Rural Sociology Commons^™

“No Masses Without Muslims’ Approval” The Crisis Of Building And Restoring Churches In Egypt: Three Case Studies From El-Minya Governorate, Sara Shaltout

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examined the crisis of building and renovating churches in Egypt in the light of the Church-state relation. I focused on three case studies in the El-Minya governorate that includes the largest Christian concentration in the Middle East to shed light on the existing difficulties that face Christians there regarding building a house of worship. The first case study, "church No 1", was demolished due to political conflict between Islamists and the state after the Rabaa massacre in 2013. In comparison, church No 2 asserts that Muslims' approval is a prerequisite for Christians' prayers. In addition to church No …

Racial, Ethnic, And Urban/Rural Differences In Transitions Into Diabetes: Evidence From The Health And Retirement Survey Biomarker And Self-Reported Data, Hyeran Chung, Mary Arends-Kuenning

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

We examine differences in transitions between stages of type 2 diabetes across racial, ethnic, and urban/rural statuses. The individual-level data from the 2006 to 2012 waves of the Health and Retirement Survey (HRS) and county-level data from the 1990-2000 U.S. Censuses, the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, and the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research are used to analyze the transition from the stage of prediabetic to diabetic, and the transition from having no diabetes to being prediabetic and diabetic. The HRS includes both biomarker data and self- reported doctors’ diagnoses of diabetes, which allow us to identify people …

Exploring Rural-Urban Differences In Polygenic Associations For Health Among Older Adults In The United States, Trent Davidson, Jason D. Boardman, Lori M. Hunter

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

A complex combination of genes and environment influence health and, as a result, both genes and environment can play a role in shaping health disparities. We consider distinctions in these influences across rural and urban settings, expanding upon work that shows lower genetic associations in rural compared to urban places by studying an older age group and examining more than the typical outcomes of alcohol/substance abuse. Using a sample of 14,994 adults from the 1992 through 2016 waves of the Health andRetirement Study, our results suggest genetic associations for BMI and heart conditions are significantly lower in rural compared to …

Socio-Spatial Disparities In County-Level Availability Of Aging And Disability Services Organizations, Claire Pendergrast, Danielle Rhubart

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Aging and disability services are essential for supporting older adults in living independently in their homes and communities as they age. Applying theoretical perspectives of community gerontology and spatial inequality, we use county-level data (N=3142) from the National Neighborhood Data Archive (NaNDA) and the American Community Survey to explore if and how availability of aging and disability services organizations varies across the rural-urban continuum and across compositional characteristics of counties. Results show that rural counties are significantly more likely to be aging and disability services deserts. Stratified models show that poverty rates and relative shares of non-Hispanic Blacks are positively …

Support From Adult Children And Parental Health In Rural America, Shelley Clark, Elizabeth M. Lawrence, Shannon M. Monnat

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Adult children are a primary source of care for their aging parents. Parents in rural areas, however, live further from their adult children than parents in urban areas, potentially limiting the support they receive and compromising their health and ability to age in place. We use two waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (2013 and 2017) to investigate the relationships among geographic proximity, adult children’s instrumental and financial support, and parental health. Rural parents live further from their adult children and receive less financial support, but they are more likely to receive instrumental assistance. In addition, rural parents …

Rural Population Health And Aging: Introduction To The Special Issue, John J. Green, Shannon M. Monnat, Leif Jensen, Lori Hunter, Martin Sliwinski

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This special issue of the Journal of Rural Social Sciences (JRSS) focuses on rural population health and aging. It showcases the work of scholars from several backgrounds and social science disciplines to advance knowledge in a critical field of investigation. Assembled through an open call for submissions coordinated through the National Institute on Aging (NIA) funded Interdisciplinary Network on Rural Population Health and Aging (INRPHA), the collection of articles helps inform a more nuanced understanding of the factors associated with rural places, which often have different health outcomes and aging patterns than their urban counterparts. The authors achieve this through …

Book Reviews

Great Plains Sociologist

Geoffrey W. Grant
Crime in Biological, Social, and Moral Contexts
Lee Ellis and Harry Hoffnan (Eds.)

Thomas C. Langham
Sociological Practice: Community Development and Other Community Applications, Volume 8
Alvin S. Lackey (Ed.)

Jerome R. Rosonke
Mirrors of Madness: Patrolling the Psychic Border
Bruce Luske

Kathleen A. Tiemann
Social Control and Deviance: A Critical Approach
Nanette J. Davis and Clarice Stasz

Harry Hoffman
Can Modernity Survive?
Agnes Heller

Janet Kelly Moen
Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques
Anselm Strauss and Juliet Corbin

Patricia Ann Wasely Lomir
The Sociology of Gender
Laura Kramer (Ed.)

John Flanagin
Maiginal …

Trend Analysis Of Rural Underemployment: An Example From North Dakota, Curtis W. Stofferahn, Cordell A. Fontaine, Lonny A. Borgerson

Great Plains Sociologist

The unemployment rate continues to be the major criterion used in selecting counties for special economic assistance. But the official unemployment rate is not a valid measure of either the quality or quantity of the rural labor force. The continued use of the official unemployment measure leaves rural areas at a disadvantage compared to urban areas in the distribution of economic development assistance. Home, et al. (1974) found that selecting counties on the basis of unemployment omitted many countieswith both the greatest labor potential and economic need for expanded industrialization. They found that under-employment was a much better indicator of …

Recent Changes In Hutterite Colony Expansion, William L. Smith

Great Plains Sociologist

Two thirds of present day Hutterians reside in the following four Canadian provinces: Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and British,Columbia.- The remaining one third have settled m five northern states of the U.SA.: South Dakota, Montana, North Dakota, Washington, and Minnesota. The number of Hutterites vary according to the sources quoted but the best current estimates indicate that there are approximately between 33,309 (Anderson, 1989) and 32,850 (Raber, 1987:55) as compared to 21,521 in 1974 (Hosteller, 1974) and 16,931 listed in a 1969 census of Hutterite members (Friedmann, 1970:101) and 16,500 in 1965 (Hostetler and Huntington, 1980:1).

Assessing The Myth: A Study Of Eligible Athletes' Grade Point Averages, Dave Vilhauer, Jerome Rosonke

Great Plains Sociologist

There is a common notion that athletes are not highly intelligent. For instance, the label "dumb jock" is often applied to an athletic competitor, and the phrase "big like-tractor, dumb like tractor" has been used to describe linemen in football. There is little question about society's view of athletes, however what is debatable is just how valid these stereotypes are. This research project is a study of athletes during a one-year period at Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D. (hereafter referred to as NSU). The institution of higher learning is located in the upper midwest in an agricultural environment, with …

The Effects Of Nonmetropolitan Net Migration Rates On Selected Demographic And Economic Characteristics, A. Olu Oyinlade, Linda L. Bear

Great Plains Sociologist

This study focused on the effects of net migration on employment in the non-metropolitan sectors of the Agricultural Western Plains Division of the West North Central Region between 1970 and 1980. The states that constituted the division are North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas.

An Application Of The Massacre Model To A 700 Year Old Mystery, Larry Zimmerman, James R. Stewart

Great Plains Sociologist

During the 1978 field season, the University of South Dakota's Archaeological Laboratory was contracted by the Corpsof Engineers, Omaha District, to remove what were thought at that time to be several burials from the end of the fortification ditch. The steep-sided area had been made unstable by a looter's hole. As a consequence of stepping-back the excavations so that the area could be stabilized, the remains of nearly 500 people in one large bone pile were exposed. Paramortem paleopathology of the massacre victims (Zimmerman, Gregg and Gregg 1981) indicated that every individual had been badly mutilated and many had been …

Gender And Perceived Severity Of Informal Sanctions: A Case Study Of Convicted Dui Offenders In Cass County, North Dakota, Terry D. Stratton, James H. Larson

Great Plains Sociologist

The use of informal sanctions as deterrents to socially undesirable behavior is not new. Particularly at a time when individuals (especially public figures) are subject to growing scrutinization, the breadth of public censure is expanding to envelop a seemingly wider array of moral and legal violations. Minor law-breakers, too, are being made increasingly aware of the public's social monitoring role a role which functions as a dynamic reference point by which individuals, on the basis of certain actions, are deemed to be "deviant" or "respectable" (Douglas, 1970). "What is relatively new, however, is the "formalization of the informal sanction"; that …

Front Matter, Clifford L. Staples

Great Plains Sociologist

Front Matter

Free Trade Or Managed Trade: Implications For North Dakota Farmers, Curtis W. Stofferahn

Great Plains Sociologist

Agricultural trade conflicts have escalated as major western economies have begun to subsidize their farm exports in an effort to gain or retain market shares. At the heart of this agricultural trade conflict is the escalating subsidies race between the United States and the European Economic Community. Total US farm exports soared in just ten years (1971-1981) from $8billion to $45 billion (Figure 1). Since then they fell dramatically to $28 billion in 1986. Simultaneously, the Economic Community expanded its value of agricultural export trade from $5 billion dollars in 1971to $28billion in 1981. By 1986, the EEC value of …

Affordable Rural Coalitions For Health (Arch): An Application Of Sociology, Richard L. Ludtke, Kazi Ahmed, Jack M. Geller

Great Plains Sociologist

The rural context for health care systems has been experiencing substantial stress in recent times. The population, from which providers must obtain patients, is no longer growing as it had during the 1970s, but rather is likely to be either stable or decline where agriculture or energy are the primary economic sectors (Agresta, 1985, Johnson, 1989). Accompanying depopulation, in farming and energy producing communities an economic stagnation or depression has also been occurring. Both the loss of population base and restricted economies serve to limit patient use of clinics and hospitals, reducing their revenues and contributing to a further limitation …

The Farm Movement In America's Heartland: A Profile Of Leaders, Their Power, And Problems, Suzan F. Pearson, Thomas C. Langham

Great Plains Sociologist

A body of new farm leaders emerged during the mid-1980s in response to the farm crisis in the Upper Midwest. This paper explores the influence of these leaders in shaping the direction of their groups. It does so through examining the farm leaders' socio-demographic characteristics, their use of power, and the way they confront problems. The leaders of two groups, the Farm Crisis Committee (FCC) and Groundswell (GS), are studied. The data for this paper were collected through use of a nonrandom-purposive sampling method. They were gathered through administration of a survey questionnaire in 1986 and intensive interviews during 1986-87. …

Front Matter, Clifford L. Staples

Great Plains Sociologist

Front Matter

Transnational Corporations: A Question Of Power, Ronald E. Stover, Melanie Eldridge-Lichty, Mansour Haghighatain

Great Plains Sociologist

pe important social processes that occur in modem societies —whether industrial or in currently industrializing societies —either originate in, or ^e strongly mediated by, formal organizations (Perrow, 198S:vii). Since World War II, a new and logically distinct organizational form — the transnational Corporation (TNC) — has arisen. With the ability to shift operations anywhere within a corporate domain that includes several countries, TNC's represent an extreme powerful organizational form. But in discussions and presentations about TNC s, communication relevant to their power and influence is sometimes inadequate. The purpose of this paper is to present a graphic illustration of the …

The Relationship Between Reservation Economic And Educational Structural Characteristics And Cultural Traditionalism: A Research Note, Terry E. Huffman

Great Plains Sociologist

The economic and educational structural characteristics of Indian reservations generally have been well documented. American Indians are among the poorest and least educated of America's ethnics. The 1884 Presidential Commission on Indian Reservation Economies (PCIEIE) reported that in 1883 the unemployment rate for Indians living on reservations was 22 percent. Furthermore, the Commission cited Census information as indicating that in 1880 around 408,000 Indians (or approximately 27 percent of the total Indian population) were living below the poverty line. Educationally, Indians appear to be faring better than in years past. However, PCIRB reported that in 1880 about one-third of the …

Marxist Feminist Theory: A Review, A Critique, And An Offering, Patricia Ann Wasley Lomire

Great Plains Sociologist

The relationship between gender and stratification is one of the most problematic areas in social science (Crompton and Mann, 1988). A review of stratification theory suggests that, in general, main-stream theories are inadequate since they often ignore the independent positions of females in stratification systems (Acker,. 1973, 1980; Lenski, 1988; Tyree and Hodge, 1978). In particular, Marxist feminist theories are limiting since they are unable to explain the origin and persistence of gender domination (Balbus, 1982; Crompton and Mann, 1986; Goldthrope, 1983; Halby, 1986). Although Marxist feminism is "the most prevalent feminist framework" (Jagger and Rothenberg, 1984), it is becoming …

A Study Of The Relative Contribution Of Selected Sociocultural And Personality Variables To The Exploration Of Prejudice And Discrimination In South Dakota, Dan Peterson

Great Plains Sociologist

An extensive amount of scholarly research has been done on the subjects of prejudice and discrimination. The vast majority of this research in the United States has focused on Blacks and Jews and very little on the American Indian. The general public had very little knowledge of the situation on Indian reservations or the relationship that existed between the Indians and Whites until the early 1970s when American Indian activists began to engage in protests. That emerged from these protests were images of white racism and bigotry, separatist movements and a general climate of hostility in those areas where protests …

Excessive Infant Mortality: An Exploration Of Factors Contributing To South Dakota Indians' Life Chances, Dana Dewitt, Donald Arwood, Linda Baer

Great Plains Sociologist

The consequences of racial inequality are clearly delineated in an analysis of social indicators between racial groups. Among the more direct indicators of social inequality are infant and general mortality rates (Anderson, 1973:286). Indeed, "no cold statistic expresses more eloquently the difference between a society of sufficiency and a society of deprivation than the infant mortality rate" (Newland, 1981:5). Societies of deprivation that produce higher rates of infant mortality are characterized by low levels of education (Bertoli at al., 1984; Heoht and Outright, 1979), poor health care (Gortmaker, 1879), lower socioeconomic status (Fordyce, 1977), and other problematic environmental conditions. South …

To Dehumanize And Slaughter: A Natural History Model Of Massacres, James R. Stewart, Larry J. Zimmerman

Great Plains Sociologist

The phenomenon of massacre appears as a blight on the history of mankind, and history is replete with numerous examples. Despite their apparent barbaric nature, however, massacres have probably been more common in the contemporary world. A concept of massacres is often evaluative based principally on public perception. Newspaper headlines detailing the gore of My Lai and Sabra-Shatilla captivated and titillated readers throughout the world. Reported, but not documented, examples of "mass murder" in Cambodia, Uganda and Afghanistan also attested to its prevalence. What combination of factors - sociological, psychological, political, or economic - produce this extreme form of group …

Front Matter, Harlowe Hatle

Great Plains Sociologist

Front Matter

Why Do Females Remain In Violent Dating Relationships?, David Olday, Jennifer Legg, Beverly Wesley

Great Plains Sociologist

Recent interest in the study of physical aggression/coercion in dating violence follows more than a decade of research on marital violence and violence against children. In the 1980's, studies have shown the frequency of violence in dating relationships to be approximately as high as in marriage (Makepeace, 1981, 1983; Laner and Thompson, 1982; Gate, et. al. 1982 and others). These studies revealed 20% or more of those sampled reported at least one incident of dating violence. Consistent with studies of marital violence, incidents are usually perceived as being relatively mild, involving slapping, pushing, and shoving (Henton, et. al., 1983; Makepeace …

Research Note: An Assessment Of Documentary / Bibliographic Resources Available For The Study Of Corporate Control, Jack Niemonen

Great Plains Sociologist

The study of the structure of power in advanced capitalist society has a controversial history, particularly in relation to the question "Who controls the largest industrial corporations in the United States?" Any attempt to answer this question requires that the concept of "control" be operationalized and that the appropriate data be gathered. Given the problem of corporate secrecy, and perhaps an inherent distrust of sociologists, such an investigation does not lend itself well-to traditional data gathering techniques. Documentary/bibliographic research shows promise for such investigations, but few systematic statements have appeared in the literature showing where to find data and outlining …

The Role Of Voluntary Association Membership On Rural Community Residents' Awareness Of Community Issues, Gary A. Goreham, Richard W. Rathge, Larry Leistritz

Great Plains Sociologist

Over the past several decades, communities in rural America have undergone dramatic changes, such as declining-populations, aging populations, loss of businesses, churches, and schools, and sagging economies. In agriculturally dependent rural counties, many of these changes have been related to shifts in the structure of agriculture, and more currently, to the economic crisis facing the agricultural industry. Awareness of and support for those farmers experiencing financial strain has been noted by both researchers and the public media. However, the degree to which residents of rural communities are aware of how farm financial strain affects their rural communities has not been …

Economic Hardship And Stress Among Farm Operators In North Dakota: The Suffering Effect Of Social Support, Kevin A. Kettner, Jack M. Geller, Richard Ludtke, Janet Kelly

Great Plains Sociologist

The changing economic character of American agriculture is producing more than just surplus crops, it is also producing measurable increases in stress. This stress is a consequence of the faltering economic conditions in rural America (Cogner et. al,, 1986; Farmer, 1986), which has significant implications for the well-being of our rural population. Long term depression, increased suicide rates, family strain and violence are all results of this economic change (Farmer, 1986). Faraer (1986), characterized the rural sector as financially, emotionally, and socially troubled. These troubles are directly linked to the economic crisis rural America is experiencing. Social scientists and mental …

Retirement Patterns Of Elderly Farm Operators, David Kavanagh, James R. Stewart

Great Plains Sociologist

Gerontological literature abounds with studies of retirement and has successfully refuted many of the prevailing myths and misconceptions about the negative effects that retirement was purported to have upon health, self-esteem and life satisfaction. Atchley (1971) concluded that a large majority of retirees generally expressed satisfaction with retirement. Heidbreder (1972) and Streib and Schneider (1971) also found mostly positive attitudes expressed by professional, white-collar and blue-collar workers and a majority in each occupational group reported that they were pleasantly surprised with their ease of adjustment to retirement. These and other studies, however, relied almost exclusively upon surveys of urban populations. …