Digital Commons Network^™

Women’S Perceptions Of Leadership Effectiveness During Perimenopause And Menopause, Shannon Clarkson Rains

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Perimenopause and menopause occur during the middle and later years of women’s professional lives, yet little research has examined how women in Christian leadership perceive their effectiveness during this transition. This mixed-methods study explored the experiences of 52 women serving in churches, Christian higher education, and nonprofits within the Churches of Christ. Participants completed an anonymous online survey addressing menopausal stage, symptoms, workplace experiences, and perceived leadership effectiveness, with optional open-ended questions inviting personal reflection.

Participants reported an average of thirteen symptoms. Although 60% perceived no change in their leadership effectiveness, 35% believed they had become less effective. Emotional symptoms …

Organizational Health Inventory: A Comprehensive Exam For Assessing Extension's Organizational Health, Tearney R Woodruff, Meggan Franks, Hannah G. Edwards, Lauren D. Hargrave, Brandi Berven, Cynthia Canfield

Journal of Extension

As Extension faces a retention crisis, it is crucial to focus on the health of our organizations. A collaborative working group, comprised of evaluation and staff development specialists across multiple states, identified the need for a free, accessible organizational health evaluation tool for Extension. Many higher education institutions cannot afford consultants to assess organizational well-being and effectiveness yet need the data the evaluation would provide. This article highlights a validated survey instrument, the Organizational Health Inventory–Extension (OHI-EXT), designed to help Extension organizations identify issues and implement targeted interventions that foster a stable and engaged workforce.

Designing With, Not For Youth: Reframing Participatory Techniques As Civic Learning Tools For Urban Greening And Natural Resources Programming, Mayra I Rodriguez Gonzalez, Dorelys Oyola Remigio, Kevin G Torres Garrido

Journal of Extension

Here, we present four participatory techniques—visioning, mapping, photovoice, and codesign—with practical recommendations for their effective implementation in fostering civic learning and engagement in urban greening among BIPOC and Hispanic youth. With examples of culturally responsive, hands-on activities and an AI-assisted synthesis of youth ideas, drawn from application with over 100 youth in Connecticut, we illustrate their use in informing local urban planning processes. We highlight the role of these techniques in positioning youth as active civic agents and collaborative designers in the creation of urban green spaces, with application for Extension professionals, educators, and planning officials.

Cross-Cultural Considerations In Psychological Assessment And Resilience: Advancing Equity In Global Mental Health, Shivani Mathur, Victoria Evans-Fulton

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Widely used psychological assessment instruments, including the Patient Health Questionnaire–9, Beck Depression Inventory, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder–7, were developed primarily within Euro-North American contexts. Although frequently used for their efficiency and psychometric strengths, their application across culturally diverse populations raises concerns regarding cross-cultural validity, fairness, clinical interpretation, and ethical use. Expressions of psychological distress, resilience, and adaptive functioning vary across cultural contexts and may involve somatic complaints, relational meanings, spiritual frameworks, culturally specific idioms of distress, and community-oriented coping that standardized measures may inadequately capture. Without sufficient cultural and contextual inquiry, clinicians risk misdiagnosis, failure to recognize distress, and deficit-oriented …

Examining The Organization Of Student Work And Wellbeing In Higher Music Education, Kyle Zavitz, Liliana Araújo, Christine Guptill

Journal of Institutional Ethnography

This article investigates how music students’ work is institutionally coordinated within a higher school of music in Canada and how this shapes student health and wellbeing. This study reveals a problematic in students’ everyday experiences as the work required to succeed extends beyond what is formally recognized and made visible through institutional structures. Using Institutional Ethnography as the method of inquiry, we begin from the standpoint of music students, exploring the local and extra-local relations that coordinate what and how they do their work. Through interviews with students, faculty, and administrators, we trace students’ negotiation of contradictory discourses of ‘care’ …

Student (Mis)Placement In Swedish Special Education Provision Through Intellectual Disability Labeling: The Educator Standpoint, Liz Adams Lyngback, Enni Paul, Christina Headman

Journal of Institutional Ethnography

This institutional ethnography exploration begins with the standpoint of educators and focuses on the work related to ways students in Sweden exit the separate compulsory school for students with intellectual disability (CSID) and re-enter the regular compulsory school form through a student referral unit (SRU). By exploring what appears to puzzle the education system at the local level, this study contributes to a growing body of research on addressing multilingualism as a disability. Drawing on multi-sited ethnographic data, the study moves beyond educators’ experience to a broader inquiry into the ruling relations that coordinate the creation of misplaced students. The …

Towards Equitable Protection: The Legal And Societal Invisibility Of Unmarried Relationships And Dating Violence In India, Annet Shaju, Aditi Padiyar

Journal of International Women's Studies

In India, unmarried romantic relationships, and especially cohabitation, are cultural taboos for which women unequivocally bear the brunt of societal stigma and moral scrutiny. Although India’s Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDV) explicitly includes women in unmarried relationships, deeply entrenched socio-cultural bias permeates institutional mechanisms, impeding support, legal assistance, and protection for unmarried women. The 2025 state mandate to register unmarried relationships involving cohabitation signals a shift towards increased moral policing and infringement of privacy and autonomy. Such repressive rules risk being counterproductive; there is a need for regulations that prioritize women’s empowerment and broader societal changes …

Women’S Employment And Intrahousehold Bargaining Power: Evidence From Nigeria, Temitope O. Olalude, Olanrewaju A. Olaniyan

Journal of International Women's Studies

Although women’s participation in paid employment has increased in recent years, the extent to which this improvement correlates with increased intrahousehold bargaining power (IHBP) remains understudied. Women’s intrahousehold bargaining power plays a critical role in achieving a more inclusive and sustainable economy. This study therefore investigates the relationship between women’s employment status and IHBP in Nigeria using data from the 2013 and 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Surveys (NDHS) to evaluate progress over time. We measured women’s employment status and assessed women’s intrahousehold bargaining power using two indices: the direct bargaining power index (DBPI) and the indirect bargaining power index …

The Nevada Innovation Economy And Federal Funding, Len Jessup, Sean Curry

Policy Briefs and Reports

This policy brief examines the nascent Nevada innovation economy and the funding capacity of the federal government. The analysis highlights how federal innovation programs have stimulated research, commercialization, and long-term economic development in Nevada. Using a multi-level framework encompassing technological, industrial, and spatial innovation, this policy brief documents how federal research funding, augmented by state programs and university infrastructure, has contributed to the formation of new research capabilities, seeded industry clusters and startups, and expanded workforce capacity. The findings suggest that federal resources have been productively deployed to date, generating significant scientific, economic, and social returns, but that more must …

Youth Experience Of Violence In Alaska, 2019 And 2023, Gabriel Garcia

AJiC Fact Sheets

This fact sheet examines youth experiences of dating violence and sexual violence in Alaska, identifying patterns and factors associated with victimization among high school students. Using weighted data from the 2019 and 2023 Alaska Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), it compares the prevalence of physical dating violence, sexual dating violence, sexual violence by anyone, and forced sexual intercourse.

Trauma-Informed Education For Teachers As A Form Of Disaster Preparedness And Mitigation Across Cultural Contexts, Emma A. Aellen

Master of Arts in Human Services

Natural disasters are ecological events that cause mass casualties and physical destruction. They are also psychological and cultural happenings which shape the lives of the affected people well beyond the immediate crisis. Emergency response systems have historically prioritized the needs for material relief, such as food, shelter, and infrastructure repair, but all while neglecting mental health support. This review draws on disaster psychology, education, and community resilience research, including cross-cultural, organizational, and institutional theory, intervention programs, and disaster mental health policy. Sources were analyzed thematically to build a multi-actor framework linking teachers, schools, and communities in post-disaster recovery. The review …

Influence Of Violent Media On Adolescents, Alli Shattuck

Best Integrated Writing

This review article explores the relationship between violent media exposure and adolescent behavior. The research examines how repeated exposure to violent video games, movies, and social media may lead to aggressive behaviors. Symbolic Interactionism and Social Learning Theory are used to dissect the way adolescents engage with violent media. The neurological effects of this exposure are discussed alongside environmental influences such as parental supervision and social groups. Overall, the research establishes the complexities of media influence and suggests that violent media is one contributing factor to adolescent aggression rather than the sole cause.

Best Integrated Writing Fall 2026 - Complete Edition, Wright State University School Of Humanities And Cultural Studies, Kristie Mckiernan

Best Integrated Writing

Best Integrated Writing includes excellent student writing from Integrated Writing courses taught at Wright State University.

The Whole Patient: What Fascia Reveals About Pain, Adaptation, And The Case For Treating Together, Kelly Davis Pt, Dpt, Faaompt, Mt

New Orleans Dental Association News

The final piece in this series looks at fascia and the autonomic nervous system — the connective tissue and nerve pathways linking the jaw, neck, and airway into one continuous system — and why both matter to dentistry. Dr. Davis draws on current fascia and pain science research, including work from the 2025 International Fascia Research Congress in New Orleans, to explain how a misaligned bite can travel through this tissue and surface as headaches, how tongue posture and breathwork affect jaw stability, and why complex, chronic cases so often need more than one discipline to make headway. Told partly …

Assessor Experiences In Cmmc Level 2 Certification Assessments: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of Role Expectations, Samuel Heuchert, John Hastings

Research & Publications

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program requires that third-party assessments be conducted under a non-consultative model. The model is intended to ensure impartiality for organizations seeking certification. While this structure defines expectations for assessor behavior, assessor experiences and interpretations of these constraints remain underexamined. The study examines the lived experiences of CMMC-Certified Assessors and how they navigate role expectations within the non-consultative model. Using Role Conflict Theory as a guiding framework, the study applied Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to semi-structured interviews to explore how assessors make sense of their roles. The analysis identified experiential themes that describe how assessors construct …

A Trauma-Informed And Collaborative Approach To Safe And Sustained Family Reunification, Alissa M. Cummins

Master of Arts in Human Services

Family reunification involves more than returning a child to the care of their biological family; it requires the sustained promotion of child safety, stability, and family well-being. This literature review examined how trauma-informed and collaborative approaches support safe, stable, and lasting reunification within the child welfare system. The review explored adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and developmental, psychological, family, and socioeconomic risk factors associated with child welfare involvement and permanency outcomes, as well as protective factors such as supportive relationships, caregiver well-being, resilience, and access to services and resources. Analysis of the literature identified three interconnected principles essential to successful reunification: …

Precarity And The Social Organization Of Affect In Public Libraries, Naomi E. Nichols Dr., Phil Canuel, Maggie Pearson, Kathrine Williams

Journal of Institutional Ethnography

Material and felt precarity are increasing in Ontario cities, impacted by housing and food unaffordability, an unpredictable drug supply, rising homelessness, and unmet social and health needs. The social relations of precarity play out in public spaces like libraries, changing how people’s work in, and experiences of, public space are organized. In this institutional ethnography (IE), we draw on 38 interviews with library staff and visitors to describe how shifts in the activities undertaken by library visitors (i.e., an increase in survival-related work) is co-ordered with, and re-shaping the work of library staff. Beginning with the standpoint of library staff, …

Framing Ground-Up Urban Transformation: The Need For Neighbourhood-Scale Statutory Planning Frameworks, Anjali Karol Mohan, Justin Andrews Jeganathan

Journal of Law and Public Policy

Urbanisation in the cities of the Global South is steered through high-level urban development plans and sector-specific policies, often premised on macro-scale processes and economic restructuring. Given the centralized and standardized approach, these plans and policies remain disconnected from the city-making processes that unfold incrementally at the sub-city or the neighbourhood scale through the everyday decisions of multiple stakeholders. The neighbourhood scale is significant as it allows for negotiation and participation, thus providing opportunities to exercise social, spatial, and economic agency. Yet this scale is often overlooked—at times completely missed—in macro plans and policies. Important questions thus remain on how …

Paradoxes Of Customary Land Formalization: A Comparative Study Of Papua New Guinea And Indonesia From A Political Anthropology Perspective, Adi Prasetijo

Antropologi Indonesia

This article studies the dynamics of customary land ownership in Papua New Guinea (PNG), where approximately 97 percent of land is collectively held by clans. Drawing on insights from political anthropology—particularly normative pluralism (Griffiths, 1986; von Benda-Beckmann, 2006), Polanyi's double movement (Filer, 2014), along with cosmological perspectives on land and identity (Weiner & Glaskin, 2007; Ingold, 2021), it analyzes how government efforts to formalize customary land through the Land Act 1996 and the Incorporated Land Groups (ILG) Act 2009 generate three principal paradoxes: (1) protection versus exclusion, (2) recognition versus commodification, and (3) negotiation versus rigidity. The study blends an …

Individual And Community-Level Trauma And Resiliency From Tornadoes, Taylor M. Guerin

Master of Arts in Human Services

This research paper’s goal was to examine the extent and impact of tornado-related PTSD on individual and community levels in relation to factors such as property damage, mass displacement, cumulative trauma, and seasonal retraumatization. The United States has the most tornado touchdowns globally, placing communities in supercell-prone areas, including Tornado Alley, at higher risk of repeated storm trauma that can affect emotional well-being, sense of safety, and overall financial security (Strader et al., 2024). This researcher utilized a comprehensive literature review approach to examine rates of PTSD, the long-term effects of tornado recovery, the risk of community-level trauma, and to …

Epic Heroism For The Ordinary: Tolkien’S Reworking Of Odyssean Heroism In The Hobbit, Jon Billsberry

Journal of Tolkien Research

This article explores The Hobbit as a narrative of two Odyssean homecomings: Thorin’s return to Erebor and Bilbo’s return to Bag End. Thorin undertakes the more direct nostos: as a displaced royal heir, he returns to recover his ancestral household, inheritance, authority, and public identity. Bilbo, by contrast, leaves a secure home and gradually acquires the cunning, adaptability, judgement, and independence that make Thorin’s return possible. Tolkien thus separates heroic position from heroic conduct. This separation produces conflict at Erebor, where Thorin’s defence of royal possession threatens violence and Bilbo uses the Arkenstone to challenge the king he helped …

Enhancing Inclusion For Youth With Disabilities, Allison Marquina, Jared Hawkins, Anna Gilliam

All Current Publications

This fact sheet aims to empower adults who work with youth with tips for promoting inclusion for youth with disabilities.

“It Feels Like Your Life Hinges On Me”: Lived Experience Of Being Next Of Kin To Someone Who Self-Harms, Kenneth Haugjord, John-Kåre Vederhus, Tore Dag Bøe, Kristine Dahl

The Qualitative Report

Through previous research, attention has been drawn to the burden experienced by next of kin to someone struggling with self-harm, yet less attention has been given to how they experience and make sense of the relational and existential complexity of this role in their everyday lives. We asked how next of kin experienced and made sense of caring for a loved one who self-harmed. We conducted in-depth interviews with fourteen next of kin, including parents, partners, and siblings, and analyzed the data through reflexive thematic analysis within an interpretive qualitative framework. Our analysis generated an overarching theme, "It Feels Like …

Review Of The Book Blinders: Annals Of Vandalism At The British Library: A Necrology, By John Clute, Janet Brennan Croft

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Review of The Book Blinders: Annals of Vandalism at the British Library: A Necrology, by John Clute. The book discusses the British Library's policy of discarding dust-jackets, with examples of the sort of information lost when these important paratexts are destroyed.

Asking Questions Of The Data: Operationalizing The Disruptive Aims Of Poststructural Discourse Analysis, Maxxine Rattner

The Qualitative Report

I wrote this paper to support qualitative researchers in accessibly engaging with poststructural discourse analysis. In it, I detail how I flexibly adapted this methodology to meet my study’s aims. I begin by outlining poststructural understandings of discourse and explaining why a researcher may choose a poststructural discourse analysis for a study’s theoretical and methodological framework. While published poststructural discourse analyses commonly draw upon Foucauldian concepts to guide analysis, in this paper I share a more expansive approach. I demonstrate how developing and asking questions of the data can be one way to analyze diverse texts for the presence of …

Emotional Rescue: Junior Women Academic’ Experiences On Emotional Labor And Academic Identity Work, M. Ikhwan Maulana Haeruddin, Sigal G. Barsade, Annisa Ciptagustia

The Qualitative Report

This study explores the emotional challenges and identity work processes experienced by junior women academics as they navigate the complexities of academia. Through semi-structured qualitative interviews, the research highlights how gender-based power imbalances, workplace culture, and pressure to meet high expectations shape their daily experiences. The rationale for this study is built on the growing body of research that has documented the unique challenges and barriers faced by women faculty, particularly at the early stages of their academic careers. Studies have consistently highlighted the emotional toll of managing professional identities, negotiating gendered expectations, and contending with systemic biases and exclusion …

Constructing An Inferior Identity: Special Educational Needs Students Under Inclusive Education In Hong Kong, Jesse W. C. Yip, Anna H. N. Ng

The Qualitative Report

Inclusive education has been in place for approximately three decades in Hong Kong, and previous research has predominantly focused on examining its effectiveness from the perspectives of teachers, policy makers, and healthcare professionals. However, there has been limited investigation into the personal experiences of students with special educational needs (SEN) who are integrated into mainstream schools. This study employing narrative inquiry explores the identity formation of eight SEN students throughout their 20-year learning journey within Hong Kong’s inclusive education system. The results revealed that the participants developed an identity of inferiority, which encompassed three key themes: experiencing school bullying, feeling …

Calm, Connection, Or Just Compensation: A Qualitative Investigation Of Subjective Adolescent Experiences With Behavioral Health Interventions Within A Clinical Trial, Talia Thompson, Katherine Thompson, Sarah Perzow, Holly Spinner, Bentley Porterfield-Finn, Lauren D. Gulley, Rachel G. Lucas-Thompson, Isabel Thorstad, Laura Pyle, Molly Basch, Megan J. Moran, Marian Tanofsky-Kraff, Megan M. Kelsey, Eleanor R. Mackey, Lauren B. Shomaker

The Qualitative Report

Adolescent mental health and cardiometabolic concerns are at an all-time high, necessitating the development of acceptable, feasible, and effective interventions. Investigations of behavioral health interventions with teenagers must incorporate a means of understanding how adolescents perceive and engage with an intervention, and the relevance and meaning they ascribe to its therapeutic goals, as these potentially modifiable factors may ultimately influence future uptake, sustainability, and effectiveness of the interventions. Qualitative research methods provide well-established, rigorous frameworks for addressing these questions, but are underutilized in pediatric research. This qualitative study is part of a multisite, pilot, and feasibility randomized controlled trial of …

Analyzing Accessibility And Efficacy Of One Research Survey Website To Test Readability Of Physical Activity Promotion Material Disseminated Online: A Mixed Methods Pilot Study, Jafra D. Thomas, Anuraj Dhillon, Yi Sheng Wu, Jasmine C. Wong, Regina F. Hockert

Topics in Exercise Science and Kinesiology

Volume 7: Issue 1, Article 2, 2026.  Accessibility is the effort and ability required to access and navigate environments and participate in activities. Physical activity educational materials disseminated to the public and used within behavior change interventions may be hard to read and navigate, decreasing their accessibility and a study’s validity. This study documented, and addressed, issues that may hinder researchers’ ability to gauge accessibility of their online educational materials using the cloze procedure (a direct readability measure, requires guessing missing words from text passages). A multi-stage, mixed methods pilot study was utilized (August 2022 to May 2023). Phase 1: …

Communication & Theater Association Of Minnesota Journal, Volume 49, Issue 2, 2026

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Volume 49, Issue 2 (2026) of the Communication & Theater Association of Minnesota Journal.