http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/8721 2013-06-19T11:53:09Z http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/14861 Caravan: Stories Walker, Philip Dean Caravan: Stories, a collection of fifteen original short stories, explores the complexities of the human experience and the violence people inflict on one another. From a woman addicted to a virtual reality game who is neglecting her child to a man whose fantasies about sleeping with his neighbor's wife have begun to take over his life, the characters in each of these stories are enveloped in their commitment to their own personal desires. This collection offers the widest possible range that is offered by the short story form--experimentations in form and voice as well as the classic short story. Degree awarded: M.F.A. Literature. American University 2013-06-04T00:00:00Z http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/14860 CONDITIONED TASTE AVOIDANCE PREDICTS MORPHINE, BUT NOT COCAINE, SELF-ADMINISTRATION: A ROLE OF DRUG AVERSION IN DRUG TAKING Verendeev, Andrey Drugs of abuse are complex pharmacological compounds that produce multiple effects, not all of which are rewarding or positively reinforcing. Drugs of abuse have also been described in terms of their aversive effects, evidenced by their ability to suppress consumption of a taste stimulus with which they were previously paired. This ability to condition taste avoidance has been described for all major drugs of abuse, including morphine and cocaine. In the present series of experiments, the relationship between the ability of morphine and cocaine to condition taste avoidance or place preference and support self-administration was assessed. There was a significant negative relationship between the aversive effects of morphine and morphine self-administration, such that rats most sensitive to the aversive effects of morphine self-administered less drug than rats least sensitive to morphine's aversive effects. Interestingly, no such relationship was found with cocaine. Moreover, there was no relationship between the ability of either morphine or cocaine to produce place preference and support self-administration. The present results are discussed in the context of the theoretical position that the balance of drug reward and aversion determines drug self-administration. Degree awarded: Ph.D. Psychology. American University 2013-06-04T00:00:00Z http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/14859 A PROPOSAL TO STRENGTHEN THE ASEAN'S ROLE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS Kranrattanasuit, Naparat A PROPOSAL TO STRENGTHEN ASEAN'S ROLE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS BY Naparat Kranrattanasuit ABSTRACT The intensity of human trafficking victims in the ASEAN region has raised concern that counter-human trafficking strategies at the national and regional stages are deficient. At the regional level, ASEAN has failed to create a sufficient anti-human trafficking law, structure, or human rights bodies because they have not provided equal protection for all trafficking victims. Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam will be studied at the national stage to address their insufficient anti-human trafficking laws (namely non-prosecution of trafficking victims, appropriate housing, age, gender, and special needs of trafficking victims) and practices (including protection of male victims, victim identification, and criminalization of human trafficking perpetrators). To tackle the scourge of human trafficking, ASEAN must not only reform its anti-human trafficking laws, it also needs to create a new regional anti-human trafficking law, namely the ASEAN Declaration on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Trafficking Victims (ADTV) which will emphasize victim-centered approaches or equal protection of all victims. ASEAN also needs to form the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Trafficking Victims (ACTV) because the region lacks a significant anti-human trafficking human rights body that specializes in preventing human trafficking, promoting equal protection of all trafficking victims, and prosecuting human traffickers. The ADTV and ACTV can help ASEAN address the strengths and challenges of its member countries' national strategies and policies against human trafficking that can alleviate human trafficking growth in the region. Degree awarded: S.J.D. Washington College of Law. American University 2013-06-04T00:00:00Z http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/14858 Neighborhood Effects on Social Ties and Social Support in Parolees and Probationers Burns, Willow This study examines whether the neighborhood one lives has an effect on social ties and social support in parolees and probationers. Data used for the analyses is from the SHARRPP study. Degree awarded: M.A. Sociology. American University 2013-06-04T00:00:00Z http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/14849 Do Spirits Have a Place at the Negotiating Table? Wolgamuth, Erin In recent decades the field of conflict resolution has increasingly acknowledged culture, worldview, and localized peace-building mechanisms, as integral components of conflict analysis and practice techniques. Nonmaterial beings, like spirits, comprise a significant component of many global worldviews but have not yet been analyzed as a phenomenon by the conflict resolution field. The research question explored in this paper is whether spirits could contribute to conflict resolution as actors in their own right. Content analysis is used to explore cases from Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Mozambique, the United States, and Sri Lanka. I will demonstrate ultimately that spirits should be regarded as actors, much as humans are, in conflict contexts where they have relevant influence. Degree awarded: M.A. School of International Service. American University 2013-05-09T00:00:00Z http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/14848 DAS FREIE WORT? THE STRUCTURING OF EAST AND WEST GERMAN PRESS CULTURE DURING THE AMERICAN AND SOVIET OCCUPATIONS Williams, Robert John This dissertation charts a course that begins with U.S. and Soviet wartime propaganda programs and ends with the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Its focus rests on the interplay between the newspaper policies of the occupation powers, the coverage of news in each zone of occupation, the personalities that coordinated and created newspaper contents, and popular German responses to the postwar press by considering four publications born of the occupation era: the Red Army's Tägliche Rundschau, the U.S.-run Die Neue Zeitung, the American-licensed Frankfurter Rundschau, and the Socialist Unity Party's (SED) Neues Deutschland. It assesses the participation of Germans in the reconstruction of their media by considering both those who were active in the postwar press and those who read and interacted with the press. It argues that popular German participation was an inherently political act, one that eventually led to the creation of a shared political life in the West that came not just from above, but also through interaction with the printed word. In addition, this study analyzes the imposition of structures on the development press cultures in the two German republics, including the SED-led sovietization of the press and the reactive and defensive use of information media by the United States during the early cold war. Degree awarded: Ph.D. History. American University 2013-05-09T00:00:00Z http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/14850 Such Is The Heart Circling Home Yearwood, Stacia Cyrene Like Aeschylus, the first Greek tragedian to expand the number of characters in a play to allow for conflict, <italic>Such is the Heart Circling Home</italic> charts the lives of those who both run headlong into conflict or observe it quietly from the sidelines. Within these pages, survival is surveyed as an art and the survivors set into two groups: those who stay vigilantly tethered to safety and don't die and those who understand vulnerability as the antidote to death and come back to life. <italic>Such is the Heart Circling Home</italic> pairs the erotic draw and unfathomable violence of the world, conflates faith with submission, maps the scope of loss and explores the struggle to come to terms with identity after one has been disquieted or uprooted. <italic>Such is the Heart Circling Home</italic> paints the miracle of darkness -- affirming that that is the way. Degree awarded: M.F.A. Literature. American University 2013-05-09T00:00:00Z http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/14847 Survival Strategies of Homeless Men: Home, Scavenging, Work, and Welfare in Tokyo Japan Wickens, Matthew Henry This dissertation is a story of men dealing with the challenges of poverty and homelessness in Tokyo, Japan. The homeless men I describe are mostly over fifty and face a daily struggle to secure the necessities of life. They live a few blocks from department stores selling luxury goods, which is ironic as Japan promoted itself as a classless society without poverty before the recession of 2008. This dissertation details how many men are resourceful and use a variety of strategies to survive and shows how Japanese society values older men who do not work. The dissertation revolves around the lives of the men in and around Ueno Park and focuses on two things: their homes, past and current, and their survival strategies. Discussing their homes includes how they became homeless and their relationship with their family. By home, I mean examining their current life in Ueno Park including how they built their home in the park. I discuss their relationships with their neighbors, fellow homeless men, and the authorities in the park. The hardships that many men experience, including health problems, facing death, loneliness, violence, and difficulties getting along with others show the difficulties in their lives.Survival strategies are crucial for homeless men. Their strategies include scavenging for aluminum cans, newspapers, magazines, cardboard, or copper wires: working a variety of jobs including those provided by welfare centers, a friend, or a coworker: and attending soup lines or applying for welfare. Since many of these strategies provide money, I examine common patterns of managing money. Some of the issues regarding money management that arose were not saving, living for the day, gambling, and living very frugally. Finally, the dissertation concludes by offering ideas for further research and policy recommendations for the Japanese government to improve the men's lives. I make several suggestions including the Ministry Health, Labour, and Welfare doing a better job of providing welfare for homeless men, giving them postcards so they can contact their families, and giving the men cash. Additionally, I propose a governmental agency to coordinate the various soup lines. Degree awarded: Ph.D. Anthropology. American University 2013-05-09T00:00:00Z