VTechWorks Repository :: Browsing by Author "Bailey, Carol A."

Browsing by Author "Bailey, Carol A."

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Accounts and sexual deviance in cyberspace: the case of pedophilia
Durkin, Keith F. (Virginia Tech, 1996-08-05)
This research is unique because it represents the first sociological study of pedophiles who use the Internet. The data were gathered from a Usenet newsgroup that is frequented by pedophiles. A content analysis was performed on all of the postings from admitted pedophiles (N=41) that appeared on this newsgroup during a one month period. Scott and Lyman’s classic formulation of accounts served as the conceptual framework for this study. The primary research question was: "How do pedophiles who use the Internet account for their deviance?” There were four ancillary objectives to this analysis: (1) to ascertain the degree to which pedophiles who participate in this newsgroup provide validation to, and seek validation from, other users; (2) to investigate the extent to which pedophiles who participate in this forum provide information to, and seek information from, other users; (3) to assess the degree to which pedophiles use this newsgroup to seek correspondence with other pedophiles; and (4) to determine the extent to which users of this newsgroup are members of the pedophile organization NAMBLA (the North American/Man Boy Love Association). Slightly more than one-half of the pedophiles in the sample provided some type of account in defense of pedophilia or adults having sex with children. Thirty-nine percent offered a denial of injury account; 31.7% proffered a condemnation of condemners account; 14.6% provided a BIRGing account; and 4.9% used an appeal to loyalties account. Also, nearly one-fourth of these pedophiles used polythematic accounts. The results of this research also indicate that this computer forum serves a validation function for these pedophiles. Moreover, many of the postings that appeared on this newsgroup contained information that should be of interest to pedophiles. Some of these on-line pedophiles use this newsgroup to establish correspondence with other pedophiles. Although only a few of the pedophiles in this sample indicated a NAMBLA affiliation, these individuals frequently provided accounts which reflect the ideology of that pedophile organization.
Achieving success in Western society: bulimia as the ultimate effort
Carleton, Julia Magdalen Machara (Virginia Tech, 1994-02-15)
Bulimia has recently emerged as an increasing threat to the health of young women in Western society. Though thought by some to be primarily prompted by psychological and physiological instabilities, this research attempts to explore the association between bulimic symptoms and the external pressures to conform to accepted standards of excessive thinness. It is noted that the bulimia trend primarily appears among the population which is overwhelmingly targeted by messages promoting the ideals of success through excessive beauty and thinness. Therefore, this study explores the relationships among several variables: the level of pressure felt by young, achievement-oriented women to control their weight in order to accomplish their goals; the level of difficulty experienced in achieving weight control; and the presence of bulimic symptoms. The sample for this study was taken from five undergraduate sociology courses at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The research found that among women who held career, social, and family relationships to be of high priority, the pressure to be thin in order to succeed in these areas, along with the difficulty experienced by the respondent in achieving weight loss, was positively associated with the appearance of bulimic attitudes and behaviors. Analysis of responses of males in the study did not produce significant findings with regard to the relationships between bulimic symptoms, the pressure to lose weight to achieve goals, and the difficulty in controlling one's weight. This study concludes that the unrealistic expectations imposed on young women in Western culture regarding their bodily appearance, and the difficulty in adhering to these expectations, have a direct impact on the appearance of bulimia in young achievement-oriented women.
Actually Existing Democracy and Energy Justice: The Case of the Coalfields Delegation to the United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development
Schnitzer, Marcy H. (Virginia Tech, 2010-11-09)
This dissertation explores the concept of Actually Existing Democracy in the transnational public sphere through the experiences of the Coalfields Delegation to the United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development (UNCSD). In particular, this research examines the differential impacts of energy extraction on local communities, and what the term justice might usefully mean in the context of transnational energy politics. I provide an account of justice that engages with the theories of Nancy Fraser and Pierre Bourdieu and mines their insights to provide a novel intervention in debates about justice and the public sphere. I start by defining justice as a transnational construct using theories of the nation-state and then discuss the nature and roles of counterpublics, specifically the Coalfields Delegation, in transnational justice. I then explore Fraser's constructs of redistribution, recognition, and representation, viewing each through Bourdieu's theories of habitus and field. I show that the process through which counterpublics seek justice is mediated through the operations of power in the economic, cultural, and political fields (adopting Fraser's definition of culture over Bourdieu's). To achieve justice, it is insufficient to suggest that movement in a field proceeds directionally; rather, Fraser and Bourdieu are in accord in suggesting that these fields need to be deconstructed (Fraser's term) by counterpublics adopting heterodox practices to challenge the established ordering of the field. Energy injustice, in the particular form of mountaintop removal coal mining, occurs locally, yet is inherently global in its implications through the processes of international trade and consumption. Therefore, the appropriate level at which to examine these seemingly "local" concerns is that of the transnational. In the case of the Coalfields Delegation, appeals have been made at the local, state, and national levels, to no avail. The group pursued several interlinked strategies at the UN. To the extent that their plight is one of economic disparity, the Coalfields Delegation has sought to redefine economic power in a manner different from global capitalism. Where cultural marginalization has been used as a basis for justifying disparate impacts on mining communities, the Delegation decidedly used its own formulation of "culture" as a strategic publicity mechanism. In pursuing representation at the UNCSD, the Delegation began defining its concerns in global terms, suggesting human rights violations, and placing coal mining within the context of global sustainability and climate change. However, in so doing, members of the Delegation started to reconceive themselves in solidarity with other similarly affected groups represented at the UNCSD. Their quest for global redress has not been one of straightforward acts of agency, but rather should be viewed as an oscillation between agency and structure. Fields exert counter-pressure, however, as the Delegation members grew in experience and sophistication, their habitus changed accordingly. My research explores the dynamic play of these social forces by linking the ideas of public sphere and field, counterpublic and habitus, to develop a new way in which researchers might both describe and trace advocacy group efforts to secure justice in the transnational public sphere.
Adoptive Status, Social Capital, and Academic Achievement
Toussaint, Jeffrey Guy (Virginia Tech, 2008-05-02)
This dissertation examined the relationships among adoptive status, social capital, and academic achievement. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) had 609 adopted and 11, 940 non-adopted adolescents. I used OLS regression models to help explain why adopted adolescents have significantly lower grade point averages (GPA) than non-adopted adolescents. Potential mediators were family social capital, closeness to family, mother and father, mothers' and fathers' involvement in their children's education, self-esteem, academic expectations, and in-school behavioral difficulties. Only closeness to fathers and in-school behavioral difficulties differed by adoptive status. Compared to non-adopted adolescents, adopted adolescents were closer to their fathers and had more in-school behavioral difficulties. Adopted adolescents also had lower GPA's, even when all other predictors were in the model. However, were it not for greater closeness to their fathers, adopted adolescents' would have had even more in-school behavioral difficulties and consequently, lower academic achievement. The results have implications for social capital theory and theory and research concerning adoptive families.
After the Aquaculture Bust: Impacts of the Globalized Food Chain on Poor Philippine Fishing Households
Macabuac, Maria Cecilia Fiel (Virginia Tech, 2005-07-15)
The Philippines is a food extractive enclave in the bust stage of export-oriented aquaculture, and this globalization agenda has had several negative impacts. Aquaculture has not expanded fish and marine foods but threatens national food security by integrating Philippine aquatic resources into the globalized food chain. Following structural adjustment policies imposed beginning in the 1980s, the Philippines shipped massive levels of animal protein to world markets, but this country has grown less food self-sufficient. During the decades that shrimp aquaculture has boomed and busted in the Philippines, the living conditions of Filipino families have steadily worsened. This study of three Panguil Bay fishing communities of Northern Mindanao demonstrates that the survival of subsistent artisan fisher households is now threatened because export-oriented producers have severely degraded the ecosystem upon which they rely. Moreover, women and children are inequitably threatened by the ecological and economic changes that have accompanied the Philippine global aquaculture agenda. In reality, capitalist commodity chains of export-oriented aquaculture externalize to households and to nature much of the true cost of producers and of ecological degradation. As a result, malnourished and impoverished Philippine fishing households subsidize global aquaculture commodity chains. While Filipino fisher households can no longer afford local food costs, their hidden inputs into capitalist commodity chains keep prices of luxury seafoods cheap in rich core countries.
An Analysis of the Social Action program and Education of Women in Pakistan
Azizi, Susanne L. (Virginia Tech, 1999-05-03)
The report is organized into five chapters, as follows: • In Chapter I, I propose to research problems that women face in Pakistan resulting from gender inequalities. A review of the literature provides a framework for development that calls for a constant balancing of social, economic and environmental conditions in a local, regional and national context. Sustainable development requires conducive conditions for women in development, which relies on their education. Sustainable development policies and programs must concentrate on educating women to increase equity for sustainable development. Research objectives and methods of analysis are provided in which to evaluate the SAP's success in meeting goals to increase attainment of education for girls in Pakistan. • Chapter II provides a profile of Pakistan and its struggle with gender inequality, illustrated with tables of statistics and literacy rates prior to 1992, representing Pakistan's need and desire for sustainable development. Obstacles for women in development, such as living in rural locations or having a poor family, and limitations that some women face as a result of living within cultural and historical barriers, are also discussed. • Chapter III provides a discussion on the government's approach to increasingly high growth rates through the Social Action Program, implemented in 1993. International donors included the World Bank, United Nations, and Asian Development Bank, as well and others. • Chapter IV is a simple comparison of education in Pakistan before and after the SAP. Literacy and enrollment rates for boys and girls are compared to analyze changes. The Social Action Program is an umbrella program in Pakistan that targets women and children in development through health, education, and sanitation. The Government of Pakistan is responsible for implementation, evaluation and monitoring of all projects that lie within the parameters of the four program goals. One of these goals is education. It is considered by the government and donors to be of primary importance to the mission of the program. This section provides an evaluation of activity resulting from the SAP using indicators of women's literacy and girls' primary and secondary school enrollment since the program's implementation in 1993. Comparisons between indicators for girls and boys also illustrates the accomplishment of the program's mission to alleviate gender inequality in Pakistan. Indicators are presented in a manner that cuts across the dimensions of urban and regional differences, as well as differences between socio-economic categories.
An Analysis of Tolerance Variation Among Adherents to Feminist, Environmentalist and Gay Rights Principles
Fiquet, Angela T. Jr. (Virginia Tech, 1998-04-10)
To the extent that the United States is a post-industrial society, whereby the means and ends of social production are social, and the production and reproduction of knowledge are shaped by reflexivity and continuous reconceptualizations of reality, what it means to be "tolerant" has been subjected to multiple ideologies. Supposedly freed from collectively imposed identities, social scientists have argued that in a postmodern society, individuals actively construct their own identities. In this study, it is questioned how multiple, trans-class and trans-disciplinary identities affect beliefs and behavior. Subject to exploration are expressions of tolerance, embodied as the expression of attitudes toward the following groups of traditionally nonconforming individuals: atheists, communists, racists and homosexuals. Using 1993 General Social Survey data, independent attitudinal variables were constructed from indexed items measuring opinions about ideas embraced by three "new" social movements: the women's, environmental and gay rights' movements. Socio-structural and attitudinal variables were regressed on tolerance, the dependent variable, which was divided into general and group-specific indexes. Education and urbanism were shown to be significant predictors of tolerance, while gender and political ideology were not significant predictors of tolerance. Positive correlations resulted between general tolerance and pro-feminist, pro-environmentalist and pro-gay rights attitudes. In conclusion, the prediction that individuals scoring high on measurements of feminism, environmentalism and pro-homosexuality, which all expound ideological convictions that refute traditional norms and value systems, would also demonstrate high levels of tolerance was greatly substantiated. Lending support for Bobo and Licari's (1989) argument, it is agreed that demographic, or social structural, variables alone are insufficient determinants of tolerance. Furthermore, although new social movements are chiefly organized around identity, rather than class, issues, even historically "tolerant" individuals, such as feminists, were shown to be less tolerant of certain groups, such as, in this study, racists
Applying an Organizational Approach to the Sociology of Leisure: A Study of Clog Dancers
Hollandsworth, Danita (Virginia Tech, 1998-09-23)
The purpose of this study was to enhance understanding of leisure experiences by applying an organizational approach to the sociology of leisure. This organizational approach, used mainly to study work and occupations, consists of a conceptual framework derived from social systems theory and structural functionalism. The sensitizing concepts used from this framework were recruitment, socialization, and identity. In this study, I focused on the leisure group of clog dancers. My research questions, derived from this approach, include (1) How do clogging groups recruit their members? (2) How are people socialized into their role as cloggers and group members? (3) Do cloggers form a special identity because of this activity? Twenty cloggers were interviewed for this study. All of the dancers were white, and all but one were female. Most of the dancers were married, and their ages ranged from 20 to 69 years. All of the dancers have clogged for at least four years, and half of the dancers have been clogging for 10 or more years. Their educational levels covered a wide spectrum, from less than high school to Master's degrees. Occupational status and income level also varied widely. Through concept-driven interviews, the dancers indicated what they believed were important aspects of their leisure experiences. A majority of the dancers stated that they were recruited through social networks or by media influence. They experienced both formal and informal socialization in learning dance steps and how to perform as a team player in front of an audience. Finally, the dancers believed that they held a special identity because of their talents as a clogger. While each dancer derived different meanings from his/her identity as clogger, this identity appeared to be salient and psychologically central for all of the dancers interviewed.
At-Risk, First-Year Students' Patterns of Perceptions of Their Academic Performance Activities and Grades Earned
McGuire, Sharon Paterson (Virginia Tech, 1998-12-04)
Researchers and practitioners in an attempt to understand academic performance, and thus reduce academic failure, have identified variables associated with academic performance. Although this research has been useful, there are limitations and critiques: 1) findings are often inconsistent; 2) student experiences and perceptions tend to be constructed as dichotomous variables: thus little is known about interconnections and contradictions in students' lives; and, 3) gender, race and class are constructed as variables to assess difference and not as social structural positions of power. The purpose of this research is to explore at-risk, first-year students participating in a structured intervention program and their perceptions of their academic performance. In addition, the ways in which their perceptions are shaped by gender. Through multiple qualitative techniques of semi-structured interviews, content analysis, and observations over an 8-month period I constructed an understanding of students' perceptions of their academic performance. The students' perceptions are interconnected such that themes emerged illuminating three patterns of perceptions. My analysis illuminated some manifestations of how gender shaped students' perceptions. However, gender was but one lens, not the dominant analytical lens, from which to explore and understand these students' perspective. Using extensive quotes from students in a narrative form, these patterns are described and discussed. As a sociologist, a feminist, and student affairs professional, I am concerned with structural elements of a given phenomenon; therefore I make particular mention of organizational and policy issues and implications associated with the patterns of student perceptions.
Becoming Vegetarian: An Analysis of the Vegetarian Career Using an Integrated Model of Deviance
Boyle, Joseph Edward (Virginia Tech, 2007-04-19)
This dissertation attempts to explore the nature of a particular food consumption pattern using a number of different deviance theories in order to outline the career path of vegetarianism. Using semi-structured interviews with 45 practicing vegetarians from two regions of the United States, the career path of the vegetarians was developed around David Matza's (1969) theory of becoming deviant. Within each stage of Matza's classic work, more specific theories were applied to explain the friction between vegetarianism and the more socially-accepted practice of meat eating within the United States. The framework of the stages includes the affinity for, affiliation with, and signification of vegetarian ideology and practice. Each stage within the theory is also a stage in the development of the vegetarian identity. The more specific theories utilized to explain phenomena within each particular stage attempt to show a progression from initially being interested in the ideals and practice of vegetarianism to becoming and verbalizing as a mature, practicing vegetarian. Finally, the vegetarians interviewed were asked to give the prognosis for the future of vegetarianism.
Breaking the Silence: Women's Experiences With Sexual Violence During the 1994 Rwandan Genocide
Hubbard, Jessica Alison (Virginia Tech, 2007-04-16)
In times of war, women are subjected to sexual abuse that is largely ignored by military organizations, media outlets, and international courts. Existing literature has illustrated how wartime rape was accepted or dismissed in the past, and how today, while this practice continues, international courts are beginning to identify the harm being done to women, making explicit how rape is used as a tool of genocide. In this thesis I argue that wartime rape serves as a means of genocide, a way to eliminate a group of individuals and their culture. A recent example of how rape worked as genocide is seen in the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Rape was used as a systematic policy to destroy a group of people, the Tutsi, through torture and the spreading of AIDS. The purpose of this research is to examine genocidal rape from the perspectives of women who were raped in Rwanda during the genocide. The focus is on gaining insight to wartime rape as a form of genocide and the aftermath of rape on the women and the culture within which it occurred. Qualitative, feminist analysis was used to answer the following research questions: How do women raped in the Rwandan genocide describe and explain their experiences with rape and its aftermath? How did the intersection of gender and ethnicity contribute to violence against women during the genocide? What are the implications of rape for the women who experienced it and for their families, communities, and their cultural group?
Class Inequality among Third World Women Wage Earners: Mistresses and Maids in the Philippines
Arnado, Mary Janet Madrono (Virginia Tech, 2002-02-28)
This dissertation is geared toward a deeper understanding of the complexity of the multiple positions of women in the "Third World," and on how these positions create, sustain, and reproduce inequalities. I examine class inequality among employed women in the Philippines in the context of mistress-maid employment relationship. Using feminist fieldwork approaches, my gatekeeper, Merly, and I conducted extensive interviews and focus groups with thirty-one maids and ten mistresses between May and August 2000 in a medium-sized city in the Philippines. Recorded interviews were transcribed and processed using QSR NUD*IST N4. Domestic workers, who started as child laborers, live in their mistresses' homes where they perform household chores and carework. Aside from their "job description," they carry out additional tasks within and outside the household. The maids' relationship with their mistresses is based on maternalism, in which the mistresses integrate them into the family, engage in gift giving, provide educational support, but at the same time, control their bodies, times, spaces, and relationships. Except in cases where maternalist behavior becomes violent, both maids and mistresses approve of maternalism. In looking at the factors that may contribute to the mistresses' maternalist behavior, this study found that mistresses who are subordinate relative to their spouses and their workplaces are more likely than those who are not subordinate to engage in maternalist behavior with their maids. As maids prefer maternalist relationship with their mistresses, they accommodate their mistresses' dominating tendencies. When reprimanded, they respond through culture-specific rituals of subordination. However, when their threshold of tolerance is breached, they apply a combination of subtle and blatant resisting strategies. Younger maids perceive domestic work as a stepping-stone toward a more comfortable future, while older maids view it as a dead-end occupation. From a global standpoint, class mobility is examined based on the domestic workers dialectic positions within the international division of reproductive labor. Throughout this dissertation, women's inequality in the context of mistress-maid relations were analyzed from various angles, shifting the analysis from micro to macro dynamics; from class to the intersection of gender, ethnicity, age, and class; and from local to global. In addition to providing a sociological understanding of this phenomenon, I put the varied voices of "Third World women" at the forefront of this study.
Clothing behavior, body cathexis, and appearance management of women enrolled in a commercial weight loss program
Robinson, Tammy R. (Virginia Tech, 2003-05-09)
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between appearance management, created appearance, body cathexis, and clothing behavior for a group of women enrolled in a commercial weight loss program. Subjects were 171 females enrolled in Weight Watchers® programs in Christiansburg, Virginia. No previous research had investigated clothing behavior, appearance management, created appearance, and body cathexis of women in a weight loss program. Because clothing is such an integral part of the self, it was important to examine the influences and contributions of this variable to weight loss. The proposed research model hypothesized that the following variables would be related: appearance management and created appearance, created appearance and body cathexis, body cathexis and current clothing behavior, and created appearance and current clothing behavior. Other hypotheses tested the relationships between current clothing behavior and prior clothing and between demographics and the following variables: appearance management, created appearance, body cathexis, and current clothing behavior. Results indicated that a greater percentage of weight loss was related to a higher average body cathexis score. Respondents wore clothing that emphasized body parts with which they were more satisfied, and wore clothing that did not emphasize body parts with which they were less satisfied. Results indicated that after weight loss, respondents wore clothing that would emphasize their body with more frequency and also wore clothing that would hide or camouflage their body with less frequency. Current clothing behavior also seemed to be influenced by age and marital status. Findings from the present study provide new information about how women choose clothing based on the level of satisfaction with their bodies and where they have experienced a weight loss. The findings also provide information about the types and styles of clothing that women choose as a result of losing weight. Women in weight loss programs can use clothing to enhance their appearance and improve their body image. By increasing body satisfaction and feeling better about their bodies as they are going through the weight loss program, they may be more likely to continue with their efforts and be more successful in their weight loss.
Community structure and criminal victimization
Anzick, Michael A. (Virginia Tech, 1989-06-04)
This research has attempted to better understand property crime victimization by studying the important role of community structures, while controlling for the following demographic variables: age, gender, race, and income. Three different types of analyses were used: (1) bivariate analysis; (2) multivariate analysis, and (3) path analysis. Bivariate analysis was used in order to gain a better understanding of the following zero-order relationships: (1) the relationship between the structural characteristics of communities and property crime victimization; (2) the relationship between the structural variables and the mediating variables--guardianship and neighborhood cohesion; (3) the relationship between guardianship and property crime, and (4) the relationship between neighborhood cohesion and property crime. Most of these relationships were found to be in the expected direction. The multivariate analysis was conducted by running three separate regression models. Model 1 included only the structural variables of community size, racial heterogeneity, and residential mobility. In Model 2, demographic variables were added in order to see how this addition would impact the effects of the structural variables on property crime victimization. Model 3 included both the structural and the demographic variables, along with guardianship and neighborhood cohesion. This additional regression model was used in an attempt to discover the effects of guardianship and neighborhood cohesion on property crime victimization. Path analysis was used in order to find out the direct and indirect effects of the structural and demographic variables on property crime victimization. Many of the findings of this research were not consistent with past research. There appears to be other important factors which were not included. For example, guardianship and neighborhood cohesion did not mediate the effects of the structural and demographic variables. The thesis concludes with alternative explanations for these and other inconsistent findings.
The Concept of Community and the Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication of the Internet
Work, William Eugene (Virginia Tech, 1998-10-22)
The concept of community has been of great importance to sociologists throughout the discipline's history. There has been numerous definitions used in research. However, according to the literature, most agree that community must consist of geographical proximity, regular interactions, and shared goals. These definitions, and any consensus, are again being challenged by the creation of new communicative technologies. In particular, with the creation of new social spaces by computer technologies such as the Internet, the potential exists for community to occur in many new ways. This paper looks at the types of community that can exist in the various social spaces created by the Internet. These spaces are conceptualized and explained comparing the various ways and types of communication that are occurring in the various facets of Internet. The literature indicates that community is occurring in some of these Internet technologies, such as USENET. However, no such literature exists for IRC networks. This research focuses on an examination of the type of community that occurs on the Internet's synchronous Internet Relay Chat network using computer-mediated-communication. Naturalistic inquiry is used to examine how community exists in two separate channels of an Internet Relay Chat network. The concepts of geographical proximity, regular interaction, and shared goals are examined in relation to this technology. In a final analysis, the importance in examining the community occurring in these new social spaces is detailed. This type of social space is fast becoming a very important area for researchers as Internet usage is growing daily and becoming more prevalent in everyday society.
The construction of social problems and the experience of human service programs: contradictory relations in a support group for adolescent mothers
Luff, Tracy L. (Virginia Tech, 1997-01-15)
The patterned interactions in a support group for adolescent mothers are analyzed in the context of the specific construction(s) of adolescent pregnancy and motherhood that legitimate the program's existence. Particular attention is paid to the way in which staff and clients are positioned vis a vis one another through the typification of the program's mission and goals. Data analyzed include field notes recorded during ten months of participant observation with the group, program documents describing the history, mission, and goals of the program, and an in-depth interview with the Program Director. Changes in funding patterns led to an increased emphasis on the prevention of child abuse as a goal of the program. The resulting expectations of program staff and assumptions about adolescent mothers cast these two groups of women into social identities containing inherent contradictions. Differences of social class further complicate the relationship between the groups. Varying strategies of self-presentation are employed by clients and staff as they struggle with these contradictions. The young mothers present themselves in ways that maintain distance between themselves and staff. While the staff are never completely successful and breaking down the barriers between themselves and the young mothers, one style of self-presentation has the potential to bridge the gap. The findings have practical implications for the design and implementation of human service programs, particularly those which address stigmatized categories of women. The findings also have theoretical implications relevant to ongoing discussions of feminist epistemology, and the intersection of gender and social class.
Constructions of Scarcity and Commodification in University Strategy: Restructuring at Virginia Tech
Kirk, Gary R. (Virginia Tech, 2004-11-30)
Higher education institutions in the United States have come under increased scrutiny due to increasing demands for accountability in the use of public funds and increasing visibility (Altbach, Berdahl, and Gumport, 1999; Trow, 1974). Colleges and universities must continually prove their credibility and legitimacy to their stakeholders, including government officials (Lawrence & Sharma, 2002), donors, students, and sponsors. The proving process may involve engagement in legitimacy-seeking behaviors designed to show efficiency, access, and quality in terms defined mostly by external perceptions. The decision to concentrate organizational resources on activities designed to influence the opinions of external agents has the potential to lead organizations away from their core values and historic missions. The case study that follows documents the restructuring of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) and the drivers that led university administrators to pursue change. The case was developed based on a series of interviews with key informants associated with or affected by the restructuring process. Explanations for the restructuring and the underlying university goal of becoming a top 30 institution, included cost-savings and efficiency via a "fiscal rationalization"; the framing of programs in terms of their entrepreneurialism, innovativeness, and revenue generating capacity; and an emphasis on the economic development benefits of university programs. Even though Virginia Tech administrators were not expressly responding to external demands for restructuring, there was evidence to suggest that a need to construct a more business-like model for university structure and operations had entered the collective conscience of Virginia Tech's leadership. I document the rhetoric and actions that I believe influenced university administrators in their decision to restructure. I also draw attention to administrators' use of language that I believe exemplified the commodification of the university's human and intellectual capital. Theoretically, I believe that the constructs from resource dependency theory and neoinstitutional theory have relevance to the interpretation of this case. Specifically, the construction of legitimacy-seeking behaviors, the imperative to decrease reliance on external organizations (i.e., the state), and the institutionalization of acceptable management behaviors are aligned closely with the propositions of one or both of these theories. The lack of theoretical distinctiveness between these two organizational perspectives indicated a need for further research and limits the ability to anticipate the potential outcomes for Virginia Tech and the broader field of higher education.
Did Harriet Martineau's sociological methods influence Emile Durkheim's sociological methods?
Fritsch, Jon Eric (Virginia Tech, 1995-01-05)
Harriet Martineau (1802-1876) published How to Observe Morals and Manners in 1838. The book was perhaps the first sociological methodology text. Emile Durkheim (1855-1917) published The Rules of Sociological Method (1895) 57 years later. Durkheim's book has traditionally been labeled as the first sociological methodology text, while Martineau's book has been virtually forgotten by modern day sociologists. The author identifies significant similarities between the two texts and investigates the possibility that the work of Martineau influenced Durkheim. This work explores the life an important figure in nineteenth century European culture and argues that Martineau's name should be reinserted into the history of sociology. The ideas contained in, and the construction of, How to Observe Morals and Manners are discussed.
Division I Female Soccer Players: Development of the Self Across Time and Interactional Groups
Rice, Andrew Alan (Virginia Tech, 1998-05-05)
This study is intended to explore the interactive effect of various interpersonal groups and longitudinal maturation on the socialization of individuals within a culture. It will deal with conflict resolution and the formation of a transitory sense of self informed by George Herbert Mead's perspective with an emphasis on symbolic interaction. I have chosen as my sample group a division I female college soccer team in the eastern United States . My time as an assistant coach has given me access to the daily lives of these players for a two year period during which I have acted as a participant observer. Although the study is limited to a small group of elite athletes, it is presumed that similar processes are at work each time an individual enters a new social setting or attempts to reconcile conflicting norms between different groups. When such groups collide, the individual is forced to conform to one at the expense of the other(s). This creates what I will call deviant conformity
"Do You Want Excitement? Don't Join the Army, Be a Nurse!": Identity Work and Advantage among Men in Training for the Female Professions
LoMascolo, Anna F. (Virginia Tech, 2008-05-29)
This study examines the identity work strategies that men students in nursing, elementary education, and social work programs employ in order to manage and assert their masculinity in the face of negative gender assessment, as well as the identity work involved in verifying their professional identities. It also examines the perceived benefits and disadvantages that men experience as numerical minorities in their fields of study. Interviews with 12 men students majoring in these disciplines reveal that while men do perceive disadvantages as men in these educational spheres, they believe that the advantages and benefits they enjoy in the form of special treatment, recognition, and access to opportunity far outweigh them. A key perceived disadvantage is the ongoing challenges they face to their social identity as men and their role identity as rising professionals. These men employ identifiable identity work strategies for doing masculinity; some of which have implications for gender equality in the educational setting, as well as in on-site training (i.e., workplace) settings as well. This study contributes to an understanding of how men verify contradictory identities, and how gender shapes, privileges, and constrains their lives. In addition, it builds on extant literature focusing on men's experiences in higher education as they prepare for careers in gender-nontraditional occupations.

Browsing by Author "Bailey, Carol A."

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