Digital Commons Network^™

Success Among Incarcerated Mothers Seeking Treatment For Opioid Use Disorder, Brinna Desai

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a type of substance use disorder characterized by repeated use of opioid drugs. These drugs are known to be rapidly addictive with severe withdrawal symptoms, making death due to overdose a rising concern. In this study, we took a closer look at a specific population of women, all of whom had children and were incarcerated for opioid use. Our goal was to better understand the factors that would impact success among this group seeking medication-assisted treatment for OUD. We developed a set of questions focused on a variety of factors including stigma surrounding the disorder, …

Dating App Facilitated Sexual Violence: The Prevalence And Mental Health Effects, Samantha G. Echevarria

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Dating apps are in growing popularity, with 48% of dating app users in the United States being adults under 30 (Pew Research Center, 2020, Figure 5). While dating apps can provide a faster and easier way to meet or message a potential partner, they are also a relatively new platform to experience sexual violence. This thesis aims to explore the frequency of sexual violence experienced via dating apps as well as the specific effects this subtype of sexual violence has on the mental health of college students. Technology facilitated sexual violence (TFSV) includes unwanted sexual advances, sexual harassment, gender/sexuality-based abuse, …

Growing Up Puerto Rican: College Students' Reality Of Staying In Puerto Rico Post-Maria, Bianca M. Pizarro Vázquez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Puerto Rico has been under influence and colonial rule by the United States since the Spanish-American War of 1898. This has led the island to have partial and limited control over the affairs inside it. The passing of Hurricane Maria on September 20^th of 2017 exposed problems even further. Puerto Rico remains under the control of a Financial Oversight and Management Board since the passing of the PROMESA act (The Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act) signed by President Barack Obama in 2016. This had forced Puerto Rico to make drastic cuts to its public services. One …

Conceptions About Terrorism: How Fearful Are We And How Does That Affect Us?, Rebecca Jackson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Since the crusades, terrorism has been a form of violence used to promote some kind of agenda, whether political, social, religious or ideological (Martin 2018). With many different definitions of what constitutes terrorism, it is somewhat difficult to measure what exact impact terrorism has had globally. Attacks such as those on 9/11 in the United States and the Manchester bombings have been accepted worldwide as examples of acts of international terrorism. International terrorist attacks have lasting effects on both those directly affected as well as the larger community and beyond. Studies have shown that Americans are overly afraid of terrorism …

What Happened To Sanders? Millennials Analyses Of The 2016 Election Post-Primaries, Jacquelyn R. Fernandez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The Millennial generation is now the largest living generation. This generation has absorbed many labels, including the one of not being civically engaged. Many news sources focused on their lack of engagement throughout the 2016 election, stating that they were the key to a win in the election. Since Bernie Sanders was the first candidate to capture the attention of such a large amount of the Millennial generation, this research is designed to understand why and provide an in-depth analysis of the thoughts about Sanders from the largest living generation. The data was collected by conducting 15 in-depth interviews with …

Public Perceptions Of Birthmothers Of Adopted Children, Bethany I. Wedlund

Honors Undergraduate Theses

A woman who has experienced an unintended pregnancy and chooses to place the child for adoption is known as a birthmother. When faced with an unintended pregnancy, women typically have three courses of action. They may choose to parent the child, terminate the pregnancy, or place the child for adoption. There is limited research on birthmothers themselves or societal perceptions of them.

When it comes to societal perceptions of abortion, religiosity is a significant factor. Contrary to popular belief, many of the women who choose to abort do so in order to preserve the lives of their families. Single mothers …

Media Coverage And The Ferguson Unrest, Brittanni Wyatt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The media aids in bringing to light many social issues across the nation each and every day. Historically, police force on African Americans can be seen amongst many media outlets. However, with technological advances the media has flourished which makes it possible for the media to supply coverage of police force on African Americans more now than ever before. This exploratory analysis aimed to uncover ways in which the media has framed the individuals involved in the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2014. Articles from four media outlets were used in this analysis. Data was …

Advertising Risk: A Comparative Content Analysis Of Contraceptive Advertisements Targeting Black And White Women, Tiffany Rogers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research compared contraceptive advertisements in two top-circulated publications for white and African American female subscribers, Cosmopolitan and Essence. Data consisted of a sample of 172 contraceptive advertisements from the two magazines published between 1992 and 2012. Quantitative analysis focused on the model(s)' race, age, marital status, and socioeconomic status; the type of contraceptive being advertised; and the reason stated in the ad for using the product. This analysis determined a disparity in the rate of advertisement of doctor-administered contraceptives for the publications of 25.4 percent in Essence magazine and 9.5 percent in Cosmopolitan magazine. Black women were targeted with …

Reconciling Order And Progress: Auguste Comte, Gustave Le Bon, Emile Durkheim, And The Development Of Positivism In France, 1820-1914, Khali Navarro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis discusses the philosophy of positivism in nineteenth century France. Based on an empirical vision of society, positivism advocated values of rationality, progress, and secularization. In that way, it stood as one of the defining systems of thought of the modern era. I discuss, however, an undercurrent of anxiety about those same values. Positivism's founder, Auguste Comte, argued that all sciences would become unified and organized under universal principles and empirical standards. He viewed the human mind as becoming more rationalized throughout history. In his later career, however, he argued that rationalism was a destructive force and that a …

Exploring Theology And Practice In Islamic Parenting, Mergin Akin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore Muslims’ parenting styles and determine how factors such as religion, education, income, physical and verbal punishment experienced as a child, and the perception of Islamic childrearing influence their parenting styles. The research focuses on the main tenets of parenting in the Islamic tradition such as fatherhood, motherhood, children’s and parent’s rights and responsibilities, discipline methods, and physical punishment. The study also informs the role of marriage in Islam and the adopted concepts and theories of Western sociological literature. Findings show that authoritative parenting was the most predominant parenting style among study participants. …

We Live This Shit Rap As A Reflection Of Reality For Inner City Youth, Parag Patel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rap is an extremely popular form of modern music that is notorious for incorporating themes of guns and violence into the lyrics. Early rap was mainly party or dance music until the mid-80s when structural shifts in social conditions brought feelings of hopelessness and frustration into black inner city communities and youth culture. These feelings now find expression in rap lyrics. This thesis uses rap lyrics as qualitative data to understand the plight of urban black youth. Rap music can be seen as a form of resistance for young African Americans who have historically never had such a medium to …

Muslims In The Media:The New York Times From 2000 - 2008, Autumn Bishop

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although it is widely recognized that Muslims and Middle Easterners were negatively portrayed in the media after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, few scholars examine the long term media presentations of Islam in the United States. The studies that have explored the relationship of the portrayal of Islam by the media have used short term, limited sampling techniques, which may not properly reflect the popular media as a whole. The current research uses data from the New York Times from 2000-2008 in order to determine whether the popular media was portraying Islam in a disparaging manner. The analysis …

Bullying: Out Of The School Halls And Into The Workplace, Lucretia Cooney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study is to identify those people at most risk of being bullied at work. While much research is being conducted on school bullying, little has been conducted on workplace bullying. Using data gathered from a 2004 study conducted by the National Opinion Research Center for the General Social Survey, which included a Quality of Work Life (QWL) module for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), linear regressions indicated significant findings. As predicted, workers in lower level occupations, as ranked by prestige scoring developed at National Opinion Research, are more likely to be …

Pubs, Punters, And Pints: Anthropological Reflections On Pub Life In Ireland, Jason Cucchiara

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ireland is a country with a rich and unique cultural heritage. It is difficult to imagine that certain facets of Irish culture (e.g. Saint Patrick's Day, the Blarney Stone, or the Ring of Kerry) can ever be taken for granted since they are so widely recognized internationally. One common feature of Irish life that possibly warrants more scholarly attention is the public house or pub. Much has been written about pubs as quaint institutions in popular literature and fiction. Curiously, they remain largely overlooked as vital aspects of Irish culture by anthropologists and others in the social sciences. In many …

A Study Of Regional Language And Identities In A Small Occitan Village, Patrick Sacleux

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study utilized qualitative methods to approach regional language abilities of local respondents and how it affects their regional identity. The theoretical framework of this study explored some of the tenets of symbolic interaction emphasizing on identity theory and how the flexible aspect of face-to-face interaction can define the self and someone's regional identity as it relates to their regional language use. Data for this study were collected in a small Occitan village in Southern France. In particular, the study explored the link between an individual residential setting, his/her age and his/her ability to speak the regional language. The …

10x The Talent = 1/3 Of The Credit: How Female Musicians Are Treated Differently In Music, Meggan Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is an exploratory, qualitative study of female musicians and their experiences with discrimination in the music industry. Using semi-structured interviews, I analyze the experiences of nine women, ages 21 to 56, who are working as professional musicians, or who have worked professionally in the past. I ask them how they are treated differently based on their gender. Three forms of subtle discrimination are inferred from their narrative histories. First, female musicians are mistaken for non-musicians. They are encapsulated into inferior roles, like "the gimmick," "good for a girl," and "invisible accessory." Second, band mates and band managers control women's …