Among the Baliem valley Dani of the central highlands of Irian Jaya, Indonesia, infants play a prominent role in social relations. Infant mortality rates among the Dani are above two hundred and fifty deaths per thousand live births and birth rates are low. To these patterns of infant survival and growth the Dani consistently ascribe complex meaning. Drawing from anthropological research conducted in 1994--1995 in the Baliem valley, this dissertation demonstrates that indigenous meanings about the infant body and assessments of infant health link the infant to political relations within polygynous families, to antagonistic gender relations, and to affiliations with powerful ancestor spirits. Gender relations play a prominent role in explanations about infants. When an infant dies, parents explain the death in ways that reflect the lower social status of women in relation to men. A study of sex ratios during the first year of life and biased use of health services by gender of the infant suggest that the Dani may generate and validate cultural patterns of gender inequality during the earliest months of life. / Infants also play an important role in national politics. In Indonesia's attempts to assimilate indigenous peoples into the country's economic development agenda, the infant appears in health promotions as a member of a contrived ideal family. These national cultural models, grounded in a concern with population control, translate into an applied health agenda for infants that has little impact on the mortality rates of the very young in Dani society. / The infant, though mute, is a powerful figure at the center of many social and political relations. The richness of meaning attributed to infants in the Baliem valley suggests that further research is needed to correct lacunae in anthropological theory about one of life's key social figures.

The nutritional and sociocultural significance of Canada Goose was documented through field research in Wemindji, Quebec and laboratory analyses (proximate composition, trace elements, fatty acids and heavy metals) at McGill University. Consumption of different parts varies by age/gender groups. Cooked flesh samples contained 25.04--36.46 g/100g protein, 6 19--26.35 g/100g fat, 5.58--11.68 mg/100g iron, 2.77--4.81 mg/100g zinc, 4.91--27.59 mg/100g calcium and 0.22--0.75 mg/100g copper. Lung and liver samples contained high amounts of iron (44.24 and 49.18 mg/100g, respectively). Canada goose provides lower amounts of saturated fatty acids and higher amounts of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids as compared to lard. Heavy metal content of Canada goose was found to be very low, with exception of several samples containing high lead levels. Canada goose is a highly valued food, providing important amounts of energy, protein, iron, zinc and copper. This resource also has significance in spiritual, cultural and social life of the Cree.

Nursing students have perceived stress associated with nursing education.The purpose of this descriptive correlational research was to determine if there is a relationship between lifestyle practices and stress among baccalaureate nursing students. The sample consisted of 72 junior and senior level baccalaureate nursing students, which was 69.9% of the 102 questionnaires distributed from three schools of nursing of mid-size universities in the midwest. The procedures for protection of human subjects were followed.Pender's Health Promotion Model (1996) served as the theoretical framework for this study. Healthy lifestyle was examined using Pender's Health Promotion Lifestyle Profile (HPLP). Perceived stress was measured by Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale (PSS).Findings included student's perceived stress some of the time. The mean for the PSS was 2.14. A healthy lifestyle was determined by a mean of 2.6 on the HPLP. The relationship between healthy lifestyle and perceived stress was significantly negatively correlated at a significant level (r=.4949, p=.001).The HPLP consisted of 6 subscales which measured specific components of a healthy lifestyle. Health responsibility was the first subscale. Overall, students reported never to sometimes seeking a healthcare professional to discuss health concerns or reporting unusual symptoms. Physical activity was subscale number two. Overall, one-fourth to one-third followed a planned exercise program with the same percentage reporting regular exercise. Nutrition was the third subscale. The majority of nursing students sometimes ate a healthy diet with an even larger amount never to sometimes limiting use of foods containing sugar. The fourth subscale was spiritual growth with over 40% feeling connected to some force greater than self Sub scale five was interpersonal relations. Responses to the interpersonal relations subscale indicated that students had support systems in place 80% of the time often to routinely. Stress Management was the sixth subscale of the HPLP. Almost 75% of the nursing students experienced stress and rarely participated in activities to reduce stress.Conclusions were that stress was obvious in nursing education. Stress can be reduced by components of a healthy lifestyle. Lifestyle is a controllable factor in life. Since nursing students are students of health., a healthy lifestyle should be practiced by nursing students. Eating a balanced diet, exercising, and participating in activities to reduce stress are some of the components of a healthy lifestyle.This study was significant because findings provided information about lifestyle and the relationship to perceived stress levels. Since high stress levels may reduce academic performance, and unhealthy lifestyles may increase stress, educational programs could be initiated to reduce stress and improve lifestyle behaviors. Support groups could be instituted to provide a way to support healthy lifestyle and ways to reduce stress.The study has implications for nursing students and nursing faculty. Implications include stress assessment of students and stress management education for students. Nursing faculty must educate students about possible causes of stress and provide ample ways to reduce stress by leading a healthier lifestyle. Nursing students and nursing faculty should lead a life of a health practitioner. / School of Nursing

Particular aspects of contemporary Jamaican culture are revealed as they have been experienced. and perceived by one of its members. Selected events in the life history of a rural Jamaican male are presented and analyzed in terms of his explanations for them and behavioral responses to them. These events also serve as exemplifications or indicators of specific socio-cultural dynamics in Jamaica today. An emphasis is put on economic, ideological, and familial factors generally found in contemporary Jamaica that influenced the perception, attitudes, and behaviors of the subject.

Since the arrival of Robert and Helen Lynd to Muncie, Indiana, in the 1920s, Muncie has perhaps become the most studied city. The Lynds, who referred to Muncie as "Middletown," produced two studies on the city looking at sociological topics. In the 1970s, Theodore Caplow and a team of researchers reproduced the study with Middletown residents to create Middletown III. A recent, still unpublished, Middletown IV was conducted in the city again by Caplow's group in 1999.Yet in all of these years of studies and through all of the attention the studies received in various media, the human side of Muncie has been neglected. There have been no articles written about the people behind the statistics, the very citizens who make up Muncie. Nor has much elaboration been done concerning the geographic class divide that the Lynds first identified in the 1920s.For these reasons, four families were sought to be profiled in-depth concerning the same topics that were presented in the Middletown studies: work, education, family, religion, and leisure and community activities. They were also asked for their opinions on Muncie as a community. To characterize the existence or prove the nonexistence of the geographic class division in the city, two families were selected from each side of town using Indiana 32/Jackson Street as the division between north and south Muncie.Though the four families are only a very small part of the population in Muncie, together they fulfilled most of the Middletown studies' findings, including that there is indeed a division between north and south Muncie. / Department of Journalism

This dissertation is a descriptive study of speech acts encoded in Kirundi marriage transactional discourse and the strategies used by the participants to encode them and attempts to understand the interrelationships between the speech acts and the strategies.Chapter 1 states the objectives and describes the data to be studied and the approach to go about it. Chapter 2 provides the reader with some background information on Burundian society and culture in the area of matrimony.Chapter 3 explores the conversation activities and the management of the interactions between the interactants in the sociocultural context of marriage transactions. Formality participation status are discussed and shown to be crucial factors for the semantic and pragmatic interpretation of the participants' verbal contributions. Chapter 4 investigates the nature and the function of the speech acts performed by the interactants. The speech act identification and categorization are based on the social aspects of linguistic action and on the conventionality and contextuality of discourse. Chapter 5 inquires into the strategies applied by the interactants to encode and decode them. Chapter 6 is a summary and conclusion. / Department of English

The purpose of this study is to reinterpret the influence of domestic ideology on middle-class Anglo women during westward migration using the Oregon Trail as a case study. By analyzing traditional cultural constructs which portrayed women as "reluctant drudges" or " stoic helpmates," a new paradigm for trail women emerged. The inculcated tenets of domesticity, comprised of a domestic routine and a values system, seemed to have equipped women with domestically-related role identities, and thus facilitated the accommodation of these women to the challenges of trail life. In addition, this ideology served as the basis for establishing relationships with Native American women, for Anglo women recognized similaritiesbetween the domestic routine of Native Americans and themselves. Finally, shared domestic chores and values enabled Anglo women to develop non-competitive, mutually beneficial relationships with each other, in contrast to the often competitive nature of interaction between men. / Department of History

The theme of this thesis is the relationship of the Jane Austen heroine to her social environment--codes of proper behavior as exemplified by the heroines of Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Persuasion. The study follows the development of the characters from the ignorance of the social code demonstrated by Emma Woodhouse, through views of the expectations of women of marriageable age as seen by Elizabeth and Jane Rennet, to a comparison of sensible and sensitive behavior in Marianne and Elinor Dashwood, and concluding with the perfect propriety of Anne Elliot. The thesis explores the connection between propriety and the heroine, demonstrating why a heroine succeeds or fails on the basis of her individual view of the social code and her behavior in obeying or denying its dictates.

The purpose of this study was to describe, explicate, and systematically analyze the culture care values, beliefs, and practices of migrant farm workers related to health promoting behaviors in context of their temporary living accommodations and work setting in two small towns in east central Indiana. The goal of this study was to generate knowledge regarding culture care values, beliefs, and practices of migrant farm workers related to health promoting behaviors. Such knowledge can be used by nurses to provide culturally congruent care which can influence migrant farm workers' health and well-being.The theoretical framework for the study was Leininger's Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality. The qualitative ethnonursing research method was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted using both an ethnonursing inquiry guide and an ethno-demographic information guide developed by the researcher.Sixteen key informants and three general informants participated in the study. Informants were purposefully selected for knowledge of migrant farm life and willingness to share this knowledge with the researcher. Key informants were Mexican American migrant farm workers in east central Indiana for farm and tomato factory work from July through October, 2004. General informants were health and social service workers who provided care for the migrant farm workers. Three key informants were interviewed twice each. All other informants were interviewed once. Interviews took place in the informants' homes and at a local food pantry. Interviews were audio taped and transcribed verbatim.Four major themes were synthesized from the research data: (a) health promoting behaviors are recognized and valued by migrant farm workers but are influenced by economic and political/legal factors in the social structure; (b) traditional gender roles of migrant farm worker men and women influence health promoting behaviors; (c) professional caring is viewed by migrant farm workers as respect through the use of the Spanish language and acceptance of culture care values, beliefs, and practices; and (d) health promoting behavior of migrant farm workers is influenced both by traditional culture care values and beliefs and by knowledge acquired through diverse formal and informal education. Findings were discussed in relation to Leininger's three modes of culture care action for nurses: culture care preservation/maintenance, accommodation/negotiation, and repatterning/restructuring. / Department of Educational Studies

Lolu lucwaningo olumayelana neqhaza elingabanjwa ubuciko namasiko ukukhuthaza ukuzwana nokubekezelelana ngokwamasiko nokuvuselela ubuntu phakathi kwezinhlanga ezahlukene KwaZulu-Natal. Kulolu cwaningo kucutshungulwa izindlela ezingasetshenziswa ukwenza izizwe zamasiko ehlukahlukene zikwazi ukwazana kangcono nokungaholela ekuhloniphaneni kanye nasekuhlalisaneni ngokuzwana. Ngasekuqaleni kwalolu cwaningo, kuye kwahlahlelwa kabanzi amagama abumbe isihloko salolu cwaningo ngenhloso yokuveza ukubaluleka kwalolu cwaningo. Kuye kwavela izincazelo ezahlukene ezichaza isiko, kuvele umongo wesiko njengomthetho wesizwe oyinkolelo yokwakha umphakathi, ukuzazisa nokwehluka kwesizwe kwezinye, ubugugu, ukuziphatha kanye nendlela yokuphilisana ngokwabelana kwabantu nokuhlanganisa impilo yabantu. Kulolu cwaningo kubhekwe iqhaza elibanjwe ngumkhakha wezobuciko namasiko ukuphumelelisa impokophelo yoMnyango Wezemfundo KwaZulu-Natal nokuyilapho kuye kwavela khona ukugqugquzela nokulondoloza amagugu esizwe kanye nokuthuthukisa imisebenzi yezobuciko namasiko njengeminye yemisebenzi esemqoka yalolu phiko. Kuye kwacutshungulwa eminye yemikhosi egujwa yisizwe samaZulu okubalwa phakathi kweminye, uMkhosi woMhlanga; uMkhosi weLembe (inkosi uShaka) kanye noMkhosi woKweshwama. Lapha kuye kwacutshungulwa umsuka kanye nomongo womkhosi ngomkhosi ngenhloso yokuthola ukufana okuqukethwe nokungaholela ekwakheni ukwazana kangcono ngenxa yomongo ofanayo oqukethwe yisiko lesizwe nesizwe. Lokhu kwenzeke ngokubheka neminye yemikhosi egujwa yisizwe samaNdiya okubalwa kuyo umgubho woBuciko Bomlomo; umgubho kaDiwali kanye naleyo egujwa ngokuhlanganyela kwezinhlanga ezahlukene zaKwaZulu-Natal okubalwa kuyo umgubho woKunambitha kanye noWesitimela. Phakathi kolwazi oluqoqiwe Iwalolu cwaningo, kuye kwavela lokhu okulandelayo njengalokho okungabamba iqhaza ukukhuthaza ukuzwana nokubekezelelana ngokwamasiko nokuvuselela ubuntu: ukufundisa ngamasiko; ukusebenzisa ubuciko namasiko ukuvuselela ubuntu; ukuthuthukisa izilimi zomdabu; ukuziqhayisa kwentsha ngesiko; ukukhuthaza ubusikoningi kanye nobuliminingi. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2008.