Sociology Commons^™

The Gendering Of Vulnerability And Protection Needs: Iraqi Male Refugees, Karin Fernandez

Theses and Dissertations

Refugees pass through various stages from preflight, flight to post flight. It is argued that refugees as a whole - regardless of gender, race or ethnicity - should be considered vulnerable due to their actual or fear of persecution, but this is not always the case. This thesis looks at the ways in which the interpretation of “vulnerability” in the principles and practice of humanitarian aid in the refugee regime is affecting male Iraqi refugees seeking protection, resettlement and rehabilitation. As part of the evidence for this argument, the thesis examines gender differentials in the death rates and levels of …

Utilitizing And Moving Beyond A Constructionist Approach To Trace The Emergence Of Racial And Ethnic Identities Among Pre-Mexican, Mexican And Americans Of Mexican Descent, Owen Williamson

Theses and Dissertations

Cornell and Hartmann (2007) developed a constructionist framework that can describe the development of racial and ethnic identities. Yet this framework has greater utility than its authors have intended as it also provides the best rubric to date for comprehending the transitions between collective identity group types. This study engages in a thorough investigation of the development of racial and ethnic identities within the context of those that precede it via an ethnohistorical analysis. It also demonstrates that this framework is capable of describing pre-modern religious and national identity types in addition to racial and ethnic identity types. This permits …

Marital Problems And Marital Satisfaction: An Examination Of A Brazilian Sample, Nalu De Araujo Nunes

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study is to examine the types of problems faced by Brazilian couples in the sample, the gender differences in the perception of marital problems, and the associations between marital problems and marital satisfaction. The sample used in this study was part of the third wave of data collection of a longitudinal study of 126 families living in Porto Alegre, a city in southern Brazil. The RDAS was the instrument used to assess marital satisfaction. Marital problems were identified by asking participants to check the problems they perceive in their marriage from a list of common marital …

The Impact Of Divorce On Physical, Social, Psychological, And Socioeconomic Well-Being, Robyn J. Barrus

Theses and Dissertations

Divorce brings unprecedented changes. The prevalence of divorce today constitutes a need to thoroughly study the well-being of divorced peoples. This study used a multidimensional definition of well-being to study divorced peoples and other marital statuses. Physical, social, psychological, and socioeconomic well-being were used. This study hypothesized that the married and remarried have higher well-being than the never married who in turn have higher well-being than the divorced or separated. It was also hypothesized that some are pre-disposed to divorce. ANCOVA analysis was used to test these hypotheses in a sample of approximately 9,863 respondents from the NSFH study. Support …

Acknowledging Morality In Methodology, Rachelle Erika Howard

Theses and Dissertations

Marriage and family research has its foundation in the positivist tradition, which dismisses the relevance of morality to the scientific enterprise. Yet morality is inherent in marriage and family studies—both in the topics studied and in methodology. In this conceptual research, positivist assumptions are explicated to show that positivist methodology relies on a stance of moral neutrality that turns out to be a hidden morality. This hidden morality requires that people be studied as other objects. The need for a methodology that has an explicit moral philosophy and that acknowledges that humans are not “things” is discussed. Levinas' relational philosophy …

An Evaluative Case Study Of A Mathematics Program At A Deaf School In Ghana And An Ecological Explanation For Challenges Preventing Deaf Students Access To Quality Education, Hilary Ann Melander

Theses and Dissertations

The two purposes of this study are first, to provide an evaluation of an after-school basic mathematics program at the Demonstration School for the Deaf Junior Secondary School (DemoDeaf) in Mampong-Akuapim, Ghana. Second, it provides an ecological discussion exploring why DemoDeaf students do not have access to quality education. I designed and piloted the math program in 2005 and 2007 as an action researcher and volunteer with the Non-Government Organization (NGO), Signs of Hope International. The program was developed after finding six students in one JSS class could not count to one-hundred and all other students struggled with addition and/or …

Sacrifice In Marriage: Motives, Behaviors, And Outcomes, Kevin Shitamoto Figuerres

Theses and Dissertations

Today's society appears to have become focused on the individual and his/her exclusive needs in relationships. Self-sacrifice has seemingly become a forgotten value and behavior. The motives for sacrificing for another can widely vary for each individual. This study examined the effects of couples' sacrificing behaviors and the motives for sacrificing on the couples' marital quality. In this research, a random sample of 138 couples from Oakland, CA; Phoenix, AZ; Ogden, UT; and Atlanta, GA were assessed on these variables using the Self Perception of Sacrifice, Partner Perception of Sacrifice, Motives for Sacrifice, Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale, and Personal Assessment …

Making Sense Of Their World: Sensory Awareness And Sensory Reactivity As Predictors Of Social Interaction In Early Childhood, Cortney Anne Evans

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to (a) test the validity of a sensory reactivity measure adapted for parents of preschool-age children, (b) examine if different modalities of sensory reactivity (i.e. smell, touch, taste, etc.) emerge together or if differing thresholds of reactivity exist between sensory modalities, (c) see how parental ratings of preschoolers' sensory reactivity are related to children's behaviors in the classroom, and (d) see if sensory reactivity bears different relationships to children's social behaviors than do other aspects of temperament. A total of 260 parents (242 mothers, 18 fathers) and 10 teachers of 260 children (131 male, …

Dating In Midlife: A Dyadic Approach Examining Partner Perceptions On Relationship Quality, Rachel Sheffield

Theses and Dissertations

Using a matched-partner dataset of 660 midlife couples, this study examined dating relationships at midlife from the perspective of both male and female partners. It also explored ways various life course factors such as marital history, children, cohabitation, relationship length, and social approval related to partners' perceptions of one another and to subsequent relationship quality. Findings indicated heterogeneity in midlife dating experiences. Actor and partner effects of enhancement were most often linked with greater satisfaction and fewer problems for never-married couples, yet enhancement was not related to relationship stability for them. For couples where only one partner had been previously …

Rationality And Reproduction: Health Insurance Coverage And Married Women's Fertility, Jennifer Adams Mendoza

Theses and Dissertations

Health insurance has become essential in mediating the extremely high costs of childbirth; however, it has been neglected in fertility research. This study examines health insurance coverage as an economic determinant of fertility and includes discussions of the cost of raising children, contraception and childbirth as well as opportunity costs to illustrate that the effect of health insurance may differ by resources, such as income and education. Using data from the 2001 Survey of Income and Program Participation, I analyze the effects of insurance on the probability of pregnancy and birth with Discrete-Time Hazard Models. Results show that health insurance …

Self-Esteem, Self-Efficacy And Gender In Social Class Reproduction, Spencer L. James

Theses and Dissertations

The observation that middle class parents tend to have middle class children is rather obvious. Why this is so has been the subject of less research than the fact that it is so. Using the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), I employ theories about social class reproduction to examine and evaluate a model that scrutinizes the influence of self-efficacy and self-esteem on college completion or current enrollment and investigate gender differences. I find that self-esteem and self-efficacy play a vital role in social class outcomes. However, I find no evidence of gender differences in the social class reproduction …

Patterns Of Social Participation: Assessing The Long-Term Effects Of Creating Social Capital, Camille Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Given the numerous benefits noted in academic research from having social capital, investigators may now turn to looking at what makes a person likely to create it. In this study I examine whether building social capital in high school through participation in religious, athletic, and volunteer activities makes individuals more likely to continue to create it as adults through participation in similar activities. Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study, I employ both multilevel and seemingly unrelated regression models. I find that early participation in religious and athletic activities increases the likelihood of doing two out of three social …

Enactments, Outcome, And Marital Therapy: A Pilot Study, Carianne Mitchell

Theses and Dissertations

Unfulfilled attachment related needs and wants are viewed by many therapists as the heart of couple distress (Johnson & Whiffen, 2003; Johnson, 2004). As a result, efforts to discover and utilize therapeutic processes that encourage couples to identify and appropriately respond to their partner's core attachment needs and wants continue to increase. This study served as a pilot study for a planned, larger-scale investigation examining enactments as a potential best-practice change mechanism to strengthen secure attachment in marital therapy. Twelve couples were randomly assigned to one of two possible experimental groups. Group 1 experienced three therapist-centered therapy sessions, followed by …

A Comparison Of The Marriage Checkup And Traditional Marital Therapy: Examining Distress Levels At Intake For Student Couples, Benjamin Richard Erwin

Theses and Dissertations

The Marriage Checkup (Cordova, Warren & Gee, 2001) was introduced as a brief intervention targeting couples at risk for severe marital distress. The purpose of this study was to examine married couples who participated in The Marriage Checkup for levels of individual and relational stress and severity of presenting problems recorded at intake. Differences were investigated between couples who, though initially requesting the brief Marriage Checkup, elected to continue with traditional marital therapy and couples who only participated in traditional marital therapy. The group means were compared using a structural equation model in order to account for the non-independence of …

A Longitudinal Examination Of The Influences Of Family Processes And Demographic Variables On Adolescent Weight, Jessica Lee Price

Theses and Dissertations

Nationally representative studies estimate that almost one in five adolescents in the United States is overweight. This is a major concern for individuals' physical and psychological health and the overall economy in terms of health care costs and loss of productivity. The approach of this study was to understand adolescent overweight as influenced by family processes including: parent-adolescent relationship, monitoring or parental knowledge, control, family meals, and parenting styles. Race, sex, family structure, income, and mother Body Mass Index (BMI) were also included. A sub-sample of 4,688 adolescents from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 was used to address …

Palestinian Women's Roles After The First Intifada, 1987-1992, Bader Seetan Almadi

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a study of Palestinian women’s roles following the First Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, which began in 1987. This study considers whether Palestinian women found greater participation in their social life outside of the home during the challenges of the Intifada. In Palestinian society, traditional family roles and the various interpretations of Islamic teachings about to the family have severely restricted the role of women in society, and these limitations have served to increase the desire of these women for greater participation outside of the home.

This dissertation will focus on how religious forces, in addition …

Sooner Or Later? Parents' Marital Horizons For Their Emerging Adult Children, Chad D. Olson

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have studied emerging adults' attitudes regarding the three components of the marital horizon theory, namely their desired age for marriage, the importance they place on marriage, and the criteria they endorse as necessary before being marriage ready. Up to this point, no studies have looked at parents' marital horizons nor have comparisons been made with their emerging adult children. The goal of this study was to determine parents' views regarding the three components of the marital horizon theory. Using hierarchal linear modeling, parents' responses were compared with their emerging adult children regarding ideal timing of marriage, marital importance, and …

Does Marriage And Relationship Education Improve Couples' Communication? A Meta-Analytic Study, Victoria Lael Blanchard

Theses and Dissertations

Using the results of 65 reports, this study examined the effect of marriage and relationship education (MRE) on couples' communication, and accounted for various moderators of this effect, including method of assessment and unit of analysis. This study is part of a comprehensive meta-analysis of MRE evaluation research conducted since 1975 (k = 124 codable reports). Overall, MRE produced modest but reliable effects on couples' communication. These effects were maintained at follow-up assessments and were not affected significantly by publication bias. No differences in effect were found for gender. Observational assessments did produce larger effects than self-report assessments. MRE produced …

Criminal Histories Of Methamphetamine Users: A Rural Analysis, Israt Zohra

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examined criminal histories of methamphetamine users in rural counties of Arkansas. More specifically, the study explored the difference between methamphetamine users with and without criminal histories. Although there are plenty of research on demographic characteristics, sociological attributes, and drug dependencies of methamphetamine users, there seems to be a gap in the literature focusing on why certain methamphetamine users have been arrested versus users who have not been arrested. A preliminary analysis of the data indicated 60 percent of the participants in the study had criminal histories, while 40 percent have never been arrested; therefore, this study explored potential …

Differences In Methamphetamine Users And Crack Cocaine Users, Kilby Erwin Raptopoulos

Theses and Dissertations

This research addresses basic differences between crack cocaine users and methamphetamine users. The sample consisted of stimulant users who tested positive for either crack cocaine and/or methamphetamine from three rural counties in eastern Arkansas. This study seeks to further existing knowledge concerning drug use by examining demographics, drug use patterns, criminal histories and parental substance abuse. The study used Respondent-Driven Sampling to accumulate a sample size of 211 participants. Data was obtained through self-reported demographic information, drug use, criminal histories, and parental substance abuse problems during individual interviews, which were also matched with the results from a urinary analysis to …

Psycho-Sexual Politics Of Life On The Streets: Narratives Of Homeless Women And Women Who Experienced Homelessness As Children, Jane Stallcup Rampona

Theses and Dissertations

Eleven homeless women and eleven providers of homeless services were administered qualitative surveys asking about the experience of homelessness for women. Both groups were asked, “Is it possible for a woman to be safe while on the streets?” Most homeless women emotionally and vehemently answered, “No!” Most providers also answered, though less passionately, that it was impossible for women to be safe on the streets. When asked, “What was the worst thing that happened to you while on the streets?” Most of the women spoke of rape and gang rape. The other eighteen per cent became suddenly uncommunicative regarding the …

A Model Of The Relationship Of Perceived Mental And Emotional Problems In The Family-Of-Origin On Marital Satisfaction Of Adult Offspring, Benjamin Oviatt Weinheimer

Theses and Dissertations

The effects of perceived mental/emotional problems (psychopathology) in the family-of-origin on adult offspring marital satisfaction was tested in a model considering the mediating variables of parental marital satisfaction, mother-child relationship quality, father-child relationship quality, and resolution of issues from the family-of-origin. The nationally representative sample (n = 802) drawn from the RELATionship Evaluation (RELATE) database included mostly college educated, lower-middle-class individuals in their first marriage. This sample was used to test a structural equation model that results showed fit the data well. Results showed that historical (distal) factors (such as psychopathology in the family-of-origin) explain only a small portion of …

Pornography Viewing As Attachment Trauma In Pair-Bond Relationships-A Theoretical Model Of Mechanisms., Spencer T. Zitzman

Theses and Dissertations

Online sexual activities, including pornography use, have drastically increased in recent years. Many studies have examined the impact that pornography use can have on marriages and families. One of the key findings has been that pornography use can negatively impact trust in relationships. This study focused on understanding the mechanisms involved when a husband's pornography use negatively impacts his marital relationship and his wife's emotional well-being. Through qualitative analysis of interviews of 14 wives who received therapy because of their husband's pornography use, the analytic team found (1) a breakdown of expectations and assumptions central to the marriage, (2) a …

Gender Differences And Similarities In The Work-Family Interface: The Importance Of Considering Family Life Stages, Giuseppe Martinengo

Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the importance of considering the interaction between gender and family life stages to properly understand gender similarities and differences in the work and family interface. Data for this study come from the IBM 2004 Global Work and Life Issues Survey representing 79 countries (N=41,813). This study is a first step toward a better understanding of similarities and differences among male and female workers across the life course and it shows that work, family and life outcomes are similar across groups, independent of life stages or gender. Six family life stage groups were created: no children and …

A Revision Of The Marital Status Inventory: Reliability And Validity With Marital And Remarital Couples, Rachel V. Jamieson

Theses and Dissertations

Predicting divorce potential has been of interest to researchers and clinicians. The Marital Status Inventory (Weiss & Ceretto, 1980) was developed to provide information about clients' perceived divorce potential. The MSI has been widely used but there have been complaints about the negatively worded items from clients, therapists, and researchers. Therefore, this study compared a revised form of the MSI (MSI-R has no negatively worded items) with the original format. There were three purposes of the study. The first was to assess the reliability and validity of the MSI-R. The second purpose was to see if the MSI-R continued to …

Disclosure Of Abuse As A Moderating Variable For Internalized Shame In Adult Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Ami Mariko Hood Frost

Theses and Dissertations

Although previous research has established a correlation between childhood sexual abuse and internalized shame in adult survivors, very little research has been done to examine how disclosure affects that correlation. An adult female sample of survivors of childhood sexual abuse (N=467) were surveyed to determine a possible moderating effect of disclosure on internalized shame. It was predicted that 1) severity of abuse would be a significant predictor of internalized shame; 2) disclosure would be a significant predictor of internalized shame; and 3) disclosure would moderate the relationship between severity of abuse and internalized shame. Through structural equation modeling using AMOS, …

Volunteerism And Marital Quality Among Lds Senior Missionary Couples, Megan Oka

Theses and Dissertations

Although research has been conducted on marriage and volunteerism in later life, little is known about the impact of volunteerism on marital quality, particularly intense volunteer experiences. Missionary couples for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) leave their homes for a period ranging from 6-18 months and dedicate the majority of their time to working in church assignments. Qualitative interviews were collected from couples who had served senior couples missions for the LDS Church and returned home in the last year. The mean age of participants was 69, and the mean length of marriage for couples was …

Sexual Satisfaction In Older Marriages: Effects Of Family-Of-Origin Distress And Marital Distress, Luke Elias Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how sexual satisfaction in older marriages (marriages with at least one spouse between the ages of 55 and 75) was affected by family-of-origin distress (recent measure of recollection of childhood experiences) and marital distress (measure of current marital relationship) for husbands and wives. The hypotheses of this study were that both family-of-origin distress and marital distress would have negative effects on sexual satisfaction for older couples, with marital distress having a direct, negative effect on sexual satisfaction and with family-of-origin distress having an indirect, negative effect on sexual satisfaction through its influence …

The Development Of Ready-A (Ready For Adolescents): An Adolescent Premarital Education Inventory, Lorinda A. Gutierrez

Theses and Dissertations

Learning about romantic relationships can be one of the central features of adolescence. However, there are not many useful and scholarly tools for adolescents to evaluate themselves and their relationship competence. Such tools can be helpful in the premarital education process. READY is a premarital assessment questionnaire instrument that is used for such purposes but it was designed for use with adults ages 18 and over. In this study READY for Adolescents (READY-A) was developed as a revision and extension of READY with age-appropriate questions to be used with adolescents. A review of literature on adolescent romantic relationships and factors …

Religion And Academic Achievement Among Adolescents, Benjamin Allen Mckune

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the association between religiosity and academic achievement among adolescents. Recent research demonstrates a positive association between religiosity and academic success. However, some studies show that this is due to family and community factors; for example, variation in levels of family capital among religious affiliates may explain this association. Yet, whether religious factors affect academic achievement among adolescents may also be due to the concordance or discordance of religiosity among parents and their children. Using two years of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) (n=8,051), I examine the association between adolescent religiosity, parent …