Browsing by Author "Barbara J. Risman, Committee Chair"

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"Doing What I Do": African American Teenagers, Gender, and Sexuality In an Inner City
(2004-08-13) Froyum Roise, Carissa May; Barbara J. Risman, Committee Chair
This study is an ethnographic exploration of how African American teenagers at an inner city summer program called Emmaus deal with their poor living conditions. Building off of Connell's theory of multiple masculinities and femininities, this study explores how teens use their bodies as a social resource in lieu of class opportunities. Analysis is based on observations of 65 boys and girls and interviews with 20 boys and girls. It finds that African American teens have remarkably traditional notions and practices of gender, which in turn create animosity and volatile romantic relationships. The essentialized construction of gender along with the reliance on the body as a social resource also results in a complex system of heterosexism. This study also examines the teens' coping strategies and the changes needed to improve the lives of the teens.
Rationality Unveiled: Philosophy and Practices in a Hospice Organization
(2003-06-18) Monahan, Molly Bernice; Maxine P. Atkinson, Committee Member; Amy G. Halberstadt, Committee Member; Maxine S. Thompson, Committee Member; Michael L. Schwalbe, Committee Member; Barbara J. Risman, Committee Chair
The modern hospice movement began in the 1960s as a response to the rationalization of care for the dying. Ironically, however, hospice organizations have themselves become increasingly rationalized over time, with the advent of Medicare certification and conventional accreditation practices. Despite this, contemporary hospice practitioners must still attempt to follow the holistic philosophy which originally made hospice unique. Thus, they encounter a dilemma of trying to enact an alternative philosophy while being tied to the conventional. This dissertation is a case study of a hospice organization in the Southeastern United States ("Hometown Hospice"). I use observational and interview data to illustrate the rationalization process and discuss its consequences for hospice practitioners. I show how the attempt to follow an alternative medical philosophy while also pleasing regulatory bodies created mixed messages for front-line workers at this organization. Next, I discuss how the workers used humor to manage the unpleasant emotions that resulted from this dilemma. I then discuss how Hometown Hospice perpetuated racial and class inequalities common throughout health care, despite their interdisciplinary team approach to fulfilling the philosophy of holistic care. I conclude with a discussion of other sites where the dilemma between philosophy and expected practices occurs.
Talk About Country Clubs: Ideology and the Reproduction of Privilege
(2004-04-07) Sherwood, Jessica Holden; Barbara J. Risman, Committee Chair; Susan Ostrander, Committee Member; Amy Halberstadt, Committee Member; Rick Della Fave, Committee Member; Michael Schwalbe, Committee Member; Don Tomaskovic-Devey, Committee Member
This dissertation reports on interviews with members of five exclusive country clubs in the Northeastern United States. At these clubs, membership is extended only by selective invitation after a subjective screening process. The clubs have long histories of racial-ethnic homogeneity, but they now display some demographic diversity while preserving the economic and cultural homogeneity with which members are comfortable, and which they consider an important appeal of the private club. I focus on club members' explanations around three topics: their clubs' exclusivity, their racial-ethnic composition, and the status of women members. Subjects minimize the significance of the exclusion they perform by rhetorically pointing to forces beyond their control, and by promoting the American Dream of colorblind, meritocratic equal opportunity. While they use the dominant racial ideology of colorblindness, subjects also show a departure from colorblindness in their active development of and rhetorical emphasis on racial-ethnic diversity in their ranks. Concerning women's status, club members mostly accept the subordination of women in clubs. To justify it, they rhetorically rely on both the dominant gender ideology and the inequalities in men's and women's wealth and domestic responsibilities which originate elsewhere. Club members are called to account for their exclusivity by the American value of egalitarian equal access. But at the same time, other cultural values provide them with the tools needed to successfully explain themselves, even as their talk and actions contribute to the reproduction of class, race, and gender inequalities. This research describes the perspective of wealthy white people, and critiques it as inadequate to a full understanding of the consequences of their actions. It shows how country club members talk and act in ways that help preserve their privileges, and the reasons why they do so.