Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Examination Of Various Dimensions Associated With Nonprofit Board Member Diversity: The Significance Of Organizational Factors, Patrick Luke Decker-Tonnesen

Dissertations

This dissertation examined how leadership and organizational factors influence nonprofit board diversity. The goal of the research was to expand the data available in the social service sector associated with understanding the role of board member diversity within nonprofit organizations. Utilizing data from BoardSource’s Leading with Intent (2017) dataset, which included responses from 1,378 nonprofit Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), board racial, gender, and total diversity, along with several organizational factors, were included for descriptive and inferential analysis. Organizational factors included CEO racial and gender demographics, organization type, geographical location, revenue, personal contribution of board members, CEO perception of mission and …

Perceptions Of The Grant Decision-Making Process: A Study Of Foundation Grantmakers And Grant Seekers Who Focus On Youth Violence In Chicago, Illinois, Patiya Freely

Dissertations

Local partners like churches, schools, and community organizations are often at the front lines of addressing the problem of recurring deadly violence against Black urban youth. Foundation grants are frequently used to fund their work. While foundations annually award millions of dollars in grants to community-based organizations addressing youth violence, there is little detailed information available about the foundation grantmaking decision-making process. Notably, there is a lack of research on the determinants of the grant decision-making process that may inadvertently affect grantee outcomes and ultimately the of beneficiary organizations and communities.A sample of ten decision-makers who had funded or sought …

Establishing A Health-Based Social Hierarchy, Akila Salaam Raoul

Dissertations

Social dominance theory (SDT) proposes a basic human nature to form social hierarchies based on social group membership with dominant and subordinate social groups. These social hierarchies are maintained through legitimizing myths, or beliefs that work to frame the existing social system as fair by suggesting that individuals receive the social status they deserve based on their actions and contributions to society as opposed to their group membership. The level at which an individual wants to maintain social hierarchies is indicated by their Social Dominance Orientation (SDO). SDT has been extensively studied in the context of race, gender, and age …

Higher Education, Neoliberalism, And Conflict: A Case Of The University Of Balochistan In Pakistan, Syed Amir Shah

Dissertations

The current study focuses on the role of peacebuilding in the higher education sector of Pakistan’s conflict-affected region of Balochistan. The research is an extended case study of the University of Balochistan. It addresses how the institution’s peacebuilding agency has evolved in the face of ethnic conflict and the neoliberal reforms pursued by the state during the past two decades. The research is based on the study of policy documents, official reports, and individual and focus group interviews with various educational actors.

The peacebuilding agency of the institution is theorized according to the 4Rs (Novelli et al., 2019; Novelli et …

A Longitudinal Study Of Pain In Youth And Young Adults With Spina Bifida: Three Studies Based On The Bio-Neuropsychosocial Model, Diana Margaret Ohanian

Dissertations

Family Functioning, Neuropsychology, Pain, Pain Coping, Psychological Adjustment, Spina Bifida

Consistency Of Sleep Across Development And Relations To Executive Functions; Applications To Emerging Adults Transitioning To College And Adolescents With Spina Bifida, Laura Nicholson

Dissertations

College Students, Development, Executive Functioning, Inhibition, Sleep consistency, Spina Bifida

Pupils Of The Pipeline: Exploring The Role Of School Discipline And Disciplinary Actors On Adolescent Psychosocial Functioning, Ogechi Onyeka

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Predicting Asian American College Women’S Leadership Intention Using Social Cognitive Career Theory, Jeong-Eun Suh

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Individual Differences And Neural Correlates Of Emotion Reactivity And Regulation: Potential Intervention Targets In Depression, Ian James Kahrilas

Dissertations

Depression, Electroencephalography, Emotion reactivity, Emotion regulation

The Impact Of Peer Supportive Accountability On Use Of A Mindfulness App In Depressed College Students: A Mixed Methods Study, Carol Hundert Gonzales

Dissertations

Depression, Mental Health App, Mindfulness, Supportive Accountability

Therapist Broaching Behavior In Cross-Racial Therapy: Exploring Affective Responses To Racism And Cultural Humility As Predictors, Sarah C. Galvin

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The New Temporary Labor: Regulating The Gig Economy In Austin, Chicago And New York, Ashley Baber

Dissertations

Gig Economy, Labor Market Intermediary, Precarious Labor, Urban Governance

International Student Mobility And Migration: Policy Pervasion And The Student Experience, Max Crumley-Effinger

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Interpretive Phenomenological Study Of Women’S Struggles, Hopes And Reasons For Participation In Professional Power-Based Community Organizing In Chicago, Mary Dungy-Akenji

Dissertations

Mary K. L. DungyLoyola University Chicago AN INTERPRETIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF WOMEN’S STRUGGLES, HOPES AND REASONS FOR PARTICIPATION IN PROFESSIONAL POWER-BASED COMMUNITY ORGANIZING IN CHICAGO Professional power-based community organizing is a practice of grassroots change in which paid organizers guide community members as they band together to make demands on elite groups to redistribute resources (Bobo et. al, 2001; Sites et al., 2007). Conflict-based tactics may be utilized to demand structural improvements from key stakeholders, usually towards progressive political ends that build towards a more just society (Bobo et. al 2001; Wilkinson & D’Angelo, 2019). Community organizing has some roots …

Schooled To The Streets? Exploring The Relationship Between K-12 Educational Experiences And Early Careers In Activism, David Abraham Castro

Dissertations

Since the late eighteenth century, organizing and activism have been part of the urban landscape, from the labor organizing of Eugene Debs in the early twentieth century to the community organizing work of Saul Alinsky during the 1950s and 1960s. The development of community organizers is strongly tied to local institutions such as factories, houses of worship, and schools. For many youths in Chicago, schools often become the sites of political and social awakening and lead to activism beyond the schoolhouse. Within the current context of urban education scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and community organizers alike agree that the perspectives of …

Supporting Latine Children’S Informal Engineering Learning And Spatial Thinking Through Tinkering And Storytelling, Diana Acosta

Dissertations

In the United States, the Latine community is the fastest growing minority group. Projections estimate that by the year 2060, they will represent 28% of the total population. Yet, Latines continue to be underrepresented and underserved in STEM fields and careers. Providing equitable informal STEM learning opportunities to young children may be a way to increase access and interest in STEM, to address the broader goal of increasing representation. Importantly, for these learning experiences to be truly equitable they must be meaningful and engage everyday cultural practices. Guided by a strengths-based approach, the current study examines how oral stories as …

Does Co-Speech Gesture Support Children’S Analogical Reasoning? An Investigation Into The Differential Effects Of Gesture On Learning, Katharine F. Guarino

Dissertations

Although the general consensus is that gesture supports learning across a wide range of learning contexts, nuances to gesture’s effects are found across the gesture-for-learning literature. The purpose of this body of research was to advance our understanding of gesture’s effect on learning. Specifically, we explored the utility of gesture in a domain that had not been considered in the gesture literature previously: analogical reasoning (Study 1). We aimed to understand whether gesture supports children’s analogical reasoning ability and why gesture might support this type of reasoning. Specifically, we investigated whether gesture could support learning through directing visual attention, thereby …

The Souls Of Black Folks In The Twenty-First Century: Self-Efficacy, Grit, And Their Development In Low-Income Urban Black Youth, Amzie Moore

Dissertations

Self-efficacy and grit have shown to be internal resources for African American youth, particularly urban low-income youth living in high crime and high poverty communities. This dissertation is a quasi-experimental, longitudinal, and mix method study, which evaluated a cross-age peer mentoring program. This evaluation was to examine if youth mentors’ attendance in the program for one year predicted increases in their self-efficacy and grit. The results of the study revealed that age significantly interacted with youth attendance, predicting increases in self-efficacy. Findings from the qualitative analyses illustrated that the peer-mentoring program strengthened culturally-relevant self-efficacy and grit among youth mentors.

Unlocking Desistance: The Role Of Executive Functioning In The Rehabilitation Of Correctional Populations, Danielle Nesi

Dissertations

In a secondary analysis of data collected by Fishbein and Sheppard (2006), the current study sought to explore the relationships among age, executive functioning and antisocial behavior (e.g., changes in institutional infractions, self-reported aggression and reactivity) among a sample of incarcerated men enrolled in a correctional Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) program between 2003 and 2005. Specifically, the current study examined whether baseline executive abilities predicted misconduct and whether this relationship was mediated by treatment engagement. The relationships among age, treatment engagement, and changes in executive functioning post-treatment were also considered. It was predicted that improvements in executive functioning would vary …

Leveraging Moral Foundations To Increase Covid-19 Vaccination, Cara Elizabeth Ray

Dissertations

Despite the vast majority of the eligible U.S. adult population being vaccinated against COVID-19, geographical clusters of unvaccinated individuals pose a substantial risk of outbreak. It is important to encourage as many individuals as possible to vaccinate against COVID-19 to reduce its spread and severity. Past research has identified endorsement of the purity and liberty moral foundations – intuitive domains of moral concern – as predictors of vaccine hesitancy and political conservatism, while conservatism is itself associated with vaccine hesitancy. Across two online surveys, I examined the effects of a message invoking the purity and liberty foundations as well as …

It Doesn’T Get Better With Time: The Effect Of Housing Insecurity On Rearrest In Polk And Palm Beach County, Quintin Williams

Dissertations

Housing insecurity is one of the main drivers of poverty and inequality in contemporary urban society. We know that this insecurity contributes to poor outcomes for the individuals experiencing it. We know less about how this housing insecurity impacts contact with the criminal justice system. Using event history analysis, this study assesses the effects of housing insecurity in Polk County Iowa and Palm Beach County Florida. Results confirm that housing insecurity increases the risk of being rearrested each day a person is without stable housing. These findings reveal that lack of access to safe, affordable, and stable housing not only …

Broaching The Topics Of Religion And Spirituality In Therapy: Considering The Influence Of Therapist Competence And Organizational Competence, Papa N. Adams

Dissertations

Many individuals have identified religion and/or spirituality (R/S) as integral in the construction of their worldview and important in mental health. Research has demonstrated that clinicians hold positive attitudes towards integrating R/S into therapy yet reported low levels of actually integrating R/S into therapy sessions. This study examined therapist behavior in regard to broaching discussions about R/S in psychotherapy sessions. This study proposed that clinician broaching behavior would be correlated with the clinician’s R/S competence. Furthermore, the relationship between broaching and clinician’s competence would be moderated by the R/S competence of the clinician’s environment (defined as the organizational/institutional R/S competence). …

Understanding The Process Of Health Goal Achievement Among Black Men Who Have Sex With Men (Msm) In Chicago: An Exploratory Qualitative Study, Anthony Johnson

Dissertations

Background: Over the last 30 years, Black men who have sex with men (MSM) have been disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS while accounting for only approximately 1% of the population of the United States. The majority of research with Black MSM has focused on HIV infection risk factors, but very little attention has been given to their overall health and well-being. The breadth of HIV-health related research that includes Black MSM tends to demonstrate high levels of racial, environmental, and economic disparities that need to be addressed. However, more research must be conducted to explicate the process of exercising strength and …

Defending Gender: Transprejudice As Gender System Maintenance, Linas Mitchell

Dissertations

The high levels of interpersonal and policy-based discrimination that transgender people face can be understood as a way of responding to transgender threats to gender systems. By understanding gender as a system of meaning and power, I apply System Justification Theory to interpret transprejudice as a form of gender system maintenance that may be influenced by one’s position in the gender system (gender) and general support for the status quo (conservatism). The present studies test whether transprejudice functions as a form of system affirmation/threat rejection. I found that exposure to system threat did not lead to greater transprejudice than a …

The Impact Of Democratically Elected Islamist Governments On The Implementation Of Foreign Policy: Cases Of Egypt, Morocco, And Tunisia, Taghreed Alsabeh

Dissertations

This dissertation aims to examine the foreign policy of elected Islamist parties in Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia while in power and compare their foreign policy with non-Islamist parties from their respective countries. It seeks to answer the following questions: What is the role of democratically elected Islamist parties on the implementation of foreign policy? Does the foreign policy of Islamist parties differ from that of non-Islamist parties? Do Islamist parties apply their Islamist ideology to foreign policy? Finally, do Islamist parties in Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia share similar foreign policy approaches? The study concludes that the difference in foreign policy …

Facing The Mass Exodus: Reconsidering The Moral Responsibilities For And Obligations Toward Large Numbers Of Refugees In An Age Of Global Crises, Muhammet Ali Asil

Dissertations

The global refugee crisis has revealed an essential moral question regarding helping the forcibly displaced persons in protracted refugee crises: how do we determine if our community has done “enough” for a particular refugee group? Different answers have been provided to this question. This dissertation takes up this question from a normative standpoint. It develops an ethics-based burden-sharing model, that is, a “meaning-based model,” as a method to determine our political communities’ moral duties toward different refugee groups in various refugee crises. The model challenges the conventional wisdom by claiming that not every community has the same moral obligations toward …

Constructing Engineering Knowledge Through Tinkering, Reflection, And Digital Storytelling, Lauren C. Pagano

Dissertations

Educators and researchers suggest that informal learning activities in museums, libraries, and families’ homes can promote children’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning (Sobel & Jipson, 2016). Tinkering, a form of hands-on problem-solving involving real tools and materials, is one way to engage families in engineering design processes. However, tinkering activities vary greatly in terms of the goals presented, the resources available, and opportunities to test (Bevan, 2017). Across three studies, we examined how variations in tinkering exhibit design and parent-child interaction relate to children’s memory and STEM learning. In Study 1, we examined the structure and content of …

The Role Of Neighborhood Factors In School Choice Decisions, Sarah Jefferson

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Dismantling Tools Of The Incompetent: Exploring Cultural Competence Training In Undergraduate Education Policy And Education Studies Programs, Ashley P. Allen

Dissertations

Cultural competence is described as a set of skills, values, and principles that acknowledge, respect, and work toward optimal interactions between the individual and the various cultural and ethnic groups with which an individual might come into contact. Scholars have been critical of cultural competence training because the three-dimensional approach which is its foundation fails to address institutional and systemic racism. I posit that undergraduate programs should provide training, so graduates are culturally competent entering their respective fields. I examined cultural competence training within education policy and studies undergraduate programs because these graduates will work within education at all levels …

Examining The Interplay Of Mental Health, Family Conflict, And Body Mass Index Among Mexican Origin Families: A Cross-Lagged Model, Laura Margaret Lehman Distel

Dissertations

Mexican-origin youth in the U.S. are at risk for obesity (Fryar et al., 2018) and mental health concerns (McLaughlin, Hilt, & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2007). One key psychosocial process implicated in this health inequity is family conflict (Conger et al., 1999), which has been associated with both poor mental health outcomes (e.g. Santiago & Wadsworth, 2009) and overweight and obesity (Halliday et al., 2013). However, no research to date has examined the complex interplay of family conflict, mental health problems and body mass indices (BMI) over time. The present study examined cross-lagged associations among child z-scored BMI (zBMI), mental health problems (internalizing …