Keywords: ritual, rite of passage, social change, consumer culture, media This thesis deals with a ritual observed today in a panorama of extremely dense consumer culture in the highly industrialized society of Japan. The ritual in exam is known under the name of Shichigosan (translated into English as Seven-Five-Three) and it is observed by children of three, five and seven years of age. The ritual has its predecessors in various rural ritual observances that were associated to certain ages seen as threshold in the child's life. The consolidation of the urban pattern of the ritual went along with the transformation and urbanization during the Tokugawa shogunate from the 17th century onwards. The thesis describes the historical development of Shichigosan during which it has proved capable of adaptation to changing social and economic conditions without losing those elements that render it recognizable as a ritual mode of expression. The ritual in exam unfolds as a shared platform of meaning where basic social values, views on children and family life, and also individual perceptions emerge, are expressed and shaped at the same time. The main scope of the thesis is to interpret not only the reasons of the popularity of this observance, but more importantly, how its meaning in the modern Japanese...

The thesis examines changes in sports participation in Czech society in last decades. Sports activities are conceptualized as a practice, routinized habit that is shared in a society's culture (Reckwitz 2002; Warde 2005). Bourdieu's (1984) also shows how different social positions generate different taste and preferences, which are simultaneously classified and base for symbolic borders between social classes. The empirical analysis focuses on sports participation during the last three decades and deeper understanding of differentiation and meanings of today's sports activity. The results clearly show profound increase in sports participation, from 25 % in 1984 to 67 % in 2009. The cohort analysis confirms that dynamics of sports practices' spread have roots in the socialization process and cohort exchange, because younger cohorts have a stable higher level of sports participation irrespective of their aging. Lasting impact of cultural capital on sports participation is particularly striking, especially in the light of the major change in society's regime in the 1989 and after. This brings attention to the question, how mechanisms of social inequalities - especially cultural capital - worked in a similar way across supposedly different social orders. Next chapter deals with patterns of participation in...

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Background: Community engagement—the collaborative process of addressing issues that impact the well-being of a community—is a strategic effort to address community issues. The Gulf States Health Policy Center (GS-HPC) formed the Hattiesburg Area Health Coalition (HAHC) in November 2014 for the purpose of addressing policies impacting the health of Forrest and Lamar counties in Mississippi. Objectives: To chronicle the community-based participatory research (CBPR) process used by HAHC’s identification of infant and maternal health as a policy area, domestic violence in pregnancy as a priority area within infant and maternal health, and a community action plan (CAP) regarding this priority area. Methods: HAHC reviewed data and identified infant and maternal health as a priority area. They then conducted a policy scan of local prenatal health care to determine the policy area of domestic violence in pregnancy. Results: HAHC developed a CAP identifying three goals with regard to domestic violence and pregnancy that together informed policy. Changes included the development of materials specific to resources available in the area. The materials and recommended changes will first be implemented by Southeast Mississippi Rural Health Initiative (SeMRHI) through a screening question for all pregnant patients, and the adoption of policies for providing information and referrals. Conclusions: The lack of community-level data was a challenge to HAHC in identifying focus and priority areas, but this was overcome by shared leadership and community engagement. After completion of the CAP, 100% of expecting mothers receiving prenatal care in the area will be screened for domestic violence.

The last seven years have been a transformation point for graffiti and street art in Jordan. Due to the constant inequality that women face in Jordan, graffiti and street artists grabbed the first opportunity presented to them in order to address these issues, when the Baladk Street Art Festival took place in the capital of Jordan, Amman. They used this festival as an opportunity to spread awareness and tell stories related to inequality as well as claim their rights. Resistance from conservative groups in the society towards these murals resulted in more restrictions from the municipality about the content of them. However, artists did not back up and fought their way to keep their art on the city’s walls, but they had to work harder in order to disguise the messages they wished to send to the public. Social change was used as the main concept to follow in this thesis in order to arrive at a conclusion that shows the change that had taken place in Jordan due to graffiti and street art, especially social change regarding ideas and social movements as well as political processes. In order to get the people’s, the municipality’s and artists’ perspectives, qualitative methods were used such as interviews and a survey. Results showed that the municipality's position on the effects of graffiti and street on the society as well as the strict regulations are partially the same. In the meantime, interviews with artists and the survey showed the struggle the artists go through when painting and also the change in the people’s behavior that occurred in the last seven years, from the start of the project until now. The survey’s results showed that most of the people understood the exact meaning of the murals and some respondents interpreted the messages according to their experiences. Therefore, it was concluded that graffiti and street art can serve as a prospective tool to drive social change in the Jordanian society, yet not solitarily. Different aspects, such as people’s behavior, shifting norms as well as a change in laws and policies need to work hand in hand in order to achieve the desired change and cause a social and cultural evolution.

While a large body of social psychological literature is devoted to studying helping behavior between social groups, the study of gratitude as the most common reaction to help is virtually absent from the intergroup literature. However, gratitude has been a constant theme in the history of intergroup relations, particularly in the history of the systematic oppression of socially disadvantaged groups by socially advantaged groups. The “grateful slave” trope that justified the oppression of Black people in North America or modern narratives of “ungrateful” immigrants in Europe exemplify advantaged groups’ attempts to evoke gratitude among disadvantaged groups to secure their conformity and loyalty, or to receive recognition for apparent benefits they provide - even for equal rights. Not only do these examples question the undisputed positivity of gratitude, but they also suggest that disadvantaged groups’ gratitude expressions might be involved in the regulation of power relations between social groups. The present research introduces the empirical study of gratitude to intergroup relations. The specific aim of this dissertation was to examine how disadvantaged groups’ gratitude expressions in response to advantaged group help might function to promote social inequality. At the same time, the present work addresses gaps within previous research that studies how advantaged group help itself affects status relations. Based on a synthesis of the literature on gratitude and intergroup relations, across three manuscripts, it was examined whether disadvantaged groups’ gratitude expressions, alongside advantaged group help, affect intergroup power relations through a) influencing psychological pathways to social change, b) regulating group-specific needs, and c) enacting and transmitting paternalistic ideology. In Manuscript #1, the novel idea of a potentially harmful side of gratitude expressions for low power groups was tested. Using correlational, experimental, between- and within-subjects designs, the results from five studies showed across different contexts that when low-power group members expressed gratitude for a high-power group member’s help, they were less willing and less likely to protest against the high power group members’ previous transgression. Forgiveness and system justification mediated this pacifying effect, providing insights into the underlying psychological process. In Manuscript #2, results from two correlational studies demonstrate that ideological beliefs can guide advantaged groups to provide help that differs in its potential to bring about social change. Paternalistic beliefs parsimoniously distinguished whether members of the receiving society provide dependency- or autonomy-oriented help to refugees. Both groups indicated that autonomy-oriented help has a higher potential for social change than dependency-oriented help. Reflecting group-specific needs and convictions that underlie paternalism, receiving society members’ concern for a positive moral image of the ingroup was positively related to their willingness to provide dependency-oriented help, and beliefs about refugees’ competence were positively related to their willingness to provide autonomy-oriented help. In Manuscript #3, it was investigated why advantaged group members react negatively to refugee protests and demand more gratitude from the refugees. The results of two experiments showed that refugees’ protest decreased perceptions among receiving society members that they are socially valued, but expressions of gratitude from refugees increased perceptions of being socially valued. Refugees were perceived as more agentic when they protested, however, not when they expressed gratitude. Perceptions of social worth determined receiving society members’ attitudes toward refugees on other dimensions. In a third experiment, the underpinnings of gratitude demands were examined. The results of a third experiment showed that receiving society members, who endorsed paternalistic beliefs, labeled protesting refugees as ungrateful and demanded gratitude from them. In sum, besides theoretically and empirically advancing several areas of intergroup relations (e.g., intergroup helping, intergroup contact, intergroup reconciliation, and paternalism), the present research suggests that gratitude expressions, which occur in intergroup contexts that are characterized by social injustice, can have negative consequences for disadvantaged groups. Implications for theory and social change are discussed, and promising avenues for future research are suggested.

This thesis examines the rhetoric surrounding sex education crafted by two major types of advocacy groups: the Christian Right and the Liberal Left. I conducted a qualitative analysis of content on sex education produced by six high-profile organizations: The Heritage Foundation, Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, American Civil Liberties Union, the Guttmacher Institute, and Planned Parenthood. I found that these polarized organizations do not debate each other; instead, they focus on parents whose political leanings match their own. Sex education is at the center of other issues that also divide the Christian Right and the Liberal Left: healthcare, morality, marriage, education, and STIs. I analyze the arguments advocacy organizations make, the liabilities of their appeals, and their strategies to mobilize parents emotionally. Both conservative and liberal organizations aim to secure the beliefs of the next generation through their parents, not to find common ground.

A dissertation of limited scope submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the course-work Postgraduate Diploma in Recreation and Tourism in the Centre for Recreation and Tourism at the University of Zululand, 2003. / The study was conducted in the light of the background that there is a rising concern from the government that the companies should give socio-economical benefits to the local communities. In the aspect of recreation and tourism the Department of Sports and Recreation (DSR) is expecting the reserve to give the socio-economical benefits to the local communities in a very participatory way. The reason above led to the initiatives to explore at the local reserve, which is Shongweni Resources Reserve whether it co-operates with what have been said in the white paper. For example the White Paper (1994:35) said Recreation development should be demand driven and community based. It also said communities must be empowered to participate in the planning, implementation and evaluation of recreation programmes. The people responsible for looking at that realised that there was poor relationship between the Shongweni Resources Reserve and local communities. It was from that perspective that there was a need for someone to conduct a study that would look at their relationship and the reasons and motives behind that relationship. The study had specific objectives to be explored, which are: • To determine the relationship between the local communities and the reserve. • To establish whether the communities are being involved or participate in the reserve activities. • Investigate whether there is any development initiative the reserve is offering to the local community. • Find out whether the local people are aware of the kind of socio- economic development they can get from the reserve. All these four objectives have been met because the whole study was formulated around these objectives. The study looked at the relation between local communities and the reserve and found that it is not healthy. It also looked at the communities whether they are involved or not, and found that they are very participating. The development initiatives the reserve is offering to local communities have been also explored and the findings showed that there are development initiatives the reserve is offering to the communities. The issue of whether the local people are aware of the kind of socio-economic development they can get from the reserve was also looked at, and found that the local people are not aware of the type of socio-economic development. There are also expectations that have been formulated as guidelines for the study. There were four expectations that had been formulated, and out of those four expectations half of them have been proven correctly and half of them have been proven wrong. The expectations that have been formulated are: • That there is poor relationship between the local communities and the reserve. • That the local communities are less involved in the activities of the reserve. • That there are inadequate recreation and tourism development initiatives offered to the local communities. • That the local people are not aware of the socio-economic development benefits for them in the reserve. There were different findings that were found. Most of the people considered development as medium and the community members are prepared to take the responsibilities of the development of the Shongweni Resources Reserve. They are fairly involved in the management and maintenance of the reserve. The involvement of communities in participating for the recreation activities is happening. This has happened by considering the period and the frequency of their participation, which have positive responses. The communities are also allowed to use recreation activities found in the reserve. When considering the socio-economical aspects, the reserve is giving very less economical aspects to the local communities. They are not allowed to sell their crafts and to cut wood for carving, and there are very few local employees. There are various factors that were found to be the cause of bad relationship. One of them was the communities were not clear about community benefits they should get from the reserve. The recommendations that have been surfaced are that the reserve should be transparent, socio-economical improvement, and to conduct the future study that would involve the Shongweni Resources Reserve staff to include their perspectives.

While researchers have identified the Housing First model of putting homeless persons into permanent housing as the best means of improving the quality of life for chronically homeless individuals, few studies have examined the perceptions of shelter staff workers on the barriers the homeless face in obtaining and maintaining long-term housing. This case study of 2 homeless shelters in New Jersey examined the relationship that fair and just democratic processes play in supporting or undermining Housing First. Data came from New Jersey's annual Point in Time counts of the number of homeless individuals and families and the causes and service needs of the homeless. Government reports were also analyzed, as well as from semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews with a purposive sample of 14 homeless shelter staff workers. The polarities of democracy model as described by Benet helped identify whether democracy was being served rightly and justly within these homeless communities. Information was analyzed by inductive coding and by identifying themes and patterns that emerged from the interviews. The primary finding of this study was that lack of available housing, lack of resources to gain access to housing, and lack of knowledge of resources that are available for housing acquisition and maintenance plays a role in causing individuals to become and remain chronically homeless. Social change implications include policy recommendations to local, state, and federal legislators to increase accountability in the allocation of funding for housing support and the development of a volunteer case management force to meet the service needs of the chronically homeless.

D’une manière générale, les théories du développement ne constituent pas seulement des modèles explicatifs du changement social mais représentent avant tout des modèles théoriques fortement imprégnés d’idéologie justifiant les axes d’action des programmes politiques de développement. Dans un premier temps, les théories proposaient aux pays du « Sud » le rattrapage du retard ou le gommage de l’ordre historique de domination internationale comme solution à l’énigme du développement. Dans un second temps, à la fin des années 1970, elles constituaient le moyen de garantir une forte croissance économique pour les Etats aussi bien du « Nord » que du « Sud » par l’application des PAS. A partir des années 1990, un nouveau corpus de théories du développement propose une forme d’action politique se distinguant des ajustements structurels, le développement local. Celui-ci se décline en trois grands axes d’actions : - le retour du politique en tant qu’institution de régulation économique et sociale à travers les idées de gouvernance et de démocratie participative ;- l’optimisation de la croissance économique et des services sociaux par la régulation politique ;- le développement local en tant que niveau de production et de régulation du politique, du social et de l’économique.Ainsi, que cela soit à l’échelle des théories scientifiques ou des programmes politiques, ces trois axes constituent les conditions sine qua non du changement social. Mais le fait de suivre ces axes conduit-il au développement local ? C’est à cette question que nous nous sommes efforcé de répondre par la mise en perspective de pratiques de développement local au niveau d’une ville d’un pays dit « du Sud », Bamako au Mali, et au niveau d’une ville d’un pays dit « du Nord », Marseille en France. / Overall, development theories are not only explanatory models of social change but are primarily theoretical models strongly imbued with ideology justifying the action axes of program development policies. Initially, the theories proposed for the 'southern' countries to “take off” or to wipe the historical order of international dominance as a solution to the riddle of development. In a second step, in the late 1970s, they were the means of ensuring strong economic growth for “North” and “South” countries by the application of SAPs. From the 1990s, a new set of theories of development proposes a form of political action distinct from structural adjustment: local development. It comes in three main action axes:- the return of politics as an institution of economic and social regulation through the ideas of governance and participatory democracy ;- optimization of economic growth and social services by political regulation ;- local development as a production and a regulation level of the politic, the social and the economic.Thus, whether at the level of scientific theories or political agendas, these three axes are the prerequisites of social change. But must these prerequisites be followed to lead the Local Development? This is the question that we tried to address through the perspective of local development practices in a city of a “South” country, Bamako, Mali, and in a city of a “North” country, Marseille, France.