Boston University. University Professors Program Senior theses. / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-02

Colonial discourse has typically defined and limited understandings of Aboriginal history. By analyzing the educational, housing and employment issues found in the fieldnotes compiled during the research of Harry Hawthorn’s 1958 report, The Indians of British Columbia: A Study of Contemporary Social Adjustment, this work attempts to sidestep some of the binaries inherent in colonial discourse and uncover perspectives that have commonly been overlooked. It does this by adopting Émile Durkheim’s analytical lens of anomie. But whereas standard anthropological and sociological models of anomie used to understand social dysfunction within Aboriginal communities have been limited by a superficial understanding of the factors that lead to social disintegration as societies transition from mechanical or organic organization, this study uses an alternate definition of anomie (informed by Robert Merton’s conception of goals and means) to challenge common historical understandings of Aboriginal people’s relations to education, housing, and steady employment. Contrary to lingering stereotypes and common portrayals in historical scholarship, the analytical lens of anomie allows us to appreciate that Aboriginal people placed a great deal of importance on education, desired and invested considerable resources to improve their housing conditions, and wished for steady employment and the security and predictability it offered. The fact that these goals were often not realized is attributed in part to the limited means Aboriginal people had available to them. Higher levels of education were difficult to attain because schools were insufficiently resourced and difficult to access, and attempts to improve homes were often stymied by lack of materials and an income to pay for them. Finding steady employment in the 1950s was especially difficult for people restricted to fishing, logging, ranching or trapping, as primary industries, already undependable by their very nature, underwent technological changes and consolidation that made them even less accessible to Aboriginal people. The more critical factor in limiting the achievement of goals, however, may have been the government’s role, as explained by Durkheim in The Division of Labor In Society. Durkheim argued that solidarity could be compromised as societies transitioned from mechanical to organic organization if certain criteria were not met. Such a scenario would most likely be brought about by inappropriate state regulation, which Durkheim characterized as the over-extension of regulation, constraint and inconsistency. Each of these factors was clearly visible on Aboriginal reserves in the 1950s as the Department of Indian Affairs and its Indian Agents attempted to control minute aspects of people’s lives, prevented them from taking an appropriate role in governing their own communities, and failed to create and carry out consistent policies. In the end, Durkheim’s understanding of state regulation opens an avenue of enquiry that enables us to challenge the notion that Aboriginal people were unable to transition from traditional to modern life, and allows us to appreciate the fuller significance of the state’s failure to enable effective governance for Aboriginal people.

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India is often described to be a country with a fast growing economy and progressive indicators of human development. However, over the last decade there has been a growing concern of increased reporting of sexual violence in India which seems to contradict the first description. Therefore this creates a problem on how we can understand and explain this. The objective of this study is to try to gain a deeper understanding of some of the underlying factors of increased reporting of sexual violence in India, and to understand in what way the ‘modernization’ process possibly could be put in relation to this, something that is analyzed with help from Durkheim’s theory of anomie. This study draws on a qualitative desk study with a compilation of material from existing research on sexual violence against women, both at home and in public spaces. The findings were analyzed in relation to Durkheim’s theory of anomie and gender theories from two authors. The results show that some of the underlying factors for increased reports of sexual violence against women in India, like patriarchy, education and employment for women and gendered power inequalities are in a complex interplay. It was further seen as ‘traditional’ norms and values clashed with ‘modernity’ and caused these factors for violence. The outcome of the study showed that the increased reporting of sexual violence can be related to the ’modernization’ process both in a positive and negative way. Through Durkheim’s theory of anomie it was possible to see that ‘modernization’ could have caused a state of anomie, which has lead to deviant behavior and resulted in increased reporting of sexual violence against women.

Univ., Diss--Augsburg, 2002.

Konstanz, Univ., Diplomarb., 2001.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Robert K. Schaeffer / This exploratory research project has utilized a mixed-method (Seiber 1973; Creswell 1994, 2005; Jick 1979; Dexter 1970) approach to examine why some NFL players participate in deviant, and sometimes law breaking, behavior and others do not. Using Dexter’s (1970) qualitative technique of elite and specialized interviewing along with Schatzman’s and Strauss’s (1973) naturalistic field method, access was gained into an exclusive group of current and former NFL players. The qualitative findings in conjunction with Durkheimian theory provided the conceptualization of a quantitative instrument. Through a nonprobability snowball sample (Babbie 1986; Berg 2001), 104 NFL players were interviewed. A series of quantitative analyses were run to describe and assess relationships within this study group. In essence, this study has entailed a series of steps that could be represented as a cumulative progression. From the qualitative data, the three core themes that emerged were (1) deviance, (2) anomie, and (3) social ties. Within the study group, a substantial number of players had prior experience with deviant and illegal behaviors. Many reported problems coping upon entering the NFL and sought to find personal fulfillment and happiness despite wealth and fame. It appeared that some level of anomie was present in a number of these players’ lives. However, players that had strong ties to various social groups appeared less likely to succumb to anomie and deviance. Supporting the qualitative data, the quantitative findings revealed that anomie was one of the significant predictors of law breaking players. It would therefore appear reasonable to suggest that some of the players were involved in behaviors that could be labeled anomic deviance. Furthermore, the findings supported the primacy of social ties/support in combating anomie and deviance in the lives of NFL players in the study group.

This study explores the relationship between religion and anomie. The theoretical framework of Durkheim and Merton was used to suggest the hypothetical relationship between the two variables: as religiosity increases, anomie decreases. A secondary analysis was conducted using the 1991 General Social Survey (GSS). The GSS is one of the largest annual surveys conducted by the National Opinion Research Center. There were 1517 adult respondents composing the 1991 cross-national sample. Questions measuring both the belief and action dimensions of religion were used to measure respondents' level of religiosity. Questions from the Srole Scale of Anomia were used to measure respondents' level of anomia. Durkheim's theory that religion functions to integrate individuals into the larger society and therefore diminish levels of anomie was not supported with this data. While the lack of significant findings did not support the theory, neither did it disprove it. The hypothetical inverse relationship between class and anomie was supported with this data. Another hypothetical relationship, that of the most religious, women experience less anomie than men, was also not supported due to the lack of a significant relationship among the primary variables. Continued use of comprehensive and large scale surveys such as the General Social Survey is crucial. This research suggests the need for further testing of these hypotheses using more elaborate measures.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OFBrett Lacey, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice, presented on March 26, 2021, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: LEGALIZATION EFFECTS ON ILLEGAL MULTI-STATE CANNABIS DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Christopher W. Mullins Although a broad and detailed history of illegal cannabis trafficking networks exist, it remains a relatively understudied group in the current legal context. Prior research has been limited in three crucial aspects: it has been geographically limited to single states or jurisdictions, studies have been limited to examining one role while mentioning others only peripherally, and the majority of earlier similar studies were conducted from the 1980s through 2000s. It is unclear whether these findings represent current black market actors in the cannabis industry. This study will attempt to address these temporal, legal, and geographical gaps in empirical research through conducting in depth semi-structured interviews with 36 active illicit cannabis traffickers from California, Colorado, Illinois, and Oregon. Overall, it addresses how illegal cannabis distribution networks operate across varying roles, their decision making processes regarding legality, the processes involved in shipping or mailing cannabis, and the corresponding monetary system involved with conducting transactions without physical interaction. Overall findings mirrored prior research in that the black market of cannabis will persist and continue to flourish in the current legalization context. However, findings also indicated that black market actors are highly adept to adapting to policy, possess considerable business acumen, and detailed an entire system of trafficking and associated monetary system rarely mentioned previously. To theoretically contextualize this research, this study utilized institutional anomie theory, organizational adaptation theory, and rational choice theory.

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