Este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar os contextos de início do consumo do cigarro em diferentes grupos sociais, a partir das representações cotidianas em torno do ato de fumar. Partiu-se dos referenciais teóricos do campo da Saúde Coletiva, que compreende a droga como mercadoria, cujo consumo relaciona-se aos diferentes desgastes inerentes às formas de reprodução social dos grupos sociais. Para apreender o objeto, cinco grupos sociais foram identificados no município de Santo André: população em situação de rua, trabalhadores do programa Geração de Trabalho de Interesse Social, estudantes de cursos profissionalizantes oferecidos pela prefeitura de Santo André e dos cursos de Educação para Jovens e Adultos, alunos de curso universitário que apresentam condições estáveis de reprodução social, apresentando situação de trabalho e vida confortáveis e alunos de curso superior com maior estabilidade no trabalho e na vida. Foram utilizados dois instrumentos, um questionário com questões fechadas sobre as condições de reprodução social de cada grupo, e um roteiro de grupo focal mediado por questões abertas, para promover a discussão sobre os contextos de início de uso. Seguindo-se as diretrizes de análise das representações cotidianas, a análise dos dados permitiu contextualizar como cada grupo representa o início do consumo do cigarro, além disso, também foram analisadas as representações comuns aos grupos. Os resultados mostram a existência de representações cotidianas comuns a todos os grupos, mas com nuances particulares, de acordo com o meio social em que os grupos estão inseridos. Algumas representações são preponderantes ou particulares de alguns grupos. A investigação mostra que muitos são os contextos de início de consumo do cigarro, e que compreendê-los pode facilitar o desenvolvimento de ações educativas direcionadas aos diferentes grupos sociais. A posição dos grupos na divisão social do trabalho pode limitar as possibilidades de apreensão das implicações do consumo do cigarro e as possibilidades concretas de promover mudanças. / This study aims to analyze the context of initiation of cigarette consumption in different social groups, from the everyday representations about smoking. It started from the theoretical framework of the field of Collective Health, which understands drug as a commodity whose consumption is related to damages that are inherent in the different forms of social reproduction of social groups. To grasp the object, five social groups were identified in the municipality of Santo André: 1) homeless people, 2) workers of the a social program of the municipality - Geração de Trabalho de Interesse Social-,3) students of professional courses offered by the city of Santo André and of educational courses especial for young people and adults that lost regular school, 4) college students who have stable conditions of social reproduction, with work and life situations comfortable and 5) college students with greater stability in work and life studying in expensive university Two instruments were used, a questionnaire with closed questions about the conditions of social reproduction of each group, and a focus group mediated by open-ended questions to promote discussion about the contexts of initiation. Following the guidelines for analyses of everyday representations, it was possible to understand how each group represents the beginning of the consumption of tobacco. It was also analyzed the common representations across the groups. The results show the existence of everyday representations common to all groups, but with particular nuances, according to the social environment in which groups are embedded. Some representations are prevalent in specific groups. Research shows that there are many contexts of initiation of cigarette consumption, and that understanding them can facilitate the development of educational actions directed to different social groups. The position of groups in the social division of labor can limit the possibilities for understanding the implications of cigarette consumption and the real opportunities to promote change.

This thesis provides an ethnographic account of post-industrial life in East Manchester, a locality which has undergone repeated waves of regeneration. The neighbourhoods of Beswick and Openshaw were once located at the heart of manufacturing during the Industrial Revolution but have since undergone deep social and economic change in the twentieth century which has resulted in widespread unemployment and perceived ‘social deprivation’. In 2000, New Labour introduced a regeneration plan to create ‘New East Manchester’ with the hope that material transformation would bring about economic growth and social change by creating a cohesive community and a productive and profitable space in the post-industrial city. This research, however, demonstrates that for long-standing residents, the relationship between redevelopment and change is more complex than this simple formula may suggest. Despite millions of pounds of investment and radical physical transformation, long-standing residents argue that East Manchester is dislocated and characterised by an overwhelming sense of uncertainty about the future. The thesis draws on twelve months of residential, ethnographic fieldwork carried out in 2010. It focuses on a group of older, female, long-standing residents and explores the issues which are important to them which include neighbourhood risk, memories of the past, gift exchange, housing and political alienation. For these residents, change is understood in terms of unpredictability and inequality. Images of a stable past are drawn upon in order to articulate anger and frustration against mainstream politics and feelings of social exclusion. On the surface, it appears that social life has declined and community has fractured due to the pressures of economic and social change but, on further examination, it is clear that intense social relations and attachments to East Manchester continue to exist. In order to understand the apparent contradiction between narratives of community decline and observations of social relations which are evident in East Manchester, this thesis argues that it is necessary to re-examine concepts of community, belonging and class which are presented in the anthropology of Britain literature.

FundaÃÃo de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Cearà / O trabalho aborda o conceito de classe em O Capital, refletindo suas lacunas e apresentando possibilidades analÃticas quanto da elaboraÃÃo de uma definiÃÃo categorial coerente a respeito da classe proletÃria, estabelecendo nexos coerentes entre relaÃÃo de propriedade, trabalho assalariado, antagonismo ao capital e posiÃÃo ideolÃgica enquanto propriedades constituintes da classe. Por sua vez, reportando-se ao percurso metodolÃgico pelo qual Marx avista sua crÃtica ao modo de produÃÃo capitalista em O Capital, revelando os fundamentos teÃricos capazes de nortear uma anÃlise sistÃmica do proletariado, superando definiÃÃes abstratas, marcadas pela rigidez estereotipada que reduz o proletariado ao trabalhador fabril. A incorporaÃÃo do mÃtodo dialÃtico a anÃlise do proletariado expressa seu carÃter histÃrico e processual de seu desenvolvimento, identificando os trabalhadores intelectuais qualificados â entre os quais os professores â como componentes da classe trabalhadora moderna, e, consequentemente, determinando os rumos da luta de classes e a formulaÃÃo do programa revolucionÃrio. / This thesis addresses the concept of class in Capital, reflecting its gaps and presenting analytical possibilities when elaborating a coherent definition regarding its categorical definition, establishing consistent links between the property relation, wage labour, antagonism to capital and ideological position as constituent parts of the working class. In reference to the methodological approach by which Marx mentions his critique of the capitalist mode of production in Capital unveils the theoretical foundations capable of orienting a systemic analysis of the proletariat, overcoming refusive abstract definitions to a stereotypical stiffness based on an ideal obreirista focused description. The incorporation of the dialectic method to the proletarian analysis distinguishes the historical character and fluidity of its development, identifying skilled knowledge workers, including teachers, as components of the modern working class, determining the course of the class struggle and the elaboration of the revolutionary program.

Social class remains a largely unexplored domain of psychological research. While steps have been taken to develop interventions for racism and sexism, no such model exists in regard to class bias. College is one particular context in which it is likely for lower-income students to experience heightened class identity saliency and encounter class-related friction. Prior literature has shown that classism is associated with negative psychosocial and academic outcomes for college students. The proposed intervention is designed to reduce class bias on elite college campuses, where a majority of students come from privileged backgrounds and class tensions are often neglected. Participants will enroll in a for-credit course that will shed light on issues of classism and encourage students to think critically about class-related issues. Effectiveness of the course will be assessed in two ways. Reduction in class bias will be measured using an implicit measure of social class bias. Participants will also complete a self-report measure of awareness of social class issues. Participation in the course is expected to result in decreased class bias and greater awareness of social class issues. Furthermore, it is predicted that awareness of social class issues will mediate the relationship between course participation and reduced class bias. Research findings will have valuable implications for the success and wellbeing of students affected by classism. The proposed study has the potential to bridge class divides within college communities and promote educational equity.

Many social scientists consider race, class, and gender to be the three main axes of inequality and a plethora of research covers these topics. As such, a wealth of knowledge has accumulated about how they affect individuals' life chances and trajectories. Much is also known about how race and gender affect interaction, but what about social class? Little is known about the role of social class during interaction compared to gender and race. Thus, the focus of this thesis is to better understand the effect of social class during interaction. Moreover, I examine social class in combination with gender. I first present meta-theoretical orientations to interaction, social class, and gender. I orient my empirical studies with the theoretical research program of Expectation States Theory (EST). In Chapter 2, I explicate Status Characteristics Theory (SCT), a robust theory from EST. Here I provide two innovations. First, I link implicit social cognition to SCT, and second, I provide illustrations of the mechanisms of SCT. In Chapter 3, I present descriptions of a "rich guy" and "poor guy" from focus groups of University Iowa undergraduates. Two very distinct profiles emerged. In Chapter 4, I present a 12-condition experiment to test explicit and implicit cues of social class on status processes in isolation and in combination with gender. Using the standardized experimental setting of EST, I present social class as a series of interactional cues, which to my knowledge is a first in the EST tradition. The data partially support the theory. In Chapter 5, I discuss the empirical chapters, limitations of the studies, and future directions.

The purpose of this thesis was to examine children's perceptions toward teachers, as related to the child's social class background, and to investigate the influence of social class upon their perceptions. A projective pictorial test, which consisted of nine pictures concerning teachers and children, was administered individually to forth fourth grade school children in two Ogden, Utah, public schools. The findings of this study were that there are differences between middle and lower-class children in their perceptions toward teachers. Children of middle-class backgrounds showed more positive perceptions toward teachers, and lower-class children were found to have a more negative perception of teachers.

It is an accepted construct that literacy proficiency is vital to economic success in America. As well, research has shown that home literacy use, especially parental practices, is instrumental in the children's acquisition of literacy skills, and later, proficiency with school literacy tasks. While literacy research abounds regarding family literacy practice, especially that of low-income mothers and children, rarely is the concept of class specifically addressed as separate from race. The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the reported home literacy practices of nine white working class women residing in a neighborhood in the Southeastern United States. A semi-structured interview protocol ensured that all women addressed the same basic literacy areas while still allowing room for individuality and discussion. A phenomenographical approach, designed to obtain a better understanding of literacy practice via studying each individual woman's experiences and perceptions of those experiences combined with feminist informed narrative analysis was utilized to analyze the data. Field notes and a researcher's reflective journal added to the data. Results indicated that the nine women participants used print based literacy in varying amounts for functional, social, and aesthetic purposes. These purposes were both public and private, and commonly, functioned as a tool to meet their needs in four areas: organization, information, communication and diversion. These results support the findings of other socio-cultural literacy researchers (Barton & Hamilton, 1998; Finn, 1999; Gee, 1996; Heath, 1983; Street, 1995) who contend that creating meaning is the driving force behind any act of literacy. A conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that there is a range of literacy practice within this particular population, white working class women, that has been heretofore unreported. Their perceptions of the functions of these practices are instrumental in their literacy use, and that of their children. As working class represents a substantial portion of the American population (Teixeira & Rogers, 2000), this data may serve to inform future educational literacy instruction.

<p>Sleep problems are one of the most common health complaints in the population. Furthermore, people often judge good sleep as crucial for everyday well-being and it has been shown that lack of sleep has negative health effects. However, sleep has not been a subject of much sociological study.</p><p>In this study sleep problems are analysed in different ways. First, a cross-sectional analysis is done in order to find out whether sleep problems in the population have increased from 1968 to 2000. Secondly, a longitudinal analysis is done to see how sleep problems pattern from middle-age to old-age. Last, it is analysed whether there are any differences in the sleep patterns from middle-age to old-age for manual workers and non-manuals.</p><p>This study shows that there has been an increase in sleep problems from 1968 to 2000 in the population. However the increase has only affected younger age groups (between the age 19-55), the elderly population is unaffected. The increase is found among both men and women. Longitudinal analyses of a cohort (born 1915-1925) followed from middle-age to old-age (for 34 years) showed that one out of four experienced an onset of sleep problems during the study. This is in line with earlier research stating that insomnia to a large part is age-related. Furthermore, it was found that manual workers had a larger increase of sleep problems across the 34 years than non-manuals, perhaps suggesting an accumulation effect.</p><p>All analyses were separated for gender and women constantly reported more sleep problems than men. This is not surprising since this relation have been found across almost all cultures and times. Nevertheless, in this study no increase of the gender gap was found with advancing age, a relation found in most other studies. However more research is needed to understand the reason behind the gendered nature of sleep problems.</p>

The thesis analyses the fear of the lower classes which manifests itself in various ways in Swedish society and it examines if it is justified. It gives four different views of the "dangerous lower classes" and illustrates the greatly differing view­points that exist. At the national level the debate on The social question in literature, the press and the Riksdag is particularly intensive during the 1830's and 1840's. It concerns the great proletarianising and pauperising of the countryside and its' suggested consequences: criminality, vagrancy, begging, drunkenness, immorality, and ignorance. Then the lower classes "dangerous crimes" are investigated. They consist of the offences of disorderliness and drunkenness. Crimes of violence are infrequent and committed by people from all societys' levels. Property crimes are certainly mainly practised by those in the lower strata, but they are also infrequent and give a clear impression of "crimes of necessity". Neither crimes which are a danger to society nor a revolutionary threat can be perceived. The three parishes studied in Skåne try to close their borders against unmarried pregnant maids, unmarried mothers, "married farmhands" and those with crimi­nal records. A ban on marriages is also used against poor people. Behind this lies a fear of increased poor law expenditure. Those with power seek to carefully control lifestyles, clothing and the sale and consumption of alcoholic drinks. Despite entry controls a concentrated poor population, the Slättafolk, arises in one of the parishes. They live at the margin and some of them, at times, resort to illegal methods in order to stay alive. Thus there is no great threat to property. Neither is drunkenness nor immorality prominent. The analysis gives two different pictures. One occurs in the national debate and partly in the parish records and is a view from above. The lower classes consist of a lower and bad sort of person who must be controlled and discip­lined. Another picture is glimpsed at the micro level. It shows people who live in extreme poverty, sometimes genuine want, but all try, by all possible means, to improve their situation. The lower class people have a desire for justice and equality and resist oppres­sion. There is potential violence which explodes at times. Knowledge of this causes the upper classes to be afraid of the lower, a fear strengthened by events out in Europe where, in Hobsbawms' phrase "The age of revolution" is current. / digitalisering@umu

In this essay, I analyse the characters of Frodo and Aragorn in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and Peter Jackson’s film trilogy in order to see if traits and relationships are consistent between the novel and the films. Any changes in characters and the ways they interact in relationships entail changes not only to the overarching narrative, but potentially to the most important themes of the story: friendship and heroism. This is important for the general discourse on the films as adaptations, since they have been accused of not being true to the thematic core of the source material. Peter Jackson’s claim that the intention was to always remain true to the spirit of Tolkien’s novel, then necessitates a closer comparison of the two works. Therefore, in investigating the characters I look not only for differences and similarities, but also for the repercussions these have on the story and the potential reasons behind them. By examining the characters from the perspective of the novel, the films and the filmmakers’ commentaries, I discuss how the removal of social class in the films changes the actions of the characters and consequently affects the themes of friendship and heroism. I also bring up the effects of changing from a novel to film as well as the symbiotic relationship between the character traits and the narrative as a whole. This essay shows that though the social class, character traits and the narrative flow are changed in a circular pattern. A closer look at the films reveals that the story’s core themes of friendship and heroism not only remain consistent, but are given more emphasis than in the novel.