Matching Items (110)
Description
This study situated a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) softball league within the logic of homonormativity and queer futurity and explored how community and identity were constituted, practiced, negotiated, and problematized. The project endeavored to address the questions: What is the meaning and significance of community for the League participants? To what extent and how does participation in the League affect gender and sexual identity discourse and practice? And, in the context of the League, how are dominant ideologies and power structures reinforced, disrupted, and produced? A critical ethnography was undertaken to render lives, relations, structures, and alternative possibilities visible. Data was collected through participant observation, interviews, open-ended questionnaires, and archival document analysis. A three stage process was employed for data transformation including description, analysis, and interpretation. LGBT identified sports clubs, formed as a result of identity politics, are understood to be potential sites of transformation and/or assimilation. Although the League was imbued with the discourses of inclusion and acceptance, the valorizing of competition and normalization led to the creation of hierarchies and a politics of exclusion. The League as an identity-based community was defined by what it was not, by what it lacked, by its constitutive outside. It is possible to learn a great deal about community by looking at what and who is left out and the conspicuous absence of transgender and bisexual participants in the League highlights a form of closure, a limit to the transformative potential of the League.
ContributorsMertel, Sara (Author) / Bortner, Peg (Thesis advisor) / Allison, Maria (Committee member) / Mean, Lindsey (Committee member) / Kivel, Dana (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This study describes how the concept of “community” is framed in traditional public and charter high school guiding statements and interviews with school leaders. Guiding statements from public high schools in Arizona were analyzed and interviews were conducted with principals from traditional public schools and charter school principals. The findings suggested similarities between traditional public high schools and charter high schools in their framing of the concept of community, suggesting that schools are loosely coupled to state and federal education departments in particular, and to varying degrees at the district level: The guiding statements and high school leaders generally distinguished between the “school as community” frame inside the school and the “the local community” frame focused on the community outside of the school. Both traditional public high schools and charter schools emphasized the importance of both frames and their connections with “the local community.” Differences between traditional public schools and charter schools were observed, as schools appeared to attempt to legitimize themselves in different ways to the communities they are located in. Despite open enrollment policies leading to inter-district enrollment, traditional public schools have a mandate to primarily serve students from a specific area and were framed in the guiding statements and by school leaders as being part of and serving a geographically defined community that they have close ties to, the “school as a member of community” frame. Charter schools, on the other hand, focused on creating and serving a specific educational community characterized by shared interests, ideals, and expectations (‘school as community”) and contributing to the community that the school is located in (“school as a contributor to community”).
ContributorsSchreiber, Constantin (Author) / Fischman, Gustavo (Thesis advisor) / Anderson, Kathrine (Committee member) / Powers, Jeanne M. (Committee member) / Beardsley, Audrey (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
The United States resettles more refugees each year than any country, yet little is known about the influence that the Refugee Resettlement Program has on our communities. Program evaluation in the United States is primarily concerned with outcomes and efficiency; while there has been an absence of collecting data to measure the impact that social programs have on communities. This study explores the impact of refugee resettlement on a metropolitan area by surveying professionals with experience working or volunteering with refugee populations. These professionals rate the extent to which they believe refugee resettlement influences social, economic, and environmental variables in the community, and explain the nature of the influence they believe the program has on the community. The data collected from these surveys will introduce the perceived impact of refugee resettlement from the perspective of those with professional experience in the area. By exploring the effects that the Refugee Resettlement Program has on Phoenix, this data can assist in the creation of community assessments for refugee resettlement and comparable social programs.
ContributorsMody, Elizabeth Hatch (Author) / Klimek, Barbara (Thesis advisor) / Morales, Joanne (Committee member) / Brown, Mary-Ellen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
This study explored the perspectives and experiences of eight women active within a particular location of the collective social media landscape. One aspect of the research centered around critiquing mainstream media diets for encouraging fat stigma and deepening the negative effects of stereotyping larger bodies. The research questions centered around transgressive media diets, specifically those that were body positive, and focused on if they could help to eradicate fat stigma and educate the masses on false stereotypes. To examine this, eight plus-size fashion bloggers and/or plus-size models were interviewed following a semi-structured format. These women, as bloggers and Instagrammers with a strong presence in the plus-size fashion industry, were both content producers as well as consumers, and their personal narratives enabled the study to better understand the complex interconnections between production and consumption, self-expression and the politics of self-representation, the cooptation of these self-representations by profit-oriented media interest, and how commodification shapes the transgressive potential of these representations. The research also found that many content creators came to transgressive media diets because they saw a lack of representation and decided that they must make that representation for themselves. The study also examined what community building meant within the porous landscape of social media platforms and the relationship between identity building and community building as social processes. Many of the participants brought up examples of fat discrimination yet many defined themselves as "confident" or "badass", thus finding ways to empower themselves despite the pressure of societal norms. Some of this empowerment came from finding a community online. Finally, these plus-size models and fashion bloggers moved through a thin ideal industry by demanding and being examples of diversity.
ContributorsValentine, Erin (Author) / Katsulis, Yasmina (Thesis advisor) / Himberg, Julia (Committee member) / McGibbney, Michelle (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
This research looks at a group of students from Tumaini Children's Home in Nyeri, Kenya. The purpose of this paper is to explore why this particular group of students is so academically successful. Quantitative research was taken from the average 2013 test scores of Tumaini students who took the Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam in comparison to the scores of students who are not residing in the orphanage. Qualitative research involves interviews from those students who live in Tumaini and interviews from adults who are closely connected to the orphanage. The purpose is to understand why the students are performing so well academically and what support they have created for themselves that allows them to do so.
ContributorsTooker, Amy Elizabeth (Author) / Puckett, Kathleen (Thesis director) / Cocchiarella, Martha (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
The Latino population is the fastest growing minority group in the United States (U.S Census Bureau, 2003). Such a rapidly changing demographic stresses the importance of implementing strategies into the community social framework to accommodate for cultural and language differences. This research paper seeks to answer: what factors influence the sense of community among Latino families in Phoenix? The following questions will help to assess the dynamic relationship between sense of community and literacy 1) what is the perceived importance of literacy among Latino families living in Phoenix? 2) How is language development reflected among the family dynamics within a predominantly collectivist culture? It is hypothesized that both collectivism and literacy are the main influences on sense of community among this population.
ContributorsBennett, Julie (Author) / Glenberg, Arthur (Thesis director) / Restrepo, Laida (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Introduction/Purpose: This paper describes the process of the community needs assessment phase of program implementation for the Student Health Outreach for Wellness (SHOW) clinic. Homeless individuals are more likely (than non homeless individuals) to experience serious illness, depression and mental illness. Access to health care has been identified as a barrier to receiving appropriate health care to manage the diseases and conditions clients may have. SHOW's vision is to operate on Saturdays utilizing Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) to offer extended primary health care hours, along with offering health promotion programming to address the biopsychosocial components of their health. Ultimately, this aims to reduce the homeless population's need to visit emergency room departments for non- urgent, primary care visits. Methods: To validate the need for this clinic's operation of programming and health services, a community needs assessment was conducted to collect data about the population's current health status. Forty-three people (n=43) ages 20-76 (M = 44.87) were surveyed by a trained research team using interview questionnaires. Results: The results show a prevalence of self\u2014reported physical and behavioral conditions, and support that this population would benefit from extended hours of care. Mental and behavioral health conditions are the most prevalent conditions (with the highest rates of depression (41.86%) and anxiety disorder (32.56%)), followed by the common cold (23.36%) and back pain (16.28%). The average reported emergency department (ED) visits within the past six months was 1.18 times. Almost everyone surveyed would visit a free medical clinic on the Human Services Campus (HSC) staffed by health staff and health professional students on the weekends (93.18%). Conclusion: Overall, the community needs assessment conducted for SHOW supports the need for weekend access to health care facilities and an interest in health programming for this population.
ContributorsShqalsi, Eneida Agustin (Author) / Hoffner, Kristin (Thesis director) / Harrell, Susan (Committee member) / Harper, Erin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Conducted in collaboration with the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, this project was a pilot survey of representatives at sexual violence organizations in Arizona and a best practices review of sexual violence organizations. It was carried out with the purpose of enhancing ACESDV's knowledge about sexual violence organizations so that the coalition will be able to offer informed and individualized support to these organizations in Arizona as it begins to pursue its new mission of addressing sexual violence.
ContributorsHarrach, Meagan L. (Author) / Bodman, Denise (Thesis director) / Dumka, Larry (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The purpose of this study was to provide a foundation for a plan for evaluations of the impact of the Learning Center on elementary school children with respect to academic achievement and school-related behaviors. Exploratory pre- and posttest data were collected and analyzed and recommendations were provided for a broader evaluation plan to be used in the future. The experience from the exploratory evaluation, limitations and the recommendations in this study can be used by Chicanos Por La Causa to strengthen the Learning Center and thereby optimize the benefit to the children served within the San Marina residential community.
ContributorsLodhi, Osman Sultan (Author) / Roosa, Mark (Thesis director) / Dumka, Larry (Committee member) / Perez, Norma (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Several different queer feminist zines, along with the author's experiences in queer feminist zine making, are examined using the lens of J. Jack Halberstam's The Queer Art of Failure. Particular attention is paid to zines' unique composition from a variety of unexpected sources, and their subsequent ability to act as counterhegemonic documents. Queer feminist zine makers' critical engagement with the concept of community is also discussed.
ContributorsPruett, Jessica Lynn (Author) / Switzer, Heather (Thesis director) / Dove-Viebahn, Aviva (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2014-05