The concept of sustainability is theoretically comprised of three distinct dimensions: environmental, economic, and social. Most public and academic discourse, however, focuses on environmental and economic sustainability to the neglect of social sustainability, which refers to a condition where an extended set of basic needs are met for all residents regardless of their race/ethnicity, age, religion, gender, socioeconomic status and/or level of ability and the highest possible level of social inclusion and participation in community life is promoted. While some scholars and policymakers have recently turned their attention to social sustainability, conceptualizing and assessing social sustainability is fraught with problems. In this dissertation, I develop a comprehensive social sustainability assessment framework that focuses on six key policy areas: housing, transportation, food, leisure and recreation, social cohesion, and identity and sense of place. I then incorporate data on Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland into the social sustainability framework in order to conduct a comparative analysis of the cities' relative degree of social sustainability. My analysis--which brings both qualitative and quantitative data to bear on 30 social sustainability criteria--indicates that Vancouver is ranked higher than Seattle and Portland in terms of social sustainability. I then adapt and use two sociological theories of policy development--institutional politics theory and power constellations theory, which tend to focus on the national or state level--to test which one better explains the differential level of social sustainability in the aforementioned cities. In short, I find that power constellations theory best explains why Vancouver has the most socially sustainable policies and programs, primarily due to the strength of organized labor and center-left political parties in the city. Overall, this dissertation contributes to research on social policy development and social sustainability and provides scholars and policymakers with a deeper understanding of the institutional and political determinants of social sustainability. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2014. / May 30, 2014. / Comparative-Historical Analysis, Institutional Politics Theory, Power Constellations Theory, Social Sustainability, Urban Policy / Includes bibliographical references. / Douglas Schrock, Professor Directing Dissertation; Andy Opel, University Representative; Jill Quadagno, Committee Member; Daniel Tope, Committee Member.

Marital status significantly shapes individuals' psychological well-being, though more is known about its effect on negative than positive dimensions. This study examines the association between marital status and psychological well-being across negative and positive dimensions, using data from two waves of the Midlife in the United States Survey (MIDUS 1995-1996 and 2004-2006). Compared with prior studies, my research examines a more comprehensive set of indicators of psychological well-being: depression, autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, self-acceptance, and purpose in life. I further examine how the associations between marital status and these dimensions of psychological well-being vary by age. I use three analytic samples to examine the cross-sectional associations and effects over time: Wave 1 sample (n=2,801), Wave 2 sample (n=1,737), and panel data containing respondents in both waves (n=1,657). Although the results vary across the two waves and between cross-sectional and panel analyses, results of Ordinary Least Regression (OLS) models indicate that, compared with those in other marital statuses, married adults tend to have better psychological well-being, including less depression and greater self-acceptance and positive relations with others. Differences among the married also are found, with remarried adults reporting more autonomy than continuously married adults. Using the multiple-group structural equation modeling (SEM), the results showed that the association between marital status and psychological well-being only holds for middle-aged adults (45≤age≤60). These findings of variation in the association between marital status and psychological well-being across not only dimensions of well-being but also age groups highlights the importance of further research examining sources of variation and explanations for them. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2014. / July 2, 2014. / Age variation, Marital Status, Mental health, Multiple-group, Psychological well-being, Structural Equation Modeling / Includes bibliographical references. / Anne E. Barrett, Professor Directing Dissertation; Ming Cui, University Representative; Isaac W. Eberstein, Committee Member; Koji Ueno, Committee Member.

Rising concerns over fatness in the United States have initiated a rise in research attending to the reproduction of fatness inequality. Prior work has documented that fat workers are evaluated less favorably and endure more weight-based discrimination than their thinner peers. Additionally, overweight and obese workers tend to have lower earnings than their thinner counterparts, and these penalties are especially harsh for women. However, less is known about the role of age in the relationship between fatness and earnings for women and men. We also know little about the processes through which fatness produces lower earnings. This mixed-methods project lends new insight into both of these issues. Using a sample of workers aged 25 to 72 drawn from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (1995-1996 and 2004-2006), I examine gender and age variation in the relationship between fatness and earnings. Multiple regression analyses reveal that obese individuals have lower earnings than their normal weight counterparts, overweight women have lower earnings than overweight men, and earnings penalties begin to accumulate at older ages among women. Measures of self-reported labor market discrimination and unfavorable workplace relations are unable to account for these penalties, suggesting that reduced earnings may be the result of subtler interactions in the workplace. I also analyze data drawn from twenty in-depth interviews with women with fatness-related labor market experience. These women describe interactions that point to the devaluation of fatness in the labor market, including extensive discussions about diet and being approached by coworkers and bosses about their size. They also describe strategies used to compensate for their fatness that may contribute to the reproduction of fatness inequality. The findings from this project reveal that fatness, gender, and age affect personal earnings with these systems of inequality interrelated. They also illustrate how women's fatness inequality may be maintained through interpersonal interactions in the workplace. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2013. / July 12, 2013. / Age, Intersectionality, Obesity, Work / Includes bibliographical references. / Anne E. Barrett, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jack Fiorito, University Representative; Irene Padavic, Committee Member; John Reynolds, Committee Member.

This study evaluates the impact of women's decision making power and attitudes about themselves in Egypt on three dimensions of child health: stunting, wasting and underweight. This study seeks to understand how women's perceived decision making power and self-perception affect child health, net of household socio-economic characteristics. These measures of child health are utilized because they describe the long and short term consequences on the health of Egyptian children. An analysis of stunting, wasting and underweight is important as it excludes children that have already succumbed to infant and child mortality that will not make up Egypt's future population and subsequent economic and political landscape. Analyses of the children's recode of the 2008 Egyptian Demographic and Health Survey reveal that while accounting for little of the variation in child health, dimensions of women's power are statistically significant predictors of child health, independent of measures of socioeconomic status. Logistic regression is used to understand how the effect of mother's perceived decision making power and attitudes affect child stunting, wasting and underweight in Egypt and how that effect changes when accounting for measures of socio-economic status and other controls. Children are less likely to be stunted, wasted or underweight when their mothers have more power and access to resources. These findings suggest that women's decision making power is important in its own right as a proximate determinant of child health, net of its traditional role as part of a measurement of socioeconomic status. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2014. / March 24, 2014. / Attitudes About Self, Child Health, Decision Making, Egypt, Stunting, Women'S Power / Includes bibliographical references. / Isaac W. Eberstein, Professor Directing Dissertation; Rebecca Miles, University Representative; Elwood Carlson, Committee Member; Kathryn Tillman, Committee Member.

This research contributes to medical sociology, neighborhood research, and life course studies by synthesizing relevant concepts from each field in order to offer a more complete understanding of how and why place impacts health. This achieved through the use of a life course framework that examines the influence of neighborhoods on self-rated health and allostatic load from adolescence through the transition into adulthood using a longitudinal, nationally representative data set that includes detailed information on early life health, as well as detailed data regarding adult health and well-being. Specifically, this dissertation contributes to the aforementioned by examining the following questions: 1) What are the effects of neighborhood structural characteristics on two measures of physical health at three different time points and 2) What mediating mechanisms account for their effects? The findings of this research further bolster existing evidence regarding the importance of the neighborhood environment for physical health. However, the results also extend the existing knowledge base in important ways. This work demonstrates that neighborhood structural characteristics, measured as disadvantage, affluence, and immigrant concentration, influence both subjective and objective measures of physical health at multiple points throughout the life course. Health outcomes such as allostatic load, self-rated health, and mean health are sensitive to compositional structural attributes of the community environment, but there are differences in which aspects of place matter most, the timing of the neighborhood effects, as well as differences in the way that traditional identified mediating mechanisms operate. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2014. / March 31, 2014. / Allostatic load, Health, Life Course, Neighborhoods, Self-rated health / Includes bibliographical references. / Jill Quadagno, Professor Directing Dissertation; Rebecca Miles, University Representative; Karin Brewster, Committee Member; Kathryn Harker Tillman, Committee Member.

The purpose, of this research study was to attempt to discover if a unit of study on aspects of the visual arts of the people of India and Indo-Canadians could result in positive attitude change toward this target group. The basic premise upon which the program was developed was that improved ethnic attitudes could be generated by focussing on similarities in beliefs and practices among the cultures of India, Indo-Canadians, and mainstream Canadians as reflected in their aesthetic products. The research design used was a nonequivalent control group design. Three intact sixth grade classes in a large suburban school district comprised the sample. Two classes participated in the program while the third class was used as a control group. All three groups were pre- and posttested on measures indicating their attitudes towards Indo-Canadians. A Semantic Differential Measure and a Bogardus Social Distance Scale were the major instruments. This experimental design was complemented by the observation of the two treatment groups throughout the implementation period. The results of the posttest indicate that a significant positive change in students' attitudes took place as a result of the treatment. The exploration of cultures and cross-cultural similarities in beliefs and practices through the visual arts would therefore appear to be a promising means of improving attitudes towards ethnic groups. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

This dissertation journeys into the heart of narrative writing, exploring how personal stories shape the practices and identities of both students and instructors within academic writing instruction. At its core, it is an autoethnographic study that employs my own writing life as primary data to investigate the impact of narrative writing on teaching pedagogy. The research interrogates the traditional academic prioritization of objective, linear essay structures, questioning how such practices may obscure other legitimate forms of knowledge representation and identity construction within educational settings. Drawing from personal experiences of struggle within the constrictions of academic writing expectations, this work advocates for a narrative pedagogy. It recognizes storytelling as a rich, inclusive medium through which students can engage with texts and express complex understandings. By weaving in elements of motherhood, ancestry, and lived experience, the study underscores the need for a pedagogical shift towards recognizing the multiplicity of writer identities and the value of diverse narrative expressions.

This collaborative study investigates the events that led to the repatriation of the Stone T’xwelátse from the Burke Museum of Natural History, University of Washington Seattle, USA to the Noxwsá7aq people of Deming Washington, USA and to the Stó:lō people of Chilliwack, B.C. Canada. Stone T’xwelátse is the first ancestor of the Chilliwack people who was transformed to stone by the transformer This research grew out of the desire to learn about and share the positive lessons learned during the repatriation process and to investigate if these experiences could benefit repatriation processes in Canada, specifically the province of B.C. This work establishes the current legal setting for cultural repatriation processes in Canada, the United States, and internationally, tells the ancient and contemporary story of Stone T’xwelátse, and examines the impact of Indigenous law, differing worldviews, community capacity, and relationships on cultural repatriation processes. An analysis of the conflict is presented through the identification of the key challenges and successes. The events of the repatriation, as told by the research participants, support the argument for the implementation of John Paul Lederach’s Conflict Transformation Theory practices in future cultural repatriation processes. Using Participatory Action Research and Indigenous Research methodologies data was gathered through participant interviews to form the result of the study: How to Work Together in a Good Way: Recommendations for the Future for Museums, Communities, and Individuals from the Participants of the Stone T’xwelátse Repatriation Research Project and Museum Professionals. These recommendations were formed to share the lessons learned from the Stone T’xwelátse repatriation and also to state changes that the participants would like to see implemented in cultural repatriation processes in Canada. Stone T’xwelátse is now with the Stó:lō people fulfilling his role to teach the people “how to live together in a good way.”