The purpose of this research is to examine the longevity of the stereotype of the tragic mulatto in American film history. Specifically, my research focuses on the portrayals and perceptions of biracial actresses. Media informs, entertains, and influences how we, and especially youth, self-identify and interact with others. This research focuses on the portrayal of biracial actresses throughout film history. It is also important in its investigation of the perpetuation of the one-drop rule. In this research, I will examine if historical stereotypes of tragic mulatto are apparent in contemporary Hollywood film. The methodologies used in this research include a content analysis of films with biracial actresses and an online survey of respondents’ perceptions of four actresses. Statistical techniques used for analysis include ordinary least square regression and multinomial logistic regression. Findings suggest that the tragic mulatto stereotype is not blatant in contemporary Hollywood film, but issues of colorism may be apparent.

Diaspora philanthropy to India has grown rapidly over the past several decades. However, little is known about the motivations of Indians living in the U.S. to donate philanthropically to India. Extant studies have either focused on quantitative analysis of diaspora philanthropy or qualitative research on the receiving of diaspora philanthropy in India. The motivations and strategies of the Indian diaspora in the U.S. have not been explored, particularly, the informal mechanisms and strategies of making philanthropic donations to India and the obligations that underlie the practice of diaspora philanthropy remain neglected in the existing studies on diaspora philanthropy. My research addressed this gap in the existing literature on diaspora philanthropy by conducting qualitative face-to-face in-depth interviews with a snowball sample of 25 Indian engineers in San Diego, California. In my study, it was found that Indians preferred to channel funds for philanthropy in India through friends and family because of lack of trust in formal organizations and greater confidence in the activities of friends and family in India due to familiarity and better accountability. It was also found that Indians felt indebted to Indian society and the Indian nation-state for the free and subsidized education they had received in India, …

Adolescent fertility is a problem that is urgent in developing countries due to rapid population growth rates. To gain a better understanding of adolescent fertility within developing countries a study was undertaken to examine adolescent sexual behavior among teens within a developing country, Zambia. A self-administered questionnaire was given to secondary school going teenage women in Zambia. The sample population consisted of 503 women between the ages of 12 and 19. The survey was analyzed using both regression and univariate analysis of the data. The findings revealed that a high percentage of the teens have initiated sexual activity; yet few (4.2%) have ever used modern contraceptive methods. Suggestions were made for family planning programs that would involve both parents and their children.

This research expands on recent sociological studies which maintain that environmental contaminants in America are disproportionately placed in neighborhoods inhabited by minorities and the poor. Prior studies have focused on the predictor variables which identify areas of contamination near residential neighborhoods, yet fail to explore the socio-political and historical factors which contribute to these phenomena. The Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Release Inventory 1990 database, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission's Annual Report of the Hazardous and Solid Waste Program for 1992, and the U.S. Census Bureau's 1990 Census Data for Dallas County were utilized in pinpointing industries violating toxic release standards. Socio-historical data was obtained from government and historical records and reports, books, and newspaper clippings on Dallas County. Maps and data were obtained from the North Central Texas Council of Governments, and the cities of Dallas and Garland. Chapter I discusses the synergetic forces of capitalism, urban growth, uneven development, and settlement patterns resulting in the distribution of environmental contaminants. Chapter II reviews the literature and presents evidence that race and class are strong predictors of where environmental contaminants are located. Chapter III outlines the data and methods employed. Chapter IV traces the historical development of Dallas County. Chapter …

The conflict perspective of criminology and societal reaction to crime suggests that the administration of criminal justice is determined and controlled by those segments of society which are relatively powerful. Based on this perspective, it is reasonable to expect that relatively powerful groups or categories will be far less subject to severe criminal sanctions than will those who are relatively powerless. This proposition may be tested at points in the criminal justice system where decisions are made relative to the application of criminal sanction. The findings are that the relationship between race of offender and sentence length considered both with and without selected control variables is a uniformly weak relationship. In certain categories of control variables the relationship between race of offender and sentence length does strengthen slightly, but in no case are the relationships sufficiently strong to be significant at the .05 level. Partial correlation coefficients show the relationship between race of offender and sentence length to be little affected by the control variables. Therefore, the relationship between race of offender and sentence length is in all cases considered, and by every form of analysis, quite weak. Proportional reduction in error in virtually every case considered in this study …

Parental socialization values are compared over sixty years by using data from the Denton Parent Project collected in 1989 and from similar questions asked of parents in Middletowri in 1924 and 1978, The objectives of the study were as follows: how have parental socialization values changed through time since the 1920s; has the impact of parental social class status on parental socialization values decreased over time; compare Alwin's study on obedience and autonomy to see how trend has changed from 1978 Middletown to 1989 Denton; and, finally, look at certain family structure variables to determine their influence. Today's parents emphasize social acceptance and a sense of social responsibility in child training practice. Social class still has an impact on parental socialization values but not as great as expected.

Using data from the Chicago Homicide Dataset for years 1988-1992 and the Chicago Community Area Demographics, multiple regression and mediation analysis are used to examine various community level factors’ impact on Intimate Partner Homicide (IPH) rates per Chicago community area. The relationship between the percentage of non-white and IPH rate per Chicago community area is significant and positive, but disappears once economic strain is taken into account, as well as when family disruption is included in the model. There is a weak, but positive relationship between population density and IPH rates, but neither economic strain nor family disruption mediates the relationship between population density and IPH rates. Economic deprivation is positively related to IPH rates, but economic strain and family disruption partially mediate the relationship between economic deprivation and IPH rates. Finally, the relationship between the percentage of males aged 30-59 and IPH rates per community area in Chicago is moderately negative, but this relationship disappears once economic strain is accounted for in the model. However, family disruption does not mediate the relationship between the percentage of males aged 30-59 and IPH rates. These results indicate that some structural covariates impact IPH rates and that some relationships are mediated by …

Extant literature has documented well that people seek health information via the internet as patients and consumers. Much less, however, is known about interaction and creation behaviors in the development of new online health information and knowledge. More specifically, generalizable sociodemographic data on who engages in this online health behavior via social media is lacking in the sociological literature. The term “social e-health” is introduced to emphasize the difference between seeking behaviors and interaction and creation behaviors. A 2010 dataset of a large nationally representative and randomly sampled telephone survey made freely available from the Pew Research Center is used to examine social e-health behavior according to respondents’ sociodemographics. The dependent variable of social e-health behavior is measured by 13 survey questions from the survey. Gender, race, ethnicity, age, education, and income are used as independent variables. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the odds of engagement in social e-health behavior based on the sociodemographic predictors. The social determinants of health and digital divide frameworks are used to help explain why socioeconomic variances exist in social e-health behavior. The findings of the current study suggest that predictable sociodemographic patterns along the dimensions of gender, race, age, education, and income …

This archival and qualitative research adds insight into the psychosocial consequences females of sexual victimization incur. Sexual abuse is a pervasive, complex societal problem experienced by 30%-46% of American females. The psychosocial consequences are numerous, often severe, and can result in death. They include: anxiety, BPD, denial, dependence, despair, eating disorders, destructive relationships, fear, guilt, hallucinations, helplessness, hopelessness, hysteria, insecurity, isolation, MPD, nightmares, numbness, passivity, pessimism, phobias, PTSD, rage, self-loathing, sexual dysfunctions, shame, shock, sleeping disorders, stigmatization, stress-related disorders, substance abuse, and suicide. The severity of psychosocial consequences to female victims varies greatly depending upon the degree, duration, and emotion surrounding the abuse, the victim's health, and the health of the victim's social network. In conclusion, strategies suggested in the literature to combat female sexual victimization are outlined.

This study analyzes effective service delivery in organizations serving the mentally retarded. Qualitative organizational analyses of three community care facilities were compared to assess effectiveness. Data were gathered by systematic observations, field notes, documents, and employee interviews. Program analysis, the funding system of service delivery, and staff attitudes best indicated effective service. I concluded that effectiveness would improve by focusing on individual consumer needs and further defining service delivery.

The world has experienced a tremendous growth in its elderly population. With the aging of the population, policy makers are concerned about the health of these elderly as well as their utilization of health care and social services and perceived need for additional services. The Canadian elderly population is similar to other elderly populations in that a few tend to be the heaviest users of the available services. The predictors of this utilization behavior and perceived need primarily include need variables, such as the number of limitations of daily living -- both ADLs and IADLs, and functional limitations. In addition, enabling variables, such as income, work activity and geographic region of residence were also found to be significant.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the changes in countries of origin and occupational groups of immigrants to the United States after the implementation of the 1965 Immigration Act. The basic policy change in the 1965 Immigration Act was essentially the abolition of the National Origins Quota System. The new law led to obvious changes in the origins of immigrants. The number of Southern European, Asian and Caribbean immigrants significantly increased since the implementation of the Act. The sources of the various occupational groups shifted to some extent. The number of immigrants in the professional and highly skilled categories increased significantly. The impact of the changes aggravated the "brain drain" problem.

The problem with which this study is concerned is the description of the past and present trends in the process of urbanization in Nigeria. In addition, the study explores tribal practices and perspectives in Nigeria's urban areas, giving special attention to the bases for the continuous existence of these phenomena. The data used in the study are obtained from books, government documents of both the United States and Nigeria and the. United Nations demographic analysis documents. The study is divided into five chapters. Based on findings and research of this study, the conclusion is drawn that adaptation to Nigeria's urban life proceeds through modification of the traditional institutions and their combination with Western cultural values, technology and economic practices into a new social structure.

The main problem of this research was to discover if children's picture books over the last fifty years have depicted rural values more significantly than urban values. One-hundred and one children's picture books were systematically chosen for analysis. This study takes an overall view of the history of children's literature. Also included is a review of the current studies and literature most germain to this study. Content analysis was used as the technique of data analysis, A descriptive analysis of the sample is also given. The study supports the main hypothesis that rural set, tings and rural values do occur more often than non-rural settings and urban values in children's picture books.

The primary research questions dealt with whether parents consider different personality characteristics of importance for boys and girls. Data were collected by conducting a telephone survey of a random sample of parents in the city of Denton with children under the age of eighteen living in the household. Respondents were asked whether they considered the personality characteristics of responsibility, strict obedience, being respectful of the opinions of others, showing good manners, being independent, and having loyalty to a religion not important, somewhat important, or very important for boys and girls. Of the respondents fifty-nine were fathers and one hundred and twenty-one were mothers. The analysis of the data revealed that mothers and fathers have similar attitudes concerning the importance of these personality characteristics.

This study addresses itself to several issues in relation to public education in the United States. First, it examines the basic social philosophies underlying the development of mass education in the United States. Secondly, it asks the question: what is the purpose of public education? Thirdly, it relates the development of public education to a dominant source of social change--industrialization, and examines the relationship between the structure and function of education in the 1800's and early 1900's, and the needs of the marketplace. Fourthly, it examines the relationship between the curricula of education in the 1980's and the needs of high technology in the marketplace.

This research tested the hypothesis that militarization of societies, as defined by the percent of national budgets spent on military expenditures, has adverse effects on women's economic status relative to men's. This study also examined other predictor variables known to affect women's status. Data from sixty different nations were analyzed by means of multiple regression techniques. Results show that the militarization variable increased women's share of agriculture, which suggests that as men are mobilized into military activities, women are left to produce food for the country, a situation which can have contradictory effects on women's economic status. What is more important than militarization in predicting women's economic status relative to men's are high birth rates and sex ratios, which clearly depress women's economic opportunities.

Research on the ordination of women has focused on the effect in the church and on aspects of the personality of the women choosing the priesthood but not on effects on the families of ordained women. Using personal interviews, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale and the Bem Sex Role Inventory, spouses in 12 families which contain ordained women from Episcopalian, Methodist, Unity and The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints churches were analyzed to determine the effects of ordination on the families. Couples containing an ordained female were found to have slightly higher marital adjustment and significantly higher levels of androgyny than a standardized sample. Androgyny and marital adjustment were significantly correlated. The more androgenous, the greater the marital adjustment.

This study investigates the recovery efforts provided for low income and ethnic minority populations by organizations during the permanent housing phase of recovery in Watsonville, California, following the Loma Prieta earthquake of October 17, 1989. The case study format is used to discover what activities were performed and why each organization chose to perform them. Dynes and Quarantelli's (1968) typology of organization is used to explain how and why established, expanding, extending and emergent organizations participated in the recovery efforts. The findings indicate that the type of organization dictated the kind of tasks each organization performed. Organizations maintained activities during recovery for which they had experience, expertise and proficiency.

Family structure as a predictive variable of juvenile delinquency has been studied for the last hundred years. This relationship originated due to societal belief that divorce was detrimental to adolescents. Due to the changing societal roles in the United States, family structure has been changing. More children are growing up in non-intact families, such as single-parent households, households with stepparents, cohabitating families, and households without a parent present. To study the effect family structure has on juvenile delinquency, researchers have utilized social control theory, differential association, self-control theory and general strain theory to conceptualize variables to explain why family structure influences delinquent behavior. A review of previous literature on this topic indicates that living in intact households, which are households with two biological parents who are married, have, on average, the lowest rates of delinquency. This thesis investigates the relationship between family structure and lifetime marijuana use among eighth and tenth grade adolescents in the United States through the use of secondary data analysis of Monitoring the Future Study, 2012. The results provide support for the relationship between family structure and lifetime marijuana use.

Medication adherence is a formidable challenge for the elderly who may have several prescribed medications while dealing with limited incomes and declining health. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the Liberty 6000, an automated capsule and tablet dispenser that provides proper medication dosages and is intended to encourage and track medication adherence. Seven focus groups were assembled; these comprised 49 men and women ages 65 to 98 years of Black, Anglo, and Hispanic descent who met the following criteria: living independently or semi-independently, had suffered one or more impairments, and were taking at least three prescription medications. Each focus group session lasted 90 minutes and was tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim, resulting in about 2,600 lines of text. Each question was designed to be open-ended to avoid introducing any bias that might influence the response. The Health Belief Model conceptually guided the study that addressed perceptions of illness susceptibility and severity, barriers, benefits, and cues to action associated with medication adherence. Main benefits of taking medications included avoiding inherited illnesses (or tendencies for illnesses), and reducing illness symptoms. Barriers to taking medications included forgetting, dexterity problems, and high cost. Benefits of the proposed intervention included reminding, caregiver notification, …

Data from the National Survey of Households and Families were used to study the factors previous research identified as affecting post-divorce child adjustment. Responses from 358 divorced parents with custody of children under age 12 were analyzed. Special attention was paid to the effect of family financial status. The strongest predictor of problem behavior for both preschool children and school-aged boys was the amount of parent/child activity time. Older boys were also particularly sensitive to interparental conflict. Elementary-aged girls, however, were most affected by the presence of parental depression, which was found to be significantly associated with a decline in post-divorce family financial status. Only girls' problems showed a direct relationship with family income.

Many researchers have sought to identify the antecedents of deviant behavior. The purpose of this study was to explore whether family rituals might contribute to social control, and thereby reduce deviant behavior. Walter Reckless' containment theory provided the theoretical framework for the study. This theory suggests that both inner and outer containment variables control social behavior. It was proposed that meaningful family rituals would contribute to the development of inner and outer containment, and therefore, reduce the number of deviant behaviors committed by the respondents. In this study, the inner containment variable was self-esteem, and the outer containment variables were participation in conforming activities with family members both inside and outside the home, and participation in extracurricular activities. Two hundred and seven incarcerated respondents and 217 college students responded to three survey instruments, the Family Rituals Questionnaire, the Culture Free Self-Esteem Inventory, and a Family Information Inventory. Findings indicated that the college students reported experiencing more meaningful family rituals than the incarcerated respondents. Results indicate that the two groups differed significantly on all of the major variables. However, meaningful family rituals had little association with self-esteem, and self-esteem had no relationship with deviant behavior. Meaningful family rituals did account for …

This dissertation examines possible differences in media habits and tastes between Christians and non-Christians. The study utilizes data from singles Internet personal advertisements to determine whether or not Christians, especially those with high levels of religiosity or who may be part of the Christian Right, have different television viewing patterns. Three models were developed using multivariate data analysis and logistic regression to examine Christians' television viewing habits regarding reality shows, soap operas, and news. The first model looks at the viewing habits of Christians, the second model examines the viewing habits of Christians attending religious services at least monthly, and the third model analyzes the viewing habits of Christians attending religious services at least monthly and having conservative political views. No significant differences were found in viewing habits between Christians and non-Christians for any of the three models. Although the results of this study cannot be generalized to Christians as a whole, they suggest that Christians in this sample might have adopted secular practices with regard to their television viewing habits.