In Search of Individual Freedom: Ford Madox Ford, Phenomenology & Reader-Response Criticism

Ford Madox Ford has often been seen by critics as an author of pure style, writing without philosophic underpinnings for his impressionistic techniques. However, philosophy plays a large role in Ford\u27s work—as a foundation for both his themes and literary theory. This philosophy, phenomenology--the metaphysics of individual experience as opposed to universal determinism—came into existence during Ford\u27s lifetime. Though Ford may never have read in phenomenology, his works reflect the movement both in what he writes, by emphasizing the individual over the communal experience, and how he writes, using the idea of the neutral author to present objective narration. The first three chapters explore three of Ford\u27s works--the fairy tale The Queen Who Flew (1894), the novel The Good Soldier (1915), and the tetralogy Parade\u27s End (1924-1928)—and show a growth of phenomenological thought within each. Starting with The Queen Who Flew, Ford portrays the first principle of phenomenology, the importance of individual perspective, a principle found in the early phenomenology of Edmund Husserl. In The Good Soldier, a second stage of phenomenology. Martin Heidegger\u27s discovery of the underlying void and apparent meaninglessness of life, can be seen. Third, Jean-Paul Sartre\u27s ideas of nihilation, freedom, and the self-created being are reflected in Parade\u27s End. The final chapter applies phenomenology to Ford\u27s literary theory, an early version of reader-response criticism, a literary school of thought which comes from phenomenological philosophy. Three central relationships appear in Ford\u27s critical writings: the relationship between the writer and the word, epitomised by the removal of authorial presence; the relationship between the reader and the writer, marked by humbleness on the part of the writer; and the relationship between the reader and the word, a relationship based on surprise. Etch of these relate back to Ford\u27s major intent, to become the neutral author. Ford\u27s criticism shows his consciously applying the basic ideas of phenomenology to his own writing, allowing readers to arrive at their own subjective interpretations of life as presented in the novel

Personal and Social Factors Related to Adolescent Recidivism

More than 45,000 Minnesota juveniles were arrested for all types of offenses in 1993, and 8.3 out of every 100 Minnesota juveniles arrested were between the ages of 10 and 17 (MN State Legislative Auditor, 1995). This exploratory research is a study using face to face interviews with seven professionals working directly with adolescent males who have been arrested and convicted of illegal activity (including status offenses). Six social service professionals from Minneapolis/St. Paul and surrounding metro counties were interviewed. Participants shared their perspective on the personal and social forces they think influence adolescent recidivism. Recidivism in this study is defined as adolescents habitually returing to crime after being released from incarceration. Some of the social forces identified were negative peer pressure, family structure, family problems, family instability, lack of parenting skills, poor communication skills, and poverty. They also offered solutions to those problems presented. The solutions included giving the adolescents more support, more mentorship programs, involvement of community and churches, and employment opportunities for the adolescents. Implications for social work practice are discussed

The Whiter lotus: Asian religions and reform movements in America, 1836-1933

This study examines the influence of Asian religions and thought on various reform movements in America, including anti-slavery, labor rights, the alleviation of poverty, women\u27s rights, and the rights of immigrants. The interactions between these two forces will be uncovered and analyzed from 1836, the year Ralph Waldo Emerson\u27s ground-breaking work Nature was published, until 1933, the year that Dyer Daniel Lum, the last individual discussed in this work, passed away. Previous studies have demonstrated that those who incorporated Asian religions and thought into their own lives and worldviews also affixed great importance on affecting society in a positive manner. This study continues that analysis and looks deeper in to the question of how effective these individuals were in their respective projects of reform and how those projects interrelated with their new found ideas garnered from Asia. This history is as varied and diverse as the individuals that comprised it. Some used Asian religions and thought to support their views of the world and their philosophies, some turned their incorporation of Asian religions into lifestyle enclaves, while others transformed their experiences into another consumptive experience, and some took what they absorbed from Asia and made significant short-term and long-term contributions to American history and to the history of the world. However, these individuals were all effective in using Asian religions to challenge the dominant discourse of the times and thereby provide later generations with a larger frame of reference. Through their insightful explorations and analyses of Asian religions, cultures, and ideas they laid the crucial groundwork for those who came after them. This influence expanded beyond specific reform movements themselves and radiated into other areas including art, literature, poetry, and the very cultural vocabulary that runs through America to this day. To understand the general receptivity of American culture today to Asian religions, we need to understand the intellectual foundations laid by previous generations of American reformers who embraced Asian religions as an intellectual foundation for positive social change during periods when entertaining such ideas was far less accepted. The subjects of this study include Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Percival Lowell, William Sturgis Bigelow, Paul Carus, and Dyer Daniel Lum to name a few. The many connections between Asian religions and the various reform movements and activities in America are focused on these particular individuals and utilize them as case studies in order to make a larger argument. Ultimately, this dissertation contends that the interaction between Asian religions and American reform did not begin, for example, in the 1960s with anti-war protesters, but, in fact, there was an adherent to or a sympathizer with Asian religions on the front lines of most of the major reform movements in America leading back to the early nineteenth century