Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1974. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliography.

This study is directed toward learning more about intervening variables, or social mechanisms of change, within the process of socialization. It focused upon one social mechanism: "degree of commitment". The contention of the thesis is that "degree of commitment", within the socialization process, is directly connected with (a) the experiences of learning during the process of becoming a member of a social system; and (b) the "socialized" resultant when the learning process is complete. The concept of "degree of commitment" is to be understood in its relation to three other sociological concepts: decision-making, socialization, and social-change. Each of these bears directly upon the concept of "degree of commitment". The factors which work together to result in a decision at the same time result in “degree of commitment". Once a "degree of commitment" is established, it can not only be estimated at a point in time, but it can be examined as a social mechanism -effecting change. Of course, both decision-making and socialization involve "change" and, this concept as a disequilibrating force, similar to the familiar physics concept, is of paramount importance. Five different stated "degree of commitment" groups were analyzed, first, whether or not their stated commitment changed over a period of time; and second, according to different responses to factual and attitudinal questions by commitment group. Data was gathered and examined, according to commitment group, in areas such as: performance, age, socio-economic class, students' self-image and career choice, conceptions of medicine as a career, attitudes toward faculty, peers and toward competition. The constellation of groups and the patterns of change vary by commitment group. As a social mechanism, degree of commitment restricts and governs action. From this study, it is submitted that degree of commitment is an integral part of the socialization process and, therefore, it is one of the social mechanisms that must be studied in any analysis of socialization as a sociological concept. The first year medical students at the University of British Columbia, in the university year 1959-60, comprised the sample. A questionnaire was the main source of data. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

This thesis takes up the question, how can agency for people living in informal settlements be strengthened? To address this question, I carried out systemic action research with two NGO partners and residents from seven informal settlements in Raipur, India. This involved organizing ‘slum improvement committees' (SICs) in each of the seven settlements and carrying out joint actions in support of housing rights and implementation of the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) housing policy. The data on which my analysis is based includes over one hundred conversations between myself and the project participants (both from the settlements as well as the partner NGOs), records of two public events, a social network survey of 46 people living in the participating settlements, a separate set of 9 participatory social network maps (NetMaps), and over two hundred pages of my own field notes based on my observations and participation in the research activities. My thesis makes an original contribution to the study of community agency by analysing it through the lens of complex systems theories and utilising the tools of social network analysis. My thesis also makes an original contribution to research methodology by making the technical analysis participatory, accessible, and useful for the participants. This allowed me to combine analysis of relational structures (social networks) with relational dynamics to show how significant social change happened over the course of the project. My thesis suggests that agency can be strengthened through an organizing practice that brings NGOs, academic researchers, and residents of informal settlements together to build relational power, take collective action, and create social change.

The United States presently focuses much of its energy on the prevention of terrorism through particular counterterrorism policies and strategies. Today, deterrence is the primary theoretical basis for counterterrorism policies. If the United States invests so heavily in deterrence as a counterterrorism strategy, is it successful? If not, what are its theoretical flaws? Who is best served by efforts to prevent terrorism through a deterrent project? This thesis will argue that a more appropriate understanding of terrorism is necessary. In order to achieve a more holistic conception of the terrorism problem, efforts should be made politically and theoretically to incorporate international relationships that include politics, economics and culture. Such an approach to understanding terrorism as a collective action that is related to various social structures is not facilitated within the 4 present theoretical application of deterrence to counterterrorism. Therefore, this thesis is a political and economic approach to understanding the relationship between theories of terrorism and strategies of counterterrorism. If deterrence is not the most appropriate way of addressing terrorism, then the first step to creating alternative strategies is to analyze the deterrence policies currently in place. Therefore, this thesis is a stepping stone to moving past present conceptions of how to address terrorism; in order to critique U.S. counterterrorism strategy and understand why deterrence is employed as a strategy so that we can create more suitable counterterrorism strategies.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of Psychology, Committee on Human Development, June 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

<p>This is a study of adolescent student experience within the context of social, political and economic change. It examines the retrospective meaning five post-Soviet individuals made of their school-based, familial and social experiences prior to and following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The study employs a framework based upon student resilience and success.</p><p>This study reviews literature within four areas of focus. First, it examines the nature of change, and operationally divides change into two rudimentary subsets: drawn change (that which slowly alters a societal path over long period of time) and moment change (that which is often linked to crisis and dynamically redirects a societal path over a very short period of time). A discussion of literature follows that examines the historical occurrence of education within the context of social and political change, wherein social and political links are drawn to education. Third, the material available on the subjects of resilience and success is reviewed, from which a model of resilience is employed as a piece of the conceptual framework. The union of the models of change and resilience is then discussed. The fourth area of literature-based focus constructs the historical, cultural, social, political and economic context from which the participants in this study (and their early educational experience) came.</p><p>Following the review of literature, a description of the methodology and epistemology held by the researcher is presented. Constructivism within hermeneutic phenomenology is discussed at length, followed by an account of the researchers position, and then a detailed explanation of the qualitative research design.</p><p>The participants selected were former adolescent students within the Soviet education system both prior to and after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. All participants were residents of Canada at the time of study. One female and four male individuals participated within one-on-one semi-structured conversational interviews. In four cases, secondary questioning (or <i>member checking</i>) took place through the use of in-person or electronic mail communication. Data from all interviews were transcribed and analysed with specialized computer software.</p> <p>Each participant described in depth his or her school-, familial- and social-based experiences both prior to, during and after the changes that took place within the Soviet Union (perestroika, glasnost and the dissolution of the Soviet Union). Also discussed was their understanding of success and resilience, described within the context of their own experience. Five themes appeared to emerge. Participants described their experience as one where the structures and values within their families did not change at any point within the broader social, political and economic changes. Second, they relied upon their past experience and examples surrounding them to make behavioural decisions during the time of the change. Third, they described tacit understanding of locus of control and were thus less affected by changes beyond their control. Fourth, each described levels of stability within their immediate (familial and school-based) experience. Fifth, at the broader societal level of experience, a generally optimistic ethos existed that over shadowed the similarly present air of fear and disorder. Participant experience provided a basis for the reconceptualization of the theoretical framework, and specifically the resiliency model wherein protective factors were divided into key areas: past personal experience, immediate personal experience and broader social experience.</p>

<p>This is a study of adolescent student experience within the context of social, political and economic change. It examines the retrospective meaning five post-Soviet individuals made of their school-based, familial and social experiences prior to and following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The study employs a framework based upon student resilience and success.</p><p>This study reviews literature within four areas of focus. First, it examines the nature of change, and operationally divides change into two rudimentary subsets: drawn change (that which slowly alters a societal path over long period of time) and moment change (that which is often linked to crisis and dynamically redirects a societal path over a very short period of time). A discussion of literature follows that examines the historical occurrence of education within the context of social and political change, wherein social and political links are drawn to education. Third, the material available on the subjects of resilience and success is reviewed, from which a model of resilience is employed as a piece of the conceptual framework. The union of the models of change and resilience is then discussed. The fourth area of literature-based focus constructs the historical, cultural, social, political and economic context from which the participants in this study (and their early educational experience) came.</p><p>Following the review of literature, a description of the methodology and epistemology held by the researcher is presented. Constructivism within hermeneutic phenomenology is discussed at length, followed by an account of the researchers position, and then a detailed explanation of the qualitative research design.</p><p>The participants selected were former adolescent students within the Soviet education system both prior to and after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. All participants were residents of Canada at the time of study. One female and four male individuals participated within one-on-one semi-structured conversational interviews. In four cases, secondary questioning (or <i>member checking</i>) took place through the use of in-person or electronic mail communication. Data from all interviews were transcribed and analysed with specialized computer software.</p> <p>Each participant described in depth his or her school-, familial- and social-based experiences both prior to, during and after the changes that took place within the Soviet Union (perestroika, glasnost and the dissolution of the Soviet Union). Also discussed was their understanding of success and resilience, described within the context of their own experience. Five themes appeared to emerge. Participants described their experience as one where the structures and values within their families did not change at any point within the broader social, political and economic changes. Second, they relied upon their past experience and examples surrounding them to make behavioural decisions during the time of the change. Third, they described tacit understanding of locus of control and were thus less affected by changes beyond their control. Fourth, each described levels of stability within their immediate (familial and school-based) experience. Fifth, at the broader societal level of experience, a generally optimistic ethos existed that over shadowed the similarly present air of fear and disorder. Participant experience provided a basis for the reconceptualization of the theoretical framework, and specifically the resiliency model wherein protective factors were divided into key areas: past personal experience, immediate personal experience and broader social experience.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Queensland, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Marshall University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains 40 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 37-40).