Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of Mental Health On Recidivism: A Logistic Regression Analysis Examining Federal Probation Outcomes, Stephanie Kowal

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This research paper investigates the impact of mental health issues on probation success, utilizing secondary data from the Criminology Research Group at the University of Montana. Employing binary logistic regression analysis, the study examines various factors affecting probation outcomes, with a focus on mental health treatment as a primary independent variable. Findings reveal that individuals receiving outpatient mental health care are significantly more likely to recidivate, supporting the hypothesis that ongoing mental health struggles pose substantial barriers to probation success. Moreover, employment status, age at the start of supervision, adult criminal offenses, and days under supervision emerged as significant predictors …

Assessing American Attitudes: Welfare And Redistribution Preferences Over Time By Race, Gender, And Education, Liliana Silver

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Income and wealth inequality in the United States have skyrocketed since the 1970s, making the country increasingly unequal (Ashok et al. 2015; Hout 2021; Lee 2023). Researchers disagree on whether overall support for redistribution in the United States has changed in the last several decades (Ashok et al. 2015; Lee 2023; Pittau et al. 2016) but recent studies suggest the country has seen a significant political realignment based on race and education, influencing support for redistribution (Kitschelt and Rehm 2019). Much of the literature on redistributive attitudes exists in political science or economics and/or explores fewer dependent variables of race, …

Chinese Economic Behavior In Southeast Asia: A Historical And Cultural Overview Of The Migration Patterns, Culture, And Business Practices Of The Chinese Diaspora In Southeast Asia, Zachary Szklarz

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

For hundreds of years, ethnic Chinese have set sail in hopes of peace and economic prosperity in Southeast Asia. Over time, these immigrants became paramount to the culture, economies, and politics of their newfound homes. The immense success of these Chinese migrants and their descendants is based on two main factors: maintaining in-group preference in business and social life without explicit discrimination towards outsiders and holding individuals who have achieved wealth through ethical Confucianist means in high esteem. Unique among diaspora groups, the emigrants from China managed to become fully integrated in their adoptive homelands, while still maintaining traditional customs, …

Student-Athlete Mental Health: University Of Montana Case Study, Abigail M. Sherwood

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Research suggests that Division I college-student athletes experience higher levels of stress and other behavioral health issues than their non-athlete counterparts, with up to 20% of them suffering from depression (Sudano et al., 2017). Two studies on student athletes’ well-being conducted in 2020, reported that athletes continue to report higher levels of mental health concerns (Johnson, 2022). Since the fall of 2020, rates of mental exhaustion, depression, and anxiety have improved minimally with rates remaining 1.5 to two times higher than reported before the COVID-19 pandemic (Johnson, 2022). Naomi Osaka withdrawing from the French Open in 2021 and Simone Biles …

Uncontrolled Burn: The Worker Well-Being Of Wildland Firefighters, Luke Santore

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Purpose: The available evidence indicates that wildland firefighters (WLFFs) are experiencing a well-being crisis. This study aims to assess predictors of both worker well-being and social and emotional loneliness among WLFFs.

Methods: An adapted version of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Worker Well-Being Questionnaire, along with the De Jong Gierveld Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale (De Jong Gierveld & Van Tilburg, 2010) was distributed between May and October of 2023. Nine ordinary least square linear regression models were estimated to test the impact of demographic and employment variables on well-being in the sample of 95 …

"Patiently Waiting": How Do Non-Driving Disabled Adults Get Around In Rural America, Rtc: Rural, Krys Standley, Andrew Myers

Independent Living and Community Participation

Poster presentation exploring interviews with rural people with disabilities who rely solely on rides from others or public transportation.

Outcome Measurement Toolkit: A Resource For Centers For Independent Living, University Of Montana Rural Institute

Independent Living and Community Participation

RTC:Rural researchers and advisory groups provide a toolkit designed to help Center for Independent Living (CIL) administrators learn practices for measuring, evaluating, and improving outcomes generated by their CIL’s programs. This document is an adaptation of the Outcome Measures for Centers for Independent Living training, created with permission from Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU).

Depictions Of Strikes On Social Media, Zachary D. Mangels

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Social media provides a rich source for the study of social movements. Not only do movement organizations use social media as a platform to spread their message and organize, but users can also share their thoughts about a particular movement with ease. This project seeks to understand how the socioeconomic status and gender of a social movement’s participants affect the public’s reaction to their activities. This is done by studying how these movements are described on Twitter, and if these descriptions differ among different striking professions. The types of social movement I intend to study are all strikes which were …

Investigating Intellectual Diversity: A Critical Examination Of Academic Publishing Practices And Their Effects On Wildlife Conservation, Madeline M. Damon

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Academic publishing processes and standards play a fundamental role in communicating, reviewing, and expanding scientific knowledge in wildlife conservation. However, various publishing biases privilege some research perspectives and worldviews while limiting others. These biases directly impact intellectual diversity, or differences in ontology, axiology, and epistemology. This study aims to quantify intellectual diversity in the field of wildlife conservation and identify how publishing biases affect knowledge available to researchers and decision-makers worldwide.

The study employed a sample of 50,000 articles published between 2018 and 2022, collected from the Web of Science database. To analyze the vast amount of article records, natural …

Displacement, Place Attachment, And Other Characteristics Of Anglers On The Yellowstone River, Zachary L. Jones

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Yellowstone River has seen increasing recreational use as Montana has grown and out of state visitation has increased, leading to some locals voicing concerns of crowding. River recreation, as with many outdoor recreational activities, has participants that may be considered to be sensitive to crowded conditions and place a high value on solitude. Considering these perceptions, there is reason to believe that these participants may change their river use patterns if or when the perceived level of crowding exceeds their tolerance thresholds. Further, monitoring efforts conducted at river access sites often do not fully capture users that are already displaced …

Voices Of The Often Unheard: The Environmental Impacts Of Catastrophic Wildfire Events On Individuals With Developmental Disabilities, Mary Madison Mckenzie

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Thomas Fire for a time was the largest wildfire in California history, burning 281,893 acres and destroying 1,063 structures. Within three years, the August Complex Fire, at 1,032,649 acres, almost quadrupled that record. Climate related disasters such as these have impelled social science researchers to heed calls for a paradigm shift in understanding the risks climate change poses to the social world, in particular, disaster risks for vulnerable groups. Existing research tends to focus on disasters such as hurricanes, featuring risks for vulnerable populations by race, class, and/or individuals with disabilities in general, but not for individuals with developmental …

Call Your Elected Officials: Identifying Predictors And Audiences For Collective Climate Action, Nathan Scott Bender

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Influential climate action in the United States is beyond the scope of individual actions, and instead requires collective action. This challenges governmental agencies and NGOs to promote enough collective action to inspire systemic change. Though decades of social research have identified broad trends in the drivers of this collective climate action, predictors of specific actions vary across individuals and contexts, and existing theory does not fully account for these shifting relative contributions. Additionally, the scale and urgency at which we must address climate change requires understanding and motivating climate action at all scales, from broad trends to predictors of specific …

"Sexual Harassment Is My Job": The Impact Of Display Work On Bikini Barista Interactions, Sara R. Wozniak

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study compares the experiences of women working in “bikini” coffee stands with women working in "family-friendly" coffee stands. These stands are similar in that customers drive up and purchase coffee through a window. However, bikini coffee stands differ from their family friendly counterparts because they are staffed by scantily-clad women. This study contributes to the existing literature by comparing the experiences of service workers in sexualized and non-sexualized environments. Additionally, this study examines the understudied service job of bikini coffee. Using semi-structured interviews to examine the baristas’ thoughts and experiences surrounding their work, I find that both types of …

Agricultural Adaptation To Climate Change: How Montana Farmers Make Proactive Changes Despite Unpredictable Conditions, Austin Schuver

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In Montana, climate change is projected to increase interannual variability and the severity of weather events like drought. To sustain agricultural production, farmers must adapt to climate change within a complex decision-making process responsive to a range of climate and non-climate stressors. This study explores how Montana farmers approach proactive and long-term adaptation, two types of adaptation which are not well studied, but are expected to be increasingly important for adapting to the impacts of climate change. To understand Montana farmers’ approaches to adaptation, I conducted 30 in-depth interviews with farmers across the state. Farmers explained how unpredictability in weather …

Is Teaching Skills For Independent Living To Disabled Adults Associated With Change In Self-Determination?, Craig Ravesloot Ph.D., Tannis Mardece Hargrove, Tracy Boehm Barrett, Krys Standley, Mary Willard, University Of Montana Rural Institute

Independent Living and Community Participation

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of teaching people with disabilities independent living skills on the basic human needs specified in Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Nine Centers for Independent Living (CILs) recruited 160 disabled adults with disabilities to participate in weekly group sessions to go through the Community Living Skills curriculum (CLS). The CLS curriculum includes 10 sessions that cover basic independent living skills. Groups of participants met weekly to go through the curriculum with a CIL staff member trained in workshop facilitation. We used the Basic Needs Satisfaction General Scale (Gagne, 2003) to …

Montana Voices Amplified: My Perspective: Old Tv Static: Finding ‘My Way’ Through Medical Trauma, Bee Croyle, University Of Montana Rural Institute

Independent Living and Community Participation

“The summer between my freshman and sophomore year of high school, I went to camp in Oregon. Halfway through my week there, my legs stopped working. It happened slowly at first, the feeling of old TV static climbing up my legs till I was in a wheelchair. Then came the pain.” This issue of Montana Voices Amplified shares the author’s tips on managing medical trauma.

Examining Natural Resource Conservation: In The Classroom, Through Collaborative Conservation, And Across Public Communication Platforms, Shauni Seccombe

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Cultivating Opportunities For At-Risk Youth And Nutritious Food For The Community, Keith Leighton Rongstad Jr.

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Garden City Harvest is a Missoula, Montana nonprofit organization. Garden City Harvest sponsors the Youth Harvest program. Youth Harvest teaches at-risk youth job and life skills. The program’s mission is to improve participants’ professional and personal outcomes as adults. Participants utilize farming and retail skills they learn in the program to improve their employment opportunities and learn important life skills, such as money management, nutritional literacy, and food preparation. Participants also have the opportunity to assist other vulnerable people in Missoula and to become more connected to their communities. This paper is an analysis of questionnaires that Youth Harvest staff …

"Its Own Little City": Service Work In Truck Stops, Michelle Elizabeth Williams

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Montana truck stops act as a meeting place for long-haul truckers, vacationers, local commuters, and the workers simply trying to earn a living. The employees at such truck stops must navigate working-class customer service norms while interacting with a unique and diverse set of customers. The ethnographic and interview data that I collected during the 2020 offers a unique view of how customer service employees fared during political unrest, global health concerns, and financial struggle. Additionally, this study highlights the power dynamics that exist in the service industry by examining how such dynamics manifest in the interactions surrounding face masks, …

Risk, Trust And Emergent Groups: Covid-19 Mutual Aid Networks, Allison M. Cutuli

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Throughout the world, thousands of local mutual aid networks (MANs) have emerged in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mutual aid involves exchanging resources, connecting people to services and building community. During the COVID-19 pandemic, mutual aid includes sharing COVID-19 information, social support, food and emergency funds in informal local networks. To learn more about these community networks and explore the perspectives and experiences of MAN participants around the United States, I conducted survey research. There are 101 individuals from 16 MANs in 11 states included in the survey sample.

There are two parts to this research. The first explores descriptive …

The Intersection Of Race And Criminal History In Perceptions Of Native Americans And Hiring, Sierra B. Streuli

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Studies show that race-based discrimination exists in the hiring process. Many minority job candidates experience this phenomenon, especially when a criminal record is present. The intersection of possessing a Native American identity and having a criminal history has yet to be examined. This research compares the experience of Native American job candidates (some with a criminal history and some without) to white job candidates (some with a criminal history and some without) to see how these varying points of identity influence hiring process decisions in a fictitious hiring scenario. Using an online questionnaire based on Foschi and Valenzuela’s (2015) study …

Montana Voices Amplified: A Parent’S Perspective: Navigating Face Coverings, Elizabeth Cummings, University Of Montana Rural Institute

Independent Living and Community Participation

Everyone is talking about masks. As the research on their effectiveness as a tool to battle the COVID-19 pandemic grows, so does the list of places requiring them. Montana recently joined the states with a mask mandate, perhaps raising questions for many families with an individual with a disability. I am a parent of a child with complex special needs and have had these thoughts going through my mind over the last months as well. Could my son Charlie ever wear a mask? How would I teach him? What does the new normal mean for my unique family?

"A Pressure Not To Be Resisted Or Evaded": Military Occupation, Reform, And The Incorporation Of Northern Montana, 1879-1916, Hayden Nelson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis explores Fort Assinniboine’s role as an extension of the federal government’s military arm in the Northern Plains. It argues that the military occupation of northern Montana served to incorporate the northern borderland region and peoples into the American mainstream as a part of the national reconstruction processes following the Civil War into the twentieth century. In a period of half a century, north-central Montana transformed from a Native American common hunting ground lacking any major white settlement to a rapidly developing agricultural region. Fort Assinniboine played a central role in this transformation, hastening the economic collapse of the …

Social Climatology: An Age Comparison Of Women's Sustained Commitment To Collective Action Against Climate Change, Sara A. Humphers-Ginther

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Climate activists urgently emphasize action to prevent catastrophic and apocalyptic-like damage from climate change. The foundation of the institutional change needed to combat climate change is collective action, which I study here through a collective action frame. These frames can gain traction for policy agendas: they are solution- and action-oriented. I interviewed women climate activists to understand how they frame the problems from, causes of, and solutions to climate change, as well as how they urge others to act against climate change. I compared my informants based on age because beliefs, values, and lived experiences are important in how activists …

“Meet Them Where They're At”: Faith-Based And Secular Homeless Outreach Approaches, Larissa K. Fitzpatrick

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Many organizations strive to provide resources for individuals experiencing homelessness both in and outside of shelters. Studies analyzing the effects of religiosity on the practices of homeless shelters show that both faith-based and secular shelters generally offer a variety of services, from the accommodative, such as food and shelter, to the restorative, like housing, substance-use rehabilitation, and spiritual transformation (Snow and Anderson 1993). Although both types of shelters may require clients to participate in the latter to access the former, faith-based shelters often show a belief-based rigidity, with many requiring prayer, sermon attendance, or a proclamation of faith to access …

Investigating A Macro Level Trial Tax: An Analysis Of The Relationship Between A Circuit's Plea Proportion And Median Sentence Length In U.S. Federal Courts, Denise Lafontaine

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This study investigates the relationship between the proportion of cases resolved by plea in the federal court circuits and the median sentence length of those circuits. Through OLS regression, this study models the relationship, controlling for variation in circuits, year, and violent crime proportion. With an understanding of two common theoretical frameworks surrounding the trial tax discussion, this study theorized under a focal concerns perspective that as the proportion of cases resolved by plea in a circuit increases, the median sentence length of that circuit would decrease. The results of this study are consistent with results of prior research showing …

Perceptions Of Vulnerability To Flooding, Hurricanes, And Climate Change On Grand Isle, Louisiana’S Only Inhabited Barrier Island, Lauren Miller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study used in-depth interviews of permanent residents on Grand Isle, Louisiana, a remote barrier island, to better understand their perceptions of structural flood measures, non-structural responses to flooding and hurricanes, and perceptions of vulnerability to flooding, hurricanes, and climate change on a remote barrier island-Grand Isle, Louisiana. Residents' perceptions regarding the various structural measures implemented by the federal, state, and local government appeared mixed. Non-structural responses to flooding risks implemented at the household, community, state, and federal level continue to strengthen resiliency on Grand Isle. According to interviewees, aspects of environmental, rural, and economic vulnerability on Grand Isle impact …

Local Knowledge And Climate Information: The Role Of Trust And Risk In Agricultural Decisions About Drought, Adam J. Snitker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Climate change is projected to dramatically impact agricultural production across the world. Agricultural producers must adapt to changing conditions by implementing practices and utilizing knowledge that creates resilient operations. This study explores how Montana farmers and ranchers use of different types of knowledge during periods of drought and how risk perceptions and trust influence the use of knowledge. To understand the role trust and risk in producers’ use of local knowledge and climate information, I conducted five focus groups with 34 Montana agricultural producers. Producers explained that they encounter many agriculture-related risks, including uncertain forecasts, financial losses, and adverse weather. …

Understanding Tourism Within A Social-Ecological System: Ometepe Island, Nicaragua, Chelsea Leigh Leven

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Tourism endures as a major component of development strategies worldwide, despite a dearth of documented successes. Tourism failures arise in part from simplistic and reductionist approaches to sustainability and tourism. Successfully implementing tourism to support sustainable futures requires, at a minimum, a more holistic and complex conceptualization than tourism currently receives, including recognition of how human values shape a system. To achieve a more complex understanding of tourism, I analyzed tourism through a social-ecological system (SES) perspective using the paradigm of resilience thinking. Through a case study in Ometepe, Nicaragua, my research considered opportunities for tourism contributions to sustainable futures …

State Regulated Relationships: Mothers' Experiences Of Partner Incarceration, Hannah Brianne Fields

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The effects of incarceration on families have been studied in-depth, but little research evaluates the effects on women parenting children after the incarceration of their romantic partner. This research evaluates how mothers manage to keep their families intact throughout the duration of their partner’s incarceration. I approached this question using a geography theory of care developed by Sophie Bowlby and Linda McKie. This theory states that the quality of care is dependent on the space in which it is provided, the social expectations within the caring environment, and the amount of time required to provide or receive care. Using this …