Digital Commons Network^™

Developing Politics While Detained: How Juvenile Incarceration Impacts Political Participation And Behavior, Jonathan Wilkins

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Carceral contact and childhood socialization matters, but we know little about how early encounters with carcerality mold political socialization. In this study, I examine a) if juvenile detention is a socializing agent, and b) how juvenile incarceration can shape political engagement and participation. I find that those incarcerated in their youth were less likely to be politically engaged but more likely to have negative feelings towards the criminal justice system compared to those first incarcerated as adults. Through semi-structured interviews of 8 people first incarcerated in their youth and 7 people first incarcerated in adulthood from Virginia, this paper analyzes …

Professionals, Not Laborers: Historical Contingencies Impacting Faculty Prestige And Unionization, Camden M. Webb

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Some higher education faculty believe that unionization is beneath their status, despite lacking ownership of the means of production. While higher education experienced increasing importance in the United States during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, faculty unionization saw periods of both growth and decline. From a macro-level framework in social structures of accumulation (SSA) theory, with additions from Marx, the Ehrenreichs, Bourdieu, and Simmel, my research develops a theory to explain the impact of changing social structures on status reproduction and faculty unionization. SSA theory explores the historical contingencies that impact relationships between institutions and capital accumulation. Marx’s class relationships, …

Løvetann/Tvntēli'on/Beàrnan-Brìde/Paardebloem: Decolonization Through Heritage, Brooke Howton

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Through their lifelong passion for genealogy, Brooke “Uisce'' Howton researches a way to dismantle White supremacy and colonization through analyzing and reconnecting to their heritage. This involves learning about the nature of White supremacy, which is ever present in American society, and gaining a better understanding of what the history of racial formations in the United States looked like. Through this new lens, she revisits old traditions that she had been able to experience, mostly through her maternal family; all while learning new traditions that she has been unable to experience due to the adoption of her paternal grandmother, mystery …

“Early Covid” Changes In Parenting, Education, And Work On Parental Stress: A Gendered Comparison Of Canadian Parents, Holly Harris

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In May 2020, data were collected through survey as the COVID-19 pandemic was unfolding and still in its “early” months. The sample N=1,208 is of Canadian parents in a residential romantic relationship, who live with a residential child under the age of eighteen years old, who have access to the internet, and speak English or French. I examine how disruptions to child’s education/daycare, work, and parental childcare activities predicted parental stress through regression models. Findings indicate that fathers and mothers stress since the onset of COVID-19 were the same and that gender was not a moderator to parental stress. A …

Resitance Art And Urban Space: A Strategic Comparison Of Artistic Urban Space Usage In Buenos Aires And San Francisco, Adeline Rose Schmitz

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the early Twentieth century the Mexican Muralism movement reached two important port cities: San Francisco and Buenos Aires. The artists in these cities quickly adopted the usage of public art as means to insert political dialogue into the everyday life of their citizens. Throughout the years the resistance art in these cities has evolved in parallel, shaped by their dynamic histories of social and political change. This paper critically compares the evolutions of resistance art in Buenos Aires and San Francisco over the past twenty years. It does so by analyzing the public art archives of local collectives in …

Vulnerability Of Juveniles To False Confessions, Amanda Ghibaudo

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In criminal proceedings, confessions have long been recognized as the gold standard of evidence. Understandably, many people question why someone would willingly confess to a crime that they did not commit. However, in the event of an interrogation, police often use psychologically coercive interrogation techniques that may make suspects, especially juveniles, more susceptible to false confessions. This paper intends to assess the vulnerability of juveniles to false confessions and the legal implications of such confessions. The reality is that false confessions ruin innocent lives. Synthesizing existing literature on relevant U.S. Supreme Court cases, juvenile interrogation procedures, and the dispositional vulnerabilities …

Fostering Inclusivity And Resilience: Challenges To Community-Based Empowerment For Trans Elders In Roanoke, Virginia, Summer Skye Allison

Undergraduate Honors Theses

As popular media disseminates harmful “culture war” rhetoric regarding trans folk it has become increasingly necessary to amplify their voices to give them power over how they are perceived by society. Though political discourse regarding trans children has become a hot-button topic, this paper seeks to explore the overlooked experiences of trans elders as they contend with intersecting instances of ageism and transphobia from individuals and institutions in Roanoke, Virginia. Since community-based organizations like the Roanoke Diversity Center and Ladies and Gents of the Blue Ridge have been instrumental to strengthening the LGBTQ+ community in Roanoke, this research focuses on …

Raj Karega Khalsa! - The Evolution Of The Sikh Identity, Vineet Mehmi

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Generally, religion has served as a method of creating a unique identity and history for many groups across history. This concept is especially true for the Sikh community, to the point that they have carved their own niche across the different places they inhabit in the world, whether that be their homeland of Panjab or their extensive population in places like Canada or the United Kingdom. However, this expansion and development of their culture did not come without a cost, formed through countless battles, martyrdom, and revolutions. Chardi Kala, a foundational idea in Sikhi that refers to eternal optimism even …

Press Freedom Under Threat In Europe: A Case Study Analysis Of The Increasing Threat To Press Freedom In Greece, Italy, And Hungary, Maya O'Leary-Cyr

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research critically examines the legal systems of European countries and their relationship to press freedom. This research focuses on the vexatious legal threats used by government officials and corporations to silence journalists. These legal threats are known as SLAPPs (strategic lawsuits against public participation) and their use has increased exponentially in the last decade. Considering the scope of the problem, this research analyzes the issue through the lens of European countries Greece, Italy, and Hungary. Being members of the European Union, each of these countries have an obligation to uphold the democratic standards put forth by the EU as …

Recommendations For Sustainable Tourism In Patagonia: An Exploratory Analysis Of Sustainable Tourism In Costa Rica, The Nordic Region, And Thailand’S Communities, Julia K. Lowery

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis explores different levels of governance and its role towards actualizing sustainable tourism in Patagonia. With the growing threat of climate change, international destinations such as Patagonia are looking to continue building their tourism industries in a sustainable way. Through analyzing case studies of national governance in Costa Rica, multi-national governance in the Nordic region, and community-based tourism in Thailand, we can better understand how each form of governance has the potential to create a sustainable tourism industry. With this understanding of successful governance in my case studies, as well as understanding the historical and political forces that have …

The Future Of Universal Basic Income: The Impact Of Organizational Strategies On Alleviating Poverty And Maximizing Outcomes, Anna Mathews

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Universal basic income is gaining traction, with pilot programs being conducted all over the world. These programs are all organized differently, from their sources of funding to their eligibility criteria. This research draws correlations between organizational strategies of UBI programs and the outcomes their recipients experience. Specifically, it analyzes three contemporary UBI programs within the United States: the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED), Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (APFD), and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians per capita payments (EBCI). The research assesses the physical health, mental health, and economic outcomes of the participants in each case study, in order to …

Women Of The Scriptures In The Relief Society Magazine: An Analysis Of The Role Of Language In Maintaining Gender Norms, Kayla Bach

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper explores the language used to discuss women from the scriptures in the Relief Society Magazine, an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1914 to 1970. More specifically, this paper analyzes the usage of language in relation to the establishment and maintenance of gender norms, particularly those relating to women. This analysis reveals that the following core themes are frequently present throughout discussions of scriptural women in the magazine: the nature of womanhood, motherhood, wifehood, women’s roles in religion, the interaction between patriarchy and equality, and gender-neutral spiritual traits. By exploring these …

Becoming A More Empathetic Leader And Person, Rachel Shellstrom

Undergraduate Honors Theses

When defining empathy, the most common definition is “stepping into someone else’s shoes.” Along with this definition, many also share that it is important to have empathy and be an empathetic person. Yet, when thinking about its importance and this definition, a few questions arise: can we actually step into someone else’s shoes? Can we truly understand what someone else is feeling and experiencing if we are not them or do not hold the same identities that they do? Through a deeper exploration of existing empathy building certificate programs and empathy research, this thesis project explores these exact questions and …

The Role Of Homeownership In Taiwan's Low Fertility Story, William Anderson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

With one of the lowest fertility rates on record, Taiwan is at the forefront of the global lowest-low fertility phenomenon. Policymakers in Taiwan and researchers around the world have a considerable interest in the reasons driving Taiwan’s depressed fertility and possible ways to alleviate the associated economic concerns. Properties of the housing market represent one suggested factor that may be contributing to this trend. Using individual panel data from Taiwan’s Panel Study of Family Dynamics, I test the correlation between homeownership and fertility outcomes. I find that other variables, such as marriage, age, generation, and socioeconomic status, can explain much …

The Tale Of Two Counties: A Case Study Analysis Of Sociological And Systemic Health Barriers In Powhatan And Galax County, Virginia, Rebecca Rogers

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The year of 2020 will famously be known by most as the year “the world stopped working.” Unfortunately, the world had not been functioning sufficiently prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizing 2019 as a pre-pandemic baseline, the not so evident discrepancies in healthcare systems were illuminated during the pandemic, not only between countries but also between states, cities, and even counties. My research, being inductive, aims to dissect the pathways that allow health inequities to exist alongside providing realistic solutions that could be implemented through health policy. To accomplish my research goal, I conducted a case study that compares the …

Bias In Artificial Intelligence: The Morality And Motivation Behind The Algorithm, Avery Freeman

Undergraduate Honors Theses

More than 180 cognitive biases have been identified in humans, and these biases relate to feelings towards a person or a group based on perceived group membership (Dilmegani, 2020). The development of artificial intelligence has fallen into the hands of engineers and statisticians, people who work within fields that have well-established race and gender diversity disparities (Panch et al., 2019). Thus, it is no surprise that the aforementioned biases have made their way into the algorithms behind artificial intelligence. The current study explored how participants’ pre-existing biases and level of outgroup contact have the potential to affect their decision-making pertaining …

Psychological Sense Of Community In Gateway Communities, Jaimi Mueller

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper will expand on community research by analyzing the changes in psychological sense of community in gateway communities. We will look at the rural communities that border the Bears Ears National Monument as a case study, in order to evaluate the impact that land management changes have on gateway communities. Survey data from three rural communities that surround Bears Ears National Monument are used to test the effects a proposed land management change has on community needs fulfillment, community emotional connection, community influence and community membership. This research aims to fill the gap and specify how one local community …

Indicators Of Deception: Science Or Non-Science, Kristina Vasquez

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Deception detection is used by many law enforcement professionals who work in interviews and interrogations. The ability to detect deception or having knowledge on the signs of deception is very important in not only law enforcement, but in other careers and everyday life. The question remains: is deception detection a science or not a science? There are three areas where someone can learn how to detect deception and those are verbal communication, non-verbal communication, and paralanguage. The use of verbal communication looks at what the person is saying with their words. The use of non-verbal communication looks at what someone …

Postcolonial Indian Ruling Texts: The Ramayana, Shuchi Sanyal

Undergraduate Honors Theses

I shall be writing about the Ramayana as a ruling text and the post colonial interpretation of Hindu mythology perpetuating gender roles and encourages women to be submissive. The imposition of Western ideals alters the perception of cultural expectations of women and that to behave misogynistically is to be true to traditional Indian values. The Ramayana is a fable recorded in religious text, The Bhagavad Gita, and is taught to children to convey the Hindu objective of human pursuit composed of duties, prosperity, desire, spiritual liberation. The original text consists of nearly twenty four thousand verses in the Shloka meter, …

Smoke Filled Back Hollars: The Impact Of Traditional Barbecue On Modern Political Campaigns Within Western Virginia, Monica Thomas Fury

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The first political barbecue took place in Virginia during the Colonial period. Since then, barbecue has remained an essential part of American civic life. Western Virginia, defined for the purposes of this thesis as the political borders of the sixth and ninth Congressional Districts in Virginia as drawn in 2021, is largely a rural area, considered by most political consultants to be heavily Republican and not winnable seats for Democratic candidates. The state Democratic Party of Virginia has rarely earmarked funds or support for candidates within those districts for the past two decades. Ironically, the Democratic party controlled this same …

Physical Spaces In The Digital Age: Legacies, Narratives, And Memory Of Plantation History, Em Miller

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In recent years, plantation tourism has become a prominent concern for many researchers, with studies being done on how plantations use these sites and the ways that they incorporate enslavement into their narratives as a historical site. The current research used a textual analysis approach to explore the themes and language that plantations use when discussing enslavement via the analysis of 16 plantations in nine states. There are three themes that are apparent in the plantations analyzed: the visibility of Enslaved history, the promotion or rejection of Lost Cause memory, and the use of plantations as event spaces. While many …

Inequalities In Heterosexual Sex And How We Can Become Equals, Sophie Bierly

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Sexual inequality is well researched in the academic sphere but is absent from the political realm. Previous research has identified that sex is defined for men’s pleasure, that women suffer from an orgasm gap, and that male domination is standard in heterosexual sex. Due to the private nature of sex, sexual inequality is untouched as a personal problem rather than deconstructed as a political injustice. However, the universality of sexual inequality in heterosexual relationships demonstrates that these overlooked personal problems are rooted in widespread cultural misogyny. Sex is one of the primary ways in which we perform gendered socialization, due …

Examining The Effects Of Juvenile Diversion In San Diego, California, Nicole Kanaras

Undergraduate Honors Theses

EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF JUVENILE DIVERSION IN SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA

Juvenile diversion is the practice of minimizing a youth’s contact with the formal juvenile justice system by redirecting him or her to community programs and other resources. Diversion programs are becoming more widespread across the country, and San Diego, California has been a pivotal starting point for diversion initiatives. The purpose of this study is to analyze the way juvenile diversion is operating in terms of services, referrals, program completion, recidivism, and effects on youth through a qualitative semi-structured in-depth interview approach. The research question that guided this study was …

Sexual Beliefs In Couple Relationships: Exploring The Pathways Of Mindfulness, Communication, And Sexual Functioning On Sexual Passion And Satisfaction, Sierra Moore

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this study I examined the understudied area of sexual beliefs. Two central types of sexual beliefs, growth and destiny, have been found in past research to be differentially associated with sexual and relationship outcomes; however, past research has not explored these beliefs with dyadic data nor considered common intervening variables that might be pathways through which beliefs influence outcomes. Consequently, I used dyadic data to analyze how couples’ specific sexual beliefs (growth and destiny) influenced their sexual mindfulness, communication, and functioning within their couple relationships and how all of these variables influenced sexual satisfaction and sexual passion in a …

Laurence Sterne: A Different Way Of Approaching The Notion Of Life In The Early Novel, Robert Metaxatos

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis employs the later philosophy of Michel Foucault to think through the unique set of socio-cultural problems that emerged alongside the early novel. I endeavor to explain the development of “biopower” and the concomitant (yet historically grounded) concept of a mass population in order to round off a nettlesome tendency among historicist rise-of-the-novel critics to focus on the creation of a bourgeois individual at this time. To that end, the texts of Anglo-Irish author Laurence Sterne bear out a unique narratorial response to biopower that begins with the ‘body’ of his work: i.e., Shandeism. Signaling the importance of the …

Qualitative Methods For Study Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Among Gay Men Who Have Sex With Men Of Color In The Us: A Review Of The Literature, Gerald Lemmon

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective HIV-prevention method that includes HIV-negative individuals taking a daily anti-retroviral medication and regularly visiting a provider. Since 2012, when Truvada was approved, uptake has been increasing but is still low, and disparities exist among gay and other men who have sex with men (GMSM) of color. This review identifies the qualitative methods used in PrEP studies and compares approaches used in studies with samples of white GMSM and GMSM of color to those only sampling GMSM of color. To locate peer-reviewed studies of the social dimensions of PrEP, published between 2010 and 2020, I …

Child Development During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Desirae Thosath

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper examines child care programs and research in the midst of the pandemic to best facilitate healthy child development and mitigate long-term effects both during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Robert The Bruce Fights For Scottish Independence Once Again: The Influence Of Nationalism And Myth In Scotland's Modern Pursuit Of Independence, Claire Hintz

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Robert the Bruce, King of Scots from 1306-1329, led the Scottish to victory in the Wars of Independence against England. Today, the fight for Scottish Independence is alive and being led by the Scottish National Party (SNP) as they push for a second independence referendum. The first, in 2014, failed with 45% of Scots voting YES and 55% voting NO. Since Brexit, however, support for Scottish independence has consistently risen; polls in 2020 showed sustained majority support for Scottish independence for the first time in recent Scottish history. Nationalism, or the constructed ideology that is politically used to uphold a …

Assimilating The Dominican Tourist: What Maps Tell Tourists In Puerto Plata About The Processes Of Capitalism And Imperialism, Amy Duncan

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The tourism industry in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic is dominated by foreign enterprise. Given the history of colonization in the Dominican Republic, the social dynamics in the tourism industry are imperialist by nature. This thesis seeks to understand how tourist maps are used to assimilate tourists into the social dynamics of Puerto Plata. To do this, it unravels existing literature on tourism in the Caribbean, the nature of the tourism industry in the Dominican Republic as well as its foreign benefactors, and foundational works on the sociological aspects of tourism.

The findings of this paper are that tourist maps seek …

Crisis Within A Crisis: A Comparative Analysis Of Covid-19’S Implications On Greece And Spain’S Migrant And Refugee Processing Policies, Injy Elhabrouk

Undergraduate Honors Theses

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic came a collective global panic regarding health, safety, and security. Since the major outbreak of the coronavirus in March of 2020, few issues have received scrutiny and attention in the public sphere. Yet, the problems that existed before COVID-19 have not become obsolete, however, they were removed from the public eye. One such issue to receive less scrutiny is the treatment of the most vulnerable populations in the world—migrants and refugees. Spain and Greece’s locations on the Mediterranean Sea mean they are often the first place migrants seek refuge in their journey to …