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UMI/ProQuest URL |
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http://80-wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/fullcit/9993407 |
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PUBLICATION NUMBER |
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AAT
9993407 |
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TITLE |
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Lure
of the past, promise for the future: A study of community |
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AUTHOR |
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Adams, Nancy Leigh |
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DEGREE |
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PhD |
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SCHOOL |
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FIELDING GRADUATE INSTITUTE |
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DATE |
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2001 |
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PAGES |
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177 |
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ADVISER |
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ISBN |
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0-493-00553-6
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SOURCE |
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DAI-A
61/10, p. 4195, Apr 2001 |
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SUBJECT |
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SOCIOLOGY,
SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT (0700); WOMEN |
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ABSTRACT |
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The
subject of community, healthy communities, and social capital are currently
attracting the attention of the American public. Social integration is the
result of a close network of overlapping relationships. How a community
defines itself and maintains its relationships is an important consideration.
This study is an in-depth examination of a community and how it establishes
itself. The community, its central identifying festival, teen pregnancy as a
continuing social issue within the community are all examined as indicators
of the communities structure and dynamics. The
questions asked are: How do individuals, families, organizations and the
community interact to keep a set of patterns, in this case community
festivals and teen pregnancy, in place? What happens in a community to
influence social change in either direction? What are the dynamics in a
community which stifle or foster change? This study was conducted over a 5
year period. Data collection consisted of review of both visual and written
archival data, community observation, brief “on the street”
interviews, pictures, and participant interviews. Participant selected in 3
categories: Teen pregnancy related, community key
elite, and Buckwheat Festival participants. Eighty-two interviews were
conducted with 75 participants. Overlapping of category representation
increased the viewpoints on any particular issue within these interviews.
Data were analyzed using narrative analysis, photo analysis, and
co-researcher models. Interpretations were reviewed with a number of experts
in the field to verify interpretation. The buckwheat festival serves to
symbolically construct community within the county. Civic pride, citizen
participation, and volunteerism are embodied within the structure of the
festival. The festival also reconstructs a history of the county and legacy
for family, community, tradition, and the future each year it is held. The
festival both anchors the community to its past and draws it to a future.
Themes consistently present throughout the various aspects of the study
design include resistance and perseverance as the key to survival, community
and family as important values and traditions, and tradition as an important
guide to the future. These themes and their enactment in the community are
important building blocks to social integration, healthy communities, and
social capital. Key challenges to the community, community integration, and
social capital are discussed in light of economic development. |