Social Psychology and Interaction Commons^™

Better Environment, Better Staff, Roger H. Hermanson, Joseph V. Carcello, Dana R. Hermanson, Bernard J. Milano, Gerald A. Polansky, Doyle Z. Williams

Faculty Articles

The article discusses result of a survey addressing the quality of work life among audit personnel in the U.S. The result shows that dissatisfaction in the work environment affects staff's performance. Creating customer value is one of the issues in business establishment. As stated, clients are demanding the expertise that comes with experiences. The quality of work environment may persuade outstanding staff members to pursue other career options. Financial rewards of public accounting are not the basis for changes in the rating of staff.

Self-Esteem, Sense Of Community, And Participation In Organized Sports: A Study Of Rural High School Students On Virginia's Eastern Shore, Michele K. Lee

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Using 1995 Survey data collected from high school students on Virginia's Eastern Shore, this study investigates how rural adolescents view themselves and their communities, and specifically how sports participation may affect self-esteem and sense of community. Adolescents, faced with a transition period between high school and adulthood, must begin to make choices such as attending college or technical school, entering the workforce, and/or moving away from their home communities. These choices are particularly important to the Eastern Shore because its economic vitality is in decline and its social vitality is hard hit by out-migration. Analyses of data from Northampton County …

Serial Killer Pedagogy, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"I will not mince my words. We live at a precarious moment in history. Relations of subjection, suffering, dispossession, and contempt for human dignity and the sanctity of life are at the center of social existence. Emotional dislocation, moral sickness and individual helplessness remain a ubiquitous feature of our time. Our much heralded form of democracy has become, unbeknownst to many Americans, subverted by its contradictory relationship to the very object of it address; human freedom, social justice, and a tolerance and respect for difference. In the current historical juncture, discourses of democracy continue to masquerade as disinterested solicitations, and …

Is Long-Term Relationship Satisfaction In Couples Correlated With Similar Partner Self-Schema Or Similarity Of Partner's Self-Schema To Ideal-Partner Schema?, James R. Rowley

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

The Problematics Of Representation In Community Mediation Hearings: Implications For Mediation Practice, Angela Cora Garcia

Natural & Applied Sciences Faculty Publications

Empowering disputants to represent themselves and create their own agreement is a frequently cited goal of community mediation programs. This paper explores how disputants' positions and interests are represented in mediation, and investigates the implications of such representation for the negotiation process. This narrative analysis of transcripts of videotaped community mediation hearings shows that disputant self-representation in mediation is never unconstrained. The interactional organization of mediation and the actions of mediators work to limit and define how disputants formulate their utterances. Mediator representation of disputants varies in the degree of intervention or coercion applied. Mediators may limit themselves to rephrasing, …

A Study Of Gender-Role Attitudes Among Contemporary White And African American Couples, Margaret Cecile Dust

Dissertations

Problem. Limited and conflictual studies have been completed on White and African American marriages and gender-roles. As a result, this study sought to compare perceptions of gender-roles in White and African American married couples. In addition, this study looked at relationships between gender-roles, length of marriage, and level of education in White and African American married couples.

Method. A total of 92 couples (26 African American, 33 White interacting married, 33 White non-interacting defacto) participated in this study. The defacto couples served as a control group.

The Bem Sex-Role Inventory, Masculine-Feminine Sex-Roles Survey, and a demographics sheet were given to …

Review Of Auguste Comte: An Intellectual Biography, Volume I, By Mary Pickering, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The appearance of a comprehensive biography of Auguste Comte (1798-1857) deserves our alert attention if for no other reason than the ubiquitous citations to his foundational work, Cours de philosophie positive, that fortify the footnotes of virtually every introductory textbook in the discipline of sociology. Without the extraordinary work of English sociologist Harriet Martineau (1802-1876), however, Comte's vision of a systematic, lawful science of society would in all probability remain buried in the encyclopedic French in which it was originally written and published. Martineau, in 1853, published her English translation and condensation of Comte's six-volume opus, and it is …

Long-Term Effects Of Social Skills Training On The Social Competence Of Children, Stephanie Lynn Schmitz

Graduate Research Papers

When one hears the term "social skills" many different ideas may come to mind. Yet no one can deny that social skills are an extremely important aspect of every person's life. This paper is devoted to defining and examining the long-term effects of social skills training on the social competence of children.

American Terrorism And The Sociological Imagination In 1995: A Sociologist’S Commentary, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

On Wednesday morning, April 19, 1995, a rented truck parked purposefully near the entrance to the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, exploded with extreme force, killing and wounding hundreds of people, including dozens of youngsters in a day care facility. The lethal explosion directly challenged the sovereignty and legitimacy of the United States government. The nation, our television sets reported, was in shock. How could such a terrible event occur in the United States? The television images, so much like frozen frames from a fantastic made-for-TV action-adventure movie, challenged our sensibilities and stung the national consciousness.

The Impact Of Social Support On Long Term Adult Psychological Functioning: Study Of The Role Of A Confidant In Adult Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Danny Ray Russell

Graduate Theses

This project examined the effects a confidant had on adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The subjects were volunteer adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse solicited from undergraduate and graduate psychology classes at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. Volunteers completed a childhood sexual abuse questionnaire, a confidant questionnaire, the Jaloweic Coping Scale and the Brief Symptom Inventory in a structured interview. The Jaloweic Coping Scale determined the coping styles and the Brief Symptom Inventory determined the symptom level. Those subjects that had a confidant were expected to have more successful coping styles and fewer symptoms as adults. …

Review: 'High Risk And High Stakes: Health Professionals, Politics And Policy', Patrick G. Donnelly

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications

Many studies of the law and policy creation process examine the efforts of particular interest groups and coalitions to influence the views and votes of legislators. Wysong focuses on the role of professional associations, specifically associations of health care professionals, in the legislative debate over the High Risk Occupational Disease Notification and Prevention Act, an example of what is most commonly known as "right-to-know" legislation.

The ethical codes and service-oriented goals of professions suggest that associations of professionals might act differently than interest groups. Wysong shows that the core groups in debates over health and safety legislation recognize that their …

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (Nlp): An Alternative Technique To Help "At-Risk" Students Increase Cognitive Learning Abilities, Mary J. Urquidez

Graduate Theses

A study was performed on at-risk students in the Midland Independent School District, Midland, Texas utilizing Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) as an alternative counseling technique for improving the cognitive abilities of students. Students were divided into control and experimental groups and pre and post-tested with the Developing Cognitive Abilities Test, (Second Edition) (DCAT) 1990. The experimental group was given twelve sessions of treatment utilizing Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Results of the study showed a trend toward improved strategizing for learning.

Analysis Of Levels Of Self-Esteem Among Male And Female High Achievers, Ladonna Weaver

Graduate Theses

This study investigated the hypothesis that female high-achievers possess lower self-esteem than their male counterparts at the high school level. This hypothesis was derived from an analysis of the self-esteem theory in relation to sex related roles and cultural norms. The hypothesis was tested using high school juniors and seniors, 37 male and 48 female students who were enrolled in Advanced Placement Honor classes at Odessa High School. Results showed that the females’ mean scores were considerably lower in each category of the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. The results supported the hypothesis that in high school, high-achieving females have lower self-esteem …

A Comparative Study Of Black And White Girls' Delinquency, Kenya Larae Covington

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

In this research, I examined the similarities and differences between black and white female delinquents. A secondary analysis of the Survey of Youth in Custody, 1987 data was utilized to answer the following research questions: (1) What factors contribute to each group's delinquency the most? (2) Are the factors that contribute to black girls' delinquency significantly different from those factors that contribute to white girls' delinquency? The study was guided by previous research on race and female delinquency, girls' victimization, the role of the family and school performance. The independent variables victimization, family structure, family function and school performance were …

Elderly Hispanics In The United States: Their Use And Non-Use Of Social Services, Paulina X. Ruf

Masters Theses

The Commonwealth Fund Commission on Elderly people Living Alone (1988), conducted the National Survey of Hispanic Elderly, 1988. Using data from this survey, the present descriptive work, examines the use and non-use of selected social services by general demographic characteristics of the elderly Hispanic sample. In addition, general characteristics of this sample are discussed. A summary of the findings and recommendations for future research conclude this thesis.

The findings indicate that although the elderly Hispanics in the United States reported needing the selected social services used in this thesis, many of them reported not using these services. Additionally, as the …

Benefits Of Formal Mentoring, Kimberly Hein Hutzell

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The development of capable and result-oriented employees is of critical necessity in the business world. During a period of cutbacks and mergers, as well as demanding work schedules and skill qualifications, corporations must identify methods of support and training which not only maintain, but increase and maximize production levels of employees. One method to address these conditions is formal mentoring. Formal mentoring is a deliberate job training partnership which seeks to increase employee performance as well as improve an organization's competitiveness. While this form of experiential learning has a history in the education sector, it has been introduced and implemented …

Racism More Than Private Belief, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This letter to the editor of the St. John’s University student newspaper, The Record, points out that racism is multifaceted, constituting more than simply a personal belief. Racist attitudes comprise a cognitive component (stereotypes), an affective component (prejudice), and a behavioral component (discrimination).

Homelessness: The Service Providers' Perspective On Blaming The Victim, Elizabeth Tracy, Randy Stoecker

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Service providers who work with the homeless are frequently characterized as victim blamers. Eighteen service providers who work with homeless people were interviewed. The victim-blaming typification oversimplifies service providers' views on homelessness and of the individuals their programs serve. Service providers have a wholistic analysis of homelessness which encompasses both individual and systemic components.

Waco Tragedy Product Of Groupthink, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This opinion column employs the eight symptoms of groupthink specified by Irving Janis to evaluate whether the tragic end to the 1993 FBI siege of David Koresh’s Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas — which culminated in deaths of 76 civilians — could have been the product of groupthink.

Attribution Of Stigma As A Function Of Disease And Mode Of Transmission, Alfred Maxdee Decker

Graduate Theses

The knowledge and attitudes of Odessa College health care students (N=114) towards hypothetical patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or hepatitis B virus (HBV) were measured via questionnaires. Transmission variables for infection were: anal sex with another man, injecting drug use, or blood transfusion. An Attribution Theory model was used to explain differences in knowledge and attitudes. Results suggest that students tend correctly to identify HBV as being more infectious than HIV and also to recognize that as future health care workers they are much more likely to die from HBV than HIV infection. In spite of this knowledge, …

Love's Constancy, Mike W. Martin

Philosophy Faculty Articles and Research

This article focuses on commitments between married couples.

Review Of Harriet Martineau: First Woman Sociologist, By Susan Hoecker-Drysdale, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Harriet Martineau (1802-76) is one of the most important and least appreciated founders of sociology. The author takes a significant and much-needed step in this lucid introductory biography of Harriet Martineau, from the standpoint of a sociologist. Hoecker Drysdale's decidedly sociological perspective distinguishes this volume from several parallel works that critique Martineau from literary, historical, journalistic, and other angles. With this book, the early woman sociologist whose writing influenced the likes of Edith Abbott, Herbert Spencer, William Sumner, and Lester Ward finally receives a book-length appreciation from a member of the one intellectual discipline that ought long ago to have …

Woman As Cat Monster: Sax Rohmer And The Green Eyes Of Bast, Mary Jo Deegan

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Monsters fill our nights with nightmares, cause us to shiver in terror and look over our shoulder when we walk down dark streets. In other words, monsters are fun. Famous monsters are often men of despicable shapes and minds: e.g., Count Dracula, Frankenstein, the mummy whose tomb has been violated, the werewolf, and Mr. Hyde. The world of female monsters, like their female human counterparts, is often populated by women who depend upon men for their status. Dracula picks beautiful women to become his bloody mates, and Frankenstein tries to take a "bride." More frequently, however, women are seen as …

Mentoring, Paradigmatic Change, And Institutional Structure: Charles E. Bessey And The Origins Of The Seminarium Botanicum At The University Of Nebraska, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The Seminarium Botanicum was a student scientific club that originated at the University of Nebraska during the closing years of the nineteenth century under the supportive eye of botanist Charles E. Bessey. The “Sem. Bot.” (as the club was known popularly) provided a mainspring for the paradigmatic development of the American school of plant ecology (Tobey, 1981). Based on archival materials at Harvard University, the State Historical Society of Nebraska, and the universities of Nebraska and Wyoming, this paper identifies the interpersonal dynamics and institutional matrix by means of which the “Sem. Bot.” became a catalyst for intellectual inquiry. The …

Sex, Lies, And Goffman: Embodiment And Fabrication In The Age Of Aids, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The frequently inexorable fatality, pansexual communicability, and lengthy period of asymptomatic latency of HIV combine to form biological realities and ecological dangers that are individually and socially problematic at very deep levels. How can we think sociologically about the AIDS epidemic? Talcott Parsons’ concept of “sick role,”2 a venerable and productive staple of medical sociology, gives us little to work with here, precisely as sexually active, HIV-positive but undiagnosed and asymptomatic persons do not see themselves as “sick.” Nor, importantly, do others, including: sexual intimates, friends, family members, employers, and health professionals. The interpersonal face of HIV is often trusted, …

Place-Identity And Homelessness : The Restorative Nature Of The Home, Marie Sadkowski

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research aims to address deficiencies in the Place-Identity literature and establish whether the home is a central and mediating environment within this theory. An exploration of the association between homelessness and Place-Identity provides a vehicle for clarifying the psychological role of the home and in doing so an increased awareness of this social problem is promoted. Korpela's (1989) and Kaplan's (1983) theories on place, accentuating active self-regulatory mechanisms and restorative environments, act as a catalyst and provide a solid foundation for this current research. The extensive literature on the home highlights the different conceptions that abound and the lack …

Mountain Goat Removal In Olympic National Park: A Case Study Of The Role Of Organizational Culture In Individual Risk Decisions And Behavior, Seth Tuler, Gary E. Machlis, Roger E. Kasperson

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Using a case study, the authors explore the mediating role of organizational culture in individual Risk-taking decisions and behaviors. They argue that organizational culture can establish unique conditions that lead to highly reliable performance of high-Risk, undesired tasks. The authors also discuss the need for further research and its implications for Risk management.

Critical Theory And The Pragmatist Challenge, Dmitri N. Shalin

Sociology Faculty Research

Habermas's theory breaks with the Continental tradition that has denigrated pragmatism as an Anglo-Saxon philosophy subservient to technocratic capitalism. While Habermas deftly uses pragmatist insights into communicative rationality and democratic ethos, he shows little sensitivity to other facets of pragmatism. This article argues that incorporating the pragmatist perspective on experience and indeterminacy brings a corrective to the emancipatory agenda championed by critical theorists. The pragmatist alternative to the theory of communicative action is presented, with the discussion centering around the following themes: disembodied reason versus embodied reasonableness, determinate being versus indeterminate reality, discursive truth versus pragmatic certainty, rational consensus versus …

Individual Response To Risk As A Function Of Normative Social Pressure: A Pilot Study Of Seat Belt Use, Kenneth D. Boehm, John T. Keating, Karl W. Pfefferkorn, Audra J. Pfeltz, Brady G. Serafin, Jessica L. Sullivan, Karen L. Thode, Kevin M. Vincent, Juanita V. Field

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The authors attempt to clarify some of the variables that influence whether people act appropriately when a Risk is substantial and subject to individual control. They do so by reporting results of a pilot study of seat belt use. Also, the authors believe their approach to be generalizable to problems such as encouraging people to test for radon, to use condoms to prevent AIDS or to quit smoking.

An Introduction To The Five-Factor Model And Its Applications, Robert R. Mccrae, Oliver P. John

United States Public Health Resources

The five-factor model of personality is a hierarchical organization of personality traits in terms of five basic dimensions: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience. Research using both natural language adjectives and theoretically based personality questionnaires supports the comprehensiveness of the model and its applicability across observers and cultures. This article summarizes the history of the model and its supporting evidence; discusses conceptions of the nature of the factors; and outlines an agenda for theorizing about the origins and operation of the factors. We argue that the model should prove useful both for individual assessment and for the elucidation …