The purpose of this study was to explore the feasibility of determining acculturation in a Deaf Navajo Indian through an assessment of art work, accompanying narratives, and interview data. It was concluded that the cultural characteristics of the subject examined in this case study were reflected in his art work and stories, with his Navajo identity revealed as the primary cultural affiliation. Interview data indicated the presence of a significant, albeit less predominant, Deafness cultural affiliation that was not notably reflected in the art pieces or accompanying narratives. Art therapy alone was not established as a reliable medium through which to assess acculturation. However, used in concert with the interview and the subject's own narratives, art therapy proved to be of value in the assessment of acculturation patterns in a Deaf Navajo Indian.

An exploratory descriptive design was used to investigate older healthy Hispanic women's beliefs about breast cancer. A secondary analysis of a database from a larger study dealing with Hispanic and Anglo women's knowledge of breast cancer and use of breast cancer screening was conducted. Using Orem's theory of self-care and self-care deficit as the framework, and content analysis, data were obtained from a two part question of the original 63 item questionnaire. A major finding was that hopelessness/powerlessness received the largest number of responses, especially from the youngest subjects, 50 to 69 years old. The seventy year olds had the largest number of responses in the acceptance category, while the eighty year olds had the largest in the denial category. The results supported the importance of culturally relevant and sensitive nursing practice. Reasons for older healthy Hispanic women's beliefs about breast cancer are discussed as well as recommendations for nursing practice and future research.

The incidence of HIV infection has been increasing among Hispanic women at an alarming rate. An assessment was conducted concerning attitudes and behaviors about sex and safe sex practices of 28 young Hispanic women attending an alternative education program in South Tucson, Arizona. This study sought to discover if relationships exist between: HIV education and safe sex practices; level of acculturation and safe sex practices; and attitudes and safe sex practices. Findings were inconclusive regarding the association between level of acculturation and safe sex practices. HIV transmission knowledge does not appear to influence safe sex practices. However, several of the attitudes investigated do appear to influence safe sex practices.

"A coyote in the outer world" is an observational exploration by an American Indian about the influences of culture change upon his own ancient Navajo traditions since 1868. The colonial model of an authoritarian bureaucratic state of faceless disempowered citizens serves as the abrupt change-agent for native and native American culture since circa 1780. Observations, opinions and culture specific models exemplify the culture-specific oral traditions contained in the complex mythologies, interpersonal theosophies and wisdom of the Navajo's kin-based community. Also included are strategies for self-definition that help distinguish between and revitalize one's ancient ancestral and contemporary historic oral traditions. Conveying American Indian perspectives about culture based self-definition in the United States reiterates that the Coyote is actively utilizing methodologies appropriate to his native perspective and acknowledges the dearth of scientific buttressing of culture specific observations.

The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of African-Americans in the Southwest with regard to police, crime, and safety. As part of a larger study of a 12,500 sample of White, Asian, Hispanic, American Indian, and African-Americans, a questionnaire was mailed to 5,000 randomly sampled African-Americans, stratified by gender, age, State of residence, and area of residence. Frequency analyses, t-test analyses, and ANOVA analyses, were conducted. Results indicated that African-American males had more positive attitudes toward safety than females. Also noted was that the age group of 60+ had more positive attitudes toward police than other age groups (18-25, 26-40, 40-60), as well as a better awareness of community policing than the age group of 18-25.

Value-expectancy theory was used with 32 Mexican-American women to investigate whether the likelihood of following cancer screening guidelines was a function of perceived effectiveness and difficulty of the behaviors. Participants used magnitude estimation techniques to rate 10 recommended cancer screening behaviors with respect to perceived effectiveness, difficulty, and likelihood of adoption. Standard correlation and regression analysis were conducted on the means of the natural logs of the raw scores. Results indicated both perceived effectiveness and perceived difficulty were significant predictors of likelihood of taking action (R² =.71, p ≤ .005). Unlike previous Anglo samples in which effectiveness was not a significant factor in intent to act, this group of Mexican-American women gave approximately equal importance to effectiveness and difficulty. A curvilinear relationship between difficulty and likelihood is common to this and all previous studies: the sharply decelerating curve indicates that likelihood decreases rapidly with increasing difficulty.

This study explored the most critical problems encountered by Mexican-American women in professional careers. These women were employed in art, science, engineering, education, medicine, law, writing, and administrative and managerial specialties. Both single (N = 38) and married (N = 33) women participated in this study. There were no restrictions on age, number of years on the job, or educational level. A questionnaire designed by the researcher was used to gather information on the subjects. The questionnaire was divided into three parts: Part 1 solicited demographic information, Part 2 addressed issues encountered in the workplace, and Part 3 examined issues encountered at home. Findings from the study indicated that the most critical problems encountered by Mexican-American women in the workplace included the "Superwoman complex," being the "only," and establishing legitimacy. At home, crucial issues consisted of the Superwoman complex, self-imposed guilt/torment, and family pressure. Additional questions revealed critical problems encountered by these women.

Cancer during the twentieth century has become a major universal health concern. The American Indian population, too, has experienced both a dramatic rise in cancer rates and different patterns of cancer among tribal groups. The purpose of this thesis is to discuss various factors including culture that impact cancer in American Indian populations. A literature review that provides cancer data, including rates, risk factors, and American Indian responses to cancer is presented in the opening chapters. In addition, results of a qualitative exploratory research involving a sample from the Pasqua Yaqui Tribe of Southern Arizona and a non-Indian sample from the Community Hospice Program of Tucson are presented. Data from both groups are analyzed, compared, and summarized.

Despite all the scholarly work on the Hopi, studies primarily focus on the role of the Federal government and Hopi resistance; discussions generally dismiss Hopi Progressives as "assimilationists" and "puppets" of the Federal government. This limited focus has lead us astray in our attempts to analyze the Hopi response to the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) which created the Hopi Tribal Council. This study restructured the framework of analysis by tracing the political changes among Hopi Progressives during the post Oraibi Spilt era (1906-1936). Hopi history served as a model of Hopi political tradition for comparative analysis of Progressive leadership and activities. The results of the comparison demonstrated that Hopi progressivism was rooted in tradition and strove to insure greater sovereignty. Finally, the political changes among Progressives created parallels to the IRA. In giving a new definition to Hopi progressivism, this study expands the framework of the Hopi IRA process.

The question this thesis asks is: How have non-Indian conceptions of masculinity and femininity shaped federal Indian policy during the late nineteenth-century? The answer to this question lies, I will argue, in the process of liberal state formation itself; a process which necessarily involves the continued reproduction of gender hierarchies and systems of male power that privilege men and masculinity over women and femininity. This public/private dichotomy, and the system of gender relations it supports, restricts women's social role to within a highly circumscribed private sphere separate and distinct from the public sphere of economy and state occupied by men. Therefore, as a reflection of the overall process of liberal state formation, the process of incorporating Indian peoples into the American social, economic, and political mainstream undertaken during the assimilation and allotment eras, necessarily entailed the reproduction of Euroamerican gender hierarchies within Indian societies.