Reality shows that feature people going about their presumed daily lives are not base entertainment. Internet message boards about reality programs are sites where moral work happens. Viewers write about the appearance and actions of show characters and construct moral lessons. Through naturally occurring data produced by fans of these shows, I find that viewers generally express a traditional heteronormative morality around class and gender through stating moral lessons, explaining what is wrong with the characters, or through ridicule and praise.

The aim of this study was to examine adolescent perceptions of risky behaviour using a mobile phone. This research may contribute to creating an awareness of risky and healthy adolescent uses of mobile phones. Anonymous sketches were collected from Grade 10 learners depicting their understanding of risky behaviour using the mobile phone. Thereafter, 12 learners agreed, through informed consent, to participate in semi-structured interviews. All participants considered the mobile phone an integral part of their social lives. Participants noted the benefits of using their mobile phones for their school work, such as searching the internet, taking photos of, and recordings of class work. Participants indicated that engaging in activities that allow for self-expression using the mobile phone, as well as knowing how much information to post, and using the mobile phone for what it was intended for (i.e. communication), was healthy behaviour. Participants indicated that sharing one’s address, phone number, and personal or intimate photographs and videos was risky behaviour. Participants did not extend their definitions of healthy behaviour to include moderate use of the mobile phone on a daily basis, and in fact reported spending an average of 4-5 hours daily on their mobile phones. Participants indicated numerous incidents of cyberbullying (although that term was not explicitly used), such as online racism, creating and distributing demeaning lists, and nude or offensive photographs of one another. Participants’ moral boundaries appeared to be negotiable, due to inconsistent opinions on what was considered acceptable or unacceptable behaviour on their mobile phones. Participants revealed a desire to be trusted with their mobile phones, yet indicated that they hid information from their parents. Findings show that, although the participants knew and understood the risks that exist in mobile interactions, they continued to engage in these risky behaviours. / Thesis (MA (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The aim of this study was to examine adolescent perceptions of risky behaviour using a mobile phone. This research may contribute to creating an awareness of risky and healthy adolescent uses of mobile phones. Anonymous sketches were collected from Grade 10 learners depicting their understanding of risky behaviour using the mobile phone. Thereafter, 12 learners agreed, through informed consent, to participate in semi-structured interviews. All participants considered the mobile phone an integral part of their social lives. Participants noted the benefits of using their mobile phones for their school work, such as searching the internet, taking photos of, and recordings of class work. Participants indicated that engaging in activities that allow for self-expression using the mobile phone, as well as knowing how much information to post, and using the mobile phone for what it was intended for (i.e. communication), was healthy behaviour. Participants indicated that sharing one’s address, phone number, and personal or intimate photographs and videos was risky behaviour. Participants did not extend their definitions of healthy behaviour to include moderate use of the mobile phone on a daily basis, and in fact reported spending an average of 4-5 hours daily on their mobile phones. Participants indicated numerous incidents of cyberbullying (although that term was not explicitly used), such as online racism, creating and distributing demeaning lists, and nude or offensive photographs of one another. Participants’ moral boundaries appeared to be negotiable, due to inconsistent opinions on what was considered acceptable or unacceptable behaviour on their mobile phones. Participants revealed a desire to be trusted with their mobile phones, yet indicated that they hid information from their parents. Findings show that, although the participants knew and understood the risks that exist in mobile interactions, they continued to engage in these risky behaviours. / Thesis (MA (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Cette thèse aborde les mots "cuico" et "flaite" comme des catégories qui sont devenues fondamentales dans la représentation des classes sociales aujourd’hui au Chili. Fruits à la fois de transformations sociales et culturelles récentes, et héritières de rapports historiques qui ont été tissés entre les différents groupes qui composent notre société, ces deux catégories expriment dans un langage courant et informel la méfiance qu’il existe de nos jours entre les classes sociales dans le pays. Constituant toutes les deux des catégories péjoratives, cuico, associée à la classe supérieure, et flaite, associée aux classes populaires dangereuses, servent non seulement à identifier des groupes reconnus comme différents et spécifiques en ce moment dans la société chilienne, mais aussi à tracer des frontières morales entre les groupes. Elles rendent compte ainsi de l’importance du langage moral lorsqu’on parle des classes sociales aujourd’hui au Chili. / This thesis addresses the terms cuico and flaite as categories that have become fundamental in the representation of social classes in Chile today. They are the result of the recent social and cultural transformations and the historical reports that have been woven between groups that compose our society. These two categories express in a language both common and informal the mistrust that exists these days between social classes. Both constituting pejorative categories, cuico, associated to the upper class, and flaite, associated with dangerous popular classes, serve not only to identify this different and specific groups in this moment in Chilean society, but also to trace moral boundaries between the two. They account for the importance of moral language when speaking of social classes in Chile today.

This paper deals with an idea of boundaries that christians and non-christians construct and the way these boundaries emerge and reproduce. Based on the analysis of twelve in-depth interviews, I show that the concept of moral boundaries is relevant for the relationship between christians and non-christians. Although many emphasize tolerance and understanding, they define themselves as opposed to each other in many ways. Christians consider God's commandments to be the source of morality, non-christians think it is rooted in people themselves. Christians consider relationship with God, love and good christian life to be the highest values and they think non-christians prefer money, health and family. Those admit these values, but they emphasize that being christian does not automatically mean being a good person. As a respond to today's situation, I analyze creating social distance and symbolic boundaries against ethnic and national minorities. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Using participant observation, in-depth interviews, and legislative histories, we examine Westboro Baptist Church, a religious group infamous for homophobic rhetoric and funeral protests. Employing cultural and interactionist perspectives that focus on the semiotics of death, the sacred, and desecration, we outline how Westboro’s activities purposively violate deeply held signifiers of moral order through language, while simultaneously respecting extant laws of behavior. This strategy, in conjunction with the political profitability of opposing the group, explains why the group’s activism triggered extensive legal disputes and modifications at multiple levels of governance. Westboro’s actions and use of symbols—and those of others against the group—lay bare multiple threads in the sacred cultural fabric of American society.