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Correctional Officer Suicide: A Theory-Driven Investigation Of Acquired Capability And Suicide Behavior, Abigail R. Andersen

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A growing body of research suggests that correctional officers (COs) die by suicide at a significantly higher rate compared to the general population and some other public safety personnel. Despite what is known about this phenomenon, an understanding of the risk factors driving the high rate of suicide among this population remains unclear. Specifically, little attention has been paid to specific risk factors for suicide among this population and there is an overall absence of theory-driven research investigating CO suicide. The present study sought to address the gap in this area of research by investigating potential risk factors for suicide …

Evaluating The Pulse Of Exercise Programs: Developing And Validating The Intervention Usability Scale For Exercise (Iuse) To Enhance Implementation And Adherence, Anne Inger Mørtvedt, Eva Ageberg, Steven Elmer, Kevin Trewartha, Erich Petushek

Michigan Tech Publications

Background: Adherence to exercise interventions is often suboptimal, despite numerous studies documenting barriers and facilitators. Usability may be a critical yet underexplored determinant of adherence. This study aimed to develop and assess the psychometric properties of the Intervention Usability Scale for Exercise (IUSE). Methods: Item generation and content validation involved cognitive interviews and feedback from eight exercise intervention stakeholders and ten target users from the general public. Subsequently, 526 target users from University, Qualtrics and Prolific participant panels assessed exercise programs through an online survey. Dimensionality was assessed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), and bifactor models. …

We All Read: Adapting An Early Literacy Program For Children With Developmental Differences And Their Families, Rachel Podl

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Children with developmental differences face elevated risk for early literacy delays, while their caregivers experience significant difficulty accessing appropriate and supportive resources. This paper describes an adaptation of WeRead, an existing story-time and psychoeducation program through the University of Denver's Baby S.T.E.P.S. Lab, for children ages 0–7 with developmental differences and their caregivers. The program integrated a neurodiversity-affirming read-aloud, a strengths-based art activity, movement and music, caregiver psychoeducation on visual schedules, and collaboration with four community partners. The event drew approximately 65 attendees. A post-program survey, though limited by few responses, indicated that caregivers valued the program's accessibility, community partnerships, …

Values, Flourishing, And Identity Integration: Understanding Alcohol And Other Drug Use Among African Australian Youth, Abraham Kenin, Justine Dandy, Kwadwo Adusei-Asante, Sonam Pelden

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Previous research suggests Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) use by sub-Saharan African (SSA) youth who emigrate to Western cultural contexts like Australia is an indication of their acculturation and is influenced by their values. Although values are distal predictors of AOD use, the extent to which SSA Australian youth apply their values in AOD use could be a function of their psychological flourishing and Bicultural Identity Integration (BII). The aim of this study was to test a predictive model that combines values, psychological flourishing and BII to explore how the interaction of personal values and adaptive resources are related to …

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 …

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.

Overcoming The Blank Page: In Class Ai Brainstorming For Public Speaking Topics, Jacquelyn K. Seymour

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

This activity introduces students to their speech assignment, allows for a discussion on the ethical uses of AI, and allows for class-wide use of AI to select speech topics (Slade et al., 2025). Ideally, every student will leave class with a topic for their speech to begin the process of research and writing rather than be stuck on selecting a topic.

Debating Without Format: A Portrait, A Propsal, A Possibility, Stephen M. Llano

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

This essay distinguishes "Debate" — competitive, tournament-driven, and governed by fixed procedural rules — from "debate," rhetoric's older practice of persuading an audience. Drawing on the dual etymology of "format" (to shape, and to arrange data for machine processing) and on Goodhart's law, the essay argues that competitive format has displaced audience assent as debate's real aim, training students to satisfy a judge's rules rather than move real listeners. As an alternative, it proposes a co-curricular model rooted in the university rather than the tournament circuit, treating rules as adaptable paradigms rather than algorithms to execute. Drawing on Perelman and …

From Burnout To Belonging: A Faculty Well-Being Director's Perspective On Leadership, Workplace Culture, Organizational Efficiency, And The Broader Role Of Physician Well-Being, Ajit K. Bisen

Advances in Cancer Education and Quality Improvement

Burnout remains a major challenge in health care, despite increasing investments in physician well-being initiatives. As the faculty well-being director for my department, my perspective on physician well-being has shifted from focusing primarily on individual resilience, mindfulness, and wellness initiatives to recognizing the important roles of leadership, workplace culture, and organizational efficiency. Physician well-being is an essential foundation for high-quality patient care, stronger teams, patient safety, quality improvement, and healthier organizations. Here, I discuss the 3 key shifts in thinking that have influenced my approach as faculty well-being director.

Feasibility And Pilot Study Of Implementing Mindfulness-Based Attention Training In A Pediatric Health Care Setting, Thomas B. Ayres, Seth Sonnevile, Angela Myers

Advances in Cancer Education and Quality Improvement

We present herein our preliminary evidence from a pilot study of the feasibility of implementing Mindfulness-Based Attention Training (MBAT) in a pediatric health care institution. MBAT has been implemented primarily in military settings, representing another high-stress work environment. Furthermore, MBAT has had favorable evaluations from being implemented with medical students. Mindfulness-based interventions have received increasing attention in health care environments. This interest from health care institutions and the focus on developing attention-based resources through MBAT created a use case for implementing MBAT. We had 5 health care workers with a variety of job roles in our institution complete a train-the-trainer …

Creating A Culture Of Well-Being By Removing Barriers To Participation In A Multi-Campus Cancer Center, Adam Siegman, Miranda M. Phillips, Jennifer Bickel

Advances in Cancer Education and Quality Improvement

Background: Healthcare professionals in geographically distributed cancer care settings may face barriers to accessing workforce well-being resources due to geographic distance, staffing constraints, and operational demands. Disconnect & Refresh was developed to improve access to restorative wellness opportunities across community-based cancer care sites.

Methods: Disconnect & Refresh was implemented at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center across 4 Houston area locations. The initiative included BeWell Paws, virtual reality meditation, chair yoga, and creative wellness activities delivered during the workday. Participation was voluntary and tracked through employee badge scans. Participants were invited to complete an anonymous post-event survey, and …

Leadforward: A Department-Based Leadership Development Program To Support Workforce Well-Being, Leisa A. Bryant, Denise Marshall, Loreal Williams, Miranda M. Phillips

Advances in Cancer Education and Quality Improvement

Introduction: Leadership development is increasingly recognized as an important strategy for supporting workforce engagement, professional growth, and succession planning in healthcare settings. To address leadership development needs within Food, Nutrition, and Patient Transportation (FNPT) departments, a structured leadership development program, LeadForward, was developed for emerging and midlevel leaders.

Project Description: LeadForward was implemented within the FNPT departments at a comprehensive cancer center. Ten participants completed the inaugural cohort. The curriculum was organized into 6 instructional modules designed to develop leadership competencies among emerging and midlevel leaders. Leadership outcomes were assessed using pre- and postprogram self-assessments across 14 leadership competency …

Actualizing Leaders To Inspire A Group Network (Align): Feasibility And Pilot Of Implementing A Commensality Group Program For Leaders In A Pediatric Healthcare Setting, Thomas B. Ayres, Kristin Ray, Angela Myers

Advances in Cancer Education and Quality Improvement

Background: Leadership behaviors in pediatric health care settings are strongly linked to leader burnout, professional fulfillment, and self-care in addition to influencing their teams. Despite their pivotal role, leaders often face substantial emotional burdens associated with their roles. Commensality groups, defined as small, recurring gatherings centered around shared meals and structured discussions, have emerged as a promising approach to enhancing connection, community, and resilience among health care professionals. A gap in the literature regarding commensality groups is understanding the mechanism of this well-being intervention. Our hypothesis is that commensality groups act as resource caravans and provide psychosocial resources to health …

Preserving Threatened Wisdom In Indigenous Houses As Living Archives: An Ethnographic Study Of Spatial, Gendered Knowledge, And Community-Based Preservation Strategies In The Philippines, Lalin Abbacan Tuguic

The Qualitative Report

This qualitative study explores how Indigenous houses function as living archives of identity, ecological wisdom, and gendered knowledge in Kalinga communities in the Cordillera region of the Philippines. Using an ethnographic design grounded in prolonged engagement and reflexive practice, the research documents how historical experience, social and cultural meanings, environmental adaptation, and community‑based preservation strategies are materially and symbolically embedded in Indigenous house construction and use. Data were generated through participant observation of everyday life and rituals in and around traditional square and octagonal houses; semi‑structured interviews with elders, women, builders, youth, and community leaders; focus group discussions in local …

Character-Value Internalization Through Tembe Nggoli Motifs And Weaving Practices In The Mbojo Weaving Community Of Wawo District, Indonesia, Imamatul Islamyah, Meisar Ashari, Irsan Kadir

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

Traditional weaving constitutes an important part of Indonesia's cultural heritage, yet its role in character-value learning remains underexplored. This study examines how character values are interpreted, experienced, and reinforced through Tembe Nggoli motifs and weaving practices within the Mbojo weaving community of Wawo District, Indonesia. Using a qualitative mini-ethnographic design, data were collected from four participants through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and documentation and analyzed using Braun and Clarke's six-phase thematic analysis. The findings indicate that character-related values are encountered through three interrelated dimensions: visual symbolism, embodied weaving practices, and community participation. Within the observed setting, participants associated these dimensions …

Factors Contributing To Executive Function In Young Adults, Lindy Janae Stevenson

McNair Scholars Research

Executive functions (EF) are skills used to complete desired behaviors and inhibit undesired ones. These skills are necessary for everyday life, and even more so in higher education and the workplace. This study examined the combined impact of sleep and exercise on five facets of EF in young adults enrolled in undergraduate or graduate courses. It also examined how perceived effort and performance in college classes interact with EF. The first five hypotheses studying sleep and exercise were analyzed using a 2x2 between-groups ANOVA. The data divided participants into those averaging fewer than 7 hours of sleep a night and …

From “Build The Wall” To “Mass Deportations” In Contemporary U.S. Political Discourse, Anthony Salazar Vazquez

CUNY Mexican Studies Institute

No abstract provided.

Mapping The Association Of College And Research Libraries Framework To Baylor’S Four Cs Of General Education, Ellen Hampton Filgo

The Christian Librarian

As institutions increasingly seek to articulate the value of information literacy within broader educational missions, academic libraries are challenged to align instructional practice with institutional learning goals. This article explores that alignment by placing the Association of College and Research Libraries Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education in conversation with Baylor University’s general education outcomes, known as the Four Cs. Through an interpretive mapping of the Framework’s threshold concepts to the Four Cs, the study reveals how information literacy supports multiple dimensions of undergraduate learning, including communication, critical thinking, civic engagement, and Christian perspective. The analysis demonstrates that Baylor’s …

Freedom Is Taught Here: Freedom Schools And The Radical Tradition Of Intergenerational Community Learning In Black Education, Trayc D. Freeman, Wintre F. Johnson, Tiffany D. Meadows, Christine Onyinyechi-Uju Emuka, Naila A. Smith

Occasional Paper Series

The Black American community has always understood the power of literacy and education, and the importance of Black self-sufficiency to attain these. The establishment of Freedom Schools during the 1964 Freedom Summer in Mississippi is an actualization of that understanding. Since 1995, the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) has carried on the work and legacy, with Freedom Schools still taking place all over the United States. For two summers, we, researchers from the University of Virginia, have had the opportunity to partner with a CDF Freedom School as part of a mixed-method research study. This essay serves as a reflection and …

College Students’ And Teachers’ Biases Regarding School Children Based On Appearance, Sex, And Clothing, Lauren K. Decoste, Terry F. Pettijohn Ii

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

This research explored how appearance, sex, and clothing differences influence adults’ perceptions of primary school students across two studies. Male students were predicted to be rated higher in academic ability, behavior, and likeability compared to female students, while formally dressed students were expected to receive more favorable ratings than informally dressed students. Study 1 included college students (N = 160), and Study 2 included employed teachers (N = 112). Participants rated formally and informally dressed male and female students on perceived behavioral, academic, and social skills, likeability, and engagement. Results showed that model sex influenced several perceptions, with male students …

Healing Trauma Through Art Therapy: From The Perspectives Of Human Trafficking Survivors And Licensed Art Therapists, Adalyn Ober, Alycha Boehm, Heather Evans

Sociology Between the Gaps: Forgotten and Neglected Topics

No abstract provided.

Explaining Divergent Healthcare Entitlements For Undocumented Migrants: A Comparative Analysis Of Spain And Denmark, Jimin Jeong

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

This paper examines the puzzling divergence in healthcare entitlements for undocumented migrants in Spain and Denmark. Despite being a wealthy social democratic welfare state, Denmark restricts undocumented migrants to emergency-only care. Spain, a Mediterranean welfare state with fewer resources and a larger undocumented population, extends universal access to healthcare. This paper evaluates six theoretical explanations from the social policy scholarship to explore why Spain has adopted more generous healthcare entitlements for undocumented migrants than Denmark. The findings suggest that three mechanisms play the most significant role in explaining these differences: party configuration, elite framing, and the strength of interest group …

From Linguistic Domination To Counter-Power: The Weaponisation And Reappropriation Of Language In Shakespeare's Drama, Md. Abu Bakkar

Journal of Language, Literature, and Arts

Studies of language and power in Shakespeare usually treat colonial, psychological, political, and familial domination as separate problems belonging to separate plays. This article asks what happens when the target of linguistic domination takes up, repeats, or withholds the discourse through which domination is exercised. It proposes linguistic counter-power as a comparative analytical concept: a change in who can define, command, or be believed within the dramatic world that outlasts and exceeds the speaker’s own act of resistance. The concept is distinguished from discursive resistance, linguistic agency, counter-discourse, and resignification, and is operationalised through three tests: uptake, durability, and structural …

Michigan Academician Volume 50, Issue 2

Michigan Academician

2026 Abstract Issue

“I’M A Biracial Person Who Looks White In A Black Man’S Rap Game”: Exploring Expressions Of Multiracialized Masculine Vulnerability In Logic’S “Everybody”, Matthew Oware

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

The field of Black vulnerability studies includes analyses of Black men rap artists’ sexual debut, romantic relationships, mental stress, self-medication, and suicidal thoughts. I expand this analysis to Black-white mixed-race men who express emotional vulnerability regarding their racial identities. Using a case study of the song “Everybody” by Logic—a Black and white, mixed-race man—I find that Logic expresses joy and pride in his Black and biracial identity. Similarly, I observe that he expresses anger and frustration toward those who question, dismiss, or degrade his Black and biracial identities, a pattern paralleled in research on multiracial individuals. By analyzing his radio …

Leading The Way: Dsws In Organizational And Social Work Leadership, Lisa A. Street, Rebecca S. Beeler

Journal for Social Work Scholar-Practitioners

Social workers are often overlooked for positions in organizational leadership. Although social workers dominate the workforce in many human services organizations, leadership positions are commonly held by those with general management or other degrees. The lack of educational preparation and formal training in leadership and a lack of leadership presence in the field have been deemed a social work leadership crisis. Yet, social workers possess unique skillsets that can translate well into strong organizational leadership—if properly cultivated, promoted, and pursued. With the resurgence of the Doctor of Social Work (DSW) degree, now is a prime opportunity for more social workers …

Lost On The Moon: A Classroom Activity For Bringing Group Processes To Life, Christin L. Munsch, Allison Lena, Kay Sassan

Feminist Pedagogy

This teaching activity reviews key concepts in group processes and introduces students to Expectation States Theory (EST) and Status Characteristics Theory (SCT), two micro-sociological frameworks that explain how inequality of opportunity emerges in task-oriented small groups with consequences for unequal outcomes. The activity is built around a team-building exercise “Lost on the Moon” in which participants rank 15 survival items individually and then in small groups. We adapt this exercise by taking field notes on group interactions and drawing on these notes to facilitate a discussion in which students critically reflect on their interactions with one another. We close the …

"Two Different Histories": Lgbtq Educator Identity In An Era Of Policy Precarity In Further Education, Liberty Heath-Tavener

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

In Zadie Smith’s debut novel White Teeth (2000) she writes: ‘every moment happens twice: inside and outside, and they are two different histories.’ (p. 532) Although this notion related to the struggles of global majority people in Britain after decolonisation, I liken it to the concept of identity for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer (LGBTQ) educators within further education, where their internal thoughts, feelings and reality are often in conflict with external norms, ideals and policies, all of which are geared towards heteronormativity and cisnormativity. Lakoff and Johnson (1980) argue that metaphors transcend rhetorical devices and are an essential …

The Quest For An Independent Scotland: The Impact Of Culture, Economics, And International Relations Theory On Votes Of Self-Determination, Sam Rohrer, James Gilley, Nathan Price

The Journal of Economics and Politics

In the contemporary world, the true locus of sovereignty is up for debate. The drive for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom, within the larger context of the European Union illustrates trends within this relocation of sovereignty. Traditional research focused primarily on the cultural and identity issues at play, as well as economic issues. This work broadens the scope by placing the independence struggle within a complex international context. The shift from a purely realist state system interpretation to that of a refereed Pacific Union illustrates when nationalist and separatist movements can find conditions that allow for a viable secessionist …