardized test scores. Additionally, by breaking the mold, I found that critical inquiry provides …

An Eco-Philosophical Ecofeminist Critique Of Victimology: Examining The Anthropocentric And Speciesist Borders And Boundaries Of Victimology, Angela K. Simon

Masters Theses

This work is a critique of the anthropocentric and speciesist borders and boundaries of victimology. Essentially I challenge victimology for failing to incorporate the victimizations of non-human animals and the environment, and instead focusing narrowly on only specific forms of human victimization. I do this by examining the history of victimology and exploring how its boundaries became what they are today. Focusing on the role criminology has had in the general development of victimology. I then go on to juxtapose the limited presence of animals and the environment within criminology with their relative absence in victimology. In conjunction with this …

Cheating Death: The Demedicalization Of Cpr, Michelle Nicole Erwin

Masters Theses

My research explores cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as a case study of demedicalization. I will use an instrumental case study method to examine the history and setting of CPR. In order to gain a stronger understanding of CPR in particular, I will look in depth at the actors and organizations involved in the development, medicalization, and demedicalization of CPR. The purpose of this study is to better grasp how demedicalization occurs in a more general context by looking through the lens of CPR. I will adapt a framework that is used for examining medicalization authored by Peter Conrad (1980), to allow …

The Protective Order Process As A Victim Empowering Response To Domestic Violence: An Investigation In A Rural Iowa Setting, Traci L. Ketter

Masters Theses

This research began its evolution as i began with an interest in societal responses to domestic violence. I was curious about protective orders, as they seem to be relied upon heavily by our legal system. As one of the primary responses to domestic violence, I wanted to know whether this type of response was meeting the needs of petitioners. As I read the literature and formed research questions, it became clear that in order to answer the questions I had, I would need to go to the victims themselves. They would be the best source of information on the role …

Examining The Structural Covariates Of Methamphetamine Use: A Social Disorganization Perspective, Justin Smith

Masters Theses

There have been many anecdotal accounts describing the characteristics of individuals involved in methamphetamine use, trafficking and production. However, prior to the current study there was yet to be a macro-level analysis of methamphetamine use. The extant macro-level literature on drug use has suggested that areas with high levels of social disorganization experience high rates of drug use. It was expected that school-districts with low SES and high rates of ethnic heterogeneity, residential instability and family disruption will experience high rates of methamphetamine use. In addition, it was expected that rural school districts would show higher rates than urban and …

Dance Club Culture, Amy M. Iseler

Masters Theses

My research examines the dance club culture in a mid-sized Northwestern city. I explore this subject through participant observation and interviews with dance club patrons. The issues I address in my research include dance club music, music videos, alcohol, clothing, sexual behavior, non-verbal communication and the dance club environment. The purpose of this Masters Thesis is to determine whether dance club culture perpetuates sexist attitudes and beliefs within its patrons.

This original piece of research is based in existing literature which informs the individual elements of the dance club culture. The experiences of dance club patrons demonstrate how these elements …

Sexist Humor And Willingness To Discrimination Against Women, Christie M. Fitzgerald

Masters Theses

Research has shown that exposure to sexist humor increases tolerance of sexist events, particularly for people high in hostile sexism-antagonism toward women (Glick & Fiske, 1996). The present experiment extends those findings by examining the effects of exposure to sexist humor on anticipated behavior. Two studies were designed to examine the behavioral consequences of exposure to sexist humor. In Study 1, participants were exposed to either sexist jokes, sexist statements, or neutral jokes, and then asked to donate money to either a women's organization or a men's organization. In Study 2, participants were exposed to either sexist jokes or …

The Journey Of A Social Movement: A Glimpse Into Hizb 'Allah And Its Integration Into The Lebanese Landscape, Lisa L. Peters

Masters Theses

Historically, research in Social Movement Theories has been limited to only certain aspects of a social movement, whether it was the impetus of the movement, explaining the reasons for its mobilization, how they recruit members and money, how social movements are able to function as an organization, or why groups suffer demise after flourishing for a period of time. This research attempts to build a framework of a particular social movement, Hizb'allah, a Shi'a Islamic movement based in Lebanon. This framework is built by extracting various elements from several social movement theories to explain and illustrate this movement's life course …

“See Your Healthcare Provider For A Prescription Today!” The Influence Of Direct-To-Consumer Drug Advertising On Nurse Practitioners And Their Patients, Kelly A. Getman-Dissette

Masters Theses

In 1997, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration relaxed the guidelines regarding the advertising of prescription drugs directly to consumers (i.e., direct-to-consumer advertising, DTCA). The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of DTCA on the relationships of healthcare providers with their patients. In order to accomplish this task, in-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with ten nurse practitioners (NPs). The interviews sought out provider perceptions on four topics as they relate to DTCA: diagnosis and treatment decisions, prescribing practices, additional burden on the provider, and patient trust in the provider. The findings reveal that DTCA has had both …

Third Wave Feminist Identity, Sarah Brightman

Masters Theses

The research I am proposing is to gain a better understanding of current, individual feminist identity and the impact of that identity, more broadly, on current feminism. There is controversy in the current literature about the existence of a third wave of feminism and I believe this research will contribute to this discussion by exploring various individual experiences with feminism and how feminist identity fits into individuals lives. Gaining an understanding of young feminist identity and the individual meaning of feminism might help define the characteristics of this whole new generation of feminists in their own terms. Much progress and …

The Portrayal Of African American Women In Hip-Hop Videos, Ladel Lewis

Masters Theses

This study analyzed 52 of the most popular hip-hop videos aired on Black Entertainment Television in the summer of 2004. Using a qualitative content analysis instrument used in a previous study, three prominent characteristics in these videos were identified: (1) the level of sexism, (2) the presence of intimate touch and/or the presence of alluring attire. From those characteristics, it was discerned that there were more videos that possessed high levels of sexism than those that had very little or non . It was also found that the majority of the videos depicted women wearing alluring attire and having intimate …

An Assessment Of An Education Package Intervention Targeting The Appropriate Reporting Of Suspected Child Abuse, Clinton K. Wirtz

Masters Theses

The proper reporting of suspected child abuse and neglect continues to be a concern despite laws requiring professionals working with children to report any suspicion of child abuse or neglect to Children's Protective Services (CPS). This study assesses the efficacy of an education intervention versus the Michigan Child Protection Law (CPL) using 29 undergraduate child psychology students. Videotaped scenarios of simulated child interviews were used in a pretest/posttest between-groups design. Child physical abuse was the focus of the study. The results of the student participants' decisions regarding the videotaped scenarios were compared to the results of 10 CPS employees having …

An Examination Of Claims Concerning College Student Credit Card Issues, Michael J. Macaluso

Masters Theses

This research project empirically examines claims and counterclaims regarding the matter of college students credit cards issues from a social constructionist perspective through a contextual qualitative examination of public data. First, I first focus on social and historical factors that have brought about claims and counterclaims concerning college student credit card issues. Next, I examine the structure of these public issues through the claims and counterclaims from a purposeful sample made from three specific "owners" or claims-makers of college student credit card issues, including the credit card industry, consumer interest groups, and sociologists. The specific claims examined in this research …

Examination Of Sexual Offenders' Behaviors And Self-Perceptions, Denise Wright

Masters Theses

Child sexual abuse is a global concern. More specifically, the growing concern has prompted researchers to study the effects of abuse, with varied interest in both victims and perpetrators. For child sexual abuse to be addressed there needs to be an increased focus on sex offenders. Study of sex offenders' perceptions of their behavior and childhood experiences may yield further understanding of the reasons and motives behind the abuse. The purpose of the study is to examine sex offender's behaviors and self-perceptions related to sexual activity.

The present study consists of 46 registered male sex offenders located at three different …

The Lesbian Connection: The Negotiation Of Individualism In A Unique Community, Emily E. Lenning

Masters Theses

This research explores the issue of how individualism is situated within and expressed through a progressive, alternative, and constitutive community. The Lesbian Connection, a lesbian owned and operated publication, will be considered as it relates to the individual-focused dialogue that recent radical theorists claim to be of great importance to the formation of "ideal" communities. Content analysis will be used to investigate how lesbians choose to shape their own community identity while maintaining a sense of personal individualism. Additional attention will be afforded to how lesbians use interaction through text to shape community norms and identify common goals.

An Evaluation Of City Hall Departmental Complaints In Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1993 And 1994, Monique R. Moore

Masters Theses

My research will evaluate the citizen complaints made to various departments in the Kalamazoo, Michigan's City Hall for the years of 1993 and 1994. The complaints were compiled on a monthly basis by the Citizen Action Center for the various departments. The number and types of complaints received and significant differences in the frequency and content of complaints or patterns of change from one year to the other were analyzed.

There was a consistent pattern in the content or types of complaints concerning the Public Works department from 1993 to 1994, but no consistent pattern for any of the other …

A Drug Free America? A Web Page Discourse Analysis, Darrin Kowitz

Masters Theses

Using the methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this research will seek to identify the ways in which social power is exercised through the creation and manipulation of linguistic categories within the text of the web page for the Partnership for a Drug Free America (PDFA). A preliminary examination of the web page identified three general mechanisms of power at work for the PDFA, the use of authority, fear inducement, and identity manipulation. The use of these mechanisms will be analyzed to explain ideological hegemony as the adoption of cognitive categories by individuals from social-structural, or institutional, sources.