Thesis (doctoral)--Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 234-244).

We live in an age of rapid change. The advance of science and technology, throughout history, has culminated in periods of transition when social values have had to adapt to a changed environment. Such times have proved fertile ground for the expansion of the imagination. Utopian literature offers a vast archive of information concerning the relationship between scientific and technological progress and social change. Alterations in the most basic machinery of society inspired utopian authors to write of distant and future worlds which had achieved a state of harmony and plenty. The dilemmas which writers faced were particular to their era, but there also emerged certain universal themes and questions: What is the best organisation of society? What tools would be adequate to the task? What does it mean to be human? The dividing line on these issues revolves around two opposed beliefs. Some perceived the power inherent in technology to effect the greatest improvement in the human condition. Others were convinced that the organisation of the social order must come first so as to create an environment sympathetic to perceived human needs. There are, necessarily, contradictions in such a division. They can be seen plainly in More's Utopia itself. More wanted to see new science and technique developed. But he also condemned the social consequences which inevitably flowed from the process of discovery. These consequences led More to create a utopia based on social reorganisation. In the main, the utopias of Francis Bacon, Edward Bellamy and the later H. G. Wells accepted science, while the work of William Morris, Aldous Huxley and Kurt Vonnegut rejected science in preference for a different social order. More's Utopia and Bacon's New Atlantis were written at a time when feudal, agriciTfural society wasbeeing transformed by new discoveries and techniques. In a later age, Bellamy's Looking Backward and Morris's News From Nowhere offer contrary responses to society at the height of the Industrial evolution. These four authors serve as a prelude to the main area of the thesis which centres on the twentieth century. Wells, though his first novel appeared in 1895, produced the vast bulk of his work in the current century. Huxley acts as an appropriate balance to Wells and also exemplifies the shift from utopia to dystopia. The last section of the thesis deals with the work of Kurt Vonnegut and includes an interview with that author. The twentieth century has seen the proliferation of dystopias, portraits of the disastrous consequences of the headlong pursuit of science and technology, unallied to human values. Huxley and Vonnegut crystallised the fears of a modern generation: that we create a soulless, mechanised, urban nightmare. The contemporary fascination with science in literature is merely an extension of a process with a long tradition and underlying theme. The advance of science and technology created the physical and intellectual environment for utopian authors which determined the form and content of their visions.

To expand the research base concerning terrorism this study connects terrorist incidents on a global scale with economic and noneconomic institutional factors. Whereas most terrorism studies use social disorganization theory or anomie theory as their theoretical bases, this study uses institutional anomie theory (IAT) to examine the influence of economic and noneconomic institutions on terrorist-incident counts in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The research employs the following five sources that are linked together: The Global Terrorism Database (GTD), World Bank Database, data from the University of Texas Inequality Project (UTIP), the United Nations (UN), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Regression models examine the influence of inequality on counts of terrorist incidents for the decades of 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s net of controls. OLS models also examine the extent to which the influence of inequality on terrorist-incident counts is mediated by the strength of the noneconomic institutional structures of health care and the family. Results from ordinary least squares regression analyses show that for the time period of 1970 to 1979 there was a nonsignificant, negative association between inequality and terrorist-incident counts and neither health care nor number of divorces was a mediating factor. For the time period 1980 to 1989 a significant, positive association existed between inequality and terrorist incident counts, supporting the hypothesis that countries with higher levels of inequality will have higher counts of terrorist-incident counts. However, in the 1980s neither health care nor family mediated the effects of inequality on terrorist-incident counts. For the time period 1990 to 1997 a statistically significant, positive association was found between inequality and terrorist-incident counts as well as successful mediation by health care on the effects of inequality on terrorist-incident counts, which supports the hypothesis that the influence of inequality on terrorist-incident counts will be mediated by noneconomic institutional structures. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Greater knowledge of specific populations? perception of the capacity for change will assist leadership practitioners in the design and implementation of effective leadership programs. These leadership programs will hopefully prepare students to lead effectively in a rapidly changing society where a strong capacity for change is needed. This study examined three specific populations of undergraduate students who participated in the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership in 2006. The three populations of interest were first generation college students, transfer students and male students. The purpose of the study was to determine the self-perceived capacity to adapt to change for selected college student populations based on the Social Change Model of Leadership (Appendix A). A second purpose was to determine differences in this self-perceived capacity to adapt to change between and among these selected college student populations. Responses to the 10 individual items of the Change Scale (MSL) were measured and analyzed to determine if any significant differences and/or interactions existed in the data. The results of this study inform the design of both Academic and Student Affairs student leadership development programs to enhance the leadership development of these selected student populations. The research design for the study included the use of descriptive statistics, a correlation matrix to examine the relationships of the 10 individual items of the change scale, and a 3X10 MANOVA. These tests and measures were utilized on all three independent variables (generational status, transfer status and gender) and the 10 individual items of the change scale within the Socially Responsible Leadership Scale. This study identified distinct differences between/among the three populations of interest and provided numerous recommendations for practice such as tapping into the unique life experiences of transfer and first generation college students to learn more about their stronger capacity for managing change and specifically recruiting students from the three populations of interest to assist in the delivery of change-related curriculum within leadership programs. Another recommendation was made for leadership practitioners to utilize the Social Change Model of Leadership development to help with the development of leaders who will share a commitment to positive change at the individual, group and community levels.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of Sociology, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Diplomarbeit--Universität Trier, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-122).

Thesis (M.A.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2002. / Restricted until October 2003. Bibliography: leaves 169-180.

Thesis (MA(Sos.))--Universiteit van Pretoria, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-80).

Sociological interest in the relationship between the social structure and health began with the classic work of Durkheim, who first identified socially constructed patterns of suicide rates in Western European countries. Drawing on this structural tradition, a large literature has investigated how health is influenced and shaped by societal factors. Despite a great deal of research on the social causation of health, however, the potentially adverse effects of social structures have been rarely studied. If people's health is linked to broader social conditions, then it follows that health is also subject to societal disruption, especially in the wake of the breakdown or failure of the existing social structure. This dissertation advances our understanding of the relationship between the social structure and health at the population level, focusing on post-communist Eastern Europe as a case study. There are three interrelated goals in this dissertation: first, to elucidate differences in health and mortality outcomes between East Central Europe and the former Soviet Union; second, to numerically substantiate the association between drastic social change and the risk of death due to suicide; and third, to reveal the structural factors related to overall population health status in Eastern Europe. Using aggregate-level data for Eastern European countries for the post-communist period, I find that (1) there are growing inequalities in life expectancy and infant mortality between East Central Europe and the former Soviet Union, and mechanisms associated with disparities vary by gender and age; (2) consistent with Durkheim's theory of suicide, drastic structural change is related to increased suicide death rates for the period immediately after the collapse of communism; and (3) the malfunctioning of the social structure is inversely associated with the health status of populations. Taken together, fully understanding the health consequences of communism's fall in Eastern Europe requires research that looks beyond individual-level risk factors to incorporate the broader characteristics of the social structure in which populations are embedded. / text

Social work struggles between the dichotomy of “individual” and “society” as it is characterized as enhancing both individual well-being and social justice. As these are not always easily balanced and social work has limited autonomy, social workers must develop their capacity for making moral judgments and defend these within their various roles and responsibilities. Studies which explore the role of ethics in social work practice enhance the potential for maintaining a common identity. This exploration permits a deeper understanding of social work ethics and reinforces a common framework inclusive of purpose and standards for the profession. These studies also capture the contextual factors impacting on the moral agency of social workers, and thus substantiate the role for social work in a world with structured oppression. The purpose of this study was to obtain an in-depth understanding of social work ethics in the practice context of public hospitals in Greece. Using a case study design, data was gathered to explore and understand the role of social work ethics in daily practice and the formation of what is perceived as “good” practice. The analysis followed Yin‟s (1993) descriptive strategy. Data collection included fifteen in-depth interviews with hospital social workers, a group interview with social work academics, and a thematic analysis of the social work journal of the Hellenic Association of Social Workers (HASW). The meaning of ethical dilemmas and problems appeared to be constructed by personally held values, a lack of attention in social work education and the HASW on social work ethics, a professional emphasis on individualism rather than collectivism, and insufficient social protection in Greece. Importantly, these factors led to a fairly consistent response to ethical problems. “Having a clear conscience”, character traits such as bravery and imaginativeness, as well as the use of psychotherapy emerged as characteristics of “good” social work practice. These findings are of value to those who try to restore the values and ethics as central in social work. Values and ethics as key elements of social work expertise can lead social workers to a more competent and effective practice in terms of their ethical engagements.