Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Al-Murrah Tribe In Qatar: Political Impact, Ali A. Hadi Alshawi

Masters Theses

Tribes and tribalism play significant roles in the Arabian Gulf. The focus of this study is on the Al-Murrah tribe, one of the largest tribes in East Saudi Arabia and Qatar. This study will provide an analysis of the Al-Murrah political structure and their relationship with the Gulf states.

This study gathered information using three methods. This researcher visited about 30 majlis (sitting rooms for men) and listening to over 900 tribesmen respond to issues provided by the researcher. Historical and official documents were investigated and personal observation and experience were also used.

Al-Murrah have strong kinship ties which leads …

Wintertime Observations On Pig (Sus Scrofa) Decomposition, David Glynn Mcbride

Masters Theses

Detailed knowledge of the behavior of insects and other arthropods associated with decomposing remains is essential to estimate the time since death. To date, many studies have been conducted on human and animal decomposition rates in warm and/or humid climates, but little is known about decomposition rates in a northern wintertime environment. This study was undertaken to document the progression of decay and arthropod activity under these conditions and provide data that can be utilized for estimating time since death in such climates.

Six stillborn pigs (Sus scrofa Linnaeus) were placed in cages in a woodlot near Western Michigan …

The Effects Of Part-Training On Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Skill Acquisition And Retention, David William Hagedorn

Masters Theses

Many thousands of lives could be saved annually in America with the prompt and correct execution of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The bystander is a vital resource in the basic treatment of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. However, studies have demonstrated that not only is retention of these lifesaving CPR skills poor, but initial acquisition of the CPR skills during training may be inadequate. This paper reviews methods and tools for CPR training, discloses areas of retention loss, and proposes solutions to be explored with further empirical research. With critical skills like CPR, the urgency to better train lay people and medical …

An Extension To The Avc Discrimination Test By The Addition Of One Level Above Avc Level Vi, Charles P. Butler

Dissertations

Kerr, Meyerson and Flora (1977) devised a series of six small learning tasks that could be used to assess developmentally disabled individuals on the typical tasks to be performed in a school setting or sheltered workshop and required very simple equipment. The tasks were imitation, position discrimination, visual discrimination, match-to sample, auditory discrimination and combined auditory visual discrimination. Davinc (1990) suggested that there may be transitional skills between AVC levels IV and V not found by Kerr et al. Davine (1990), Wilson (1991) and Buder (1992) devised a series of experimental tasks designed to test this notion. All used nonidentity …

Zambian Nurses And The Aids Crisis: Towards A Socio-Cultural Analysis Of Hiv/Aids, Alicia Worley

Masters Theses

This study addresses the need for AIDS research that goes beyond quantitative in formation to deal with the complexities of local context. Sociocultural analyses have been frequently lost in a sea of research that is rooted in a biomedical/quantitative paradigm. As a result of this, issues of political economy, culture, and human agency are often handled at best, tangentially-this to the detriment of prevention and control programs. This study underscores the factors involved in the spread of HIV that lie outside the realm of physiology and medical "fact." The perception and responses of Zambian nurses at a governmental training hospital …

Trauma In Adult Incest Survivors, Jane Kay Hedberg

Masters Theses

This study explored the traumatic effect of childhood incestuous abuse on the adult survivor. Eleven subjects were interviewed for this study. Hindman's (1989) trauma scale was revised, exploring issues of relationships, mental health, and living skills dysfunctions. In addition to the global score, the scale was disaggregated. Relationships between trauma and age at onset, physical and emotional violence, frequency, identification of self as victim, current relationship with offender, and response to disclosure were explored.

Several dimensions of feeling responsible were reported by victims, including feeling that there was something about them that made others victimize them, feeling responsible for protecting …

Job Satisfaction Among Foreign Employees In The Private Sector In Saudi Arabia, Abdulrahman Al-Suwaid

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships among job satisfaction and demographic variables for foreign employees in the private sector in Saudi Arabia.

The population for this study was foreign employees in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia. A sample of 206 employees participated in the study from four private organizations in Riyadh. Each organization was visited to obtain permission to collect data from foreign employees. All subjects were given a packet of forms that included the Job Description Index, Job in General Scale, and Demographic Data Sheet. The subjects' responses were entered into the SPSS …

Criminalizing Pregnancy: An Analysis Of The War On Drugs And The Fetal Rights Movement, Sheryl R. Fett

Masters Theses

The focus of study was the war on drugs and the fetal rights movement as they relate to the criminalization of pregnancy. There was a movement in the 1980s and early 1990s to prosecute pregnant women for prenatal drug use under child abuse statutes and/or drug delivery statutes.

A social constructionist framework was used to analyze this movement. This thesis utilized a qualitative case study relying on documentary analysis. Literature on the war of drugs and the fetal rights movement was analyzed as it related to the prosecutions of pregnant drug users and the subsequent criminalization of pregnancy.

It was …

The Effects Of Systems-Centered Versus Individual-Centered Training On The Analysis Of Organizational Problems, Jane E. Devries

Dissertations

This study analyzed the effects of systems-centered (S) training, individual centered (I) training, and no formal training (C) on the ability to identify organizational problems. Three groups of 10-14 undergraduates participated. Subjects completed a pre-test that required analysis of 10 one-page vignettes describing some type of organizational problem. Each participant rated the quality of the vignettes to assess the amount of critical information presented, and identified the organizational problem, the rationale for targeting the problem, and questions that should be asked of the management to obtain more information. Groups S and I received six hours of systems-centered training or individual …

An Experimental Analysis Of Instructional Technologies Applied To The Three Contingency Model Of Performance Management, Judith S . Devoe

Dissertations

This research had four goals: (1) to refine the theory of performance management based on rule-governed behavior and refine the three-contingency model of performance. management, (2) to develop a university-level programmed instruction unit to teach the three-contingency model of performance management, (3) to test for functional independence between response classes—using concept-discrimination and concept-exemplification, and (4) to test a common assumption of programmed instruction— the necessity for active responding (this assumption was tested with both concept-discrimination training and concept-exemplification training).

Participants included fifty-nine undergraduates enrolled in a behavior analysis course. They were randomly assigned to one of four groups: (1) the …

The Writing Response In Studies Of Topography-Based And Selection-Based Verbal Behavior, Osborn Cresson

Dissertations

The position taken in this paper is that the observable world is the only one needed in our analysis, that behavior is a reaction to the environments in which it occurs, and that language is more behavior that can be studied effectively as a dependent variable that varies as a function of independent variables manipulated by the experimenter.

Our goal was to study topography-based and selection-based verbal behavior with emphasis on the writing response and then to produce a report that would serve as a guide for other students of behavior and environment.

Sixteen undergraduate college students participated in 115 …

Changes In Hypnotizability As A Function Of Suggestion-Based Experimenter Manipulations, Marlin 0. Trulsen

Dissertations

Limited behavioral research exists on the subject of hypnosis. A behavioral perspective maintains that a "responding to hypnosis suggestion" class of behaviors exists for each individual. For individuals more readily responsive to hypnosis suggestion, this "responding to hypnosis suggestion" class of behaviors exists at greater strength due to a previous history which strengthened these behaviors. These individuals respond strongly to hypnosis suggestions and behave as "high hypnotizables". For others, the "responding to hypnosis suggestion" class of behaviors exists at weaker strength due to the absence of the necessary history. These less responsive individuals could directly benefit from the many medical, …

Gatherings No. 7 Fall 1994, Friends Of The University Libraries

Gatherings: Friends of the University Libraries Newsletter

Complete issue of Gatherings no. 7. Edited by Laurel Grotzinger.

Sharing And Cooperation In Western Michigan, Lance Query

Gatherings: Friends of the University Libraries Newsletter

No abstract provided.

There Is No Such Thing As The Dictionary, David Isaacson

Gatherings: Friends of the University Libraries Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Out Of The Dark Continent, Beatrice Beech

Gatherings: Friends of the University Libraries Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Fortunate Choices: A Friends' Personality, Gordon Eriksen

Gatherings: Friends of the University Libraries Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Women In The Forefront, Sharon Carlson

Gatherings: Friends of the University Libraries Newsletter

No abstract provided.

... And We Keep On Building Prisons: Racism, Poverty, And Challenges To The Welfare State, Paula L. Dressel

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Prison-building is argued to be an intervention of last resort when a nation loses faith in the social welfare enterprise. Recent proposals for more punitive regulations for means-tested benefits, along with the recent dramatic growth in the construction of prisons and in the size of the inmate population, indicate that we are moving as a society toward heightened levels of scapegoating and victim-blaming as a response to troubles generated by significant structural shifts in the economy. This paper analyzes the connections between poverty, punishment, and prisons, with particular emphasis on the scapegoating of people of color. The role of racism …

Public Child Welfare Professionals - Those Who Stay, Rhonda Reagh

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Public child welfare workers-especially those working in the "trenches" -are the life blood of child protection. Yet, the ever present challenge is keeping committed and talented professionals in the field. This article is based on a 1990 study which examined the phenomena of staying in the field through the eyes of the professionals who have done so. The study investigated the life histories and work experiences of 18 selected child welfare workers in a mid-western state through data gathered from in-depth written and oral life histories. Findings provide insight into the world of the child welfare worker.

Review Of The Economics Of The Welfare State. Nicholas Barr And The Welfare State. Assar Lundbeck. Reviewed By Henry J. D'Souza, University Of Nebraska At Omaha., Henry J. D'Souza

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Nicholas Barr. The Economics of the Welfare State. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1993. $59.50 Hardcover, $18.95 papercover.

Beyond Coping: An Empowerment Perspective On Stressful Life Events, Lorraine M. Gutierrez

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Research on stressful life events has demonstrated their negative effects on health and mental health. The possibility of empowerment, how individuals can take action to change their situations, has been largely overlooked by this research. Empowerment theory and research suggest that the outcome of stressful life events can be less debilitating when individuals are encouraged to identify with similar others, to develop specific skills, to perceive the societal or institutional components of their problems, and to engage in change on a collective level. This article develops this perspective by proposing how an empowerment perspective can enhance our understanding of the …

Creating Social Democracy: A Century Of The Social Democratic Labor Party In Sweden. Klaus Misgeld, Karl Molin, And Klas Amark.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Klaus Misgeld, Karl Molin and Klas Amark (Eds.). Creating Social Democracy: A Century of the Social Democratic Labor Party in Sweden. University Park, PA: Penn State Press, 1993. $65.00 hardcover, $16.95 papercover.

The Elusive Boundaries Of Social Work, Arnon A. Bar-On

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Repeated attempts to conceptualize social work have assumed that social work should and can have a precisely defined domain. One suggestion is to equate social work with personal social services. This article suggests that the uniqueness of social work lies in the very absence of defined boundaries. Implications for social work practice are identified, in particular social work's heavy dependence on resource controllers, and the consequent need of social work education to shift its traditional focus from client-centered interventions to managing non-client interactions.

Human Development Report 1993. United Nations Development Program.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

United Nations Development Program. Human Development Report 1993. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. $29.95 hardcover, $17.95 papercover.

Editorial And Remarks, Gary Matthews, Charles Guzzeta

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

No abstract provided.

From Entitlement To Contract: Reshaping The Welfare State In Australia, Richard Weatherley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Australia has sought to contain social welfare expenditures through more stringent targeting of benefits, increased scrutiny of applicants, and by requiring more vigorous job search and training activities. The changes implemented since the Labor Party assumed office in 1983 represent the most sweeping restructuring of the Australian welfare state in 50 years. They mark a shift from an individualistic, rights-based view of welfare state entitlements to one stressing reciprocal obligations. This article examines the origin and implications of this reshaping of Australia's welfare state programs. It considers the dilemmas of enforcing workrelated obligations and other compliance measures in an era …

Review Of Diverging Pathways: Social Structure And Career Deflections. Alan C. Kerkckhoff. Reviewed By Karl L. Alexander, Johns Hopkins University., Karl L. Alexander

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Alan C. Kerckhoff. Diverging Pathways: Social Structure and Career Deflections. Cambridge University Press, 1993. $49.95 hardcover.

Contemporary Political Idealogies. Roger Eatwell And Anthony Wright.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Roger Eatwell and Anthony Wright (Eds). Contemporary Political Ideologies. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1993. $48.50 hardcover, $16.95.

Rethinking The Progressive Agenda: The Reform Of The American Regulatory State. Susan Rose-Ackerman.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Susan Rose-Ackerman. Rethinking the Progressive Agenda: The Reform of the American Regulartory State. New York: Free Press, 1993. $24.95 hardcover.