Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, San Francisco, 2010. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 71-05, Section: A, page: . Adviser: Vincanne Adams.

This thesis examines how Shia Muslims react to sudden, unexplained, and prolonged pain. In doing so, the thesis frames physical pain not only as physiological phenomenon but also as a phenomenon that is defined by historical, cultural and social context. Sudden, unexplained and prolonged pain not only produces physical hurt, it also has the capacity to interrupt individuals' social activities and as a consequence their identities and the meanings with which they are associated. For this reason, it is argued that biomedicine and psychology are not always capable of giving satisfactory accounts of the experience of pain. This failure frequently leads individuals who succumb to sudden, unexplained and prolonged pain to look for meaning in religious or quasi-religious experience. The thesis first explores historically divergent conceptions of pain. It then gives an overview of biomedical, psychological and sociological and anthropological conceptions of pain. A theoretical framework is developed that connects the experience of pain with broader social meanings, identity and the body. This framework is used to analyse qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews with Shia Muslim scholars and Shia Muslim respondents who have experienced or are experiencing sudden unexplored pain. It is shown that the religious worldview provides believers with cultural resources that allow them to negotiate the crisis of meaning and identity provoked by the experience of sudden, unexplained, prolonged pain.

Beginning in the ninth century, Chaco Canyon saw the construction of distinctive, large-scale masonry architecture that has come to characterize the Chaco culture system. However, the great houses of Chaco Canyon were abandoned long before European contact, leaving behind no record of why these large structures were originally built or what function they served. Pueblo Bonito, which was among the earliest and most centrally located of the Chaco great houses, entombed dozens of individuals in two small clusters of intramural burial chambers. Many of the remains were disarticulated, while others were buried with a remarkable array of grave goods, engendering a range of theories regarding who these persons were and why they were buried within the walls of this important structure. To address these questions, the present study uses methods derived from bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology by first reassociating the commingled human skeletal remains, then performing taphonomic and pathological analysis of these individuals. Reassociation of these remains prior to analysis permits more accurate assessment of sex and age of these individuals, as well as of their health status of these individuals in life and their treatment at death. Results of this study do not support previous interpretations that these burials represent sociopolitical elites, nor that they were the victims of human sacrifice, fallen warriors, or victims of cannibalism. This research does not indicate that the disarticulated bodies result from natural taphonomic processes, looting or vandalism, and points to a different perspective on Chaco mortuary behavior. This research offers a fresh perspective on who these persons may have been and what their disposition within the walls of Pueblo Bonito might signify / acase@tulane.edu

<p>This dissertation examines how perceptions of beauty in Brazil reflect both the existing social inequalities and the struggles to produce a more egalitarian society. While hegemonic discourses about beauty in Brazil foster an upper-middle class, white standard, the working-class make claims to citizenship by redefining beauty according to their own affective, sensory experiences. As I see it, the affective relationship that plastic surgery patients have towards their own bodies is central to understanding why beauty is a source of social recognition in Brazil. In this dissertation, I argue that even though discourse attempts to discipline the body to perceive only the "truths" it produces, subjects reinhabit discourses through their immediate sensory experiences, opening up the political space to generate social change.</p> <p>In order to access this form of "cosmetic citizenship," however, working-class patients undergo low-cost aesthetic surgeries in public hospitals, which are subsidized by the State and help build the national reputation of plastic surgeons. I argue that this national investment in beauty establishes personal appearance as a precondition for citizenship and inclusion in the nation. While media narratives construct beauty as a vehicle for upward mobility in Brazil, the medical discourse about beauty imagines the Brazilian population as becoming progressively homogeneous through "miscegenation" and surgery. These discourses depend on the raciology established by Neo-Lamarckian eugenics at the beginning of the twentieth century, and later popularized by the work of Gilberto Freyre.</p> / Dissertation

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-06, Section: A, page: 2529. Adviser: R. Barry Lewis. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 186-215) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

I conducted a mixed-methods collaborative ethnography using the lens of relational coordination theory. This included a qualitative survey using an established tool to analyze the relational dimensions of multidisciplinary teamwork, participant observation, interviews, and narrative surveys. Findings were presented to clinicians in working groups for further interpretation and to facilitate co-creation of targeted interventions designed to improve team relationships and performance. I engaged a complex multidisciplinary network of ~500 care providers dispersed across seven core interdependent clinical disciplines. Initial findings highlighted the importance of each dimension of relational coordination in trauma care. Narrative survey and ethnographic findings further highlighted the centrality of team briefings and a translational simulation program in contributing positively to team culture and relational ties. A range of 16 interventions – focusing on structural, process and relational dimensions – were co-created with participants after reflecting on findings and are now being implemented and evaluated by various trauma care providers. Relational coordination theory is a valuable way to conceptualize the coordination of trauma care. Collaborative reflection on quantitative and narrative data through this lens can be used as a community-based quality improvement tool.

Considering the changes the Lake Atitlan, Guatemala region has undergone in the last several years, ODIM (Organization for the Development of the Indigenous Maya) seeks to understand the needs of the San Juan La Laguna and San Pablo La Laguna communities, and to provide competent, culturally-aligned care that is affordable to the Indigenous Maya of this region. Using mixed-methods approaches that incorporate interviews, surveys, graphic anthropology, and evaluation methods, this study investigated (1) the formal and informal health care services (including those offered by ODIM) and how and why they are utilized by local Guatemalans, (2) Guatemalan perceptions and experiences of health, wellbeing, and illness to understand how they might influence health related behavior, and (3) community health care needs and how ODIM can fill those needs. These objectives served to inform key stakeholders of current gaps in healthcare services, provide feedback regarding the ODIM health services and programs, and provide insight into the current health needs in order to ameliorate the burden of disease and illness around Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. This study produced a comprehensive community health profile, and it discusses the current state of health care, explains the local perspectives of health care, and gives direct feedback and recommendations to ODIM's community health programs.

Whether it is social stigma or state policy, abortion seekers are facing an intense amount of obstacles when it comes to accessing their abortion in Texas during the pandemic. To better understand how COVID-19 affected the landscape of abortion access, it was necessary to listen to the experiences of abortion seekers during the pandemic. Experts in the field of abortion advocacy were also interviewed to provide perspective on the trajectory of abortion access during COVID-19. Abortion seekers were screened through a survey to ensure they met the criteria of getting an abortion, living in Texas, and being 18+ while experts in the field were contacted through my personal activist network. COVID-19 exacerbated challenges that already existed in the landscape of abortion access in Texas. Misinformation and managing the tentative scheduling of clinics are two of the most prominent exacerbated challenges abortion seekers experience. This is followed by an increase in exposure to unsupportive families as well as the expenses that come with traveling to appointments. The additional COVID-19 related restrictions created consequences that embodied themselves as delays in receiving abortion care, a much lonelier process, and tentative employment. A positive outcome of COVID-19 is the potential of abortion care being integrated into Telehealth services that would severely decrease the public harassment abortion seekers and providers experience from antis standing outside of clinics, travel expenses, and the lack of privacy some might feel when going into a clinic.

This paper examines the concept of safety as it encompasses the personal and technological spheres as imagined by a group of active duty service members, veterans, a police officer, and civilians, as well as the agency exercised by those with military or police backgrounds when it comes to safety technology. A group of seventeen individuals took part in a battlefield simulation to test a wearable junctional tourniquet created by ARMR Systems, LLC, an innovative advancement in tourniquet technology. After the simulation, participants were interviewed, surveyed, and took part in a focus group to determine not only product suitability but also to explore the underlying reasons for their recommendations for product changes. Results showed that those with military or police background performed safety rituals prior to duty and exercised agency in the desire to obtain the best possible personal safety devices and technology to be used for themselves and their comrade-in-arms. All participants expressed concerns for their safety in regards to technology in general, specifically, the hacking and use of personal data and what is perceived as lack of governmental oversight. Almost all of the changes to improve product safety, comfort, and utility were adapted. The topics discovered during the course of this research proves a need for safety product testing from an applied anthropological perspective.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-07, Section: A, page: 2774. Adviser: Winifred Poster. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 186-194) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.