The fifteen married women whose wills were probated in Amite County, Mississippi between 1840 and 1919 were linked by geographical proximity, church affiliation, and similar social status. Their estate papers indicate that after the legal changes of 1839 allowed a married woman in Mississippi to act as a feme sole in regards to her own property, Amite County wives took advantage of the law and acted independently from their husbands. While the antebellum wills concerned slaves and plantation properties, the wills written at the turn of the century distribute commercial properties and personal items. The information provided in these testaments and estate papers give evidence of the social and economic changes experienced by the region and the South during those eight decades.

The relationship between SES and adolescent smoking has been documented in the past literature; however the roots of the inverse socio-economic gradient remain unclear. Using longitudinal data that was collected from 10 high schools in the Montreal region between 1999 and 2004, the analyses test 'neighborhood median income' and 'parental education' to explain four smoking outcomes at smoking onset, notably "need to smoke prior to daily smoking", a novel variable which attempts to capture Tobacco Dependence rather than Nicotine Dependence. Some mediating variables were also informative in providing reasons why adolescents start smoking and progress toward a more intense consumption. It was hypothesized that teenagers from low socioeconomic status (SES) had greater likelihood to smoke than others. The results showed that SES matters differently according to gender. Unexpectedly, boys were more likely to present a positive relationship as those from high income neighborhoods initiated smoking in greater proportions than those from less privileged areas; whereas contrastingly for girls, as expected, those from low income districts had higher probabilities to start smoking. Furthermore, the respondents from highly educated families were less likely to report mediating factors or to smoke because of these positive endorsements. In attempt to prevent smoking among adolescents and young adults, educational and public policies are suggested. In addition, in order to better explain the inverse social gradient in smoking, future research evaluating the interactional effect between SES and risk factors is needed. Finally, researchers may also engage into a follow-up discussion over the five-step phases of the decisional process that is proposed in this thesis; it would contribute to a better understanding of the forces that are at play when individuals initiate a behavior at-risk for developing a state of dependence. / La relation entre le statut socio-économique et le tabagisme à l'adolescence a déjà été documentée par le passé; par contre, les facteurs expliquant l'origine du gradient inversé demeurent inconnus. Grâce à des données longitudinales qui ont suivi la même cohorte d'étudiants provenant de 10 écoles différentes de la région de Montréal entre 1999 et 2004, des analyses testent l'effet du 'revenu médian du quartier de résidence' et du niveau d'éducation des parents pour expliquer quatre variables dépendantes expliquant différents niveaux d'usage du tabac, notamment une nouveauté, le besoin de fumer avant le début d'une consommation quotidienne dans le but de distinguer la dépendance au tabac à celle de la nicotine. Ces médiateurs sont particulièrement éclairants et indiquent les raisons pour lesquelles les adolescents commencent à fumer et progressent vers une consommation plus intensive. Les hypothèses présument que les jeunes dont le statut socio-économique (SES) est bas sont plus à risque que les autres de fumer. Les résultats démontrent que le SES agit différemment selon le sexe. De façon non-prévue, les garçons qui demeurent dans les districts plus affluents sont plus enclins de fumer que les autres; alors que contrairement pour les filles, tel qu'anticipé, ce sont celles des quartiers les plus pauvres qui présentent les plus grandes probabilités de fumer. De plus, les répondants provenant des familles les plus éduquées sont moins enclins de rapporter des facteurs médiateurs ou de fumer à cause de ces derniers. Des recherches futures évaluant les interactions entre le SES et les variables médiatrices sont nécessaires afin de mieux expliquer la formation du gradient inversé. Afin de prévenir le tabagisme auprès des adolescents et des jeunes adultes, des stratégies éducationnelles et publiques sont proposées. De plus, dans le but de mieux comprendre le gradient social inversé, les recherches futures devront se concentrer sur l'effet interactionnel entre le statut socio-économiques et les facteurs à risque. Finalement, les chercheurs peuvent poursuivre la discussion sur les cinq phases du processus décisionnel qui est proposé dans cette thèse; cela permettrait de mieux comprendre les forces qui sont en jeu lorsque les individus s'initient à une activité pour laquelle, il y a un risque de dépendance.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-09, Section: A, page: 4091. Adviser: Brian Powell. Title from dissertation home page (viewed Apr. 30, 2008).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Sociology, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-09, Section: A, page: 4094. Adviser: Elizabeth A. Armstrong. Title from dissertation home page (viewed May 8, 2008).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University OF MICHIGAN.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Sociology, 2005. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-07, Section: A, page: 2737. Adviser: Eliza K. Pavalko.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Sociology, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-06, Section: A, page: 2339. Advisers: Brian Powell; Bernice Pescosolido. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed June 21, 2007)."

Notre projet de recherche concerne les jeunes de la rue. Plus précisément, notre projet se veut une étude d'un groupe de jeunes de la rue, garçons et filles, afin de connaïtre leur parcours ou itinéraire de vie. En fait, c'est tolu particulièrement à travers ces itinéraires que nous pourrons essayer de vérifier si ces jeunes s'intègrent au plan social. Ces jeunes ne sont peut-être pas si à l'écart qu'on le pense et qu'on le dit. Le passage à la rue serait peut-être une forme d'intégration sociale. Cet objet de recherche revêt une importance au plan théorique car c'est toute la question de la marginalité qui est touchée. En effet, ce projet de recherche touche la marginalité de front, d'une part, en mettant en évidence la marginalité de certains jeunes, soit les jeunes de la rue et, d'autre part, en abordant la façon dont la société marginalise une certaine catégorie de jeunes en particulier. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The present study focused on employed parents with preschool children attending a licensed daycare centre. There were two purposes to this study: (1) to compare parental functioning in users of on-site and off-site daycare, and (2) to examine the relationship between child care variables and parental functioning. Sixty six employed parents with preschool children completed the study (48 mothers and 18 fathers). Parents were recruited from nine workplace daycare centres that serviced employees first (on-site group), and then community members (off-site groups). Measures assessing work attitudes, individual, family, and work-family functioning, child care variables, and demographic data were obtained twice over a span of six months. Parents in the on-site group also took part in a semi-structured interview at both assessment times. Results of multivariate analyses on the questionnaire data yielded no significant differences between users of on-site daycare and users of off-site daycare on any of the dependent variables at either assessment time and no group by time interaction. Content analyses of the interview data indicated that parents believe that on-site daycare helps them balance work and family responsibilities. According to parents, on-site daycare is convenient, it allows them to spend more time with their children, it reduces their travel time and work disruptions, increases their availability at work, and improve their work environment. However, data from these interviews also suggested that the quality of child care may be more important in helping parents balance work and family responsibilities than is the location of the centre. Multiple regression analyses on the questionnaire data further underlined the importance of child care in relation to parental functioning. The results indicated that having primary responsibility for child care and the experience of difficulties with child care was related to perceived stress and role overload. High levels of work-child care conflict were negatively related to parental satisfaction, and satisfaction with child care arrangement was positively related to parental satisfaction. Taken together, these findings underscore the importance of considering child care in the context of balancing work and family responsibilities.

Abstract not available.