Gendered portrayals of mental health and mental illness in popular magazines in the United States

Research found that gendered stigma associated with mental health problems played an essential role in shaping public's perceptions about gender and mental illness. Magazines as a widely circulated printed media have long been understudied pertaining to the topic of mental health and mental health issues. This thesis explored the portrayals of mental health issues in four magazines (two men's magazines and two women's magazines) during a ten-year period from 2002-2011 through a content analysis. The current study examined the topics, cause and solution framing, sources cited, discourse type and message cues used in men's and women's magazines. Results indicated that magazines tended to cover general mental health terms such as stress or anxiety rather medically diagnosable illnesses such as depression. While these magazines were most likely to attribute mental illnesses to social causes, self-help was the solution most often proposed. Human interest discourse was more likely to be used than scientific discourse. Finally, magazines were more likely to use challenge code than stigma code in their coverage of mental illnesses. Men's magazines and women's magazines differed primarily from each other in the sources cited and discourse types. Women's magazines seemed to cite more frequently expert sources than men's magazines, especially academic sources. Moreover, women's magazines employed more scientific discourse than men's magazines. Limitations of this study were presented and future research directions were provided. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Framing the discourse of leadership: an analysis of the social construction of leadership within communication, business and higher education

There is an increasing amount of academic and pop culture interest centered on leadership development. The study and advancement of leadership is tied to many academic disciplines and is continually evolving. Within academia there are multiple perspectives from which leadership can be advanced and taught. This study advances the notion that leadership is socially constructed. By examining the discourse surrounding leadership study and education the goal is to better understand the foundations and frameworks related to leadership advanced by scholars and professionals from the academic disciplines of communication, higher education, and business. Through examining the socially-constructed language within these relevant disciplines common themes emerged to provide support to disciplinary frames that influence the pedagogical approach for developing leadership curriculum. This study reviews related literature, analyzes how leadership is defined and framed within these areas, and provides recommendations for future inquiries into the blending of knowledge from these academic disciplines for the improvement of leadership education as a whole. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Those queer teen years: an autoethnography of reading and realizing queer identity

High school can be a harrowing time for almost anyone, but that is especially true of any number of students who fall into underrepresented or subaltern groups. Students that identify with marginalized populations may often face difficulty finding characters and people to relate to not only in real life, but also in the media. This thesis looks at the ways in which the struggle to find these mediated representations--especially in young adult targeted literature can affect the worldview of queer identified teenagers. In order to dynamically and effectively interrogate the availability and quality of queer representation in young adult literature, this thesis makes use of the autoethnographic tradition, examining the effects the literature may have on the formative identity of a queer teen through personal narrative and lived experience. Through this narrative, presented as a layered account, theoretical concepts such as the closet, passing, representation, performance, and muted groups are all presented as part of "those queer teen years. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Striving to be unique, the search for voice: identity construction and performance among creative writers and the navigation of a hegemonic system

This thesis examines the Academic Creative Writing Economy (ACWE) as a hegemonic system and how its members navigate the governing rules of this system. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 25 ACWE members and were later transcribed following Strauss and Corbin's (1990) grounded theory methodology. To analyze the 188 single-spaced pages of transcripts, a cultural-critical rhetorical lens is employed, viewing the data through Butler's (1999) identity theory and Foucault's (1965, 1972, 1977) theory of dominant discourses. The analysis produced four emergent themes: the hegemonic nature of the ACWE, the rules of the hegemonic system, voice as central to writers and what is at stake in the face of governing rules, and online publishing outlets as resistive shelters and forces against the ACWE. The rules of the system are enforced via system sanctioned stages (i. e. workshops and publications) and therefore inform system members' voices with or without the system members' knowledge. Despite this hegemonic, cyclical effect, the system aids writers as it provides an economic shelter. This shelter coupled with the resistive structures within the walls of the ACWE, prevent a total conversion to stagnant writing. In addition to outlining these governing rules, this thesis also examines the performance and construction of voice among system members; and how these performances and constructions are changing in the face of both a technological boom and a rise in the number of programs within the ACWE. I argue for further study of creative writers by Communication scholars focused on identity theory, as creative writers have always had mediated identity performances via their work and now the general population is adopting these mediated performances through social media. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Bloody bogalusa and the fight for a bi-racial lumber union: a study in the Burkean rebirth cycle

The Great Southern Lumber Mill (Great Southern Lumber), for which Bogalusa, Louisiana was founded in 1906, was the largest mill of its kind in the world in the early twentieth century (Norwood 591). The mill garnered unrivaled success and fame for the massive amounts of timber that was exported out of the Bogalusa facility. Great Southern Lumber, however, was also responsible for an infamous suppression of a proposed biracial union of mill workers. “Bloody Bogalusa” or “Bogalusa Burning,” to which the incident is often referred, occurred in 1919 when the mill’s police force fired on the black leader of a black unionist group and three white leaders who supported unionization, killing two of the white leaders, mortally wounding the third, and forcing the black unionist to flee from town in order to protect his life (Norwood 592). Through the use of newspaper articles and my personal, family narrative I argue that Great Southern Lumber Company, in order to squelch the efforts of the union leaders, engaged in a rhetorical strategy that might be best examined through Kenneth Burke’s theory of the Rebirth Cycle. In order for the company’s rhetorical strategy to operate within the realm of Burke’s rebirth cycle, the pentadic ratio of Agent: Act was employed in each phase of the cycle in order to define the individual elements that proved pivotal in the success of this drama. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Cultural values and social exchange in long-distance dating relationships

The goal of this thesis was to examine how different cultural values influence the use of maintenance behaviors and the fulfillment of comparison level in long-distance dating relationships. Related intercultural studies have found that people in the United States tend to be more individualistic, while people from Asian countries are comparatively more collectivistic (e.g. Hofstede, 2001; Ting-Toomey, 2010). As suggested by social exchange theory (Thibaut & Kelley, 1959), relational satisfaction is determined by the fulfillment of comparison level for the use of maintenance behaviors. However, most empirical studies examined the link between maintenance behaviors and satisfaction, but very little research has connected comparison level with satisfaction. Besides, previous studies have not associated cultural factors with relational maintenance. Thus, by conducting a survey (N=102) on both American and Chinese who are currently in long-distance dating relationships, this thesis fills the gap in interpersonal communication literature by 1) bringing cultural values in the contexts of long-distance dating relationships, and 2) linking comparison level to relational satisfaction. Counter to previous findings, this study found that both American and Chinese participants favored Horizontal Individualism, and there was no significant difference in scores of four types of individualism/collectivism for American and Chinese participants. However, differences still exist in their personal use of maintenance behaviors. American participants reported the maintenance behaviors of assurances and tasks as most frequently used, while Chinese participants reported that of positivity. When participants were asked to report their partners' use of maintenance behaviors, both American and Chinese reported assurances as the most frequently used strategy, which mostly met their expectations. Besides, the use of each and all of the five maintenance behaviors met the expectations in each and total samples. Regarding the correlation between the fulfillment of comparison level and relational satisfaction, findings of the American sample showed that satisfaction was positively associated with positivity, assurances, and tasks. In the Chinese sample, satisfaction was positively correlated with tasks, but negatively correlated with openness. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

You and me will never part: a study of Black women's best friendships

The existing literature on women's friendship lacks information about Black women's friendships. Few researchers (e.g., Goins, 2011; Denton, 1990) have looked specifically at Black women's friendship and the role they play in Black women's lives. This project answers the call set forth by Houston (2002) and others for more work to be done in interpersonal communication about African Americans from within the African American community. This project found that Black women's best friend relationships begin with similarities, loyalty, understanding and dependability. Once the women become best friends, they must be honest, loyal/trustworthy, understanding, positive, and spend time together. They maintain their friendship with open communication within their friendship, the modes of communication they choose, and the topics of conversations that they have. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

"We the women of Juárez are strong": a rhetorical analysis of Diana, the huntress of bus drivers

In August 2013, a woman boarded a bus in Juárez, Mexico. As she left the bus, she shot the bus driver in the head, fatally wounding him. The next morning, she boarded another bus, killing a second driver. In the days following the attack, a person, claiming to be responsible for these crimes, sent a note to local media, calling herself Diana, the Huntress of Bus Drivers. In the city of Juárez, bus drivers often sexually assault women when they take public transportation home from work. Claiming to be a victim of sexual violence herself, Diana hoped to be a voice for other survivors by challenging legal structures and gender expectations in her city. In this thesis, I explore through Burkean methods, narrative analysis, and gender criticism how Diana seeks to break these boundaries by studying the media coverage of these events. Finally, I offer conclusions for future research. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Effects of attributional style and health locus of control on emotional support: young adult partnerships shaped by mental illness

The purpose of the research was to investigate the effects of both attributional style and health locus of control on emotional support within potential partnerships that are affected by mental illness. The research focused on the young adult population due to the prevalence of mental illness. Based on previous scholarship, the research posed two central research questions: How does the perceived controllability of a mental illness influence people's willingness to give emotional support to a partner living with a mental illness? How does the attribution of the mentally ill partner's actions affect the supporter partner's willingness to lend emotional support? Using an experimental design with participants (N=136) answering the established measures based on hypothetical scenarios, the research manipulated the mental disorder presented (i.e., Bipolar Disorder and Substance Abuse Disorder), and how the potential actions associated with the illness could be attributed (i.e., internal or external). Independent measures included health locus of control, attributional style, perceived controllability, and willingness to lend emotional support. The results suggested several important implications. Participants reported that the mental illnesses presented were moderately to highly controllable. The results also inferred that their willingness to lend emotional support is effected by the perceived controllability of the illness. Lastly, the research suggested that being able to attribute certain behaviors to the diagnosis is a factor in the participants' willingness to lend emotional support. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Good cop, bad cop: communication accommodation, perception, and trust in law enforcement-suspect encounters

Since the 1980s, community policing has been embraced as the dominant police strategy. Thompson (1983) estimates that 97% of an officer's time is spent communicatively interacting with the public, which indicates a strong incentive to study how communication affects those involved in police interaction. Utilizing Communication Accommodation Theory as a theoretical framework, this study examines the relationship between communication accommodation, perception, and trust and poses the following question: How does a police officer's communication accommodation affect the communicative relationship between a police officer and his or her suspect? An online questionnaire was distributed to 257 students at a large, southeastern University, and their responses were analyzed. The data indicates that accommodative behavior can lead suspects to be more trusting of the police, but did not have a significant effect on police perception. Overall, this study helps fill a significant research gap in the police communication literature and provides pragmatic implications to improve the police-suspect interaction. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries