Digital Commons Network^™

Building Capacity Through The Use Of A Strategic Prevention Framework System In Communities, Duncan Meyers

Theses and Dissertations

The Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) is a planning and implementation model that mobilizes communities to collaborate on developing and implementing an evidence-based prevention system. This model follows a structured five-step process with two cross-cutting elements (cultural competence and sustainability) that emphasizes building capacity of coalitions to strategically plan, implement, and sustain evidence-based prevention services to reduce adolescent substance use. This study utilized a repeated cross-sectional design. Participating youth were in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 and lived in one of 27 counties in a Southeastern state that was funded through the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention’s SPF State Incentive …

Claudio Perna, Ca. 1970: The Impossibility Of Wholeness, Silvia Benedetti

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis identifies two main themes in Claudio Perna’s (1938–1997) work: his use of technology to explore self-representation and his interrogation of mapping as means of knowledge. This study also situates Perna’s conceptual work in relation to his field of human geography, in the specific Venezuelan context.

Archival Enactment, Retelling 'The Big Book': Alison Knowles, Something Else Press And Fluxus, Meghan A. Dellacrosse

Theses and Dissertations

"Archival Enactment, Retelling 'The Big Book': Alison Knowles, Something Else Press and Fluxus," positions Knowles’ Big Book (1966) as a case study of historical methodology and interdisciplinary artistic practice in the post-war period. This comprehensive analysis of Big Book, a work of art no longer extant, contextualizes its publisher, Something Else Press through Dick Higgins’ concept of “intermedia,” and important lesser-known junctures relevant to Fluxus and the group’s leader George Maciunas are illuminated. Knowles' early and lesser-known silkscreen paintings are also examined.

The Impact Of Sports Dropout On Adolescent Functioning, Brittany Skiles Cook

Theses and Dissertations

Sports is the most commonly participated in extracurricular activity during adolescence. Aligned with the Positive Youth Development theoretical framework, previous research has shown that sports participation offers youth a context rich in resources found to promote positive adjustment into adulthood. However, around one third of the youth participating in sports drop out each year, and little research has examined the impact of sports dropout on indicators of youth adjustment. This study examines the relation between sports dropout and academic achievement, self-esteem, depression, perceived school climate, perceived support from adults in school, and alcohol use. The moderating effect of sports engagement …

Investigating Construct Validity Of The Cyber--Peer Experiences Questionnaire, Kendall Moore

Theses and Dissertations

With electronic technology becoming increasingly important in all aspects of modern life, traditional forms of relating with others have crossed into the cyber realm. Within that context, both positive and negative aspects of relational behavior have advanced in ways still largely underexplored in the research literature. One such area, termed “cyberaggression,” has recently gained momentum as a research focus. Given the numerous mental health sequelae from being involved in cyberaggression, such as anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation, there is a clear and compelling need for more research in this area. To date, however, there remains little consensus on the conceptualization …

General Strain Theory And Bullying Victimization: Do Parental Support And Control Alleviate The Negative Effects Of Bullying, Jonathon Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

With growing reports of bullying victimization ranging from 8 percent to 46 percent in many countries, bullying victimization has been declared an international problem often affecting youth in or near one’s school with poor parental supervision. While there has been a growing body of research concerning bullying victimization, few studies have examined the collateral consequences of bullying victimization and the mediating role of family processes through the theoretical lens of general strain theory. This thesis attempts to shed light on such a complex social phenomena and contribute to the bullying and stress literature. This study posits that bullying victimization is …

Beyond Ideals: Proslavery Reforms On A Nineteenth-Century Cotton Plantation, Kevin R. Fogle

Theses and Dissertations

The last four decades of the antebellum period witnessed the rise of a proslavery plantation reform movement aimed at preserving slavery in the face of increasing abolitionist pressure. Reformers promoted the image of ideal enslaved households operating as part of efficient modern plantations ruled by reason, benevolent management techniques, and scientific agriculture. Where implemented, reforms resulted in numerous changes to plantation life both around the home and in the fields. Slaves who bore the brunt of these changes struggled to resist plantation reforms or grudgingly accepted them depending on the impact upon established daily routines and any potential benefits bondsmen …

Framing Death: Politics, Meaning, And The Strategic Communication Of Organ Donation Messages In South Carolina, Jeremy T. Vanderknyff

Theses and Dissertations

This study applies framing theory within a critical-interpretive anthropological context to understand how organ procurement organizations (OPOs) design messages to promote organ donation registration and how cultural factors including notions of embodiment and structural inequalities influence audiences’ processing of those messages. The first part of the study employs content analysis to deductively identify OPO-produced message frames. The second part of the study uses focus groups across South Carolina to explore audience reactions to different message frames. Themes from donors and non-donors alike reflected a mistrust of the medical establishment, a keen awareness of structural inequality, and complex notions of embodiment …

Promoting Hpv Vaccination For Male Young Adults: Effects Of Social Influence, Wan Chi Leung

Theses and Dissertations

HPV vaccination is an important public health issue, but past research has mostly been done on the HPV vaccination for females. This study explores promotions of the HPV vaccination for men, focusing on how social influence plays a role in influencing young male adults’ attitudes toward the HPV vaccine. An online survey was conducted on Amazon Mechanical Turk, and responses from 656 males aged 18-26 in the United States were analyzed. Results indicated that exposure to messages were associated with perceived effects of the messages on others, which related to the perceived descriptive norm of vaccine uptake among other males. …

Do Discipline Style And Parenting Self-Efficacy Interact To Predict Observed Child Behavior? Outcomes From A Representative Sample Of Mothers With Young Chilren, Emily Noel Neger

Theses and Dissertations

Both parenting style and parents’ sense of their own parenting self-efficacy (PSE) have been found to predict child behavior outcomes in young children. Parents who engage in lax or overreactive parenting practices or who lack confidence in their parenting abilities are more likely to have children who display disruptive and noncompliant behavior. Until now, very little research has examined whether an interaction exits between these two constructs in predicting child behavior outcomes. The current study looked to fill this gap and assess whether a significant moderation relationship exists between parents’ parenting style and PSE in predicting observed child behavior. A …

Redneckaissance: Honey Boo Boo, Tumblr, And The Stereotype Of Poor White Trash, Ashley F. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Tumblr is an understudied social media site with a young, progressive, and queer user base of content creators. This study examines Tumblr posts about Here Comes Honey Boo Boo to understand the nature of Tumblr and the way a convergent culture that includes non-viewers negotiates a television show dependent on stereotypes. Discourses around authenticity, LGBTQ issues, and body acceptance resist the negative white trash connotations of the show, but this resistance is embedded in stereotypes around race, class, gender, sexuality, and geography. The result is a continuum in which users negotiate what the show means in how they use that …

The Effects And Comparisons Of Receptive Live Music Listening And Expressive Music Making On Mood With Elderly Adults In A Congregate Residential Setting, Rory Kendall Bolton

Theses and Dissertations

It is important to consider mood and its effect on elderly persons as many older adults will experience symptoms of depression. In prior studies, research indicated that preferred music listening and expressive music making can positively change mood in older adults. The purpose of this research study was to investigate the differences between receptive music listening and expressive music making (presented as a facilitated group music therapy session) and their effect on participants’ mood. The researcher hypothesized that 1) there would be a significant difference for pre and posttest standardized mood assessment (PANAS) scores between the receptive music listening and …

Training A New Trick Using No-Reward Markers: Effects On Dogs’ Performance And Stress Behaviors, Naomi Rotenberg

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored using no-reward markers (NRMs). Dogs were taught a novel trick. In the IG group dogs’ errors were ignored; in the NRM group they elicited a tone. Performance and stress were evaluated. IG dogs reached higher levels of performance, with no difference in the frequency of stress behaviors.

Multi-Dimensional Assessment Of Transit System Efficiency And Incentive-Based Subsidy Allocation, Xin Li

Theses and Dissertations

Over the past several decades, contending with traffic congestion and air pollution has emerged as one of the imperative issues across the world. Development of a transit-oriented urban transport system has been realized by an increasing number of countries and administrations as one of the most effective strategies for mitigating congestion and pollution problems. Despite the rapid development of public transportation system, doubts regarding the efficiency of the system and financing sustainability have arisen. Significant amount of public resources have been invested into public transport; however complaints about low service quality and unreliable transit system performance have increasingly arisen from …

Functionally Distinct Pools Of Calcineurin Contribute To Depotentiation-Like Synaptic Changes In The Lateral Amygdala During Auditory Fear Extinction, Elena Kay Rotondo

Theses and Dissertations

Until recently, auditory fear extinction was not thought to modify substrates involved in the storage of the original auditory fear memory. Evidence now suggests that extinction results in the reversal of the fear conditioning-induced potentiation of thalamic inputs to the lateral amygdala. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that support this depotentiation of synaptic strength. Here we present behavioral and molecular evidence in support of the contribution of two distinct pools of the protein phosphatase calcineurin to depotentiation-like changes in lateral amygdala AMPA receptor trafficking during auditory fear extinction. Calcineurin protein that exists prior to the onset of …

Transitioning Into Adulthood: Exploring The Educational Trajectories Among Undocumented Latinos, Michelle G. Parisot

Theses and Dissertations

The following qualitative study used semi-structured qualitative interviews to investigate the educational trajectories of five undocumented Latinos who were either in the process of transitioning into a college program or had recently enrolled in a college program. An initial interview was conducted with each of the participants followed by a follow-up interview about 3-months after the initial interview was conducted. A Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach was used to carry out this research study. Therefore, collaboration with participants and key community members was essential throughout the entire research process. A research team was created to perform thorough data analysis and …

Human Selection And Digitized Archival Collections: An Exploratory Research Project About Choice Of Archival Materials Digitized For Online Public Availability, Randy Nelson Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Our collective memory, the history that is cultivated through reflection, documentation, and consensus of historical data, is predicated upon the citizenry having access to the historical materials that society has created. Digitization has enabled greater public access to those materials. However, are items being scanned or digitally photographed to create surrogates that are then not made available to the world? The impetus for this study is to delve into whether or not intentional or unintentional personal choices play a role in determining which items archivists transform into digital surrogates; both in the decision of what to digitize and what to …

Relative Responsiveness Of Trade Flows To A Change In Prices And Exchange Rate, Esmaeil Ebadi

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation includes two essays in international trade. In my first essay I consider Orcutt’s (1950) hypothesis in which trade flows respond to changes in exchange rate more quickly than they do to changes in prices. There are several studies, which test the Orcutt’s hypothesis by imposing lag structure on both relative prices and exchange rate. I employ generalized impulse response analysis as an alternative approach to test Orcutt’s hypothesis using the sample of developed and developing countries. The empirical results do not support Orcutt’s hypothesis in most cases. In my second essay I investigate the effects of technological progress …

Baby Boomers And Technology: Factors And Challenges In Utilizing Mobile Devices, Renee K. Bennett- Kapusniak

Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory dissertation study reports an investigation of Baby Boomers utilizing mobile technology to determine how Baby Boomers were utilizing mobile devices and if there were any types of challenges and affecting factors some Baby Boomers could face when searching for information in an online mobile environment. Fifty Baby Boomer participants were recruited by a purposive snowball sampling method and were divided into two groups, twenty-five Younger Boomers and twenty-five Older Boomers to look for comparisons and differences among the Baby Boomers in regards to mobile technology usage, search activities, environmental context, frequency and duration of search activities, as well …

The Developmental Stages Of The Acquisition Of Arabic By Adult English-Speaking Learners: Processability Theory And The Formulaic Language, Abdellatif Oulhaj

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study is to look at the developmental stages of the acquisition of Arabic as a foreign language by adult English learners. Processability theory (Pienemann, 1998, 2005) is adopted to investigate in detail whether the acquisition development will follow the hierarchy as stated by PT. The study targeted agreement within seven grammatical structures. The structures belong to three procedural levels of the hierarchy (stages three to five).

Six adult learners participated in this study. They were tested via different tasks to elicit data either to support the predictions of PT hierarchy, or to disconfirm it. Two participants …

Retrograde Returns Of The American Housewife: Reimagining An Old Character In A New Millennium, Ruth Emelia Wollersheim

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the immensely popular return of the housewife character in the twenty-first century. From films like The Stepford Wives (2004), to television dramas like Desperate Housewives (2004-2012) and The Good Wife (2009- ), to reality shows like Wife Swap (2004- ), Bravo’s The Real Housewives franchise (2006- ), Basketball Wives (2010- ), Mob Wives (2011- ), and most recently on the blogosphere with personalities like The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, the housewife character has reentered our imaginations on a mass scale. This anachronistic character trend is in stark contrast to the urban, working superwoman ideal of the 1980s …

An Analysis Of The Effects Of The Social Disorganization Theory On Juveniles In Georgia, Anna M. Watson

Theses and Dissertations

Social disorganization is represented by an inability of community members to attain mutual goals or to resolve commonly experienced problems (Bursik, 1988). Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay were the first sociologists to denote this occurrence in Chicago. Shaw and McKay are examined as reputable sociologists and a summary of their work on this topic is discussed. This thesis sought to determine the social disorganization in Georgia by examining and analyzing the rates of juvenile delinquency. This thesis contains a literature review, a methodology and an analysis section. The literature review covered the history of the theory, tracing it back to …

Incorporation Of Latino Police Officers Into The Milwaukee Police Department: How A Group Of Latino Police Officers Shed The "Blue Shield" For A Latino Identity, Antonio G. Guajardo Jr

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

INCORPORTATION OF LATINO POLICE OFFICERS INTO THE MILWAUKEE POLICE DEPARTMENT: HOW A GROUPS OF LATINO POLICE OFFICERS SHED THE “BLUE SHIELD” FOR A LATINO IDENTITY

by

Antonio G Guajardo Jr.

The University of Wisconsin Milwaukee 2015

Under the Supervision of Professor Joe Rodriguez

This study examines the issue of ethnic identity and its importance to the Latino police officers in the MPD. The study also explores the relationship between these officers and Milwaukee’s Latino communities, analyzing historical incidents of activism within these communities meant to pressure the Department into hiring Latino officers. It also examines the officers’ experiences and …

The Child Support "Tax" : Determining The Effect Of Child Support On The Income Growth Of Noncustodial Parents, Jesse Snook

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the role of child support in determining income growth. Using an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model with state-level fixed effects applied to panel data from the National Study of Families and Households (NSFH), I find that having a legal agreement to pay child support has a significant and negative effect on the income growth of the noncustodial parent. Specifically, after controlling for demographic variables and the respondent’s economic circumstances in the initial time period, the OLS model with state-level fixed effects finds that having a child support obligation is associated with a 17.73 percentage point decrease in …

Spectrums, Subgroups And School-Lunch: The Linguistic Capital Of Students With Autism, Scott Belden

Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are known to have difficulties with pragmatic language. There is, however, a subpopulation of those with ASD that exhibits a high competency with pragmatic language. It can be difficult for researchers to find natural contexts to record these high-functioning individuals and examine their spontaneous use of pragmatic language. Additionally, there is a need to move beyond analyzing the cognitive abilities of these individuals to a sociolinguistic exploration of how they use pragmatic abilities to form and navigate social groups.

The research involved in this thesis included audio-visual recordings of 14 high school students with …

Collecting In Context: A Study Of The Milwaukee Public Museum's French Paleolithic Faunal Collection, Rebecca Fetzer

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the history of collecting practices of individual collectors and

museums of French Paleolithic archaeological material between 1869 and 1945. During this time period, thousands of French archaeological artifacts were dispersed to museums throughout North America, many with scant provenience. National agendas and the social and economic factors of the time greatly affected their dispersal. The individual agendas of the collector also played a role. This in turn had impacts on the overall understanding of these collections as well as the contemporary construction of archaeological knowledge relating to the study of early humans.

A sizable French Paleolithic faunal …

Distinguishing Venereal Syphilis From Other Treponemal Infections On The Human Skeleton, Antoinette Elizabeth Fafara-Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

The Treponemal diseases of yaws, endemic and venereal syphilis are capable of producing skeletal lesions during the late stages of infection. Due to the relatedness within the Treponema species all three diseases produce similar skeletal pathologies, making the classification of one specific treponemal disease versus another extremely difficult. This study investigates the skeletal pathologies associated with the treponemal infections of yaws, endemic and venereal syphilis in order to determine the skeletal lesions limited to only venereal syphilis. This study concludes that in order to distinguish treponemal diseases one must look beyond just the skeletal lesions and take into account the …

The Sickle's Edge: An Experimental Use-Wear Approach To Investigating Sickle Deposition In Bronze Age Europe, Barbara Ellen Mcclendon

Theses and Dissertations

Prehistoric hoards—containing items such as precious metals, tools, ornaments, and weapons—have long fascinated archaeologists and the general public alike. The practice of intentional wealth deposition in hoards was particularly prolific during the European Bronze Age; however, the motivations behind this practice remain unclear. Comparisons of the contents of hoards through space and time can yield valuable data regarding the purpose and process of deposition, but one of the most common items found in Bronze Age hoards—bronze sickles—remains understudied. In order to generate a standardized approach to the comparative analysis of prehistoric sickles in a variety of contexts, I propose a …

Land Use Analysis Of The Milwaukee County Institutional Grounds: A Chronological And Spatial Depiction Of Cultural Change, Sarah Klingman-Cole

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses GIS analysis of spatial data and historical documentation to determine land use change in the Milwaukee County Institutional Grounds (MCIG) located in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. This chronological and spatial land use analysis specifically examined aspects of the grounds in relationship to historically documented changes taking place during MCIG operations from 1850 to 1980. The purpose of this thesis is to provide a more accurate account of the grounds throughout the timeframe. This thesis, featuring a GIS model, includes a series of digitized maps that provide for a more accurate account of the grounds throughout the timeframe studied. Results …

Effects Of Reinforcement Duration And Duration-Correlated Stimuli On Preference In Pigeons, Michael James Harman

Theses and Dissertations

Pigeons were trained in a two-key, concurrent chains choice procedure with equal initial and terminal links. Across conditions, the durations of reinforcement in the terminal links were either equal (3-s vs 3-s) or unequal (3-s vs 6-s), and these durations were either uncued by hopper lights (both white) or cued (3-s: white; 6-s: colored). The pigeons’ choice responding leading to the longer duration of reinforcement was generally in the range of indifference with nondifferential hopper lights, but favored the longer duration with differential hopper lights. Taken together, the data suggest that differential hopper lights facilitated the discrimination of the longer …