Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Police And Civilians Fractured Relationship In The Northern Region Of Ghana: A Search For A Common Ground For Internal Security, Mohammed Gadafi Ibrahim

Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies

This study investigates the fractured relationship between Police and Civilians in Ghana's Northern Region, leading to a breakdown of trust and cooperation in maintaining internal security. The theoretical basis for this study rests on the Social Dominance Theory (SDT) and the Contact Theory (CT). Through a qualitative approach involving purposive sampling, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions, the study examines the structural factors contributing to this fractured relationship. Analysis using the constant comparative technique revealed that the legitimacy of the Ghana Police Service, public perceptions, police conduct, youth indiscipline, and low level of knowledge on the Rule of Law are …

Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Immigration-Related Stressors, Pregnancy, Birth, And Post-Partum Experiences Of Women Living Along The Us-Mexico Border, Isabela Solis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic coupled with immigration-related stressors had a profound effect on women who lived on the U.S.-Mexico border and their pregnancy, birth, and post-partum experiences. This project focused the experiences of 17 women living in El Paso, Texas and how border closure, economic insecurities, and family separation during the COVID-19 pandemic shaped women’s experiences. This research included interviewing maternal and child health experts to propose recommendations geared towards policy change. Finally, this project highlights the vast complexities that go into the pregnancy, birth, and post-partum period for women living on the U.S.-Mexico border, and how these experiences shape maternal …

Exploring The Relationship Between Quantitative Reasoning Skills And News Habits, Bennett Attaway, John Voiklis, Jena Barchas-Lichtenstein, Eric Hochberg, Jim Hammerman, Uduak Grace Thomas, Nicole Lamarca, Laura Santhanam, Patti Parson

Numeracy

Because people are constantly confronted with numbers and mathematical concepts in the news, we have embarked on a project to create journalism that can support news users’ number skills. But doing so requires understanding (1) journalists’ ability to reason with numbers, (2) other adults’ ability to do so, and (3) the attributes and affordances of news. In this paper, we focus on the relationship between adults’ news habits and their quantitative reasoning skills. We collected data from a sample of 1,200 US adults, testing their ability to interpret statistical results and asking them to report their news habits. The assessment …

Surviving A Broken System: Synergies Between Solidarity Economies And Sustainable Development Goals, Julie Beach

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Capitalism has created problems including wealth polarization, rapid depletion of natural resources, and pervasive systemic societal issues. Hard work is not enough to solve the unequal distribution and barriers preventing access to necessities. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were created to remedy the harsh reality of global inequities and negative environmental impacts by working towards a more just and equitable future for all. Solidarity Economies (SE) offer an alternative framework to achieve these goals.

This research used multiple qualitative methods to investigate the synergies between SE and SDGs in a growing urban environment. St. Petersburg, FL struggles with affordable housing, food …

“Even If You Have Food In Your House, It Will Not Taste Sweet”: Central African Refugees’ Experiences Of Cultural Food Insecurity And Other Overlapping Insecurities In Tampa, Florida, Shaye Soifoine

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, resettled African refugee populations experience food insecurity at rates up to seven times higher than those of the general population. In Tampa, Florida, anthropologists have documented high levels of food insecurity among Central African refugee households since members of this population began to be resettled in the area in 2016. Utilizing an intersectional lens and drawing upon theoretical concepts such as cultural food security, navigational capital, and social reproduction, this thesis examines how Central African refugees, particularly women, experience food (in)security and other overlapping forms of (in)security as they integrate into US systems of structural inequality …

Enter The Battleverse: China's Metaverse War, Josh Baughman

Military Cyber Affairs

No abstract provided.

Surveying The Landscape Of Numbers In U.S. News, John Voiklis, Jena Barchas-Lichtenstein, Bennett Attaway, Uduak G. Thomas, Shivani Ishwar, Patti Parson, Laura Santhanam, Isabella Isaacs-Thomas

Numeracy

The news arguably serves to inform the quantitative reasoning (QR) of news audiences. Before one can contemplate how well the news serves this function, we first need to determine how much QR typical news stories require from readers. This paper assesses the amount of quantitative content present in a wide array of media sources, and the types of QR required for audiences to make sense of the information presented. We build a corpus of 230 US news reports across four topic areas (health, science, economy, and politics) in February 2020. After classifying reports for QR required at both the conceptual …

Examining Evidence Of Reliability And Validity In Florida’S Human Trafficking Screening Tool, Monica Landers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) involving children is understood to be a pervasive public health problem that negatively impacts individuals, families, and communities (Greenbaum, 2020). Combined efforts of the United States government, federal agencies, organizations such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, researchers, and practitioners work toward understanding risk factors associated with CSE in an effort to prevent victimization (Fong & Cardoso, 2010). Given the amount of public and political attention to trafficking over the past two decades, it is concerning that prevalence estimates widely vary and may be unreliable. Further, there is not currently a validated screening …

Driver Perceptions On Taxi-Sharing And Dynamic Pricing In Taxi Services: Evidence From Athens, Greece., Christina Milioti, Konstantinos Kepaptsoglou, Konstantinos Kouretas, Eleni Vlahogianni

Journal of Public Transportation

The taxi industry has changed dramatically during the last decade, as ride-sourcing applications, ride-sharing and alternative pricing schemes have emerged, either as complementing or competitive services and strategies. After some years of familiarity with such trends, it is interesting to explore where the taxi industry stands with respect to possible service innovations. This paper explores behavioral patterns of drivers, focusing on issues such as their preferred way of conducting business, and their views on introducing taxi-sharing and dynamic pricing. Data collected from a face-to-face questionnaire survey in Athens, Greece are exploited, and appropriate econometric models are developed for the purposes …

Art As Atrocity Prevention: The Auschwitz Institute, Artivism, And The 2019 Venice Biennale, Kaitlin Murphy

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Although largely overlooked in genocide and atrocity prevention scholarship, the arts have a critical role to play in mitigating risk factors associated with genocide and atrocity. Grounded in analysis of "Artivism: The Atrocity Prevention Pavilion,” the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities’ 2019 Venice Biennale exhibition and drawing from fieldwork, interviews, and secondary research, this article explores why one of the leading NGOs working to prevent future violent conflict would choose to curate an art exhibit at the Venice Biennale and what might be accomplished through such an exhibit. Ultimately, the Artivism exhibit, in its collection …

Aspiring To “Make It Work”: Defining Resilience And Agency Amongst Hispanic Youth Living In Low-Income Neighborhoods, Sara Arias-Steele

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explored how Hispanic youth (ages 13-21 years) living in low-income neighborhoods of Florida defined resiliency and expressed agency navigating personal challenges and neighborhood adversity in pursuit of success. From the standpoint of the participants, this study focused on how youths: 1) judge the quality of life in their neighborhoods and the opportunities available for them, 2) identify personal aspirations for themselves and 3) identify what resilient factors allowed them to face the challenges and barriers of their daily lives to pursue this aspiration. This study takes into account the structural barriers that create inequities to examine how personal …

Self-Protection In Cyberspace: Assessing The Processual Relationship Between Thoughtfully Reflective Decision Making, Protection Motivation Theory, Cyber Hygiene, And Victimization, C. Jordan Howell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current study, using structural equation modeling, assesses the processual relationship between thoughtfully reflective decision making (TRDM), theoretical constructs derived from protection motivation theory (PMT), cyber hygiene, and online victimization to determine the cognitive decision-making process that leads to the adoption of online self-protective behaviors, which reduces the occurrence of victimization experiences. Findings, derived from a general sample of Internet users in the United States, reveal: (1) engagement in cyber hygiene practices, as a form of target hardening, decreases Internet users’ experiences with online victimization; (2) thoughtfully reflective decision makers, in the face of cyber threats, develop higher threat appraisals …

Eating And Body Image Disorders In The Time Of Covid19: An Anthropological Inquiry Into The Pandemic’S Effects On The Bodies, Theresa A. Stoddard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lifestyle changes are impacting the experiences of self-identifying women and females with body image disorders (BIDs) and/or eating disorders (EDs), focusing on the mental, physical, and emotional health of participants. Using surveys, person-centered semi-structured interviews, and autoethnography, I collected qualitative and quantitative data regarding the challenges, triumphs, hopes, and fears of participants regarding their EDs/BIDs during the pandemic and situated their experiences within their sociocultural context. Drawing on anthropological and psychological theory, I examine the data through the lenses of Scheper-Hughes’s and Lock’s “The Three Bodies” (the body politic, body …

Circadian Rhythms And The Embodiment Of Social Zeitgebers: Linking The Bio And Social, Tiffany R. Moore

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Virtually all biological processes are under direct or indirect control of the circadian system. Chronic disruption of circadian rhythms, termed chronodisruption, is linked to increased risk for adverse health outcomes such as cancer, depression, and cardiometabolic disease. Circadian rhythms are highly sensitive to sociocultural contexts. As a result, circadian rhythms provide a valuable entryway to explore issues of embodiment. Here, embodiment refers to processes through which social experiences ‘get under the skin’ to become biological and manifest in health. To better understand what proximate social factors influence chronodisruption, this study assessed chronodisruption and social zeitgebers among a population of 15 …

Predictors Of Economic Outlook In Stability Operations, Juan Carlos Garcia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The participation of the United States military in stability efforts has increased dramatically since 2001. The core of current U. S. stabilization policies and measures derives from the US military's lessons in countering insurgencies since the late 20th century through the ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and countries experiencing radical Islamic insurgencies. Counterinsurgency operations focus on gaining support from the relevant population through security, governance, and economic efforts. This research seeks to improve the understanding of the relationship between perceptions of security and governance on populations' economic outlook during stability operations. Applying the “Winning Hearts and Minds” approach to the …

Transfat Representation, Jessica "Fyn" Asay

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study defines and analyzes representation of transfats, those who are both transgender and fat, through the examination of two popular media texts, Jabba the Hutt from The Return of the Jedi and Pat from the Saturday Night Live tv program in the 1990’s. I analyze these two texts using a queer feminist media studies lens to reveal the media construction of a transfat representation that is rooted in racism, transnormativity, and fatphobia and that positions the transfat body as non-normative and grotesque through the use of abject horror and fear. My analysis reveals how racism, transnormativity, and fatphobia shape …

An Ethnography Of Wash Infrastructures And Governance In Sulphur Springs, Florida, Mathews Jackon Wakhungu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation describes the forces that shape the perceptions and practices in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WaSH) services in the community of Sulphur Springs, Tampa, Florida. It also explores how these forces, perceptions, and practices produce adverse experiences and inequalities in water, sewer, drainage, and laundry services. This ethnographic study combines participant observation, ethnographic interviewing, freelisting, oral history, and GIS to uncover the context, experiences, and perceptions about WaSH in Sulphur Springs. The study finds that the present conditions and perceptions about WaSH are embedded into the historical contexts—especially racial segregation, the construction of the interstate, and multiple economic downturns …

The Perceived Usefulness Of A Weather Radar Display By Tampa Bay Residents, Michelle E. Saunders

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A weather radar display is a tool that provides spatially oriented, timely information about an impending weather event. While radar is frequently used by meteorologists, emergency managers, and pilots, this tool is now readily available for individuals to use on a variety of platforms including television, computer/laptop, smartphones and tablets. Most importantly, there are hundreds of mobile weather applications available as well as online sources that provide a weather radar display. However, little is known about how individuals use a weather radar display. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation is to understand why radar is sought out as a tool …

Cases Studied In Genocide Studies And Prevention And Journal Of Genocide Research And Implications For The Field Of Genocide Studies, Jeffrey Bachman

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The adoption of the Genocide Convention in 1948 was accompanied by the emergence of genocide as a field of study, first in the form of Holocaust Studies, followed by Genocide Studies, then Comparative Genocide Studies and, most recently, Critical Genocide Studies. Over the last 20-30 years, the field of genocide studies has greatly expanded. According to Alexander Hinton, “As the outlines of the field emerge more clearly, the time is right to engage in critical reflections about the state of the field.” This article seeks to enhance the field of genocide studies by answering Hinton’s call for reflective analysis. It …

Canaries In The Mineshaft Of American Democracy: North American Settler Genocide In The Thought Of Raphaël Lemkin, Michael Bryant

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Although it is often assumed that Raphael Lemkin’s original concept of genocide related only to Nazi atrocities, in fact the elements of the offense as Lemkin construed it predate his elaboration of genocide in Axis Rule in Europe. It is clear from Lemkin’s published and unpublished writings that he intended his definition to apply to other mass exterminations, including settler-Indian interactions on the North American frontier. Lemkin forsook the constrictive hermeneutics of legal formalism in favour of a broad understanding of genocide. At the heart of his concept was a concern with the preservation of unique cultural forms—the very …

The Gentle Artist: Empowering Warrior-Scholars Through The Physical Feminism Of Jiu-Jitsu, E. Emily Mahoney

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an autoethnography about the socialization of people in various cultural contexts, in particular, women in the embodied role of the academic researcher. Being a researcher and enduring an experience of sexual assault right in the middle of my first research interview left me in a state of shock and survival. One out of every six American women will survive attempted or completed rape during her lifetime, with college-aged women being three to four times at increased risk compared to all women, yet the odds that this would take place during a project which had major implications for …

Does Environment Really Matter? The Impact Of Corporate Social Responsibility Perspective On Istanbul Chain Hotels, Aysin Pasamehmetoglu, Mustafa Mehmet Gokoglu

Journal of Global Business Insights

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) perspective has been embraced by various countries. This perspective directly affects the behavior of organizations in different countries. Environmental, cultural and employee related issues create a suitable platform for those countries which lack certain aspects of dealing with the related problems. This also creates a general perspective where managerial practices of organizations are redesigned in light of universal standards of CSR. From this standpoint, organizational response to CSR problems is driven by the universal standards. Nevertheless, specific dimensions of CSR may dominate managerial practices paving the way for different kinds of practices to be forefront in …

Energy Transition Modeling: Social And Technical Dynamics Of Moving To Renewable Energy, Lawrence Gottschamer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The majority of global electricity is generated using fossil fuels as an energy source, and the science linking fossil fuel combustion with negative environmental impacts is clear. Recognizing this link, decarbonizing the electricity system is a critical component of climate change mitigation. However, moving electricity generation, distribution, and end-use behavior patterns to renewable energy is a complex socio-technical energy transition challenge with a number of economic, policy, technological, societal and environmental barriers. Energy transition work tends to be siloed within these topics; ignoring complex socio-technical interdependencies impacting electricity system transition dynamics. This work fills the knowledge gap with a ‘systems …

"It's Not Addiction Until You Graduate": Natural Recovery In The College Context, Breanne I. Casper

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Natural recovery is inhibition or moderation of problematic substance use without employing the use of formal addiction services. A neuroanthropological approach to natural recovery highlights the importance of both social and biological aspects of achieving this "self" led process of change. Throughout this project I take a critical anthropological approach to natural recovery, which explores a more holistic conception and historically situated view of current natural recovery theory. This research project employs a neuroanthropological perspective to assess how college students perform natural recovery. Using ethnographic methods, which highlight the social and physical experience of moderation, I discuss how students negotiate …

Genetic Testing And The Power Of The Provider: Women’S Experiences With Cancer Genetic Testing, Dana Erin Ketcher

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Genetic testing has become ubiquitous in contemporary society, from determining ancestry to addressing health concerns. This dissertation focused on a qualitative, feminist approach to understand women’s experiences of genetic testing for hereditary cancer syndromes, as well as their perspectives of risk. A total of 33 participants agreed to a semistructured interview and drawing of their family tree (pedigree). Eleven (40.7%) participants had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and 16 (59.3%) participants with ovarian cancer. Thirty-one (93.9%) participants had genetic testing, and of those, 17 (54.8%) had genetic counseling. Participants voiced several reasons why they wanted to undergo genetic testing or …

Making Sense At The Margins: Describing Narratives On Food Insecurity Through Hip-Hop, Lemuel Scott

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Neoliberalism is the contemporary political and economic thought that promotes ideas of private property, individualism, and market logic as key to advancing humanity. Scholars generally link neoliberalism to poverty from a broad perspective, but few have explored how it specifically impacts food insecurity. Globally, many people impacted by poverty also experience food insecurity. Hip-hop is important to resistance and fostering my critical worldview. Existing literature primarily describes hip-hop as a critical tool giving expression to people living at the margins. However, there is a need for hip-hop to be used more often as resistance by artists doing research. First, this …

A Culture Of Resistance: An Ethnography Of Tampa Bay’S Racial Justice Activist Community, Emily Janna Weisenberger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Racial justice activists in Tampa Bay comprise a community and culture structured as a movement of social transformation. Data from eleven interviews and more than 100 hours of participant observation show that activists consist of a diverse array of Tampa Bay residents of varying ages, genders, sexualities, racial/ethnic identities and livelihoods. This community is best described by their beliefs and practices of ideology steeped in intersectionality and anti-capitalism, and are motivated by or empathetic to racial injustices directly experienced by them or those around them. The intention of this paper is to describe activists as they are rather than as …

Raptors And Humans: Exploring Alternative Therapies In Non-Clinical Environments Using Birds Of Prey, Kaleigh Hoyt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to deconstruct current conceptions about animal-assisted interventions by investigating relationships between human beings and birds of prey. Interactions between birds of prey, or “raptors,” provide novel cases from which to reexamine failed attempts to provide empirical data in support of alternative therapies. Previous research addressing the efficacy of animal-assisted interventions is simply not robust enough to be considered a feasible treatment option by medical professionals. By extension, models of self-regulation in psychology are often presented using reductionist models and oversimplified therapeutic outcomes. Taken together, raptor-human relationships help to highlight the shortcomings of each, as well as potential …

Looking Beyond Patient Satisfaction: Experiences Of Spanish-Speaking Patients Seeking Non-Urgent Care In An Emergency Department, Seiichi Villalona

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory mixed-methods study examines the experiences of Spanish-speaking patients seeking non-urgent care in an emergency department setting. Emphasis is placed on understanding variables that influence patient satisfaction among this particular special patient population. This study draws from the explanatory models of illness and perspectives of clinically applied anthropology in contributing to the limited body of scholarly work that utilizes ethnographic approaches in clinical spaces to investigate how patients experience seeking emergency care services. Health-related deservingness, social determinants of health, and health literacy are used as complementary frameworks in understanding the unique experiences of these patients. The combination of methodological …

An Exploratory Study Of Health Promotion And Disease Prevention Communication Among Haitian Mother–Daughter Dyads In West Central Florida, Stacy Eileen Kratz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study examined links between health communication and other constructs affecting health promotion and disease prevention among Haitian mother-daughter dyads living in West Central Florida, and the risk or protective factors for HIV. Risky sexual behaviors can be reduced with accurate and effective information provided through parent-adolescent communication (Coetzee et al, 2014; Ogle, Glasier & Riley, 2008; Hadley et al., 2009). In Haiti, a country that bears a disproportionate burden of HIV/AIDS, women are the most vulnerable (UNAIDS, 2016a); In the United States (U.S.), foreign-born Haitian women in the state of Florida experience health disparities in many areas and …