On the southeast corner of the Pomona College campus a small community farm and lush oasis is nestled in the suburban jungle of Claremont, California. ‘The Farm’ is a two-acre food forest that produces a wide variety of annual vegetable crops, fruits, and perennial herbs and berries in a landscape otherwise covered largely in asphalt and lawn.From my experiences on the Farm and in the classroom studying environmental analysis , I have developed a great interest in sustainable food and farming. The failures of the modern food system, destructive to the natural environment and inadequate in providing the world’s population with sufficient food or nutrition, posed against a great variety of emerging alternatives, has led me to study and engage in local, grassroots efforts to create new (and remember old) ways of feeding ourselves. In this project, I focus on the development of the Claremont area and the role that food and agriculture have played in its history. Additionally, I discuss the current situation and the local food system alternatives that are emerging.

This research examines the scope and the extent of discrimination experienced by (New Arrival Women) NAW as well as its impact on their social adjustment in Hong Kong Special Administration Region (HKSAR). It has been argued that discrimination slow down the adjustment process. Institutionalized discrimination and individual discrimination are examined in relation to NAW social adjustment in the HKSAR society. The research framework is based on the concepts of institutionalized and individual discriminations. Unfair Government policies being seen as a socio-structural factor results in institutionalized discrimination while the unsatisfactory outcomes arising from the interaction between NAW and LPRs (Local Permanent Residents) brings about individual discrimination. These experiences have brought a sense of alienation and separation from the host population. This study is based on panel study that lasted from January 2001 through March 2002. In-depth interviews to NAW from Mainland China to Hong Kong were conducted twice within one year. The interviewees include 33 NAW who entered the HKSAR with one-way permit in the last 5 years under the family reunion policy. The time interval between the first and the second interview was at least ten months. Participant observation of two NAW for 9 months was also conducted to complement the interviews. Findings indicate that institutionalized discrimination arising from government policies such as policies on accreditation, Identity Card and public housing eligibility have adverse effect on the social adjustment of NAW. Furthermore, individual discrimination, as a result of NAW shortcomings in language fluency, differences in life style and dressing style, are manifested in cheating (non-verbal behaviour), scolding (verbal behaviour) and beating (violence). Another major observation is that individual discrimination, which may be attributed to the economic recession where NAW are regarded by LPRs as competitors in the sharing of the diminishing social resources such as jobs and other welfare facilities, gives rise to a sense of alienation and separation. However, proactive social service for NAW empowers their capability to adjustment in HKSAR, which enhance integration and assimilation to the receiving society. Surprisingly, wife abuse is found in NAW’s family. Concomitant to discrimination, NAW lacks support from the society and the family. Indeed, some experienced abuse in the homes, which challenges the notion that family provides social support. Their sense of powerlessness has becomes a catalyst for solidarity among themselves to face the unfavourable situation. In conclusion, institutionalized discrimination as well as individual discrimination do exist and have adverse effect to the social adjustment process of NAW typically reflected in alienation and separation from the host population.

The issue of food insecurity on college campuses has been explored in great depth in the last decade; however, there is much less research on the impacts of interventions such as food pantries. Some scholars suggest that food pantries alone are not enough to make an impact on food insecurity, asserting that, "not a single study has examined the effectiveness of food pantries at decreasing food insecurity on postsecondary education institutions" (Bruening, Argo, Payne-Sturges, and Laska 2017: 1788). This study aimed to gain insight into the student experience of using a food pantry and the impact that it has on their college experience. This study focused on what additional access to food and resources means to college students at a large, public, four-year institution. Interviews were conducted with twenty-eight UCF students who have used the Knights Pantry. The student experience using the pantry was explored, including entry to the pantry, barriers, how the pantry is used, and the emotions that students feel when using the pantry services. Further, the impact of the pantry on students was profound: students report more financial stability, more food security, and even, in some cases, better ability to perform in classes. In addition, a "ripple effect" of impact is seen, with services reaching others in the community, most often family members of students. Overall, this study serves as a model for future explorations of the impact of food insecurity interventions and provides the first insights into how additional food access impacts college students.

Trust is a good approach to explain the functioning of markets, institutions or society as a whole. It is a key element in almost every commercial transaction over time and might be one of the main explanations of economic success and development. Trust diminishes the more we perceive others to have economically different living realities. In most of the relevant contributions, scholars have taken a macro perspective on the inequality-trust linkage, with an aggregation of both trust and inequality on a country level. However, patterns of within-country inequality and possibly influential determinants, such as perception and socioeconomic reference, remained undetected. This paper offers the opportunity to look at the interplay between inequality and trust at a more refined level. A measure of (generalized) trust emerges from ESS 5 survey which asks "...generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted, or that you can't be too careful in dealing with people?". With the use of 2009 EU-SILC data, measurements of income inequality are developed for age-specific groups of society in 22 countries. A sizable variation in inequality measures can be noticed. Even in low inequality countries, like Sweden, income imbalances within certain age groups have the potential to undermine social trust.

This thesis examines the differences of experiences in working-class and middleclass women's lives due to childhood gender-role socialization and current situations in their lives. The purpose of the study is to examine how past and present experiences influenced four groups of women in making career decisions: 1) owners of nontraditional (male-type) businesses, 2) owners of traditional (female-type) businesses, 3) non-owners of nontraditional (male-type) businesses, and 4) non-owners of traditional (female-type) businesses. Both social and cognitive processes were examined for clues. In-depth interviews were conducted with a total of twenty women to examine their Childhood and current experiences of gender socialization. The women were chosen on the basis of their current occupation. Questions were designed to elicit descriptions of respondents' experiences regarding: 1) common interactions with siblings, friends, parents, and teachers (significant others); 2) messages about careers and educational options from significant others; 3) messages about motherhood from significant others; 4) gender stereotyped actions from significant others; 5) role models; 6) parental education and occupational training; 7) current social networks; 8) how the respondent became interested in her career; 9) respondents' work experiences and educational levels; and 10) major influences on respondents' occupational choices. The socialization approach was used to analyze and explain how these women's experiences affected their career choices. In addition symbolic interactionism and a middle-range theory called habitus and field by Pierre Bourdieu were used. It was found that women who are from the working class experience a cumulative disadvantage due to an internalized scheme through which their values are filtered. In addition, the opportunity structure is not as developed for working-class women as it is for women who are considered middle class (based on their occupation). Business owners were found to have many shared experiences which were not common to the other category of women. The first is that most business owners turned out to have been raised by parents with liberal gender-role attitudes. As a result, most reported that motherhood was not an assumed fact for their lives. When motherhood is not assumed, girls feel less pressure to prioritize marriage and family above a career. In addition, eight out of ten business owners had parents who actively encouraged Achievement values. All ten business owners learned to set long-term goals as children, and most had nontraditional hobbies. Nine out of ten business owners, as opposed to four out of ten non-business owners, had parents who actively supported their hobbies. Also, the majority of business owners, as children, had known and admired at least one person who had an interesting career. The non-business owners and the women who are in traditional occupations are cumulatively disadvantaged as regards their ability to make a completely free choice regarding a career. During childhood they received more messages that might have led them to assume that motherhood must take priority over career plans; they experienced fewer nontraditional hobbies and less parental support regarding long-term goals; they had less exposure to women in nontraditional careers or to women who were business owners; they had less assistance planning a career; and their parents provided fewer achievement-oriented activities and were less likely to interact with them on a regular basis. Thus far during adulthood they have experienced less support for their career goals; they experience less autonomy, flexibility, and creativity on the job, and they are likely to feel less confident about financial planning and their own leadership ability: Over all, they have lower self-confidence than business owners and women in nontraditional careers.

Equal opportunity offices have been described as agencies of organisational change, and the term ‘cultural change’ has been used to describe aspects of equal opportunity work.Universities are sites of organisational cultures where equal opportunity officers have worked in Australia for the past decade. In this time there have been significant changes to higher education, in terms of the size of the university sector in Australia, and also in terms of funding, governance and management. These changes in universities provided the context for questions about the roles of equal opportunity officers in universities, and how they may have changed. This research investigated the practice of equal opportunity officers in universities by using a grounded theory approach to generate understandings about how this group of university staff may have impacted on university cultures. The study develops links between theories of culture and organisational change that was situated in the practices of equal opportunity officers.The research identified a central conceptual category that was described as ‘picking the pitch’, as the main theme in the work of equal opportunity officers in identifying issues and gaining support for a cultural change agenda. All of the preliminary themes that were identified, and the interactions, the observations and the analysis of culture were prerequisites for ‘picking the pitch’.The thesis uses the research for further reflection and integration of the goals of equal opportunity, and the means that were available to equal opportunity officers to achieve these goals. The interactions of power and influence, and some of the limitations on equal opportunity officers are discussed.In the thesis the usefulness of the concept of culture to equal opportunity officers is examined, along with the underpinning theories about the mind of humanity that contributed to their approach to their task.Finally, the thesis discusses the impact of the research for equal opportunity officers, and for the universities in which they worked.

Equal opportunity offices have been described as agencies of organisational change, and the term ‘cultural change’ has been used to describe aspects of equal opportunity work.Universities are sites of organisational cultures where equal opportunity officers have worked in Australia for the past decade. In this time there have been significant changes to higher education, in terms of the size of the university sector in Australia, and also in terms of funding, governance and management. These changes in universities provided the context for questions about the roles of equal opportunity officers in universities, and how they may have changed. This research investigated the practice of equal opportunity officers in universities by using a grounded theory approach to generate understandings about how this group of university staff may have impacted on university cultures. The study develops links between theories of culture and organisational change that was situated in the practices of equal opportunity officers.The research identified a central conceptual category that was described as ‘picking the pitch’, as the main theme in the work of equal opportunity officers in identifying issues and gaining support for a cultural change agenda. All of the preliminary themes that were identified, and the interactions, the observations and the analysis of culture were prerequisites for ‘picking the pitch’.The thesis uses the research for further reflection and integration of the goals of equal opportunity, and the means that were available to equal opportunity officers to achieve these goals. The interactions of power and influence, and some of the limitations on equal opportunity officers are discussed.In the thesis the usefulness of the concept of culture to equal opportunity officers is examined, along with the underpinning theories about the mind of humanity that contributed to their approach to their task.Finally, the thesis discusses the impact of the research for equal opportunity officers, and for the universities in which they worked.

Equal opportunity offices have been described as agencies of organisational change, and the term ‘cultural change’ has been used to describe aspects of equal opportunity work.Universities are sites of organisational cultures where equal opportunity officers have worked in Australia for the past decade. In this time there have been significant changes to higher education, in terms of the size of the university sector in Australia, and also in terms of funding, governance and management. These changes in universities provided the context for questions about the roles of equal opportunity officers in universities, and how they may have changed. This research investigated the practice of equal opportunity officers in universities by using a grounded theory approach to generate understandings about how this group of university staff may have impacted on university cultures. The study develops links between theories of culture and organisational change that was situated in the practices of equal opportunity officers.The research identified a central conceptual category that was described as ‘picking the pitch’, as the main theme in the work of equal opportunity officers in identifying issues and gaining support for a cultural change agenda. All of the preliminary themes that were identified, and the interactions, the observations and the analysis of culture were prerequisites for ‘picking the pitch’.The thesis uses the research for further reflection and integration of the goals of equal opportunity, and the means that were available to equal opportunity officers to achieve these goals. The interactions of power and influence, and some of the limitations on equal opportunity officers are discussed.In the thesis the usefulness of the concept of culture to equal opportunity officers is examined, along with the underpinning theories about the mind of humanity that contributed to their approach to their task.Finally, the thesis discusses the impact of the research for equal opportunity officers, and for the universities in which they worked.

<p>Economic inequality is increasing in Canada and throughout the world. In addition to the equity concerns of distributive justice, growing economic inequality negatively impacts poverty, social cohesion, and the stability of the economy. This master’s thesis undertakes a major literature review to explore the trends in economic inequality and the policies that influence it.</p> <p>The current increase in economic inequality has been dominated by an increase in the income and wealth of the 1% to which the Occupy movement has drawn significant attention. Policies to directly counter this rise in both before- and after-tax top incomes are critical to combatting economic inequality. In addition to highlighting policies that target the very rich, this thesis examines intersections between traditional social policy and broader public policy in the field of economic inequality. It also argues for increased consideration of economics in social work research and policy practice. Economic inequality should be a concern to social workers alongside poverty.</p> <p>Policies in four areas are considered: income taxes and transfers, public services, labour market institutions, and capital market interventions. Recommendations are made for the future. Addressing economic inequality through national policy is both possible and advantageous. A comprehensive policy package involving policies from the four areas explored has the potential to reduce economic inequality.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

The problem of rehabilitation of the physically handicapped in the United States is one of massive proportions. A 1968 survey conducted by the Department of Transportation estimates the number of physically disabled persons in the United States to be approximately 30 million.1 As noted above, physical deviance serves as a basis of social differentiation; and where this differentiation takes on a negative character, the concept of social distance can be useful in measuring the attitudes of physically normal persons in their acceptance or rejection of those who are physically deviant. This study intends to examine the normals' contacts (in their various forms) with disabled persons and the relationship of these contacts to the social distance established between persons who are physically normal and those who are physically deviant. 1. Ruth Lauder, The Goal Is: Mobility! Published for the National Citizens Conference on Rehabilitation of the Disabled and Disadvantaged by the U.S. Dept. of Health, Education & Welfare (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1969), p. 4