Matching Items (5)
Description
The current study sought to reevaluate Cass' Theory of sexual identity formation in terms of lesbian identity development over the past twenty years and how media acts as mediation in lesbian identity development. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with only nine useable transcripts analyzed for this thesis. This study is an explanatory investigation into linear stage theory, specifically Cass' theory, as well as the impact of media as a mediator during lesbian identity development. This study had three objectives 1) to gain an understanding of the theory and its components related to lesbian identity development 2) to understand the lesbian identity formation process and 3) to understand the impact and influence if any, media has had on lesbian self-reported identity development. Qualitative methods were used to obtain information and analyze the responses. Results indicate that the participants in this study believed that the coming out process was important. This study's results showed that several of the participants entered each stage of the theory, while others did not. Media had little influence on the identity development, and the participants had mixed reviews of medias portrayal of lesbians. Implications for practice and further research are discussed.
ContributorsHaseley, Hilary (Author) / Lacasse, Jeffrey R (Thesis advisor) / Segal, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Rounds, Tamara (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The purpose of this study is to discover the exposure and network patterns during the 2013-2015 Ebola Virus Disease epidemic. The author accomplished this by taking an opportunistic sample of news and academic articles, some of which may also capture cases untreated and therefore unrecorded by hospitals and treatment units. Most of the 315 cases came from the Washington Post, New York Times, and World Health Organization, and they consistently captured between 1-2% of WHO case numbers. The results show that of cases with known exposures, 53.6% became infected through contact with sick family members. Hospital and funeral transmission accounted for the second and third most frequent exposure scenarios at 24.6% and 12.9% respectively. The exposures over time imply that hospital and funeral transmission prevention efforts have been successful, but family transmission has remained common throughout the outbreak. Prevention initiatives should focus on families earlier in epidemics to help control EVD's spread.
ContributorsCleaton, Julie Marie (Author) / Chowell, Gerardo (Thesis director) / Hurtado, Ana Magdalena (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Globally, many species of shark are facing rapid population decline. This is due to increasing fishing pressures, primarily from the booming demand in China for shark fins for soup. In recent years there has also been an increase in international shark conservation efforts, but there is still a long way to go in gathering support for those efforts. Public perception of sharks in America has been greatly influenced by negative media representations of them, Jaws being one of the most influential. Many of these representations are based on inaccurate information that has been disproven by science, but still lingers in popular culture. Symbolic Interactionism Theory proved to be a useful framework for unpacking the connections between public perception, mainstream culture and media, and conservation regarding sharks. A social psychological theory, Symbolic Interactionism describes the ways that people construct meaning about a topic through direct and indirect interactions, and how this meaning can change on individual, social, and cultural levels. By changing the way sharks are perceived and represented to the public, these important and incredible animals may gather the support they need to continue living in the world's oceans.
ContributorsCressler, Christina Nancy (Author) / Minteer, Ben (Thesis director) / Gerber, Leah (Committee member) / Ellison, Karin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Of the over 17 million surgical and minimally-invasive cosmetic procedures performed in the United States in 2016, women accounted for over 90% of patients and nearly 70% of all patients were white. The goal of cosmetic surgery is to surgically restructure a healthy body part to more closely represent the contemporary ideal of what defines a particular gender. For example, femininity being linked to large breasts and small waist-to-hip ratio maintains binary heteronormative standards of what female body should look like. Plastic surgeons rely on advertising to attract patients for their businesses, since insurances do not cover elective cosmetic procedures. The ethical dilemma with this medical profession is with establishing aesthetic criteria for categorizing which bodies are considered normal and which are deviant. To understand the role of the physician in perpetuating cultural standards of beauty and promote surgery through their advertising, a random sample of 5 board-certified plastic surgeons from Scottsdale, AZ 85258 was obtained, focusing primarily on the images and textual content of their web pages. Of the 50 images sampled, nearly 75% of images portrayed white women. Women of color did not present in any of the photos. 52% of the home page images sexualized female clients using seductive posing and lingerie and promoted femininity using makeup and long hair. The language used in these websites criticized the presurgical female body and suggested that only physicians could eradicate their deficiencies, thereby normalizing cosmetic surgery as a means of beauty enhancement and maintaining the cultural superiority of doctors. 60% of websites failed to include adequate description of surgical risk. By choosing cosmetic surgery, women are negotiating their lives and acting as agents, even under circumstances that they cannot control such as the withholding of information, minimizing of risk or the social context and its corresponding pressures. Although the forewarning of surgical risk is rarely effective as a deterrent, it is the responsibility of the physician to provide the patient with all the information to the best of their ability so that they can decide what's best for their present circumstance, although rarely taken under conditions of perfect knowledge or absolute freedom from societal pressures. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons should work in conjunction with the Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Review Council to mediate regulatory solutions and increase public assurance in the credibility of advertising, perhaps an initiative similar to that of advertising for the cigarette industry. A pledge from the cosmetic surgery industry in conjunction to the Hippocratic Oath of the American Medical Association, which outlines the physician's responsibility to the patient within the context of advertising and marketing, could strengthen social responsibility and foster stronger, more honest relationships between surgeons and consumers.
ContributorsUchendu, Nneka Nwamaka (Author) / Brian, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Weitz, Rose (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
This research dives into the media’s influence, population tracking, new conservation methods, and previous studies to support the thesis that creating a positive public perception of the animals will help reduce shark finning and overfishing. Provisions and solutions provide inspiration for what we can do to reduce the overfishing and finning of sharks.
ContributorsMinhinnick, Tess (Author) / Chew, Matthew (Thesis director) / Lyon, Cassandra (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2023-12