{"id":{"repo_id":"wku-diss","oai_identifier":"oai:digitalcommons.wku.edu:theses-1603"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/wku-diss/oai:digitalcommons.wku.edu:theses-1603","repository":{"repo_id":"wku-diss","name":"Western Kentucky University","base_url":"https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Becoming a Sister: The Socialization of Women into a Sorority","abstract":"Adult peer groups have become more and more a topic for sociological study. It is a phenomenon that is starting to gain interest. This research focuses on one sorority on the campus of a Midwestern university and how this sorority manages to incorporate the women that they pledge through formal recruitment into the sorority and how these women fully socialize themselves into this group of women who already have bonded with each other. A synthesis of symbolic interactionism and social exchange theory helps to break down the socialization process and shows how the new members move through the stages of sorority membership. By the time this research ended at the sorority formal, the new members were fully incorporated into the sorority through a variety of events including meetings, recruitment, sisterhood activities, social activities, and the ritual aspects of the sorority.","abstract_html":"Adult peer groups have become more and more a topic for sociological study. It is a phenomenon that is starting to gain interest. This research focuses on one sorority on the campus of a Midwestern university and how this sorority manages to incorporate the women that they pledge through formal recruitment into the sorority and how these women fully socialize themselves into this group of women who already have bonded with each other. A synthesis of symbolic interactionism and social exchange theory helps to break down the socialization process and shows how the new members move through the stages of sorority membership. By the time this research ended at the sorority formal, the new members were fully incorporated into the sorority through a variety of events including meetings, recruitment, sisterhood activities, social activities, and the ritual aspects of the sorority.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hughes, Kathleen"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Department of Sociology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2003,"date_issued":"2003-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2003-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:07:35Z","subjects":["Gender and Sexuality","Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/600","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hughes, Kathleen"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Department of Sociology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Gender and Sexuality","Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/600"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Adult peer groups have become more and more a topic for sociological study. It is a phenomenon that is starting to gain interest. This research focuses on one sorority on the campus of a Midwestern university and how this sorority manages to incorporate the women that they pledge through formal recruitment into the sorority and how these women fully socialize themselves into this group of women who already have bonded with each other. A synthesis of symbolic interactionism and social exchange theory helps to break down the socialization process and shows how the new members move through the stages of sorority membership. By the time this research ended at the sorority formal, the new members were fully incorporated into the sorority through a variety of events including meetings, recruitment, sisterhood activities, social activities, and the ritual aspects of the sorority."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Becoming a Sister: The Socialization of Women into a Sorority"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Hughes, Kathleen"],"dc:description.abstract":["Adult peer groups have become more and more a topic for sociological study. It is a phenomenon that is starting to gain interest. This research focuses on one sorority on the campus of a Midwestern university and how this sorority manages to incorporate the women that they pledge through formal recruitment into the sorority and how these women fully socialize themselves into this group of women who already have bonded with each other. A synthesis of symbolic interactionism and social exchange theory helps to break down the socialization process and shows how the new members move through the stages of sorority membership. By the time this research ended at the sorority formal, the new members were fully incorporated into the sorority through a variety of events including meetings, recruitment, sisterhood activities, social activities, and the ritual aspects of the sorority."],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/600"],"dc:subject":["Gender and Sexuality","Psychology"],"dc:title":["Becoming a Sister: The Socialization of Women into a Sorority"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Department of Sociology"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:07:35Z"}