No description available.

No description available.

Families of all kinds are faced with increasing information regarding sexual orientation. As lesbians and gay men become more visible as parents, partners, and members of families, it is likely that any given person will know a lesbian, gay, or bisexual family member, co-worker, or friend. Understanding diversity in sexual orientation is not only a task for lesbians and gay men. While maintaining friend, family, and professional relationships, heterosexuals and their families are also becoming more aware of sexual orientation diversity. This research was guided by ecological and narrative perspectives. An ecological view provides a framework for examining families within interacting systems. The narrative approach provides an organization for episodes, actions, and meanings. Families are surrounded by systems that view human behavior through the lens of heterosexual experience. This lens promotes and assigns power to the assumption that people are and should be heterosexual. Five research questions guided the study: (1) What is the content and meaning of family conversations about sexual orientation? (b) How do parents attempt to answer children's questions or inform them about the topic of sexual orientation? (c) How does gender organize family conversations about sexual orientation? (d) What other factors influence parents' attitudes about sexual orientation? (e) What values do parents want their children to have regarding sexual orientation? I conducted conjoint qualitative interviews with 20 heterosexually married parents (10 couples) who reported engaging in conversations with their children (ages 5 to 16) about sexual orientation while promoting a climate of acceptance about sexual orientation diversity. Children wondered mainly about marriage rules and coupleness. Parents reported answering questions honestly and extending conversation when possible. In 7 families, both parents reported that mothers talked to the children more about social topics such as sexual orientation. All parents said their attitudes were most influenced by knowing lesbian or gay people. Despite having heard derogatory statements about gays and lesbians in their families of origin, parents reported changing their attitudes to fit their knowledge of real lesbian or gay people. Parents wanted their children to be "accepting," "respectful," "responsible," "tolerant," "open-minded," and "fair." / Ph. D.

The issue of reentry has become an important topic to criminal justice scholars and to law makers due to the sheer number of incarcerated individuals being released and the rate in which they cycle back to incarceration. Despite the attention reentry issues have received recently in the areas of policy and criminal justice and recommendations offered to ameliorate problems associated with reentry, the landscape of reentry remains largely unchanged in that many prisoners are released from prison and significant numbers of them return (Austin, 2001). Approximately 700,000 inmates were released from prisons and jails to their families and communities in 2005 (Harrison & Beck, 2006). Of those inmates, roughly 1/3rd were young adults aged 24 or younger (Mears & Travis, 2004). The outcomes for young adults (age 18-24) incarcerated at such young ages put them at overwhelming risk of a life course trajectory that includes cycles of future imprisonment and poor life outcomes such as economic hardship, poor mental and physical well being and lower life expectancy (Mears & Travis, 2004; Uggen, 2000; Western, 2002) . This study examined the meanings of formerly incarcerated young adult men and their caregivers made in regard to reentry, caregivers' ability to meet reentry needs, perceptions about reliance on family and the implications of a young adult child "returning home" within the context of release from incarcerative sentencing. This goal was achieved through conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews with formerly incarcerated men between the ages of 18 and 24 and their caregivers for a total of 18 individual interviews that reflect nine young men-caregiver dyads defined as families for this study. This qualitative study was informed using an integration of family life course perspective, symbolic interactionism and ecological theory. The theoretical amalgam provided the ability to examine the life course transitions of families impacted by incarceration, the perceptions and meanings made based upon the experience with incarceration while being imbedded within a socially stigmatized context of having a felony. The findings from this study suggest that upon reentry young adult men and their caregivers experienced ambivalence, happiness yet anxiety in moving forward after incarceration. This ambivalence was a major theme that was found not only in reunification, but in relying on family and in fostering independence. Caregivers were emotionally distressed as they juggled their feelings of wanting to help the young men with meeting the multiple demands placed on the family system with their concerns that he might return to his "old ways." Young men were particularly distressed as they negotiated transitioning from a state of independence (prior to incarceration) to dependence as a prisoner in the criminal justice system, to depending on caregivers upon reentry. The young men in this study reported achieving financial independence from their families prior to incarceration as adolescents through illegal means which gave them adult status in their families. These "off-time" transitions before and after incarceration fueled the ambivalence and ambiguity in the young men-caregiver dyads, specifically in terms of the meanings these families made when thinking about reunification, relying on family and in fostering independence. / Ph. D.

Children' s relationships with their childcare teachers and its effects on their subsequent behaviors, attachments, and outcomes have been an interest in the last two or three decades primarily due to the significant increase of young children in full-time childcare. Attachment Theory, and its identifying behaviors in children categorized by the Strange Situation or the Attachment Q-Sort, has been the main focus of previous research. The purpose of my study, using an ethnographic approach, was to understand and describe the varied and multiple relationships between children (approximate ages 12 to 24 months) and their childcare teacher in their day-to-day interactions. Observations were my primary source of data, supported by videotaped sessions, and parent and teacher interviews. My focus was on secondary caregiver-child dyads, their relationships, and the parameters and identifying behaviors characterizing each pair. Data collection took place over an eight-week period in one toddler center classroom where I was a passive participant observer. Results indicated the children had warm, nurturing relationships, often with multiple caregivers, without the prevailing attachment behaviors. My research did not support the customary categorization of childcare relationships using the attachment paradigm, nor an increase in the insecure-avoidant category among children in full-time childcare. Evidence suggested, instead, a broader base of relationship descriptions, and a future development of a multiple caregiver model analogous to the extended family for understanding the varied relationships within a childcare center setting. / Ph. D.

No / This book is about Muslims in Europe and the "War on Terror"--its causes and consequences for European citizenship and exclusion particularly for young people. The rising tide of hostility towards people of Muslim origin is challenged in this collection from a varied and multi national perspective. The book illustrates that Muslims are as diverse a group as those of any other religion; therefore to place all Muslims into one category is wholly unscientific and discriminatory. It shows that there are historical and ideological reasons for viewing Islam as a static, unchanging and regressive force. The chapters illustrate the diversity of societies with Muslim majority populations and challenge the dominant paradigm of what has become to be known since the War on Terror as "Islamophobia."

yes / In 2012 Steven Mintz argued that the history of childhood matters, since it has context-specific implications. This paper outlines the historical construction of childhood, in general, and specifically in Ghana, and presents how childhood construction impacts on children’s participation in Ghana. The paper argues that the cultural value underpinning childhood construction in the Ghanaian context - i.e. unidirectional respect from children and young people to adults at all times - has implications for children’s participation, as it limits children and young people’s willingness to participate in decision-making forums. The paper concludes that by such cultural ideology any participatory effort that includes children, young people and adults together may be counterproductive and thus likely to fail.

yes / It is argued that “individuals do not automatically become free and responsible citizens but must be educated for citizenship” (The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, 2003, cited in Leisha, 2012:55). Hence adults’ promotion of young people’s civic engagement is intended to educate young people to become active citizens. This assumes a deficit, or lack of caring by young people about issues in their country or community. However, young people’s sense of belonging and motivations to participate in civic activities are different from that of adults. This paper discusses research with young people involved in two participatory initiatives in Ghana, to examine their motivations for engaging in the projects. The study found that in addition to demonstrating that they are active citizens by engaging in the projects, the young people were also motivated by other self-interest reasons. There was however a marked gender difference in their reasons for participating in the projects. It was observed that the motivations given by the young people reflected gender stereotype of masculinity and femininity. The paper concludes that by understanding what motivates young people to engage in civic activities and other decision-making forums, participatory opportunities that emphasise young people’s interests and motivations could be created in order to sustain their participation.

Despite the growing presence of trauma and abuse narratives in young adult literature (YAL), adolescent traumatic memory has largely been left out of the conversation. To better understand how contemporary memory scholarship is manifested in YAL, the following essay will offer a close reading of Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes (1993) by Chris Crutcher and Speak (1999) by Laurie Halse Anderson in conjunction with adolescent memory research. The accuracy of traumatic memory representation in these novels confirms the value of YAL as a means for youth to interact with and learn about traumatic memory, its processes, and its effects.

Osteoporosis is a debilitating and costly disease of the skeleton characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue leading to bone fragility and an increased susceptibility to fractures of the hip, spine, and wrist. Current data suggest that at present time, 7.8 and 21.8 million women have osteoporosis and osteopenia respectively. The development of osteoporosis and related fracture in later life depends not only on the rate of bone loss in adulthood, but also on the amount of bone present at skeletal maturity. Oral contraceptives (OC), because of their capacity to diminish concentrations of free testosterone and estrogen, have been purported to affect bone mass in young adult women, but results have proven inconsistent. Further, positive skeletal effects of exercise training are thought to be compromised by use of OCs in skeletally immature females. PURPOSE: To assess the independent and synergistic effects of OC use on bone mineral density (BMD) and long bone mechanical bending stiffness (EI) in college-aged females after unilateral isokinetic resistance training. METHODS: Forty six females (age 20 +/- 1.4 yr, height 163.8 +/- 6.2cm, weight 58.9 +/- 8.6kg, fat 27.9 +/- 4.8%) were categorized as OC users (OC, N=22) or non-users (NOC, N=24). Subjects participated in 32 weeks (3 d/wk) of unilateral arm and leg training at an angular velocity of 60 degrees/s using isokinetic dynamometers. BMD and EIMRTA were assessed using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and mechanical response tissue analysis (MRTA), respectively. RESULTS: Total leg and arm muscular strength of the trained limb increased by 16% and 15%, respectively (p < 0.001), beyond changes observed in the control limbs. Total body BMD increased from baseline for NOC subjects (p < 0.05), but not for OC users. This difference failed to show significance (p = 0.069) when comparisons were run between NOC and OC groups. Increases in ulnar BMD (p < 0.01 for all limbs) and BMD of the trained total hip (OC, p < 0.001; NOC, p < 0.05) occurred irrespective of contraceptive status. Positive changes in EI were conflicting, occurring in the trained ulna for the NOC group (p < 0.05), and trained tibia for OC users (p < 0.05). Tibial BMD increased only for the untrained leg in NOC subjects (p < 0.01). No between group differences were found to be significant, nor were differences between trained vs. untrained, and weight bearing (tibia) vs. non-weight-bearing (ulna) limbs found to be significant. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that oral contraceptives may limit attainment of total body peak bone mass in young adult females. Skeletal maturation in the ulna appeared to be unaffected by exercise training and OC use. Positive effects of exercise training on the total hip were seen in both groups, irrespective of OC status. Conversely, exercise training and use of OCs use may limit the attainment of bone mass in the tibia. Further studies are needed to determine the interactive effects of OC use and isokinetic resistance training on measures of total body and site-specific bone status. / Master of Science