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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2013

Conference

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Articles 1 - 17 of 17

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Still In The Shadows: A Content Analysis Of Sexual Addiction In Couple Therapy, Austin Ellis, Quintin Hunt, Tod Young, Rebecca Nemecek, Jordan Staples, Stephen Fife, Colleen Peterson Apr 2013

Still In The Shadows: A Content Analysis Of Sexual Addiction In Couple Therapy, Austin Ellis, Quintin Hunt, Tod Young, Rebecca Nemecek, Jordan Staples, Stephen Fife, Colleen Peterson

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

There is no universally accepted definition of “sex addiction” in the literature, though it is generally understood as persistent patterns of sexual behaviors acted out despite negative consequences to self or others (Kafka, 2010; Levine, 2010). Though sexual addictions are often addressed individually, most take place within a social context that includes family members and/or intimate relationships. The purpose of this presentation is to present the results of a content analysis of M/CFT peer-reviewed journals and summarize the extent to which this literature addresses sexual addictions and couples therapy. The content analysis adds to the existing literature by examining the …

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Police Injury Crashes And The Intersections Of Policy, Technology, And Culture, Carol Servino Apr 2013

Police Injury Crashes And The Intersections Of Policy, Technology, And Culture, Carol Servino

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Motor vehicle crashes caused the majority fatalities to police officers in the U. S. for more than a decade, yet little is known about factors contributing to injury crashes. This research project required original data collection. A national survey of police chiefs in state, county, and local agencies of all sizes was conducted online in June and July, 2012. Questions focused on various driving policies and practices, including those related to communication technology commonly used in police patrol vehicles. Other questions included hypothetical situations to explore the culture of driving safety in individual police organizations. The majority of chiefs clearly …

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Coping With Pediatric Cancer: Conversational Methods Utilized By Parents And Children When Dealing With Pediatric Cancer, Chelsi Morgan Walls Apr 2013

Coping With Pediatric Cancer: Conversational Methods Utilized By Parents And Children When Dealing With Pediatric Cancer, Chelsi Morgan Walls

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

This thesis sought to analyze how parents communicate with their child regarding pediatric cancer treatments. When dealing with pediatric cancer, it is vital that parents and their child communicate about the illness in order to effectively cope with the cancer. Using Uncertainty Management Theory, along with sub-concepts of the theory (i.e., appraisals, inferences, and illusions), this thesis sought to discover which coping mechanism (i.e., affect-management or buffering) would be chosen to manage the illness. Under UMT, appraisals were assessed, resulting in positive and negative appraisal, which indicated whether the individual handled the issue with either an inference based on general …

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Media Bias Through Facial Expressions On Local Las Vegas Television News, Jessica Zimmerman Apr 2013

Media Bias Through Facial Expressions On Local Las Vegas Television News, Jessica Zimmerman

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Trust in news media has been considered an important base for social order and cohesion in society and is a crucial variable for evaluating news media. Media credibility has been questioned by the audience for some time and the audience’s trust in the media has been slowly diminishing over the years. When a news broadcaster communicates a story on local television news, it is possible for his own opinions and beliefs to leak through nonverbal communication, specifically facial expressions. This presentation explores the four main local Las Vegas television news stations’ anchors and reporters to visually analyze whether facial characteristics …

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Death And Politics: The Role Of Demographic Characteristics And Testimony Type In Death Penalty Cases Involving Future Dangerousness Testimony, Amy Magnus, Miliaikeala Heen, Joel D. Lieberman Apr 2013

Death And Politics: The Role Of Demographic Characteristics And Testimony Type In Death Penalty Cases Involving Future Dangerousness Testimony, Amy Magnus, Miliaikeala Heen, Joel D. Lieberman

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Past research examining expert future dangerousness prediction testimony in death penalty cases and civil confinement hearings for sex offenders has found that jurors tend to be more persuaded by less scientific “clinical” testimony and less influenced by “actuarial” based testimony. Jurors demonstrate greater receptivity for clinical testimony despite the fact that actuarial testimony has been shown to be a better predictor of future dangerousness. Research in this area has focused on identifying cognitive factors that can potentially be manipulated during a trial to increase the effectiveness of actuarial testimony on jurors. A mock jury study was conducted to extend these …

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Socioeconomic Effect On Crime In The Southwest United States Pre- And Post-Great Recession, Kristina Donathan, Jaewon Lim Apr 2013

Socioeconomic Effect On Crime In The Southwest United States Pre- And Post-Great Recession, Kristina Donathan, Jaewon Lim

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Facing the Great Recession, the Southwest megapolitan cluster in the United States including Las Vegas, Southern California and Sun Corridor in Arizona had a massive negative economic shock. Skyrocketing unemployment, massive foreclosures and other socioeconomic factors may negatively affect our safe environment with changing patterns in crime. This study aims to investigate the impacts of socioeconomic factors on different types of crimes committed in the megapolitan cluster of the Southwest United States. Using annual crime datasets, we look at the three years before the Great Recession and subsequent three years (2005-2010). The metropolitan areas, Los Angeles, CA, Las Vegas, NV, …

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States And Multicultural Education Policies: A Multinomial Logit Analysis, Leander D. Kellogg Apr 2013

States And Multicultural Education Policies: A Multinomial Logit Analysis, Leander D. Kellogg

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

This research evaluates the factors that facilitate or constrain the adoption of multicultural education policies in the fifty US state at the state legislature and state bureaucracy levels. According to the 2010 Census, the majority of children under age two—for the first time in US history—are minorities. Furthermore, 11 states and the District of Columbia already have a “minority-majority” population of children under age five. Seven more states are expected to join them in the next decade. Previous research has found that multicultural education policies have been increasingly adopted but are not yet widespread across the states. This study first …

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Building A Taxonomy Of Player Types And The Effects On The Self And Interaction Between Players, Kyle Yim Apr 2013

Building A Taxonomy Of Player Types And The Effects On The Self And Interaction Between Players, Kyle Yim

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

This paper conducted a literature review of current research examining fantasy football participants. Fantasy football has become popular in recent years due the attention from the media, most notably sports shows providing more coverage of fantasy football. Theories that have examined fantasy football include gambling theory, and uses and gratifications. Motivational types also provide categories to describe players. Additionally this theory also provides a method to measure these players called the Motivational Scale for Fantasy Football Participation (MSFFP). Thus the purpose of this paper is twofold: to explore the literature in fantasy sports; propose to build taxonomical categories for serious …

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Does Movie Viewing Cultivate Unrealistic Expectations About Love And Marriage?, Lauren Galloway Apr 2013

Does Movie Viewing Cultivate Unrealistic Expectations About Love And Marriage?, Lauren Galloway

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

The present study investigated the connection between romantic movie viewing frequency and endorsement of dysfunctional beliefs for romantic relationships in a university-based sample of 228 participants. Respondents completed a questionnaire in which they reported demographic information as well as responses to the several scales that measure endorsement of romantic ideals. I base this investigation of Segrin and Nabi’s (2002) examination of television viewing habits and proclivity for unrealistic expectations of sex, love, and marriage. Both the current study and the investigation conducted by Segrin and Nabi (2002) support the supposition that media play a part in reinforcing beliefs about coupleships. …

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Police Responses To Domestic Violence And Public Perception, Kelly Stout, Alexis Kennedy Apr 2013

Police Responses To Domestic Violence And Public Perception, Kelly Stout, Alexis Kennedy

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Domestic violence, also known as, intimate partner violence (IPV), has become an epidemic in the United States. This research is intended to explain the types of IPV, describe the effects of severe IPV, look at the change in public perceptions of IPV situations, and explore the police responses to such situations. Students at UNLV participated in the “Police Responses to Calls for Service” survey, that was created to determine the public’s level of awareness of IPV situations and whether that awareness increases support for police policies in responding to intimate partner violence calls.

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Evaluating The Impact Of Team Policing In Las Vegas, Nevada, Natalie N. Martinez Apr 2013

Evaluating The Impact Of Team Policing In Las Vegas, Nevada, Natalie N. Martinez

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Team policing involves the continuous geographical assignment of both patrol officers and investigators to the same, defined area, which allows them to become familiar with area residents and knowledgeable about community concerns and thus, enables them to develop individualized strategies to resolve the neighborhood problems that can lead to crime and disorder. This study evaluates the impact of a team policing intervention in Las Vegas, Nevada that combines an emphasis on community outreach with problem-focused policing strategies to determine the effectiveness of team policing as a crime control strategy. The results indicate that the team policing did not result in …

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President Barack Obama's Commencement Addresses: Revising The Functions Of Ceremonial Rhetoric, Milene Ortega Ribeiro Apr 2013

President Barack Obama's Commencement Addresses: Revising The Functions Of Ceremonial Rhetoric, Milene Ortega Ribeiro

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Commencement speakers are typically expected to praise students for their achievements and motivate them for the path that is to come. When the commencement speaker is a President, however, the expectation is different. In times of rhetorical presidency, no presidential address is apolitical, and this project investigated the functions of ceremonial rhetoric in light of the rhetorical presidency doctrine. Close textual analysis of the three most controversial commencement speeches delivered by President Obama, revealed that the challenge of fulfilling the expectations of a commencement address, while also responding to rhetorical problems, required the President to adopt complex rhetorical strategies. The …

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Juror Typologies And Dna Comprehension:Who Benefits From Jury Trial Innovations?, Mari Sakiyama, Joel D. Lieberman Apr 2013

Juror Typologies And Dna Comprehension:Who Benefits From Jury Trial Innovations?, Mari Sakiyama, Joel D. Lieberman

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

When DNA evidence is presented in the courtroom, it is typically accompanied by complex testimony conveying information such as the method of generating population frequencies, match criteria and probabilities, as well as laboratory errors and error rates. Although this evidence may have high probative value, the legal community has expressed growing concern regarding jurors’ ability to comprehend it. However, courts have implemented a variety of jury trial innovations to facilitate jurors’ ability to process complex information. Although these innovations may have a positive effect on comprehension of complex trial evidence, it is unclear whether some jurors are more likely to …

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Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse:What Heals And What Hurts In A Couple Relationship, Laura Smedley, Kathy Disney-Fairchild, Stephen Fife, Colleen Peterson Apr 2013

Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse:What Heals And What Hurts In A Couple Relationship, Laura Smedley, Kathy Disney-Fairchild, Stephen Fife, Colleen Peterson

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a significant trauma that affects a person’s self-concept and ability to form healthy intimate relationships later in adulthood. Approximately 20% of adults who experienced childhood sexual abuse go on to evidence serious psychopathology in adulthood (Harway & Faulk, 2005). Knowledge of how relationship partners affect the healing of the survivor may be very beneficial to couples’ therapists, to survivors themselves, and to their intimate partners. The purpose of this qualitative study is to increase understanding of the survivor’s experience of what is helpful and what is counterproductive in their healing process within the construct of …

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Investigating Perspectives Of Rural Nevadans On Climate Change Solutions, Tricia Dutcher Apr 2013

Investigating Perspectives Of Rural Nevadans On Climate Change Solutions, Tricia Dutcher

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Rural perspectives are important for the issue of climate change. Rural areas are high concentrations of active voters who deny the problem of anthropogenic climate change. Rural residents also face decisions about inviting large, utility scale renewable energy developments in their areas. This research examines rural Nevadan’s perspectives on climate change to offer insights about the relationship between climate change perceptions and communication strategies. The research offers policy implications that address context specific issues, solution-oriented dialogue, and interest matching to mitigate anthropogenic climate change.

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Obstacles To Developing And Implementing Problem-Oriented Policing Projects In Police Agencies, Kristine-Gem D. Estrella, Victoria Luong, Tamara D. Madensen Apr 2013

Obstacles To Developing And Implementing Problem-Oriented Policing Projects In Police Agencies, Kristine-Gem D. Estrella, Victoria Luong, Tamara D. Madensen

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

This research examines impediments to problem-solving initiatives within police organizations. A systematic evaluation of a complex problem-oriented policing project in Las Vegas, Nevada, is used to identify obstacles to developing effective crime reduction interventions. This evaluation focuses on the first three steps of the SARA problem-solving process: scanning, analysis, and response. At each stage of the project, interviews are conducted with key project personnel (e.g., area command captains, supervising sergeants, community-oriented policing officers, community partners, residents). Data is also collected through observations at community meetings and ride-alongs with officers assigned to the project. These data are analyzed and common themes …

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The Other September 11th: El Mercurio Media Coverage After The Chilean Coup Of 1973, Valeria A. Gurr‐Ovalle Apr 2013

The Other September 11th: El Mercurio Media Coverage After The Chilean Coup Of 1973, Valeria A. Gurr‐Ovalle

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

This thesis provides an exploratory overview of the role the El Mercurio newspaper played along with the military after the Chilean coup of 1973. The study reviews the contents of the newspaper’s front pages, including their coverage of the events during the coup. The thesis will show how the paper revisited its coverage each year on the September 11th anniversary, beginning with the years dominated by the military government, from 1973 through 1990, and continuing through the transition to democracy, from 1991 through 2007. The primary method used in the course of this examination is a content analysis, which will …

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