This study investigated the production of literary themes as cultural products in two historical periods: The French Romantic Movement and the Beat Generation in America during the 1950's. The study defined the fundamental literary themes of the French Romantic Movement and examined the sociological factors which led to the development of this system of ideas. In turn, the French themes were used as an analytical device to determine if these themes existed in the Beat Generation and if the Beat Generation could be viewed as a social and literary movement in the tradition of French literary history. Following a comparison of essential ideas of each movement, the study investigated the sociological factors which led not only to French Romanticism, but to the Beat Generation as well. The project provided a thorough, systematic content analysis of the literary themes of the Beat Generation, and concluded that the Beat Generation may be considered a system of ideas in the tradition of French Romanticism. In addition, several similar abiding sociological factors were present in both historical periods. The study projected the possibility of vanishing alternative Bohemian sub-cultures in modern society and the advent of the twilight of romanticism. / Doctor of Philosophy

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Johannesburg, 2017 / Set within a revisionist and feminist context, this thesis seeks to draw parallels in the autobiographical texts of Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) written by an African American ex-enslaved and Schizophrene (2011) penned by Bhanu Kapil, a British born Asian American, a descendant of a generation that live (d) through/with ‘what happened in a particular country on a particular day in August 14th 1947’ (Quaid). These literary representations will constitute the corpus of this research paper as it attempts to examine how these autobiographies draw attention to and break the notion of prevailing dominant geographies of oppression. In both texts, the authors juxtapose appropriation and hegemony with an alternative literary geographic narrative that seeks to recuperate the liminal (black) body and psyche. This research paper will seek to explore the multiple and interrelated ways in which both authors employ certain strategic mechanisms to re-appropriate tools of social power, thus exposing the frailties of their respective oppressive histories by disrupting their continued, albeit imagined stronghold on them. In employing their autobiographies as anthropological arsenals, these authors seem to demonstrate the manner in which history has attempted through its numerous sites of oppression not only to construct black victims and mere black bodies but also to un-write and evacuate its untidiness. These autobiographies will be employed to reconstruct and re-imagine the authors but symbolically the collective black body as more than objects but rather as humans with subjectivities and self-assertion. The paper further seeks to understand how these autobiographies tend to a vicious past of slavery and partition and how they translate these memories, remembering the depth of their experiences whilst also being haunted by their contemporary echoes. An accent will be given to the ambivalence, perversions and anxieties of these autobiographies. / XL2018

This Project involves looking at African American culture as it relates to swimming, water safety awareness, and water skills. The paper explores the myths and cultural norms associated with drowning phobias in African Americans to discover the root causes. Through historic accounts of African American culture one begins to uncover reasons why this culture became, in a sense aqua phobic. The paper will show what water sport professionals are up against, when working with a culture that is several generations removed from the water and their water skills. The ultimate goal is to draw attention to the importance of water safety and the ability to swim as a life skill. / by Jon Eric Groover. / Vita. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

The visualization of recent episodes regarding apparently unjustifiable deaths of minorities, caused by police and federal law enforcement agencies, has been amplified through today's social media and television networks. Such events may seem to imply that issues concerning racial inequalities in America are getting worse. However, we do not know whether such indications are factual; whether this is a recent phenomenon, whether racial inequality is escalating relative to earlier decades, or whether it is better in certain regions of the nation compared to others. We have built a semantic engine for the purpose of querying statistics on various metropolitan areas, based on a database of individual deaths. Separately, we have built a database of demographic data on poverty, income, education attainment, and crime statistics for the top 25 most populous metropolitan areas. These data will ultimately be combined with government data to evaluate this hyp othesis, and provide a tool for predictive analytics. In this thesis, we will provide preliminary results in that direction. The methodology in our research consisted of multiple steps. We initially described our requirements and drew data from numerous datasets, which contained information on the 23 highest populated Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the United States. After all of the required data was obtained we decomposed the Metropolitan Statistical Area records into domain components and created an Ontology/Taxonomy via Protege to determine an hierarchy level of nouns towards identifying significant keywords throughout the datasets to use as search queries. Next, we used a Semantic Web implementation accompanied with Python programming language, and FuXi to build and instantiate a vocabulary. The Ontology was then parsed for the entered search query and returned corresponding results providing a semantically organized a nd relevant output in RDF/XML format. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

本論文從兩個方面研究了1996年美國福利制度改革對單身母親的影響。首先，本文研究了在SSI和AFDC/TANF兩個政府福利計劃之間是否存在替代效應。其次，本文研究了福利制度改革是否令到更多的單身母親變得邊緣化(沒有參與工作亦沒有領取政府福利)，以及研究她們的長期生活情況。利用美國三個具代表性的調查數據庫, difference-in-difference分析以及logistic回歸分析方法，本文有以下四點結論:（一）SSI和AFDC計劃之間並不存在替代效應；（二）對AFDC/TANF計劃實行五年的領取期限令到部分單身母親變得邊緣化；（三）在年福利改革之後，被邊緣化的單身母親在食物消費上並沒有發生太大的變化；（四）被邊緣化的單身母親傾向將她們多餘的時間分配在個人娛樂方面而不是在家務和照顧小孩上面。雖然年的福利改革成功地減少了領取/計劃的人數，但政策制定者仍需注意改革令到更多的單身母親變得邊緣化，同時應制定相關政策來幫助她們。 / This paper studies the effect of the 1996 welfare reform on single mothers, focusing on two important aspects. First, it examines the existence of programme substitution between SSI and former AFDC/TANF recipients after the reform. Second, it examines the prevalence of single mothers who were disconnected from government assistance and the job market since the reform and evaluates their long-term well-being. Using three major nationally representative surveys, difference-in-difference analysis, and logistic regression models, I arrive at four main findings. First, I find no evidence of a programme substitution effect between AFDC/TANF and SSI. Second, the five-year time limit policy is suggested as being responsible for part of the increase in the disconnected rate among single mothers. Third, disconnected single mothers did not face a food insecurity problem after welfare reform. Fourth, disconnected single mothers allocate much more time to personal entertainment than to productive activities such as housework and child care. While the 1996 welfare reform has succeeded in reducing AFDC/TANF caseloads, policy makers should pay attention to its effects on the disconnectedness of single mothers and help such women leave their disconnected status. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Hoi, Kam Un. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-62). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.ii / 摘要 --- p.iii / Acknowledgements --- p.iv / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2 --- The AFDC Programme and the 1996 Welfare Reform --- p.3 / Chapter 3 --- Literature Review --- p.5 / Chapter 3.1 --- Employment of single mothers --- p.5 / Chapter 3.2 --- Welfare programme substitution --- p.6 / Chapter 3.3 --- Disconnectedness --- p.9 / Chapter 4 --- Data and Methodology --- p.13 / Chapter 4.1 --- Data sources and description --- p.13 / Chapter 4.2 --- DID analysis --- p.14 / Chapter 4.3 --- Logistic regression methodology --- p.15 / Chapter 5 --- Existence of programme substitution --- p.18 / Chapter 6 --- Change in the number of disconnected single mothers --- p.19 / Chapter 6.1 --- A national picture of single mothers --- p.19 / Chapter 6.2 --- Empirical results --- p.21 / Chapter 6.3 --- Why black single mothers are less likely to be disconnected --- p.22 / Chapter 6.4 --- The separate effects of time limit policy on disconnectedness --- p.23 / Chapter 7 --- Change in the well-being of disconnected single mothers --- p.24 / Chapter 7.1 --- Food consumption --- p.24 / Chapter 7.2 --- Time allocation --- p.26 / Chapter 8 --- Discussion and Policy Implications --- p.29 / Chapter 9 --- Conclusion --- p.31

He, Xiaoyue. / "July 2011." / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1. --- Background --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2. --- Theoretical Model --- p.4 / Chapter 2. --- Literature Review --- p.7 / Chapter 3. --- Data and Methodology --- p.12 / Chapter 3.1. --- Data --- p.12 / Chapter 3.2. --- Methodology --- p.13 / Chapter 3.3. --- Definition of Key Variables --- p.14 / Chapter 4. --- Descriptive Results of DID Analysis --- p.15 / Chapter 5. --- Regression Approach --- p.20 / Chapter 6. --- Time Allocation of Single Mothers of Differing Education Levels --- p.25 / Chapter 7. --- Changes in Leisure Inequality Among Single Mothers --- p.31 / Chapter 8. --- Single Mothers by Demographic Characteristics --- p.33 / Chapter 8.1. --- Single Mothers by Race --- p.33 / Chapter 8.2. --- Single Mothers by Age --- p.35 / Chapter 9. --- Discussion and Policy Implications --- p.36 / Chapter 10. --- Conclusion and Directions for Further Research --- p.39 / Tables and Figures --- p.42 / Appendices --- p.62 / References --- p.82

This project focuses on graffiti art as not an unconstructive form of artwork as society might assume, but a way of coping and establishing an identity for youth mostly males who are searching for who they are.

Due to high profile police shootings, collective action movements addressing racial bias in policing, such as the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, have come to the forefront of societal concern. Though these movements and actions directly address police use of force against Black people, a number of non-Black racial minority individuals and organizations have declared solidarity and joined in protests with BLM. This study takes an intersectional approach to examine racial intraminority attitudes (i.e., racial minorities' attitudes toward other racial minority outgroups) toward support for and participation in protests against police excessive use of force and the BLM movement, through its relationship with modern racist beliefs and racial centrality. Participants completed a survey assessing perspectives on policing, racial protests, and BLM, along with racial identity measures. Results show significant differences in both support for and participation in protests and BLM, with women and Black people reporting higher in both outcomes than men and other racial groups, respectively. Within some racial groups, women show higher overall support for (Latinx, White) and participation in (Black, White) protests and BLM than men in the same racial group, though these differences were not found for other groups. Within each intersecting race and gender group, these effects were mediated by levels of modern racism, highlighting a common factor between all groups and an important point of possible malleability and intervention. Further, the relationship between race and gender identities and modern racism was moderated by racial centrality for some groups (Black and Latina women), though this relationship was again not universally found. By examining within group differences, this study highlights the importance of taking an intersectional approach to understand intraminority attitudes and relations as they pertain to participation in collective action movements towards social change. This study has implications for the generalizability of a number of social psychological theories on minority-minority intergroup race relations (i.e., Black-Latinx), as much of the past literature focuses on majority-minority intergroup relations (i.e., Black-White). Additionally, results from this study may provide useful information for community organizers and social justice activists in promoting intergroup collaboration and coalition building towards more equitable social change that is both more tailored for specific groups and more generalizable across groups.

Our understanding of and interest in how retirement impacts the lives of individuals have grown over the past 20 years. Studies to date have ranged from small, convenience samples composed primarily of men to large, national longitudinal samples of men and women from different professional and socioeconomic backgrounds. There is consensus in the literature that older adults generally function better with a partner; however, gaps remain. We know little about the impact of retirement beyond the individual, although research in other areas on couples has produced evidence of crossover and contagion effects relative to depression and other outcomes, including absenteeism, job stress and positive spillover effects. A major objective of this research was to offer a more holistic perspective of the factors which contribute to retirement adjustment among using dyadic data. A cross-sectional research design was used. The final sample included 183 couples. Structural equation modeling identified predictors of retirement adjustment and well-being in couples. Husbands' and wives' retirement adjustment were found to be highly intercorrelated, but, differences in predictors were found between husbands and wives and their adjustment to retirement. Men were more adversely affected by a forced retirement, and wives had lower levels of well-being than husbands. A forced retirement was not a predictor of retirement adjustment for wives. The relationship between a wife's forced retirement and a husband's well-being was mediated by husband's retirement adjustment. Wives' and husbands' well-being was predicted by health problems. Other positive predictors of retirement adjustment and well-being for wives included maintenance of living standards, low levels of boredom and high levels of social support and leisure activity. These variables also predicted adjustment for husbands. In addition, three other predictors of husbands ' retirement adjustment were found, including: a fully retired work status, higher household income, and retirement plans that remained unaltered. These findings can inform the mental health and counseling practices of professionals serving older adults. It is hoped that this research serves as a basis from which future research may generate ideas and identify other instances of partner and actor effects in retirement adjustment and well-being in older couples.

This research explored the self-concept of Chicanas in terms of their lived experiences and how those experiences influenced the shaping of their identity. It examined the multiple labels Chicanas use to self-identify and the context or situations in which they use specific labels. Moreover, it took into account the influence of gender, ethnicity, language, race, and culture on their concept of self. My study employed interpretive and collaborative research methods and included my own narrative story as part of the analytical process. It draws on a Chicana femenista (feminist) pedagogy that is heavily influenced by an Indigenous perspective as the conduit for the construction and transmission of knowledge. My objectives during the course of the study were to explore the many facets of Chicanas' experiences and challenge prevailing notions about our identity. The chief method for collecting data was interactive, dialogic interviews with five Chicana participants. During the loosely structured interviews, the women were asked to narrate their life stories as they related to the shaping of their concept of self. The women's detailed narratives and personal reminiscences as well as my own provided the data that was analyzed and interpreted to examine Chicana identity. The women were co-participants in "making sense" of the data. They provided guidance, expressed opinions, and helped to construct the meaning of their lived experiences. The results of the interpretation process indicated that culture and the intersecting factors of gender, language, age, ethnicity, and race shaped the participants' concept of self. Hence, their identity was culturally learned and mediated via their perceptions of the world. In turn, their worldview was influenced by the aforementioned factors. The women's narratives also suggested that they used multiple identity labels and that they were contextual. Thus, identity can change or evolve over the course of one's lifespan and through one's lived experiences. As such, Chicana identity is not fixed. As Chicanas we are constructing our own identity rather than allowing it to be imposed by others. Moreover, we are extending the possibility that we continually construct our identity. / Graduation date: 2004