Community Solidarity and Well-Being after the Virginia Tech Shootings

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dc.contributor.authorAitcheson, Lindsey Reeden
dc.contributor.committeechairRyan, John W.en
dc.contributor.committeememberHawdon, James E.en
dc.contributor.committeememberReed, Wornie L.en
dc.contributor.departmentSociologyen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T20:36:07Zen
dc.date.adate2011-06-07en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T20:36:07Zen
dc.date.issued2011-05-06en
dc.date.rdate2011-06-07en
dc.date.sdate2011-05-10en
dc.description.abstractIn the aftermath of the rampage at Virginia Tech, the community experienced a surge of social solidarity. Using a longitudinal study of 478 students, this thesis examines the impact of attitudinal solidarity on well-being nine months after the shootings. In particular, this study focuses on the interaction effects of sex and solidarity on later well-being, providing a theoretical and empirical basis for understanding the connections between these factors. Quantitative analysis, conducted using linear regression with interaction variables, found that social solidarity four months after the shootings positively and significantly predicted well-being nine months after the shootings. The predictive power, however, was stratified by sex; women experienced diminished benefits of solidarity relative to their male counterparts. The literature suggests that this disparity may be attributed to additional social burdens placed on women after traumatic stressors. Other negative predictors of well-being include knowing victims and conversations with the media in the week after the attacks, This research has the potential to shed light on effective methods of responding to community-level trauma and may provide guidance to future policy-makers in when faced with these challenging situations.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Scienceen
dc.identifier.otheretd-05102011-162613en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-05102011-162613/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/32537en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartAitcheson_LR_T_2011.pdfen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectVirginia Tech Shootingsen
dc.subjectSocial Solidarityen
dc.subjectCommunity Responses to Traumaen
dc.subjectRecoveryen
dc.subjectGender Differencesen
dc.titleCommunity Solidarity and Well-Being after the Virginia Tech Shootingsen
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplineSociologyen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen

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