Digital Commons Network^™

American Institution Of Public, K-12 Education: An Institutional Field Under A Complexity Paradigm, Jennifer Jean Joyalle

Dissertations and Theses

Institutional fields serve as foundational bedrocks that shape and govern behaviors, norms, and practices within distinct domains of societal and organizational interactions. The emergence of machine learning and the ability to manipulate large datasets offer researchers and decision makers the potential ability to model and visualize the behavior associated with institutional fields.

This proof of concept provides an example of visualizing the changing conditions in the institutional field of public K-12 education in America as a topology. By interweaving three primary strands of theory -- institutional fields, complexity in the guise of complex adaptive systems as a paradigm, and paradigms …

E Hui Me Ke Kaiāulu: To Connect With The Community, Heather Kayleen Bartlett

Dissertations and Theses

Urban planning literature contains a wealth of knowledge on community engagement as a crucial component of the planning process, yet there remains a notable gap in our understanding of best practices when it comes to sustaining community involvement for ongoing plan implementation. The County of Hawai'i, has charted a unique course through the establishment of Action Committees which serve as an intermediary to uplift grassroots implementation efforts while remaining closely entwined with County resources and processes. This interplay provides a unique case study that results in somewhat of an "identity crisis": Action Committees do not have the autonomy of external …

Transgender And Gender-Nonconforming Peoples' Views On Masculinity: A Literature Review & Meta Analysis, Alyx Loney

University Honors Theses

The perception and performance of masculinities in the United States has been a topic that, on its own, has garnered relatively little research attention in existing literature. Only in recent years have we seen an increase in attention given towards the study and understanding of masculinities and their role in American society. Even among the study of masculinities, the viewpoints of transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals on masculinity have received little to no attention. With this literature review and meta analysis, we seek to develop a greater understanding of transgender and gender-nonconforming peoples’ views on masculinity as they are currently depicted …

Emotion Knowledge, Its Applications, And Their Associations With African American Children's Social Relationships With Teachers And Peers In Kindergarten And First Grade, Brielle Emily Petit

Dissertations and Theses

Close and high-quality relationships with teachers and peers are a significant, positive predictor of young children's academic and social-emotional skills, whereas early conflictual relationships can pose various short- and long-term socio-emotional and academic risks. Evidence also suggests that emotion knowledge, or the ways children identify, recognize, and apply emotional labels, are a crucial factor in children's early development including overcoming social-emotional challenges and fostering high-quality interpersonal relationships. Studies examining social relationships and emotion knowledge in early childhood, however, often reveal worrisome differences in between-group comparison designs. Particularly, minoritized children, and most often Black and African American, are associated with poorer …

Behavior Training For Educators: What Training Do Educators Need To Support Students With Challenging Behaviors?, Michelle R. Milburn

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the behavioral training programs/frameworks and Professional Development (PD) delivery methods that certified staff - including teachers, speech-language pathologists, school psychologists, occupational therapists, and teachers on special assignment - as well as administrators, believe to be necessary to address the academic, social, emotional, and behavioral needs of students exhibiting challenging behaviors. This national study used survey methods to explore the views of US K-12 public school educators on the PD needed to support student behavior effectively. Using social media recruitment, primarily through Reddit and Facebook, allowed the survey to reach a substantially larger …

Economic Analysis Of Population-Based Next Generation Sequencing For Breast Cancer, Sapphire Curelaru

University Honors Theses

Breast cancer develops due to accumulated DNA replication insults which causes cancer to uncontrollably proliferate. An individual's predisposition to developing cancer, as well as the composition of a tumor, can be sequenced using genetic tests. Myriad's BRACAnalysis CDx^® seems to be the most utilized genetic test. However, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) seems to be a better genetic test for breast cancer when compared to Myriad's BRACAnalysisCDx^® in terms of return-time, accuracy, efficiency, and healthcare cost. By using Next Generation Sequencing tests, stakeholders can save money on genetic testing which can be invested in more genetic tests. Payers can …

Unmasking And Addressing Burnout In The Mental Health Profession, Sara Edwards

University Honors Theses

Burnout poses a significant challenge among mental health workers, impacting both the well-being of practitioners and the outcomes for their patients. The key inquiries guiding this literature review are: what factors contribute to burnout, and what interventions are essential for treating and preventing burnout in mental health professionals? The findings reveal that factors such as level of experience, lack of quality supervision, vicarious trauma, working conditions, and personal beliefs significantly contribute to burnout. Effective prevention and treatment measures for mental health workers vulnerable to burnout encompass self-monitoring, participation in support groups, additional training, and organizational interventions. These insights could serve …

Crossover Youth: The Relationship Between Juvenile Dependency And Delinquency, Victoria Davenport

University Honors Theses

This literature review looks at the relationship between juvenile delinquency and juvenile dependency. Specifically, it evaluates the existence of "crossover youth", minors who have been involved with both systems in their lifetime. The review considers thirteen different studies, literature reviews, and databases to determine risk factors in maltreated youth that cause them to offend. The review also looks at the impact that second-generation parents have on likelihood of offending as juveniles, as well as the importance of welfare worker perception on parental involvement with dependency agencies. Finally, the review considers potential interventions to crossover youth, determining how to assist maltreated …

Critical Consciousness & The Rural-Urban Divide, Kendall O'Rorke

University Honors Theses

This study investigated the relationship between conceptions of Critical Consciousness (CC) and urban vs. rural geographic location type. Participants (N = 31) completed the Short Critical Consciousness Scale (CCS-S, Rapa et al., 2020), and 25 additional questions regarding potential location-based Idealogical differences. No measurable differences were found regarding differences in conceptions of critical consciousness (using CCS-S scores) based on rural-urban location, however, other responses supported some current research regarding political typology. Additional research is needed to fully understand this topic.

Prosecutors Or Helpers: An Institutional Ethnography Of Child Protective Services Casework, Anna Maria Rockhill

Dissertations and Theses

Millions of families come into contact with child welfare every year (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2020). The mission of child welfare is to strengthen the ability of families to care for their children and to protect children and provide aid, services, or referrals to families where maltreatment is said to have occurred (Congressional Research Services, 2020). The vast majority of the families who become involved with child welfare are multiply disadvantaged (e.g., Mersky et al., 2009; Sedlak et al., 2010; Testa & Smith, 2009) and child welfare is a key feature of the array of public supports …

Critical Analysis Of Anti-Asian Hate In The News, Benardo Douglas Relampagos

Dissertations and Theses

Since 2019, the United States has had an increase in violence against Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities along with an increase of mainstream anti-Asian racist rhetoric. Between 2021 and 2022, The Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism reported an overall 164% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes (Report to the Nation, 2021). While racism against black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) communities has been the topic of an ever-growing body of critical discourse, prior to 2019 few publications had addressed racism and injustice regarding language choices and discourse in the context of anti-Asian rhetoric in the US, specifically …

The Impetus Of International Security In European Integration: The Nature Of Eu Common Security And Defense Policy, Osman Goktug Tanrikulu

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores the complicated relationship between security considerations and the European integration process. The research uncovers specific security factors that have shaped the EU integration process. Applying policy alignment and collective efforts for governance, this study offers a methodological improvement to the conventional status quo satisfaction concept within power transition theory.

Findings indicate that external militarized actions targeting European nations only occasionally disrupted integration in the short term. Instead, inner coordination among member states vis-à-vis external actors, promoted integration. During the early stages of integration, alignment with the EU collective was crucial, while aligning with regional leader Germany became …

Leed Buildings And Green Gentrification: Portland As A Case Study, Jordan Macintosh

Dissertations and Theses

LEED certification has become highly popular in the United State under the current political climate of addressing climate change, however in the implementation of green initiatives like LEED, social and economic impacts are not being considered. "Green gentrification" through the implementation of green initiatives such as LEED can cause displacement to highly vulnerable groups of people, disproportionately dealing the environmental goods to the wealthy and the environmental bads to the low income groups.

Portland has a fairly large amount of LEED buildings, and the city and state emphasizes its goals for sustainability through the use of green initiatives such as …

Left Out To Dry: Understanding The Social Experiences Of Ground Depletion In Washington State's Columbia River Basin, Alexis Lisandro Guizar-Diaz

Dissertations and Theses

Millions of water wells worldwide risk running dry due to overpumping, drought, and climate change. This study adopts a political ecology framework to investigate how economic structures and power dynamics shape the effects of groundwater depletion in a highly impacted region. It is based on qualitative fieldwork conducted in the Odessa Aquifer region of Washington State. This agriculturally productive region has experienced severe groundwater depletion, endangering communities and threatening water supplies for many, as agribusiness has intensively used deep water wells to irrigate high-value crops. This research addresses three key questions: 1) How do residents and households excluded from irrigation …

Stress-Reduction From Positive Support: Impacts Of Receiving Partner Capitalization Support On Veteran Stress/Work Stress, Maryann Dona Samson

Dissertations and Theses

Prolonged stress, a pervasive experience in the United States, has been linked to numerous adverse outcomes (Mayo Clinic, 2019). The workplace commonly operates as a source of chronic stressors (Colligan & Higgins, 2006), in fact 25% of Americans find their job is the most stressful part of life (NIOSH, 2021). This tendency is particularly true for military veterans, who reliably experience elevated stress and burnout (Smith et al., 2017) and low job satisfaction (Teclaw et al., 2016). Inspired by the pervasiveness and seriousness of the chronic stress issue, the current study addresses chronic stress in a veteran sample by examining …

Left On "Read" And All Alone: Instigated Cyber Incivility, Shame, And Experienced Ostracism At Work, Alison Lucia Hunt

Dissertations and Theses

The mistreatment literature focused on workplace incivility has grown significantly over the past two decades, as it has been recognized as an omnipresent issue in the workplace. Workplace incivility presents itself as low-intensity rudeness in which at least one individual takes counter normative negative actions against another individual, and may take place in both office and remote work settings as well as through a cyber modality. These actions often occur in a spiral where the target of incivility becomes likely to perpetuate incivility later down the line. However, much of the incivility literature lacks a comprehensive understanding of the perpetrator's …

Mitigating Sex Trafficking: Preventative Methods For Reducing Sexual Exploitation, Autumn Rain Monroe

University Honors Theses

In recent years, sex trafficking has become more well-known in the public sphere, generating activism and legislation in an effort to combat this human rights issue. With this increased awareness comes challenges in appropriately understanding sex trafficking. The general public and even lawmakers often do not understand the complete dynamic or complexities of sex trafficking. Definitional inconsistencies make it difficult to provide a universal definition of sex trafficking, contributing to misconceptions involving the methods of entry and the barriers to exiting. Ultimately, this prevents proper identification of victims, hinders the protection of victims, and the implementation of survivor-oriented legislation, meaning …

Not On The Menu: Customer Sexual Harassment In The Restaurant Industry, Fernanda Wolburg Martinez

Dissertations and Theses

Despite the high prevalence of customer sexual harassment (CSH) paired with a high turnover in the restaurant industry, there have been few suggestions on resources that may attenuate the effect that bystander and direct CSH might have on strain--anxiety and depressive symptoms--and turnover intentions among restaurant workers. Based on the stipulations of the job-demands resources theory and the empowerment framework, the current study frames direct and bystander CSH as job demands that may be linked to employee strain and turnover intentions. Moreover, CSH preventive supervisor behaviors and organizational intolerance towards CSH are introduced as job resources that may weaken the …

A Multimodal Discourse Analysis Of Nasa's Instagram Account, Danica Lynn Tomber

Dissertations and Theses

In an increasingly interconnected society where science and technology are advancing at a rapid pace, knowledge dissemination, specifically in terms of public engagement and popularization, must be both encouraged and critically evaluated. As an internationally recognized government agency that is dedicated to the advancement of space exploration and present on several social media platforms, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) provides a useful lens from which to analyze large-scale messaging of multimodal scientific information. Although there is a substantial amount of linguistic research into political and government-based messaging in social media, there is not much literature on the …

Structure-From-Motion Derived Snow Cover In Burned Forests Of The Western Oregon Cascades, Siobhan Ciafone

Dissertations and Theses

Forest fire occurrence in the western US has increased rapidly since the 1980s, and most western US fires occur in the seasonal snow zone. Burned forests influence snow accumulation and melt patterns for years following fire, and understanding drivers of variability in snow cover across a burned landscape at the basin-scale is necessary for accurate hazard prediction and water resource forecasting. Basin-scale surveys of snowpack are possible with remote sensing, but accurate sensing methods such as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) are often cost-prohibitive. In the last decade, structure-from-motion (SfM), an optical remote sensing technique, has emerged as an affordable …

The Affective Discourses Of Eviction: Right To Counsel In New York City, Hadley Savana Bates

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores the interrelationships of urban policy, affect, and power through a critical discourse analysis of New York City's "Universal Access to Legal Services" / "Right to Counsel" ordinance, a 2017 initiative that has persisted amidst the evolving landscape of eviction diversion following the outbreak of Covid-19. By examining archival documents regarding the groundbreaking policy, this research reveals how affective discourses regarding vulnerability, stress, and solidarity situate political actors in relation to urban policy, political movement, and the material conditions of survival. Drawing upon critical policy studies and affect theory, this study underscores the affective dimensions of policy mobility …

A Just Futures Framework: Insurgent Roller-Skating In Portland, Oregon, Célia Camile Beauchamp

Dissertations and Theses

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, insurgent roller-skating has 're-emerged' as a popular use of urban space. Drawing on spatial justice theories, futures literature, and queer spatial theory, this study theorizes a four-part just futures framework to analyze the nuance and tension within the roller-skating scene in Portland, Oregon. The just futures framework: 1) creates a space for expanding planning practice to reflect overlooked and suppressed perspectives on urban space; 2) explores insurgent urbanism’s contradiction between the reification of hegemonic systems and its counter-hegemonic and subversive qualities; and 3) assesses the spatial and planning implications of insurgent …

"We Just Have To Trust The People In White Lab Coats": Analyzing Distrust In Vaccine Hesitant Comments On The Hhs Nondiscrimination In Health Programs And Activities Proposed Rule, Hima Bindu Lakshmi Vedantham

Dissertations and Theses

Vaccine attitudes provide a valuable site for analyzing trust relations on both interpersonal and institutional levels. This study is a content analysis of public comments submitted from August through October 2022 in response to a proposed rule issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which sought to strengthen non-discrimination protections in healthcare programs. Specifically, it examines the role of distrust in shaping and reinforcing vaccine hesitant beliefs, experiences, and healthcare decisions. The five themes identified in the study illustrate a breakdown in trust in pharmaceutical companies, government actors, and healthcare providers, reflecting broader social patterns. In the …

Effects Of Language Status, Community Advice, And Parent Beliefs On Heritage Language Maintenance In The U.S.: A Scoping Review, Jasmine Loeung

University Honors Theses

This scoping review examines the effects of language status, community advice to parents, and parents' beliefs on heritage language maintenance within a U.S. context. A total of 34 articles met the inclusion criteria. Four key themes were identified as follows: (1) status of a language in society affects maintenance, (2) parents' beliefs about the impact of the heritage language affect family language practices, (3) community advice impacts parents' beliefs and practices, (4) other factors affecting maintenance of the heritage language across generations. Overall, HL maintenance was observed as a dynamic relationship between a variety of factors, with individuals as well …

Decriminalizing Drugs: A Comparative Study Of Oregon In An International Context, Fox Millsaps

University Honors Theses

Oregon made history in 2020 when voters joined together to approve ballot measure 110, the Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act, which decriminalized personal amounts of all illicit substances. This was done in a bid to begin treating the ongoing drug crisis as a public health issue as opposed to a criminal justice issue. While Oregon may be the first in the nation to make such a move, they are not the first government to experiment with decriminalizing 'hard drugs.' Some argue that Oregon’s model was based on Portugal's decriminalization effort and point to Portugal's success as a potential outcome …

The Past, Present, And Future Of The Latino Paradox, Sheila Flores

University Honors Theses

The Latino/Hispanic paradox has left scholars and researchers puzzled as to how Latinos, despite facing socioeconomic challenges, show better health outcomes when compared to other racial/ethnic groups. The emergence of this phenomenon can be traced back to the 1980s/1990s when researchers first noticed Latinos in the United States having characteristics of lower mortality rates and improved health compared with non-Hispanic whites despite having a better socioeconomic status. Performing a literature review of scholars analyzing the past, present, and future of the Latino Paradox will thus allow for an understanding of its origin, current state, and the possible potential trajectories that …

The Impact Of Climate Change On Selected Pnw Watersheds Through The Lens Of Western Red Cedar Habitat, Jordan T. Hamann

Dissertations and Theses

Climate change is a real phenomenon that is exacerbating existing natural processes and developing into a new normal for the planet. This change may be devastating for Pacific Northwest populations of Western Red Cedar (WRC) west of the Cascade Mountain range in the states of Oregon and Washington. WRC is a valuable tree species for reasons both economic and cultural. Dieback among WRC is following an accelerating trend. Since dieback is usually followed by tree mortality, understanding its causes and distribution is beneficial to the overall success of the species going into the future.

Through the use of ESRI's ArcGIS …

Confronting Web3 Technology: Opportunities, Challenges And Community Formation, Christopher-John Rogers

Dissertations and Theses

The emergence of blockchain technology created an entire industry of innovative new digital assets--or tokens--and diverse new fields of expertise founded on ideological aspirations of a new World Wide Web that reimagines digital value transfer through decentralization and disintermediation. Experimentation in the so-called "Web3" industry produces rich new fields of ethnographic study revealing the experiences of diverse individuals navigating novel technological capabilities which give way to new avenues of identity formation, community building, and ecosystem creation. These exciting new endeavors come with difficult challenges threatening the realization of ambitious visions for digital futures. Ethnographic research conducted through discourse analysis, participant …

Developing Public Service Leadership: Understanding The Field Immersion/Comparative Cases Model For Mid-Career Professional Education In Environment And Natural Resources Leadership, Erin M. Steinkruger

Dissertations and Theses

Public administrators in the United States face increasingly complex challenges and are called to leadership by position and in practice. In a hyper-pluralistic society, individuals must lead from where they sit, arbitrating value differences in day-to-day functions and taking on adversity and uncertainty in pursuit of the public good. These individuals are served by a variety of leadership training programs both internal and external to their organizations. This study characterizes the field immersion/comparative cases (FICC) model for public service leadership development and uses a grounded theory approach to build understanding about how individuals learn about leadership; what learning outcomes emerge …

Radical Urban Natures: Mitigating Urban Heat With Nature-Based Techniques In Portland, Oregon, Heather Day-Melgar

Dissertations and Theses

Anthropogenic rising heat associated with climatic changes in the built environment has become a serious global issue. The built environment is often comprised of impermeable, paved surfaces, lack of vegetation to make way for development, tree removal, and loss or alteration of urban waterways, which leads to a degraded ecosystem for humans and non-human life, and less of an ability for carbon capture, all of which contribute to higher urban temperatures. This alteration of the existing natural environment leads to populations often unable to conceptualize that a built environment is still an ecosystem, and restoration is possible and necessary for …