The purpose of this study was to assess whether spiritual well-being and social support functioned as protective variables (moderators) for body dissatisfaction among college women. A hierarchical regression analysis was used to determine whether spiritual well-being and social support predicted body dissatisfaction, as well as if there was an interaction between the two variables. Approximately 100 female participants between the ages of 18 and 31 were recruited from the psychology department to participate in this study. Expanding the knowledge base on spiritual well-being, social support, and body dissatisfaction can facilitate awareness of preventative measures that may be beneficial to young women experiencing body dissatisfaction. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Both academics and the makers of public policy have for a long time been interested in the study of urban politics, but the subject needs to be integrated with the process of urban growth and development. Too frequently, the urban polity is analyzed as an arena which passively reflects or mechanically responds to more fundamental changes in the urban social structure. In this work, case studies of political reform in Philadelphia at two periods, 1800 to 1854 and 1890 to 1915, develop a number of hypotheses about how the urban polity plays an influential role in shaping the process of urban growth and change. Both case studies begin with computer-assisted analyses of changes in the socio-economic and spatial structures of urban society. Such changes are often considered to be fundamental causes of urban political reform either because they altered political elites' interests in municipal government or because they created enormous new demands on existing municipal works and services. The studies show, however, that social structural changes cannot by themselves explain the course of urban political development in the city of Philadelphia. Concentrating primarily on the formulation and implementation of municipal public works, the studies show that in both periods, the course of political reform was often shaped by two things: the 'private' or selfish interests of political actors, and the fragmented financial, administrative and party structures of the urban polity. More important, the studies show how self-interested political activities, in a polity in which authority was highly fragmented, often had consequences which were far reaching in their impact on the structure and experience of urban life. Indeed, the first case study shows how urban politics shaped the process of social group formation in the industrializing city. The second case study shows how the structure and conduct of urban politics determined social groups' political power in the city. The conclusion then demonstrates how the case studies support a number of hypotheses about the relationship between urban politics and urban society which may be applied generally to analyses of the process of urban growth and change.

The thesis examines the experiences and perceptions of wheelchair users living in different types and tenures of housing in the City of Dundee. The interrelationships between space, society and the body are examined in the empirical context of housing, ableism and the disabled body. The voices of wheelchair users, gleaned from in-depth, semi-structured interviews, are used throughout the thesis to illustrate how the geographies of people with disabilities are delineated and constrained by socio-cultural representations of disability. Conceptually the study has been guided by the social model of disability, but insights from postmodernism and feminist literature are drawn on to add a further dimension to the interpretation of the data and the study's methodology. The social construction of difference, social exclusion and definitions of the normal and aberrant body emerge as key concepts linking analysis of the data at the spatial scales of the neighbourhood, home and the body. Spatial metaphors of 'out of place', 'marginalised' or 'socio-spatially excluded' capture the essence of the impressions people with disabilities hold of their interactions with their living spaces and service providers. The study suggests that greater reciprocal dialogue is required between service users and service providers to broaden the knowledge base from which disability related housing decisions are made.

Credit was a central feature of the early-modern British economy. Due to shortages of specie, men and women of all social ranks participated in the urban, consumer marketplace by using credit. Historical research has convincingly shown that credit was socially mediated and constructed, and as such it sheds light not only on economic development, but also on contemporary culture. Several recent studies address these issues, but two gaps in the historiography deserve further consideration. The literature pertaining to personal credit and social relations has focused almost solely upon England, neglecting a wider British and comparative Atlantic context. Furthermore, the decades spanning the middle of the eighteenth century have not been subjected to dedicated treatment, though this period has often been considered an era when institutional development caused profound changes in the nature of interpersonal credit. This thesis examines credit and social relations in the British Atlantic between 1710 and 1770, comparing case studies drawn from two provincial, urban contexts: Edinburgh and Philadelphia. Particular attention has been given to artisans and tradesmen who have hitherto been less well served by the Atlantic historiography. Drawing on legal, institutional and personal records, the thesis begins by addressing economic structures of petty credit, before progressing to consider social constructions of credit and reputation and their change over time. The study concludes that while structures of credit changed, credibility continued to be built upon interpersonal trust, personal reputation, social capital and gender identity. Furthermore, this ‘culture of credit’ transcended national boundaries. Similarities of practice within two very different legal and institutional systems call into question the perceived influence of these structures upon the behaviour of the lower-middling sort.

The purpose of the project was to examine the relationship between the social development of preschool children and parenting styles. Preschool social development was accessed by the use of sociometry. Parenting styles of mothers and fathers were determined by a questionnaire. The parenting styles and the sociometric status of the children were analyzed to determine a relationship using the chi-square analysis. The analysis indicated that there was no significant relationship between parenting styles and the sociometric status of preschool children. It is recommended that more research be done in the fields of parenting styles and sociometry.

No description available.

No description available.

Mini-dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements of the Master's Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, Durban Institute of Technology, 2006. / Learner progression is a key marker in charting the success of learners within an educational institution. This marker is however limited in that it is not able to identify the factors related to the learner, which are categorised into issues of identity, economics, politics and educational paradigms within which the learner develops and the learners supporting psychosocial paradigm is moulded. Thus for the purposes of this research the focus was on the psychosocial paradigm, as the associated factors are informally structured and therefore presented the most variance in their influence on the learner in their progression through higher education. In addition the psychosocial paradigm is discussed as being intrinsically or extrinsically related to the individual learner. Furthermore within the context of the psychosocial paradigm there are factors relating to identity (encompassing both academic and social literacy) which were discussed. Thus the aim of this research was to investigate the impact or role of psychosocial factors in the academic progression of M.Tech chiropractic learner’s at DUT. / M

Although economic growth has brought significant improvements in the standard of living in the UK over recent decades, there are still individuals living in poverty. Furthermore poverty in the UK is expected to rise. Although monetary poverty has wide ranging impacts such as poor health, low educational attainment and employability and reduced life expectancy, it does not (in the form of a poverty line at 60% of the median equivalised household income) appear to have an impact on wellbeing when the threshold was tested. Instead, multidimensional poverty – that purported by the Capabilities Approach – is a more individually relevant measure of poverty. Using a list, developed by Nussbaum, of core capabilities seen as essential for human life, capability measures were taken from the British Household Panel Survey. In analysis, some are found to be significant determinants of wellbeing, individually and in sum. Furthermore, individuals within the dataset experience loss aversion to capabilities. This thesis concludes that poverty measurement should be meaningful at the individual level, and to that aim, the Capabilities Approach provides a richer and more relevant evaluation of what poverty really means.

The problem of this study was to describe, by use of a questionnaire and selected testing instruments, mature college women enrolled in undergraduate curricula at a state supported university in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. Factors of marital status, major fields of study, children, employment patterns age, part time and full time enrollment, family attitudes, regarding continuing education, and membership in ethnic groups were included in this study.