Deaconess (French ST.)
Mealtime at French ST. is very structured, for example
1. the young ladies at French ST. settle down for a moment of silence before eating any meal
2. the girls only get two condiments per meal
3. if the condiment passes you and you do not use it the condiment will not come back around
4. in order to receive a condiment or drink etc. you must say “can you continue the blank “and it will be passed to you
5. the girls have a structured time to complete their meal approximately (30min)
6. after the meal is done all girls pass their plates, utensils and condiments to a designated end of the table
7. after this is done a staff will pick a couple of people to help clean up and put everything away
8. while this is going on the remaining girls will begin their ten minutes of silence
9. if a girl is caught talking or fooling around during ten minutes they will be sat or timed out in a designated chair for (30min)
10. after ten minutes is up a staff will ask who needs the bathroom those who need the bathroom will raise their hand and be chosen two at a time to use the bathroom they are assigned to
11. the remaining girls will quietly line up and wait to be taken upstairs for the next activity
Deaconess (High ST.)
Mealtime at High ST. is structured but a little less than French ST.for example
1. the young ladies of High ST . settle down for a moment of silence before eating any meal
2. the girls in this building eat everything except for fruit in serving sizes (1/2,1/3,1/4cup )
3. the girls are allowed two condiments per meal and two tablespoons of dressing per salad (salad is offered with lunch &dinner)
4. to get something across the table you must say “person’s name cane you pass the blank”
5. before you eat you must have a napkin on your lap
6. everyone must be done eating and drinking in order for the girls to clear
7. the girls check their chores and complete them before moving on to the next activity
Deaconess (Prospect ST.)
Mealtime at Prospect ST. is semi-structured for example
1. there is no moment you just wait until everyone is seated and served to eat
2. there is no serving sizes ( the girls just cannot take excessive amounts of food )
3. there is no set number of condiments per meal and salad dressing is also not measured
4. the girls do not need to have a napkin on your lap to eat just by your plate if you need It
5. if a girl or two came to a meal late and everyone else is done eating the girls may clear their spaces
6. the girls call chores instead of them being assigned to them by staff
Deaconess (Linden ST.)
Mealtime at Linden ST. is structured very little
1. there is no moment unless the girls want to do one
2. there is no serving sizes the girls just can not be excessive with the portions
3. there is no set number of condiments or amount of salad dressing that can be used
4. the girls do not need to have a napkin on their lap in order to eat
5. the girls can eat meals alone if they so choose they do not have to wait for anyone else
6. the girls can also clear when their housemates are still eating
7. the girls call their chores sometimes or sometimes they will just clean where they were and wash their dishes separately
despite the fact of being in a group home or residential setting the girls who reside here work together like a family by learning how to share use manners and be self sufficiant.
These are some of the different aspects of mealtime at all of the different houses in the Deaconess program.
These rules and amount of structure differ from house to house depending on the needs of the girls in the house at that time.
No matter what house the girls live in the one goal that goes across the board is to teach the girls that they are a community and to teach them how to work together
the girls eat a a table depending on the number of girls in that house like if there is 8 girls and 2-3 staff they eat at one table like a family in some of the larger houses that hold more girls up to 18-20 they eat 4-6 people to a table with one staff to each table.
this is just some observations that i got and jotted them down not really sure in the direction i want to go for the final draft but it seems really "meaty"to me idk well please tell me any suggestions i am open to new ideas lol thanks
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i think you have alot of good detail so far. in your final draft i would suggest you describe more about what exactly the Deaconess program is, since many people, like myself arent familiar with it. i also think it would be good to describe some of the girls in the program, along with the staff members, to get a better idea of the type of people there. i think this is going to make a really good ethnography though :)
ReplyDeletei agree i wasnt quite sure what a deaconess was but it think you got a lot of good information in your final draft are you planning on numbering everything like you are doing now or putting it into paragraph form?
ReplyDeleteyou have very good details i'm just very confused on what the deaconess program is. maybe in your introduction you could explain it alittle. =] just a helpful suggestion
ReplyDeleteDeeDee--
ReplyDeleteSorry I got to this so late, but after talking to you the other day it seems not much point in putting comments on these notes. I agree that turning these into paras. would be a little dry. What will make this more lively is to show the actual scene of what goes on during mealtime, and you're right that you can do that much better if you focus on just one house. You can still focus on the same things (how structure and rules help girls learn to work together and function as community), but remember your job in ethnography is to *show* the reader how this works by describing the details of what you see and who does and says what, also details of how space is organized to accomplish this.