A large percentage of Americans own pets which may impact their health. This study examines pet ownership’s effect on well being in older adults looking at race/ethnicity. A sample of 6,565 older adults (>60) was selected from the Third National Health and Nutrition Survey. Pet owners comprised 28.3% of the sample. The theories of symbolic interaction and social integration were used to examine pet ownership’s effect on physical components of well-being. The descriptive results showed statistically significant differences in age, education, income, and marital status between pet owners and non-pet owners. Pet owners were younger, more educate, higher income and married. Similar results were found for Caucasians, African Americans and Mexican Americans. Logistic regression for the entire sample revealed pet owners were more likely to have a positive self perception of health, normal blood pressure, improved function, less chronic conditions, improved function and more falls. Multiple regression revealed pet owners had more hospital stays, but fewer physician visits and nursing home stays than non-pet owners. When examined by race/ethnicity differences were found between pet owners and non-pet owners that differed from the general sample results. This research revealed that pets overall positively impact their owners’ health but it appears to differ based on race/ethnicity. Further research is needed on pet ownership’s effect on older adults specifically in regards to race.

Au cours du mois de février 2007, Neuchâtel célèbre l’inauguration d’un stade de football flambant neuf. Pour le club de Neuchâtel Xamax, qui fait face à des difficultés économiques chroniques, cette infrastructure laisse miroiter un avenir prometteur. On vante alors sans retenue le plus grand confort de la nouvelle enceinte que l’on décrit comme un lieu convivial et propice à la rencontre, sensé attirer un public toujours plus nombreux pour de longs après‐midis festifs consacrés au spectacle du football. Analyser l’impact social réel de la modernisation de ce type d’infrastructure s’apparente toutefois à un exercice d’équilibriste. Il implique non seulement une réflexion critique sur des attributs qui peuvent être considérés comme « socialement vertueux » pour la collectivité, mais nécessite également de décrypter le fonctionnement du lieu dans toute sa complexité. Dès lors, cette recherche passe au préalable par la construction d’un outil théorique et méthodologique permettant d’organiser l’étude du « potentiel intégrateur » d’un tel type d’espace. Dans le cadre d’une analyse portant sur le stade de football, l’utilisation de cette grille de lecture nous montre alors que, à Neuchâtel, ce lieu joue un rôle social plutôt important. Fondée sur différentes sources (enquêtes par questionnaire, statistiques relatives aux affluences, analyse des discours sur un forum de discussion en ligne, etc.), la comparaison des situations qui caractérisent l’ancienne et la nouvelle infrastructure conduit néanmoins à tirer un bilan nuancé du processus de modernisation / In February 2007, Neuchâtel celebrates the inauguration of a brand new soccer stadium. For the club of Neuchâtel Xamax, which has been facing economical difficulties since a long time, this infrastructure represents a promising bright future. Everyone praises without restraint the comfort of the new arena, which is described as a friendly place, convenient to encounters, able to attract bigger crowds of people for long festive afternoons dedicated to the soccer entertainment. The analysis of the real social impact of the modernisation of this type of infrastructure is nonetheless very tricky. It implies not only a critical reflection on the attributes that can be considered as “socially virtuous” for the community, but also requires deciphering how the place works in its whole complexity. Following that, the research first requires the construction of a theoretical and methodological tool, which allows the study of the “integration potential” of this kind of space. Within the framework of the soccer stadium analysis, the use of this tool shows us that, in the case of Neuchâtel, this place plays a quite important social role. Based on various sources (questionnaire surveys, statistics relative to affluences, discourse analysis on a forum, etc.), the comparison of the situations that characterize the old and new infrastructure leads nevertheless to a nuanced assessment of the process of modernisation

This study explored how undergraduate library student workers at an urban, 4-year public institution perceived their work experiences in an academic library as contributing to their social and academic integration in college. Tinto's (1993) model on student departure formed the basis for this study where academic and social integration work together to influence institutional commitments ultimately leading to the decision to remain or leave the college. Undergraduate library student workers from various library departments were interviewed and it is from these interviews that a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of an academic library's effect on undergraduate library student workers was gained. The study revealed that the undergraduate library student workers perceived experiencing many socially integrative and academically integrative experiences which they would not have had were they not employed in an academic library. After the data are discussed, the theoretical implications, policy implications, and suggestions for further research are offered.

The purpose of this study was to qualitatively describe the factors that influence the persistence rates of White undergraduate students attending HBCUs from the students' perspectives. Applying Tinto's Model of Student Departure (1975, 1993) as a lens for persistence, the overall aim in this study was to focus on the students' social and academic integration at the institution as well as their institutional experiences at the HBCU as it relates to their decision to persist or depart the HBCU. Through the participants"lived experiences", themes emerged relative to their decision to persist at the institution. The themes were: the influences on relationships with faculty, quality of academic programs, lack of racism from faculty, staff, and peers, involvement in campus activities and organizations, and affordability. The reasons associated with White students' persistence can assist faculty members and administrators at HBCUs in developing and cultivating a culture that is conducive for a positive matriculation and progression process all the way until graduation. Persistence leads to degree completion and no matter the institutional type, all administrators want to increase the number of students graduating from their institutions.

Student Number : 0311394E - MA research report - School of Literature and Language Studies - Faculty of Humanities / The present study on ‘Multilingualism and change on the Kinyarwanda sound system post-1994’ focuses on sociolinguistic approaches oriented to the effects of language contact to Kinyarwanda sound change. Many studies on various multilingual societies have been conducted, and most of them have focused on multilingualism and language policy, education and social integration in different multilingual societies. In particular, most studies conducted on the new linguistic configuration of Rwanda have focused on language attitudes in a multilingual context, but none of them has tackled the issue of multilingualism and sound change as a result of language contact. The main hypothesis expounded in this research is that Kinyarwanda sound variants that can be heard from current speech arise owing to Kinyarwanda speakers’ language background. In the light of the literature review on multilingualism and sound change, an extensive analysis of the most prominent linguistic variables of sound variation in Kinyarwanda was done, and its evaluation shows that there have been shifts in the sound system of Kinyarwanda post-1994. It has been shown that some sounds were modified or shifted to other sounds which exist in neighbouring languages because of contact. In addition to that, it has been argued that this sound variation has been possible mainly because Kinyarwanda came into contact with other languages which have different sound systems. It is hoped that this research will add a new dimension to studies of multilingualism within Bantu languages and will contribute to yielding a solution to the Rwandan language problem because of suggestions related to how the Kinyarwanda sound system can be standardized.

Research Report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree: Master of Arts in the field of Industrial & Economic Sociology School of Social Sciences, Department of Sociology University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg South Africa July 2016 / This research study seeks to examine the South African labour market, using the case of ex-offenders and their difficulties in entering the formal labour market and securing full-time employment after they have been released from correctional facilities. The „Scarlet letter‟ in the title refers to a euphemism used to describe the effects of the criminal record on the prospect of employment. As part of the research, I also examine the perspectives of employers about their willingness to employ ex-offenders as well as some of the reservations they may have, as representatives of the labour market. Although there is extensive research on reintegration as well as barriers to reintegration, especially in Europe and the United States, none of these have married the labour market experiences and reintegration experiences of ex-offenders, especially in the South African context. This study employed qualitative research methods and techniques to explore the meaning ex-offenders attach to their social experiences. Data was collected by means of in-depth interviews in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the lived experiences of these ex-offenders and a vivid picture from the key informants. In this regard, participants in the study consisted of thirteen Black male ex-offenders, three representatives from the National Institute for Crime Prevention and Reintegration of Offenders (NICRO), one representative from a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) called We Can Change Our World (WCCOW), five Human resource managers at a property management firm as part of a focus group discussion and one executive at a recruitment company. All interviewed ex-offenders shared similar experiences of their challenges and limited social and economic reintegration, especially related to finding a job in South Africa. The study reveals that discrimination in the workplace continues in contemporary South Africa, but such experiences are even worse for ex-offenders. The study concludes that a lot still needs to be done to transform the South African labour market and correctional facilities, linked policies and practice for the majority, especially ex-offenders who have “paid their debt to society”. / GR2017

O acordo entre a DERSA, a municipalidade e o Estado de São Paulo, criou quatro parques naturais no município de São Paulo, decorrente da política de compensação ambiental do licenciamento do Rodoanel Trecho Sul. Dentre esses destacamos o Parque Natural Municipal Itaim. Diante de seu contexto de implantação, a pesquisa trabalha na perspectiva de que esse novo equipamento, voltado à conservação ecológica, tem potencial para catalisar transformações socioambientais. Tais transformações podem ser alcançadas a partir da sensibilização, da interpretação ambiental e de práticas socioeducativas promovidas pelo parque. A partir do diálogo com seu entorno define-se a sua contribuição como promotor da integração social, em um possível sistema de áreas de conservação e uso público na região. Uma vez que, a par de sua importância ambiental, também analisada por essa pesquisa, o parque está inserido na periferia de São Paulo, no avanço do urbano sobre o rural. Uma região marcada pela extrema espoliação de sua população, carente de espaços de lazer, equipamentos culturais e educativos. A pesquisa parte do entendimento que o parque tem uma função social a cumprir e, para que sua implantação e gestão tenha êxito, a interação entre esse novo equipamento e a comunidade local é vista como essencial. Trabalha com análises cartográficas, dados socioeconômicos, sobreposição de cartas temáticas integrados às percepções obtidas a partir da vivência em campo, da rede e dos atores sociais mapeados, bem como do acompanhamento do processo de implantação do parque. A pesquisa resgata as propostas para o parque incitadas pelas equipes da área social do Plano de Manejo e seus estudos decorrentes, por entender que na situação atual o parque caminha para visões reducionistas ancoradas no discurso da inviabilidade orçamentária, da escassez de recursos humanos e das dificuldades institucionais verificadas. Defende-se o caráter singular e inovador do Parque Natural Municipal Itaim, onde a figura de seu gestor se destaca pela articulação e potencialização das redes de relações existentes, a partir de projetos e ações pilotos. / Four natural parks are being created in the city of Sao Paulo as result from an agrément reached by the Brazilian Road Authority (Dersa), municipal and State authorities. These parks were designed to compensate the environmental impact of the new Rodoanel Trecho Sul highway. This study analyses the impact of the \"Parque Natural Municipal Itaim\", not only from an environmental perspective, but also as a catalyst for social transformation in its neighboring communities. This park is situated in the poor suburbs of Sao Paulo, an area where rural and urban settings co-exist. The communities in the surroundings of the park are extremely poor and marginalized, lacking all sorts of service, leisure, cultural and educative activities. In this context, the park plays a fundamental role, not only from its inherent environmental benefits, but also by offering a place where the local communities can meet, enjoy and where they have access to social and educative initiatives promoted by the park. In this context, the park has also a central social role providing a jump-start in offering access to leisure and incorporating these poor communities in the city. This park should have a key social importance to them, marginalized communities that are usually neglected by local authorities, with limited access to basic public services. The study emphasizes the importance of the park in facilitating the regional environmental connectivity and as a fundamental transformation agent for the surrounding communities by analyzing demographical and socioeconomic data, cartographs and thematic charts combined with the qualitative data and interviews collected in loco. The study also made extensive use of qualitative data gathered in loco in order to understand how the park is viewed from the perspective of the individuals who live in its vicinity - how they perceive and appreciate their landscape and the educational role of the park in sensitizing and stimulating the local populations to the importance and role of the local green areas, either the ones that exist today or that will be created in the future. The singular and innovative aspects of the park are reemphasized in a moment when authorities discuss budgetary cuts, under staffing and face organizational challenges. This could potentially limit the scope of this project that is still being developed. However, there is still time and we (NEP-FAUUSP) hope there is enough commitment to deliver the full scope of the park, that would have a key role in improving the life of adjacent communities.

Contemporary theatre has crossed boldly into therapeutic terrain and is now the site of radical self-exposure. The recent and expanding use of people’s personal stories in the theatre has prompted the need for a robust framework for safe, ethical, flexible and intentional practice by theatre makers. Such a framework is needed due to the risks inherent in putting people’s private lives on the stage, particularly when their stories focus on unresolved difficulties and cross into therapeutic terrain. With this ethical and practical imperative in mind, and in order to create a broader spectrum of ethical risk-taking where practitioners can negotiate blurred boundaries in safe and creative ways, this study draws on relevant therapeutic theory and practice to re-connect therapy and theatre and promote best practice in the theatre of personal stories. In order to promote best practice in the theatre of personal stories (a term I will use to cover the myriad forms of theatre that make use of people’s personal stories), I describe a new framework that synthesises theory and practice from the fields of psychodrama, attachment narrative therapy, and theatre and performance studies. The benefits of this integrative framework for the theatre practitioner are that it promotes safer, more ethical and purposeful practice with personal stories, and encourages more confident and creative artistic expression. The framework provides these benefits because it offers a structured model for decision-making by theatre practitioners who work with personal stories, and suggests ways that the practitioner can explore fresh artistic possibilities with clear intentions and confidence about the boundaries and ethics of the work. The integrated framework has been developed through the grounded theory process of reflective inquiry, using in particular the models of action research, the Kolb experiential learning cycle and applied phronesis. The framework has four elements, which are explored respectively in chapters one to four: 1) History: understanding the roots of the theatre of personal stories in traditions of art, oral history, social activism, theatre and therapy; 2) Ethics: incorporating wide-ranging ethical issues inherent in staging personal stories; 3) Praxis: structuring participatory theatre processes to regulate the level of personal disclosure among participants (a model for structuring practice and regulating personal disclosure is offered — called the Drama Spiral); and 4) Intentions: working with a clear focus on specific intentions — especially bio-psycho-social integration — when working with personal stories. The study concludes, in chapter five, with a critical analysis of two exemplars of practice, examined through the lens of the Drama Spiral.

As of 2016 the number of international students in the United States has reached over one million. Institutions of higher education in the United States have been attracting increasing numbers of international college students, primarily from China and other Southeast Asian countries. As a result, organizations such as the Institute of International Education have encouraged colleges and universities to create pathway programs. Pathway programs accept international students who do not have strong English language and/or academic skills, yet have a desire to study abroad. These students take English as a Second Language (ESL) courses at the university before beginning their degree courses. Some program models also have students taking their first-year courses apart from the rest of the student body to help these students close their skill gaps. However, this study focused solely on a pathway program that offers only ESL courses. Previous studies have shown that students who have academic language proficiency, yet lack the ability to integrate socially, often struggle with acculturation. This, in turn, can lead to problems with persistence in their course work and ultimately lack of degree completion. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the social integration of international Chinese students comparing those who participated in the ESL program and those that did not at the subject university. The study examined the influence of this treatment on college retention and on self-reported social integration of international Chinese students. The study findings demonstrate that international Chinese students at this subject university who have received the intervention persist, having similar graduation rates compared to the general cohort, similar retention rates to the general cohort; and equal to or declining grade point averages based on the treatment-level. The study also shows that the ESL students have less acculturative stress and are more socially active in their college community than the non-ESL students. The effects of this social intervention have been positive not only at the start of their degree programs, but carry through their program. The study presents evidence as to the benefits the treatment offers towards persistence at this university, which supports pathway programs.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1976. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Rotch. / Includes bibliographical references. / by John B. Wilbur III. / M.C.P.