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Depressive Symptomatology Among Dominicans: Links To Acculturative And Economic Stressors, Skin Tone, And Perceived Discrimination, Teresita Camacho-Gonsalves

Doctoral Dissertations

Latinos have been identified as a population at high risk of developing mental health problems. However, studies on Latinos rarely address differences between subgroups. There are important social and cultural differences between subgroups that are likely to be reflected in differential expressions of depressive symptoms. The fast growing Dominican community in the United States is one subgroup of Latinos that has been understudied and underserved.

The objectives of this dissertation were to explore among Dominicans: (1) the direct and indirect effects of sociodemographic factors and skin tone on psychological distress; (2) the relationships between various stressors (economic, perceived discrimination, and …

Gendered Work: Women's Paid Labor In Barre, Vermont And Trinidad, Colorado, 1880--1918, Susan L. Richards

Doctoral Dissertations

Between 1880 and 1918, thousands of women in Barre, Vermont and Trinidad, Colorado entered the paid labor force. They worked as boardinghouse keepers, domestic servants, waitresses, laundresses, prostitutes, office workers, saleswomen, telephone operators, business owners, teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, artists, musicians, and midwives. By compiling and manuscript census records for 1880, 1900, and 1910, and city directories for the period 1880 to 1918, this study identified 3,634 working women in Barre and 3,886 working women in Trinidad. Cross-checking these names against probate, city, and county court records, marriage and death records, newspapers, local manuscript collections, and oral histories, stories of …

Evolution Of Gender Associated Mitochondrial Dna In Bivalves, Jason Paul Curole

Doctoral Dissertations

Bivalves of the families Unionidae and Mytilidae possess a unique mode of mitochondrial DNA inheritance dubbed sex-limited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) inheritance or doubly-uniparental inheritance (DUI). In contrast to the matrilineally restricted inheritance of mtDNA in other metazoans, these bivalves have both matrilineally and patrilineally inherited mtDNA lineages. Although the matrilineally inherited mtDNA (or F type) is present in the somatic tissues of both sexes and the female gonad, the patrilineally inherited mtDNA (or M type) is limited to the male gonad. In Mytilus several observations have been made concerning the evolution of DUI. Firstly, the fidelity of DUI is not …

A Gender And Development (Gad) Implementation Evaluation: Testimonios Reveal The Successes, Challenges, And Unpredicted Results For Women's Equality And Community Sustainability, Melinda Salazar

Doctoral Dissertations

This is a case study of a Gender and Development implementation evaluation in several rural, Baha'i communities in Andean Bolivian. "Traditional Media as Change Agent," funded by UNIFEM (UN International Fund for Women) and implemented by BIC (Baha'i International Community), was an innovative, non-economic approach to change gender attitudes and behaviors by including men in a consultative process using traditional media. This study responded to criticism that GAD ignored the environment, was lodged squarely in Western economic development thought and Western feminist values, and lacked the voices of the women and men for whom development aims to benefit.

This study …

Juvenile Justice Reform: A Tale Of Two Systems, Erika Gebo

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines two juvenile justice reform efforts in one state. The first initiative, a detention risk assessment tool, is embedded within the second initiative, a family court pilot project. Detention screening tools have been developed primarily to alleviate detention center overcrowding and to reduce disproportionate minority confinement in those centers. The instrument under analysis limits discretion by judges in the detention decision making process. The second reform effort, family court, is premised on the rehabilitative ideal. In these courts, judges are presumably given wide latitude in deciding cases in order to meet the individual needs of each offender. These …

Implementation And Evaluation Of Group -Based Prevention Of Eating Concerns Using Self -Efficacy And Knowledge Enhancement, Lindsey Erin Laplant

Doctoral Dissertations

The project implemented and evaluated a prevention program for eating concerns with first year college women. Two prevention conditions were examined. One condition provided information about eating concerns, from definitions to biopsychosocial risks and consequences. The second condition built self-efficacy and skills in the participants along with presenting information. The evaluation component was unique compared to other evaluations in the eating concerns prevention literature. It used pre and post intervention assessments, a control group, and had a larger sample of participants compared to other similar published programs. Both quantitative and qualitative assessment techniques were used to evaluate participants' experience in …

Self -Determination And Success Outcomes Of Two -Year College Students With Disabilities: An Integration Of Quantitative And Qualitative Approaches, Deborah Russo Jameson

Doctoral Dissertations

Two recent movements have occurred in the name of equality of opportunity in a democratic America: the Disabilities Movement in higher education where increasing numbers of students with disabilities are enrolling in college; and the Self-Determination Movement (Wehmeyer, 2000; Ward & Meyer, Fall, 99) as it relates to transition initiatives and positive adult outcomes for individuals with disabilities. To date, the Self-Determination Movement has made few in-roads into higher education, and a relationship between the success of college students with disabilities and self-determination remains largely untested.

The purpose of this study was to investigate a possible relationship between post-secondary success …