Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-72).

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Western Seminary, Portland, OR, 2004. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-119).

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-71).

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Western Seminary, Portland, OR, 2004. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-119).

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-71).

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-71).

The purpose of this study was to investigate the phenomenon of interfaith marriage. It is a comparative study using archival data. Utah Catholic interfaith marriage trends over 31 years were compared with three other Catholic dioceses in the United States similar in size or in other demographic characteristics. Results indicate that Utah is not atypical in its intermarriage patterns. In addition, a micro-level analysis of Catholic interfaith marriages at three points in time was conducted for the Diocese of Salt Lake alone. Statistical analysis employed primarily measures of central tendency. Results indicate that Catholics intermarrying in Utah are older than the national median, that Catholic women marry out almost twice as frequently as Catholic men, that over time Catholics in Utah intermarry most often with Mormons, and that most Catholic intermarriage takes place in the Salt Lake metroplex, an urban rather than rural area.

This thesis focuses on Albanian-Italian and Albanian-Romanian couples in Italy. Through application of the boundary-making framework to integration and intermarriage, this study looks at the processes by which partners in mixed unions deal with socially constructed boundaries inside and outside the couple and family sphere. The thesis is based on multiple qualitative methods, but primarily on in-depth interviews with 61 Albanian-Italian/Romanian couples in Italy. These research-participant couples differ in terms of marital and family status, place of origin and settlement, education and occupation. The core sample is composed of an Albanian in-between generation, now in their 30s, who emigrated during adolescence for various reasons (asylum, family reunification, healthcare, study, work). Thence, I moved towards an Italian or a Romanian partner of these primary participants. The original contribution of my study is both empirical and theoretical. From an empirical point of view, it explores the topic of intermarriage, which has not been previously examined in the existing literatures on the Albanian and Romanian migrations and is still understudied in Italy. In addition to this, the study specifically takes into account the combination of minority-majority (Albanian-Italian) and minority-minority (Albanian-Romanian) partnerships and marriages, whose conjoint analysis has been largely absent in intermarriage research. From a theoretical point of view, my research shows instead the importance of adopting a relational approach in migration studies through the inclusion of a plurality of social actors within the research design. In fact, while intermarriage in immigrant societies is usually interpreted as an indicator/agent of integration and through the essentialisation of the category of culture, my thesis proposes a novel understanding of intermarriage. I view intermarriage as a site of integration, and I see integration as a multi-way process of boundary change, which involves the national majority as well as multiple immigrant minorities interacting with and identifying each other in the construction of a common social space.

No description available.

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-70).