Mental illness is examined as a classification of deviance and as a social process. The labeling perspective provides preliminary concepts and problems for research. The goal of research is the examination of the process of ascribing the label "mental illness" to individuals and their behavior by significant others prior to their contact with official and organizational agents of treatment and control. An exploratory interview research design thin the Fan district of Richmond, Virginia was executed. Fifty residents were interviewed. Preliminary data suggest that the primarily white, female, well-educated, professional sample was unwilling to stereotype the mentally ill, and revealed typifications of mental illness which differed significantly from those in previous research. Mental illness was ascribed primarily to individuals who were known well and who were observed as acting abnormally for their personal biographical situation and unable to function over a continued period of time.

The cultural practice of tattooing has a long and vibrant history, and previous scholars have explored their meanings from a variety of theoretical viewpoints ranging from their aesthetic qualities to their ability to contribute to the social construction of subjectivity. But relatively little attention has been paid to the labor process involved in the production of tattoos. Tattooing as an occupation provides a compelling case study to understand post-bureaucratic service work, both because the product is full of social meaning for consumers and because the work of tattooing falls outside of the dominant framework through which interactive service provision has been theorized in the past. Using interview data collected from tattoo artists and their clients, this dissertation explores how interactive service encounters exist as complex terrains upon which workers and customers co-construct and communicate consumptive and productive identities. Specifically, it seeks to address what meanings and expectations clients bring into their encounters with tattoo artists, and how do the needs and intentions of clients inform direct service provision, and how tattoo artists understand, and address, and perform their work absent managerial oversight and bureaucratic control.

<p> In this study I approach the contradictory, contentious, and competing notions of resistance as a conceptual problem, with empirical discursive realities, limiting social researchers&rsquo; ability to understand relations of power and culture. Using a grounded methodological, I conduct meta-analyses of theoretical, conceptual, and empirical literatures on and/or employing the concepts resistance, culture, and power. From this data, I present a series of emergent epistemic themes as epistemorphs, or knowledge forms, that order a &ldquo;structure for knowing&rdquo; characteristic of each term's constitution. I then develop a series of deconstructive analyses aimed at the external validity/reliability and intensional logics of each discursively identified conceptualization structure. I identify in these analyses a series problematics for the intensional logics ordering these concepts. In light of these findings and analyses, I introduce a number of new concepts as an alternative structure for knowing. I conceptualize power in terms of: power (an agent&rsquo;s properties with capacities to apply force and accomplish things), fortepovon (the praxis of agentic powers), and efikepotenco (the efficacy of powers realized). I introduce a conceptual distinction between &lsquo;the cultural&rsquo; (the Discursive mediation of culture) and &lsquo;culture&rsquo; (a process of knowledge formation in which experience is made intelligible and comprehensible). In relation the distinction for culture, I introduce a dialectic elaboration of Foucault&rsquo;s concept of power/knowledge: povonscio (powers in knowledge) and superfortiscio (power determinate knowledge). Returning to the conceptual questions concerning resistance, I articulate a dialectic conceptual formation for resistance and domination as dimensions of fortepovon, rather than being separate and independent phenomena. As an alternative, I propose conceptualizing the praxis of powers as either "oppressive" or "liberating."</p>

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<p> The purpose of the qualitative study was to use phenomenology to explore and describe the friendships between people with and without disabilities. Eight camp participants answered questions about their friendships at Zeno Mountain Farm, an inclusive camp in Bristol, Vermont. All participants agreed the definition of friendship is the same for all people; this did not change at camp. The major themes that arose were reciprocity, belonging and opportunity. Creating space for these friendships to grow was imperative. Overall this study can add to the body of knowledge concerning friendship formation with people with disabilities.</p>

No description available.

Based on 17 interviews with college football players, this dissertation examines the construction of athletic and masculine identities among a group of young men who play "big-time" college football at a Division I-FBS university in the Southeastern U.S. College football is one of the most popular sports in the U. S. in part because it embodies the cultural ideals of strength, competition, aggression, physical contact, and "winning" that are highly admired in U. S. society in men and boys. College football athletes serve as useful informants about how their experiences in and in relation to football affect their efforts to create an identity as an athletic man. My analysis shows how college football players' talk and accounts serve to self-identify themselves as "self-made" men. That is, they are responsible, have agency and achieve goals, face challenges and take risks, and provide for others. My informants also self-identify as men by saying they are opposite of that which our culture characterizes as feminine and homosexual. Playing college football helps young men identify as a particular kind of athletic man. The athletes say that playing college football takes a strong mind, "heart," and a gifted body. Having a strong mind means being focused, smart and coachable. Having heart means being passionate about the game and having the guts to put your body on the line. Having a gifted body means being big, strong, or athletic. Results speak to the influence of the sport institution on gender identity and the (re)production of inequality, gender as an institution, hegemonic masculinity, embodiment and emotion, and identity work. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2008. / Date of Defense: August 11, 2008. / Gender, Hegemonic Masculinity, Emodying Gender, Identity Construction, Sport, Inequality / Includes bibliographical references. / Patricia Y. Martin, Professor Directing Dissertation; Michael Mondello, Outside Committee Member; Douglas Schrock, Committee Member; Jill Quadagno, Committee Member.

This study examined quality of life among spouses of U.S. Army personnel during Operation Iraqi Freedom. A survey design based on stress and resiliency theory was utilized involving a random sample of spouses residing on a large military installation. Based on length of deployment, the 205 respondents comprised three groups. The study was designed to assess variables associated with parental stress, family stress, family coping, personal coping, well-being, sense of coherence, and quality of life. Comparison tests (ANOVA) were utilized to assess differences among the groups of spouses and structural equation modeling was used to determine the direct, indirect, and total effects of the variables in the model on quality of life for the three groups. The spouses of non-deployed personnel had lower levels of stress and better quality of life those spouses of deployed personnel (p / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Spring Semester 2005. / Date of Defense: March 17, 2005. / Coping, Well Being, Military Families, Family Stress, Quality Of Life / Includes bibliographical references. / Carol A. Darling, Professor Directing Dissertation; Charles R. Figley, Outside Committee Member; Bonnie B. Greenwood, Committee Member.

In this dissertation project I use the case of a local Occupy Wall Street movement to examine tensions in the local adoption of a national movement's organizational forms and practices. Movements are often thought to be organic phenomena, yet some movements may incorporate much of their organizational framework from preexisting movements. How a local movement incorporates or adopts a preexisting organizational form has implications for movement activities and outcomes. In the case I study—Occupy Tallahassee—the local movement emerged from the national movement, which provided an organizational structure and loose platform for attracting participants. Having drawn from an existing organizational form, however, the local movement did not toil with their own meaning making in developing collective identity or solidarity around how to make collective decisions. Ultimately, the group struggled to unify around shared meanings of democracy, collective identity, and common grievances. I examine this struggle and some of the particular challenges that arise when political entrepreneurs attempt local implementation of a national movement brand without being cognizant of local conditions around which to mobilize or build a platform. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2015. / October 19, 2015. / collective identity, political sociology, social movements / Includes bibliographical references. / Daniel Tope, Professor Directing Dissertation; Brad T. Gomez, University Representative; Jill Quadagno, Committee Member; Irene Padavic, Committee Member.