This is a sociological essay, named Reshaping Samoan Relations – a study on the increasing reports and regarding violence against women in Samoa, written by Shahab Mirbabaei. The aim of this study was to explain the reason, or reasons, for the increasing reports of violence against women to the police and help-organizations in Samoa.The study was done in Samoa by conducting semi-structured interviews with women, from the rural and urban areas, and with workers from relevant organizations that are involved with questions regarding violence against women. The women were primarily asked for general Samoans changing views of gender, violence and trust for police and help-organizations. The workers were primarily asked for changes in the working process in their organization.The main theoretical choices were Outsiders, by Howard S. Becker, and Masculinities by R.W. Connell. These theories allowed this this study to capture all the important elements by offering a terminology that focuses on gender and deviance.The main results show that different organizations have created a new set of rules for the Samoan society, which in the same time has weakened the Fa’a Samoa system. With the help of awareness, these organizations have criminalized domestic violence towards women in Samoa and offered solutions to women to combat violent occurrences. The awareness has extended the possibilities of women in Samoan society, and allowed them to challenge the authority that upholds the hegemonic rule of men. This challenge is partly seen by the increasing number of women that work in the public, and by women combating the violent occurrences by reporting the matter to outside parties.

Dados de contagem podem ser considerados, em geral, como provenientes de uma distribuição de Poisson. Neste contexto, a análise de tais dados apresenta certas dificuldades, pois não segue algumas pressuposições básicas para o ajuste de um modelo matemático. Desse modo, algumas transformações são sugeridas, mas nem sempre bons resultados são obtidos. No enfoque de Modelos Lineares Generalizados, a estatística que mede a qualidade do ajuste do modelo para os dados é chamada deviance. Porém, a distribuição da deviance é, em geral, desconhecida. No entanto, para dados com distribuição de Poisson, pode-se mostrar que a distribuição da deviance se aproxima de uma distribuição ?2, mas tal aproximação não é boa para tamanhos pequenos de amostra. Para melhorar essa aproximação, alguns fatores de correção para os dados são sugeridos, mas os resultados obtidos ainda não são satisfatórios. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho é propor um novo fator de correção para os dados seguindo uma distribuição de Poisson, de modo a se obter uma melhora na distribuição da deviance para qualquer tamanho de amostra. Para isto, será adicionada uma constante à variável resposta e, através do valor esperado da deviance, calcula-se tal constante de modo a reduzir o erro cometido na aproximação. Para verificar a melhora na aproximação da distribuição da deviance a uma distribuição qui-quadrado, dados de uma distribuição de Poisson são simulados e o valor da deviance é calculado. QQ-plots são construídos para a comparação com a distribuição qui-quadrado. / Analysis of count data presents, in general, can be supposed coming from a Poisson distribution. The analysis of such data have some problems once the underlying distribution of them does not follow the basic assumptions to fit a model. Some tranformations can be suggested, but good results are not always obtained. In the approach of the Generalized Linear Models, the deviance is the statistics that measures the goodness of fit, but its distribution is unknown. Furthermore, considering Poisson distribution data, it is possible to approximate the distribution of the deviance for a chi-square distribution, but such approximation is not good for small sample size. In order of improve this approximation, corrections for the data are suggested, but the results are not good yet. Then, the aim of this work is to propose a new correction factor for data following a Poisson distribution in order to obtain an improvement in the distribution of the deviance for any sample size. For this, just adding a constant at the response variable and, through the expected value of the deviance, such constant is obtained in order to reduce the error in the aproximation. Simulated data from the Poisson distribution were made to calculate the deviance with and without the correction and QQ-plots were used to compare the values of the deviance with the chi-square distribution.

A análise de dados de proporções apresenta, em geral, certas dificuldades uma vez que a distribuição subjacente a tais dados pode ser considerada binomial, que não segue as pressuposições básicas para o ajuste de um modelo matemático. Algumas transformações são sugeridas, mas nem sempre bons resultados são obtidos. No enfoque de modelos lineares generalizados, a estatística que mede a qualidade do ajuste do modelo para os dados é chamada deviance. Ocorre que a distribuição da deviance é desconhecida. No entanto, para dados com distribuição binomial, pode-se aproximar a distribuição da deviance por uma distribuição qui-quadrado, mas tal aproximação não é boa para tamanhos pequenos de amostra. Para melhorar essa aproximação, alguns fatores de correção para os dados são sugeridos, mas os resultados obtidos ainda não são bons para pequenas amostras. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho é propor um novo fator de correção para os dados seguindo uma distribuição binomial, de modo a se obter uma melhora na distribuição da deviance para qualquer tamanho de amostra. Para isto, adiciona-se uma constante à variável resposta e, através do valor esperado da deviance, calcula-se tal constante de modo a reduzir o erro cometido na aproximação. Simulações da distribuição binomial e o cálculo da deviance são feitos e QQ-plots são utilizados para a comparação com a distribuição qui-quadrado / not available

Cette thèse se fonde sur les résultats d’une enquête sur les représentations de la déviance fiscale construites par l’opinion publique en France et donne une réponse nouvelle à la question du consentement à l’impôt. Mêlant les méthodes quantitatives et qualitatives et se situant au carrefour de la science politique, de la sociologie, de la philosophie et de la psychologie, cette enquête révèle la manière dont la considération des représentations de la déviance fiscale peut conduire à la construction du civisme fiscal. En partant de l’influence des valeurs et des normes sous-jacentes aux représentations des évitements légaux et illégaux de l’impôt sur le comportement du contribuables, cette thèse propose une réflexion sur la nécessité d’un dépassement de l’opposition binaire entre le légal et l’illégal imposée par les réponses administratives et judiciaires aux évitements de l’impôt. Pour être efficace, la lutte contre l’« insécurité fiscale », pensée comme une voie de sortie possible de la crise économique, doit se construire dans et par la réappropriation citoyenne de la question fiscale et dans la défense d’une conception particulière du juste soutenue par un renouvellement du contrat social fiscal. / This dissertation is based on the results from a survey on the representations of tax deviance constructed by public opinion in France and gives a novel answer to the question of tax compliance. This research, situated at the crossroads between political science, sociology, philosophy and psychology, uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to reveal how the consideration of tax deviance representations can lead to the construction of fiscal civism. Looking first at the influence of values and norms which underlie the representations of legal and illegal tax avoidance on taxpayers’ behavior, this dissertation offers a reflection on the need to move beyond the binary opposition between the legal and illegal imposed by the administrative and judicial responses to tax avoidance. In order to be efficient, the fight against “fiscal insecurity”, considered as a possible way out of the economic crisis, must construct itself in and by the civic reappropriation of the fiscal question and in the defense of a particular conception of fairness supported by a renewal of the fiscal social contract.

In lower middle-income economies (LMIE), the nutrition transition from traditional diets to sugary foods and beverages has contributed to widespread early childhood dental caries. This qualitative study explores perceived risk and protective factors, and overall experiences of early childhood nutrition and oral health in indigenous Ecuadorian families participating in a community-based oral health and nutrition intervention. Dental exams of 698 children age 6 months through 6 years determined each child's caries burden. A convenience sample of 18 "outlier" families was identified: low-caries children with <= 2 carious teeth vs. high-caries children with >= 10 carious teeth. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with parents/caregivers explored the child's diet, dental habits, and family factors related to nutrition and oral health. Interviews were transcribed and thematically analyzed using grounded theory. In the high-caries families, proximity to highway and stores, consumption of processed-food, and low parental monitoring of child behavior were identified as risk factors for ECC (early childhood caries). In the low-caries families, protective factors included harvesting and consuming food from the family farm, remote geography, and greater parental monitoring of child behavior. The study results suggest that maintaining traditional family farms and authoritative parenting to avoid processed foods/drinks and ensure tooth brushing could improve early childhood nutrition and oral health.

This thesis focuses on how the deviance and criminality associated with illegal drugs are negotiated by adult recreational drug takers. The empirical research incorporates twenty-six interviews with people aged between 30 and 59, who have taken drugs within the past year. The participant group comprised equal numbers of males and females in a variety of jobs in the private, public, and voluntary sector. Some were parents and many were in long-term partnerships. The analysis of the interviews employed discursive psychology, which is a form of discourse analysis that focused upon how drug taking is justified, reasoned and described by the participants. As a result of this analysis, six frameworks were formulated, which describe how drug use is legitimised by the participants. These are: the reformed hedonism; the planned celebration; the drug cultures; the socialisation; the moderation; and the situational opportunity frameworks. Each of the frameworks is unique and demonstrates differences in: drug taking choices and preferences, the social context in which drugs are taken, and how drug use is controlled and maintained within adult life. These frameworks are not representations of drug taking ‘identities’; nor are they designed to unearth the ‘truth’ about drug consumption patterns, but they illustrate how participants present themselves with reference to their behaviour. The thesis also introduces a newly developed concept termed, drugscrimination. This is where participants make reference to a level of unacceptable drug taking behaviour, which is out of control, dysfunctional and driven by the desire for extreme intoxication. Drugscrimination is a is ‘technique of neutralisation’ (Matza and Sykes, 1957) whereby participants justify their own drug use by outlining it as less risky than other types of drug taking behaviour. The participants did not view their own behaviour as morally wrong, nor were they widely condemned for it by their friends and family. Participants were mostly concerned about the impact knowledge of their drug use could have on their jobs and careers. In addition, parents with young children were concerned others would question their ability to effectively parent their children. Different discourses are utilised to reason opinions about the correct societal response to drugs. These relate to the discourses of: addiction, freedom, acceptance, tolerance, and conformity. Each discourse can be used to either support or reject drug law and policy, which demonstrates the complexities of understanding drug use in society. Participants feel they should be able to make their own rational decisions about their behaviour; however these should be responsible choices, which are respectful of individual health and well-being, and should not negatively impact others in society.

Many researchers have sought to identify the antecedents of deviant behavior. The purpose of this study was to explore whether family rituals might contribute to social control, and thereby reduce deviant behavior. Walter Reckless' containment theory provided the theoretical framework for the study. This theory suggests that both inner and outer containment variables control social behavior. It was proposed that meaningful family rituals would contribute to the development of inner and outer containment, and therefore, reduce the number of deviant behaviors committed by the respondents. In this study, the inner containment variable was self-esteem, and the outer containment variables were participation in conforming activities with family members both inside and outside the home, and participation in extracurricular activities. Two hundred and seven incarcerated respondents and 217 college students responded to three survey instruments, the Family Rituals Questionnaire, the Culture Free Self-Esteem Inventory, and a Family Information Inventory. Findings indicated that the college students reported experiencing more meaningful family rituals than the incarcerated respondents. Results indicate that the two groups differed significantly on all of the major variables. However, meaningful family rituals had little association with self-esteem, and self-esteem had no relationship with deviant behavior. Meaningful family rituals did account for some variation in participation in conforming activities with family members inside and outside the home and for participation in extracurricular activities. However, the variables that were most significant for explaining deviant behavior were the risk factors of age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, neighborhood crime, and parents's deviance. Future research should explore the role of risk factors in explaining deviant behavior and study the role of meaningful family rituals and the role they might play in creating a qualitative difference in family life.

abstract: Academic deviance is a potentially detrimental behavior for students and universities alike in that it causes credit to be given to individuals where it is not due. Furthermore, it is a common occurrence, with around half of college students admitting to engaging in this behavior at least once. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between perfectionism, strain, and academic deviance. In doing this, this study uses data from a primary data collection effort in Arizona State University, with a final sample of 696 students, to answer three research questions: Are there differences in the likelihood of engaging in academic deviance by maladaptive perfectionists, adaptive perfectionists, and non-perfectionists? Are there differences in the perceptions of the wrongness of academic deviance between maladaptive perfectionists, adaptive perfectionists, and non-perfectionists? Are there differences in how context dependent maladaptive perfectionists, adaptive perfectionists, and non-perfectionists view academic deviance the wrongness of academic deviance? Ordered logistic regression are used to access these research questions. Results suggest that neither perfectionism nor strain were a significant factor in determining the likelihood that a participant would engage in an academically deviant behavior, or how wrong they believed that behavior to be. However, perfectionism did seem to have a mild impact on how context dependent individuals felt the wrongness of their behaviors, meaning that if the cause of the strain was due to the professor’s actions, students viewed academic deviance as less wrong, and self-control explained at least part of this effect. Strain, on the other hand, did not have a significant effect. Overall, the results suggest some legitimacy to the use of general strain theory to explain the potential relationships, given the relationship between perfectionism and context dependency. Additionally, the results support policy implications designed to reduce maladaptive thoughts and subsequently academic deviance, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Future research should examine the link between perfectionism and other types of academic strain. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Criminology and Criminal Justice 2020

abstract: Despite the changing social, legal, and political context in influencing the definition of mental disability, medical scholarship has maintained its position as the primary reference to interpret mental disability in the immigration system. This preliminary study examines the role of medical scholarship in attributing to the exclusion of undesired immigrants through its definition of mental disability. This paper focuses upon immigration cases to determine the patterns that emerge when immigration intersects with mental disability. The data consists of four immigration court cases in 1951-1985, 1986-2005, 2006-2015, which mark the shift of immigration policy in the United States of America (US). The court documents are collected from websites that provide online access to these documents. The examination of the cases focuses on three important criterions: a summary of cases, mental disability circumstances, and judges’ considerations. This paper uses the analysis of political deviance in courtroom settings to get an understanding of the shift in the definition of mental disability in the immigration court by tracing economic, political, and social environments that are intertwined and relevant in creating a ‘mental disabilitiy’ definition. This study suggests that medical scholarship has historically become powerful in shaping mental disability as a form of social control. From historical and case analysis, there have been changes in policies and processes toward immigrants appear to take place in the aftermath of major events—World War II, AIDS epidemic, 9/11 terrorist attack, and now Covid-19 pandemic. Preliminary examination of documented cases suggests future analysis could look at how these major events shape immigration processes and policies that more heavily rely on definitions of mental illness and use competency to stand trial proceedings to indefinitely detain people. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Justice Studies 2020

The concept of positive deviance (PD) has not been studied in the context of nursing. Grounded in narrative inquiry and combined with vocabularies of motive and symbolic interactionism, the purpose of this study was to explore whether PD behaviors existed in nursing, and if so, to develop an operational definition of PD for nursing. The research question addressed what PD behaviors, if any, were present in nurses’ workplace stories. Using posted flyers, eight participants either self-selected or were selected by snowball method to participate. Interviews were conducted in locations decided on by each participant. Interview data were obtained, transcribed, then categorized into the following behaviors: ability to flex with adversity (resilience), accountability for self and others, authenticity, autonomy, clarifying information in a professional way, connectedness, courage, intentional, interdependence, moral empowerment, not driven by a level of authority, political astuteness, responsibility, self-empowerment, speaking up even when it is uncomfortable, strong relationships, vision, and vulnerability. The findings from this study could impact positive social change in the following ways: (a) Nursing has its own definition to use: An intentional and moral behavior that departs or differs from the established norm, containing elements of innovation, creativity, adaptability, moral empowerment, self-empowerment, responsibility, or a combination of these attributes including a level of risk; (b) At the individual level, a way to define and back nurses’ actions in a safe way or be used as a professional nurse expectation; and (c) At the organizational level, the identified PD behaviors and definition can be an expectation for employees of how to express themselves in a professional, honest, and direct manner.