Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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Item Exercising Social Class Privilege: Examining the Practices and Processes Defining Upper-Middle Class Swimming Club Culture(2010) DeLuca, Jaime; Andrews, David L; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Cultural theorist Pierre Bourdieu argues that social class is defined by the interplay and operation of various forms of capital and, as such, is thought to be a significant determinant of an individual's everyday experiences, understandings, and identities. He believes that participation in private sport communities, such as swimming clubs, can contribute to one's social standing by positioning "the body-for-others," distinguishing those maintaining a privileged lifestyle, and transferring valuable skills, characteristics, and social connections to children for the purposes of class reproduction (Bourdieu, 1978, p. 838). Drawing on these ideas, this research explores the inter-related social constructs of the physically active swimming body, family, and social class at the Valley View Swim and Tennis Club (a pseudonym), a private recreational swim club in an upper-middle class suburban town on the outskirts of a major mid-Atlantic city. Through four years of ethnographic engagement, including participatory lived experience, observations, and interviews with mothers and children who belong to the pool, this project examines the way in which membership at Valley View plays an integral role in daily and family lives. Invoking Bourdieu (1978, 1984, 1986), I argue that pool participation is illustrative of members taken for granted, lived experience of power and privilege. Valley View operates as a distinctive consumption choice offering families a strategic opportunity to promote, demonstrate, convert, and transmit their varied levels of capital in and through their children, with the goal of expressing distinction now, and reproducing their familial social class position for future generations. Specifically, from the maternal perspective, this research discusses how the pool functions as a physical space for children's acquisition of physical capital and the tools to live a healthy, physically active lifestyle emblematic of social class position; details the way in which pool participation is a constitutive element of the upper-middle class family habitus, and thus offers parents an opportunity to teach their children valuable social and cultural dispositions; examines how Valley View provides children with enriching, intangible experiences characteristic of their class-based privilege; and lastly, explores how club membership is an important feature of these mother's privileged everyday daily lives.Item The Predictors of Family Cohesion and Conflict in Transracially Adoptive Families(2010) Jackson, Dawnyea Dominique; Leslie, Leigh A; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Transracial adoption in the United States has a short, but controversial history. Between 1971 and 2001, U.S. citizens adopted 265, 677 children from other countries. The increased prevalence and controversial history of transracial adoption makes it very important to learn more about the well being of transracially adoptive families. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the extent to which the diversity of the community in which a family lives and the parent's multiethnic experiences are predictors of family cohesion and conflict in transracially adoptive families. This relationship was examined for a sample (N=47) of Asian (n=24) Black (n=12) and Latino (n=11) participants. Results yielded no significant results, except for one interesting finding for the Latino racial/ethnic group. The results indicated that for the Latino racial/ethnic group the higher the parent's multiethnic experiences the lower the level of family cohesion, which was not in the predicted direction. The empirical implications of these findings are discussed.Item DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO SERVING TOGETHER: DUAL MILITARY COUPLES' LIFE COURSE AND DECISION-MAKING(2010) Smith, David Glenn; Segal, Mady W; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The increase in the number and types of military families since the advent of the All-Volunteer Force in 1973 has increased the impact of the work-family interface for the military. For dual career couples, where both the husband and wife are in the military, both are subject to deployment for extended periods of time, high geographic mobility, probability of a foreign residence, the risk of injury or death, and they must manage two specialized and structured career paths (Segal 1986). The purpose of this study is to analyze the work careers and family life course of dual military couples and their decision-making processes, using a life course perspective. Using a grounded theory methodology, I interviewed and analyzed the transcripts of 23 dual military officer couples in the U.S. Navy. Results show that work and family decisions are influenced by the organizational constraints as well as institutional and cultural norms. The rhythm of life in the Navy is shaped by cyclic changing of job assignments and locations, rotation of sea and shore duty assignments, warfare specialty career paths designed for promotion, and the cultural fast track. These couples' experiences in trying to live together with collocated job assignments shape their long-term decision-making for maintaining a career in the Navy. Their experiences show that the organization's demands and far-reaching control are infused into every aspect of their lives. Couples' discourse is focused on their human agency in an effort to maintain control of their life course while meeting the organizational demands of rigid and structured career paths, increased number of sea duty tours and deployments, and perceived low priority of collocation in the assignment process. Dual career couples in this organization use a long-term perspective of the life course to cope with their current situation with the knowledge that their life satisfaction will improve in the near future as they progress in their career. These couples adapt by employing work-family prioritization strategies for achieving their personal and professional goals. Learning how to successfully combine and separate roles through these prioritization strategies reduces stress and increases life satisfaction.Item Family Structure and Adolescent Well Being: The Mediating Effects of Family Cohesion and Parental Leadership(2010) Messina, Lauren A.; Leslie, Leigh; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Research comparing single-parent households to two-parent households suggests better outcomes for adolescents of two-parent households. Much of this research has narrowly focused on assessing the benefits of family structure. The current study explores the family processes of family cohesion and parental leadership as mediators of child well-being in single and two-parent families. Child well-being is assessed through using adolescent self reports of attachment style. Findings indicate no relationship between the proposed mediators, family structure, and adolescent secure attachment. Family structure did not have an impact on the potential mediating variables so mediation could not be established. The possible meaning of the lack of relationship in this sample is discussed.Item Psychosocial Dimensions of Fatherhood Readiness in Low-Income Young Men(2009) Waters, Damian M; Roy, Kevin; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Researchers have a limited understanding of how men become ready for fatherhood, especially among young, low-income men in the transition to fatherhood. The present study draws a diverse sample (n = 53) enrolled in fatherhood programs in Midwestern cities. Life history interviews were conducted with the participants and grounded theory was employed to identify common themes among the narratives. Four cognitive dimensions of fatherhood readiness were identified by the current investigation: presumptive paternity and acknowledged paternity that one is a father, fatherhood vision, maturity, and men's perceptions of their provisional capacity. These contributed to the construction of narratives that describe fatherhood--trial readiness and decided readiness. Implications for social policies and programming are discussed.Item MATERNAL EDUCATION, MATERNAL LANGUAGE ACCULTURATION, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, AND MATERNAL SOCIAL SUPPORT AS PREDICTORS OF THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ASIAN AMERICAN CHILDREN(2009) Wang, Xiaofang; Koblinsky, Sally A.; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Asian American families are one of the fastest growing groups of the American population. Although multiple studies point to the importance of parents in children's development, there are few empirical studies of the role of mothers and family members in the academic achievement and socioemotional development of Asian American children. Therefore, this study examined the role of maternal education, maternal language acculturation, maternal and family member involvement in home and school activities, and maternal social support in predicting the reading skills, mathematical thinking skills, peer relations, externalizing behavior problems, and internalizing behavior problems of Asian American children. The sample included 311 third grade Asian American children who had biological mothers of Asian heritage and whose families were participants in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K). Mothers were interviewed by telephone or in person, and direct assessments were made of children's academic skills, peer relations, and behavior problems. Secondary data analyses included descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and hierarchical multiple regressions. Findings revealed that higher maternal education predicted better child reading and mathematical skills, poorer peer relations, and fewer internalizing behavior problems. Higher maternal language acculturation predicted poorer child mathematical thinking skills and better peer relations. Greater maternal and family involvement in school activities predicted fewer child internalizing problems. Maternal social support was not a significant predictor of any child outcomes in this group of Asian American children. Implications of the findings for developing interventions aimed at mothers of Asian heritage to enhance their children's academic achievement and socioemotional development are discussed.Item Perspectives on Parent Involvement: How Elementary Teachers Use Relationships with Parents to Improve Their Practice(2008-11-20) Jacobs, Bryce Anne; Lareau, Annette; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)One of the most important areas of research in education is the role of parents in student achievement. Studies indicate that parents working as volunteers, homework helpers, and participants in school activities influence student success, but we do not know exactly how that happens or how teachers perceive of their relationships with parents. Although researchers state that the parent teacher relationship is important, they have not systematically unpacked how parent involvement is related to the instructional decision making of teachers. This study uses in depth interview data from 21 elementary school teachers who teach grades one through four. The study also includes participant observation in one private school. My findings suggest that teachers, in a variety of kinds of schools, use information about students' home lives and outside interests to make their teaching more effective. They report doing this by being able to motivate students, by being sensitive to a student's mood and by being able to make changes to their curriculum based on student needs. Much of what a teacher, especially in the elementary grades knows about his/her students is gleaned from the students' parents. It is this information that affects teacher practice in the classroom. This leads to teachers not treating all forms of parent involvement equally; they value communication and they use what they learn from communications with parents to customize their curricula for individual students. The literature to date has not examined communication patterns between parents and teachers fully. When examined closely, it seems that teachers try to manage and negotiate their relationships with parents through setting boundaries and through their communication patterns. It has been reported that teachers do not learn about parent involvement in their teacher education courses. This study affirms that assertion and increases our understanding of what teachers are influenced by: their mentor teachers, their colleagues, the school administration and their own parents. This study will add to the parent involvement research by examining teachers' views on their relationships with parents and will help educators and policy makers better understand how parents contribute to classroom instruction.Item Social Capital's Dark Side and Patriarchy in India(2008-08-18) Andrist, Lester Howard; Andrist, Lester H; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Social capital is often extolled as a benevolent resource, but resources can be applied to any number of ends. Using new data from the India Human Development Survey (N=41,544), I examine social capital and patriarchy and demonstrate that social capital works to enhance restrictions placed on women's autonomy, revealing a darker side. Households which are well tied into their communities avail themselves to greater scrutiny and thus anticipate and react to the prescriptions of dominant, patriarchal norms. This study employs multivariate logistic and ordinal logistic regression to model the relationship between four measures of women's autonomy and the social capital of households: 1) wearing a veil; 2) eating order during meals; 3) mobility; 4) and decision making. A male-first eating order and restrictions on mobility are demonstrated to be associated with higher levels of social capital.Item Are Leavers and Returners Different? Determinants of Coresidence After Adult Children Leave Home(2008-08-07) Chan, Chaowen; Iceland, John; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The paper examines the determinants of coresidence between parents and adult children. Using 34 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics from 1968 to 2005 and event history models, I find that there is an unambiguous distinction between nest leavers and nest returners. Marital status and employment status of adult children are the most important time-dependent determinants of nest-returning, and older cohorts have a higher propensity to return home. Parents in good health support their children returning home when significant life events endanger the adult children's ability to live alone. Therefore I argue that coresidence is a rational support but not a competition between children's need and parent's need. Further cohort comparisons also show adult children's life events matter for older cohorts, but parents' marital disruption matters for younger cohorts.Item THE INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION OF GENDER-ROLE ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR: HOW DO PARENTS MATTER?(2008-07-30) Wight, Vanessa Rachel; Bianchi, Suzanne M; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examines the dynamic relationship between a parent's gender-role attitudes and behavior and their children's subsequent gender-role attitudes and housework behavior as adults. It uses a national sample of 1,864 young adults aged 18-32 in 2001-2002 (Wave 3), whose parents were previously interviewed in 1987-1988 (Wave 1) and 1992-1994 (Wave 2) as part of the National Surveys of Families and Households (NSFH). Overall, the findings suggest that attitudes remain stable across generations--particularly from mothers to children. Consistent with earlier research, mothers who express egalitarian attitudes about women's and men's gender roles have children who are more egalitarian on average than those with mothers who express more conventional views of women and men. Furthermore, when measures of mother's gendered ideology and housework are considered simultaneously, a mother's gender ideology is a strong predictor of both her daughter's and son's gender ideology, and this relationship holds whether or not a mother's housework behavior is consistent with her ideas. Early maternal attitudes observed when focal children were aged 2-11 (Wave 1) are significant predictors of both daughters' and sons' gender attitudes in adulthood. Results from analyses of change over time in a mother's gendered attitudes and behaviors indicate that what is modeled early in a child's life, more than its consistency, is an important predictor of a child's subsequent gender-role attitudes as an adult. When fathers are added to the analysis and the role of mother-father agreement in gender ideology is considered, the results indicate that daughters with a mother and father who both hold egalitarian views of women's and men's roles are themselves more egalitarian than daughters with parents who are both traditional. On the other hand, a son's gender ideology shows less association with mother-father gender ideology agreement. As long as one parent holds more egalitarian attitudes, a son's gender ideology is more egalitarian than sons with parents who are both traditional. The transmission of gendered behaviors from parents to children, however, appears to be less stable and more complex than the transmission of attitudes. For example, the amount of time daughters spend on housework is primarily associated with their own adult characteristics. Most notably, taking on adult family roles (such as a spouse, partner, or parent) is associated with more time women spend in housework. Yet there is some evidence that later maternal housework time (observed at Wave 2 when children were aged 10-17) is positively associated with a daughter's adult housework time, regardless of whether Wave 1 housework time was high or low. Among sons, the results suggest that the more housework a mother does in Waves 1 and 2, the more a son does in adulthood, and this relationship does not appear to be sensitive to the mother's housework time and consistency in Waves 1 and 2. Finally, the timing of exposure to a mother's attitudes seems to be more salient to a partnered daughter's share of the couple's combined housework than whether the mother's attitudes remain consistent over time. Overall, this dissertation finds that our understanding of gendered outcomes in adulthood is best understood by applying a life course perspective that acknowledges the contributions of both parental effects and children's own current circumstances-- recognizing that adult lives evolve over time, are intertwined within an ever changing society, and cannot be understood from a single survey or snapshot in time.