Digital Commons Network^™

Breaking Into Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center: A Lesson In (Non) Quantitative Research, Mackenzie Seward

Honors Theses

Gaps in the literature on juvenile justice and mental health within a juvenile correctional center prompted a study that focused on self-esteem, emotions, and empathy in residents living in a juvenile correctional center related to their participation in a storytelling course. First-year students from a local university visited the correctional center as part of a community-based learning component. They met with residents to swap stories about their lives. Several limitations and obstacles complicated the data collection process, forcing the researchers to pivot their study from quantitative analyses to qualitative observations. The experience of conducting a study within a juvenile correctional …

Justifying Antipathy?: Examining Racialized Perceptions Of Incarceration And Support For Mental Healthcare In Prisons, Jared Brassil

Honors Theses

The current U.S. criminal justice system has a disproportionate number of people suffering from mental illness. Additionally, many of these prisons not only lack the ability to properly treat these individuals, but in some cases may even worsen the problem. Public support, and importantly whom the public thinks the prototypical prisoner is, is important to know when advocating for reform. This research aims to investigate whether or not racialized perceptions of the U.S. criminal justice system impact support for mental healthcare reform in prisons. Given the exploratory nature of this work, potentially relevant individual difference variables are also investigated. An …

Stigma And Anxiety As Barriers To Help-Seeking Among University Of Richmond Students, Allison Walters

Honors Theses

There is a growing need for mental health services in the United States due to increased rates of psychopathology. Emerging adults, ages ranging from 18 to 24 years, experience high rates of psychopathology and thus have a strong need for available mental health treatments (Eisenberg et al., 2007). Despite this need and the efficacy of mental health treatment as a whole, there are many barriers to treatment utilization, including stigma. This study examines level of anxiety and stigma as barriers to help-seeking using data collected through the Healthy Minds Survey at the University of Richmond. Moderation analyses revealed that anxiety …

Stress And Health Behavior Among College Students, Lindsey Dorflinger

Honors Theses

The effect of stress and gender on health behavior, as well as the association amongst health behaviors, was examined. Past research has shown that stress can lead to higher levels of abnormal eating behaviors and attitudes, lower levels of exercise participation, and increased risk of smoking; studies have shown some gender differences as well. Seventy-eight college students completed questionnaires about stress, disordered eating, physical activity, and smoking status. Results showed that higher levels of stress were associated with higher levels of disordered eating, and that females have more abnormal eating attitudes and behaviors than males. Higher levels of exercise are …

Co-Rumination And Depression In College Students, Maurita M. Burns

Honors Theses

Studies concerning depression consistently reveal higher levels in women than men. One explanation for this is that women and men cope with depressive emotions differently. While women tend to focus on their negative emotions and the causes and consequences of these feelings, men are more likely to engage in distracting, active behavior. The persistent self focus on negative emotions, rumination, has been found to prolong and exacerbate feelings of depression (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991). At the same time, women tend to have more intimate and close friendships characterized by self-disclosure than men. While such intimate relationships theoretically provide social support that can …

Group Therapy For Sexually Abused Adolescents : Assessment Of Coping Skills, Negative Beliefs, And Self-Esteem, Kimberly R. Akin

Master's Theses

The sexual victimization of children in an increasing crime problem in this country and is now also recognized as a serious mental health issue. It has been estimated that the risk of victimization could be as high as one in ten for boys (Finkelhor, 1979) and one in three for girls (Anderson, Martin, Mullen, Romans, & Herbison, 1993). Girls are eight times as likely as boys to suffer rape (Finkelhor & Dziuba-Leatherman, 1994). Prevalence rates estimate between 15% and 38% of women (Finkelhor, 1984; Herman, 1981) and 6% of men (Finkelhor, 1984) have experienced childhood sexual abuse (CSA).

There is …