Visual Purple is based on the author's experience with the Old Pasqua Youth Artists (OPYA) which is a biweekly, after-school program for Yaqui youth ranging from five to fifteen years of age. The paper seeks to relate the primary experiences of seeing and drawing linking them to cultural concepts, socialization patterns, and community setting. The Yaqui children's perceptual understanding acquired through learning and development co-varies with their cultural environment and upbringing. Through a content analysis of the OPYA artwork with special attention paid to the children's interactions, she contends that this understanding manifests as a set of aesthetic principles, the knowledge of core cultural symbols, and shared interpersonal behaviors based on cooperation, watching, and learning. The data suggests that the rich symbolism of Yaqui culture aesthetically socializes the children giving them an eye for detail and the ability to pick up and readily relay visual concepts.

A close reading of popular discourses on women and the AIDS epidemic reveals patterns that could be described as attempts to produce and reiterate notions of normative and deviant sexuality. Prostitutes, one frequently depicted "kind" of woman, are presented as indiscriminate, polluting to men, and categorically different from "normal" women. Other women depicted in AIDS discourses are almost always HIV-positive mothers or pregnant women; these women are usually only of concern insofar as they may infect their babies. The themes of self-control, self-discipline, and personal responsibility may also be used to stigmatize women. Such discourses suggest that those who have AIDS are responsible for their own illness. They also deflect attention away from the socioeconomic contexts which may make it more difficult for some to avoid infection, away from the connections between poverty, illness, and disempowerment, and away from the systematic inequalities that characterize U.S. society.

This Thesis asks the question of whether of not the appropriation of a Native American symbol by the dominant culture constitutes a profanity. The history of so called "Medicine Wheels" is examined, while looking at their possible uses in prehistoric times and how they are used today by both cultures. Duplicative ceremonies, conducted by those professing to be "Medicine Men/Women" are examined in a context of ethics, backed by the voices of the Native American community.

The client for this study, the Entheogenic Research, Integration, and Education (ERIE), was interested in the use of anthropological methods to examine the experiences of people who use psychedelics beyond the clinical setting. Through collaborative discussions with the client, we decided that the central questions guiding this research are to understand the various reasons why people consume psychedelic substances across the United States as well as examine the self-reported influences of psychedelics in various areas of participants' life and identity. Participants were recruited using stratified sampling and were given a confidential, online survey that also provided an option to arrange a semi-structured interview. In total, there were 103 completed survey responses and 25 interviews. The results of this research indicate that the reasons for participants' psychedelic use often change over time from strictly recreational or out of curiosity to intentions based on therapeutic and psychospiritual development. Additionally, the majority of both survey and interview participants believed their psychedelic use to have had a transformative influence on their health and well-being, perception of nature, identity, spirituality, and creative expression of art and music. Another theme uncovered in this research is the impacts of punitive drug laws on psychedelic use such as creating barriers to availability, fear of arrest and incarceration, and lack of social support due to the stigma associated with psychedelic substances.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, colonial governments across Africa, including South Africa, promulgated laws which aimed to prohibit the accusation of witchcraft, methods for the detection of witches and witch trials. However, while administrators saw merely superstition in witchcraft beliefs, “repugnant to the standards of civilisation”, many Africans saw an integral element of the social and spiritual order. The policing of witchcraft beliefs became a thorn in the side of colonial rule. This article brings to light some of the deeper historical complexities in policing witchcraft by looking at the application of witchcraft law in the early twentieth century ‐ a neglected period in witchcraft scholarship. Firstly, it examines some prominent discursive constructions of the concepts of “witchcraft” and the “witch doctor” during the early twentieth century, two terms which feature centrally in colonial witchcraft legislation. It argues that these terms were shrouded in a great deal of misconception and, at times, fear. Secondly, it examines instances in which the Transvaal Witchcraft Ordinance No. 26 of 1904 was applied at the Supreme Court level, demonstrating that it was employed in a wide variety of instances which often shared only a tenuous link to poorly defined notions of “the supernatural”. Nevertheless, diviners seem to have been especially prejudiced in the implementation of the law. Finally, archival correspondence derived from Native Affairs Department files dealing with witchcraft are examined to reveal that the job of policing witchcraft was rather more uncertain and ad hoc at the grassroots level than official “civilising” rhetoric may have suggested. While in principle there was no compromising with beliefs in witchcraft, in practice, such beliefs had to be carefully managed by local officials, who were given (often uncomfortably) wide powers of discretion in deciding when and how to employ the force of the law.

Judges 5 contains the Song of Deborah, a hymn celebrating the Israelite victory over Canaanite Hazor. Of the ten tribes called, only five responded. Why did five tribes "remain in the hills"? This thesis proposes Patron-Clientism as a socio-economic model for explaining this breach in Israelite solidarity. Patron-Clientism stresses that social ties must exist between non-cognate societies before economic exchange can occur. All five aberrant tribes had all migrated out from the central highlands into regions which were geographically and demographically hostile. These tribes found themselves residing as aliens within areas of Canaanite dominance. However, through fictive and sacral kinship the northern and trans-Jordan tribes had established the social matrices necessary to protect themselves against social and economic exploitation among their stronger Phoenician and Canaanite neighbors. These "border tribes" farthest from the Israelite central tribes could now enjoy economic benefits from their non-Israelite patrons. But these same tribes had also maintained social ties with their Israelite kin. When the war with Hazor began, these five tribes faced polarized obligations to both Israelite and Canaanite patrons. Unable to satisfy duties to both patrons, these tribes chose neutrality. This choice protected them from immediate reprisals, but consequences to their dichotomous Patron-Clientism would continue well into the Monarchic Period. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-08, Section: A, page: 3162. / Major Professor: John Priest. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

This research describes the conditions under which the evaluation of children varies in a sample of preindustrial societies. Male and female children are evaluated differently according to the particular pattern of structural characteristics of the society. The type of subsistence economy was the strongest predictor of the evaluation of all children, with the highest evaluation found in societies using intensive agriculture. Frequency of internal warfare and average female contribution to the subsistence economy also made differences in the evaluation. The evaluation of female children was highest when female power was high, when the average female contribution to subsistence was high, when the type of subsistence economy was not horticultural, and the descent pattern was not patrilineal. In this research the value of children was shown to vary cross-culturally, and with significant differences by gender. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-03, Section: A, page: 1109. / Major Professor: Marie W. Osmond. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

This dissertation is concerned with investigating the social "perceptual reality" of crime. Perceptual reality of crime refers to how society comes to view behavior, the criminal, and what society feels should be done to control crime. / Perceptions of crime discussed by this dissertation are centered around the consensus/conflict debate common to the discipline of criminology. "Players" in the consensus/conflict debate have traditionally been limited to academia and political rhetoric. This dissertation adamantly argues that a third player, popular culture, must be included if an understanding of society's perceptions of crime and justice are to be understood. / Special attention is given to sub-cultural forms of popular culture by this work. Justification for concentrating on sub-cultural forms of popular culture is to establish support for the hypotheses that American society is very diverse and that diversity often leads to conflict. / Following a literature review of popular culture's magnitude as well as a review of historical and contemporary theoretical analysis of the role played by popular culture in American society, the sub-cultural form of popular culture, rap music and rap music videos, are singled out for specific examination. / A research model designed to investigate whether or not conflict is reflected by sub-cultural forms of popular culture is presented. Following a discussion of the findings, the contributions of including the study of popular culture in attempting to better understand the formation and evolution of perceptual realities of crime in American society is critiqued. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-10, Section: A, page: 3884. / Major Professor: Michael J. Lynch. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

The transculturative and acculturative influences on bi-musicality were examined in post-revolutionary Cuban popular musical culture and behavior. A comparative approach was applied to the ethnomusicological investigation, focusing on the musical production and consumption of diasporic and resident sample populations across three generational levels. The study also provides an overview of musical life in Havana and Miami, including the musical developments of "revolutionary" musicians shaped by the regime's socialist ideological policies, contrasted with the adaptive expressions of immigrant musicians that function as cultural symbols of a displaced national identity. / A survey was conducted to assess cross-cultural and intergenerational differences in musical preference, music listening and music making frequencies, dance activity, and participation in musical culture. Attitudes concerning musicianship as a vocation versus an avocation were addressed, as well as their implications to the musician's self-perception as a member of society. Normative data were also collected involving familiarity ratings and typicality judgements for items contained in four categories of material and non-material musical culture. Correlations and relative frequency distributions are listed. / Statistical analyses of the data have revealed significant intergroup differences in listening preferences, and musical production, participation and education. The results ascertained the formative impact that the contrasting politico-socio-economic structures have on musical behavior and attitude. Inter-item analyses of 152 musical genres and subgenres were performed, and their respective profiles of popularization, retention, or decline are charted. / The data have provided indexes of balanced versus dominant bi-musicality, reflecting the degree of musical acculturation inherent in the successive generational subgroups. Strong acculturative effects were also observed in item familiarity and categorial prototype formation. The results support the theories of cultural retention, acculturation and syncretism, replication of uniformity, and the organization of diversity. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 57-04, Section: A, page: 1381. / Major Professor: Dale Olsen. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1996.

This "action research" examined a select portion of the "chain of results." Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to explore the possible relationships between organizational culture, training and job performance. The findings are: (1) When training is designed and does not purposefully incorporate the values, beliefs and norms of the organization, then the values, beliefs, and norms of an employee do not seem to be influenced. (2) There is not a significant relationship between all organizational culture factors and job performance; however, when "quality and teamwork" are important to an employee, then there is a significant relationship to job performance. (3) When an employee requires database management for the job and has no other mechanism for learning a database management program, training which has been designed using a modified "systems approach model" results in classroom performance which is better than someone who has not taken any training. The achievement scores are not considered mastery; consequently, suggestions are made for future course design and current course offerings. (4) With exception to "integrity" and "organization serving as a good neighbor" the values, and beliefs stated by the employee are espoused by the director of the organization. Recommendations are made to address the methodological and statistical issues of this study. Suggestions for how the results of this study can be applied to the organization are made. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-12, Section: A, page: 3995. / Major Professor: Roger Kaufman. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.