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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
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Articles 1 - 30 of 360
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Affordable Infill, Virginia Macdonald
Affordable Infill, Virginia Macdonald
WWU Graduate School Collection
This graduate research field study delves into the design of land use and municipal policies aimed at fostering the creation of entry-level homeownership opportunities in Bellingham, Washington. Drawing upon recommendations from the Final Report of the Washington Department of Commerce Homeownership Disparities Working Group and the American Planning Association's "Planning for Equity Policy Guide," this study prioritizes affordable homeownership. Methodologically, it incorporates insights from a thorough literature review, an analysis of diverse case studies across North America, and guidance from the Incremental Development Alliance. Furthermore, it integrates proposed modifications to Bellingham's municipal code, as advocated by the Kulshan Community Land …
Excavating Archaeological Knowledge: An Archaeological Ethnography Of Indigenizing Practices Within A Collaborative Field School Landscape, Isabella Pipp
WWU Graduate School Collection
This thesis outlines the results of the ethnographic archaeological research on the community-based participatory field school program undertaken in partnership between the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians and Western Washington University–the Stillaguamish-WWU Collaborative Archaeological Field School. The use of an ethnographic reflection of Indigenous and university collaboration offers lessons for institutions teaching archaeology that transform pedagogical practices, uphold Tribal sovereignty, and challenge academic standards to archaeological field schools and research. Goals of this research include exploring the efficacy of methodology implemented within the field school and to create a body of work about the field school that is relevant to the …
Difference In Parental Reactions When Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, And Gender-Diverse Individuals Come Out, Hannah Dahlke
Difference In Parental Reactions When Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, And Gender-Diverse Individuals Come Out, Hannah Dahlke
WWU Graduate School Collection
In general, attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community have been becoming increasingly more favorable in the United States in the past two decades (Rosenfeld, 2017). However, in recent years there has been some pushback, particularly regarding transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) identities, as opposed to lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) identities. Growing transphobia is evident, especially in the political realm, as several anti-TGD bills are being introduced that limit access to bathrooms, sports, and gender-affirming care (Freedom For All Americans, 2022). As the difference in acceptance between LGB and TGD people is becoming more evident on a large scale, it raises the …
An Ecocentric Turn: Emerging Narratives In The Growing U.S. Rights Of Nature Movement, Raechel E. Youngberg
An Ecocentric Turn: Emerging Narratives In The Growing U.S. Rights Of Nature Movement, Raechel E. Youngberg
WWU Graduate School Collection
This research project utilizes the Narrative Policy Analysis framework to analyze print news media coverage of the Rights of Nature (RoN) movement in the United States. This burgeoning movement draws upon Indigenous principles of animism and interconnectedness to recognize the existence rights and legal personhood of non-human animals, plants, and ecosystems. This project highlights the legal and legislative challenges the RoN movement has faced. Including the complexities of attempting to incorporate Indigenous epistemologies into a colonialist legal system and highlighting the narrative strategies and emerging coalitions present in the U.S.-based movement.
Force Production Asymmetry In Males And Females During Three Variations Of A Countermovement Push-Up, Taylor Walston
Force Production Asymmetry In Males And Females During Three Variations Of A Countermovement Push-Up, Taylor Walston
WWU Graduate School Collection
Kinetic asymmetry analysis is a prevailing topic within human performance and rehabilitative science. So far focused on lower extremity functional tasks, these pioneering research methodologies remain unapplied to the upper extremity. Relative to its popularity, research on push-up asymmetry is limited, with sub-maximal variation and sex-based comparisons few. A paucity of research exists utilizing innovative asymmetry analysis strategies in the upper extremities. Study objectives were three-fold: (1) evaluate vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) asymmetry across push-up variations stratified by force demand, (2) compare asymmetry across sexes, (3) and contribute novel, normative asymmetry data to the existing pool of research findings. …
Seeing Environmental Injustice Through Moss-Colored Glasses: Neighborhood Monitoring Of Toxic Metal Air Pollution Disparities With Orthotrichum Lyellii, Allison Hayes
WWU Graduate School Collection
Toxic air pollution in the United States has been regulated through the Clean Air Act (CAA) since the 1970’s. Yet, a growing body of research suggests that the CAA’s air pollution management system has several blind spots. The CAA’s inability to identify and remedy pollution hot spots across the country. These hot spots are areas where air pollution exists but are often entirely overlooked because of the extreme hyperlocal scale and the current methods for identifying areas of concern outlined in the CAA for the Environmental Protection Agency. Researchers find that these hot spots are more prevalent in minority and …
Cannabidiol Administered Via Vapor Inhalation Restores Social Interaction Deficits In A Mouse Model Of Social Anxiety, Brennen Risch
Cannabidiol Administered Via Vapor Inhalation Restores Social Interaction Deficits In A Mouse Model Of Social Anxiety, Brennen Risch
WWU Graduate School Collection
Cannabidiol (CBD), the main non-intoxicating component of the plant cannabis, has shown various promising therapeutic effects in treatment of anxiety and depression in both humans and animals. One potential beneficial effect of CBD is restoration of social interaction deficits following chronic stress. Here I investigate the potential for CBD to be used as a treatment in animal models of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), as well as potential mechanisms of action by which CBD may produce these effects. Mice exposed to 10 days of chronic social-defeat stress were administered vaporized CBD in a single 30 minute session before being tested behaviorally. …
Real Men Go Green: Environmentalism, Threatened Masculinity, And Identity Recovery, Gabrielle H. Wilson
Real Men Go Green: Environmentalism, Threatened Masculinity, And Identity Recovery, Gabrielle H. Wilson
WWU Graduate School Collection
Masculinity is a precarious and highly valued social identity. Threatening masculinity leads to a range of compensatory responses to recover manhood, which may also impact men’s engagement in sustainable behaviors. Men might embrace or avoid pro-environmentalism when a masculine or feminine gender identity is signaled. The current research applied processes of gender socialization and identity maintenance to the context of environmentalism across two studies. Overall findings showed that masculinity threats can have varied consequences in sustainable contexts, moderated by men’s level of identification with their gender. Study 1 (N = 208) examined if pro-environmental behaviors acted as a threat …
Strengthening Mindfulness And Social Support As Psychosocial Skills; Improving First-Year Student’S Adjustment Into College, Raumilya Smith
Strengthening Mindfulness And Social Support As Psychosocial Skills; Improving First-Year Student’S Adjustment Into College, Raumilya Smith
WWU Graduate School Collection
Extensive research exists regarding the challenges and risk of negative outcomes first-year students face while transitioning into college. Given that psychosocial factors predict adaptive coping and adjustment in the presence of transition stressors, this study examined the efficacy of mindfulness and social support trainings in fostering psychosocial skills and adjustment among college freshmen. Fifty Western Washington University first-year students (75.7% white, 13.5% Hispanic or Latinx, 12.2% Asian, 4.1% Black, 1.4% Native American or Alaska Native, and 9.5% multiracial) participated. Students were randomly assigned to one of the two trainings and were measured pre- and post- training on psychosocial skills (mindfulness, …
How Etiology And Diagnostic Label Are Stigmatized: The Impacts Of Childhood Trauma And “Sluggish Cognitive Tempo” On Recovery Optimism And Blame, Aubrie Patterson
How Etiology And Diagnostic Label Are Stigmatized: The Impacts Of Childhood Trauma And “Sluggish Cognitive Tempo” On Recovery Optimism And Blame, Aubrie Patterson
WWU Graduate School Collection
Complex childhood trauma survivors often have global functioning and psychosocial issues and may be diagnosed with multiple disorders, a reality which can preclude trauma-informed treatment and lead to additional stigma. The disorder labeled “sluggish cognitive tempo” (SCT) is strongly correlated with childhood trauma and the symptoms match commonly resulting dissociative patterns. However, those with SCT may face label-based stigma that could limit opportunities for trauma-informed care. Also, they may face stigma that they are unable to recover if their disorder is stigmatized in a similar way to many mental illnesses. In a 3x3 vignette-based study featuring a story of a …
Dendrohydrological Reconstruction Of North Fork Nooksack River August Streamflow From Subannual Mountain Hemlock Ring-Widths, Cascade Mountains, Washington State, Hannah Lagassey
WWU Graduate School Collection
Climate warming is driving changes to snowpack and streamflows in snow and ice-driven systems throughout the world. To better understand present and future conditions, we need to examine conditions prior to the onset of climate warming. Tree ring records are used widely to reconstruct pre-instrumental climate and hydrological records. Some locations are more conducive to this methodology than others, however, and moisture-rich environments such as the west slopes of the Cascade mountains continue to present challenges to effective hydrological record reconstruction. Previous researchers working in this environment have employed several techniques in response to this problem, which require integrated dendrochronological …
Weaving Fragmented Lands Together: Perspectives On A National Framework For Landscape Conservation, Jaimie Baxter
Weaving Fragmented Lands Together: Perspectives On A National Framework For Landscape Conservation, Jaimie Baxter
WWU Graduate School Collection
Conservation goals that transcend political boundaries and integrate social-ecological systems are foundational to an emerging field of research and practice called landscape conservation. A nationwide example of a landscape conservation strategy is the Biden administration’s “30 by 30” goal and related “America the Beautiful (ATB) initiative.” The national 30 by 30 goal aims to protect 30 percent of the United States’ (U.S.) terrestrial lands, fresh waters, and ocean waters by 2030. To accomplish the objectives outlined in the ATB initiative and 30 by 30 goal, practitioners and scholars put forth recommendations to design a durable and effective national framework for …
Against The Grain: A Mixed-Methods Analysis Of The Effects Of Climatic And Cultural Changes On Grain Agriculture In Northwest Washington, Natalie Furness
Against The Grain: A Mixed-Methods Analysis Of The Effects Of Climatic And Cultural Changes On Grain Agriculture In Northwest Washington, Natalie Furness
WWU Graduate School Collection
Local food movements are growing in popularity across the United States. Communities are interested in gaining more control over their food choices and food sources. Northwest Washington is one area where multiple communities are concerned with their food choices. Over the last 10 years, communities have invested increasing amounts of resources and energy in growing grains in San Juan, Skagit, and Whatcom counties rather than importing all their grain from Eastern Washington. This study examines how grain agriculture has changed both climatically and culturally in Northwest Washington since the late 19th century. To address this knowledge gap, climatic factors, …
Culturally Modified Trees In Western Washington: Impact And Perspective From The Stillaguamish Cultural Resources Department, Kelsey Maloy
Culturally Modified Trees In Western Washington: Impact And Perspective From The Stillaguamish Cultural Resources Department, Kelsey Maloy
WWU Graduate School Collection
This study braids qualitative and quantitative views of CMT studies to explore meanings and relationships with Culturally Modified Trees (CMT) with a concern for the ethnographic perspective currently absent in dominant structures. This research showcases community value when combining different CMT ontologies (Stillaguamish and Western Academic Definitions). Ethnohistorical methods and grounded theory help organize semi-structured interviews at five previously recorded archaeological CMT sites. There is a lack of feedback concerning Indigenous philosophy about classifying eco-facts or vivio-facts, specifically CMT. This study comprises an interdisciplinary team within the Stillaguamish Cultural Resources Department to reassess five previously documented cedar use sites in …
Was The Grass Always Greener? Mapping The Historical Extent Of Grassland Ecosystems In The San Juan Islands, Kailey Schillinger-Brokaw
Was The Grass Always Greener? Mapping The Historical Extent Of Grassland Ecosystems In The San Juan Islands, Kailey Schillinger-Brokaw
WWU Graduate School Collection
The San Juan Islands, an archipelago in the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the Washington coast, are one of the few places native temperate grasslands are found in western Washington State. These ecosystems are important sources of biodiversity and support many rare and endemic species. In addition to their ecological importance, native temperate grasslands have profound cultural significance to the Coast Salish peoples who historically stewarded these landscapes using traditional land management practices-particularly fire-for the production of bulb crops such as common camas (Camassia quamash). Unfortunately, these ecologically and culturally valuable ecosystems have become rare, greatly impacted by the …
Body By Colonialism: The Importance Of Including Sexual Minorities In Forensic And Medical Lexicons., Mia Price
Body By Colonialism: The Importance Of Including Sexual Minorities In Forensic And Medical Lexicons., Mia Price
WWU Graduate School Collection
The purpose of this study is to investigate the implications of excluding the skeletal morphology of sexual minorities such as intersex and trans individuals in forensic and medical context. This study took place over a span of 16 months from 2021-2023. Anthropologists' reliance on binaries to categorize humans and as a result, the skeletal morphology of sexual minorities is not considered in forensic and medical contexts. Forensic anthropologists rely on sex estimation methodology to identify skeletal remains. Sex estimation methodology as developed with skeletal data from cisgender males and females without considering morphology of sexual minorities such as intersex individuals. …
Investigating Perennial & Annual Eelgrass (Zostera Marina L.) In Padilla Bay As Potential Donor Sources For Seed-Based Restoration, Yuki Wilmerding
Investigating Perennial & Annual Eelgrass (Zostera Marina L.) In Padilla Bay As Potential Donor Sources For Seed-Based Restoration, Yuki Wilmerding
WWU Graduate School Collection
This paper explores recovery of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) meadows through seed-based restoration to address declines from natural and anthropogenic disturbances. The study focuses on the Joe Leary meadow site in Padilla Bay, Washington, aiming to (1) determine the spatial distribution of perennial and annual Z. marina, (2) understand variation in flowering shoot density and potential seed production, and (3) compare the phenology of flowering shoots. These objectives were investigated using field-based methods to collect presence/absence transect data for delineation, quadrat-based count data, and monitor seed development. Data collection occurred in the summer throughout the flowering life stage …
Embodied Narratives: An Exploration Of Dance Through Identity, Community, And Wellbeing, Elizabeth Smyth
Embodied Narratives: An Exploration Of Dance Through Identity, Community, And Wellbeing, Elizabeth Smyth
WWU Graduate School Collection
This ethnographic study of a dance collective in Bellingham, Washington, took place between December 2022 and March 2023. Methods included participant observation, interviews, and analysis. I interviewed dancers about their personal dance histories, their participation in the collective, and their reflections on the ways dancing and the collective shapes their lives. Interviewees reflected on the individual embodied experience associated with movement and dance, a collection of bodies dancing together, becoming the dance, something more than the individual self, a collective. The theoretical frameworks guiding this research are intersectional feminism and phenomenological. In data analysis, common themes of personal practice, wellbeing, …
Motivations For And Barriers To Forest Certification Of Washington State Trust Lands, Tracy Petroske
Motivations For And Barriers To Forest Certification Of Washington State Trust Lands, Tracy Petroske
WWU Graduate School Collection
Forest management certification is a system to assess whether forests are grown in a manner that complies to a pre-determined set of requirements. Certification programs (called “Standards”) are designed to indicate that compliance to those conditions demonstrate the forest is managed in a way that is environmentally responsible, economically viable, and socially beneficial. In the United States, there are two recognized forest certification programs: the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®). The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) certifies 100% of their forested trust lands to the SFI Standard. …
Who’S Nature? Ontological Narrative Dissonance Among Skagit River Fishery Coalitions, Jann Eberharter
Who’S Nature? Ontological Narrative Dissonance Among Skagit River Fishery Coalitions, Jann Eberharter
WWU Graduate School Collection
My research investigates narratives within fisheries management for Washington state’s Skagit River, focusing on ecological restoration and diminishing salmon runs. I ask, how might differing narratives affect progress and reflect the ontological orientations of the fishery’s co-stewards? Asked with a twist, Who is Nature? (abbreviated Who’s Nature?), I aim to critique the classic Euro-American paradigm of nature and examine the connections between us, the who, and natural world? I hope my research illuminates these important questions. I selected three entities with varying Euro-American and Indigenous affiliations—the Skagit Watershed Council (SWC), Skagit River System Cooperative (SRSC), and Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission …
Social Justice Through Beach Access And Community-Based Placemaking In Puna, Hawai'i, Yumi-Shika Shridhar
Social Justice Through Beach Access And Community-Based Placemaking In Puna, Hawai'i, Yumi-Shika Shridhar
WWU Graduate School Collection
This project investigates how tourist-dependent regions can implement community-based placemaking to create an inclusive outdoor space and experience for both tourists and locals. My area of focus is on Puna District, located on the southeast side of Hawai'i’s Big Island; their community was damaged by a volcanic eruption from Mount Kīlauea in 2018. The county, economic development organizations and community members are working to rebuild the region and infrastructure and reopen parts of the land covered by the lava. The research is conducted through a case study methodology of the Puna District and how the area is revitalizing their region, …
Moral Injury In Survivors Of Domestic Violence, Camille A. Fogel
Moral Injury In Survivors Of Domestic Violence, Camille A. Fogel
WWU Graduate School Collection
Many survivors of domestic violence experience persistent but invisible psychological wounds that cannot be photographed for evidentiary purposes. Coercive control refers to the network of subtle, structural, and culturally sanctioned tactics that subjugate victims and cause them existential and identity-based harm. In this paper I propose that moral injury, a trauma construct not yet applied to this context, provides an important and nuanced framework for understanding the impact of coercive control and the invisible aftermath of partner abuse. In a cross-sectional survey-based study (N = 292), I tested a novel path analysis in which physical violence and coercive control differentially …
Adoption Of Agroforestry Practices In Northwest Washington State: An Ex-Ante Case-Study, Ava Stone
Adoption Of Agroforestry Practices In Northwest Washington State: An Ex-Ante Case-Study, Ava Stone
WWU Graduate School Collection
Agroforestry (AF) practices mitigate climate change, provide ecosystem services, benefit communities, and create long-term economic opportunities for farmers and land managers worldwide. Despite these well-documented benefits, however, the adoption of agroforestry practices remains low. This study aimed to understand the barriers and incentives to adoption by applying the stated choice method to a case study of direct-to-market farmers in the four counties of northwest Washington State: Whatcom, Skagit, San Juan, and Island. Our results indicate that the scale of initial implementation and the upfront costs of seedlings had the largest relative impact on respondent decision making. Similarly, one early adopter …
The Effect Of Long-Haul Covid-19 On Balance Confidence In Older Adults, Mariel Relyea
The Effect Of Long-Haul Covid-19 On Balance Confidence In Older Adults, Mariel Relyea
WWU Graduate School Collection
The effects of long COVID 19 on balance and fall risk in older adults are unknown. This study assessed balance confidence and fear of falling in older adults (≥ 60 years) with long COVID (long-haulers, n = 30) compared to older adults who experienced COVID but not long COVID (non-long-haulers, n = 60) and older controls who never had COVID (n = 52). Participants completed the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale and the Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I). Mean total ABC Scale scores indicated lesser balance confidence in older long-haulers compared to non-long-haulers (p < .001) and controls (p = .011); mean …
The Effect Of Economic Scarcity On Racial Perceptions, Michael Brooks
The Effect Of Economic Scarcity On Racial Perceptions, Michael Brooks
WWU Graduate School Collection
During economic downturns, socioeconomic and health disparities between Whites and BIPOC tend to widen, and negative attitudes towards BIPOC increase - a pattern most recently seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. While structural inequalities likely contribute to these effects, contemporary work suggests that conditions of scarcity can influence racial perception and categorization, leading to discrimination. Indeed, White individuals are biased to categorize racially ambiguous individuals as Black, more often than White, in times of economic scarcity, which is then linked to discriminatory behavior toward those individuals. However, it remains unclear if this phenomenon persists when categorizing members from two racial outgroups. …
Norwegian American Language Identity, Else Lindsey
Norwegian American Language Identity, Else Lindsey
WWU Graduate School Collection
Heritage language is a powerful register through which heritage as a political construct is created and an individual’s language and ethnic identity are thereby performed. Norwegian, the focus language of this thesis, has benefited from formal structural racism in the form of United States immigration laws as well as pervasive white privilege which places heritage languages of BIPOC groups at a significant disadvantage and marks speakers of those languages as deficient. Although Norwegian has, as a result of this privileged position, been less vulnerable to the language shift which affects many of the world’s languages, the language ideologies which Norwegian …
Who We Are Is Who I Am: Collective Continuity And Socialization Processes For Lgbtq+ Emerging Adults, Kit Turner
Who We Are Is Who I Am: Collective Continuity And Socialization Processes For Lgbtq+ Emerging Adults, Kit Turner
WWU Graduate School Collection
One way of understanding the way that society and culture influence identity development is through an examination of collective continuity. Intergenerational socialization from in-group members could be one way that collective continuity develops. However, LGBTQ+ individuals are less likely to receive such socialization from their primary caregivers, and it is unknown how often they may have access to LGBTQ+ elders outside the family of origin. This study sought to examine what kinds of socialization primary caregivers and LGBTQ+ elders engage in, how they differ from each other, and how that socialization relates to collective continuity, identity, and psychological functioning. LGBTQ+ …
Embodied Feminism: An Ethnographic Study Of Abortion Access And Hopeful Praxis, Nicolette Tuttle
Embodied Feminism: An Ethnographic Study Of Abortion Access And Hopeful Praxis, Nicolette Tuttle
WWU Graduate School Collection
Reproductive justice is of critical concern in the United States, especially since the onslaught of abortion bans in 2019, this ethnographic study explores abortion access and activism through a feminist participatory action research (FPAR) approach during my internship at the Feminist Majority Foundation in Los Angeles, California and clinic escort volunteer work with L.A. For Choice. Embodied feminism, here, takes the shape of a qualitative study of abortion access as well as the praxis of scholar-activism. Themes of opposing biopolitical values among feminist and anti-choice activism, narratives of feminist activism, and creative expression and reflection inform this thesis with further …
“Say Her Name”: The Influence Of Victim Race, Demeanor, Severity Of Force, And Individual Difference Factors On Perceptions Of Excessive Force Against A Woman, Brooklynn Smith
WWU Graduate School Collection
The Black Lives Matter movement has increased public awareness concerning discriminatory experiences Black people may experience in interactions with police in the United States. Despite this renewed public consciousness, there is a lacuna of empirical research investigating Black women’s unique experiences of prejudice and how public perceptions shape them. Research is needed to understand factors that influence perceptions of women who experience discriminatory treatment by police and barriers that may hinder social change. The current study investigated how a woman’s racial identity (Black, White), demeanor (i.e., attitude directed towards the officer; respectful, confrontational), and the severity of the force used …
No, I Don’T Think It Was Rape: The Relationship Between Rape Acknowledgment Status And Perceptions Of Sexual Violence, Paige K. Michel
No, I Don’T Think It Was Rape: The Relationship Between Rape Acknowledgment Status And Perceptions Of Sexual Violence, Paige K. Michel
WWU Graduate School Collection
Among college students who experience rape, on average, 60% are unacknowledged rape victims, meaning they do not label their sexual violence experiences as rape. Perhaps this is due to unacknowledged rape victims internalizing mainstream cultural values that normalize and stigmatize experiences of sexual violence. This survey and vignette-based study investigated the relationship between rape acknowledgment status, labels, and perceptions of rape. Female-identifying college students (N = 214) with a history of rape reported perceptions and labels of their experiences of rape and a vignette depicting rape. It was hypothesized that unacknowledged rape victims would be more likely to acknowledge their …