Browsing by Subject "Ambivalence"

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    Branding Environmentalism for TV: The Rise and Fall of Planet Green
    (2015-08) Zimmerman, Heidi
    This dissertation analyzes the rise and fall of Planet Green, Discovery Communications Inc.'s short-lived multiplatform, environmentalism-themed media brand. Launched in 2008, Planet Green billed itself as "the first 24-hour network devoted to the green lifestyle."� It promised to "bring green to the mainstream"� with a full lineup of environmentalist lifestyle and reality television, environmental news and documentaries, and two websites with a wide array of eco-games and quizzes, consumer advice, DIY projects, an open-ended discussion forum, and short-form videos. But despite a huge and successful launch and a significant programming budget, by 2012, Discovery announced that Planet Green would be cancelled and replaced with Destination America, a male-targeted lifestyle network aimed at a "between the coasts crown,"� said Discovery spokespeople. With shows like BBQ Pitmasters, United States of Food, Fast Food Mania, and Epic RV's, the new channel offered a kind of macho celebration of patriotism and consumerist excess that seemed to applaud the very things that Planet Green cautioned viewers against. My dissertation argues that Planet Green's rise and fall must be understood at the place where contemporary branding meets neoliberal governmentality. It was structured by the simultaneous industrial impulses to "govern through television"� on the one hand, and to maximize profits in an increasingly competitive cable TV market on the other. When it came to branding environmentalism in particular, these simultaneous impulses were in deep conflict and generated a great deal of anxiety among industry insiders. I show that Planet Green took shape in a manner designed to ease these anxieties through branding. In the end, however, even with Discovery's extensive resources and professed commitment to the environment, Planet Green was unable to overcome the tensions between profits and planet saving.
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    Effects of child exposure to domestic violence on the child-parent relationship based on the child's ambivalence toward the parents
    (2013-07) Shin, Narae
    Child exposure to domestic violence (CEDV) is recognized as one of important risk factors for building healthy relationships between parents and their children. Previous studies have focused on various outcomes of children exposed to domestic violence or parenting behaviors of battered mothers and battering fathers. However, little is known about complex relationships among CEDV, parenting behaviors, and children's feelings and perceptions toward their parents suffering from domestic violence. To fill this gap in the current literature, this study aimed to examine: (1) how CEDV influences children's complicated and ambivalent feelings (e.g., love, hatred, empathy, blame) toward each of their battered mothers and battering fathers or partners; (2) how children's perceptions on parenting mediate the effect of CEDV on such ambivalent feelings; and (3) whether there are any differences between female and male children in these relationships. The sample of this study included children aged 10 to 16 who might have been exposed to adult domestic violence. 99 Participants were recruited through domestic violence shelters and community organizations in Twin Cities area. Missing data were imputed using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) multiple imputation and multiple-group path analysis was conducted to explore relationships between CEDV, parenting behaviors, and ambivalent feelings, and to investigate whether these relationships differ between male and female participants. The findings showed that there were significant differences between male and female children in how they feel about their parents in domestic violence. Female children reported a higher level of total CEDV, violence, and exposure to violence at home, and also showed more negative attitudes toward their abusive fathers. Not surprisingly, participants had more positive attitudes toward their abused mothers and perceived mother's parenting as more positive and supportive. Findings indicated that certain types of CEDV were associated with children's ambivalence toward parents, and this relationship was mediated by children's perceptions on parenting. These relationships were found to be different between male and female children. The study findings provide implications for social work researchers and professionals to better understand children exposed to domestic violence and to help them build healthier relationships with their parents living through domestic violence.