Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Public Opinion Of Violence In The Mississippi Gulf Coast Region, Michael R. Smith

Honors Theses

Currently, there is an outcry to Mississippi legislators from law enforcement professionals and citizens to address the spike in violent crime levels observed since 2015. The Great Recession of 2008 reduced community policing programs in the United States, resulting in fewer police officers patrolling the residential communities and minor criminal offenses going unreported. This effect has been especially prevalent in the “South Region” of the United States. In 2014, this region reported the largest increase of all regions at 1.9%. Because the public act on their perceptions and legislators react to strong public opinion by creating or changing policies, one …

Self-Perceptions Of Black Entrepreneurship In A Black Majority Rural Context - The Mississippi Delta, Timla G Washington

Dissertations

This studyexplored questions regarding the perceived influences (agency and structural) to successful Black entrepreneurship according to Black entrepreneurs living in the counties in the Mississippi Delta where Black people are the majority of the population. The examination questioned Black entrepreneurs in 13 counties in the Mississippi Delta on the perceived impact of agency and structural factors (i.e., human capital, social capital, industry type, financial capital, intergenerational link, discrimination, state government, Black elected officials, access to resources, opportunity, location) in relation to their success. One finding was that agency factors are the leading perceived influence on the success of Black entrepreneurs …

You Are What You Eat: Gastronomy & Geography Of Southern Spain, Katherine F. Perry

The Catalyst

Using empirical and numeric data, this study explores the use of food as a proxy to understand the cultural-historical geography of southern Spain. After spending three months in Granada, Spain, I compiled the most commonly used thirty-five ingredients from a selection of Spanish cookbooks and contextualized them within the broader history of Spain. The elements of traditional Andalucían cooking fit into three primary chapters of Iberian history: Roman occupation, the Moorish invasion beginning in the 8^th century, and the Columbian exchange, or the exchange of goods that took place between the Americas and Old World following European discovery of …

A Social Network Study To Improve Collaborative Partnerships Among The Southeastern Health Equity Council (Shec), Candace Forbes Bright, Hannah Scott, Braden Bagley, Jonathan Dennis

Faculty Publications

This report presents research conducted on the relationships among and attributes of members of the Southeastern Health Equity Council (SHEC, herein Council) to provide recommendations for partnerships, collaboration, and the recruitment of new members. The background, methods, results, and recommendations are outlined in detail throughout this report. Social networks are measured and defined as connections among people, organization, and/or other units. SNA is a valuable and innovative tool for recognizing strengths and weaknesses in collaborative partnerships. The evaluative study presented herein can be replicated in other councils within the Regional Health Equity Councils to improve collaborations not only among SHEC …

The Influence Of Parental Communication About Sexual Health On Quality Of Emerging Adult Romantic Relationships, Jaclyn Denise Powers

Master's Theses

The research on relationships between parent-child communication about sexuality and sexual communication between adult partners is currently lacking. The current study aims to examine the influence of parent-child sexual communication on adult sexual communication when those children reach adulthood and engage in romantic relationships. Parent-child sexual communication, attachment styles, sexual attitudes, and partner sexual communication were examined for influence on the physical and emotional relationship satisfaction of emerging adults. Study 1 included a quantitative analysis with 553 emerging adults participating in an online survey, and study 2 incorporated a qualitative analysis with an additional 7 emerging adults participating in online …

Born To Run: A Grounded Theory Study Of Cheating In The Online Speedrunning Community, Christopher G. Brewer

Master's Theses

Video games represent a growing genre of media quickly becoming one of the leading forms of entertainment (Jordan, 2014). This popularity has allowed new playstyles to emerge across the video game genre, such as e-Sports and speedrunning. In particular, the speedrunning community has somewhat redefined what it means to “cheat” in a video game by accepting the use certain software and hardware violations that could be seen as “cheating” to the general gaming community. This paper examined the social construction of cheating in this digital community through the use of grounded theory methods.

Buildings And Books: Segregated Libraries As Places For Community-Making, Interaction And Learning In The Age Of Jim Crow (Presentation For The Society For The History Of Authorship, Reading, And Publishing Annual Conference, June 2017), Matthew R. Griffis

Publications and Other Resources

From the conference program: "This presentation reviews the preliminary findings of a federally funded, 3-year historical study that explores how segregated Carnegie libraries were used as places of community-making, interaction, and learning for African Americans in the age of Jim Crow. Known then as "Carnegie Negro libraries," these public libraries opened in eight southern states between 1900 and 1925 and were an extension of the well-known library development program funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

"Drawing on archival sources, including newly completed oral history interviews with surviving library users, this presentation explores how these libraries helped foster a …

Overparenting And Emerging Adults' Mental Health: The Mediating Role Of Emotional Distress Tolerance, Christopher Michael Perez

Master's Theses

Overparenting is a type of parental control that features intense parental involvement, which is negatively associated with the development of age-appropriate autonomous behavior in children and emerging adults. To this point, overparenting has been linked to poor mental health in young children (Bayer, Sanson, & Hemphill, 2006; Gar & Hudson, 2008), as well as in emerging adults (LeMoyne & Buchanan, 2011; Segrin, Woszidlo, Givertz, & Montgomery, 2013). The emerging adult population has continued to be one of interest across recent studies concerning mental health, given the unique emotional and behavioral changes that arise during this stage of development. Emotional distress …

African-American Perceptions Of Community-Oriented Policing Programs, Adrian L. Griggs

Honors Theses

Reports of police killings of unarmed African-American men have been commonly featured on the news in recent months. Protests in response to those incidents have occasionally turned into riots, and the tension between the minority community and police remains unchanged. There is always a racial variable implicit whenever the African-American community policing debate arises. Researchers have conducted studies on this challenge and have examined differences in perceptions of police officers between African Americans and other racial groups. Studies have been conducted that examine why there might be less satisfaction with police among African Americans but have not considered how these …

A Retro Development In Education: Evaluating The Feasibility Of Integrating Place-Based Education Into Mississippi Curriculum Standards, Colby K. Mcclain

Honors Theses

This thesis evaluates the feasibility of integrating place-based environmental education activities from Think Green, Take Action: Books and Activities for Kids into the Mississippi Department of Education’s (MDE) Frameworks for Science and Social Studies for K-5. As children develop and experience the world, their ability to understand and interpret the surrounding environments expand; however, Mississippi schools are not focused on experiential environmental education, even though experiencing and understanding the surrounding environment is vital in fostering eagerness to learn. Due to a growing disconnect between humans and the natural world, this thesis examined 37 place- and environment-based activities for children, sixteen …