This thesis examines the association between religiosity and academic achievement among adolescents. Recent research demonstrates a positive association between religiosity and academic success. However, some studies show that this is due to family and community factors; for example, variation in levels of family capital among religious affiliates may explain this association. Yet, whether religious factors affect academic achievement among adolescents may also be due to the concordance or discordance of religiosity among parents and their children. Using two years of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) (n=8,051), I examine the association between adolescent religiosity, parent religiosity, and academic achievement, in light of the effects of family and community capital. The results indicate that the association between student religiosity and academic achievement is largely due to family social capital, but the association between academic achievement and religious homogamy between parents and adolescents is largely independent of family and community social capital. In particular, the highest achievement is predicted when parents and adolescents report similar levels of religiosity; the lowest when parents report high religiosity and adolescents report low religiosity.

Contemporary young people would appear to have access to more information than their predecessors in relation to keeping safe by avoiding or reducing risks. However concerns about young people’s perceived increasing risky behaviours have contributed to a growing focus on understanding young people and risk of harm across private and public spheres. This study examines the views, experiences and behaviours of young people and adults in relation to risk of harm to young people and the role of social capital in reducing perceived risk. Using qualitative data with young people and adults in a Scottish community this study develops an understanding of perceptions of the main risks of harm to young people and whether social capital helps to reduce these risks. Social constructions of ‘appropriate’ behaviours for young people to engage in and subsequent constraints imposed by adult-led structures and safety concerns, formed a significant focus of youth theorising in this area. To a certain extent, the findings from this study challenge the conventional construction of young people as risky individuals, by identifying young people’s negotiation and avoidance strategies for keeping safe. However, young people’s experiences and behaviours in public and private spaces remain significantly structured by age and gender. Young people and adults perceive risks associated with alcohol and public spaces to be high and prominent. The continuing notion of risk appears to be evident in young people’s choices about who to socialise with and where, their safety concerns and ultimately how particular social networks can be accessed in order to capitalise on protective measures. Young people’s safety concerns are overwhelmingly related to the ‘other’ in public spaces, reinforcing dominant social constructions of private spaces as safer than public spaces. Strong community ties are highlighted as paradoxical: whilst providing trusting social networks which contribute to loyal and safe peers, the intimacy of such networks is perceived by adults as a barrier to young people’s bridging capital and social mobility. These findings pose difficulties to applying late modernist risk theories which minimise the role of wider social processes in shaping young people’s perceptions. Understanding young people and risk is best served by adopting the sociology of youth and social constructionist perspectives which assert the impact of gender, and in particular the power of age constructions which continue to operate within young people’s lives. Ultimately, perceptions on risk of harm to young people remain infused with gendered and age expectations and constructions.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:20:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria PV_DISSERT.pdf: 1436715 bytes, checksum: 69177bc02c1261c7b604e13db4cc7c86 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-25 / Observing that social capital is considered crucial for the consolidation of an association, this paper analyzes how different groups associative absorb the concept of membership and how to manage routing in their actions to the social interest. The research aimed to evaluate two central forms of association, based on the concept of Pierre Bourdieu (1980) on social capital, stressing that its distribution and perception are uneven and depends on the ability of ownership of different social groups. Accordingly, took up two organizations community based one in - Barra do Rio and another in Maracaja? - whose main activity is the exploitation in the coastal tourist norteriograndense. Once processed the data, it became clear that, despite the purpose for the association has been motivated by exploration in both organizations, each differently appropriates its capital. While one maintains a feelings of togetherness, trust and satisfaction of group work, the other one, feelings are stifled by individualism, mistrust among their members that although they see the association as something important for the growth and strengthening of the group, working individually / Observando que o capital social ? considerado de fundamental import?ncia para consolida??o de uma associa??o, este trabalho procura analisar como diferentes grupos associativistas absorvem o conceito sobre associa??o e de que forma conseguem dar encaminhamento a suas a??es voltadas para o interesse social. A investiga??o teve como objetivo central avaliar duas formas de associativismo, fundamentada na conceitua??o de Pierre Bourdieu (1980) sobre capital social, que salienta que a sua distribui??o e percep??o s?o desiguais e depende da capacidade de apropria??o de diferentes grupos sociais. Nesse sentido, tomaram-se por base duas organiza??es comunit?rias - uma em Barra do Rio e outra em Maracaja? - que tem como principal atividade a explora??o tur?stica no litoral norteriograndense. Depois de tratados os dados, evidenciou-se que, apesar do prop?sito para o associativismo tenha sido motivado pela explora??o nas duas organiza??es, cada uma se apropria de forma diferente o seu capital social. Enquanto que em uma permeia sentimentos de uni?o, confian?a e satisfa??o do trabalho em grupo, na outra, esses sentimentos s?o sufocados pelo individualismo, pela desconfian?a entre seus membros que, apesar de verem o associativismo como algo importante para o crescimento e fortalecimento do grupo, trabalha individualmente

Submitted by Rachel Pereira (rachelprr@yahoo.com.br) on 2015-12-17T18:36:11Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese final REV_Gilda nov 15.pdf: 1846031 bytes, checksum: 7d6c244709230f5c7b1384dcf8b8920a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-17T18:36:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese final REV_Gilda nov 15.pdf: 1846031 bytes, checksum: 7d6c244709230f5c7b1384dcf8b8920a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-31 / A tese teve como tema central a situação das bibliotecas públicas brasileiras, a partir da visão de atores políticos e pesquisadores que, de alguma forma, estiveram ou ainda estão ligados a estas instituições. Em entrevistas realizadas no período de junho de 2014 a fevereiro de 2015, foram levantadas questões sobre a possível crise institucional na atualidade, o impacto das tecnologias de informação e comunicação (TICs), a situação das bibliotecas brasileiras e sua relação com a comunidade, além das expectativas sobre um Plano específico para a área. Para embasar o levantamento empírico, percorreu-se brevemente a literatura que aborda a história da instituição, revelando como esta tem se adaptado ao contexto, refletindo tempo e espaço, e mudado a visão de sua relação com o seu público, a sua comunidade. Como o tema tem sido tratado na literatura internacional também foi considerado. A literatura apontou para temas que contribuem para um novo entendimento da instituição no uso das TICs, na formação de cidadania e nas relações com a comunidade, neste sentido aparecendo em destaque a ideia de biblioteca pública, como criadora de capital social. Em relação às bibliotecas brasileiras foram abordados o pensamento e a atuação de três intelectuais que refletiram e atuaram na área da biblioteca pública. Foi, também, analisada a evolução das políticas para a área, sendo estas exemplificadas com as boas práticas em bibliotecas públicas. A partir da base oferecida pela literatura foi elaborada a metodologia a ser empregada nas entrevistas. Optou-se pela aplicação de entrevista semiestruturada visando possibilitar aos entrevistados liberdade na formulação das respostas. As opiniões dos entrevistados destacam a má situação das bibliotecas públicas brasileiras, tendo sido oferecido nos depoimentos diversos ângulos para o entendimento da invisibilidade institucional na perspectiva das suas comunidades e do desprestígio político da biblioteca pública brasileira / The thesis was focused on the situation of Brazilian public libraries, from the perspective of political actors and researchers who, in some way, were or are still connected to these institutions. In interviews performed from June 2014 to February 2015, questions were raised about the possible institutional crisis today, the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs), the situation of Brazilian libraries and their relationship with the community, as well as expectations on a specific plan for the area. To support the empirical survey, it toured briefly the literature addressing the institution's history, showing how it has always been adapted to its context, and the view of its relationship with its audience, its community, has also changed. The literature pointed to issues that contribute to a new understanding of the institution in the use of ICTs in the formation of citizenship and relations with the community, to that effect appearing highlighted the idea of public library, as creator of social capital. Regarding the Brazilian libraries, the thought and action of three outstanding intellectuals who reflected and acted in the public library area were considered. The development of policies for the area was also analyzed, and illustrated with good practice in public libraries. The methodology adopted was semi-structured interviews aiming to allow respondents freedom in formulating the answers. The opinions of respondents highlight the plight of Brazilian public libraries, and offer different angles to understand the institutional invisibility and its lack of prestige.