Legacy Theses and Dissertations (1940-2009)
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This collection gathers digitized University of Houston theses and dissertations dating from 1940.
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Browsing Legacy Theses and Dissertations (1940-2009) by Department "Comparative Cultural Studies, Department of"
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Item A history of Southern Baptists in Houston (1836-1900)(1952) Wheeless, J. Vernon; Boren, Carter E.; Currie, HaverThe Scope and Purpose of this Thesis. This treatise seeks to catalogue the historical events and growth of Southern Baptists in Houston from 1836 through 1900. It is the first time that such a project has been attempted. Baptists rank as the major Christian denomination in Houston today, and their history should assist in revealing the cause for this standing. The period under consideration covered the foundation years when the groundwork was being done for future growth and expansion in this particular denomination. Baptists in Houston of later years, in order to correctly appreciate their heritage, should know of the faith, sacrifices, and struggles of their pioneer forebears. The study of this era accounts at least for some of the reasons for the phenomenal growth of Southern Baptists in Houston during the first half of the twentieth century. [...]Item Adaptation to stress among disabled and non-disabled university students(1987) Stroup, Christine A.; Hutchinson, Janis D.; Lang, Norris G.; Vineberg, Shalom E.The 53 able-bodied (AB) and disabled (RD) subjects are enrolled at the University of Houston. Data concerning stress, stressors, coping strategies, health, perceptions concerning the disabled, disablement, and demographic variables were collected. Findings revealed significant differences between AB's and PD's. Ulcers, kidney/bladder disorders, and respiratory ailments were more prevalent among the disabled students. The ulcers may be manifestations of the larger number of stressors impinging upon PD's compared to AB's. Both groups receive similar types of social support from their families, friends, and colleagues. More PD students report receiving support from organizations, likely a result of their reliance on organizations like TRC for financial and other forms of support. Considering another source of support important enough to write it in appears to have a protective influence for several disorders. Data indicate PD's are exposed to more stressors than AB's; however, PD's appear to adapt as well as AB's.Item An anthropological profile of the incestuous paternal psyche(1985) Menon, Sarath Kumar; Melville, Margarita B.; Lang, Norris G.; Laval, Ramon A.To date, social science has failed to reveal the determinants of father-daughter incest. Based on both the findings of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory administered to incestuous biological and step fathers, and a cross-cultural survey of pre-industrial societies adapted from the Human Relations Area Files, the author has linked the observed symptoms of personality disorder in incestuous fathers to the decline of male absolutism in contemporary family organization. Consequently, the feminist perspectives on father-daughter incest have been re-evaluated. An incestuous father is objectively examined as a constituent of the wider social system and not as a sex offender per se. Rather than dwelling upon the origin and functions of the incest taboo, the author recommends a new direction in anthropological research that evaluates the socio-cultural determinants of incest.Item Analysis of lithic artifacts from the Albrecht site(1988) Awasom, Chi Lawrence; Brown, Kenneth W.; Widmer, Randolph; King, Elbert A., Jr."Because they survive where less durable items do not, and also because among stone age peoples they constitute an integral part of the adaptive mechanism, chipped stone tools are one of the most important classes of evidence by which we may view the record of human evolution (Collins 1975: 15). However, we cannot have a true picture of the "record of human evolution" if we do not study all chipped stone classes, and if we do not pay particular attention to the reconstruction of behavior from various lithic categories. This study focuses on a detailed classification of stone debitage, with its accompanying tools, from the Albrecht Site of Central Texas and the use of inference to determine behaviour from various lithic classes. It pays particular attention to the Linear Reduction Model as a major approach on which all chipped stone analysis should depend; and on debitage as a most important chipped stone category from which past behaviour can be drawn. The study also looks into the problem of the spatial distribution of stone artifact classes in their archaeological context and the factors responsible for such distribution. While hoping to establish a systematic methodological approach in the classification and description of stone artifacts, the work also hopes to examine the behavioral activities connected with the production and uses of chipped stone tools at the Albrecht site.Item Child language development in the first two years : skill levels, lexicon sharing, negation/affirmation styles, verb acquisition, answering and posing questions(1984) Lane, Deborah Hitt; Randall, Robert A.; Lang, Norris G.; Johnson, Dale L.This study of child language development during the first two and a half years shows that first words are largely taught within a structured linguistic environment to introduce a child to individuals, objects and events of cultural significance. The child begins, however, to infuse verbal interactions with personal opinion and interests, by expressing negation and affirmation and by asking questions. Between ages one and two, children master developmentally ordered skills in these areas. Verbalizing desires seems to draw children out of the two-word stage and into the limitless creative productions that verb acquisition and syntax provide. Used first to relay information about themselves, verbs are later associated with other subjects and used to inquire about past and future events. The study includes responses for 20 children with regard to overall language levels, negation and affirmation styles, lexicon sharing, verb acquisition, and the ability to answer and pose specific questions.Item Design and implementation of a collections management system for the Baytown Historical Museum(1982) Alford, Terri A.; Brown, Kenneth W.; Lang, Norris G.; Robinson, William A.This report is concerned with the planning and coordination of a system designed to record, store, and retrieve artifacts and archival materials in the permanent collections of the Baytown Historical Museum. Organized in early 1970 by a group of local civic leaders, the museum began active collection and display of material related to the Bay Area's long and colorful history. By the end of 1980, the museum's acquisitions, which ranged from prehistoric dart points and scrapers to mid-l9th century medical manuals and instruments, numbered well over one thousand. Because the museum was manned by a volunteer staff which changed regularly, the registration and general conservation of the collections had been either inconsistent or totally neglected. Recognizing the potential loss of information resulting from the permanent separation of artifacts from provenience information and donor records, the museum director and trustees decided to take whatever steps were necessary to bring the collections management system up-to-date and secure its future operation. The procedures involved in recovery and stabilization of the acquisitions and registration records of the Baytown. Historical Museum are discussed in the following pages. Also included are a series of appendices developed to encourage elaboration of the collections management system and professional growth of the museum and its staff.Item Formal education in southern Belize(1982) Tidwell, Monte G.; Howard, Michael C.; Melville, Margarita B.; Ginsburg, Mark B.Southern Belize is characterized by ethnic heterogeneity and diverse cultural cleavages. The Kekchi-speaking and Mopan-speaking Mayan Indians have begun to emerge from their geographic and cultural isolation in the last few decades. The national educational system which is dominated by persons of different cultural backgrounds than the Indians, is seen by its administrators as a means of aiding the integration of the Indian population into the wider Belizean society. This study combines the ethnographic methods of anthropology with some of the more macrolevel approaches found in the sociology of education to present a clearer picture of the educational processes as they occur in concrete form in southern Belize.Item Glorianna Homestead, 41JP94 : an archaeological and historical explanation of a nineteenth century East Texas Piney Woods agricultural adaptation(1986) Few, Margaret Joan Schelling; Brown, Kenneth W.; Widmer, Randolph; Mintz, Steven H.The Glorianna Homestead (41JP94) was established in 1859, in antebellum East Texas, as a cotton, cash-crop, plantation system. The problem being addressed in this research is the relationship between behavior and environment. This includes the identification of an artifact pattern reflective of this agricultural system that can be spacially and temporally compared to other sites, and the extraction of hypotheses from historical and environmental records that can be tested archaeologically concerning human behavior. The results will contribute to a better understanding of the lifestyles and behavior of these early Texas settlers. The need to abandon the homestead in 1882, is explained as an overexploitation of the environment resulting in an inability to continue the processes of agriculture.Item Nineteenth and early twentieth century ceramics in Houston(1988) Davis, Irene G. A.; Brown, Kenneth W.; Lang, Norris G.; Mintz, Steven H.A ceramic analysis using maker's marks to determine the chronology and sources of ceramic supply for a portion of Houston, Texas, during the period 1820 to the present. Socioeconomic status, curation, depositional lag, the "frontier effect" and procurement patterns are also discussed. Methodological considerations for ceramic analyses of post 1780 assemblages are emphasized. The problems inherent in South's Mean Ceramic Date techniques are discussed, and more appropriate analytical methods are presented. Design concepts, for the development of a working methodology, are summarized.Item Ossuary burial of cremated human remains from Copaร๏ฟฝn, Honduras(1986) Ballinger, Diane A.; Storey, Rebecca; Brown, Kenneth W.; Widmer, RandolphAn osteological analysis of the Gordon Cave Site population from Copan, Honduras is the first one conducted on an ossuary of cremated bone. Analysis has revealed the presence of a minimum of twenty-two adults and forty-six juveniles. All age cohorts and both sexes are present indicating that this is a representative sample of the population. No evidence of ranking was found in the sample. Cremation is practiced on all adults and all juveniles over age five. The demographic profile has the characteristics of a total population. Although the relationship of Gordon Cave to Copan is unclear, the health status of Gordon Cave was better than that of Copan. Individuals exhibit none of the effects of crowding or nutritional stress. There are indications that this was either a very early or a very late pre-columbian population. Two types of cremation exist in the sample, dry bone and whole body, signifying that some of the bodies were curated before burning.Item Soviet Jewish immigrants : A study in ethnic identity(1978) Liss, Barbara E. Lackshin; Agar, Michael H.; Melville, Margarita B.; Mote, Victor L.A definition of ethnic identity as proposed by Barth and modified by Levy is presented. A group of twenty-three Soviet Jews, recently resettled in Houston, Texas, was investigated to determine whether they fulfill the requirements of ethnic identity as defined in this study. A description of Soviet Jews and an historical overview from before the 1917 Revolution through contemporary times show the cultural changes that have occurred in Soviet Jewish life. Informal interviews with the immigrants provide the data for the evaluation of their ethnic identity. The data show that the Soviet Jews in this study have an ethnic identity as defined, based on the features of ascription and adoption of cultural symbols that are socially effective.Item Streetcars and American cities, 1870-1920(1986) Snyder, Kimberly A.; Brown, Kenneth W.; Lang, Norris G.; Widmer, RandolphThis paper represents an attempt to discover the relationship(s) between the adoption of a streetcar system of transportation and land use patterns. In addition, we will attempt to develop an understanding of how the physical changes in the structure of American cities may have affected urban social relationships. The paper briefly examines the history of transportation development, culminating with the streetcar. Then, comparative studies are made of six cities in an attempt to discern changes in the relationships mentioned above. Finally, the growth of a specific area in Houston is reconstructed by means of historic and archaeological data. Patterns of development found elsewhere are tested against the data recovered for Houston, Texas.Item The big house : A case study of a Muslim family(1975) Blonski, Valentina; Kolenda, PaulineThe objective of this thesis was to gain an understanding of the structure of the relationships between the members of a family as occupiers of roles and as individuals. For this, actual patterns of behavior were studied by the use of the participant-observation method and by living with the family. As John P. Dean states (in his unpublished paper, 'Some Notes on Field Interviewing and Participation,' p. 1), it is by observation of overt behavior that roles and status interactions emerge; and it was on this premise that the present study was based and conducted through an observation of relationships. Observation of overt behavior also reveals the sentiments of a person towards another. As. R. D. Singh states (in Family Organization in a North Indian Village, 1969) : A person is assumed to have or not to have, a particular feeling toward another person by his behavior in relevant situations. Verbalization of his own views may give some clue, but a reliable knowledge of his sentiments for another person can be obtained only through the observation of his actions (p. 105). The definitions of sentiments operating in role relationships used in this paper are the same as those used by R. D. Singh (1969:106-109). Affection is the feeling between members who spend leisure or work time together; obedience is defined as carrying out orders without questioning; respect, as manifested in avoidance; regard, as a form of respect shown to subordinates and which does not carry the element of admiration; and finally, loyalty, as strong feelings of attachment in the face of a strong challenge to that attachment. Love is not mentioned in his study. I have logically assumed that the members of the family studied behaved in their interactions within the household according to their individual role and status. A review of literature dealing with role relationships in the Indian family has given the basis for analysing my data in terms of role relationships and statuses within the household, and it is presented in the summary. However, the bulk of the data was not directed at looking at the relationships within the household solely in terms of roles, but also as revealed through individuals' personalities, temperaments and sentiments towards another person. In short, the interactions within the household are seen as depending upon role and status but as tied up in the moods, desires and idiosyncracies of the individuals; and as taking place in a social context. Emotional and economic forces enter into play in the development of family life and may cause change in the interactions. In this paper I have presented the roles and statuses of the individuals, their temperaments, personalities and sentiments and hava tried to keep the feel of the flow of the daily routine and the style of this family's life.Item The cultural dialectic of becoming : a study of the interactions between the culture carriers and the post-injury self of the head injured person(1988) Olive, Kevin Wayne; Lang, Norris G.; Kotarba, Joseph A.; Storey, RebeccaHead injury can bring about changes to the self. The dialectical relationship of self to culture is important to the understanding of how a head injured person recreates the self after self-continuation has been disrupted by head injury. This research demonstrates that the cultural dialectic between self and culture is necessary for the recovery of head injured persons from head injury and their acceptance of their post-injury identity. Phenomenology is the major theoretical orientation used in the analysis of the data. A culture shock model of recovery is posited as encompassing the cultural dialectical relationship of the self to culture as the self derives meaning in life. Logotherapy is also part of the multi-perspective analysis of this research which points to a possible therapeutic intervention.Item The education of Mexican Americans in South Texas(1986) Haglund, Jane A.; Melville, Margarita B.; Randall, Robert A.; Ginsburg, Mark B.The Lower Rio Grande Valley has been adversely affected economically by the economic problems of Mexico and by its lack of integration into the more diverse economy of the U.S. Young people there, however, are ideologically oriented to the work and success ethic common to young people in other areas of the U.S. This study focuses on the special problems encountered by ambitious Mexican American college students, who are determined to succeed, in spite of various obstacles which derive largely from the sociopolitical and economic structure.Item The high schools of Nagercoil, South India : an anthropological study(1979) Dyckes, Martha Storm; Kolenda, Pauline; Colson, Anthony C.; Loomis, Charles P.Studies of the process of modernization have indicated that formal educational systems play an essential role in the preparation of a people for a more 'modern' life. In India the formal education system is part of the legacy of European missionaries and British colonization. This research looks at the system of high school education in the south Indian town of Nagercoil from these two perspectives: the missionary-colonial heritage and the trend towards modernization. The thesis governing this research is that formal education in Nagercoil is conservative in content, structure and value orientation, but that this conservatism is countered in a 'hidden curriculum' which encourages the growth of some of the attributes considered necessary for the process of modernization to occur: literacy, mobility, a sense of identity and openness to new experience.Item The institutionalized elderly : a silent subculture(1986) Desjardins, Huguette; Lang, Norris G.; Storey, Rebecca; Kotarba, Joseph A.The process of cultural transmission and the associated phenomenon of conversion is explored to gain insight into the problem of hopelessness, helplessness, and dependency as it is manifest among a sample of institutionalized elderly women. In-depth interviews of eight staff nurses and biographies of nineteen patients over a four month period revealed that a process of cultural transmission is operating throughout life and in the setting to convert patients to a new ideology about old age. Coping strategies are used by patients to gain and/or maintain control, but the ultimate outcome is partial to total conversion.Item The role of religion in the adaptation of Sudanese community in Houston to the American culture(1987) Ahmed, Elkhidir Haroun; Lang, Norris G.; Alkadhi, Ann B.; Kelsaw, James W.The purpose of this research is to investigate the role of religion in the adaptation process of Sudanese community in Houston to the American culture. As a result of the British Colonial Rule, urban centers in Sudan have been the most exposed parts of the country to Western values. Based on this fact, the assumption was that the impact of religion in life would be much greater among people who came from rural areas or from families of rural background. The thesis of this research was that the role of religion in the adaptation strategy of the Sudanese to the American culture would be stronger among those of rural background. Robert Redfield's Folk-Urban Continuum was used to determine the degree of exposure of informants to Western culture before they arrived in the United States. The data supported the main thesis as the role of religion was found decisive in the adaptation of people of rural background to the American culture. Religion worked as a preserver factor among them in encouraging them to build their own community and identify themselves with the larger Muslim community in Houston. On the other hand, religion found to be of little impact in the adaptation strategy of people who came from urban centers background to American culture.Item The role of the clergy at the Vietnamese Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles as culture brokers in Vietnamese refugee resettlement(1980) Heifetz, Julie; Melville, Margarita B.; Howard, Michael C.; Ebaugh, Helen RoseThe role of the clergy of the Vietnamese Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles in the resettlement of 700 Vietnamese Buddhist refugees is the focus of the study. The culture broker concept is employed in the investigation of the mediative function of Buddhist institutions, Buddhist actors, and Buddhist ideas in the adaptive process. Informal and formal interviews with Vietnamese and Western Buddhist clergy, principally, five key monk informants provide the bulk of material for the background and discussion. Key informants associated with the Temple were selected for interviews. In support of the adaptive and self-preserving features of the broker role, the data show that the monk-sponsors are effective culture brokers functioning both as agents of change and preservers of tradition. The research leads to the conclusion that in the performance of newly acquired mediation and secular roles that facilitate adaption, the Buddhist clergy maintains its sacred institutions, traditions, ideas, and roles.Item The use of alternate health resources in a South Texas town(1978) Chandler, Sue Ann Breyley; Colson, Anthony C.; Reid, Russell M.; Haney, C. AllenAn alternate Anglo-American health care system's coexistence with a substantial, allopathic medical system is explored. A small South Texas town of twenty thousand, with an ethnic breakdown of 90% Mexican-American and 10%, Anglo-American, was chosen. A sample of thirty women and their families was interviewed and monitored over a four-month period. Their perceptions of health and usage patterns of the available medical and alternate health care systems are analyzed. A number of factors were isolated which included: life experiences, perceptions of illness, and the perceptions of Mexican-American usage patterns of medical facilities.