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JASON DeCARO
Department of Anthropology
Emory University
Project title: "Economics, Ritualization,
and Physiological Reactivity: A Study of Middle-Class Families in
Metropolitan Atlanta"
This project explores the relationship between family social ecology
and the regulation of stress physiology, with special attention
to the ways in which ritualization of family life moderates the
physiological impact of economic status. In Decatur, Georgia, I
will study childhood physiological reactivity in "middle class"
families, and its relation to two proxies for broader elements of
family social ecology: family routines and self-perceived economic
status. I view measurable family routines as proxies for the small-scale
daily ritualization of family life. I view the measurement of self-perceived,
relative economic status as a much more focused way to understand
the well-documented impact of "socioeconomic status,"
a gigantic and often vaguely-conceptualized amalgamation of status-related
markers, on physical and mental health. The parents' workplace is
arguably the most important mesosystem impacting the daily life
of the child within the domains explored in this project. Thus,
in relation to these other variables, I will include in the daily
activity logs a specific category for "work-related activity,"
and examine the extent to which families report that various aspects
of the workplace are relevant to their conceptualizations of economic
security and time allocation.
"Cultural Consensus
Approaches to the Study of American Family Life"
(Working Paper 013-02) April 2002
Carol M. Worthman, Jason DeCaro and Ryan Brown
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