The Homeless Etiquette : Social Interaction and Behavior Among the Homeless in Taito Ward, Tokyo

The thesis focuses on the social interaction and behavior of the homeless living in Tokyo's Taito Ward. The study is based on the author's own ethnographic field research carried out in the autumn 2003. The chosen methodologies were based on the methodology called "participant observation", and they were used depending on the context. The ethnographic field research was carried out from the mid-August to the beginning of the October in 2003. The most important targets of the research were three separate loosely knit groups placed in certain parts of Taito Ward. One of these groups was based in proximity to the Ueno train station, one group gathered every morning around a homeless support organization called San'yûkai, and one was based in Tamahime Park located in the old San'ya area of Tokyo. The analysis is based on the aspects of Takie Sugiyama Lebra's theory of "social relativism". Lebra's theory consists of the following, arguably universal aspects: belongingness, empathy, dependence, place in the society, and reciprocity. In addition, all the interaction and behavior is tied to the context and the situation. According to Lebra, ritual and intimate situations produce similar action, which is socially relative. Of these, the norms of the ritual behavior are more regulated, while the intimate bahavior is less spontaneous. On the contrary, an anomic situation produces anomic behavior, which is not socially relative. Lebra's theory is critically reviewed by the author of the thesis, and the author has attempted to modify the theory to make it more adaptable to the present-day society and to the analysis. Erving Goffman's views of the social interaction and Anthony Giddens' theories about the social structures have been used as complementary thoretical basis. The aim of the thesis is to clarify, how and why the interaction and the behavior of some homeless individuals in some situations follow the aspects of Lebra's "social relativism", and on the other hand, why in some situations they do not. In the latter cases the answers can be sought from regional and individual differences, or from the inaptness of the theory to analyze the presented situation. Here, a significant factor is the major finding of the field study: the so called "homeless etiquette", which is an abstract set of norms and values that influences the social interaction and behavior of the homeless, and with which many homeless individuals presented in the study complied. The fundamental goal of the thesis is to reach profound understanding about the daily life of the homeless, whose lives were studied. The author argues that this kind of profound understanding is necessary in looking for sustainable solutions in the areas of social and housing policy to improve the position of the homeless and the qualitative functioning of the society.

Characterizing Physical Properties of Wetting Paper by Air Coupled Ultrasound and Light

This thesis reports investigations into the paper wetting process and its effects on the surface roughness and the out-of-plane (ZD) stiffness of machine-made paper. The aim of this work was to test the feasibility of employing air-borne ultrasound methods to determine surface roughness (by reflection) and ZD stiffness (by through transmission) of paper during penetration of distilled water, isopropanol and their mixtures. Air-borne ultrasound provides a non-contacting way to evaluate sample structure and mechanics during the liquid penetration event. Contrary to liquid immersion techniques, an air-borne measurement allows studying partial wetting of paper. In addition, two optical methods were developed to reveal the liquid location in paper during wetting. The laser light through transmission method was developed to monitor the liquid location in partially wetted paper. The white light reflection method was primarily used to monitor the penetration of the liquid front in the thickness direction. In the latter experiment the paper was fully wetted. The main results of the thesis were: 1) Liquid penetration induced surface roughening was quantified by monitoring the ultrasound reflection from the paper surface. 2) Liquid penetration induced stiffness alteration in the ZD of paper could be followed by measuring the change in the ultrasound ZD resonance in paper. 3) Through transmitted light revealed the liquid location in the partially wetted paper. 4) Liquid movement in the ZD of the paper could be observed by light reflection. The results imply that the presented ultrasonic means can without contact measure the alteration of paper roughness and stiffness during liquid transport. These methods can help avoiding over engineering the paper which reduces raw material and energy consumption in paper manufacturing. The presented optical means can estimate paper specific wetting properties, such as liquid penetration speed, transport mechanisms and liquid location within the paper structure. In process monitoring, these methods allow process tuning and manufacturing of paper with engineered liquid transport characteristics. With such knowledge the paper behaviour during printing can be predicted. These findings provide new methods for paper printing, surface sizing, and paper coating research.