Thesis (D. Min.)--Erskine Theological Seminary, 1998. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [137-141]).

Project (D. Ed. Min.)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 2008. / Abstract and vita. Includes final project proposal. Description based on Print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 150-153, 51-54).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Erskine Theological Seminary, 1998. / Abstract. This is an electronic reproduction of TREN, #064-0046. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [137-141]).

The dissertation examines how changes in the race, gender and age composition of poverty over the past twenty years are linked to the unique experiences of particular birth cohorts. Demographer Richard Easterlin argues that generations born between 1944 and 1963 (the 'baby boom') face exceptional labor market competition and economic vulnerability due to their large numbers. Extending this theory, the central question of the dissertation is: Have families headed by the baby boom generation been more likely to be poor in the 1970s and 1980s compared to families headed by generations born prior to the baby boom? The findings indicate that among whites, the answer is clearly 'yes.' For African Americans, the answer appears to be 'no.' Results consistently show that the risk of poverty has been increasing with each successive generation of white family born since 1944. On the other hand, there is no evidence that black families headed by an individual born during the baby boom are more likely to be poor than those headed by previous generations. For both races, however, the most striking finding concerns the generation which was born after the baby boom. White and black families headed by adults born since 1964 are more likely to be poor compared to families headed by the older generations. The cohort effects on poverty are net of family structure, age of the family head, and period. The effects also persist controlling for employment variables which reflect labor market competition. Hypotheses about demographic trends in poverty from 1967 to 1987 are tested using multivariate analyses of a cross-sectional dataset (the Current Population Survey) and a longitudinal dataset (the Panel Study of Income Dynamics). Log-linear analyses of the Current Population Survey decompose the effects of family structure, age, period and cohort on poverty for all families as well as families headed by women. Discrete-time event history analyses of the PSID are used to model poverty among all families in any given year between 1969 and 1987. The dynamics of poverty are further examined in comparisons of nested multinomial logistic regression models of poverty entrances and exits among wives and female-headed families.

Sexual excess is one of an increasing list of ‘excessive’ behaviours which have in recent times been pathologised by the psycho-medical establishment, increasing regulation and control of spheres previously accepted as ‘normal.’ This study analyses the genealogy of the events, institutions, organisations and individuals in post-World War II United States of America to the present which made it possible to think scientifically and nosologically about ‘excessive’ male sexual behaviour as ‘sexual addiction.’ / The grass-roots twelve-step ideologies of Alcoholics Anonymous in the mid-1970s gave birth to twelve-step programs for ‘sex addicts’ predicated on admitting powerlessness over sex and lust rather than over alcohol as the key to recovery as the first step. The publication of Patrick Carnes’ Out of the Shadows: Understanding and Treating Sexual Addiction in 1983 created the academic concept and discourse of sex addiction, which in turn paved the way for widespread scientific debate and investigation of the concept. The AIDS phenomenon offered a platform for many groups to highlight their own causes amid the chaos of illness and death. The sex addiction movement was one such group which made use of the hysteria by pathologising homosexuality and the gay lifestyle as symptomatic of ‘sexual addiction.’ This forged an inexorable conceptual nexus between sexual addiction and AIDS and death motifs, thereby legitimising the concept of sexual addiction as a harmful and often fatal disorder. / Analysis of psycho-medical and public discourse on the sex lives of two American presidents, John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, in two different eras revealed changing understandings of male sexual excess. Journalistic mores, socio-cultural values and psycho-medical ideologies (or the lack thereof) played a great role in pathologising Clinton’s behaviour while leaving Kennedy’s, at the time of his presidency but not so in the decades following it, unscathed. / This study has far-reaching implications because sex is an issue affecting and involving people from all walks of life, irrespective of gender, race, colour, creed or religion. Analyses demonstrated how the sexual addiction movement’s assault on traditional conceptions of masculinity predicated on promiscuity as a rite of passage or envied and admired behaviour has precipitated a convergence of the genders in respect of prescriptive sexual behaviour. The pendulum of power is subtly shifting from males embracing notions of sexual liberation and sexual self-determination to mental health professionals whose new diagnostic labels pathologise and stigmatise.

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

With the first of the 77 million (www.census.gov) Baby Boomers turning 60 this year, the impact on retirement and retirement communities has suddenly become a vital and pressing issue. The massive numbers of Baby Boomer cohorts have amplified and intensified the importance of whatever experiences they've had at each new moment in their lives. When they reach any stage of life, the issues that concern them — whether financial, interpersonal, or even hormonal — become the dominant social political, and marketplace themes at the time. (www.agewave.com 2006) Retirement will be no different. Using this understanding of the Baby Boomer generation, this study examined their impact on retirement community design.Data specific to Baby Boomer retirement preferences was analyzed, an expert in the field of gerontology at Ball State University was interviewed, research was completed in retirement community design and age related health concerns, and case studies in a range of established retirement communities in southwest Florida were visited, all in an effort to determine what the current trends are in the retirement community market today and how Boomers would effect them.Research showed that Boomers want to pursue new and exciting experiences in their retirement years. They are not willing to settle for a retirement tucked out of the way, out of sight out of mind. They want to be in the middle of activity and enjoyment. They are looking to make a difference and have an impact in this next phase of life.The result of these endeavors is a conceptual design for an active adult retirement community, in northeast Lee County Florida, that will attract Baby Boomers by appealing to their sense of fun, their sense of purpose and their social and environmental conscience. / Department of Landscape Architecture

This thesis examines how Baby Boomers utilize Facebook to promote radical political ideology. A convenience sample of 51 Baby Boomer Facebook profiles were selected and critically analyzed for radical content using Bernard L.Brock’s (1965) A Definition of Four Political Positions and a Description of their Rhetorical Characteristics, and Making Sense of Political Ideology: The Language of Democracy (Brock, et al., 2005). The rhetoric from these profiles was then categorized using James W. Chesebro’s (1972) Rhetorical Strategies of the Radical Revolutionary. Conclusions from the research indicate that radical Boomers on Facebook seem to have moved from real world activism to symbolic action on Facebook through the liking and sharing of radical articles and posts. Though consistent in posting radical content in their profiles, radical Boomers using Facebook in this study utilized profiles more to promote radical culture online than to foment political revolution offline. / Department of Telecommunications

Older adults have the lowest mental health utilization of any age cohort. This study compared baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964 versus older adults born in 1944 or earlier, on attitudes and intentions to utilize mental health services. Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior and its related constructs of attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and intentions were used as a theoretical model. The Inventory of Attitudes toward Seeking Mental Health Services (IASMHS) and Beliefs About Psychological Services (BAPS) were used for measuring the constructs in the theory of planned behavior. Gender and previous mental health service utilization were also measured. Participants (n = 401) included current and retired faculty and staff from a mid-sized Midwestern University. Statistical analysis, using MANOVA, found main effects for previous mental health experience and age cohort, but not for gender. Those with previous mental health service experience expressed more positive attitudes, intentions, and perceived behavioral control over receiving mental health services. Contrary to the primary hypothesis, the older adult cohort expressed more positive attitudes, greater intentions, was less affected by the subjective norm, and had more perceived behavioral control than baby boomers. Regression analyses, using gender, previous mental health service use, attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control accounted for 55.7% of the variance in intentions for the older adult cohort and 58.2% for baby boomers. For both cohorts, attitudes accounted for the greatest amount of variance. Promoting positive attitudes through reducing environmental and economic barriers and increasing education regarding mental health services is likely to increase mental health service utilization in baby boomers and older adults. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Social ideologies appeared to influence dietary behaviour, physical activity and BMI. These influences varied through different pathways in younger and older baby boomers. Studies provide insight into the segmentation of baby boomer population in relation to concrete social ideologies that could be used for policy development and effective health promotion.