Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Songs From The Willow Tree: Staging Collective Inspiration For Creative Songwriting, Aubrey W. Carpenter

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The songwriting process, inspiration to song, can take many forms. This project explores a highly structured approach, using themes derived from reported individual experience to direct the creation of musical ends addressing common experience.

From Cow Pasture To Cul-De-Sac: The Intersection Of Rural Values, Memory, And Nostalgia Amidst Suburban Development In The American South, Emily F. Ramsey

Theses and Dissertations

How do residents of a once small farming community react to rapid suburbanization? By examining rhetoric on growth, progress, and rurality, this thesis argues a complex landscape forms where longtime residents weave among pragmatism, disaffection, and nostalgia, with efforts to preserve memories of the past for themselves and future generations.

Nonprofit Organizations In Partnerships: An Evaluation Of Partnership For The Public Good’S Community Agenda, Kayla Carrasquillo

Public Administration Master’s Projects

In a time of economic uncertainty, networks and collaborations have become a vital tool for a nonprofit’s success. Networks and collaborations can assist a nonprofit operating independently to increase relationships within a neighborhood, or city, create a sense of community with the organizations within the collaboration, share resources from grants and other tools that a nonprofit developed to reach program outcomes and outputs, and build the network of nonprofits to expand their individual mission statements. Partnership of the Public Good (PPG) in Buffalo, New York has created an informal network collaboration to increase all of these characteristics within the City …

Masculinity Matters: Perceptions Of One’S Own Gender Status And The Effects On Psychosocial Well Being Among Gay Men, Dane Robert Whicker

Dissertations (1934 -)

Gay men have a unique relationship with masculinity. The manner in which gay men view their gender in a heterosexist context (i.e., Perceptions of One’s Own Gender Status, “POOGS”) may explain individual differences found in psychological health among both feminine and masculine gay men. In this study, four factors that make up POOGS are 1) connection to the gay community, 2) perceived negative attitudes toward effeminacy, 3) exposure to heterosexist discrimination, and 4) one’s own masculinity. The purpose of this study is to investigate the hypotheses that 1) POOGS will predict symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, and satisfaction with life, …

Uncharted Territory: Critical Social Artistic Practices In The 21st Century, Kyra M. Detone

Honors Theses

Since the early 1990s, the American art world has witnessed the rise of critical social artistic practices that are largely collaborative projects driven by participatory experiences between artists and community. With its roots in the activist, protest, and public art movements beginning in the late 60s, socially engaged art steps out of traditional viewing spaces like the museum and directly confronts society’s object-based and monetary understanding of art. Driven by process and dependent on coalition building, creative problem solving, and public service rather than profit, socially engaged critical practice is complex and demands a new vocabulary through which to critique …

Grassroots And Community Activism Within Milwaukee's Black Community: A Response To Central City Renewal And Revitalization Efforts In The Walnut Street Area, 1960s To 1980s, Madeline Mary Riordan

Theses and Dissertations

Many researchers and scholars have explored the Black urban experience and have often chosen to focus on the systemic and institutionalized forms of racism that affect different aspects of Black lives. Descriptions of central city lives as told by Black central city residents are starkly similar to the descriptions of Black residents of industrialized cities throughout the United States. Fragments of the Black urban experience are contained in discussions of the effects of urban renewal efforts, including “redevelopment” and “revitalization,” beginning most heavily in the 1940s. Looking back at urban renewal designs and strategies from the 1940s through the 1980s …

Leadership Development Programs: Exploring The Real Impact Upon Communities And Organizations, Brandon Steinert

Master's Theses

Leadership development programs are a popular tool utilized by communities and organizations to influence culture, challenge status quo and develop individuals. Research targeting the effectiveness of these programs is voluminous, but much of the work done thus far measures program effectiveness by one of two methods: either by the change in the attitudes and behavior of participants, or by the opinions participants held regarding the content and curriculum of the program. This study sought measure program effectiveness by looking at the real impact upon communities and organizations. This study explored the potential relationship between health and vibrancy of communities and …

Middle School And Community Rockford, Illinios, Katera B. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study of 99 middle school students in an urban area examined the relationship between community factors and student outcomes. The community factors that were examined were school violence based on if a student was a victim or witness and also if the student was an offender of school violence, violence and substance use exposure based on student’s home location, and socioeconomic status were also examined. Student outcomes were examined based on academic testing (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers or PARCC), grade point average (GPA), and school suspension (both Out-of-School Suspension or OSS and in-school-suspension/Alternative Learning …

Benefits, Challenges, And Recommendations For Implementing A Sustainability-Based Service-Learning Program At Utah State University: An Initial Assessment Of The Community Bridge Initiative, Julie Koldewyn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Service-Learning is a method of teaching that allows students to learn course content by engaging in real world applications, which can enhance student learning and benefit communities. As populations increase, many communities struggle with the corresponding issues of sustainability. A program that could use student expertise to address these concerns would be beneficial for both students and communities. This mixed-methods study explored the benefits, challenges, and recommendations for implementing a sustainability-based service-learning program, the Community Bridge Initiative (CBI), at Utah State University (USU) in relation to community needs and student responses to being in program pilot classes. Pilot classes were …

Mobile Health And Its Role In Addressing Maternal Health In Sub-Saharan Africa, Tarikwa M. Leveille

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

ABSTRACT Background: In the last 10-15 years, mobile health (mHealth) interventions have generated considerable interest as tools for sustainable development in the global health sector as well as to improve access to care for remotely isolated populations in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper explores existing literature on mHealth for clinical data collection for maternal health, discusses some of its benefits and challenges, and addresses mHealth’s limitations, such as 1) inadequate monitoring and evaluation framework; (2) inability for project scalability; and (3) lack of partnerships that are unsustainable and inclusive of all stakeholders. Although the healthcare sector acknowledges the potential benefits of …

Growing Together? Community, Culture, And Gardening In Downtown Las Vegas, Tyler S. Schafer

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In this manuscript I explore the issue of how groups appropriate broad cultural trends in local contexts. Using the case of a community garden in Las Vegas I examine how social space is imbued with meaning and how those meanings come to shape the subsequent interactions that take place in the meaningful place. This research draws from four years of participant observation at Vegas Roots Community Garden (VRCG), 20 in-depth interviews, hundreds of informal interviews, and content analysis of documents produced by others about the garden and by the garden organization about itself.

I expand on Howard Becker’s (1974) work …

In Search Of Solidarity: Identification Participation In Virtual Fan Communities, Jaime Shamado Robb

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study questions the way sports fans create (a sense of) community through online conversations. Here, ‘community’ and ‘internet’ are seen as invitational terms that suggest an authentic social interaction. By examining the language used by fans to sustain a sense of solidarity in the virtual realm, this study questions the ways in which rhetoric frames the situation. Participation in the virtual space relies on practices of identification derived from physical engagements. By using a rhetorical approach, this study illuminates the way individual participants operationalize a rhetoric in virtual conversations that spiritualize the fan’s experience at the base of a …

East African Perspectives Of Family And Community, And How They Can Inform Western Ecclesiology, Ben Strait

M.A. in Family Ministry

East African families and communities function day-to-day as a single living organism. As one participant said, “Life is common.”[1] What he meant by that was that life is shared among the members of a community, whether biologically related relatives or those who live in close proximity with others. Throughout this research, close interaction with several native East Africans took place, and insights were made into how this view of communal living works itself out in daily life.

[1]. Yusufo, interview by author, Grand Rapids, March 31, 2014.

Gender Creative Parenting: An Educational Curriculum For Parents Of Transgender And Gender Nonconforming Youth, Kathleen Murphy Pantoja

MSW Capstones

Parental acceptance is a protective factor against negative health outcomes for transgender and gender nonconforming young people. Qualitative research suggests parents just learning of their child’s gender variance have a need for education, peer support, and access to culturally responsive care providers in order to accept and affirm their trans* child. Gender Creative Parenting, an educational group curriculum firmly grounded in social work values, addresses these needs. A thorough literature review and findings from key informant interviews led to the selection of chaos theory as a guiding framework for intervention development. Emerging best practices for working with trans* youth within …

Impact Of A Rural Public School District On Community Culture, Lynnwood Michael Baade

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Individuals and families often migrate to rural areas anticipating a utopian environment and a school system that supports their beliefs and values. Little qualitative research, however, has been conducted about the impact of rural public school districts on their local communities. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative study, as reflected in the central research question, was to explore how a rural public school district contributed to community culture. Maslow's motivational theory related to a hierarchy of human needs formed the conceptual framework for this study. A single case study was executed as the method of inquiry. Participants included 6 residents …

Wisdom In The Trees : A Research Project On How Elders Living In The Treehouse Community Together With Foster Children And Their Families Continue Or Expand The Quality Of Meaning Making In Their Everyday Lives, Elizabeth Hinze

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative study examined the oldest members of The Treehouse Community in western Massachusetts which is an intentional intergenerational community. Within this study 10 older adults living in the community participated in either a community held event or one-on-one interviews describing their felt life experiences before and after moving to Treehouse. Most of the participants made it clear that they did not show up at Treehouse looking for something to occupy their time. Rather this model which supports foster families and their children through an intergenerational lens corresponds with their life work, whether it be they had worked in child …

The Socio-Legal Construction Of Adolescent Criminality: Examining Race, Community, And Contextual Factors Through The Lens Of Focal Concerns, Patrick Glen Lowery

Theses and Dissertations

The first American juvenile court opened in 1899, with the understanding that children and adults are fundamentally different, and as such, should be treated differently by the law. Less than 50 years later, every state within the United States had developed a separate juvenile justice system, along with the adoption of many significant statutes that made the juvenile court markedly different from the adult criminal court. Over time, however, dissatisfaction with numerous inadequacies in the juvenile court led to the “due process revolution” of the 1960’s and 1970’s. The legal and philosophical changes made during this time were not long …

A Study Of The Effects Of County Characteristics On College Enrollment, Patrick La Mar

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

For the past 100 years, policy analysts studied college enrollment at the individual level. Yet little research has been performed on whether the surrounding community characteristics contribute to enrollment rates. This is in part due to seeing college attendance as an individual choice whereas K-12 enrollment is typically predetermined by place of residence. However, this ignores the potential impact economic and social characteristics a community has on students while growing up. This paper attempts to add to the literature by testing county level variables with a panel regression with high school fixed effects.

The results show higher averages of KEES …

How Does Hip Hop Serve As A Catalyst For Collective Resistance : "Fight The Power"- A Beats, Rhymes, And Life Approach : A Project Based Upon An Investigation At Beats, Rhymes And Life, Maria Camila Camacho

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative study explores what elements of social justice, Hip Hop, and therapy the Oakland, California based agency Beats, Rhymes, & Life, Inc. (BRL) engages in to ignite Collective Resistance among its members, youth, and the outside community. The study utilized a mix of both narrative and phenomenological approaches throughout. In total, twelve participants were interviewed, however, only six participants were included for the purpose of this research and ranged from teaching artists, clinicians, community members, and leaders of BRL. Each participant was asked a series of questions regarding (1) Hip Hop, (2) Oppression and Power, and (3) Collective Resistance …

Measuring A Big Bold Goal, Jonathan Kohn

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

No executive summary.

Exploring Women’S Perspectives Of Living With Mental Illness, Stigma, And Receiving Community Services, Alexa L. Stovold, Magnus Mfoafo-M'Carthy

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) (2015), one in five individuals will experience mental illness personally, which means that all Canadians will be indirectly (or directly) influenced by mental illness at some point in their life. Unfortunately, due to historical trends and negative stereotypes mental illness has become heavily stigmatized (Camp, Finlay, and Lyons, 2002; Chernomas, Clarke, and Chisholm, 2000; Link, Struening, Neese-Todd, Asmussen, and Phelan, 2001; Sands, 2009; Szeto, Luong & Dobson, 2013). Although many studies have assessed the relationship between mental illness and stigma, little research has included a gender lens when exploring these topics. Therefore, …