The aim of this investigation was to explore the lived experiences of nurses and patients about the nature of culture, how nurses incorporated cultural issues into their work and the extent to which patients felt that their cultural needs were met. A phenomenological approach was used because this facilitated interpretation of takenfor- granted aspects of daily life in order to gain insight into the hidden meanings that participants ascribed to everyday events. Nurse and patient participants included members of White, Black and other minority ethnic groups, men and women, young and mature adults. A total of 85 nurses working in, and 54 patients recently discharged from, acute hospital wards spread over four NHS Trusts, agreed to be interviewed. A number of methodological issues were addressed. These included interviewing across cultural and racial boundaries and the ethical dimensions of constructing the sample. The phenomenological approach was helpful in clarifying understanding and meaning, particularly through the analysis of stories. These revealed that the nurses had some practical knowledge of cultural issues and, like the patients, saw good care as being linked to interpersonal skills. This practical knowledge was not sociallyembedded and shared by members of ward teams. The nurses' formal knowledge about cultural issues was very limited. Nurses and patients demonstrated rigid views of culture and its relationship with care that helped to reinforce negative stereotypes and racism. The experiences of two nurses in cultural liaison roles were explored as potential forms of higher-level nursing practice but revealed, instead, some of the pressures to which nurses who are members of minority groups are exposed. Recommendations include the need for nurses to possess knowledge and skills that will enable them to develop and expand their competence. They also require skills, confidence and support from senior staff in dealing effectively with racist behaviour.

Hong Kong identity has always been a complicated subject due to its colonial past and ongoing integration with China. Recently, the escalated social and cultural contentions between a group frequently called the Post-80s and the Mainland Chinese have reiterated the identity crisis in Hong Kong. The Post-80s, generally referring to people who were born after 1980, are believed to have grown up in a different social context from their previous generations. Having encountered the political transition from the British to the Chinese in their critical period, this generation has exposed to a renationalised discourse after the handover. With the national framework provided by the government and some of the media, it shall be expected that the Post-80s would be less resistant, if not uncritical, to the Chinese regime. Yet, the active involvement of some of the Post-80s activists in recent anti-China movements seemed to suggest another story. While studies and book publications have extensively covered the view of the Post-80s social activists, an in-depth understanding of how the ordinary Post-80s perceive their local and national identification is missing. It is, therefore, the purpose of this study to capture their perception, valorisation and daily enactment of Hong Kong and Chinese identity. Adhering closely to the social constructivist perspective, the thesis depicted both the features and identity negotiation process of the ordinary Post-80s based on data collected from 17 semi-structured interviews. Findings of the research revolve around 3 analytical levels, namely 1) nominal, 2) meaning making and 3) everyday encounter. This helps to classify the heterogeneous responses from the Post-80s into four types. Based on their subjective perceptions, attitudes and rationale towards Hong Kong and China, their identifications can be divided into antagonistic, partial inclusive, active inclusive and indifferent. For individuals in the antagonistic group, concrete examples of cultural difference found between Hong Kong and China form a strong basis for their physical and psychological disassociation from the nation. Although some of the Post-80s interviewees identify themselves nominally as both Hongkonger and Chinese, they do not share the same rationale. Some consider themselves as Chinese due to undeniable historical and cultural ties to the nation while the others actively embrace the concept of “One China” without detaching from the political and cultural controversies found in contemporary China. In addition, small amount of the interviewees deny the importance of using Hong Kong and China identification to define themselves as a person. This, however, does not imply a general lack of attention or views to information and incidences related to Hong Kong-China relationship. Through a detail depiction of the formation and transformation process of the ordinary Post-80s, it is found that the role played by former prominent social agents, for example, education and traditional media, in shaping people’s identification is no longer straight forward. Although the research, with limited sampling size, does not stand in an appropriate position to suggest any correlation between social agents and one’s identity, there are traces showing more complicated negotiations undergone by the Post-80s, which is worth to be explored in-depth in future studies. / published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

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This dissertation examines four novels that specifically and deliberately focus on the perspectives of people of color in the United States in order to explore a gap in the conversations surrounding representation of the Vietnam War. Opening the canon to include more diverse perspectives of the Vietnam War acknowledges how predominantly white representation of the war effaces the experiences of the many soldiers of color, who often fought and died in disproportionately greater numbers than white soldiers, and attempts to redress such erasure. These novels include Arthur R. Flowers's De Mojo Blues, which focuses on African American soldiers’ experience and highlights intra-racial conflicts and Lan Cao's Monkey Bridge, an exploration of Vietnamese American women living as refugees in the United States. Additionally, Alfredo Véa's Gods Go Begging and Linda Hogan's People of the Whale go beyond the Chicano and Native American identities of their respective protagonists by including a diverse range of voices and re-imagining boundaries associated with racial and national identities. Responding to the myth of American exceptionalism, the novels illuminate how the war perpetuated long-standing systems of oppression and interrogate oppositions between self and other, individual and community, and past and present that war often sustains. As such these novels emerge as critical interventions in discourses of race and nation by highlighting and creating space for difference. Ultimately, these novels provide a vision of hope by imagining a world that embraces the complexities of cross-cultural community rather than merely superficial melting pot diversity. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts; / English / PhD; / Dissertation;

This dissertation explores Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short Stories (1959), the Ghost Writer (1979), the Counterlife (1986), the Facts (1988), Operation Shylock (1993), Sabbath's Theater (1995),and the Human Stain (2000), arguing that Roth relishes the telling of the story and the search for self within that telling. with attention to narrative technique and its relation to issues surrounding reality and identity, Roth's narratives stress unreliability, causing Roth to create characters searching for a more complex interpretation of self. Chapter I examines Roth’s negotiation of dual identities as Neil Klugman in Goodbye, Columbus feels alienated and displaced from Christianized America. the search for identity and the merging of American Christianity and Judaism remain a focus in Chapter II, which explores the implications of how, in the Ghost Writer, a young Nathan Zuckerman visits his mentor E.I. Lonoff to find him living in what he believes to be a non-Jewish environment—the American wilderness. Chapter II also examines the difficulties of cultural assimilation in "Eli, the Fanatic," in which Eli must shed outward appearances of Judaism to fit into the mostly Protestant community of Woodenton. Relative to the negotiation of multiple identities, Chapter III considers Sabbath’s attempt, in Sabbath’s Theater, to reconcile his spiritual and physical self when seeking to avoid his inevitable death. Exploring a further dimension of the search for self, Chapter IV traces the legacy of stereotyped notions of identity, considering ways in which Roth subverts stereotypes in the Human Stain. the search for identity and its particular truths remains a focus of Chapter V, which explores Roth's creation of an unstable reality through the Counterlife, the Facts, Operation Shylock, and the Human Stain, suggesting that the literary imagination matters more than truth in fiction. in its attention to Roth's focus on identity, race, and narrative technique, this dissertation contributes to the evolution of criticism addressing the social significance of the major works of Philip Roth.

Utilizing data from the United States Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities (SISCF) 2004, this research investigates the possibility that African American drug offenders receive lengthier prison sentences and are imposed more range of time or indeterminate sentences as opposed to flat sentences based on race and/or non-racial characteristics; specifically parole status prior to sentencing, plea agreement status, prior criminal history, education status prior to arrest, employment status prior to arrest, and parental incarceration. While regression analysis revealed racial sentencing disparity for length of sentence and type of sentence (p< .05 and p< .001 respectively), among non-racial characteristics, only education status prior to arrest proved a significant predictor for length of sentence (p≤ .001). African American drug offenders were more likely sentenced to indeterminate sentences as opposed to flat sentences and were less likely to receive short sentences of 0 to 4 years or medium sentences of 4 to 10 years as compared to long sentences of 10 or more years. Potential research implications include the necessity for additional research regarding racial sentencing disparity as length or type of sentences as opposed to disparity as a numerical or a percentage difference between racial groups as well as the utilizing of inmate data that encompasses recent changes in drug sentencing laws, e.g. crack cocaine versus powder cocaine. Future research might also consider the evolution of marijuana laws in the United States and the potential impact on racial sentencing disparity.