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This dissertation brings together two distinct strands of labor market research. Studies on union decline seek to explain the dramatic drop in union membership and influence in the post-World War II era. Studies on occupational sex segregation seek to document how and understand why most women tend to work in occupations with other women. These two broad processes have received much of scholarly attention individually; but there has been little effort to understand how they might be linked. Historical accounts suggest that many unions practiced social closure, ignoring or actively avoiding the causes of working women. And as women have entered the labor market in large numbers in recent decades, they have generally taken positions in the so-called hard-to-organize sectors--industries and occupations that have little historical exposure to unionism, and are regarded as fundamentally incompatible with traditional unionism. My research links the two bodies of work by examining the extent to which varying levels of unionization across different sectors of the labor market is directly attributable to the varying sex composition of those sectors. I rely on data from the 1983-2005 Current Population Survey Merged Outgoing Rotation Group Files, and use statistical purging techniques which allow me to examine what union coverage rates would have been had the so-called hard-to-organize sectors not been disproportionately comprised of female-dominated occupations. Because processes of unionization are quite different in the public and private sectors, I estimate separate models for these two groups. The private sector findings provide modest support for my arguments, and indicate that union coverage rates in some of the hard-to-organize sectors would have been slightly higher had these sectors been comprised of an even mix of male- and female-dominated occupations. And in the sectors that are more compatible with traditional modes of unionism, union coverage rates would have been lower had these sectors not been heavily male-dominated. The public sector findings tell a different story, and suggest that some public sector unions organize along traditional lines vis-à-vis occupational sex composition, while others have found ways to organize on new, female-dominated terrain.

Task groups focused on helping a single group member perform well on a task, or the advice-seeking situation, is a familiar occurrence in everyday life: patients and physicians work together to help the patient manage his or her quality of life, students and teachers work together to ensure that the student achieves academic success, and lawyers meet with clients to organize evidence in favor of the client. Rare, however, is the formal application of group process theories to understand these situations. The omission is particularly unfortunate given the preponderance of research documenting inequities in the outcomes for the focal team member, such as the provision of health care to patients. Group process theories are rich with formal statements that explain the processes by which such inequities occur and sustain themselves, which can then be used to develop interventions. The goal of this dissertation is to present such an application in a variety of populations and settings.

This study examined the effects of family and educational background factors on three dimensions of social identity among 35 deaf and hard-of-hearing respondents in Utah. Three dimensions of social identity-were distinguished: self-definition (i.e., the degree to which a respondent defined himself or herself as deaf), self-evaluation (i.e., the degree to which a respondent attached value and emotional significance to identifying himself or herself as deaf), and group introjection (i.e., the degree of commitment, belonging, and loyalty a respondent attached to membership in the Deaf community). Semi-structured, videotaped interviews were conducted with 35 deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in Utah. Respondents were recruited via snowball sampling techniques. The results of the qualitative data analysis showed that the respondents identified themselves as: (a) non-deaf (i.e., little identification with a Deaf identity or with the Deaf community), (b) marginalized (i.e., identifying with neither a hearing identity nor with a Deaf identity), and (c) big "D" Deaf (i.e., strong identification with a Deaf identity and the Deaf community). Strong family support, for example, family members who used sign language, was associated with strong self-identification as Deaf, positive self-evaluation, and strong group introjection. Similarly, supportive educational experiences, for example, attendance at a residential school for deaf students, were associated with strong self-identification as Deaf, positive self-evaluation, and strong group introjection. Policy implications regarding parent education, school teacher in-service training, and medIcal services were discussed.

Quality of life is an important issue for residents facing potential changes in their social and/or physical environments. Potential quality of life changes are especially relevant for rural residents of southern Nevada who are currently facing the possibility of living near the nation's first high-level nuclear waste repository. Whether the effects of the proposed repository are perceived as positive or negative, they nonetheless alter residents' perceptions of their quality of life. A theoretical model was designed to guide the analyses in this study. It suggested that residents have both current perceptions and future expectations for themselves and their community. When a proposed facility is introduced into the area, residents are forced to evaluate their future expectations in light of the new information about the proposed project. Based upon their new evaluation, residents will either support/oppose a proposed facility. From this theory sketch, eleven hypotheses regarding the relationship between quality of life and support/opposition for the proposed Yucca Mountain facility are derived. Using survey and ethnographic information obtained from rural Nevada residents, these hypotheses are examined. The results indicate that although residents from all of the study communities are generally satisfied with their quality of life, they differ on both the types of anticipated repository-induced effects and whether they support or oppose the proposed repository. A relative absence of predictive power by quality of life measures, when taken in isolation from other variables, was unexpected. For all study communities, anticipated changes from the proposed project emerged as strong predictors of support/opposition, much stronger than the quality of life variables.

Spousal health concordance is observed within a community sample of 400 disabled and non-disabled adults and their spouses from Miami-Dade County to access the value of broadening the definition of spousal health concordance to include concepts of general health status. Concordance is identified within similar (substance use disorder and substance use disorder) and across dissimilar (any psychiatric disorder and high depressive symptoms) measures of physical and mental health status. Findings suggest substantial risk for illness in respondents is associated with spousal health status, and that this risk is not limited to the same forms of disease. Additionally, evidence is presented in support of the use of aggregate measures of general health status in conjunction with more specific indicators. Follow-up analyses assess the role of psychosocial resources, stress exposure, social support, and health behaviors in shaping risk for poor health associated with spousal illness. Evidence suggests that these factors may partially explain this elevated risk, but only for some forms of concordance. Additionally, which factors matter for concordance appears to vary depending on the form of health status under consideration. The consequences of this analysis for existing theories of spousal health concordance are discussed. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2010. / Date of Defense: June 16, 2010. / Spousal Concordance / Includes bibliographical references. / R. Jay Turner, Professor Directing Dissertation; Rebecca Miles, University Representative; John Taylor, Committee Member; Miles Taylor, Committee Member.

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Traditional sociological theories examining delinquency typically were formulated to explain male behavior. With the universal recognition of the crime-gender gap, it is important to determine the applicability of these theories to female delinquency. This research uses the National Survey of Children (1981) to test propositions from general strain theory, specifically those outlined by Broidy and Agnew (1997). The data set allows for an expansion of the types of strain and delinquency typically examined in strain tests. Ordinary least squares regression, path analysis and a series of t-tests were used to determine variations in male and female emotional and behavioral responses to strain. The results of this analysis suggest that certain types of strain influence which type of delinquency males and females will pursue and that the intervening effect of negative emotion are consequential for both genders. Suggestions for future research are also discussed.

In the face of persisting unequal relations between the global North and South, what strategies can rural Southern peasants use to ensure the protection of their livelihoods and resources? The Union of Agribusiness Cooperatives (UCA) in Miraflor, Nicaragua has developed and implemented organic coffee and ecotourism programs designed to sustain local peoples land and the health of the population as well as providing long-term economic diversification. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of these programs in providing actual long-term economic, ecological, and social benefits, as well as regular income, to members involved in the organic coffee and ecotourism programs. Through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and secondary data analysis, this research illustrates the priorities of rural peasant farmers and the obstacles they face as they attempt to participate in global markets dominated by organizations and policies based out of the global North.