Research supports that aggression is one of the best known predictors of future social, psychological, behavioral, and academic problems. Longitudinal studies have demonstrated that aggression through bullying is detrimental for both the aggressor and the victim and is correlated with many negative outcomes including depression and poor school achievement. Recently, scholars have recognized that there are a wide range of bullying behaviors, including physically, overtly, and relationally aggressive behaviors. Relational aggression refers to behaviors that harm others through damage (or threat to damage) to relationships or feelings of acceptance or group inclusion. Most studies of relational aggression have not addressed the social contexts within which children develop, including the context of school. The present study explored the relationship between student reports of the frequency of school-based relational and overt aggression, teacher reports of the frequency of school based relational and overt aggression, and office discipline referral data (used as a measure of school climate). Fifty-eight third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students (boys and girls) and nine teachers from a public elementary in Massachusetts school participated in this study. Students completed an anonymous survey about relational and overt victimization and relational and overt witnessing. The teachers of the students also completed an anonymous survey about the frequency with which they witnessed and intervened with relational and overt aggression. Office discipline referral data were collected for one month. Data indicated that students and teachers reported witnessing similar levels of relational aggression. However, teachers reported witnessing more overt aggression than students. In addition, students reported witnessing significantly more relational aggression than overt aggression. Of note, although students reported witnessing significantly more relational aggression, they reported experiencing significantly more overt aggression. Office discipline referrals revealed that students were more often sent to the office for overtly aggressive behaviors than for relationally aggressive behaviors. Survey findings are discussed in light of the school climate data provided by the office discipline referrals. Future research should further investigate the complicated connections between student report, teacher report, and school climate as they relate to bullying and relational aggression, in particular.

At the turn of the 21st century, research universities are increasingly seeking funds in the private sector through grants, contracts, industry-university partnerships, and commercialization of research (academic capitalism). As industry-academia partnerships grow, cultural tensions are likely to occur as the result of fundamental differences between business and academic values. Given that graduate school provides anticipatory socialization to the academic profession, this trend leads to important questions about the changing nature of these professions, including: How are graduate students coping with conflictive cultural messages as they are socialized in environments where both industry and academia coexist? The purpose of this study is to focus on the socialization of graduate students to investigate the effects of academic capitalism on the anticipatory socialization to the academic profession. The overall methodology is a case study of an academic department engaged with high levels of academic capitalism and the main sources of evidence are doctoral students. Ethnographic interviewing and analysis was used to obtain the participants' cultural domains of knowledge around academic capitalism. Given previous studies, a remarkable finding of this work is that the majority of the students could not see any negative effects of industrial funding and are very satisfied with the opportunities that it offers to enrich their training. Leaving behind the dichotomy of business versus academic values, these students see partnerships with industry as a way to achieve the traditional outcomes of the academic profession. The cultural knowledge that these students might bring to their entering institutions reflects an integration of traditional academic values with new perspectives brought by academic capitalism. This study reinforces a utilitarian perspective in which industry, government and academia associate in productive collaborations to generate knowledge, transfer technology to society, and educate the future generation of scientists. However, more studies are needed in departments with different levels of funding and prestige in order to determine the extent of the implications of academic capitalism across different academic contexts.

There is conflict in memory over the quality and character of legally segregated schools for blacks. On one hand, there is a profoundly negative national memory of these schools as "inherently inferior" compared to their white counterparts. On the other hand, there are overwhelmingly positive counter-memories of these schools as "good" among many former students, teachers, and community members. This dissertation explores one aspect of this conflict in memory by examining the collective remembering and perspectives of former teachers. The research is driven by two enduring questions: (1) How can we explain the existence of a national memory of legally segregated schools for blacks as "inferior" and the collective remembering among former teachers of these same schools as "good?" (2) Given the well-documented inequalities linked to the geopolitics of race and racism in the Jim Crow South, from the perspective of former teachers, what was the quality and character of teaching in the all-black school before federally-mandated desegregation in the South? The data consists of 44 oral history interviews with former teachers in three counties in the North Carolina coastal plains, local and state archival materials, and secondary historical sources. The dissertation is divided into three parts. In the first part, I advance a theory of collective remembering based upon hidden transcripts. I found that participants in my study remember from hidden transcripts—latent reports of the social world created and lived in all-black schools and communities. In the second part, I show how the voices of collective remembering among participants reveal hidden social relations and practices that were constructed away from the guise of white educational authorities. I found that participants fashioned situated pedagogies for the acquisition of educational capital that black youth could exchange for jobs, civil rights, and social power. In the third part, I conclude that the national memory of "inherently inferior" all-black public schools does not tell the whole story about legally segregated education. Ultimately, I found that the oral narratives of Jim Crow's teachers reveal a critique of power and a fight for respectability that shaped teachers' work in the Age of Jim Crow. ^

This study presents an ethnographic perspective of a nursing unit, focused on the creation of the definition of nursing. Participant observation was used as the main data gathering resource. Analysis of documents and a questionnaire supplemented data collection. The purposes of this study were to (1) discover the process by which the definition of nursing became known to the staff members on a selected unit and, (2) describe the unit's definition of nursing and how it was practiced. The motivation for this research was a search for a way for the nurse manager to understand how nursing comes to be known on a nursing unit, so the manager would be in a stronger position to support a collaborative process for the development of a "new" vision of professional nursing. The definition of nursing discovered was a complex mixture of the old and new cultures discussed in nursing literature today. The traditional culture of nursing was dominated by the language and values of medicine and bureaucracy. The medical perspective dominated the way the nurses viewed and cared for their patients. The assessment forms, teaching curriculums, language and ritual of shift report and patient progress notes all reinforced the medical pathology. The departmental structure and lack of problem solving between specialties served to exhaust the nursing resources in time consuming systems and routines (e.g. medication and laboratory systems). The emphasis on rules and task assignments by way of policies, memos and job descriptions, focused nursing care in such a way that there was little room to be creative and use autonomous nursing judgment. The behaviors in the "new culture" in nursing was characterized by an emphasis on professional development. There was a beginning by nurses to identify domains that were unique for nursing. The new standards for documenting care provided the method and process for nurses to begin to use a new exclusive framework for assessing their patients and planning their care. The new culture's nurses were beginning to recognize and use the power within themselves to establish new values and directions. Implications for nursing education, management and further research were discussed.

In two empirical studies, this dissertation explores the how young mothers spend their time constructing motherhood. The first study (Chapter 2) explores self-reported teen mother time use and compares it to their non-mother counterparts. When to have a child is the single most important economic decision most women make. Teen moms birth and raise their children usually before formal education ends thus subjecting themselves to the double burden of a truncated educational history as well as the financial hurdles that come with minimal education. Qualitative studies emphasize that teen mothers repeatedly convey that they have the additional burden of holding dual roles as both "mother" and "teenager"- subordinated statuses. Using the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), I show that teen moms spend their time similarly to their non-mother counterparts with the exception of the amount of time spent on schooling and childcare. Teen mothers replace time spent on school with time spent caring for their children. Otherwise, all other time such as leisure, sleep, shopping, travel, etc...is insignificantly different from other teenage girls who do not yet have children. The results of Chapter 2 suggest that teen mothers view schooling as neither a teen activity nor a mothering activity even though schooling is where most of their teenage, non-mother counterparts spend a significant portion of their day. Taking a social constructionist approach in the second study (Chapter 3), I explore the portrayed images of teen moms through their use of time and how television producers convey teen mom emotions. I focus on the social construction of teen motherhood through popular portrayals of young mothers participating in common activities. My methods include watching the show, coding 33 variables in each scene and taking extensive notes on the narrative arch for each teen mom. Despite the "documentary" style of the show, producers editorially construct mixed messages about the realities of teen motherhood. My analysis reflects the central messages of the Teen Mom television series and highlights two aspects of constructing motherhood: images of how teen mothers spend their time and the emotional complexity of their choices. In order to understand the specific social constructions of young motherhood, the viewer experiences both negative consequences and the emergence of a teen mother construction. I find that the young mothers quickly learn to spend much of their time in the company of extended family such as parents, partners and siblings. I also find that the teen mothers on average are portrayed more often as having a negative emotional response to their situations. Like the ATUS teen moms, the MTV teen moms struggle to attend and complete school while not sacrificing other parts of the teenage experience such as dating, first jobs, and time with friends. Overall, my research shows how teen mothers selectively draw from both teenage and mothering behaviors and attitudes to construct a unique character in the face of a historically stigmatized one. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2015. / April 6, 2015. / education media, reality television, sex education, Teen Mom, teen motherhood, time use / Includes bibliographical references. / Deana A. Rohlinger, Professor Directing Dissertation; Leigh H. Edwards, University Representative; John R. Reynolds, Committee Member; Douglas P. Schrock, Committee Member.

This study was made for the purpose of comparing the intelligence, scholastic achievement, retardtion , educational training after the elementary school, type of employment and marital status of two groups of individals who attended the George B. Loomis School of the Public Schools of Indianapolis, Indiana in the ten-year period, 1931 to 1941. The members of one group lived in an institution under the direction of a family welfare organization while the members of group two lived in natural homes. Many from both groups are adults now.

Writers have criticized the literature on college student involvement as being biased, starting from the premise that the residential experience is the normative one, and have called for a reexamination of the concept of student involvement. Thus in response to that need, this study explored the concept of student involvement from commuter college students' perspectives.;Focused on both Astin's theory of student involvement and Pace's work on quality of effort, it was hypothesized that there were differences between highly involved commuter college students and commuter college students who were minimally involved in the college experience. Since student involvement has both quantitative and qualitative features, the study explored the concept of student involvement by utilizing both research methods. The quantitative portion of the study applied the College Student Experiences Questionnaire. This instrument not only provided a snapshot of student involvement but also identified highly involved and minimally involved college students who served as the sample frame for the qualitative portion of the study which involved the use of field notes, semi-structures interviews, focus groups, and paper and pencil exercises.;Through a combination of a series of statistical procedures, matrix displays, content analysis, and narration, it was concluded that highly involved commuter college students differed from those students minimally involved in the college experience. Students described a variety of opportunities for involvement and perceived that the opportunity for involvement did exist on a commuter campus.;Although students who were highly involved in the college experience were diverse with regard to age, gender and other characteristics, overall, those students who were enrolled full time and were younger than 26 tended to put forth more effort toward utilizing group facilities and participating in organized activities than did part-time students and students 26 years of age or older. Furthermore, evidence was presented to suggest that a key to involvement inequities among commuter students, and between commuter and resident students may involve the difficulty in engaging in constructive peer relationships. Based on the students' experiences 13 suggestions for facilitating the involvement of commuter students were offered. Among other things it was concluded that where one lives (resident or commuter) may not be the sole determinant of one's college experience. Further research is needed with regard to this topic.

Students who successfully persist in STEM majors often gain positive attention highlighting their preparation and ability, though far too often, students who struggle while persisting in the major go unnoticed. This research analyzed demographics and characteristics of select undergraduate STEM majors with a focus on biology and forensic science who were not reaching the major GPA benchmark requirements. These students were persisting while in academic decline. Characteristics of interest in this study include self-reported level of familial pressure to be in the major, anxiety level of current declared major, and course workload anxiety level as well as admit type (either first time in college student or transfer). Anxiety levels reported and admit types were analyzed separately. These data were collected through a Student Self-Assessment questionnaire, which incorporated Likert Scale questions. Students were asked to rate their current level of pressure and anxiety related to declared major. An intersectional approach was used to guide this research, along with student narrative responses. The analysis focused on self-reported academic characteristics by gender and race to explore the academic impact differences reported by the underrepresented population, which was defined as Hispanic, Black, and female. The results found that more females across the race variable were struggling to meet the minimum major GPA requirement, and female transfer students slightly outnumbered female first-time-in-college (FTIC) students across the race variable. Characteristics revealed that women in all races reported higher levels of anxiety than men, though male reports of anxiety fluctuated with White males reporting lower levels and Black males showing a much higher reporting rate on average.

Over the past ten years Puerto Rico has been experiencing a severe economic crisis that was worsened when Hurricane Maria made landfall on September 20, 2017. Maria hit Puerto Rico as a category 4 storm, devastating the whole island and its 3.4 million residents. Many students were left with minimal educational choices after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico. Research on Latino/a students shows that they are met with unique experiences and challenges as they pursue higher education. The current study uses qualitative data to investigate what are the unique challenges and needs of displaced students from Puerto Rico? and what role does social capital play in confronting and navigating the challenges and needs associated with their transition to a new institutional setting? This study proposes to research the issues that many displaced Puerto Rican college student's face and add to the growing body of knowledge. It is important to understand how these recently displaced students will be affected by leaving behind, economic capital and cultural capital that they had built up in their communities on the island. Participation in the study included 9 participants from a large southeastern university that provided in-state tuition to displaced students for semi-structured qualitative interviews. Results revealed that family support was the main source of support for many of the students. Mentorship support was key in their educational success because the more support and encouragement from faculty led to a better transition. Support from peers was positively associated with a better transition and feeling of acceptance. Higher campus resources were positively associated with a better transition.

Problem: To investigate various aspects of the Tehran male educators as to their backgrounds, achievements, satisfactions, aspirations, and attitudes. Purpose: The general objective was to add to the understanding of the Iranian educators living in Tehran, and to provide background information about the educators for Iranian organizations involved in teacher education programs, in the professional growth of educators, and in helping to satisfy the teachers' needs. The major objectives were to determine: 1) the present status of the educators, 2) whether differences exist among primary school teachers, secOndary school teachers, and university professors, 3) the attitude of the educators toward their educational achievements income satisfaction-, ideal education for wives and children, preferences concerning marriage, social equality of sons and daughters, sense of belonging to social classes, and their attitudes toward religion. Procedures: An educator questionnaire was developed. A committee of three professors two from Iran and one from Pakistan approved the questionnaire. Two pilot runs were administered to selected educators. Two hundred male teachers and professors were randomly selected (80 primary, 70 secondary, and 50 unversity educators) who participated in this research. Findings: There are differences among the primary school teachers (PSTs), secondary school teachers ( SSTs), and university professors (UPs) in the areas of educational fulfilllment, income satisfaction, and some cultural-traditional social values. The PSTs and SSTs' satisfaction, beliefs, and attitudes are closer to each other than to UPs. The UPs seem much wDre satisfied with their educational achievement and income than SSTs and PSTs, and SSTs seem more satisfied than PSTs. Teaching is not considered a prestigious and awarding profession .. Some of the long-standing social-cultural traditions seem weakened and/or are in the process of change. The changes are greater among UPs than among SSTs or PSTs. The UPs ,come from more educated and wealthier families than SSTs and PSTs. Implications and· Recomendations: The findings would be credible to policy makers for improved teacher recruitment, educating, reeducating, and retention within the profession. One solution to attract better potential teachers to the profession, and to prevent teachers from leaving is to raise teachers' prestige in the society. Replications or the survey would substantiate the findings and would help generalizations to all educators of Iran. Both male and female educators should participate in future studies. Studies on job satisfaction, attitudes, and characteristics of educators separately at different levels should be done.