<p> Human service workers have a history of working with our neediest populations, and their work often entails long hours, challenging situations, and limited resources. When the focus of the work is on human strengths and positive approaches, more positive results emerge. In order to determine the process of how human services workers maintain a positive perspective in their work, 15 human service workers from a diverse spectrum were interviewed. A narrative analysis was applied to elicit the participants' insights, revealing common themes and strategies. The findings indicated that having a fundamental belief in human potential, seeing the client's positive attributes, and having inherent capacities of caring were fundamental. Participants believed their work was meaningful and made a difference, and that they were a part of something bigger. They felt empathy and compassion toward clients, and generally believed that their temperament and upbringing also influenced their capacity to maintain a positive perspective. Aside from their beliefs, workers depended on receiving support from like-minded people, colleagues, and others in their environment. They utilized self-care, self-monitoring techniques, and demonstrated self-awareness and a mature capacity to adapt to the unexpected. They were able to apply their learning from past experiences in support of the services they offer to others.</p>

<p> The farm workers who diligently tend and harvest the US fields and produce is a major component of the agriculture industry. This research explores the current issues and challenges that domestic, seasonal farm workers face through the lenses of embodiment and habitus theory. Narratives and insights from interviews were integrated with current literature to present a complete picture of the cyclical life of the domestic farm worker in San Luis, Arizona. This thesis argues that farm work is a unique profession which has left its mark on the body and the behavior. Those in the border region have added agency due to the opportunities the border presents. As this research highlights, additional attention and research is needed to redesign policies and initiatives to adequately assist and provide for a population that provides so much.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine how inclusive classroom supports in one particular public elementary school extend to recess. As a future classroom teacher, my goal is to strengthen my understanding of children with social disabilities and the supports I can provide to those students, as well as their peer group, for positive social interaction inside and outside of the classroom. I collected data through two semi-structured qualitative interviews with a fourth grade teacher of an inclusive school. Informal interviews were also conducted with the classroom's teacher's aide for the children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Additionally, I conducted participant observations both in the classroom and during recess with comprehensive field notes. My findings for the teacher's role were consistent with the literature in the ways that the classroom teacher built community and created inclusion. I found that it is particularly helpful not only to have a single classroom focus on social skills but the larger school community to focus on them as well. The children with ASD were able to utilize strategies taught at their inclusive school to both initiate and respond to social engagement. However, my observations showed that these strategies did not empower the children with ASD to seek a teacher's help in a time of need. This study contributes to the literature because there is a lack of knowledge examining how inclusive classroom supports extend to recess in elementary school settings. </p>

<p> In the late 1980's assisted living emerged as a self-proclaimed new style of providing long-term care and supportive services. Assisted living as espoused by its early proponents and by industry leaders embodied certain specific philosophical tenets, such as dignity, autonomy, meeting scheduled and unscheduled needs and aging in place, in their daily operations. These tenets distinguished assisted living from other forms of institutional care such as nursing home care. In the past twenty years the assisted living industry has matured and grown substantially. However, despite the maturing of the industry and the general agreement on the basic tenets little is known about the degree to which the industry embodies these principles. </p><p> In addition public policy and consumer preferences have grown in their focus on substituting assisted living for nursing home care. Moreover, the degree to which assisted living can and does substitute for nursing home care has been largely unexamined. Elder care advocates and researchers have more and more called attention to the increasing acuity level of assisted living residents. </p><p> This study consists of three related components, each of which will broaden the understanding of current assisted living facilities and their residents. The first study examines person environment fit in assisted living. Lawton's theory of person environment fit, has largely defined the construction and physical environment of assisted living since the 1980's. Changes in Lawton's theory were proposed by Guiata and Jones in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2012 in reaction to the increased level of dementia in assisted living residents. A third non-theoretical analysis using exploratory factor is designed assist with development of new constructs in person environment fit theory. The second study examines changes in assisted living facilities and residents from 1999 to 2010. This study uses the only two national surveys of assisted living, The 1999 National Survey of Assisted Living and the 2010 National Survey of Residential Care Facilities. This study will examine both facility level and resident level characteristics to explicate resident acuities and to examine the degree to which facilities are accommodating these acuities. The third study examines facility characteristics associated with discharge of residents from assisted living facilities. Understanding resident discharge from assisted living will give a better understanding how assisted living facilities meet scheduled and unscheduled needs of residents as well as embody the philosophical concept of aging in place. </p><p> The contribution of this research is improved understanding of the current assisted living facilities and residents and better understand the importance of facility characteristics in person environment fit and in aging in place. This contribution is significant because assisted living residents are a vulnerable population with no protection under federal statutes and limited protection in most states. If indeed, as advocates and researchers assert, assisted living residents mirror nursing home residents in acuity then this research will assist with developing policies to protect this vulnerable population.</p>

Sociologist William Fielding Ogburn's hypothesis of "cultural lag" was popular from the 1920's through the 1950's. The cultural lag hypothesis holds that an innovation in one part of culture, usually in science or technology, creates the need for adjustment in another part. The period between the innovation and subsequent adjustment is known as a cultural lag. Ogburn used lag analysis to explain a variety of problems in modern industrial society. Although the lag concept was soundly criticized for its subjectivity, many intellectuals continued to regard it as a valid form of social analysis. This continued plausibility of "cultural lag" was due to its ability to express both historicist social critique and an image of objective social measurement. Ogburn's hypothesis thus fulfilled the desire of many social scientists to appear ideologically impartial while actually taking sides on many social issues. The decline of progressivist social theory, however, eventually exposed the theoretical weaknesses of "cultural lag"--except for a brief revival of the concept which accompanied the advent of atomic power.

This dissertation describes the multiple ways in which the Portuguese place named Cavaleiro can be construed as a community in terms of local subjectivities, the social positioning which occurs in relation to broader cultural and political-economic processes and finally anthropologically. It focuses on everyday narratives as a communicative matrix through which we can recognize culture and in doing so foregrounds the mundane experience of the Cavaleirence. While European countries worry about losing their cultural autonomy I chose deliberately to look at the most minute details of situated knowledges and to listen to the generative power of everyday discourses. Chapter one focuses on the event of the dance which suggests itself as community, despite its meaning being both as ephemeral and visceral as the experience of the dance itself. In the second chapter, gossip is a narrative event which processually constructs the "truth" of community through the continual speculation on what is real, legitimate and worthy of attention. Chapter three focuses on the ways objects of material culture serve as reference points for social identity and reach beyond their value within economic exchange as agents in the shaping of local geography. All three chapters and approaches described here question the means and content of material and cultural exchange. Narrative is conceived as cultural work which produces a range of assets, including community itself. Community is shown to be the product of narrative devices which differentiate the individual and the group, the local and foreign, the relevant and irrelevant. These differences are never rigidly codified. The continuity of narrative facilitates but also constrain on-going negotiations which respond to changing circumstances, material cultural and passions. By way of conclusion, the fourth chapter elaborates on the traditions of scholarly inquiry which staged the questions I asked and informed my interpretations and strategy of writing. The chapter focuses on the work in anthropology and British Cultural Studies which led me to choose narrative and discourse as the focus for a study of culture and on some of the key terms of "New Ethnography."

In a society where events and situations have become fast moving, temporary, and continually changing, whose various institutions have become de-centralized and fragmented, whose people have become independent, yet vastly interconnectsd, there has resulted an alternative method for architects to design buildings. As a way for architects and architecture to respond to, if not emulate, today's life patterns, all the thousands of pre-fabricated building parts are arranged together in often non-traditional configurations and with "inappropriate" connotations, to form moments at which events take place. Regarded as novelties, these cataloged found objects are tactically deployed through society, linked to events, and coagulate at moments where needed. The duration of these moments is determined by the event. As events move on, so does the architecture.

<p> The Church of the Nazarene asserts that homosexuality is a perversion of human sexuality, and that homosexual acts are sinful and subject to the wrath of God. The denomination also states that all people should be treated with dignity, grace, and holy love&mdash;regardless of sexual orientation&mdash;while firmly maintaining its position that a &ldquo;homosexual lifestyle&rdquo; is sinful and contrary to scripture. Nazarene clergy experience a tension between the denomination&rsquo;s position on homosexuality and ministering to LGBT people. This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of thirteen Nazarene clergy responses to homosexuality and their interactions with LGBT people. The resulting themes offer implications for Nazarene clergy, the Church of the Nazarene, LGBT people, counselor educators, and clinical practitioners.</p>

<p>The purpose of this ministry project was to help 1^st United Methodist Church of Glassboro, NJ connect with their community. The intent was to strengthen the outreach and hospitality ministry in the church in such a way that it became a part of the church&rsquo;s DNA. The goal was to set up a process that was an integral part of all decisions in the church and would be used to connect with the community. </p><p> The project proved that community could be taught and nurtured. It also helped show the importance that scripture places on community. We used sermons, bible study, teaching, and projects to find ways to engage with each other and the community around us. During the project, attention was taken to involve every aspect of the church and to encourage the church to participate in community building ways. </p>

<p> This qualitative study focused on social class and its influences on student engagement in high school settings. The study employed a narrative inquiry approach. Through the examination of narratives of the participants, this study sought to discover the ways in which students, parents, teachers, and administrators think about, view, and act upon their understanding of social class as it relates to student engagement. The researcher conducted the study at three high schools in the Desert Mountain region of San Bernardino County located in Southern California. The schools were selected based upon their socioeconomic makeup as measured by the percentage of students who qualified for free and/or reduced lunch (PFRL). The narratives were all screened for emerging themes related to social class and student engagement. In addition, the narratives were analyzed to find instances of commonalities and differences. The results of this study revealed that social class is identified in various manners; it also revealed that although social class plays an important role in education, social class alone does not predict academic achievement. The results of this study may aid in increases to graduation rates, thereby an obvious reduction in dropout rates especially as it relates to social class. </p><p> Keywords: social class, engagement, influences, high school, policies, dropout rate.</p>