Status and stigma are fundamental to understanding the organization of social groups, including the forces that create and perpetuate inequality along multiple axes - race, ethnicity, and class, among others. One of the challenges in the discipline of sociology is that these deeply enmeshed processes are studied separately, rather than in relation to each other. This dissertation bridges the study of status and stigma through ethnographic examination of the affective, situational, and contextual interplay of status and stigma processes in urban spaces that are both exceptional and ubiquitous: the neighborhood funeral home. To study these processes, I observed and participated in the day-to-day activities of three New York City funeral homes over four years. The project contributes to three areas: ethnographic design, the literature on status and stigma processes, and to urban and cultural sociology. Whereas most ethnographic projects focus on a single subject – a community, a workplace, a profession - in isolation or a multi-sited framework, this project has different approach. The three focal funeral homes were selected based on a process rather than a population – all are located in neighborhoods in the midst of dramatic demographic transitions. To better understand and contextualize these micro interactions, I collected data and participated in activities at other levels of the funeral industry: national, state, and local. I attended funeral directors trainings and conventions, including with the largest national association, the historically black funeral directors association, and New York State’s convention. For other perspectives on New York City, I interviewed over forty funeral directors and allied professionals throughout the five boroughs. This project strives to avoid static and categorical explanations for status and stigma processes, the binaries of black and white, elite and poor, and explores life both in the middle and at the intersection. Using this multi-site design, it contributes to the research on neighborhood change and demographic transition as I distinguish between experiences common to the general process of neighborhood change while isolating those that emerge from the variation in changes specific to particular processes. This project is not only one of the most in-depth studies of the funeral industry, it also more broadly contributes to our understanding of the dynamic relationship of status and stigma, and the process and business of the monetization of cultural practices.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rhode Island, 2005. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-99).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Notre Dame, 2009. / Thesis directed by Donald B. Pope-Davis for the Department of Psychology. "December 2009." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-77).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Kent State University, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Nov. 2, 2009). Advisor: Kristin Mickelson. Keywords: social support; stigma; controllability. Includes bibliographical references (p. 74-88).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-103).

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The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and better understand the stigma experienced by a specific subgroup of the population experiencing mental illness---older adults. Using the framework of the Modified Labelling theory, the effect and significance of stigma on their self-image was investigated. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten seniors who participate in the Community Mental Health Program at the Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors in Montreal, Quebec. Using a purposive sample, study participants were included according to: age (i.e., 50 plus), participation in a mental health program in a community center, and having a diagnosis of a mental illness. Interviews were analyzed according to individual coping strategies as well as thematic content across interviews. Study results enhance understandings of how older people resist dominant discourses of stigma attached to mental illness and how personal perceptions on mental illness, age and health influence self-image.

As a corollary to The Declaration of Commitment, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS in June 2001, the international community recently adopted a World AIDS Campaign that seeks to eradicate HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination. To this end, the campaign incorporates several educational strategies, such as a poster campaign, that advocate the just and equal treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS. In an effort to develop an understanding of these educational efforts, this study deconstructs the 2002-2003 World AIDS Campaign posters. While the overall results suggest that the campaign has been successful in redefining the image of HIV/AIDS, it was also found that the posters may actually serve to reinforce stigma and discrimination. Using a textual analysis, this study uncovers the underlying ideological and cultural assumptions that exist within campaign posters and indicates how they operate in relation to the overall objective of the campaign.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves: [46]-52)

Thesis (M.A.). / Written for the Dept. of Integrated Studies in Education, Culture and Values in Education. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/08/07). Includes bibliographical references.