The study investigates how the church in Zambia can effectively facilitate change toward reducing HIV-risky behaviour. The researcher posits that an intricate connection exists between HIV-risky behaviour and the socio-cultural context of majority people groups in Zambia. He further argues that much risky behaviour is imbedded in pervasive socio-cultural norms and traditions propelled by a worldview which essentially resists transformation. From an insider’s perspective the researcher will design a praxis model for transforming Zambian worldview facets with regard to HIV/AIDS predisposing behaviours in order to achieve enduring HIV risk reduction. The study reviews current literature on HIV behavioural change theories and models to understand where the theories have taken all the stakeholders, including theological praxis. The study will demonstrate the link between Zambian cultural worldviews and trends in sexual behaviour which, arguably, facilitates the proliferation of HIV risky behaviour. The study culminates in designing an evangelical theological praxis/model for transforming relevant cultural worldviews toward changing HIV risky behaviour in Zambia. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

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The Social Class Worldview Model (SCWM; Liu, 2011) is a recent phenomenological framework, in which social class is understood based on experiences of acculturation, identity, and stress, as opposed to a narrow view of access to resources. Based on this model, people's experiences of social class discrimination (i.e., classism) are an integral part of how they make meaning of their social class. The current study addresses the development and initial validation of the Perceived Classism Questionnaire (PCQ), a scale of distress due to classist experiences. Items were initially created and refined based on a review of the available literature, expert analysis, and a pilot study. In Study 1, an Exploratory Factor Analysis was conducted on a sample of 309 participants, reveling three distinct factors: Downward Classism, Upward Classism, and Lateral Classism. In study 2, a Confirmatory Factor Analysis in a distinct sample of 274 participants provided further support for the three-factor structure of the PCQ. The three subscales were correlated in the expected directions with convergent and discriminant measures (i.e., subjective social status, self-rated health, stress, state and trait anxiety, life satisfaction, and well-being), supporting validity evidence of the PCQ. The Perceived Classism Questionnaire advances on previous scales of classism, as it is a theory-driven scale, and it is not restricted to academic environments. Research and practical implications of the PCQ are discussed.

The purpose of this study is to examine if the Swedish syndicalist movement SAC´s ideology also is able to function as a worldview. Worldview is a contested concept and the meaning may shift depending on who you are talking to or what study you are reading. Therefore, I aim to create a deeper understanding of the concept of worldview in our time with this study. The material is a booklet from SAC that explains their ideology and trade union work. I will analyse the material through a qualitative content analysis combined with Stenmark and Franck´s (2016) worldview definition as a theory. The research questions for this study are based on Stenmark and Franck´s (2016) worldview definition, which of the smaller worldview components are possible to find in the material? And given the answer to research question 1, to what extent can SAC´s ideology and union work be understood as a worldview based on Stenmark and Franck´s definition? The study concludes that SAC´s ideology and trade union work are able to function as a worldview. Several of the main components of a worldview is present in the material like SAC´s view of soceity and central valuation system among others. The description of how a worldview functions allows the ideology to be seen as a worldview.

One of the more commonly known aspects of the ancient Maya culture is the ballgame. This ancient ballgame was played by most Mesoamerican cultures on a constructed ballcourt and many major Mesoamerican sites have at least one, if not more than one. Contemporary Mesoamericans still play versions of this ballgame today, but without the use of the ballcourts, questioning the importance and purpose of the ballcourt that is no longer the case today. After over a century of research, scholars have yet to unravel all the cosmological and mythological mysteries of the ballcourt and its purpose to the ancient Maya. Although the archaeological record rarely supports the well-known Postclassic Hero Twin myth, most scholars continue to use this myth to interpret Classic ballgame iconography. In this study, I link Classic period ballcourt architecture and iconography at Caracol to Preclassic cache practices, to an Early Classic tomb, and to an elite Classic structure, demonstrating a widespread set of cosmological symbols that were not exclusively reserved for the ballcourt. I suggest that the four eroded figures on Caracol Ballcourt Markers 1 and 2 represent east, west, zenith, and nadir, and that the north-south alignment of Classic Southern Lowland ballcourts was the result of a vertical visualization of the three ballcourt markers. This study shows that the Maya ballcourt was a cosmogram, intended to delineate sacred space and demarcate a portal into the underworld.

It is commonly assumed that when confronted with an imminent hazard that people will react rationally, and prepare for, or at least attempt to avoid, danger from pending disasters. However, this conventional wisdom is not as evident as it appears. People prepare for, react to, or take social action to avoid hazards when they perceive the risk of danger to be threatening enough to warrant action, providing one has the will, insight and resources to do so. However, not all people perceive risks similarly. Risk is perceived differently by different people which affects risk perception and responses to hazards. This dissertation explores the relationships between American Indian worldviews, risk perceptions and disaster planning. To carry out this research 28 American Indians were interviewed. The sample consists of 14 American Indians residing in a rural are on the northern plains and 14 urban American Indians. The results only partially support that worldview is linked to risk perception and subsequent disaster planning. Other factors found to relate to risk perception and disaster planning for this non-representative sample of American Indians include various forms of social vulnerability.

Given increasing cultural diversity, behavioral health professionals and researchers are paying greater attention to the need for cultural competence. Behavioral health treatment research has included predominantly individuals of European ancestry; research on parenting practices/interventions has been no exception. African-American parents are particularly underrepresented, raising questions of cross-cultural applicability and acceptability. Acceptability of interventions is crucial, predicting engagement in, adherence with, and premature withdrawal from treatment. In this study, acceptability of rewards, a frequently used intervention for changing children’s behavior, was examined among African-American parents. Children’s characteristics (gender, behavior problem type), culturally-linked variables (authoritarian parenting, promotion and prevention focus, Afrocentric worldview), and parenting beliefs (behavioral attributions, irrational parenting beliefs) were examined as predictors of reward acceptability. African-American parents (n=79) of children aged 4-12 read four vignettes (two with girls and two with boys) describing children’s behaviors (externalizing and internalizing symptoms). Parents rated the acceptability of rewards to improve the behavior. Authoritarian parenting and prevention focus were hypothesized to be negatively associated with reward acceptability. Acceptability was expected to be lower for externalizing males and additional variables were investigated as moderators and co-variates. Exploratory analyses examined differences between mothers and fathers and between low and high Afrocentric worldview. The main hypothesis was unsupported. Authoritarian parenting and prevention focus did not contribute to a model predicting acceptability, and gender differences were not found. Behavior type was associated with acceptability opposite the expected direction, with higher acceptability for externalizing symptoms. Acceptability on a general-attitude measure was predicted by efficacy expectations, internal behavioral attributions, and Afrocentric worldview. However, on a measure specific to the vignettes, few variables predicted acceptability; ratings were lower than on the general-attitude measure. This may suggest that parents viewed rewards as acceptable in circumstances different from those depicted in the vignettes. Individuals endorsing high Afrocentric worldviews had higher reward acceptability, were more likely to be older, were less driven by prevention goals, had lower authoritarian parenting styles, and had less rigid and more rational parenting beliefs. Fathers and mothers did not differ. Results underscored the importance of inquiring about specific situations rather than general attitudes in assessing intervention acceptability.

Thesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-Smith / This dissertation presents an ethno-case study explaining how students at a conservative Christian high school were socialized into ideas about civic and public life in a pluralistic society. Drawing on democratic educational theory and institutional theory to analyze ethnographic data gathered during a full school year of observations, interviews, and document collection, this dissertation addresses the following questions: (1) What are the logics, practices, and symbolic representations concerning civic identity and participation in democratic society conveyed explicitly and implicitly at a conservative Christian high school? (2) How do students understand and engage with ideas about civic identity and participation conveyed at that school? (3) How do families understand and engage with these ideas about civic identity and participation? This dissertation argues that the school was organized around a theo-political institutional logic committed to the absolute truth of Christianity. This logic was symbolically represented in the language and concepts of the “Christian worldview” and reinforced through consistent and recurrent school practices that shaped students’ behavior and their ways of interpreting the world. This theo-political logic, which was pervasive throughout formal and informal curriculum and instruction at the school, presented an all-encompassing vision of Christianity as “the truth” and offered a coherent connection between doctrinal beliefs and actual behavior. This logic was also notable for what it omitted and lacked, particularly acknowledgment of the racialized nature of schooling and society, attention to the pluralism of worldviews in a diverse democratic nation, and recognition of the systemic and structural causes of injustice in society. The emphases as well as the omissions of the theo-political logic at the school shaped students’ civic identity as first and foremost a religious identity, which meant engaging with society to promote conservative social policies, candidates, and political perspectives. The dissertation shows that students largely embraced the theo-political logic that animated the school, and their parents chose the school because of the presence of this logic. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

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