Digital Commons Network^™

Potential Parallels Between Pro-Ana And Bodybuilding Content On Social Media, Katherine Ann Craig

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examined the relationship between pro-ana and bodybuilding social media content to understand the similarities between these populations’ identities and help inform social media content policies. Two interrelated studies were used to investigate this relationship: Study 1 used computational methods which compared the content through machine classification of pro-ana and bodybuilding social media posts on Twitter and Study 2 fielded an online survey experiment to compare the perceptions and human classification of content from these populations on Instagram. The findings from both studies broadly revealed that pro-ana and bodybuilding identities are similar, at least in social media content, which …

Substance Use Disorder: Experiences Of Affected Family Members Social Support, Eileen Kane

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Substance Use Disorder: Experiences of Affected Family Members Social Support

by

Eileen Kane

The University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, 2020

Under the Supervision of Dr. Julia Snethen

Background: Social support is a factor in the health and well-being of all populations (WHO, 2018). Having a loved one with SUD negatively affects family members. Affected Family Members (AFM) providing support for the individual with ISUD, are at risk of losing their social support network. Losing social support negatively influences AFMs health and well-being. The purpose of this study was to explore the affected family member (AFM) of an individual with a …

'Would You Say You Had Sex If...' Rhetorical Meaning-Making Within Intimate Encounters And Their Discourses At The Macro, Meso, And Micro Levels, Megan Orcholski

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation advances a deeper understanding of the rhetoric of intimate encounters by analyzing meaning-making practices at the intersections of sex, sexuality, and sexualized violence at the macro, meso, and micro levels. The object of my analysis is discourse about sex, sexuality, and sexualized violence, but this analysis also has implications on understandings of how corporeal rhetorics, or communicative meaning within bodies, are operating in moments of intimate encounters. Throughout my chapters, I interrogate how normative scripts around sex are constructed, disseminated, and perpetuated, how these normative assumptions impact intimate encounters and their connected public discourses, and how these normative …

African Americans’ Perceptions Of Racial Inequality In Relation To Institutional And Social Trust, Megan Brianna Betts

Theses and Dissertations

Much of the research examining institutional and social trust explores the factors that affect these concepts, including race and ethnicity. Such studies involve comparing different racial groups and using race as a discrete independent variable in their analysis. Few researchers have sought to explore social and institutional trust within a single racial group, and when they have, it has only been in White respondents. In addition, few researchers have tied institutional and social trust to understandings of racial inequality. Due to the complex social and historical circumstances of African Americans, I propose there is a pattern in the way Black …

Revisiting The Categorical Imperative: Assessing The Categorization Of Taken-For-Granted Products, Dajuan Ferrell

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation uses two articles to examine the outcomes that occur when the taken-for-granted status of products like ice cream is disrupted. In chapter one, I conduct an overview of the categorical imperative, which asserts that products must possess category typical features to receive rewards, and how taken-for-grantedness mitigates this process. In chapter two, I discuss how products come to be taken-for-granted and how this status can lead to penalties or rewards. In chapter three, I present my first empirical chapter, where I assess the outcomes of two cases involving ice cream products losing their taken-for-granted status. For the first …

The New State: Self-Governance & Self-Expression Through The Exploration Of Youth Social Spaces In Today’S Mediated Society, Alexia Samira Brunson

Theses and Dissertations

“Self-governance” and “self-expression” are tenets that one would hope to find in the standard of any progressive constitution. However, these terms are not presented here as parliamentary rhetoric, but as components of the mission to develop a “city block, creating public space, cultural infrastructure, and economic opportunity, while empowering our youth” in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That project is called The New State. By looking at The New State as a conceptual template for youth culture development in the digital age, this study attempts to expand understandings of youth citizenship and how it might affect development of society beyond its physicality. This …

The Impact Of Gender And Class On Disease And Trauma In 18th Century London: A Case Study Of Three Cemetery Populations, Maria A. Barca

Theses and Dissertations

The bioarchaeological study of paleopathology integrates interdisciplinary approaches, such as gender and class theory, and the study of trauma and disease. Using multiple lines of evidence, this thesis examines the impact of gender and class on skeletal evidence for disease and trauma in three 18th century London cemeteries serving different socio-economic populations. Contemporary written sources for prescribed gender and class roles are tested against the bioarchaeological evidence to investigate the extent to which these norms reflected lived reality or differentially impacted the incidence of trauma and disease in populations of varying socioeconomic status. Conformity to prescribed gender roles should be …

Factors Affecting Blood Pressure Target Outcomes For Veterans Using Home Telehealth, Vincent Boom

Theses and Dissertations

Hypertension is the most common diagnosis among Veterans, contributing to approximately 15,000 veterans hospitalized for stroke every year. The high prevalence of hypertension found in the Veteran population suggests a need to better define the risks and benefits associated with the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension. The U. S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) home telehealth program provides chronic care management for hypertension to facilitate Veteran access to care. Existing evidence suggests Veterans’ monitoring of blood pressure at home may selectively assist in managing hypertension. This secondary analysis of data used a self-management lens to assign meaning to traditionally demographic …

A Nation Rated? School Segregation And The Distribution Of A School Resource: The Role Of Accountability Ratings In Metropolitan Public Schools, Michael A. Miner

Theses and Dissertations

Overview. This dissertation examines how school accountability ratings are associated with school segregation, how they shape public perceptions of school quality and how they influence parents’ enrollment decisions. In theory, school ratings were developed to raise achievement for all students by identifying poor performing schools and intervening to improve them. Across the United States, school segregation concentrates Black, Latinx and lower income students in schools with low average test scores. As such, school ratings may both reflect and even reinforce educational inequalities associated with school segregation because a component of the rating relies on performance on standardized exams. To the …

Examining The Influence Of Individual And Neighborhood Characteristics On Jail Recidivism, Alyssa M. Sheeran

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined how various individual and neighborhood characteristics influenced the likelihood for individuals to recidivate following release from a local jail. Using data from various sources, this study contributed to the understanding of jail recidivism by addressing several gaps in the literature. First, little attention has been directed towards the study of jail reentry and, instead, concentrates on prison reentry. Next, using a social disorganization perspective, neighborhood context was examined for a sample of jail ex-inmates. Individual characteristics were simultaneously examined for the current sample, using theoretical underpinnings from the Risk-Needs-Responsivity (RNR) model. Finally, recidivism was measured using multiple …

"They're Protecting Whiteness And Their Fragility Is Showing": How Feminist Praxis Disrupts White Supremacy In Neoliberal Predominately White Institutions", Christina Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

Predominately white institutions (PWIs) embody white policies, culture, and ways of educating that disproportionately affect Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). This research addresses the ways in which feminist praxis disrupts white supremist violence in PWIs. Literature highlights the ways in which white supremacy is disguised through the language of diversity, how the university community is able to build community despite barriers in the university, and how each primary player (faculty, staff, and students) navigate institutional violence. This research draws on ten interviews with faculty, staff, and students at a public and private PWI in an urban Midwestern city. Although …

Lifestyle Tv For Men: The Nostalgic Fantasy Of History Channel's Blue-Collar Infotainment, Stephanie Ann Menders

Theses and Dissertations

This work considers the commercial and ideological implications of History's branding shift as exemplified by the debut of its reality programming slate in 2007. History's blue-collar infotainment, which focuses on men in rugged and traditional forms of work, represents a masculinized and conservative response to the feminized and often socially liberal-minded lifestyle-programming trend. The social, industrial, and cultural context within which these texts exist, particularly the 2008 recession and the growing emphasis on workplace and TV diversity, are foundational to History's rejuvenated brand. Themes from Ice Road Truckers, Ax Men, Swamp People, Pawn Stars, American Restoration, American Pickers, and Forged …