Medical ageism in the United States affects senior citizens' activities of daily living (ADL) and the quality of their medical care. Medical ageism refers to discrimination against, abuse of, stereotyping of, contempt for, and avoidance of older people. Nurses who take care of the elderly are responsible for ensuring that older patients are treated fairly and in a timely manner, so it is important to know whether or not nurses have any bias regarding the elderly. The research questions addressed in this quantitative study explored whether or not there were differences in nurses' perceptions of ageism as moderated by the nurses' own gender, ethnicity, age, or years of experience. This study used a researcher-developed demographic survey and the Age Based Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (RSQ-Age). The theoretical framework for this study included the theory of emotional labor. A quantitative, causal-comparative design was used to test the hypotheses. Sixty one nurses were purposively sampled via snowballing sampling. Analysis of variance was used to determine mean differences in ageism between the specified independent variables. Findings from this study revealed that caregivers with less than, or equal to, 5 years of nursing experience had significantly lower ageism scores than nurses with more than 5 years of experience. Gender, ethnicity, or age did not significantly affect ageism scores. This study may contribute to social change by determining how nurses can recognize their own potential fallibilities in the field of gerontology, thereby having the potential to promote positive health outcomes for the elderly.

The definition of aide for this study was a non-certified person in the classroom who aids and assists the professional with non-related tasks. The present role of the teacher aide in Home Economics was described and suggested guidelines for future aide utilization were proposed. The study was conducted in three phases : 1) Personal Interviews were conducted of three teacher aides and two teachers presently employed in Utah. 2) Correspondence with fifty program directors or teachers using aides in other states. 3) Time-Activity analysis of 12 junior and senior high Home Economics teachers. Instruments used were: 1) A twelve item interview for teacher aides, and 2) A twenty-two item interview for teacher aides, 3) A fifty-two item questionnaire form was formulated by the writer. The findings of the thesis are: 1) It was found that teacher aides were not used extensively in Home Economics classes in Utah or throughout the United States. 2) No provision is made for educational training or a career ladder. 3) There is no role definition for the aide in the present program. 4) The aide program has received positive acceptance by the teachers, professional staff and students involved in the program. 5) Careful selection, open communication and role definition were suggested as determinents of successful programs.

The purposes of this paper are to provide a guid.e line for determining the budget for a Consumer and Homemaking foods program in the secondary schools of Utah, and to suggest some food buying procedures. In order to achieve these purposes, questionnaires were sent to the 167 ,junior and senior high schools in the state. Of the questionnaires returned, 99 were complete enough to be utilized for the study; 48 were from junior high schools and 51 from senior high schools. For analysis the schools were grouped according to whether they were a junior or senior high school and then into large, medium or small schools based on the total number of students in each school. From the information on the completed questionnaires, cost for one 36-weeks course in a foods program and the cost per student per hour for each school was determined. The averages were then found for each category. It was determined that except for the small junior high schools the cost per 36-weeks course appears to increase with a decrease in the size of the school. The figures indicate that there is an inverse relationship between the cost per student per hour and the population of the schools. Even though the larger schools have a greater total budget than the smaller schools, they offer more courses and serve more students which results in a lower cost per student per hour and fewer dollars involved in each 36-weeks course. It was also determined that the schools which purchased staple food supplies through the school district appeared to have lower costs per student per hour. The results indicated that it was not necessarily cheaper to purchase food at a large chain store as compared to a small local store. Allocating a budget on a total year basis seems to result in a lower total budget per year. The schools which operated on more money per student hour indicated a difference in their purchasing of food which included the higher priced meats and preparing more complete meals. It is suggested that teachers and administrators be aware of the quality of a foods program in relation to the costs of the program, and the budget allowed for the outcomes desired.

This thesis uses a reading of Deleuze and Guattarian philosophies, drawn in the main from their companion texts Anti-Oediuus and A Thousand Plateaus, to explore ways in which popular cultural events and texts construct the way we think. The thesis explores how popular narrative produces the conditions of thinking in terms of a state model of subject-identity, and the manner in which this thinking constructs desire in terms of a desire for its own repression. Of particular concern is the danger this thinking has in constructing a populace conductive to the formation of social conditions marked by fascistic political practices. In considering this kind of thinking and its modes of construction, Deleuze and Guattari make a significant shift away from dominant theoretical analysis of power to argue that desire and the capture of desire are the primary agents of state control.The thesis draws on a number of popular cultural mediums and events, working towards a particular exemplary focus on the social conditions in contemporary Australian society. Integrating dialogues with several other key theorists across a broad spectrum of cultural studies concerns, it concludes that the state model reproduces itself throughout history and within different historical and cultural formations as a repetition of minority desires controlling the majority populous through refrains that appropriate plurality and difference. Further, while collective social revolutionary movements have ultimately failed in the past to overcome this repetition, the thesis suggests that Deleuze and Guattaris concepts of becoming through a molecular revolution, aimed at re-constructing the way we think, remains as a positive hope for liberation.

This thesis examines the role of civil society in addressing human security in the Indian state of Meghalaya. Civil society has been revived over the last two decades and is now one of the key concepts in the study of politics. Yet there are few detailed empirical studies of civil society at a local level examining the constraints on participation and the ways this affects what is contested. Human security has also gained prominence in the past decade as both a challenge to state-centric conceptions of security and as an alternative approach to development by focussing on the security and insecurity of groups and individuals. In order for those experiencing insecurity to identify and contest the causes of insecurity, participation in civil society is necessary. Yet there is very limited analysis on the ability of civil society actors to contest the causes of insecurity in particular local contexts. Meghalaya is part of the region know as Northeast India, one of the least researched regions in South Asia. Identity politics dominate civil society in Meghalaya, empowering particular actors and particular causes of insecurity and marginalising others. Furthermore the construction of Meghalaya in the Indian national context leaves it isolated from civil society actors in other parts of India, intensifying the impact of local circumstances. This thesis examines the responses of civil society actors to environmental insecurity and gender-based insecurity in Meghalaya and finds that participation is constrained by the dominance of identity politics, the power differentials between civil society actors, and existing inequalities within the local context. This thesis reaches three conclusions. First, civil society is constrained by both the state and the power of particular actors and ideas in civil society itself. Secondly, the relationship between civil society and human security is constitutive. Constraints on civil society affect which insecurities can be contested and the prevalence of particular forms of insecurity, especially identity insecurity, empower particular civil society actors and marginalise others. Thirdly, context is vital for understanding the constraints on civil society and the conditions under which these constraints may be transcended. This requires a deeper understanding of Meghalaya that goes beyond the reproduction of homogenous and unchanging ethnic categories.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to explore, describe, and explain how people (gbtlq identified persons in particular) experience gender and body in wilderness settings. The motivations for this research include: the current context of gender and gender oppression in American society; the potential of wilderness experiences to offer different ways of being and escape from social constrictions; and gaps in the literature on gender and wilderness. A qualitative/interpretive approach was employed for this research which encompasses aspects of phenomenology, feminist methodology, and grounded theory. The results and analysis for this study yielded an analytical story about ecological belonging which includes locating the self, awakening of the body, feelings of connectedness, wilderness as refuge from normative gender, vulnerability, and the wilderness setting. In this story, we find that participants can experience wilderness as a refuge from normative gender because wilderness is unpatrollable and because wild places can offer refuge from un-accepting people and judgment; and because wilderness is a sort of holding environment for freedom of expression and safety in change and transition. This study also shows how participants are able to experience a profound sense of connection and ecological belonging because they experience themselves as human animals; an experience which awakens ones sense of vulnerability. Connecting with our bodies, with our animal-selves, and feeling vulnerable as a human animal changes the potential for ecological belonging; it allows us feel our mortality and acknowledge that we are not at the top of the food chain. This research concludes by offering substantive and theoretical conclusions including recommendations for wilderness educators and managers; future research directions for gender and wilderness; and how wilderness experiences can inform ethical models for living in contemporary society. For instance, while the lessons wilderness offers may be infinitefrom this study we can at least discern that part of repairing the human relationship with nature means repairing our relationship with all oppressed Others whereby domination is justified through faulty presumptions of moral superiority. Imperative to this is experiencing ourselves as animals in an ecological system and recognizing the damage caused by the social structures that placate our wildness.

A distinct focus on female youth experiences in political contests has been lacking in the literature on youth and political violence despite many female youth’s involvement with armed groups. The first Palestinian Intifada (1987-1993) saw the participation of many female youth alongside both teenage boys and men. This is notable especially given the patriarchal culture of Palestinian society in that women and young girls are traditionally confined to the private sphere. Additionally, public interactions with men and young boys could be viewed as improper and threats to one’s honor and purity may ensue. In light of these facts, the purpose of this study is to investigate the experience of Palestinian female adolescents in zones of political conflict - specifically in the Gaza Strip during the First Intifada. More specifically, this study explores the relationship between socioeconomic status, religious, political and individual characteristics on differences in levels of female participation and activist behaviors. Data were collected via self-report survey in the Gaza Strip in 1998 from a sample of 960 youth, 375 of which were female. Models predicting political involvement are assessed through hierarchical linear regression analyses. Results indicated that socioeconomic status, age, efficacy, religiosity, and political affiliation predicted Palestinian female youth activism in the first Intifada. No interaction was found between religiosity, political affiliation, and activism. These findings are discussed in relation to the broader literature on civic and political engagement of youth as well as gender issues in orthodox Islamic societies.

In the early 1900s, large sections of the Great Smoky Mountains were intensively logged. Since then, most locations have been allowed to naturally become forest-covered again, resulting in areas of secondary growth and old growth forest. To determine whether differences in large woody debris (LWD) loading and channel morphology persist today, I measured LWD, channel widths and depths, and channel bed sediments of streams in old and secondary growth forest in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. LWD pieces in streams in old growth had larger mean diameters and lengths compared to LWD in streams in secondary growth forest. Streams in old growth had 5.6 times more LWD volume than those in secondary growth. More LWD pieces were in debris dams in old growth than in secondary growth forest. Channel bed sediment size did not differ significantly between streams in old and secondary growth forest. Channel widths and depths were signifiantly larger in streams in old growth forest. LWD pieces affected channel depth primarily by creating pools and causing deposition of sediment. LWD affected width by directing stream flow toward banks and by protecting banks from erosion. I observed that the orientation of LWD was important in determining its geomorphic role. Although I found no relationship between LWD loading and watershed area, I found a relationship between watershed area and the importance of LWD in impacting channel morphology. Despite differences in LWD frequency and total volume, streams in old and secondary growth forest differed little in width and depth in the largest watersheds in this study. However, in smaller watersheds, streams in old growth were not as narrow or as shallow as streams in secondary growth. LWD loading can vary substantially between streams, even those with sim- ilar surrounding forest types, climate, and disturbance histories; therefore, caution should be exercised when using LWD loading rates from other studies in environmental management. Despite nearly 80 years of forest regrowth, LWD loading and channel mor- phologies of streams still show the impacts of logging.

A seemingly discrepant relationship between Chinese adolescents’ academic achievement, depression and gender was revealed from the literature. Chinese adolescent girls have higher academic achievement than Chinese boys (Duckworth & Seligman, 2006; Hunley et al., 2005; Liang & Sun, 2000; Nie, Zhang, & Zhang, 2001; Wan et al., 2003). Higher academic achievement was found to be inversely associated with depression among Chinese adolescents (Hesketh et al., 2002; Ji et al., 2001; Pritchard, 1996). It is then expected that Chinese girls have lower depression than Chinese boys. However, literature shows that Chinese girls have higher depression than Chinese boys (Hesketh et al., 2002; Lin, 2001; Unger et al., 2001; Wan et al., 2003). Five possible models for gender, achievement and depression are proposed through the technique of data simulation to explain the seemingly conflicting relationship among the three variables. Secondary data analysis of cross-sectional survey data from mainland Chinese adolescents was used to investigate which model represents the relationship among academic achievement, depression and gender. None of the models was confirmed because two initial hypotheses were not supported. Girls did not demonstrate higher academic achievement than boys; and girls did not demonstrate a higher depression level than boys either. It was only found that academic achievement was inversely related to adolescent depression, F (1, 985) = 41.769, p < .001. The limitations of the study and the implications for future studies and research were discussed.