Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychological Sciences / Donald A. Saucier / An overview discusses rape in terms of two systems of social power: oppression and resistance. Components of these systems—i.e., individuals’ rape-related attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, and behaviors, and outcomes—are compared in the literatures on “rape victims” and “rape survivors” (Hockett & Saucier, under review), suggesting that different results and conclusions are associated with different labels applied to the same group (i.e., women who have been raped). Three studies assessed differences in individuals’ rape-related perceptions (Study 1), intergroup helping intentions (Study 2), and interpersonal helping intentions (Study 3) for “rape victims,” “rape survivors,” and “women who have been raped.” Extending feminist and social psychological theories of social power, results generally supported my hypotheses that such labels would produce different perceptions and helping intentions. The discussion addresses implications for theory, limitations, and directions for future research.

During this time of increased attention toward the representation of women in media, simply applauding including female characters often leaves out the analysis of what purpose they serve within their narratives. The anxiety over women’s fertility in Blade Runner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve, 2017), Children of Men (Cuaron, 2006), and The Handmaid’s Tale (Bruce Miller, 2017) expresses a crisis in contemporary culture over changing gender roles. Even though these three texts use the antagonists to seek to control over women’s bodies, the narratives themselves still employ infertility as a threat for women. What does the reappearance of mass infertility in our dystopian media tell us about how we value and depict women? These audio-visual texts, set in disturbing futures, attempt to intervene discursively in these political conversations. Their narratives appear critical of hegemony on their surface, but lurking beneath is a return to gender essentialism that defines women through their ability to reproduce.

This dissertation is an inquiry on what the church should do to respond more adequately to the needs of single mothers in Kenya today. The project was conducted at the shelter for homeless women of the First Presbyterian Church, 1328 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Georgia. This church is a large, white, middle-class, Christian community. It operates a variety of ministries. One of these ministries is called AMTS (Atlanta Ministry to International Students), which is under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Faked Abu-Akel. It is a ministry which is not only supported by this church, but by other churches such as Oglethorpe Presbyterian Church, Ebenezer Baptist Church, St. James United Methodist Church, St. Martin Episcopal Church, Northside United Methodist Church, and the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta. This unique ministry, in the American setting, will help the project because the persons who are to participate in the doctoral project are familiar with this church. They have previously been invited to various functions of the church. They know it, the ministers, and the role of this student minister in these ministries. The community ministry of this church is a far-reaching one. The writer has been working closely with the pastor, Rev. Charles Black. At times he has introduced Kenyan students to the ministers of the church for help, particularly in furnishing their houses when they come to Atlanta. These ministries have been attracting many international students, making it an ideal venue for this project. The church in Kenya is not adequately responding to the needs of single mothers and their children. It will, therefore, be ideal to carry out the project in a place where the church is responding to the needs of the less fortunate members of the society. Working there, I am able to gain some insights from the dynamic operation of this church. It operates a shelter for homeless women, a ministry to international students, a food pantry and clothes closet for the underprivileged. The doctoral project described in this document is designed to benefit participants from Kenya who are studying in Atlanta colleges and universities and those working in the city. It will involve married women and men, single mothers, and leaders from the Presbyterian Church of East Africa. It is designed to enable single mothers to express their pain, their anger and frustrations. The participants will struggle with the question of the acceptance of single mothers as people who do not deserve condemnation from both the church and the society, but love, care and recognition. Six group sessions will be held at the church where participants will listen to one another, have dialogue, hear stories from single mothers, and listen to three presentations by experts in African Traditional Religion, Presbyterian Practice and Procedure, book and field research by the writer. It is anticipated that by the end of the project three major issues will have emerged. These are, briefly, that: (a) there are a lot of injustices done to single mothers by the church and the society in Kenya. (b) there is a persistent denial, by the church, of the existence of this class of women who are single mothers. (c) a creative response to these needs will be by teaching, and by the church acting as an agent of social change. There is a need for a ministry to single mothers in the form of a support group.

An inquiry was made as to the cause for the alienated gender relations between men and women leaders at the Cathedral Of Faith Church Of God In Christ. Cathedral is a large church located in the West End section of Atlanta, Georgia. Its members are black. The church is surrounded by Fort McPherson---(a United States Army base), A U C (the Atlanta University Center), and Cascade Heights, the most prominent black neighborhood in the city. The Martin Luther King Jr. Center For Social Change is also near by. The church sits in the midst of a lower-class to low middle-class community. The Pastor's charismatic style of ministry attracts a diverse membership. This setting was ideal for the inquiry. The purpose for the study was to reduce the alienation and to promote reconciliation between some of the leaders of the church. Women and men are presently face to face with the challenges brought on by contemporary role reversals, in the home, in the church, and in the work place. These role reversals have prompted hierarchical social systems to retaliate against these changes in an abusive fashion. Alienated relationships are the result. The Christian Tradition, established through the coming of Jesus Christ, has enabled us to meet these gender role challenges. Relationships can be reconciled through Christ. A doctoral project was designed to get at the root of the alienation which the Cathedral members were experiencing. It was grounded in clinical pastoral educational methodology. Biblical, psychological, and Christian educational content and theories were foundational to the model. Principles of theology, sociology, and church administration were integrated with the basic structure of the project. The multi-disciplinary approach promoted objectivity and helped the group to view the conflictual issues in new ways. A group of eighteen leaders, all members of Cathedral, agreed to wrestle with the issues surrounding their alienated relationships. Six lively sessions were filled with: dialogue, role plays, a story, a movie, a game, and a live presentation by other administrative persons in the church. Dialogue related to issues of: abuse, social justice, sexism, reverse sexism, and hierarchical systems created turmoil at different times. Discussions and exercises related to family life, marital conflict, team work and fair play, created an atmosphere which was usually exciting, and educational. The pastoral model which was assumed, confronted the alienation between the group members with empathy. The empathetic approach was instrumental in beginning a process of reconciliation between the Christian 'Women of Power' and 'Men of Power' at the Cathedral Of Faith Church.

This thesis examines the ways in which women assess and seek resources in their urban contexts. I argue that the struggles of daily life in local communities and institutional groups can produce ideological spaces into which new practices, arising from increased consciousness of issues, can be developed. My aim has been to uncover women's experiences in a way that not only interprets meanings from their practices, but also encourages such practices to be seen as valid renderings of women's understandings. I examine women's initiatives through the analysis of varying contexts. While I acknowledge the historical importance of the domestic situation as a threshold for much historic activism, women's proactivity requires a broader situational analysis. I therefore present cases of proactivity within the domestic, public and business spheres, within the two cities of Waitakere and North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Through the search for new progressive social identities, women's activities at the inter-personal level are a prime source of social change. It is through the recursive relationship between women as agents and the social structure, that changing interpretations of social expectations are produced, allowing for creative activism. While women's initiatives may aim to transform particular social environments, they become part of the incremental process of change that alters the experience and structure of women's lives. The thesis has four parts. The first outlines the scope, objectives and theoretical framework, while the second conceptualises women's agency and its positioning within social gendered structures. Part Three presents the investigative processes linking the theoretical framework and the empirical analysis. Part Four submits the thematic interpretations of the thesis, concluding that women can be agents of social change in a diversity of ways. I acknowledge my feminist stance, one with layerings of objectives and motivations. I view women's circumstances as resulting from the interweaving of structural forces and personal capacities. The resulting awareness of women's experiences can challenge the values and concepts of masculine discourses. This is viewed through the concept of multiplicity. On a political level this means creating a resistance to hierarchies and a commitment to a plurality of voice, style and structure. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

This thesis examines the ways in which women assess and seek resources in their urban contexts. I argue that the struggles of daily life in local communities and institutional groups can produce ideological spaces into which new practices, arising from increased consciousness of issues, can be developed. My aim has been to uncover women's experiences in a way that not only interprets meanings from their practices, but also encourages such practices to be seen as valid renderings of women's understandings. I examine women's initiatives through the analysis of varying contexts. While I acknowledge the historical importance of the domestic situation as a threshold for much historic activism, women's proactivity requires a broader situational analysis. I therefore present cases of proactivity within the domestic, public and business spheres, within the two cities of Waitakere and North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Through the search for new progressive social identities, women's activities at the inter-personal level are a prime source of social change. It is through the recursive relationship between women as agents and the social structure, that changing interpretations of social expectations are produced, allowing for creative activism. While women's initiatives may aim to transform particular social environments, they become part of the incremental process of change that alters the experience and structure of women's lives. The thesis has four parts. The first outlines the scope, objectives and theoretical framework, while the second conceptualises women's agency and its positioning within social gendered structures. Part Three presents the investigative processes linking the theoretical framework and the empirical analysis. Part Four submits the thematic interpretations of the thesis, concluding that women can be agents of social change in a diversity of ways. I acknowledge my feminist stance, one with layerings of objectives and motivations. I view women's circumstances as resulting from the interweaving of structural forces and personal capacities. The resulting awareness of women's experiences can challenge the values and concepts of masculine discourses. This is viewed through the concept of multiplicity. On a political level this means creating a resistance to hierarchies and a commitment to a plurality of voice, style and structure. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

This thesis examines the ways in which women assess and seek resources in their urban contexts. I argue that the struggles of daily life in local communities and institutional groups can produce ideological spaces into which new practices, arising from increased consciousness of issues, can be developed. My aim has been to uncover women's experiences in a way that not only interprets meanings from their practices, but also encourages such practices to be seen as valid renderings of women's understandings. I examine women's initiatives through the analysis of varying contexts. While I acknowledge the historical importance of the domestic situation as a threshold for much historic activism, women's proactivity requires a broader situational analysis. I therefore present cases of proactivity within the domestic, public and business spheres, within the two cities of Waitakere and North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Through the search for new progressive social identities, women's activities at the inter-personal level are a prime source of social change. It is through the recursive relationship between women as agents and the social structure, that changing interpretations of social expectations are produced, allowing for creative activism. While women's initiatives may aim to transform particular social environments, they become part of the incremental process of change that alters the experience and structure of women's lives. The thesis has four parts. The first outlines the scope, objectives and theoretical framework, while the second conceptualises women's agency and its positioning within social gendered structures. Part Three presents the investigative processes linking the theoretical framework and the empirical analysis. Part Four submits the thematic interpretations of the thesis, concluding that women can be agents of social change in a diversity of ways. I acknowledge my feminist stance, one with layerings of objectives and motivations. I view women's circumstances as resulting from the interweaving of structural forces and personal capacities. The resulting awareness of women's experiences can challenge the values and concepts of masculine discourses. This is viewed through the concept of multiplicity. On a political level this means creating a resistance to hierarchies and a commitment to a plurality of voice, style and structure. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

This thesis examines the ways in which women assess and seek resources in their urban contexts. I argue that the struggles of daily life in local communities and institutional groups can produce ideological spaces into which new practices, arising from increased consciousness of issues, can be developed. My aim has been to uncover women's experiences in a way that not only interprets meanings from their practices, but also encourages such practices to be seen as valid renderings of women's understandings. I examine women's initiatives through the analysis of varying contexts. While I acknowledge the historical importance of the domestic situation as a threshold for much historic activism, women's proactivity requires a broader situational analysis. I therefore present cases of proactivity within the domestic, public and business spheres, within the two cities of Waitakere and North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Through the search for new progressive social identities, women's activities at the inter-personal level are a prime source of social change. It is through the recursive relationship between women as agents and the social structure, that changing interpretations of social expectations are produced, allowing for creative activism. While women's initiatives may aim to transform particular social environments, they become part of the incremental process of change that alters the experience and structure of women's lives. The thesis has four parts. The first outlines the scope, objectives and theoretical framework, while the second conceptualises women's agency and its positioning within social gendered structures. Part Three presents the investigative processes linking the theoretical framework and the empirical analysis. Part Four submits the thematic interpretations of the thesis, concluding that women can be agents of social change in a diversity of ways. I acknowledge my feminist stance, one with layerings of objectives and motivations. I view women's circumstances as resulting from the interweaving of structural forces and personal capacities. The resulting awareness of women's experiences can challenge the values and concepts of masculine discourses. This is viewed through the concept of multiplicity. On a political level this means creating a resistance to hierarchies and a commitment to a plurality of voice, style and structure. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

This thesis examines the ways in which women assess and seek resources in their urban contexts. I argue that the struggles of daily life in local communities and institutional groups can produce ideological spaces into which new practices, arising from increased consciousness of issues, can be developed. My aim has been to uncover women's experiences in a way that not only interprets meanings from their practices, but also encourages such practices to be seen as valid renderings of women's understandings. I examine women's initiatives through the analysis of varying contexts. While I acknowledge the historical importance of the domestic situation as a threshold for much historic activism, women's proactivity requires a broader situational analysis. I therefore present cases of proactivity within the domestic, public and business spheres, within the two cities of Waitakere and North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Through the search for new progressive social identities, women's activities at the inter-personal level are a prime source of social change. It is through the recursive relationship between women as agents and the social structure, that changing interpretations of social expectations are produced, allowing for creative activism. While women's initiatives may aim to transform particular social environments, they become part of the incremental process of change that alters the experience and structure of women's lives. The thesis has four parts. The first outlines the scope, objectives and theoretical framework, while the second conceptualises women's agency and its positioning within social gendered structures. Part Three presents the investigative processes linking the theoretical framework and the empirical analysis. Part Four submits the thematic interpretations of the thesis, concluding that women can be agents of social change in a diversity of ways. I acknowledge my feminist stance, one with layerings of objectives and motivations. I view women's circumstances as resulting from the interweaving of structural forces and personal capacities. The resulting awareness of women's experiences can challenge the values and concepts of masculine discourses. This is viewed through the concept of multiplicity. On a political level this means creating a resistance to hierarchies and a commitment to a plurality of voice, style and structure. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

Master of Science / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Karen S. Myers-Bowman / This is a review of the body of literature about teenage sexuality, pregnancy, abortion, parent-adolescent communication, and parental involvement laws. The literature review focused on current United State's policies on teenage abortion and the effects of parental involvement laws and judicial bypass. A review of other nations' policies regarding teenage sexuality, pregnancy, and abortion and the outcomes of these policies is given and compared to the policies of the United States. Proponents' reasons for parental involvement laws are explored. Current research on the effects that parental involvement laws have on adolescents and their families, adolescents' abilities to make informed decisions about abortion, and characteristics of teenage girls who choose abortion is reviewed. The need for more research on teenage sexuality, parent-adolescent communication, and the effectiveness of parental involvement laws are identified. Implications for family life educators for the prevention of teenage pregnancy as well as interventions for family life educators in the event of adolescent pregnancy and abortion are provided. Implications for the need to review current parental involvement policies and the need to apply research to these policies are also recommended.