Student
Krystal Christopher, '12
Files
Cohort
2012
Biography
Krystal Christopher was born on the US Virgin Island of St. Thomas. She grew up on the Islands of Antigua and St. Croix before calling West Palm Beach, Florida home. She is currently pursing a Bachelor's degree in both Psychology and Sociology as well as a minor in Women Studies with a certificate in Behavioral Forensic. She hopes to study mental health counseling or marriage and family therapy in graduate school, ultimately leading to a Ph.D in Counseling Psychology.
Faculty Mentor
Shannon Carter
Undergraduate Major
Psychology
Future Plans
Counseling Psychology
Graduate School
University of Central Florida (M.A.)
Disciplines
Counseling Psychology
Recommended Citation
Christopher, Krystal, "Krystal Christopher, '12" (2017). McNair Scholars. 69.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/mcnair_gallery/69
Research
Representations of Breastfeeding in the United States: An Analysis of American Newspaper Articles Conducted at the University of Central Florida as part of the McNair Scholars and Research and Mentoring programs. Mentor: Dr. Shannon Carter (Sociology) Abstract: The bond between a mother and child is said to be bounded by forces cemented even before birth. Breastfeeding is noted not only as a means of immunity and nutrients but as a time for nurturing and communicating on a nonverbal basis with mother and child. Yet, the idea of breastfeeding has become less palatable for many first time mothers. The intriguing piece to this puzzle is that despite strong medical advisement it still persists. Drawing on sociological research on breastfeeding and executing a systematic content analysis of newspaper articles from the top ten newspapers in United States this paper sets out to investigate the possible reasons behind the low prevalence rate of breastfeeding in the United States. By systematically assessing the nature of the content in American newspapers a general consensus on public opinion will be devised. Regardless of the benefits that are offered by breastfeeding for both mother and baby many mothers are not breastfeeding exclusively for the recommended duration. It is predicted that the low prevalence rate among breastfeeding the United States is contingent upon public opinion and social factors such as socioeconomic status and educational background to name a few. If we can tackle some of the reasons why breastfeeding is not widely preferred, then it is possible to work to correct these issues.