Digital Commons Network^™

Programs And Strategies For Community Resilience In A Metropolitan Area Public Library: A Case Study, Andreas Vårheim

Proceedings from the Document Academy

This paper reports a case study on community-oriented public library programs in a metropolitan Texan city. A main purpose of the paper is to report the findings from this explorative case study on the relationship of a public library system with its communities from a community resilience perspective. The study is a part of a research project aiming at creating empirically-based knowledge on the role of public libraries in forming community resilience. The description of specific library programs is a basis for further study of the mechanisms contributing to community resilience. Community resilience enables communities to face major environmental change …

Skype In Qualitative Interviews: Participant And Researcher Perspectives, Rebecca G. Mirick, Stephanie P. Wladkowski

The Qualitative Report

As Internet usage has increased, web-based technologies such as Skype and Face Time have become more common alternatives for qualitative interviewing, especially for research participants who are geographically distant from the researchers. Challenges to the use of these tools have been identified, but as technology is currently changing at a rapid pace, more recent research is needed to provide up-to-date information on the feasibility of web and video conferencing technologies for qualitative interviewing. This paper reflects on the experience of using Skype for qualitative research interviews (n=14) in a study of pregnancy and parenting in doctoral programs, including feedback from …

Accounting For Biases In Survey-Based Estimates Of Population Attributable Fractions, Ryan Masters, Eric N. Reither

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Background: This paper discusses best practices for estimating fractions of mortality attributable to health exposures in survey data that are biased by observed confounders and unobserved endogenous selection. Extant research has shown that estimates of population attributable fractions (PAF) from the formula using the proportion of deceased that is exposed (PAF_pd) can attend to confounders, whereas the formula using the proportion of the entire sample exposed (PAF_pe) is biased by confounders. Research has not explored how PAF_pd and PAF_pe equations perform when both confounding and selection bias are present.

Methods: We review equations for …

Torn Apart: A Closer Look At Our Cover Image, Sandra Rios

Culture, Society, and Praxis

No abstract provided.

Gender, Family, And Community Attachment In A New Destination, Erin Trouth Hofmann, Claudia Méndez Wright, Emma Meade Earl

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

As new immigrant destinations in the USA have become home to more settled immigrant populations, they are also becoming less male-dominated and attracting more women and families. But this process is occurring unevenly, with some new destinations much more attractive to women than others. The factors that might lead a destination to attract or retain women are not well understood. We draw on interviews with long-time Latin American residents in a non-metropolitan community in Utah with a fairly high proportion of women immigrants to analyze the ways in which gender and other factors relate to community attachment in this specific …

Salud A La Salud Mental (A Toast To Mental Health), Arturo Rodriguez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Joven Noble is a youth-development and leadership enhancement curriculum within Sequoia High School in Watsonville, Ca. that recognizes adolescents need for guidance during their physical, emotional and spiritual development into adulthood by engaging them in conversations regarding topics such as teen pregnancy and substance abuse. One of the deficits of the program is the lack of discussion centered around mental health. Youth are more likely to experience mental health challenges during their adolescence that can impair their long term development. In Santa Cruz County, 5 per 1,000 children ages 5-19 were hospitalized for mental health crisis treatment in 2016; rates …

Ensuring Victims’ Rights And Inspiring Hope Through Community Collaboration, Evelyn Rodriguez Martinez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Numerous crime victims who qualify for Victim Witness Assistance Program services through the San Benito County District Attorney's office are not accessing the resources. Research done to support this project revealed that countless crime victims did not utilize the services offered by the program during the time of their victimization. The project conducted was an outreach presentation, which included all the services provided by the Victim Witness Assistance Program, victims’ legal rights, and the qualifications for the California Victim Compensation Board. The outreach presentation was developed to increase awareness of victims’ rights and the Victim Witness Assistance Program to community …

A Venue To Grow: Researching Professional Growth In The Collaborative Courts Of The Northern District Of California, Wyatt Lim-Tepper

Master's Projects and Capstones

This study examines the professional growth of collaborative court staff in the Northern District of California (NDCA). First, it sets forth a background that reviews the history of collaborative courts and details the development, purpose and structure, and current processes at the federal level. Second, the researcher describes the framework of the NDCA as an institution and further identifies the stakeholders who participate in the NDCA’s two collaborative courts: the Reentry Court and the Conviction Alternatives Program (CAP). Third, the study reviews the literature on professional growth in the legal field, education and academia, and public-health fields. Fourth, this paper …

Childhood Abuse, Religiosity, And Opioid Use: Findings From The National Epidemiologic Survey On Alcohol And Related Conditions Data, James E. Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Religiosity is adopting a belief system surrounding concepts of purpose, meaning, and value through an institution that has already defined these concepts prior to the individual member attending and that member’s degree of participation. Religiosity does have protective factors against negative health outcomes. This protective influence was evaluated in this study. Data from Wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions were examined to learn about the relationship between protective effects of religious participation on substance abuse, and whether this association weakened for individuals who have experienced higher levels of childhood abuse. A binary logistic regression …

Study Protocol: A Multisite Trial Of Work-Related Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Unemployed Persons With Social Anxiety, Joseph A. Himle, Richard T. Lebeau, Addie Weaver, Daphne M. Brydon, Deborah Bybee, Amy M. Kilbourne, Raphael D. Rose, Katherine M. Tucker, Richard Kim, Marcelina Perez, Fonda N. Smith, Brandy R. Sinco, Scott Levine, Nicole Hamameh, Monique Mckiver, Paul T. Wierzbicki, Anni M. Hasratian, Michelle G. Craske

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

This paper provides a methodological description of a multi-site, randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a cognitive-behavioral intervention for enhancing employment success among unemployed persons whose employment efforts have been undermined by social anxiety disorder (SAD). SAD is a common and impairing condition, with negative impacts on occupational functioning. In response to these documented employment-related impairments, in a previous project, we produced and tested an eight-session work-related group cognitive-behavioral therapy provided alongside vocational services as usual (WCBT + VSAU). WCBT is delivered by vocational service professionals and is designed in a context and style that overcomes accessibility and stigma-related obstacles with …

The Myth Of The "Gray Area" In Rape: Fabricating Ambiguity And Deniability, Maddie Brockbank

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Sexual violence is a pervasive issue identified on post-secondary campuses. Existing research focuses almost exclusively on an American context and quantitatively explores the frequency with which sexual assault occurs on campuses. As men are overrepresented as perpetrators, it is necessary to investigate their perspectives on the issue. The present study qualitatively examines the perspectives of white, heterosexual, male students to facilitate dialogue about sexual violence on university campuses in Ontario. Several themes emerged, specifically pertaining to negotiations of consent, a perceived “grey area,” peer influence, and how the social construction of masculinity fosters specific beliefs that excuse sexually violent beliefs, …

Using Behavior Economic Nudges To Facilitate Client Follow-Through In Financial Coaching, Charlene Hurst

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While benevolence-based programs have been a large part of meeting immediate financial needs of the poor, they lack the relational aspect needed to facilitate long-term behavior change. Recently many social service organizations have adopted financial coaching as a promising replacement for benevolence programming. The field of coaching has dealt with its own challenges. Most coaching practitioners surveyed in 2016 and 2019 acknowledged lack of client follow-through as their number one challenge. Behavior economics offered nudges as a solution. Nudges are cues placed within the physical environment to prod clients toward behavior change. A quantitative field study was conducted to evaluate …

A Longitudinal Examination Of African American Adolescent Females Detained For Status Offense, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

Introduction: Behaviors like truancy, running away, curfew violation, and alcohol possession fall under the status offense category and can have serious consequences for adolescents. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency and Prevention Act prohibited detaining status offenders. We explored the degree to which African American adolescent girls were being detained for status offenses and the connections to their behavioral health risks and re-confinement. Methods: 188 African American girls (aged 13–17), recruited from detention facilities, were surveyed at baseline and 3-month follow-ups. Logistic regression models estimated the likelihood of longitudinal re-confinement, controlling for sexual and behavioral health risk factors. Results: One third …

Organizational Capacity Of Nonprofit Organizations In Rural Areas Of The United States: A Scoping Review, Jayme E. Walters

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Rural America is facing a plethora of problems related to poverty, crime, health, and education. Nonprofit organizations serve a vital role in rural communities by providing services and advocacy to residents. Yet, it is unknown if rural nonprofits have the means to effectively address the complex issues before them. This study examines the results of scoping review which characterizes the state of empirical knowledge regarding the organizational capacity of rural nonprofits in the United States. Fifteen articles from the past decade uncovered challenges and strengths related to organizational capacity, though more research is necessary to inform funders and educators.

Gender Differences In Rates Of Anhedonia And The Effect Of Menstrual Cycles In University Students, Arianna Rueda

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Anhedonia is the lack of experiencing pleasure from pleasurable experiences (D'haenen, 1996) and is associated with the reward pathway in the brain (Langvik et al., 2016). Anhedonia can be further broken down into physical or social (Martino et al., 2018).

• Physical anhedonia is the absence of pleasure from eating, drinking, or physical touch.
• Social anhedonia is a lack of pleasure derived from social experiences.

Previous research has looked at gender differences in anhedonia with conflicting results.

• One measure of anhedonic subtype of depression found a relation with positive affect and gender differences more than other measures of anhedonia (Langvik et …

Body Language "Says" More About Whether A Person Is Lying, Emily Scheiwiller, Shelbie Weightman

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

The wording of a question can bias someone's perception of another person (Questionnaire design; Ulatwski, 2013).

• Direct Questions
• Indirect Questions
• Social Awareness

Social Awareness Inventory (SAI) assesses individual differences in social awareness of emotion demonstrated by others (Sheldon, 1996).

Hypothesis 1:Indirect questioning as compared to direct questioning when evaluating an interviewee's dishonest responses will produce more accurate determinations of dishonesty that correspond with research-supported correlates of dishonesty.

Hypothesis 2: Questions designed to detect observer bias related to dishonest behaviors, compared to those related to interviewee verbal and nonverbal characteristics, as well as the observer’s expectations of interviewee behaviors will …

The Effect Of Therapy Dogs And Meditation On Student Stress, Nicole L. Beasley

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Students experience many stressors throughout the semester. Student stress may arise from various facets of academic life (e.g. academics, financial, and relationship) (Dusselier et al., 2005). Most students report chronic stress (Pierceall & Keim, 2007).

Therapy dogs may lessen student stress. However, research on how therapy dogs reduce stress is mixed. Some research suggests therapy dogs only reduce psychological perception of stress while other research suggests physiological stress reduction.

Barker et al. (2016) measured stress with both psychological tests and physiological markers in students. Interacting with therapy dogs reduced the perceived stress but did not change the physiological markers of …

The Correlation Between Children's Executive Functioning And Their Academic Performance And Social Competence, Melissa Budisch, Erin Collins

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

We want to see if there is a positive association with Conscious Discipline, or Social-Emotional Learning, and improved EF skills in children.

Composure: The adult provides children with techniques, such as active calming, to regulate their emotions. (Brain Smart Start and Safe Place)

Adult Assertiveness: The adult is assertive, which provides the structure a child needs to be successful. We would argue that if an adult is assertive and give5 concrete instructions to the children, it can help them better understand self-control and how to effectively achieve a goal. (Visual Routines, Visual Daily Schedule, and Time Machine)

Choices: When a …

Sleep On It! Sleep Consolidation Produces Strong Delayed Memory Retrieval Much Like Immediate Retrieval, Gabriella Silone, Carolina Vázquez, Sarah Lawson, Victoria Karpuszka, Madeline Nash

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Research Question: Can sleep consolidation reduce the effects of an interruption during encoding, leading to improved accuracy on a delayed recognition task?

Consolidation: During sleep, memories acquired earlier are processed at a deeper level and strengthened by creating associations with previously-stored information (Rasch & Born, 2008). This process helps better integrate new information into existing long-term memory storage systems. Research indicates that the consolidation process can also prevent the effects of interference during memory retrieval (Robertson, 2012).

Present Study: The present study was designed to examine the effects of sleep consolidation after an interruption of encoding had …

Support From Inside Out: Exploring Whether Various Social Supports Assist In Reducing Prison Rule Violations, Sarah Renee Lazzari

Dissertations and Theses

Scholars argue that prison rule violations are a way to assess whether individuals are engaging in prosocial behaviors. Individuals who engage in prosocial behaviors, during periods of incarceration, are less likely to engage in behaviors that result in official rule violations. Decreasing rule violations is one way to work towards a safer prison environment, while also preparing individuals for release. The current study uses cross-sectional data form the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Facilities, in order to examine whether multiple types of prisons programs, which will be framed as various types of social supports, influence the frequency …

Cross Validation Of The Environmental Attitudes Inventory: Plans To Assess Attitudinal Changes In Workers At A Shelter Farm In A Food Desert, Amanda Barry, Alea Albright

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Within the context of an ongoing participatory community action research project that implements behavioral activation in homeless shelters, an urban farm was implemented. Behavioral activation provides opportunities to engage in productive activities that yield response-contingent reinforcement, which increases productive behavior and leads to improvements in a sense of mastery, quality of life, mood, and cognition.

The project represents a collaboration between Dr. Roger N. Reeb (Professor of Psychology) and St. Vincent de Paul. Among our many community partners, we developed a collaboration with the Ohio State University Agricultural Extension of Montgomery County in 2017 to establish an urban farm on …

Halloween, Superstition, And Black Cat Bias, Brianna Gavin

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Black Cat Bias (BCB): “Cats with black coats are viewed more negatively, adopted less often, and euthanized more often than lighter colored cats” (Jones & Hart, in press)

Shelter records of 2170 cats showed black cats stay in shelter about one month longer than non-black cats (Kubesova, Voslarova, Cecerek, & Vucinic, 2017)

Length of stay in shelter positively correlated with risk of contracting URI (Dinnage, Scarlett, & Richards, 2009) and coronavirus (Pedersen, Sato, Foley, & Poland, 2004)

Jones and Hart (in press) found black cats were perceived as more aggressive and less friendly than non-black cats

Jones and Hart (in …

Measuring Gender Equity At Ud Among Faculty, Staff, And Leadership, Mary Mcloughlin, Josh Segalewitz

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

The purpose of this report card is to be transparent around the representation of women across the UD workforce and in leadership roles.

Our goal is to annually evaluate progress toward increasing institutional diversity and promoting equity for women-identified staff and faculty. In doing so, the report identifies areas where progress is being made and areas where more work is needed.

Impact Of In-Depth Storyline On Children’S Math Skills In Adaptive E-Book, Shelbie Weightman

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

The percentage of homes tablet computers and children under age 8 has increased from 8 percent in 2011 to 78 percent in 2017 (Zippert, et al.).

E-books for literacy have been shown to be beneficial for young children, but less is known about math-focused e-books.

Parent-child interaction about math story problems, even just once a week, showed improved math achievement in the child by the end of the school year. The benefits of occasional math-related interactions are especially apparent for children whose parents are anxious about math. Providing a math app that allows math-anxious parents to more easily engage in …

Associations Between Decision Making And Hedonic Responses To Odor, Madison E. Degnan

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Olfaction, or the sense of smell, is facilitated by specialized sensory cells, called olfactory sensory neurons, which are directly connected directly to the brain.

The limbic system is a set of brain structures located on both sides of the thalamus.

The limbic circuitry supports a variety of functions, including emotion, behavior, motivation, long-term memory, and olfaction.

The olfaction bulb is connected to the amygdala and the hippocampus.

The anterior limbic and related structures including the orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala are involved in emotion, reward valuation, and reward-related decision-making (but not memory), with the value representations transmitted to the anterior cingulate …

Liar Liar: Gender Differences In Deception Detection, Jake Avendano, Kelly Boris, Faith Plummer

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

The present study explores the relationship between social awareness, type of questioning, gender effects, and deception detection. Following are important definitions of concepts and tools used in this research:

• We can bias someone's perception of another person by the way a question is worded (Questionnaire design; Ulatwski, 2013).
• Direct Question: An explicit measure of deception detection. Direct questions focus on personality characteristics associated with deception (DePaulo, 2018).
• Indirect Question: Lie detection does not access implicit knowledge but focuses the perceiver on more useful cues. Indirect questions focus on biases, and verbal and body language (Street & Richardson, 2015).
• Deception Detection …

Stress Reduction After Visiting Cats In A Cat Café, Nicole L. Beasley

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Research has attempted to induce stress and has been unsuccessful at demonstrating the efficacy of stress reduction. This may indicate that animal interaction is more beneficial when reducing longer-term stress rather than short-term stress, like what has been studied in the past. Additionally, animals may be more effective at reducing life stress as opposed to artificially produced stress.

Past research has limited the time participants may spend interacting with the study animals. The current study will allow participants to spend as much time as necessary with the café cats.

The present study will record a physiological marker of stress and …

A Comparative Assessment Of Climate Change Related Knowledge And Perception Of Coastal And Tribal Community, Kirti K Kalinga, Navaneeta Rath

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Climate change is a global problem with local ramifications. It supposed to impact all nations and states across borders. But the way it is perceived by different stakeholders varies. Perception towards climate change matters because it will shape the way knowledge is framed and risk is calculated. It is also important to examine the knowledge of those people who are affected the most due to climate change. The present paper tries to understand the perception of farmers on climate change. As agriculture is one of the most climate sensitive sectors, it becomes pertinent here to explore are the farmers aware …

Social And Media Influences On Vaping, Emily D'Arcy

Social Work Student Scholarship

Major: Social Work

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Katie Kranz, Social Work

Vaping in the United States is becoming an epidemic especially among young adults and adolescents. As the attention and perception of vaping increases, very little is known about treatment plans and recovery strategies. Based on the current literature and qualitative research from a social work research class, most information on vaping is received through peer to peer communication or social media platforms. Both peer and social media influence have impacted and influenced vaping behaviors, especially the use of a Juul. Vaping is prevalent because of how quickly it’s gained popularity …

Representations Of Alcoholism In Pop Culture: The Mom Project, Alexandra Rose

Social Work Student Scholarship

Major: Social Work

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Katherine Kranz, Social Work

The Mom television series is the perfect medium to call attention to the idea of women in addiction recovery in pop culture today. As it simultaneously calls upon known stereotypes and misconceptions about addiction, it also subconsciously educates the viewer on facts about what addiction recovery may really look like. To a viewer with no knowledge of addiction and recovery, it hints at what recovery life may look like while using humor. Humor in itself can serve to be a beneficial coping mechanism, as it is the physical release of …