Sociology Commons^™

Anger, Boycott, Secession–A Clash Of Perspectives: The Closing Of A High School In An Appalachian County, John Verburg

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This research investigates the closing of a small, rural community school. Even though the community waged a tenacious effort to save their school, it closed anyway. Today, in its place, sits a new, private, community school. This research focuses on the dynamics of that drama. The research design consists of multiple levels of interviews (personal, telephone, and focus group), archival reviews of local newspapers, and analysis of video tapes of the monthly meetings o fthe local school board. Additionally, the community shared with the researcher large boxes of confidential legal documents used in the court proceedings against the county. The …

Labor Use By Small-Scale Conventional And Sustainable Farmers In Tennessee, Fisseha Tegegne, Surendra P. Singh, Enefiok Ekanem, Safdar Muhammad

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

A comparison of labor use by small-scale conventional and sustainable farmers has received little attention from researchers. However, the issue is significant given the growing emphasis being placed on a sustainable farming system, which is considered to require more labor and managerial input compared to the conventional one. This study analyzes labor use of small-scale farmers in Tennessee by classifying them into conventional and sustainable categories. The data were collected using face-to-face interviews of randomly selected farmers. Analysis shows that farm operators were the primary source of labor for production and farm business management both for sustainable and conventional farmers, …

Natural Resource Access And Interracial Associations: Black And White Subsistence Fishing In The Mississippi Delta, Ralph B. Brown, John F. Toth Jr.

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Using qualitative data gathered over approximately twenty months, we examine how racial divisions between black and white fishers factor into access, harvesting strategies, and use of natural resources in subsistence fishing activities in the Mississippi Delta. Though both races engage in subsistence fishing for many of the same reasons -- a sense of autonomy and economic independence -- clear differences were manifest in their access, harvesting strategies, and utilization of the fish. We document these differences. We conclude that the social relations between white and black subsistence fishers, as they interact with and through the landscape, appear to perpetuate the …

Hidden Voices: Linking Research, Practice, And Policy To The Everyday Realities Of Rural People, Rosalind P. Harris

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Presidential Address

Foucault On The Farm: Producing Swine And Subjects, Mary E. Curran

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

In this paper, through a discussion of an ongoing conflict about regulation of industrial farming in Kentucky, I use Foucault's (1980a, 1980b, 1991) work on governmentality and power and knowledge to analyze how the power relations embedded within processes of governmentality and knowledge production act to marginalize certain groups while producing new regimes of truth and altering subjectivities. My approach differs from that of current academic research and American mass media reporting of the environmental and social impacts of industrial animal agriculture. Academic literature has largely focused upon either the structural changes resulting from the industrialization of agriculture or on …

Outdoor Recreation Constraints: An Examination Of Race, Gender, And Rural Dwelling, Cassandra Y. Johnson, J. M. Bowker, H. Ken Cordell

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

We assess whether traditionally marginalized groups in American society (African-Americans, women, rural dwellers) perceive more constraints to outdoor recreation participation than other groups. A series of logistic regressions are applied to a national recreation survey and used to model the probability that individuals perceive certain constraints to participating in outdoor recreation activities. Twelve constraints related to health, facilities, socioeconomic standing, and other personal factors are examined for both participants and nonparticipants of outdoor recreation. We model the probability that individuals report being constrained in participating in their favorite activities as a function of race, gender, and rural residence. In addition, …

Common Cause: A Comparative Case Study Of Three Alabama Communities Organizing Against Landfills, Lani Merritt

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This paper documents the organizational strategies of three Alabama community groups that have mobilized against the siting of municipal landfills. All three communities are predominately African-American, rural, and lower-income. The framework of environmental justice is applied to understand common elements of the three communities' experiences. The primary focus, however, is on differences between the cases that brought forward markedly different strategies. The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the different approaches taken by each community, and to identify factors and strategies that were crucial to success or failure from the perspective of landfill opponents. Responsiveness of local political …

Ua12/6 Outstanding Black Graduates Recognition Ceremony, Wku Diversity Programs

WKU Administration Documents

Program recognizing outstanding Black graduates of WKU. Each person is listed giving their home town, degree, organizations, future aspirations and personal statements of gratitude.

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 77, No. 29, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news.

• Hall, Rex. Executive Session – Gary Ransdell
• Corbin, Brett. City to Start Charging for False Fire Alarms
• Hall, Rex. State Intervention to Delay Diddle Arena Renovation
• Hoang, Mai. SKyPAC to Build Parking Lots – Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center
• Ho, Ho, Ho-boy; It’s Wish List Time – Christmas
• Grady, Brian. Editorial Cartoon re: Christmas Presents
• Weisser, Angela, et al. Mold the Phone – Tate Page Hall
• Youngman, Sam. I’ve Had Enough, It’s Time to Go Home
• Lord, Joseph. Gary Ransdell Allows Idiots to Graduate – New Rock 92
• Ragan, …

The Rattler (Volume 88, Issue 6, Edition 1), St. Mary's University

The Rattler (Previous issues)

Founded in 1919, The Rattler is the student voice of St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. The newspaper documents campus life, academic and social issues, student opinion, and local and national events as they relate to the University community. Content typically includes news articles, editorial commentary, arts and culture coverage, sports reporting, and advertisements.

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 77, No. 28, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news.

• Sewell, Beth. All They Want for Christmas
• Roberts, Amy. Season Leaves International Students Out in Cold
• Compton, Michael. Christmas Movies
• Wilemon, Miranda. Holiday Sales Attract College Buyers
• Dittmeier, Kate. Gables Apartment Fire Spurs Discussion
• Corbin, Brett. Student Files Rape Report
• Hightower, Kyle. Devastated – Football
• Lord, Joseph. No One Hit on University Boulevard in a Year
• Grady, Brian. Editorial Cartoon re: University Debt
• Policy Putting School in Debt on Integrity – Credit Cards
• No Moldy Reaction to a Pressing Health Problem – Tate Page Hall
• Bedo, Leslie. College Heights …

Offenders Incarcerated For Crimes Against Juveniles., David Finkelhor, Richard Ormrod

Crimes Against Children Research Center

This study uses data from the 1997 Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities to examine the characteristics of persons incarcerated for victimizing children and youth. This OJJDP Bulletin, part of the Crimes Against Children series, presents a wide range of information pertaining to victimizers of children, including offense characteristics, offender histories, overall trends, and the severity of sentences received by such criminals. Significant differences between offenders incarcerated for crimes against juveniles and offenders imprisoned for crimes against adults are highlighted. Figures and tables illustrate the Survey's major findings.

Pretreatment Characteristics Of Legally Coerced Drug Treatment Seekers, Bridgett Augustino

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study examines the sociodemographics, drug use, criminal, and treatment histories of 598 residential and outpatient legally coerced drug treatment seekers in the Kentucky Treatment Outcome and Performance Pilot Studies Enhancement Project. Analyses examined whether users/addicts entering chemical dependency treatment under legal coercion differed from nonlegally coerced treatment seekers. Stanley Cohen's theoretical model of social control provided the theoretical framework for the study. Results showed demographic and behavioral differences were noted between respondents under no coercion and those under legal coercion on gender, age, educational status, pretreatment criminality and current treatment modality. In addition, differences between the legally coerced and …

Changing Prison Management Strategies In Response To Voi/Tis Legislation, Susan Turner, Laura J. Hickman, Judith Greene, Terry Fain

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

This legislation was designed to increase the capacity of State correctional systems to confine serious and violent offenders for longer periods of time and to assure the public that these offenders would serve a substantial portion of their sentences. The VOI/TIS incentive grants provide States with funds to build or expand bed capacity in correctional facilities, temporary or permanent correctional facilities, and local jail capacity. This study examined adaptations in prison management made by State correctional agencies in response to VOI/TIS. Specifically, the study addressed the changes in management, safety and training procedures, the type and extent of programming (education, …

Adolescence And Old Age In Twelve Communities, Pranab Chatterjee, Darlyne Bailey, Nina Aronoff

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper disputes the theory of universal stages of development (often called the epigenetic principle) asserted by Erikson (1963; 1982; 1997) and later developed in detail by Newman & Newman (1987, p. 33). It particularly disputes that there are clear stages of adolescence (12-18), late adolescence (18-22), old age (60-75), and very old age (75+). Data from twelve communities around the world suggest that the concept of adolescence is socially constructed in each local setting, and that the concept of late adolescence is totally absent in some communities. Further, the stage of old age (60-75) is much shorter in some …

Serving The Homeless: Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Homeless Shelter Services, George M. Glisson, Robert L. Fischer, Bruce A. Thyer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The effects of homeless assistance services at the local level are tremendously difficult to ascertain. In this study, a four-month sample of homeless persons served by a local homeless shelter and case management program were contacted nine to eleven months after receiving services. The findings suggest that the program had some initial success in assisting the homeless clients to locate housing within the first year after leaving the shelter. However, the housing costs paid by these formerly homeless were quite high, with nearly three-quarters of them spending forty percent or more of their income on housing.

Review Of The Gender Division Of Welfare: The Impact Of British And German Welfare States. Mary Daly. Reviewed By Rebecca A. Van Voorhis, Rebecca A. Van Voorhis

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Mary Daly, The Gender Division of Welfare: The Impact of British and German Welfare States. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. $64.95 hardcover, $23.95 papercover.

Review Of Care Work: Gender, Labour And The Welfare State. Madonna Harrington Meyer (Ed.). Reviewed By Diana M. Johnson, Diana M. Johnson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Madonna Harrington Meyer (Ed.), Care Work: Gender, Labor, and the Welfare State. New York: Routledge, 2000. $85.00 hardcover, $23.99 papercover.

Robbing Drug Dealers: Violence Beyond The Law. Bruce A. Jacobs

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Bruce A. Jacobs, Robbing Drug Dealers: Violence Beyond the Law. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter, 2000. $19.95 paperback.

Constraints, Compromises And Choice: Comparing Three Qualitative Research Studies, Julia Connell, Colin Lynch, Peter Waring

The Qualitative Report

Although a number of texts explore social research strategies and methods, most are limited to a basic discussion of such methods and their associated advantages and disadvantages. Few if any, evaluate and compare methods in the context of actual research experiences. This paper endeavours to bridge that gap by reporting the experiences of three researchers working on three separate qualitative studies. All three studies were concerned with investigating the social milieu within organizations. While the research questions were different in each case, all the researchers shared a common goal - to develop explanations for complex social phenomena manifest both internally …

Once Were Science Teachers, John Loughran, Amanda Berry, Deborah Corrigan

The Qualitative Report

This paper explores the development of three pre-service science teacher educators' understandings of some critical incidents in their development of science teachers that has impacted on the manner in which they teach about teaching in a teacher preparation program. The study draws on self-study methodology by situating their reflection on practice within a critical discourse whereby reframing has been important in learning through a reconsideration from particular critical incidents in their high school science teaching experiences. The authors argue that through critical reflection on practice, as illustrated in this paper, that the beginnings of the articulation and documentation of a …

Building A Typology Of Self-Renewal: Reflection Upon-Life Story Research, Izhar Oplatka

The Qualitative Report

The current paper provides a researcher's account of the life-story method used in a study which aimed to identify patterns of the self-renewal process among women school principals in mid-career. The subjects of this study were 25 elementary school women principals aged between 43 and 52 in Israel. The paper outlines the practical aspects of the life-story method and contributes to our understanding of the consecutive pragmatic ways to implement a life-story method aimed to explore and develop a typology of a yet unknown phenomenon. Further, the ethical implications of doing life-story interview are discussed and presented.

The Poverty Of Hard Work: Multiple Jobs And Low Wages In Family Economies Of Rural Utah Households, Christina E. Gringeri

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The combination of paid work and poverty, or near poverty, is a growing problem in the United States, one of which is often accentuated by residence in rural, low-wage communities where underemployment is more prevalent than in metropolitan areas. This paper examines the experiences of sixty rural families with inadequate employment using data from ethnographic interviews with a particular focus on the strategies they use to meet their family's needs in spite of low-wage work.

Connecting Personal Biography And Social History: Women Casino Workers And The Global Economy, Jill B. Jones, Susan Chandler

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Economic globalization has been described as the "most fundamental redesign of the planet's political and economic arrangements since as least the industrial revolution" (Mander, 1996). This article explores its implications in the lives of a group of women casino workers. Based on a qualitative study in which data were collected from key informants, focus groups of community leaders and professionals, and in-depth interviews with women casino workers themselves, the study attempts, in the spirit of C. Wright Mills (1959) and social work's tradition of person-in-environment, to connect "the patterns of [individual] lives and the course of world history."

Cultural Commentary: Held By Many Threads, William C. Levin

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

Community Perspectives In Higher Education Service Leaming And Volunteerism, Andrea Vernon

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

This study is a qualitative analysis measuring community perceptions of college student volunteers and service learners. The purpose of the study was to examine college student service learning and volunteer activities from the community perspective through data gathered from community agency personnel who work directly with college student volunteers who are serving to meet the needs of youth.

Personnel from 15 community youth service agencies in seven Montana communities were interviewed to determine (a) how agencies ensure and measure the quality and effectiveness of college student volunteer service, (b) the impacts that college student volunteers have at the youth service …

A Meta-Analysis Of Service Learning Research In Middle And High Schools, Amy E. White

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

This study examines the relationship between service learning innovations and improved academics, self-concept, and social or personal growth in middle and high school students. Meta-Analysis is employed to arrive at effect-size estimates for each construct. A historical overview of service learning is presented and a detailed description of the study selection process is provided. The data revealed a moderate relationship between service learning participation and academics, self-concept and social or personal growth in middle and high school students. The findings are presented, and some appropriate conclusions are drawn. A discussion of the implications of these findings and recommendations for future …

Exploring Racial Variations In The Spousal Sex Ratio Of Killing, Wendy C. Regoeczi

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications

The following article examines differences in the social situation of intimate partners as an explanation of racial differences in the female to male ratio of spousal homicides in Canada. An analysis of homicide data from 1961 to 1983 generated by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics reveals that the ratio of women killing their husbands to men killing their wives is highest for Aboriginals and lowest for Blacks, with the ratio for Whites falling in between. The possible sources of racial differences in this ratio include the proportion of couples (a) in common-law relationships, (b) who are co-residing as opposed …

Top Female Hospital Executives In Las Vegas, Nevada: An In Depth Case Study, Caroline R. Copeland

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This paper will review the findings of in depth interviews with the four top female executives for the acute care hospitals in Las Vegas, Nevada, with regards to the ‘Glass Ceiling’ phenomenon, stereotyping and gender role behaviors, and how these elements have affected their careers. Out of seventeen (17) local senior executive positions, women hold four of these positions, or twenty-three percent (23.5%), compared to six percent (6%) nationally. The healthcare system changes were also a consideration for theses female executives, and how these changes have influenced their careers.

The Truth Claims Of Online Higher Education A Social Constructionist Analysis, Thomas Wells Brignall Iii

Dissertations

No abstract provided.