College of Behavioral & Social Sciences
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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..
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Item Land Use in Charles County(1962) Langen, John S.; Van Royen, W.; Geography; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)The land use of Charles County does not basically differ from that in the past. Land in forest and land in farms are the two categories of land utilization. The great demand for tobacco on the overseas markets in the early days of the county's history, led to the introduction of this crop. Because of the favorable climate and soils, tobacco became soon the mainstay of the county's economy, a situation which still exists today. The purpose of the thesis was to determine which geographical factors and others accounted for the use of the land. In addition to field work, use was made of detailed statistical data. It was found, that the county could be divided into three sections. In the western section, land in forest was the dominating land use form. In the central section, land in forest and land in farms were about equal in areal extent, whereas in the eastern section, land in farms dominated. The reason was that soils in the western part became exhausted, and a shift to the eastern section took place. Landforms contributed much to the distribution of land in crops, especially for tobacco. Recently, a change in the use of the land is taking place. The encroachment of the Washington Metropolitan area, and the building of a major highway, connecting the North with the South, have induced farmers to sell their lands, which are converted into residential areas.Item Juvenile Delinquency and the Negro in Charles County, Maryland(1966) Seaman, Thomas W.; Lejins, Peter P.; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)Are there differences between Negro and white juvenile delinquents? This was the question that constituted the basis for this exploratory study. The objectives of the project were to determine if Negro juveniles were proportionately overrepresented among juvenile delinquents and if there were differences in types of offenses committed by Negro and white delinquents. The differences found were analyzed in the light of socio-economic class differences between Negro and white delinquents. Previous research has tended to indicate that racial differences disappeared when socioeconomic class was held constant. The area selected for the project was Charles County, Maryland, because of the writer's access to court records and knowledge of the area. Delinquency rates were developed to determine if Negroes were proportionately overrepresented among delinquents and/or if lower class juveniles were overrepresented among delinquents. Delinquent offenses were divided into four types: offenses involving theft or attempted theft of property, offenses involving violence, offenses involving the destruction of property, and offenses injurious to the child himself. Delinquency rates were developed for Negro and white delinquents in each socio-economic class for each type of offense. A simple ecological investigation was conducted to determine if there were any significant patterns in the spatial distribution of the delinquents. The findings show that Negro juveniles were not significantly overrepresented among delinquents even though Negro delinquents were overrepresented among lower-lower class delinquents. White delinquents were found to be overrepresented among delinquents from the lower-middle and upper-lower classes. The analyses of types of offenses revealed that types of offenses could be identified with certain levels of the socio-economic structure regardless of race, but that differences existed between Negro and white delinquents within socio-economic classes. The ecological investigation indicated that there was no significant ecological pattern among county delinquents.Item Internal Migration to Osaka Prefecture, Japan(1956) Lewis, David Michael; Hoffsommer, Harold; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)Item A Comparative Study of Certain Personality Characteristics of College Women Participating in Basketball and Modern Dance(1965) Bird, Anne Marie; Johnson, Warren R.; Health Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)Twenty-five college women attending the University of Maryland during the spring semester of 1963 were studied in an effort to determine whether or not there were any identifiable personality characteristics among those (14) who chose to participate in basketball, as compared to those (13) who chose to participate in modern dance. The subjects used in this study voluntarily chose the activity in which they participated. The California Psychological Inventory was used to evaluate the personality characteristics of the subjects. Analysis of the data showed that the basketball group scored significantly higher, at the 5 percent level of confidence, on the community scale. The modern dance group scored significantly higher, at the 5 percent level of confidence, on the scales measuring flexibility and femininity. A comparison of the group means for all other scales proved insignificant at the 5 percent level of confidence.Item Land Tenure, Property Ownership, and Home Mortgages in the Late Nineteenth Century: A Case Study of Baltimore's Germans(1976) Vill, Martha J.; Groves, Paul A.; Geography; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)During the late nineteenth century the rapidly expanding urban population of the United States created an increased demand for housing. At the same time, mortgage money for the finance of home purchases was in short supply because of the availability of more lucrative investment opportunities elsewhere and because there were legal restrictions on the power of banks to lend money on real estate . Recent literature has emphasized the importance of property ownership among different components of the population, including immigrant groups. Little attention has been paid to the process of property acquisition or to the patterns of land tenure which resulted. An immigrant population, handicapped in numerous ways, was likely to have limited access to available mortgage financing, thereby limiting its ability to purchase property. Yet, the literature suggests that immigrants actively acquired property. This study examines some preliminary ideas about tenure patterns and home mortgages within immigrant residential areas, using a sample of Baltimore's Germans as a case study. The argument presented is that housing acquisition was facilitated by the activities of the immigrants themselves. In view of the restrictions on the supply of mortgage money, financing for property purchases had to come from sources independent of the city's major financial institutions, and the immigrants had to generate their own sources of capital. It was expected that tenants and landlords would have common national origins, another reflection of the immigrants' reliance on members of their own group for housing. Another expectation of the study was that Germans of different origins in Germany would exhibit different tenure patterns. Arguing that the term "German" was an imprecise indicator of national origins, and that the residential patterns of immigrants from different parts of Germany were distinct, it was expected that this diversity would also find expression in tenure patterns. The selection of the sample areas in the study was, therefore, conditioned by the need to isolate areas inhabited by Germans of diverse origins. Land tenure, property ownership, and relationships between landlords and tenants were analyzed. The hoped for differences in rates of property ownership did not materialize, and home ownership was not systematically related to age, income, or family employment. The findings do indicate, however, that home ownership was within the grasp of people with relatively low income. The mechanism which enabled home purchasers to obtain mortgages was the building and loan associations which were organized and directed by men whose origins, occupations, and residences reflected those of the associations' clientele. Thus, the hypothesis that immigrants generated their own mortgage funds was confirmed. The findings of the study concerning landlords and tenants further substantiate the argument that the provision of housing was accomplished by the immigrants themselves. Landlords' residences were close to the properties they rented, and there was a marked tendency for tenants to rent from landlords who shared their German origins.Item Reactions to a Request for a Benefit in Communal and Exchange Relationships(1977) Clark, Margaret Snydor; Mills, Judson R.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)Based on a distinction between communal relationships, in which benefits are given in response to the needs of the other, and exchange relationships, in which benefits are given with the expectation of receiving comparable benefits in return, the following hypotheses were proposed: 1) If a person has been aided by another, that other will be liked more when he requests a benefit than when he does not request a benefit, if the person expects an exchange relationship with the other. 2) If a person has been aided by another» that other will be liked more when he does not request a benefit than when he does request a benefit, if the person expects a communal relationship with the other. 3) If a person has not been aided by another, that other will be liked more when he does not request a benefit than when he does request a benefit, if the person expects an exchange relationship with the other. 4) If a person has not been aided by another, that other will be liked more when he requests a benefit than when he does not request a benefit, if the person expects a communal relationship with the other. Under the guise of a study of performance, female college students worked on a vocabulary task while a television monitor showed another female working on a similar task in another room. In order to manipulate the expectation of an exchange or a communal relationship, some of the subjects were told that the other was married, had a child, lived far from the university and that she and the subject would be discussing differences in interests in the second study (Exchange condition). Other subjects were told that the other was new at the university, did not know many people and that she and the subject would be discussing common interests in a second study (Communal condition). The other female finished the task, received one point and gave the subject aid on her task or did not give aid. The other female then requested a point from the subject or did not request a point. Finally, the subject's liking for the other and her expectations concerning the future discussion with the other were assessed. In general the results for the measure of liking provide evidence for the distinction between communal and exchange relationships. In support of the first hypothesis it was found that the other female was liked more in the Exchange-aid-request condition than in the Exchange-aid- no request condition. In support of the second hypothesis it was found that the other female was liked more in the Communal-aid-no request condition than in the Communal-aid-request condition. In support of the third hypothesis it was found that the other female was liked more in the Exchange-no aid-no request condition than in the Exchange-no aidrequest condition. The fourth hypothesis was not supported; there was no difference in liking for the other female in the Communal-no aid-request condition and in the Communal-no aid-no request condition. As would be expected from the distinction between communal and exchange relationships, liking was greater in the Exchange-aid-request condition than in the Exchange-no aid-request condition, marginally less in the Communal aid- request condition than in the Communal-no aid-request condition and less in the Exchange-aid-no request condition than in the Exchange-no aid-no request condition. The results for the measure of pleasantness of the future discussion with the other were also consistent with the distinction between communal and exchange relationships. The results on the liking measure demonstrate that equity principles, which have been useful in understanding a number of different social relationships, do not apply to all relationships.Item Interaction Patterns in the Neighborhood Tavern(1971) Bissonette, Raymond Peter; Lejins, Peter P.; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)This study was undertaken in order to develop a systematic description and analysis of the social reality of the public drinking establishment with special reference to the neighborhood workingman's tavern. The perspective adopted was a focus on the non-pathological aspects of behavior associated with the consumption of beverage alcohol. Underlying this point of departure was the recognition that most research on drinking behavior is related to alcoholism but most drinking is not. The study had two purposes: first to attempt a descriptive analysis of social interaction in the tavern setting by translating observed behavior into relatively standard sociological concepts of norm, role, ecology, and communication. Beyond the descriptive purpose of this approach was the expectation that the organization of observations into such a conceptual scheme would enhance the scientific utility of the effort by providing for assimilability and comparability of the data with other research and theory. The second purpose was to test a new theoretical focus for its adequacy as an explanatory model. The focus is on behavior in public and semi-public places - an area falling some where between group studies on the one hand and studies of collective behavior on the other. The major component of this theoretical framework is the mechanism of involvement allocation which refers to the ways in which actors regulate the duration and intensity of their involvement in interpersonal interaction. As was anticipated much of what is unique to sociability in the tavern setting was explainable in terms of involvement allocation. Principally responsible for this is the fact that a tavern, regardless of its official definition, has the dual functions of dispensary and social event. Although the tavern is a prototypic case for involvement allocation it was concluded that this explanatory model might have wide application in interpersonal and intergroup behavior. The data were collected over a three year period by means of participant observation in a wide variety of settings. The core data represent observations taken over a two year period in four selected neighborhood taverns. The synchronic observation of these case taverns were then supplemented by spot observations taken in over one hundred other establishments. The third source of data was the published findings of similar and related studies. The contrast and comparison provided by these additional data aid considerably in verifying the raw data and their interpretation - an inherent problem in this kind of approach. The findings demonstrate that the social reality of the tavern setting consists in patterned behavior amenable to systematic description and analysis. Drinking is a never-present variable but rarely an exclusive preoccupation. A more fruitful approach in understanding the role of drinking in such a setting is to focus on its social rather than physiological consequences. As a part of the definition of the tavern, drinking is always an accepted major involvement and as such affords the individual considerable flexibility in his involvement in the social activities occurring simultaneously. Throughout the study much of what is characteristic of tavern behavior is explained in terms of the involvement allocation options offered by the tavern's dual function as dispensary and social event.Item Demographic Investigation of a Piscataway Creek Ossuary(1974) Ashmore, Rebecca Anne Huss; Kerley, Ellis R.; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)Skeletal material from an ossuary on Piscataway Creek was analyzed to determine the minimum number of individuals present, and their sex, stature, developmental life stage and age at death. Cultural debris indicated a date of about 1400-1500 A.D. for the burial. At least 281 individuals were recovered, based on a count of right femoral and temporal petrous portions. Although no sex determination was possible for the 68 juveniles, age at death for this group ranged from 7 foetal months to 18 years. For the 213 adults, sex was evenly divided for the population, and mean stature was fixed at 172.86 cm. for males and 160.61 cm. for females. 107 adults died during young adulthood; 81 died during middle age; and 16 died during old age. A sample of each life stage was tested microscopically to determine age at death. Young adults averaged 56.19 years; and old adults averaged 65.71 years. Average age at death for the entire population was 39.33 years.Item Economic Development in Southern Italy Since the Establishment of La Cassa per il Mezzogiorno(1965) De Bone, Anthony Louis; Bennett, Robert L.; Economics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)The study begins with a survey of the social and economic structure of the area. Attention is then focused on the nature of economic dualism in Italy by pointing out that the Northern economy yields to those employed in it a reasonably high income per capita, while the Southern economy provides for those working in it a low income per capita. In 1950 the Italian Government undertook to increase the level of public investments under a ten-year development plan for the South. It entrusted the execution of this plan to a new agency, La Cassa per il Mezzogiorno . Its life was soon extended to 1965 and more recently to 1980. The ultimate goal of the program was to reduce the differences in the consumption and income levels between the North and the South and to integrate the South into the national economy. Southern developments since 1950 and their effects on the economy are discussed, with emphasis on the Cassa programs and investments. It is discovered that many serious obstacles must be overcome in order to change the economic structure of a region such as Southern Italy. Despite the large transfer of resources to this area, The economic structure has changed little since 1950. However, whatever judgment may be passed on the Cassa at a later date, it is apparent that until now production has been concentrated in those sectors that offer relatively little possibility of rapid growth.Item The Economic Development of Iran(1948) Abbas, Ordoobadi; Ratzlaff, C.J.; Economics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)In the machine age, with the advance of mass production, a new problem has occupied the minds of economists. This new problem is not the Malthusian doctrine of inadequate supplies but rather that of a rate of production too high to be sold continually at profitable prices. With periodic insufficiency of demand industrial countries have faced depressions of varying duration and intensity, which have continued until the rate of production and demand once more were in equilibrium. Despite increased industrial productivity a large part of the world subsists at a standard of living which provides insufficient food values and which does not yield a minimum amount of housing, medical care and education. In industrial countries from ten to fifty per cent of the working population is unemployed during depression periods although workers are willing and able to work in order to obtain goods. In the non-industrial countries, on the other hand, millions of workers are victims of what has been termed "disguised unemployment." They find themselves at tasks which are much below their potential productivity and consequently yield a standard of living substantially under that which they are capable of achieving. The solution to this problem in the undeveloped areas lies partly in spreading the gains of science, both pure and practical; in combining adequate doses of capital and management with the supplies of labor; and in using the excess of resources originating from technical advances in industrial countries . A program on this line would at the same time eliminate inadequate demand in the high-standard countries and depressing poverty in the low-standard countries. As far as Iran is concerned, it is necessary to know her economic background before the necessary measures for economic development can be discussed intelligently. In this respect, in spite of a few works by Iranian and foreign scholars, the materials on the economy of Iran, in English literature, are limited. The result of insufficient and first-hand information or "little knowledge" of some writers has been a distorted picture in which certain points are overemphasized, while the significance of others are under-estimated. Statistics, censuses and data in many aspects are lacking. The absence of statistics makes the study very difficult . Due to the scarcity of published data on many of the topics discussed in the present study, it has been necessary to secure the desired information and data directly from the Ministries of Iranian Government and/or offices concerned. The present economic situation of Iran is the product of an evolution, and can only be under stood by a study of its economic background. Therefore, the application of August Comte's adage that "no conception can be understood except through its history" seemed a logical approach in this study.