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During the antebellum period of U.S. slavery (1830-1861), many people claimed ownership of the enslaved woman's body, both legally and figuratively. The assumption that they were merely property, however, belies the unstable, shifting truths about bodily ownership. This thesis inquires into the gendered specifics and ambiguities of the law, the body, and women under slavery. By examining the particular bodily regulation and exploitation of enslaved women, especially around their reproductive labor, I suggest that new operations of oppression and also of resistance come into focus. The legal structure recognized enslaved women in the interest of owners, and this limitation was defining, meaning that justice flowed in one direction. If married white women were "civilly dead," as famously evoked by the Declaration of Sentiments (1848) then enslaved women were civilly non-existent. The law controlled, but did not protect slaves, and a number of opponents to slavery denounced this contradictory scenario during the antebellum era (and before). Literally, enslaved women were claimed by their masters, purchased and sold as chattel. Physically, they were claimed by those men (both white and black) who sought to have power over them. Symbolically, they were claimed by anti-slavers and pro-slavers alike when it suited their purposes, often in the domains of news and literature, for the sake of advancing their ideas, a rich record of which fills court cases, newsprint, and propaganda touching the slavery issue before the civil war. Due to the numerous ways that enslaved women's bodies have been claimed, owned, or circulated in markets, it may have been considered implicit to many that others owned their bodies. I believe that this is an oversimplified historical supposition that needs to be re-theorized. Indeed, enslaved women lived in a time when they were often led to believe that their bodies were not truly their own, and yet, many of them resisted their particular forms of oppression by claiming ownership of their bodies and those of their children; sometimes using rather extreme methods to keep from contributing to their oppression. In other words, slave owners' monopoly of the legal, economic, and logistical meanings of ownership of slaves had to be constantly reaffirmed and negotiated. This thesis asks: who owned the enslaved woman's body? I seek to emphasize that enslaved women were valid claimants of themselves as can seen in primary sources that today have only been given limited expression in the historiography.

This thesis focuses primarily on homophobia and how it plays a role in the construction of queer identities, specifically in graphic novels and comic books. The primary texts being analyzed are Alan Moore's Lost Girls, Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, and Michael Chabon's prose novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. Throughout these and many other comics, queer identities reflect homophobic stereotypes rather than resisting them. However, this thesis argues that, despite the homophobic tendencies of these texts, the very nature of comics (their visual aspects, panel structures, and blank gutters) allows for an alternative space for positive queer identities. / by Michael Buso. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

This thesis discusses the relationship between classic comic books and BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism.) Will Eisner's The Spirit is used to discuss sexuality and power in comics, with special attention paid to Eisner's "The Kissing Caper." The Eisner chapter explores the relationship between sadomasochism, film noir, gender dynamics and comics. Using Judith Butler, Fredric Wertham and Theodor Reik, the gender politics of The Spirit are discussed. Women's changing roles in the post-World War II American workplace are linked to Eisner's BDSM themes in The Spirit from the character's origin story to the 1950s. In examining Alan Moore's Watchmen, the paper focuses on transactional power dynamics and how BDSM rituals are enacted in modern American comics. American power relationships in politics are used as a comparison and contrast to BDSM dynamics in Watchmen. Samuel R. Delany, William Moulton Marston and Pat Califia are used as theorists within the discussion of power exchanges in Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore's graphic novel. The consensual fantasy element to this power relationship is demonstrated as the underlying dynamic of the act, and not as actual punishment or nonconsensual sadism. / by Michael Furlong. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

This thesis critically compares how domestic human rights NGOs (DNGOs) in the United States, Britain and Germany use (or mobilise) law to enforce human rights standards and proposes a method to measure their effectiveness in doing so. To do this it draws upon both case studies and literature from many disciplines. On the basis of the data and the literature it finds that, despite their great diversity, DNGOs in each jurisdiction show general similarities in their ???styles??? of operation and use of the law. It also finds that their effectiveness in enforcing human rights can be ascertained with reasonable accuracy and that a DNGO???s size and access to resources does not necessarily correlate with its effectiveness. The context in which the above questions were investigated was one in which there existed very little literature that examined the work of DNGOs (as opposed to international NGOs) as well as few theoretical approaches that would allow their activities to be critically examined and compared. It was also a context in which there was a great deal of discussion in the literature about the crucial importance of DNGOs in human rights enforcement and a growing suspicion that Globalisation might be making their role even more important than it was in the past. To address these issues the author used case studies to supply the necessary detail and a method using ???ideal types??? to assess the data. He also proposed a method to measure DNGO effectiveness so that the case studies could be more thoroughly compared and their true success in human rights enforcement revealed. Despite the incredible diversity among DNGOs the author was able to draw a few useful conclusions about how successful DNGOs operate. In response to these conclusions the author proposed that one possible route by which DNGOs could improve their effectiveness was to transplant their characteristics between jurisdictions. The author also found some evidence that Globalisation was having an effect on DNGOs and proposed some ways in which individual case studies could take advantage of this.

This paper discusses the legal principles which are relevant in determining the appropriate level of compensation for infringements to aboriginal and treaty rights. This issue has been left open by the Supreme Court of Canada in the seminal case of Delgamuukw. The nature of aboriginal and treaty rights as well as the fiduciary relationship and duties of the Crown are briefly described. The basic constitutional context in which these rights evolve is also discussed, including the federal common law of aboriginal rights and the constitutional position of these rights in Canada. Having set the general context, the paper then reviews the legal principles governing the infringement of aboriginal and treaty rights, including the requirement for just compensation. Reviews of the legal principles applicable to compensation in cases of expropriation and of the experience in the United States in regards to compensation in cases of the taking of aboriginal lands are also carried out. Six basic legal principles relevant for determining appropriate compensation in cases of infringement to aboriginal and treaty rights are then suggested, justified and explained. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

This thesis critically compares how domestic human rights NGOs (DNGOs) in the United States, Britain and Germany use (or mobilise) law to enforce human rights standards and proposes a method to measure their effectiveness in doing so. To do this it draws upon both case studies and literature from many disciplines. On the basis of the data and the literature it finds that, despite their great diversity, DNGOs in each jurisdiction show general similarities in their ???styles??? of operation and use of the law. It also finds that their effectiveness in enforcing human rights can be ascertained with reasonable accuracy and that a DNGO???s size and access to resources does not necessarily correlate with its effectiveness. The context in which the above questions were investigated was one in which there existed very little literature that examined the work of DNGOs (as opposed to international NGOs) as well as few theoretical approaches that would allow their activities to be critically examined and compared. It was also a context in which there was a great deal of discussion in the literature about the crucial importance of DNGOs in human rights enforcement and a growing suspicion that Globalisation might be making their role even more important than it was in the past. To address these issues the author used case studies to supply the necessary detail and a method using ???ideal types??? to assess the data. He also proposed a method to measure DNGO effectiveness so that the case studies could be more thoroughly compared and their true success in human rights enforcement revealed. Despite the incredible diversity among DNGOs the author was able to draw a few useful conclusions about how successful DNGOs operate. In response to these conclusions the author proposed that one possible route by which DNGOs could improve their effectiveness was to transplant their characteristics between jurisdictions. The author also found some evidence that Globalisation was having an effect on DNGOs and proposed some ways in which individual case studies could take advantage of this.

The purpose of this study was to examine forensic social workers' levels of knowledge about skepticism toward Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) in light of the controversy that surrounds the diagnosis. Relationships between demographic and professional practice variables and workers' levels of knowledge and skepticism were analyzed to assess the possible etiology of skepticism toward DID.

No description available.

This project explores the use if illegitimacy within Western discourse over the last three centuries. Illegitimacy was used in Victorian literature as a literary device to drive plot but evolved into a touchstone for Western discourse to explore the bounds of what is considered respectable society. Over time, as illegitimacy has become more mainstream, I contend illegitimate identities have been utilized to serve as a mirror for Western hegemony. In the first chapter, I explore the origins of illegitimacy being used as a literary device in novels by Victorian authors Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. In the second chapter, I examine the role illegitimacy plays in the origin stories of canonical comic book superheroes Batman and Superman. Lastly, in the third chapter, I scrutinize the role illegitimacy plays in defining the human condition within science fiction as human culture continues to advance technologically towards a post human world. / by Ryan Dessler. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.