Family, Life Course, and Society Commons^™

Opinion: Too Many Veterans With Children Are Still Homeless, Christopher R. Fee, Joshua L. Stewart

English Faculty Publications

Don’t ignore homeless veterans.

As we pause this Veterans Day to reflect on those who have sacrificed in the service of our country, let us not neglect to address the plight of those who have returned to a civilian life with far less promise than they have every right to expect. [excerpt]

Women At A Glance, Vanessa B., Lori B., Laura K.

Women’s Studies, Feminist Zine Archive

Writings and art about female condoms, parenting, purity balls, marriage, abusive relationships, and rape culture.

Male Ballet Dancers And Their Performances Of Heteromasculinity, Trenton M. Haltom, Meredith G. F. Worthen

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Although previous research has investigated men in feminized sports, we took a different approach in this study and examined men in ballet. Because ballet is one of the most highly gender-codified sports, male ballet dancers must negotiate their identities as men while performing a dance form that is highly stigmatized as effeminate. We investigated how five self-identified heterosexual male college dance majors perceive and perform heteromasculinity within male ballet culture using qualitative data gathered from structured interviews. Results provide three unique contributions to the literature. First, we found that these men develop and contextualize their heteromasculinity in the context of …

Did One Veil Give Women A Better Life?, Mary C. Westermann

Student Publications

Unfortunately, a young woman in Renaissance Florence did not have many options for her future. A woman's family usually decided whether she would be able to get married or would have to enter the convent, but sometimes she was able to make this choice. In this paper, I look at the lives of wives and nuns to analyze how their lives differed in responsibilities and freedoms, but also to see how all women had similar restrictions and expectations placed upon them.

“In Light Of Real Alternatives”: Negotiations Of Fertility And Motherhood In Morocco And Oman, Victoria E. Mohr

Student Publications

Many states in the Arab world have undertaken wide-ranging family planning polices in the last two decades in an effort to curb high fertility rates. Oman and Morocco are two such countries, and their policies have had significantly different results. Morocco experienced a swift drop in fertility rates, whereas Oman’s fertility has declined much more slowly over several decades. Many point to the more conservative religious and cultural context of Oman for their high fertility rates, however economics and the state of biomedical health care often present a more compelling argument for the distinct differences between Omani and Moroccan family …

Spoiled Rotten, Valorie L. Zonnefeld

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Zonnefeld challenges parents to rethink giving children too much, whether material possessions or activities. She instead suggests that true love wisely holds back and urges parents to consider that helping children mature may equate to giving them less.

Empowered For A Better Future: An Analysis Of Women’S Empowerment Through Gulu Women’S Economic Development And Globalization (Gwed-­‐G) Organization In Gulu, Uganda, Jessica Wightman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study aims to determine the motivating factors that women in Gulu District, Uganda have for joining empowerment programs, how their perception about their own empowerment has changed over time, and the role one non-­‐ governmental organization (NGO) has played in assisting in these women’s empowerment. Data was gathered through 12 personal, semi-­‐structured interviews with the assistance of a translator when necessary. Ten of the subjects currently participate in empowerment programs through Gulu Women’s Economic Development and Globalization (GWED-­‐G), a local NGO. The two remaining subjects are staff members at GWED-­‐G and served as key informants to this study. The …

Syrian Refugee Families’ Awareness Of The Health Risks Of Child Marriage And What Organizations Offer Or Plan In Order To Raise Awareness, Rachel Fowler

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The hypothesis of the study assumes: If Syrian refugee families understood the health risks involved with child marriage and the severity of these risks, they would be less likely to choose to marry off their daughter under the age of 18. If these families had more health educational programs and had more access to these programs, these programs would influence their decision towards avoiding child marriage for their daughter(s).

According to UNICEF, one-third of registered marriages among Syrian refugees in Jordan between January and March 2014 involved girls under the age of 18. Child marriage puts girls at risk of …

Rough Hands: Family Conceptions Of Rural Morocco’S Agricultural Labor, A Case Study, Leah Kahler

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Conceptions of success for people in any capitalist context are tangled with social hierarchies of work. The rural women of Morocco have been specifically singled out as the objects discourses about their domestic and agricultural work, agency, gender identity and role, and their use of private and public space ownership. This project will examine the justifications, conceptions, and satisfaction with rural-agricultural work in a small-scale family farm in Morocco’s Al Hoceima province. Using the case study approach, I will live with a family in Sidi Bouafif and work alongside the family for an eight-day fieldwork period. Through participant observation and …

Human Trafficking In Morocco: A Focus On Sub-Saharan Migrant Women, Ladarrien Gillette

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this study was to report on the situation of exploited and trafficked Sub-Saharan migrant women in Morocco. With the lack of legal framework to recognize or combat human trafficking my research focuses on the broader context of trafficking as a means to exploit mostly women in regards to sexual assault. Since the crime is not explicitly defined within Moroccan penal code there are no specific organizations dealing with survivors of trafficking but there are a few that indirectly address women migrants. The irregular situation of migrants in Morocco makes their involvement with being trafficked more complicated than …

Attitudes Toward Motherhood Among Sexual Minority Women In The United States, Emily Kazyak, Nicholas Park, Julia Mcquillan, Arthur L. Greil

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

In this article, we use data from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers—a national, population-based telephone survey—to examine how sexual minority women construct and value motherhood. We analyze the small (N = 43) random sample of self-identified sexual minority women using “survey-driven narrative construction,” which entails converting the structured answers and open-ended responses for each respondent into narratives and identifying themes. We focused on both sexual minority women’s desires and intentions to parent and on the importance they place on motherhood. We found that there is considerable variation in this population. Many sexual minority women distinguish between having and raising …

Wanted More From Moore, Rashida Aluko-Roberts

SURGE

I was very excited when I first picked up Wes Moore’s book The Other Wes Moore. After hearing that it was chosen as the common reading text for the incoming class, and also being given the opportunity to co-facilitate a discussion based on the book, I was even more excited.

However, as I read the book, I found myself more frustrated than fulfilled. [excerpt]

Who's Your Daddy: Father Trumps Fate In Supernatural, Lugene Rosen

Library Books and Book Chapters

"This chapter will examine the characters [of Supernatural] using several indicators of present/absent fathers: the father hunger scale designed by Paul. B. Perrin et al and the schemas developed by several father-focused theorists. These indicators will help explain the motivations that drive Dean, Sam, and to a lesser extent, Bobby. Based upon this exposure to fatherhood and father roles, Dean and Sam seem to be fulfilling a destiny that was decided, not by fate, but by the effects of their relationships with their father."

Becoming Mom: Understanding Challenges And Presentations Of Self Among Mothers, Annakeiko Frink Reichel

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

When a woman becomes a mother it is arguably one of the most life changing and defining moments of their lives. Becoming a mom and the emotions that are involved in the process are often a neglected topic in the United States. It is clear that the social world assumes mothers will automatically adjust to the role of being a mom without asking questions such as, what are the challenges moms face after having children? Or more importantly, how is a mother’s identity shaped after having children and while adjusting to the role as mom? The first author (AR) became …

Physical Child Abuse And Cultural Differences In Reporting, Emily Frances Reed

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Previous research using both National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) data and other sources has found that biases do exist with regard to racial differences. The current study will build on past research of biases in the Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement and reporting. This study uses a secondary data set, the 2009 NCANDS dataset; which consists of child specific data of all investigated reports of maltreatment to state CPS agencies. This research seeks to determine if there are disparities in cases reported to and substantiated by CPS as reflected by race (Black, White, & Hispanic children) and …

Recent African Immigrants’ Fatherhood Experiences In America: The Changing Role Of Fathers, Zacharia N. Nchinda

Trotter Review

This article examines the lived experiences of recent African immigrant fathers in the United States. It focuses specifically on recent African immigrant fathers with African women as wives and children below the age of 18. Its aim is a better understanding of these fathers’ involvement in the life of their children and the changes immigration has forced upon the fathers. Information for the study emanates from interviews carried out with African immigrant fathers in the Milwaukee area, supplemented by my knowledge of African immigrant communities. The categorization of the data uses a construct established by the mid-1990s DADS Project initiative …

Adult Third Culture Kids: Does Their Concept Of Home Have An Impact On Their Career Paths?, Kelly B. Wisecarver

Capstone Collection

For decades, social scientists have been conducting studies about Third Culture Kids (TCKs). TCKs are children who have been raised outside of their passport countries as a result of their parents’ professions abroad. One sociologist refers to TCKs as “prototype citizens of the future,” citing their backgrounds a playing a role in today’s increasingly globalized world. How have TCKs’ multicultural backgrounds and experiences shaped them? What types of professions are they prone to? What qualities and characteristics do they commonly share and why are they an important group to study? My capstone aims to address these questions.

The combination of …

Tracing The Origins Of Success: Implications For Successful Aging, Nora M. Peterson, Peter Martin

French Language and Literature Papers

Purpose of the Study: This paper addresses the debate about the use of the term “successful aging” from a humanistic, rather than behavioral, perspective. It attempts to uncover what success, a term frequently associated with aging, is: how can it be defined and when did it first come into use? In this paper, we draw from a number of humanistic perspectives, including the historical and linguistic, in order to explore the evolution of the term “success.” We believe that words and concepts have deep implications for how concepts (such as aging) are culturally and historically perceived.

Design and Methods: We …

Gold, Clarence Oldham, 1861-1920 (Sc 2845), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid, scan and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2845. Letter, 31 July 1889, of tobacco broker Clarence O. Gold, Hopkinsville, Kentucky, to his wife in New Providence, Tennessee. He declares his love, reports that he has rented a home, and urges her and their children to join him. The letter alludes to a separation caused by his drinking and other misconduct, and to the maligning influence of others who are urging his wife to leave him.

The Moroccan Women's Rights Movement, Amy Y. Evrard

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

Among various important efforts to address women’s issues in Morocco, a particular set of individuals and associations have formed around two specific goals: reforming the Moroccan Family Code and raising awareness of women’s rights. Evrard chronicles the history of the women’s rights movement, exploring the organizational structure, activities, and motivations with specific attention to questions of legal reform and family law. Employing ethnographic scrutiny, Evrard presents the stories of the individual women behind the movement and the challenges they faced. Given the vast reform of the Moroccan Family Code in 2004, and the emphasis on the role of women across …

打造香港道德 = The (Re)Making Of The Hong Kong Ethic, Ching Yau

《新自由主義下的新道德》研討會 NEO-MORALISM UNDER NEOLIBERALISM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

過去關於港人價值觀的論述一般認為華人難民社群有「功利家庭主義」的非政治化取向 (Lau)、殖民政治強化「固有的保守和怯懦心理」(曾31)、「港人(主要是年青一代)普遍都表現了十分內向與退卻心理…… 極端的物慾主義、享樂主義或消極意念」(曾35)。雖然貧富懸殊嚴重，但直至本世紀初以前，「多數居民都相信有能力肯苦幹就有機會出頭」；「法律觀念深入民心」，所以「個人和家庭利益放在集體利益的前面」(李41) ；八十年代後是「利益團體政治」及伴隨而來的「公民權利」及「社區意識」興起，「歸屬感政治」轉變至「權益政治」(黃偉邦 184) ° 戰後出身的一代因為並未經歷中國內戰所以較為「理想主義」(張炳良58) ，大多「出身低下家庭」，「故對社會公義問題特別敏感」(張炳良59)，普遍認同「民主自由、公義平等」原則；不是「福利派」，「要求其本階級利益獲得一定的注重」(張炳良61)，「重視自我奮鬥，強調獨立」(張炳良63) ，要求機會平等而不是均等主義 (Lau and Khan 66; 呂1998b : 203) °「競爭性資本主義」環境提供的「雙軌發展」社會流動機能鼓勵沒受過專上教育的透過「搏殺」來晉升中產階級 (呂1998b : 98) ° 即使看到資本主義「有不平等」，但仍然接受「競爭性的制度」; 九七後的焦慮是害怕失去「一個個人自由得到尊重、個人高度的自由活動空間和依法行事的制度」，導致「自身利益受損」，「毋須因政治理由而委屈、妥協」，面對「強權的、家長式的環境」(呂 1998b : 203-206)。

以上大概描述了上世紀八十年代及以後的港人主流價值觀，經常被統稱為「獅子山下精神」的。過去學者一般傾向把香港本土意識的崛起，「獅子山下精神」(《獅子山下 》為1974-1994年間，香港電台製作的一套電視劇) 的形塑 追塑至七十年代 。六十年代末至七十年代是香港經濟結構急劇轉型期 (如1969-1972年間就有三家證券交易所成立：1969年遠東交易所、1971年金銀證券交易所及1972年九龍證卷交易所)，而五十至六十年代中則通常被指為南來人口無法或企圖適應香港、心懷祖國的過渡期。本文借爬梳五十年代的流行電 影文化來闡述當時社會-我認為同樣是「紮根」香港，以香港作為想像共同體 - 深入民心的價值觀跟「獅子山下精神」的不盡相同甚至矛盾，從而企圖重新想像香港文化中的一些被歷史斷裂化了、地下化了的聲音，如何被有系統地排除在「香港本土」的界定以外。 我追溯這過程作為在香港被「競爭性資本主義」全盤洗禮之前，經歷了的一項去（舊）道德，同時也是去政治化工程。而把「香港本土意識」定性於在七十年代才出現這種說法，是把香港人對殖民資本主義的認同作為香港成為想像共同體的條件，這也是香港最新自由主義化的「本土性」。

Present discourse on Hongkongers' value systems considers this community of Chinese refugees as having an apolitical "utilitarian familism" (Lau); that colonial politics reinforced “an existing psychology of conservatism and timidity” (Tsang 31); that "Hongkongers (mainly its younger generations) express generally a very inward-looking and regressive mentality… an extreme materialism, hedonism and negativity.” (Tsang, 35) Despite a severe gap between the rich and poor, until …

Male Hypergamy And Social Status, Cedric N. Floyd

Oglethorpe Journal of Undergraduate Research

Male hypergamy, a social pattern rarely observed, has been prevalent throughout history as a symbol of social status for men. Hypergamy is the act of marrying into a higher social class or caste. This paper analyzes a few exemplary men ranging from the Italian Renaissance to Twenty-First Century America to make note of this pattern and attempts to understand how it affects the social order in middle-to-upper class society. The research, gathered from various books on class and society, presents an idea of various men who have, in some way or another, used their marriages as a social asset and …

Gender And Self-Representation In Maya Angelou's Autobiography I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings 2014, Jay-Nel Steitz

Master's Theses

A voice that has been silenced for so long has much to say. Whether still confined or set free, the statement applies equally to both. The silenced voice wants not only to tell his or her story, but to share the life experiences which in turn reveal the identities of these individuals. These silenced voices then are not those of the oppressors, but the oppressed; and when an oppressor wants to share his or her story, the oppressed wants to tell their side of it as well. How can those labeled the marginalized outcasts of society express their feelings and …

Chivalric Schism : The Man Who Occupies The Masculine And The Feminine 2014, Timothy C. Morris

Master's Theses

Designated male and female gender roles have created a certain set of expectations that shape the lives of men and women. Although there are benefits and drawbacks for each of the sexes as a result of these sets of rules, males have unquestionably seen themselves the beneficiaries throughout the course of history far more often than their female counterparts. I would argue, however, that chivalric codes, behaviors ascribed to men of the knightly class in the Middle Ages, are confusing and even contradictory for their subjects, thus negating some of the advantage typically granted by virtue of being a male. …

The Use Of Original Song-Writing To Help Families Cope With Hospice Care, Kelsey Mcquillan

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

No abstract provided.

Sex-Trafficking In Cambodia: Assessing The Role Of Ngos In Rebuilding Cambodia, Katherine M. Wood

Senior Honors Theses

The anti-slavery and other freedom fighting movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries did not abolish all forms of slavery. Many forms of modern slavery thrive in countries all across the globe. The sex trafficking trade has intensified despite the advocacy of many human rights-based groups. Southeast Asia ranks very high in terms of the source, transit, and destination of sex trafficking. In particular, human trafficking of women and girls for the purpose of forced prostitution remains an increasing problem in Cambodia. Cambodia’s cultural traditions and the breakdown of law under the Khmer Rouge and Democratic Kampuchea have contributed to …

Ordering Anarchy, John Thrasher

Philosophy Faculty Articles and Research

Ordered social life requires rules of conduct that help generate and preserve peaceful and cooperative interactions among individuals. The problem is that these social rules impose costs. They prohibit us from doing some things we might see as important and they require us to do other things that we might otherwise not do. The question for the contractarian is whether the costs of these social rules can be rationally justified. I argue that traditional contract theories have tended to underestimate the importance of evaluating the cost of enforcement and compliance in the contract procedure. In addition, the social contract has …

Jesus Lives, But Should He Live In My Front Yard?, Christin N. Taylor

English Faculty Publications

As I drove home from church, I eyed the bright foam sign my 6-year-old daughter held. “Jesus is Alive” it read in kid scrawl. “We’re supposed to put them in our yards!” Noelle beamed, eyeing her creation proudly through pink-rimmed glasses.

I imagined our wide, open yard in Pennsylvania, the green grass stretching without fences from one neighbor to the next. Our best friends in the neighborhood, secular humanists, would easily see it. I cringed. What would they think? [excerpt]

Into The Frightening Light: Emotional Healing Through The Creative Process, Bethany Dunfee Pierce

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project explores the role the creative process and art making can have in emotional healing and briefly describes connections among the affective skills of Creative Problem Solving and art making. Essentially a self-study taking place over five months, this project focuses on how the author, by developing mindful practice and behavior, used visual journaling, blogging, drawing and painting as methods of discovering her own creative process and how that process aided in emotional transformation leading toward greater self-actualization and artistic identity. This work provides key learnings that can help others in overcoming creative blocks, exploring creative process or in …

Black, White And Rainbow All Over: The Segregation Present Among Cape Town’S Pride Festival, Lucy Stockdale

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My ISP works to illuminate the racial segregation that is still present within Cape Town’s LGBT community, particularly during the celebration of gay and lesbian rights, known as the Pride festival that takes place annually in the end of February. I do this through discussing the privilege that comes with access to both information about Pride and the location of the events that take place. By looking at Pride as a parade for the white gay man to celebrate the rights he was granted twenty years ago, I work to openly discuss how a history of exclusion has lived on …