Caring for Stray Cats: An Ethnographic Exploration of Animal Caregiving in Urban Thailand

This dissertation is an ethnographic description of animal caregiving in urban Thailand with a focus on caring for stray cats. The main setting in which I explored this human-animal relationship is Bangkok, locally known as Krung Thep, the capital of Thailand. My aims are to detail the way Thai people carry out caregiving work for stray cats in this highly urbanised environment and to explore this from three key perspectives: (1) a means of trans-species communication; (2) an ethics governing the caregiving work of Thai caregivers for their community animals; and (3) a way of thinking about welfare for humans and animals. I argue that animal caregiving is a practice of trans-species communication that forms a human-animal relationship, and houses are one of the sites to witness how it actualises. As social relationships entail ethical implications, animal caregiving is also considered an ethical project for animal caregivers to collectively achieve an ideal form of trans-species bonds. Because of this social and moral significance, welfare is increasingly perceived as a necessity to support these human-animal bonds

2018 EURēCA Abstract Book

Listing of student participant abstracts

“I just let him cry...”: Designing socio-technical interventions in families to prevent mental health disorders

Interventions that help children develop protective factors against mental health disorders are an inherently social endeavour, relying on a number of actors from within the family as well as the school context. Little work thus far in CSCW and HCI has examined the potential of technology to support or enhance such interventions. This paper provides the first steps to unpacking this socio-technical design space, focusing on emotional regulation (ER) as a specific instance of a protective factor. We combine a user-centred approach to understanding lived experiences of families (interviews, design workshops) with an expert-led understanding of what makes interventions psychologically effective. Our findings suggest the potential of technology to enable a shift in how prevention interventions are designed and delivered: empowering children and parents through a new model of ‘child-led, situated interventions’, where participants learn through actionable support directly within family life, as opposed to didactic in-person workshops and a subsequent ‘skills application’. This conceptual model was then instantiated in a technology probe, which was deployed with 14 families. The promising field study findings provide an initial proof-of-concept validation of the proposed approach

"They Don't Come With a Handbook":Exploring Design Opportunities for Supporting Parent-Child Interaction around Emotions in the Family Context

Parenting practices have a profound effect on children’s well-being and are a core target of several psychological interventions for child mental health. However, there is only limited understanding in HCI so far about how to design socio-technical systems that could support positive shifts in parent-child social practices in situ. This paper focuses on parental socialisation of emotion as an exemplar context in which to explore this question. We present a two-step study, combining theory-driven identification of plausible design directions, with co-design workshops with 22 parents of children aged 6-10 years. Our data suggest the potential for technology-enabled systems that aim to facilitate positive changes in parent-child social practices in situ, and highlights a number of plausible design directions to explore in future work

Iowa women as tourists and consumers of souvenirs

This study describes how Iowa women tourists differ in their travel behavior, souvenir purchases, and the status of textiles and clothing in the souvenir market. Interviews characterized 42 women, half each in the early-adulthood (EA) and middle-adulthood (MA) eras of Levinson (1978, 1986). Seven were unmarried. Reported annual family incomes were \75,000;Trip-planning styles and souvenir-purchase styles classify the informants into five groups. Group I, Low-involvement Travelers, were in EA, made unplanned souvenir purchases, and were minimal trip planners. These nine formed the least well-traveled group of any, and made the lowest average number of purchases of personal souvenirs, but the second highest of gifts. Textiles constituted 35% of their purchases;Group II, Laid-back Travelers, were seven minimal trip planners who made either planned or both planned and unplanned souvenir purchases. Selectiveness is apparent in the low average numbers of purchases in all categories despite high incomes. Textiles were 29% of their purchases;Group III, Centrist Travelers, made pre-planned trips but unplanned purchases. These five purchased the fewest gifts and few personal souvenirs, perhaps due to the unplanned nature of purchases and a low emphasis on family. Textiles constituted 30% of their purchases;Group IV, Goal-attainment Travelers, pre-planned their trips and made both planned and unplanned purchases. The average numbers of purchases of personal souvenirs by these eight were second highest of the groups. Half purchased more textiles than nontextiles as gifts. Textiles were 34% of their purchases;Group V, Eclectic Travelers, used combination planning for trips, and made both planned and unplanned purchases. The average numbers of states and foreign countries visited and purchases for self and for gifts by these 14 were the highest of the groups. Purchases of textiles, at 22%, was lowest of all groups;Future studies should include the associations of shopping companions, travel careers, work-related travel, and of independent income with: (1) purchase behavior; (2) amounts spent on self and on gifts; (3) reasons for an abrupt increase in numbers of purchases and amounts spent at the beginning of MA; and (4) why extensive planners spend more for souvenirs than minimal planners despite lower average incomes

Mass Consumption in Milwaukee: 1920-1970

This study focuses on mass consumption\u27s role in the development of the city of Milwaukee. This study\u27s main focus is on the mid-twentieth century, though this case study will look at mass consumption\u27s role in Milwaukee from its founding to the present. Mass consumption focuses on the actions of buying and selling and how consumer options reflected the city\u27s general development. After studying the composition of Milwaukee\u27s population and income levels, the story of mass consumption in Milwaukee will be told through studying how automobiles and food were bought and sold, as well as how other assorted shopping venues affected the city. This dissertation illustrates that over the course of the twentieth century, mass consumption in Milwaukee was guided by assorted innovations. Automobiles gave consumers the ability to travel lengthy distances in a relatively short time while carrying large quantities of goods. At the start of the twentieth century, cars were an expensive novelty. By 1970, automobiles were ubiquitous. In 1920, most Milwaukeeans bought their food from small grocery stores in their neighborhoods. Fifty years later, large supermarkets catered to most of the city\u27s consumers. Milwaukee\u27s major shopping venues changed dramatically over the course of half a century. Early in the 1900\u27s, Milwaukee\u27s major shopping venues were mainly department stores located in the downtown business district. Late in the century, the most prominent consumption locations were massive shopping centers and malls spaced throughout the city. This study also briefly points to the ways in which mass consumption affected the use of space in Milwaukee. As Milwaukee grew and expanded, retail operations followed. As in most American cities, Milwaukee\u27s residential communities (which often included several small stores) as well as a once-bustling downtown business district, were gradually decentralized. As a result, new shopping venues were created to support consumer residential patterns. Changing patterns and venues of mass consumption re-sculpted the city and metropolitan area of Milwaukee. Between 1920 and 1970, Milwaukee\u27s economic history can be divided into four main eras, which may be titled as follows: boom (the 1920\u27s), bust (the Great Depression), war (WWII), and prosperity (the post-war era)

Chester Township Community Questionnaire Summary Report

The Center for Community Planning and Development at CSU’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs was engaged by Chester Township to assist with conducting a Community Questionnaire. CSU’s role was to work with the Township in developing the questionnaire; and then receiving and analyzing the responses. The questionnaire was mailed to all resident addresses in the Township in May of 2020; responses were received and analyzed during June, July and August. To keep the cost low, the questionnaire was not designed to be a statistically calibrated survey, but rather a questionnaire which would enable the community to get a sense of residents’ interests and desires with regard to the Township’s future. Of 4,724 questionnaires mailed, 1,654 were returned and deemed valid, a 35% response rate. This is a very solid response rate indicative of residents’ high level of interest in participating in Township affairs and expressing their opinion. Questionnaires included both quantitative (multiple choice) questions and open-ended questions. All responses were analyzed by CSU and summarized in this report

Mobile truck entrepreneurship: motivations and strategies of non-food mobile retail truck entrepreneurs in the United States

This dissertation set out to explore the emerging phenomenon of modern mobile retail trucks opening for business across the United States starting in the early 2010s. Thirty-one participants were interviewed, and the data collected was used to glean a further understanding of who mobile retailers are and the key motivations drawing these individuals to alternative retail spaces on wheels. This study was conducted using qualitative methods and thirty-one participants participated in in-depth interviews. A grounded theory approach was used to inform data interpretation and allowed the themes to emerge directly from the data. The data sorted participants into four cohorts, just out of school (10), career shift (9), escapist (8), and retired hobbiest (4). Four primary motivations emerged among participants, need for flexibility, desire for autonomy, creativity, and social interaction. All of these motivations were representative across the four cohorts; however, each cohort emphasized the motivations in different combinations. All the participants had access to high-speed internet and relied on smartphones for many daily business activities. This study can offer contributions to both academia and the retail industry giving insight into this emerging retail venue. Study limitations include the short duration of the study and the small number of participants, which does not allow for the data to be generalized across all mobile retailers. This study offers a preliminary exploratory view of the phenomenon of modern mobile retail emerging across the United States.Includes bibliographical references