Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Implementation Of Tuning In To Kids Social-Emotional Learning Program In The Kyrgyz Republic, Anasatsiia Iun

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

To date, no research on the influence of social-emotional learning (SEL) instruction on school violence and academic performance in the Kyrgyz Republic has been published. However, the current levels of school violence and poor academic performance in Kyrgyz schools warrant action. According to the UNICEF report (2012), 83% of students reported witnessing or experiencing instances of violence at school. Research has shown positive results of SEL instruction on reducing school violence in various countries (Taylor et al., 2017). Therefore, the goal of this study was to pilot the implementation of a Russian translation of the Tuning in to Kids program, …

The Impact Of Historical Trauma, Self-Compassion, And Resistance Against Racism Among African Americans, Darrick Scott

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

For African Americans, historical trauma is described as collective psychological, emotional and cognitive distress, producing an intergenerational impact through repeated experiences of oppression that both stems from slavery and continues into the present day through patterned experiences of racism (Williams-Washington & Mills, 2018). The current study explored the association between historical racial trauma, resistance and empowerment against racism, self-compassion, and internalized racism, and symptoms of depression in a sample of 100 African American adults. Due to low internal reliability of the measure, self-compassion in the context of historical trauma could not be examined. The study included exploration of simple correlations, …

Perspectives Of Hispanic/Latina Women Ages 60 And Over On The Impact Of Single Motherhood And Their Long-Term Financial Well-Being, Tess Juno Anselm

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Unmarried women over the age of 60 continue to experience disproportionate rates of adult poverty in the United States, while families headed by single mothers experience the highest poverty rates. This study explores the long-term impact of single motherhood on financial wellness through the perspective of Hispanic/Latina women ages 60 and over who have experienced single motherhood in Massachusetts. A transdisciplinary study, it utilizes intersectionality as a theoretical framework, employs feminist standpoint informed inquiry methods to document lived experiences through in-depth interviews, and engages diffraction as a mode of praxis as it intra-acts with narratives and explores the systems and …

The Black Box Of Enrollment Management: The Influence Of Academic Capitalism And Values Of The Public Good, Kamala C. Kiem

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The study addresses the widening income and racial access gap in higher education resulting from enrollment management teams’ operationalization of academic capitalism. The study focuses on the local, micro level, emphasizing how enrollment management leadership teams make sense of enrollment management, recognizing that enrollment management and the work of enrollment management stakeholders exist within an organizational space encompassing the values of both public good and academic capitalism. Using a case study methodology and critical sensemaking theory, the research explored how academic capitalism and values of the public good shaped enrollment management leadership teams’ sensemaking and sensegiving as they enacted decisions, …

Addressing Health Crises Through Courts? Climate Litigation In Latin America, The Right To Health And Vulnerable Populations, Thalia Viveros Uehara

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

As Latin America faces increasing climate-related health crises that disproportionately affect populations experiencing poverty and social exclusion, it becomes increasingly urgent to realize the most vulnerable's right to health. While the region's new constitutionalism (NLAC) has made progress in protecting this right, it has only recently begun to intersect with climate change law through rights-based climate litigation. This dissertation takes a transdisciplinary multi-methods research approach to answer the following question: How do health crises emerge within, and how are they addressed by courts through, domestic climate litigation in Latin America? Specifically, it examines how health concerns for vulnerable populations are …

Complexity At The Science-Policy Interface In Ethiopia’S Policy Spaces, Wondemagegnehu W. Sintayehu

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The mechanics of interaction between science and policy in the context of complex policy spaces has remained a subject of scholarly debate. Recent focus is shifting towards promoting science-policy interfaces as spaces for integration of science into decision making. However, the question of what these spaces are and how they function remains a puzzle. While existing literature agrees on the apparent disruption of communication between knowledge generation and policy; or offers suggestions on factors that facilitate or inhibit communication, it often fails to present a comprehensive understanding on the mechanisms of actual interchange. Besides, research tends to sideline considerations of …

Acculturation And Health Services Utilization Among Older Asian Americans: The Roles Of Social Support And Psychological Distress, Mei Chen

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

There are relatively few studies about health services utilization among older Asian Americans. Historically, Asian Americans have been treated as one homogenous race group, and the underlying heterogeneity among specific ethnic groups was underappreciated and neglected. This dissertation investigates the relationship between acculturation and health services utilization among older Asian Americans and several specific Asian ethnic subgroups, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese Americans. In addition, South Asian Americans and members of other Asian groups were also examined.

This study employed two samples of older Asian Americans based on the specific healthcare resources evaluated. The first sample employed five …

“You’Re On Your Own”: Examining The Wellbeing Of Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Who Have Transitioned Into Adulthood In The United States, Hannah E. Taverna

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The United States' Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) Program, which has served around 13,000 foreign-born children since the 1980s, aims to incorporate unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) in need of international protection into the child welfare systems of 15 individual states. Despite the fact that children accepted into the URM program have access to the same benefits as those in state custody, URMs face unique challenges from their non-refugee peers. Limited research exists regarding the wellbeing of URMs who have transitioned out of the URM program and into adulthood. This study aimed to explore the experiences of participants who have transitioned out …

Simulation Modeling For Robust And Just Public Policy Decision-Making, Jack Mitcham

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Public policy decision-making is challenging for several reasons. First, the outcomes of pulling a public policy lever are often deeply uncertain because of the complexity of the social and physical systems involved. Second, even if outcomes can be predicted, there are multiple points of view to consider, and the same outcome can be viewed anywhere from very positively to very negatively by different stakeholders. Because of this, public policy decisions should be both robust and just. Robustness helps with the uncertainty in outcomes and justice helps with differences in worldview. In this dissertation, I employ system dynamics and agent-based simulation …

E-Quality: An Analysis Of Digital Equity Discourse And Co-Production In The Era Of Covid-19, Kelsey E. Edmond

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The digital divide refers to the social stratification due to an unequal ability to access, adapt, and create knowledge via information and communication technologies (Andreasson, 2015). Digitally disadvantaged individuals have inadequate access to services and resources, exacerbating existing vulnerabilities. The COVID-19 pandemic instigated a new model of digital equity policymaking that leverages co-production between numerous actors. As citizens faced new financial and community constraints and governments reached administrative capacities, both the digital divide and the policymaking process evolved.

This inductive study explores how digital equity policymaking shifted to a co-production model (Ostrom, 1996) amid the pandemic. Using a sequential mixed-methods …

Negotiating Acculturation: A Qualitative Study Of Muslim American Women, Noor N. Tahirkheli

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The estimated population of Muslims in the United States ranges from 3 to 7 million (Bukhari, 2003; Pew Research Center, 2017; Strumm, 2003), with an estimated 69-75% of Muslim Americans being 1st or 2nd generation immigrants (defined as those born abroad and those with immigrant parents, respectively), hailing from over 80 countries (Bukhari, 2003; Pew Research Center, 2017). Thus, most Muslims are navigating the complex processes of acculturation, which is the adaptation of behavioral, cognitive, and affective aspects of one’s cultural functioning, which result from consistent contact with different cultural contexts and groups (Driscoll & Wierzbicki, 2012). Research has noted …

Opening The Halls Of Power: Implementing A Community Organizing Approach To Parent Engagement In New York City’S Community Schools, Andrew R. King

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York City launched a Community Schools Initiative (NYC-CS) in 2014 that now includes more than 300 schools, making it the largest school improvement plan of its kind in the country. Bloomberg, the previous mayor, had championed market-based reform strategies by closing struggling public schools and replacing them with privately run charter schools. In contrast, the community schools model supports struggling schools by providing them with wraparound services to address not only the academic—but also the health, social, and emotional—needs of the “whole child.” Research has shown the NYC initiative has had positive impacts …

Neighborhood And Environmental Predictors Of At-Risk And Problem Gambling In Massachusetts, Kendra E. Pugh

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Despite the widespread impact and negative effects of problem gambling (PG), limited attention has been paid to the environment where PG occurs. This study investigated the relationship between gambling on lottery and the zip code where gambling occurs, as well as the influence of individual-level characteristics that predict at-risk or problem gambling (AR/PG), among Massachusetts residents. A GIS analysis was conducted to identify vulnerable areas based on neighborhood characteristics, lottery sales, and AR/PG. Overall, residents of disadvantaged areas did not spend more money on lottery or have more lottery agents than residents of less disadvantaged areas. Some indicators of disadvantage …

Examining Culturally Adapted, Values Based, Mental Health Stigma Reduction And Help-Seeking Messages For Asian Americans, Anna M. Ying

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Mental health stigma is a ubiquitous concern impacting help-seeking in the United States and worldwide, including in college students. Insufficient attention has been given to the cultural context of stigma and help-seeking in Asian Americans, constructs in which culture has inherent relevance. The current study was the first to develop and test the acceptability of an online culturally adapted, values-based stigma and help-seeking intervention for Asian American college students, intentionally framing the benefits of therapy and mental wellness as congruent with values-based behaviors, intending to reduce the social costs and stigma of impaired functioning. A sample of 115 East, South, …

Caged Animals: The Reproduction Of Social And Educational Inequalities In Indian Secondary Schools, Vishakha Agarwal

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

There is a continued crisis in public schooling in India’s low-income and socially disadvantaged communities. Schools are supposed to provide a safe and healthy environment conducive to learning that ultimately helps to disrupt the transmission of intergenerational poverty and leads to social and economic mobility among low-income and socially disadvantaged students. In practice, however, schools have served to disproportionately exclude marginalized populations from attaining quality education. Previous research has revealed that less affluent students attend under-resourced schools in buildings with poor infrastructural facilities and fewer or unqualified teachers (India Infrastructure Report, 2012), where they face hidden normative barriers that negatively …

Teacher Mindfulness Competencies In The K-12 School Setting, Jessica Frances Janze

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Mental health symptomology in childhood and adolescence can lead to long-term negative health outcomes. Mindfulness has demonstrated lasting effects on increasing resiliency and preventing mental health relapse. Mindfulness programs for youth have begun the adaptation process into school settings. Little is known regarding best-practice for mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) in this novel environment. The current study examines the effect of mindfulness levels and teachers’ foundational competencies on K-12 teachers’ mindfulness competencies. Group level and individual teacher data are presented and provide a preliminary basis for further investigation. Suggestions for future research in this area are discussed.

Damming Sustainability: How Social And Environmental Networks Influence The Construction And Management Of Large Dams In The Amazon Basin, V. Miranda Chase

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

,p>Dams are powerful structures that engender a flood of controversies. These projects face great criticism from numerous groups, many of whom succeed in influencing such enterprises. This research is an in-depth study on dam-related social and environmental movements in the Amazon: how they are created and internally organized; how members share information and resources, how they identify alternatives; and how they design strategies and implement agendas. Social movements include, but are not limited to, domestic and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), academic researchers, journalists, religious organizations, grassroots associations, and large private foundations. They create formal or informal coalitions and design …

The Role Of Physical Activity And Gender As Moderators For The Relationship Between Insomnia And Depression, Claire E. Wickersham

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the association between insomnia and depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older adults and to investigate whether gender or physical activity moderates this relationship. Method: This study used nationally representative data from the 2016 and 2018 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and binomial logistic regression was used to estimate models. Regression models for risk of depressive symptoms (2018) were based on a longitudinal model with time-lagged indicators of insomnia, levels of physical activity, and covariates (2016). Results: Analyses showed that participants who reported having insomnia in 2016 were more …

On The Roles Of Trait Anxiety And Toll Like Receptor 4 In Amphetamine Sensitization In Adolescent Male Rats, Corey A. Calhoun

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Mammalian adolescence can be a difficult transition from childhood to adulthood, where increases in impulsivity and novelty- and risk-seeking are combined with heightened affect and elevated sensitivity to stress. Indeed, during adolescence, first drug use patterns emerge and in the continental United States, increasing misuse of amphetamines has been observed in adolescent youth. Myriad neural mechanisms underlie this shift in adolescence, including the dynamic remodeling of the mesocorticolimbic (MCL) pathway. Repeated drug administration affects neuroimmune substrates within the MCL circuit including toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)Advances in addiction neuroscience indicate that drugs of abuse activate neural TLR4 and implicate glial TLR4 …

Associations Between Concepts Of The Family Management Style Framework, And Measures Of Child Adherence To Treatment For Heterozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia, Heather Harker Ryan

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Background: Heterozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) is an underdiagnosed, autosomal dominant, monogenic condition affecting ~1:250 individuals in the United States (U.S.), resulting in cardiovascular events 10-20 years earlier than in unaffected peers.

Sample: Fifty-one parents of youth aged 2-18 years followed for HeFH in a pediatric specialty clinic.

Purpose: Assess parental perceptions of HeFH, child adherence to treatment, and parenting in HeFH-affected households.

Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive, and correlational survey study congruent with elements of the Family Management Style Framework (FMSF). Pearson’s and Spearman’s correlations assessed linear relationships between parentally observed HeFH treatment adherence measures, parenting style, and parental perceptions of …

Substantially Silent: Exploring The Variability Of “Voice” At The Intersection Of Race And Dis/Ability In A Restrictive Special Education Placement, Christopher N. Hall

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The overrepresentation of Black students in special education, particularly in the most restrictive educational placements, is well documented in the literature. In addition, Black students are disproportionately placed into far more segregated educational spaces than their same-aged White peers with similar dis/ability labels. With limited qualitative studies that center the voices of students of color labelled as severely disabled in restrictive educational settings, informed by the tenets of Disability Studies in Education (DSE), this study adds to the growing body of research foregrounding the voices of individuals with dis/abilities in telling their own story from their perspective through narrative portraiture. …

Investigating Women's Sexual Agency And Alcohol Use In The Sexual Consent Process, Julie Koven

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Among college students, sexual engagement and alcohol consumption are considered common behaviors, with many students reporting drinking prior to sexual experiences. Given the prevalence of sexual assault on campuses and connection between nonconsensual sex and drinking, colleges have adopted policies and programs with the intention of reducing risky drinking behaviors and sexual practices. The majority of these policies stipulate that students cannot give sexual consent under the influence of alcohol, but students find these policies unrealistic. Further, these policies fail to consider the larger context of traditional heteronormative gender scripts that influence sexual behavior, setting narrow expectations, especially for women’s …

Inclusion Toward Transformation: Psychosocial Disability Advocacy And Global Mental Health, Justin M. Karter

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The Movement for Global Mental Health (MGMH) has been met with criticism for reifying Western conceptions of mental disorders and diverting resources from the investigation, intervention, and education regarding the social determinants of mental health. Advocates identifying as a person with a psychosocial disability are organizing to transform the MGMH from a top-down, individualized, and universal approach toward a rights-based conception that accounts for the cultural, political, and economic conditions that produce distress and disability. Using a qualitative, hermeneutic, interpretative-phenomenological analysis (IPA), this research study focused on how people with a lived experience of mental distress and treatment come to …

The Power Of Friendships: Associations Between Friendship Quality, Satisfaction, And Well-Being For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Melanie S. Feldman

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit characteristic deficits in the social domain, which can interfere with their ability to form and maintain high quality relationships with their peers. Indeed, children with ASD are generally regarded as having lower quality friendships than typically developing (TD) children. However, based on a small emerging literature, children with ASD, despite reporting having lower quality friendships, indicate that they are satisfied with their friendships at similar levels to their TD peers. This apparent discrepancy between friendship quality and satisfaction for children with ASD as compared to TD children suggests that another factor may account …

Education Inequity By Design: A Case Study Of The Duval County Public School System, 1954–1964, Carolyn B. Edwards

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This historical case study examined inequity by design of the Duval County Public Schools in Jacksonville, Florida, between 1954 and 1964. Duval County’s response to the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 highlighted the historical influence of White supremacy within this school system, suppressing Black education through a dual school system. Political, economic, and judicial decisions supported the system’s resistance to desegregation and perpetuated education inequity. The author sought to understand the overt and covert political, economic, and judicial influences behind the Duval County Public Schools’ inequity by design to determine if these influences are generally …

Moving Beyond The Individual: Applying Cultural Identity To Stigma Theory And Methodology, Emily Reichert

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Scholarly research on the topic of stigma has endured through half a century, formally beginning in 1963 with Goffman’s influential work, “Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity.” Since then, top researchers in a wide range of fields have contributed toward further elucidating the expansive processes of stigmatization and anti-stigma initiatives for a growing number of marginalized experiences. It is within this growing body of work, however, that inconsistencies and contradictions become more onerous and limit the scope of future research. These limitations include a) competing camps of pro- and anti-stigma initiatives toward public health aims, b) siloed approaches …

Educator Perspectives On English Learner Identification: An Explanatory Mixed Methods Study, Rachel E. Hoffman

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore English learner identification and placement through the lens of teacher knowledge and attitude, with the goal of identifying ways to ensure that the intended outcome (correct identification and placement) occurs. Employing explanatory mixed methods research, data was collected from teachers and other educators in the Jackson Public School district through both a web administered survey and one to one phone interviews. The survey data showed that the number of ELs that an educator has had in the past few years had a statistically significant effect on educator knowledge, but none of the …

Cross-Age Peer Mentoring: A Meta-Analysis, Samantha Burton

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Youth mentoring programs are a promising intervention for youth, particularly those who experience or are at risk for developing a range of psychological, social, behavioral, and contextual difficulties. Cross-age peer mentoring is a form of formal peer mentoring that matches an older youth mentor with a younger youth mentee to promote positive youth outcomes. The current study used meta-analysis to explore the overall effectiveness of cross-age peer mentoring programs, as well as to explore moderators of cross-age peer mentoring program effectiveness. A comprehensive search of the literature published prior to April 2019 was conducted to identify evaluations of cross-age peer …

Using Lenses To Understand Policy Failures: The Case Of The 2012 Census In Chile, M. Angélica Pavez

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Policy failures are controversial, costly, and above all, messy. More often than we wish, what begins as a well-intentioned policy becomes a failure. In all countries and policy areas, some initiatives end up failing miserably, wasting resources, creating endless political struggles, and even affecting countries' governance. However, the perceptions and understanding of failure are dissimilar. Different actors, including researchers, have diverse and indeed conflicting viewpoints of what constitutes failure, its characteristics and avenues of resolution. The growing policy failure literature offers concepts and models to approach this elusive phenomenon, emphasizing the critical role of social perceptions, characteristics of failure episodes, …

What Does Social Agency Have To Do With It? Positive Pathways To Adulthood For Groups Of Opportunity Youth And College Students In Rhode Island, Perri S. Leviss

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Opportunity youth are emerging adults 16–24 years old, neither in a career nor attending college. In 2018, there were 13,600 opportunity youth in Rhode Island, many are low-income, young people of color historically excluded from educational and career pathways. The study introduces an alternate lens grounded in the capability approach to human development and provides new terminology for thinking about the positive trajectory to adulthood for marginalized young people. The research offers an asset-based construct to view social agency [and the dimensions of hope, empowerment, voice, choice, and comm(unity)] as a foundational capability. The mixed methods study measures strength of …