Digital Commons Network^™

Justifying Force: Police Procedurals And The Normalization Of Violence, Emily Brenner

Faculty Curated Undergraduate Works

Much like the CSI effect in forensic crime dramas, portrayals of law enforcement in crime media can potentially skew a viewer’s perception of what the profession actually entails. Many studies address the depiction of law enforcement in the media, but few solely examine the use of force by television police officers, and the impact this may have on frequent viewers. In an era of calls for accountability over growing attention towards police brutality and misconduct, the media as an influencer has the potential to play a role in how real-world instances of brutality are perceived, and more importantly, how it …

Racial Threat, Economic Resources, And Politics: How Local Structural Conditions Influence The Adoption Of Restrictionist Immigration Policy, Mario Marset Ehrle

Honors Theses

ICE has used their 287(g) program to target immigration enforcement at the county level. This program authorizes local police officers to carry out federal immigration work to meet arrest and deportation quotas. This has eroded civil rights and led to the criminalization of minorities, particularly Latinos. While previous research has examined the theories behind local anti-immigration work and the social factors affecting anti-immigrant policy adoption more generally, no large-scale quantitative analyses have been conducted as to why some counties adopted 287(g) while others chose not to do so. Addressing this gap in the literature, the following study uses a newly …

Attitudes Of Criminal Justice Students' Towards Women: Hegemonic Masculinity In The Workplace, Lauren Escovedo

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the following study is to examine positive, benevolent, and hostile attitudes towards women in the workplace held by criminal justice students enrolled at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. As well, to examine whether or not criminal justice students enrolled at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley believe that criminal justice personnel create a gender-neutral classroom environment. The application Qualtrics XM was used to comprise a 35 question survey that, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, was administered online to students for a two week period during the Fall 2020 semester. Criminal justice students …

Examining The Indoctrination Of Mexican American Criminal Justice Students, Noe Leal Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Mexican American Criminal Justice students (MACJS) sometimes select a career in Department of Homeland Security, which has a history of systemic racism and oppression. The purpose of this thesis is to examine MACJS conformity to U.S. ideological hegemony and examine the differences in their understanding of human rights/ethics. A questionnaire was administered to MACJS (n = 156) wishing to pursue a career in DHS. The survey instrument used is based on the concepts of Social Identification: Mexican versus U.S. American; Support for Nationalist Racist Policies, Internal Colonialism, Followership by engaging in policies/orders by the government; and Human Rights: Knowledge of …

Collaboration And Reflexivity In Wildland Fire Risk Governance In The Western United States, Brett Alan Miller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation presents both quantitative and qualitative analysis on different aspects of wildland fire risk management in the western United States. Each of these chapters is framed by and examines the sociological concept of reflexivity, which describes a process of individual and/or collective reflection. This reflexivity is needed to identify and enact alternative management strategies that contend with the expected increases in the number and severity of wildland fires in the future due to the combined effects of even-aged forest growth after years of timber extraction, a legacy of fire suppression, climate change, and increasing human development in the wildland-urban …

The Experience Of Friendship Between Individuals With And Without An Intellectual Disability., Rebecca Clark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Practitioners and researchers are concerned about the limited social inclusion and social networks of individuals with an Intellectual Disability (ID) (Amado, 2014; Bigby & Craig, 2017; Hall, 2010; Hardman & Clark, 2006; Knox & Hickson, 2001; McConkey & Collins, 2010; Tipton, 2011). Friendships between those with and without an ID are viewed as opportunities for greater inclusiveness with and connection to the mainstream society (Amado, 2014; Bigby & Craig, 2017; McConkey & Collins, 2010). However, little is known about the development of friendships between those with and without an ID. The purpose of this study was to fully explore the …

Gentrification And Income Segregation In Fayetteville, Arkansas, Willie Benson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gentrification and income segregation are both poorly understood phenomena in terms of their causes and effects as is the relationship between the two topics. Even less is known in the context of small cities and over the time period spanning the last few decades. In this study public data from the U.S. Census, the American Community Survey and the Washington County Assessor's office has been used to measure economic gentrification in Fayetteville, Arkansas using an index based on property values and median rent prices and how much they have changed between 2000 and 2015. Then, using U.S. Census and American …

Conceptualizing Social Capital As Access To Social Network And Mobilization Of Network Resources: A Study Of Workplace Literacy Programs And Low-Income Somali Refugee Workers, Angela Uchechukwu Nwude

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is a substantial body of literature on the economic benefits of workplace literacy programs, and much less empirical studies on the social or non-economic outcomes of workplace literacy programs, particularly in the context of low-income refugee workers. Adopting a social network approach, this study examines the impact of workplace literacy programs on the social capital development of Somali refugee workers. Social capital can be defined as the network of relationships possessed by an individual or social group that facilitates their access to emotional, instrumental, or informational resources, essential for their daily survival, stability, or upward mobility. This study takes …

Hidden Sacrifices: Narratives Of Select Filipina Overseas Workers In Southeast Asia, Axle Christien Tugano

Social Sciences and Development Review

In my essay “Chasing Waves: Reflection on Southeast Asian Fisherfolk (2021a),” I already featured the less documented experience of the socially marginalized. My essay focused on the personal narratives of Bruneian fishermen of Kampor Ayer, Brunei Darussalam (2016); the fishermen of Mui Ne, Vietnam (2017); and the Intha of Myanmar (2018), with whom I had the fortunate chance to converse with. However, my personal travel experience in the three countries only gave voice to “non-Filipino workers.” That is why in this current essay, I will highlight the unique experience of the Filipinos themselves – in the form of migrant workers …

Social Construction Of Suicide In The Philippines Based On The Perspectives Of Undergraduate Students From Two Universities In Metro Manila, Mark Anthony M. Quintos

Social Sciences and Development Review

A total of 308 undergraduate students from a sectarian, predominantly middle and upper-middle socio-economic class university (n=139) and a stateowned, non-sectarian, predominantly lower socio-economic class university (n=169) were engaged in a survey research that attempted to understand their perceptions on suicide as a phenomenon. Results indicate that the students from the two universities are very similar in their social constructions of the reality of suicide among the Filipino youth: they believe that suicide is primarily due to depression and other mental illnesses, that majority of young Filipinos have thought of suicide at least once, and that almost 1 out of …

Ecojustice Education Approach: Using Montes’ “Turtle Season” Short Story To Teach The Intersectionality Of Gender And Environment, Abegail R. Bayona, Sensei M. Adorador

Social Sciences and Development Review

This paper uses Ecojustice Education as advanced by Martusewicz, Edmundson, and Lupinacci (2015) as an approach to use literature as material to teach the intersectionality of gender and environment through a constructivist module form. Studies including Seager (1999) reveal the link between patriarchal methods and the destruction of nature, illustrating a space where gender politics exacerbates environmental degradation. This paper presents a model for maximizing literature as a reflection of significant human experiences. Here the researchers crafted a way to use literature to marry issues of gender and environment in a palatable form for classroom consumption. The researchers see the …

Teaching While Autistic: Constructions Of Disability, Performativity, And Identity, Alexa Baird

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

The structure of organizational contexts and practices tends to be based on the normative assumption of the non-disabled individual as the prototypical state of being human. Therefore, schools, like many institutional sites, act to replicate the normative expectation of ableism and the atypical mind. These parameters impact not only the disabled students that operate both within these educational spaces but also the disabled adults embedded within these arenas professionally. Thus, disabled teachers act as a marginalized group that has historically been largely absent from the discourse on education and critical disability studies. This paper seeks to develop an understanding of …

Experiences Of Transgender Men Who Joined National Pan-Hellenic Council Sororities Pre-Transition, Sydney Epps

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) - affectionately known as The Divine Nine - are places of support and leadership development for students. However, these groups espouse traditional gender role themes that align with sexual orientation and gender rigidity. This paper explores how four NPHC members negotiate their identity as both nonbinary or transgender, and Greek. Using the narrative inquiry approach, the researcher will explore how sorority members who no longer identify as cisgender women are treated post-gender transition by other sorority members.

Autoethnography As A Decolonizing Methodology: Reflections On Masta’S What The Grandfathers Taught Me, Dung T. Pham, June E. Gothberg

The Qualitative Report

As an Asian graduate student and a Native professor at a U.S. Midwestern Predominantly White Institution, we reflected upon Masta’s (2018) article, What the Grandfathers Taught Me: Lessons for an Indian Country Researcher, to examine the decolonizing aspects of autoethnography. Masta’s use of autoethnography to explore her experiences provides a deeply personal view into the phenomenon of living and researching Indigenous in an America that is inherently White in character, tradition, structure, and culture. The use of participatory and constructivist Indigenous autoethnography places the lived experience of an Indigenous woman at the center of the study, using the Indigenous …

Clinical Decision Science: Proof Of Concept, James Peter Meza Md, Phd, Nicholus Yee Md, Bennett Riddering Md, Ali Nasrallah Md, Urtė Zableckas Ms, Mbbs

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

Clinical decision science, a newly identified area of scholarship, describes how clinical research is used for a patient, within the context of their unique social conditions. We hypothesize that physicians use sociocultural context as an important input to their decision making. We performed a prospective, randomized, double-blind mixed methods study. Family medicine faculty and residents at a community hospital family medicine residency were included in the study. After academic journal club discussing a primary research paper, physicians were asked if they would prescribe medication for a patient who was similar to the subjects in a research paper. However, social and …

Conflicting Identities: The Lgbtq-Jewish Identity Conflict And How The Jewish Community Is Working To Fix It, Gavin Christy, Sam Crew, Molly Klimo, Peter Sparrow

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

This work studies the identities of Jewish people who are also a part of the LGBTQ community. It examines the conflict that many LGBTQ Jews feel between these two identities and how this conflict decreases these people's involvement in the Jewish community. Looking from the Jewish community side we examine how the Jewish community has responded to this problem and how they are working to better integrate their LGBTQ members into their community.

Mission Of Mary Cooperative: Community Engagement Project, Rachel Veneman

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Mission of Mary Cooperative consists of 6 urban farming plots in the Dayton area. It runs a community supported agriculture program that provides access to fresh produce to people living in the food desert of Dayton. The organization focuses on fostering experiential learning, engaging the community in processes of agriculture and food production, and installing gardens in backyards to allow people to grow their own food.

Springboro And West Carrollton School Districts, Alex Roberts

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Poster describes my field experiences in the Dayton-area school districts of Springboro and West Carrollton. During my time at each school, I helped students with disabilities and observed a school resource officer and her duties.

Religion War: Judaism's Impact On The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Marissa Mark, Richard Morisette, Jennifer Rosio, Jack Willerton

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict has been a major issue since 1948 when the Israelis and Palestinians engaged in a Civil War. One of the driving factors in the conflict is the religious affiliation from each side, with Jewish Israelis clashing with Muslim Palestinians. While religion has been a driving force for hostility, religion can also be seen as a beacon of hope and peace. In our research, we have found that religious affiliation from the Israeli side tends to result in more positive attitudes towards their Palestinian counterparts. In our research, we investigated three major fields: Anthropology, Psychology, and Sociology. By …

Religion And Racism In The United States, Sebastian Rawl, Kingsford Adjei

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Through the literary analysis of eight scholarly writings, we sought to answer our research questions and were able to form hypothesis based on the evidence provided by the authors. From there, we formulated ideas on what we think can and should change in the relationship between religion and race relations.

The Political Dynamic Of The Separation Of The Islamic Church And State, Maya Drayton, Rachel Burton, Caroline Donnelly, Brianna Wolfe, Erika Cambron

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

In this project, we researched the relationship between Islam and the state. We conducted our research by using the University of Dayton databases to find different journals and articles analyzing our topic. We found that the relationship is constantly evolving and depends on where you are located. We also found that Islam has not always been properly investigated and is not as widely understood as it could be.

Hindu Views On The Environment, Katie Bardine, Sean Sullivan, Jonathan Sulzer

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Poster explores five views that influence Hindu views on sustainability and the environment, the first of which is that the ecological consciousness is the way of living in which it respects the environment and the ecological world. A Hindu’s ecological consciousness is well constructed, as a main aspect of the religion is care for the Earth and respect for creation.

Islamophobia: An American Conundrum Spurred By Donald Trump’S Executive Order And Political Rhetoric, Mike Lawless

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

The negative rhetoric directed toward Muslims in the United States has largely been focused on Muslim refugees because it allows for a connotation that a radical group is entering the United States.

Economics And Development In Buddhism, Michaela Kendig, Elizabeth Kolb, Brett Heininger, Patrick Fath

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Our research focused on the religious tradition, Buddhism and how the teachings and traditions of Buddhism affect work life, economics, and developmental aspects of society.

• How does Buddhism affect women’s careers?
• What developments both economic and other has Buddhism contributed?
• What’s going on in Bodh Gaya?

Religion And The Death Penalty In The United States, Isabel Neal

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

• Catholic Nations are the most likely to advocate for the abolishment the death penalty.
• Observed: Catholics Against Capital Punishment.
• Most religious groups prefer life in prison over the death penalty.
• More religions are now opposed to the death penalty than they were in the past.
• Church attendance may be a factor when it comes to support or opposition of the death penalty.
• Persons who view their deity as compassionate are more likely to be opposed to the death penalty.

4 Paws For Ability, Kathleen Schumacher

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

4 paws is a nonprofit organization that trains and places service dogs with children to increase the independence of the child and assist the families.

Why Does This Work Matter? Without volunteers, 4 Paws would be unable to operate as an organization. Kids like the boy to the left who at the age of three was diagnosed with autism and struggles with communication, anxiety, and wandering off would not be able to seek comfort in a service dog.

Coronavirus' Effect On American Christianity, Daniel Hughes

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

The church has been losing members especially amongst its youth, but the Pew Research Center did a survey on practicing Christians and found that One-quarter of US adults overall (24%) say their faith has become stronger because of the coronavirus pandemic, while just 4% of people say their faith has become weaker. The majority has said their faith hasn’t changed much (67%) and 5% had no comment on the issue.

Gender Roles In Buddhism, Simone Schuller, Deja Tart, Rebekah Beamer, Kathleen Sebastian

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

No abstract provided.

Religious Views Of Black Lives Matter, Audrey Melton, Allison Zelinskas

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

No abstract provided.

Women And Islam: A Look Into Women’S Rights In Islamic Culture, Tristan West

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

No abstract provided.