One of the most persistent popular notions of gay men and lesbians is that they either live in or move to larger cities. In this thesis, the geography and migration paths of gay men and lesbians are studied using the life course perspective to challenge this idea. It is argued that gay men and lesbians are affected by the time and place into which they are born. Like heterosexuals, they are subject to the normative conceptions of life paths that are present at a specific historical period and place. Adopting a mixed-methods approach, four studies related to this aim are conducted. The first study shows that the tendency for gay men and lesbians to be concentrated to the largest cities in Sweden is greater than for heterosexuals. However, it also shows that the concentration tendency of lesbians and couples is less strong. The second study illustrates that tolerance plays no role in the geographical concentration of gay men and lesbians. Although perceived tolerance is often assumed to matter, this study shows that measured intolerance does not have an effect on the concentration tendency. The third study explores the migration motives of gay men and lesbians living in the city of Malmö, Sweden. It shows that the life stories of older cohorts resembled typical rural-urban flight stories but that the youngest cohort stressed motives similar to the overall population. This is in sharp contrast to the fourth study, which scrutinises migration stories from Izmir, Turkey. Because legal recognition is lacking, following the same life path as heterosexuals is problematic for gay men and lesbians. Because moving out is connected to this path, they remained living at home longer or never moved. Accordingly, the family played a core role in their lives rather than the rural-urban binary. Taken together, these four studies show that the geography and migration patterns of gay men and lesbians are more multifaceted than living in or moving to a larger city. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: In press. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

At a time when welfare regimes in Anglophone countries are being reshaped to reflect neoliberal ideology, there is little by way of empirical, qualitative research which directly addresses the question of how jobless families live or are affected by their circumstances, particularly in regional Australia. This study combines a consideration of questions of social structure as they pertain to jobless families at the theoretical level with an ethnographic journey into their life worlds. It aims to understand the impact of long-term joblessness upon the families and to explore the interconnections between system and life world.I adopt Layder’s (1997, 1998) theoretical and methodological formulations as the most appropriate means to underpin an investigation of this nature. The study is comprehensively situated within a structural context which examines discourses and events that have exerted an influence on our present social arrangements, including an analysis of relevant social policy. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with two non-purposive samples and analysed using a modified Grounded Theory approach as advocated by Layder (1998).It was found that the current welfare regime helps to stabilise the capitalist global economy and does at least provide a precarious stability for those excluded from the labour market. Whilst families receiving long-term income support are not a homogeneous group, they are subject to hidden injuries in common. The linkages between system and life world are theorised in terms of the displacement principle, which holds that the displacement of a problem does not solve it, but merely relocates it elsewhere. It is used to explain both large-scale displacements as well as micro processes occurring within jobless families. Long-term joblessness is found often to have destructive consequences for intimacy, though family structure may remain intact. This is partly due to a welfare regime which disrespects its beneficiaries. I argue that social policy must be informed by an alternative discourse which includes social or welfare rights as a part of human rights, based upon recognition of mutual interdependency and an ethic of care. This is vital if future policy directions are to accord equal respect to all citizens.

At a time when welfare regimes in Anglophone countries are being reshaped to reflect neoliberal ideology, there is little by way of empirical, qualitative research which directly addresses the question of how jobless families live or are affected by their circumstances, particularly in regional Australia. This study combines a consideration of questions of social structure as they pertain to jobless families at the theoretical level with an ethnographic journey into their life worlds. It aims to understand the impact of long-term joblessness upon the families and to explore the interconnections between system and life world.I adopt Layder’s (1997, 1998) theoretical and methodological formulations as the most appropriate means to underpin an investigation of this nature. The study is comprehensively situated within a structural context which examines discourses and events that have exerted an influence on our present social arrangements, including an analysis of relevant social policy. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with two non-purposive samples and analysed using a modified Grounded Theory approach as advocated by Layder (1998).It was found that the current welfare regime helps to stabilise the capitalist global economy and does at least provide a precarious stability for those excluded from the labour market. Whilst families receiving long-term income support are not a homogeneous group, they are subject to hidden injuries in common. The linkages between system and life world are theorised in terms of the displacement principle, which holds that the displacement of a problem does not solve it, but merely relocates it elsewhere. It is used to explain both large-scale displacements as well as micro processes occurring within jobless families. Long-term joblessness is found often to have destructive consequences for intimacy, though family structure may remain intact. This is partly due to a welfare regime which disrespects its beneficiaries. I argue that social policy must be informed by an alternative discourse which includes social or welfare rights as a part of human rights, based upon recognition of mutual interdependency and an ethic of care. This is vital if future policy directions are to accord equal respect to all citizens.

abstract: Most criminological theories are tested using samples of adolescents. Consequently, there is ample evidence regarding the correlates of criminal behavior committed by teenagers. The problem, however, is that there is relatively little information regarding the correlates of criminal offending committed during late life. This limits the ability to assess the generalizability of some of the leading theories in criminology. To fill this void in the literature the present study used a sample of 2,000 elderly people (i.e., 60 years of age and older) from Arizona and Florida to examine three issues: (1) the role of general and specific routine activity measures in the explanation of criminal activity in late life, (2) the invariance of low self-control across various subgroups of the elderly sample, and (3) the generality of self-control theory and routine activity theory. The analyses revealed several important findings. First, general routine activity measures are better predictors of general criminal offending than specific indicators. However, specific routine activity measures still matter in the explanation of specific types of crimes. Another important finding of this study was that low self-control has an invariant effect on criminal offending across gender, race/ethnicity, and age. Finally, self-control theory and routine activity theory are general frameworks that explain criminal behavior committed by older people in much the same manner as among teenagers. Routine activity does not mediate the link between low self-control and offending. Rather, both low self-control and routine activity exert independent effects on late life criminal activity, net of statistical controls. The present study concludes with a discussion of the findings situated in the literature and provides policy implications that stem from the results. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Criminology and Criminal Justice 2012

Youth gangs are a pervasive problem of contemporary society. Since the first recorded work on this topic in Canada more than 70 years ago, many theoretical and empirical research studies have been added to this field of inquiry and efforts continue with the goal of better understanding and responding to this social issue. Over the past 20 years, research into desistance from gang involvement has gained popularity and, while we are gaining a better grasp of the area, additional work is needed to examine the processes associated with leaving gangs among justice-involved youth in the Canadian context. Drawing from focus groups and individual interviews with 30 justice-involved youth and 23 youth justice practitioners in the city of Ottawa, this doctoral dissertation sought to explore the subjective understandings and experiences of justice-involved youth with gang affiliations. Given the focus on the youth justice system, there was also interest in how the perspectives of justice-involved youth aligned with those of youth justice practitioners. The way in which these two groups define and attribute meaning to issues related to gang involvement and desistance and their views on the role of the youth justice system in supporting the latter should be taken into consideration in the development of future strategies to address youth gangs. The knowledge and insights gained through the findings from this research project can be used to inform policy and practice to prevent gang involvement among at-risk youth, to intervene with gang members, and to support desistance by helping motivated individuals to pursue alternatives to gang life. The recommendations provided in this doctoral dissertation contribute to the overall body of empirical research on youth gangs and highlight potential areas of future investigation for innovation and change on how we understand and address this social issue.

abstract: A large body of research links victimization to various harms. Yet it remains unclear how the effects of victimization vary over the life course, or why some victims are more likely to experience negative outcomes than others. Accordingly, this study seeks to advance the literature and inform victim service interventions by examining the effects of violent victimization and social ties on multiple behavioral, psychological, and health-related outcomes across three distinct stages of the life course: adolescence, early adulthood, and adulthood. Specifically, I ask two primary questions: 1) are the consequences of victimization age-graded? And 2) are the effects of social ties in mitigating the consequences of victimization age-graded? Existing data from Waves I (1994-1995), III (2001-2002), and IV (2008-2009) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) are used. The Add Health is a nationally-representative sample of over 20,000 American adolescents enrolled in middle and high school during the 1994-1995 school year. On average, respondents are 15 years of age at Wave I (11-18 years), 22 years of age at Wave III (ranging from 18 to 26 years), and 29 years of age at Wave IV (ranging from 24 to 32 years). Multivariate regression models (e.g., ordinary least-squares, logistic, and negative binomial models) are used to assess the effects of violent victimization on the various behavioral, social, psychological, and health-related outcomes at each wave of data. Two-stage sample selection models are estimated to examine whether social ties explain variation in these outcomes among a subsample of victims at each stage of the life course. The results indicate that the negative consequences of victimization vary considerably across different stages of the life course, and that the spectrum of negative outcomes linked to victimization narrows into adulthood. The effects of social ties appear to be age-graded as well, where ties are more protective for victims of violence in adolescence and adulthood than they are in early adulthood. These patterns of findings are discussed in light of their implications for continued theoretical development, future empirical research, and the creation of public policy concerning victimization. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Criminology and Criminal Justice 2015

abstract: Life course criminology is characterized by a two-pronged approach to research. The first branch emphasizes social integration and involvement with pro-social institutions as turning points in the criminal career. The second branch of this work assesses how access to the institutions that facilitate social integration are conditioned by factors such as involvement in the criminal justice system. Theories of capital are chiefly concerned with social integration and the continuity of conventionality, conformity, and prosperity offered through social ties and social networks. Absent from life course criminology is a better understanding of how different forms of criminal capital can influence access to institutions like higher education, marriage, and employment during the transition to adulthood. Drawing on insights from distinct bodies of literature on peers, capital, and status attainment, the present study elaborates on the influence of criminal capital for (un)successful transitions to adulthood. Using three waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (“Add Health”), the effects of adolescent criminal social capital on criminal cultural and human capital, and subsequent educational, occupational, and marital attainment in early adulthood are examined. Results from a series of regression models demonstrate that criminal social capital has minimal effects on fatalistic beliefs or thoughtful and reflective decision making, and that these forms of criminal capital generally have inconsistent effects on later life transitions. Implications for theory and future research are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Criminology and Criminal Justice 2016

L'objectif de cette thèse est de questionner les expériences individuelles du vieillissement dans un contexte de structuration d'une politique de prévention. Il s'agit tout d'abord de questionner le sens de l'élaboration d'une politique de prévention de la dépendance en vue de « bien vieillir » et de mettre à jour la production sociale d'un discours sur les parcours du vieillir. Une lecture foucaldienne, en termes de gouvernement des corps, fait apparaitre la prévention dans le vieillissement comme une tentative de définition des pratiques et des modes de vie de la vieillesse, par une sécurisation et une normalisation des parcours individuels de vieillissement. La recherche restitue alors la diversité des acteurs qui concourt à la constitution de carrières institutionnelles autour de la dépendance – la prévention venant en amont : des acteurs politiques tout d'abord, qui ont participé à la mise sur l'agenda gouvernemental d'une nouvelle forme de problématisation de la vieillesse, en s'appuyant sur des recherches scientifiques sur le « vieillissement réussi », élaborées par des gériatres et des psychologues à la fin des années 90. La politique de prévention implique également des acteurs traditionnels des politiques de la vieillesse et du vieillissement : les caisses de retraite du régime général et les caisses de retraite complémentaire, par leurs fonds d'action sociale, mettent en œuvre des programmes d'action orientés vers les plus « fragiles » des retraités et participent à la construction du champ de la prévention de la dépendance. La thèse, qui repose sur une mise en confrontation du discours des personnes âgées et du discours de la prévention, montre l'écart qui existe entre celles et ceux qui vivent la vieillesse et ceux qui la traitent et tentent de la prendre en charge, et remet en cause les périodisations de la vie que les politiques publiques contribuent à construire. Une sociologie des parcours de vie pointe le fait que l'expérience du vieillissement et le rapport à la prévention sont dépendants de l'inscription dans des classes sociales particulières. L'ancrage social est apparu comme fortement discriminant des pratiques quotidiennes, des modes de vie, des capacités et des compétences mobilisées et mobilisables, tout autant que des perceptions des parcours de vie et des trajectoires de vieillissement. Le vieillissement apparait alors dans cette étude comme un temps de maturation, lors duquel les individus relisent leur passé, à la faveur des événements centraux de leur parcours de vie et de l'idée qu'ils se font de leur futur. / The objective of this thesis is to question the individual experiences of aging in the context of structuring a prevention policy. This is first of all to question the direction of policy development for the prevention of dependence in order to "aging well" and to update the social production of a speech on the route of the old. A reading Foucault in terms of government bodies, brings up prevention in aging as an attempt to define practices and lifestyles of old age, a security and standardization of individual pathways of aging. The search then returns the diversity of actors contributing to the creation of institutional careers around dependence - prevention from upstream: the political actors first, who participated in setting the agenda for a new government problematization form of old age, based on scientific research on the "successful aging", developed by geriatricians and psychologists in the late 90s. Prevention policy also involves traditional actors of old age policies and aging: the cases of the state pension and supplementary pension funds, through their social action fund, implement actions for “frailty" retired and participate in the construction of the field of prevention of dependence. The thesis, based on a formal comparison of the speech of the elderly and speech of prevention, shows the gap between those who are aging and those who treat it and try to take in charge, and questions the periodization of life that public policies build. A sociology of life course points to the fact that the experience of aging and to prevention are dependent on position on special social classes. The social roots appeared to be highly discriminating concerning daily practices, lifestyles, abilities and skills mobilized, as well as perceptions of life course trajectories and aging. Aging then appears in this study as a time of maturation, during which individuals proofread their past, thanks to the central events of their life course and their perception of their future.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:29:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-09-19Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:58:30Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 rodrigues_ap_me_assis.pdf: 1096259 bytes, checksum: 622839d6ef2c48ddaa5c885467df61bc (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Este trabalho propõe investigar a re-significação da feminilidade em mulheres da terceira idade. Participaram da pesquisa sete mulheres desta faixa etária, moradoras na cidade de Araçatuba, que freqüentaram um grupo de vivências denominado .Encontros para o bem viver., grupo esse que faz parte da programação do projeto Universidade da Terceira Idade, da Unesp - Campus de Araçatuba. A coleta de dados foi feita através da utilização de entrevista semi-dirigida, realizada nas próprias residências das participantes, sendo estas posteriormente sistematizadas, transcritas e interpretadas para análise qualitativa de seu conteúdo. As análises dos dados foram realizadas através da metodologia de análise do conteúdo proposta por Bardin, que tiveram como eixo a questão do feminino no processo de envelhecimento, ou seja, o entendimento e a compreensão da mulher frente à sua condição nesta fase da vida. Tais leituras foram embasadas também na noção do curso de vida e em autores que trabalham com a temática da velhice. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que a feminilidade é vivenciada de formas variadas. Algumas relatam mudanças importantes para a feminilidade, muitas vezes acompanhadas ou a partir de eventos como a viuvez, doenças inesperadas, separações e aposentadoria. Outras, no entanto, não perceberam quaisquer alterações significativas em suas vidas. No tocante às re-significações da feminilidade, foi possível verificar que as principais mudanças de sentido situam-se no plano da sociabilidade, com o aumento de amizades; no plano da autonomia pessoal, com a sensação de conquista de maior liberdade e no plano das realizações, com a concretização de aspirações, sonhos e desejos até então cerceados. / This study aims to investigate the resignificance of femininity for old women. The research was conducted through analyses of seven participant.s interviews. The participants' profile matched as old women; who lived in Araçatuba city, and were engaged in a weekly group named Meetings for Well-being, which was sponsored by the Open University for Elderly - UNESP- Campus of Araçatuba. The data were collected through semidirective interviews, which were performed in the participants' own residences, being later these systematized, transcribed and interpreted for qualitative analyses of your content. The interpretation of the data were accomplished through the methodology proposed by Bardin focusing on feminine's perspective for the aging process, in other words, the women's cognition about their condition facing that phase of life. The analyses were also based on the life course theory and other authors who studied the aging process. The results suggest that femininity is expressed in varied forms. Some individuals refer important changes, frequently linked with events, for example, widowhood, unexpected diseases, separations and retirement. By the other hand, others didn't notice any significant changes in their lives. Concerning the resignificance of femininity, it was possible to observe the most important shifts were related to the level of sociability with the increased number of friendships, in the level of personal autonomy, with the sensation of conquering expanded freedom, and in the level of accomplishments, with the materialization of goals, dreams and desires, which were formerly precluded.

Orientador: José Sterza Justo / Banca: Meyre Eiras de Barros Pinto / Banca: Luiz Carlos da Rocha / Resumo: Este trabalho propõe investigar a re-significação da feminilidade em mulheres da terceira idade. Participaram da pesquisa sete mulheres desta faixa etária, moradoras na cidade de Araçatuba, que freqüentaram um grupo de vivências denominado .Encontros para o bem viver., grupo esse que faz parte da programação do projeto Universidade da Terceira Idade, da Unesp - Campus de Araçatuba. A coleta de dados foi feita através da utilização de entrevista semi-dirigida, realizada nas próprias residências das participantes, sendo estas posteriormente sistematizadas, transcritas e interpretadas para análise qualitativa de seu conteúdo. As análises dos dados foram realizadas através da metodologia de análise do conteúdo proposta por Bardin, que tiveram como eixo a questão do feminino no processo de envelhecimento, ou seja, o entendimento e a compreensão da mulher frente à sua condição nesta fase da vida. Tais leituras foram embasadas também na noção do curso de vida e em autores que trabalham com a temática da velhice. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que a feminilidade é vivenciada de formas variadas. Algumas relatam mudanças importantes para a feminilidade, muitas vezes acompanhadas ou a partir de eventos como a viuvez, doenças inesperadas, separações e aposentadoria. Outras, no entanto, não perceberam quaisquer alterações significativas em suas vidas. No tocante às re-significações da feminilidade, foi possível verificar que as principais mudanças de sentido situam-se no plano da sociabilidade, com o aumento de amizades; no plano da autonomia pessoal, com a sensação de conquista de maior liberdade e no plano das realizações, com a concretização de aspirações, sonhos e desejos até então cerceados. / Abstract: This study aims to investigate the resignificance of femininity for old women. The research was conducted through analyses of seven participant.s interviews. The participants' profile matched as old women; who lived in Araçatuba city, and were engaged in a weekly group named "Meetings for Well-being", which was sponsored by the Open University for Elderly - UNESP- Campus of Araçatuba. The data were collected through semidirective interviews, which were performed in the participants' own residences, being later these systematized, transcribed and interpreted for qualitative analyses of your content. The interpretation of the data were accomplished through the methodology proposed by Bardin focusing on feminine's perspective for the aging process, in other words, the women's cognition about their condition facing that phase of life. The analyses were also based on the life course theory and other authors who studied the aging process. The results suggest that femininity is expressed in varied forms. Some individuals refer important changes, frequently linked with events, for example, widowhood, unexpected diseases, separations and retirement. By the other hand, others didn't notice any significant changes in their lives. Concerning the resignificance of femininity, it was possible to observe the most important shifts were related to the level of sociability with the increased number of friendships, in the level of personal autonomy, with the sensation of conquering expanded freedom, and in the level of accomplishments, with the materialization of goals, dreams and desires, which were formerly precluded. / Mestre