This dissertation assesses the impact of structural constraints to participation on residents of a rural, non-core county and members of a local grassroots organization in conjunction with the measurement of grassroots members for the presence of transformative learning. This study was motivated by three research questions: (1) To what extent may the presence of structural constraints to participation in community action activities be found in the adult residents of a rural, non-core county? (2) To what extent may the presence of structural constraints to participation in community action activities be found in members of a local grassroots organization? (3) How many members of a local grassroots organization show evidence of the 10 phases found in transformative learning? Theoretical foundations for this work are based upon the following research; Theodori’s (2008) analysis of structural constraints to participation in community action activities; Mezirow’s (2009) development of transformative learning theory in adult populations; and King’s (2009) Learning Activities Survey as a measurement of transformative learning. Purposefully obtained data were collected from the general population to establish a measurement of structural constraints to participation. Within the grassroots organization, survey data were used to determine the presence of structural constraints to participation and transformative learning. The findings utilizing regression analysis suggest significance for structural constraints to participation in the general population is minimal, and not significant at all in members of the grassroots organization. Transformative learning in members of the grassroots organization was confirmed by significance for 5 of the 15 variables analyzed. The results were contrary to expectation; yet, these conclusions do contain important implications for those involved in community development.

Migrant and seasonal farmworkers play a critical role in the U.S. economy, producing food for the American public, while their suffering is often rendered invisible by their existence on the margins of society. The low wages associated with farm labor combined with the largely undocumented status of this population severely limits access to food, housing, and health care, resulting in poor health outcomes. Through the use of a critical anthropological approach, this research examines the social, cultural, political, and economic context of obesity among Latino migrant and seasonal farmworkers in Central Florida. Ethnographic research methods were used to explore perceptions about the relationships between the body, food, and health among Latino farmworkers, contextualizing these cultural beliefs within the broader, macro-level factors affecting health, including immigration, agricultural, and economic policies. Furthermore, this study compares the perceptions of farmworkers with those of healthcare workers that serve this community, examining the implications that conceptions of culture and “cultural competency” have for developing health interventions. The findings of this research reveal that, in contrast to the beliefs of health providers, farmworkers do understand the relationship between health and body size, and do not show preferences for overweight or obese figures. Conceptions of food, on the farmworker interviews indicate an interest for more nutritional information. This suggests a need to develop nutritional information that is culturally relevant for Latino farmworkers. Additionally, however, economic constraints significantly limit farmworkers’ abilities to purchase sufficient and nutritious foods. The combination of economic constraints and varying nutritional knowledge has significant health implications for farmworkers, most notably in terms of the connection to diet-related health problems such as obesity. The implications of these findings indicate that nutritional interventions focused solely on education without addressing the economic and political processes that constrain farmworkers’ agency will have little overall effect on the health of this population. This research, therefore, emphasizes the importance of using a holistic approach to understand the complexity of health and nutritional issues among farmworkers.

The research presents a study of ethnic homophily, i.e. the tendency of agents to be connected to similar others, in the school context. It uses two observations of the complete social network of a cohort of Swedish students (n=115) in a secondary school. The study analyses the scope of the selective attachment and the student’s possible motivations to seek similarity, as well as its interrelation to homophily induced by structural organization or foci. It focuses in the interrelation between the individual motivation to seek similarity and how the context of opportunity is organized. Sociometric data was collected during a school year and the model is based in crosscuts of the friendship network. Homophily in respect to ethnic origin was found in the first time point, with students making connections within the in-group. The effect of ethnic homophily seems to decrease between the time points, with evidence of an effect of structural constraints that gained importance over time. Results suggest that organisational divisions in classrooms play a decisive role in the pattern of friendship connections in the school

The purpose of the study was to thematically map and describe what motives and factors previous ice hockey women experienced as contributing to their dropout from ice hockey. The study involved 15 interviewees; women aged 17–42 (M = 23.3 SD = 6,8) where all participants previously played ice hockey but have now chosen to quit. In the study, interviews were conducted with all participants and the participants had been active in ice hockey between 3 and 24 years (Average = 13.3). The result was analyzed via a thematic analysis. The results show that the participants experience several different intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural constraints as contributing reasons for terminated sports participation (i.e., negative emotions, low competence, coach's behavior, teammates' behaviors, and financial constraints). To reduce the number of dropouts from sports, federations, clubs, and districts are recommended, among other things, to work to increase coaches' knowledge of psychological and psychosocial aspects to create better and more pleasant environments in women's hockey. This together with strengthening the participants' three basic needs (competence, autonomy & relatedness). Future research in the field is recommended to focus on a broader societal perspective and how it is related to dropouts from sports. / Syftet med studien var att tematiskt kartlägga och beskriva vilka motiv och faktorer tidigare ishockeykvinnor upplevde bidragande till deras avhopp från ishockey. Studien involverade 15 intervjuade; kvinnor i åldrarna 17–42 år (M = 23,3 SD = 6,8) där samtliga deltagare tidigare spelat ishockey men nu har valt att sluta. I studien genomfördes intervjuer med samtliga deltagare och deltagarna hade varit aktiva i ishockey mellan 3 och 24 år (genomsnitt = 13,3). Resultatet analyserades via en tematisk analys. Resultaten visar att deltagarna upplever flera olika intrapersonella, interpersonella och strukturella begränsningar som bidragande orsaker till avslutat idrottsdeltagande (ex. negativa känslor, låg kompetens, tränares beteende,lagkamraters beteende och ekonomiska begränsningar). För att minska antalet bortfall från idrott rekommenderas förbund, klubbar och distrikt bland annat att arbeta för att öka tränarnas kunskap om psykologiska och psykosociala aspekter för att skapa bättre och trevligare miljöer inom damhockey. Detta tillsammans med att stärka deltagarna tre grundläggande behov (kompetens, autonomi och tillhörighet). Framtida forskning inom området rekommenderas att fokusera på ett bredare samhällsperspektiv och hur det är relaterat till bortfall från idrott.

Bibliography: leaves 116-138 / Bibliography: leaves 116-138 / The purpose of this research study was to examine the impact of institutional constraints, management competencies, strategic and structural constraints on the performance of black-owned small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) in City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (CTMM). A quantitative survey was conducted using the probability sampling (N=353) of the black-owned SMMEs in CTMM. The Pearson’s correlational analysis was used to determine the relationship between institutional constraints, management competencies (as composite sets of human resources, financial resources and information resources), strategic and structural constraints, and the performance of the business (as composite sets of financial growth and organizational growth). The results indicated a negative relationship between the dependent variables and independent variables. The item analysis, dimensionality analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were performed to determine the factor structure of all the independent and dependent variables, the results yielded a good fit of all the measurement models. These findings may provide new practical knowledge for the financial and non-financial institutions to consider the position of black-owned SMMEs when they design policies, which add to the theoretical knowledge in the SMMEs sector. / Business Management / M. Comm. (Business Management (Finance))