Digital Commons Network^™

Bi+ Cismale Experiences With Straight Cismale Friends, Taylor M. Hardock

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Minority Stress Theory (2006) posits that individuals with a marginalized sexual identity have unique challenges and stressors. Bisexual+, or bi+, individuals have particular stressors related to not holding a monosexual identity, including specific mental health challenges. Research has shown that friendship can have many positive benefits on individuals, though the literature looking at friendship among bi+ identifying people is very limited. This qualitative study investigates the experiences of friendship between bi+ and straight cis men, especially as they may relate to minority stress and experiences of resilience and community belongingness. A thematic analysis was utilized to understand the personal experiences …

Adverse Childhood Experiences Of Individuals Charged Or Convicted Of Homicide In Their Youth, Marcus Krodel

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) represent a collection of distressful events occurring during childhood and have been shown to have a negative impact on future functioning. ACEs were utilized in the current study to increase our understanding of a unique population among court-involved individuals: juveniles charged or convicted of homicide. Court decisions have established that juveniles convicted of homicide are both distinct from their adult counterparts and present with dissimilar risk and protective factors. The current study explored a sample of 66 individuals who were charged or convicted of homicide while in their youth. Each participant was retroactively assigned an ACEs …

Impact Of Therapeutically Applied Role-Playing Games (Ta-Rpg) For Individuals At The Intersection Of Sexual And Gender Minorities (Sgm) And Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd), Alexander S. Gelernter

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who also identify as sexual and gender minorities (SGM) may experience intersecting challenges related to communication, social belonging, masking, identity development, and access to affirming clinical spaces. Although role-play and therapeutically applied role-playing games (TA-RPGs) have been described as promising experiential approaches, limited research has examined how ASD/SGM individuals themselves understand role-playing games (RPGs) or evaluate their possible therapeutic use. This qualitative study explored how young adults with ASD level 1 who identify as SGM describe their experiences with RPGs and how they appraise the potential usefulness, risks, and conditions of TA-RPG. Five participants …

“Durable Solutions” Revisited: Italy’S Train-To-Hire Pathway Under The Cutro Decree As Alternative Refugee Protection, Tim Streit

Human Rights Brief

I. Introduction

If the average person were asked to imagine a refugee, they might conjure the image of a migrant fleeing war or persecution, showing up at the border of a new country with a few belongings in hand, and asking not to be sent back to the dangerous place from which they came. In fact, it is not only the hypothetical “average person” who pictures this scenario. The international refugee protection system, developed after World War II through the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (Refugee Convention) and its 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees …

Stability And Accountability In Nagorno-Karabakh And The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict, Callum Heath

Human Rights Brief

I. Introduction

On August 8, 2025, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia were hosted at the White House by U.S. President Donald Trump to announce the Agreement on Establishment of Peace and Inter-State Relations (the Agreement) in a Joint Declaration. The Agreement sets out to end the decades-long conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Armenian ethnic enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan, and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, which is separated from the rest of Azerbaijan by Armenia. While the White House hails the Agreement as a “historic peace deal,” the reality is more …

What Keeps Us Here: A Qualitative Inquiry Into Trust, Belonging, And Retention For Black Women Nonprofit Professionals, Tyra Edmond

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

This qualitative transcendental phenomenological study examined how belonging influences retention among Black women nonprofit professionals. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with eight participants and analyzed using Moustakas’ (1994) approach Social Decision-Making Theory (SDMT) guided interpretation. The study identifies belonging as central to retention and introduces the Dynamic Contribution Model (DCM) in nonprofit organizations. Findings show that belonging is an evolving experience shaped by daily interactions, leadership behavior, and alignment between values and practice. When belonging was present, participants remained engaged. When it weakened, participants disengaged and left. Retention emerged as an ongoing evaluative process.

Nature-Based Solutions For Urban Resilience And Environmental Justice In Underserved Coastal Communities: A Case Study On Oakleaf Forest In Norfolk, Va, Farzaneh Soflaei, Mujde Erten-Unal, Carol L. Considine, Faeghe Borhani

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Climate change and sea-level change (SLC) are intensifying flooding in U.S. coastal communities, with disproportionate impacts on Black and minority neighborhoods that face displacement, economic hardship, and heightened health risks. In Norfolk, Virginia, sea levels are projected to rise by at least 0.91 m (3 ft) by 2100, placing underserved neighborhoods such as Oakleaf Forest at particular risk. This study investigates the compounded impacts of flooding at both the building and urban scales, situating the work within the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). A mixed-method, community-based approach was employed, integrating literature review, field observations, and community …

Evaluating The Role Of Provider Perspective And Their Impact On Individuals With Sickle Cell Disease In The United States Of America, Jadyn C. Oppong

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Individuals affected by invisible disabilities, such as Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), have additional challenges beyond the physical manifestation of their disease, which is otherwise unknown externally. SCD patients continually consider disease manifestation in everyday life and experience varying degrees of disease perception in and out of the hospital environment. Additional considerations of a patient’s other intersecting identities, such as race and cultural identity, call attention to the sociological landscape of the United States of America. The dynamics observed within this landscape can be seen through the symbolic interaction of these identities with the invisible disability identity, in which a compounding …

Enhancing Military Health System Organizational Efficiency And Quality Of Care Through A Social-Ecological Framework, Eric L. Peipelman

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Timely and fair adjudication of incivility-related actions within the Department of Defense (DoD) and Military Health System (MHS) is increasingly crucial for maintaining accountability, mission readiness, and quality of care. Ongoing delays in resolving workplace complaints and inefficiencies in resource-heavy adjudications highlight the need to shift from reactive complaint handling toward proactive civility promotion and transparent decision-making. This Integrated Learning Experience (ILE) introduces the Peipelman Civility Discussion and Assessment Toolkit (PCDAT)—a comprehensive, evidence-based framework designed to improve civility, optimize resources, and enhance communication, even in the MHS. Based on the Social-Ecological Model (SEM) and adapted from the Workplace Power and …

Community Care During Austerity: Mutual Aid And Online Connection Among Disabled Americans, Maeve J. King

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Amidst a mental health epidemic and rising inequality, online communities offer a medium for peer support networks for disabled Americans. Community care, especially in the form of mutual aid, has increased in popularity since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering troubling increases in eugenics-based messaging and disproportionate economic inequality, disabled Americans in particular have leaned into community care. Previous research establishes social media as a hub for resource mobilization and safe space for members of marginalized communities to connect. This research aims to explore the impacts of social, political, and economic unrest on the development of community care and …

The Impact Of Belonging To Identity-Based Student Organizations On Minority Stress In A Midwestern Predominantly White University, Mallory Millet, Akanksha Das, Christian C. Garcia, Rose Marie Ward

Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs

Minoritized students are exposed to additional unique stressors due to the systematic devaluation of their identities (i.e., minority stress). Additionally, minoritized students report higher levels of mental health concerns than their peers (e.g., anxiety, depression). Identity-based student organizations can be one avenue that universities could use to support these students. These organizations, designed to build social connections among students with shared experiences, may reduce minority stress through fostering students’ sense of belonging. However, the relationship between sense of belonging, minority stress, and identity-based student organizations has yet to be studied. The present study used quantitative and qualitative methods to understand …

Examining Marginalized Sexual Identity Development Through Perry’S Scheme Of Cognitive Development, Miranda Bejda

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Existing models of LGBTQ+ sexual identity development are critiqued for their linearity and lack of inclusion for diverse experiences and sexual identities. There is a call for a more robust understanding of the cognitive aspect of sexual identity development. The purpose of this dissertation is to further the understanding of how people think about their sexual identity through the developmental process using Perry’s scheme of cognitive development as a framework. Through semi-structured interviews, I analyze the LGBTQ+ sexual identity development process (Stage 1), how Perry’s scheme applies to LGBTQ+ sexual identity development (Stage 2), and propose a Perry-informed model of …

Technology-Facilitated Violence And Abuse: Portrayals And Perceptions, Christina S. Walker

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

In the past, intimate partner violence (IPV) was primarily perpetrated in person. However, due to new mediated communication technologies and capabilities like social media and artificial intelligence (AI), perpetrators can use this technology for various purposes including subjecting others to violence, harassment, and abuse. Such violence can be a form of IPV and is referred to as technology-facilitated violence and abuse (TFVA). TFVA is becoming increasingly prevalent and is encountered by a staggering percent of women. Furthermore, unlike traditional forms of IPV, even men are subjected to TFVA at increasing and disproportionate rates, particularly male teens.

In the current state …

Reviving Southern Divides: Multilevel Explorations Of Gentrification’S Role In School Resegregation In Tallahassee, Florida From 1999 – 2015, Ola U. Kalu

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This dissertation examines whether neighborhood gentrification in Tallahassee reshaped Title I elementary schools by improving academic outcomes, changing who enrolled, or both, from 1999 to 2015. Using Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Model as a conceptual scaffold, the study situates schools within their neighborhood and district contexts across three nested analytical levels. A two-wave panel design using 2010 and 2015 school-year observations is linked to a 2000 Census baseline to connect school data with spatially weighted neighborhood change indicators. Mixed-effects multilevel models and fixed-effects robustness checks estimate the associations between neighborhood change indicators and two continuous dependent variables: standardized ELA achievement and …

Integrating Non-Binary Morphology Into Spanish Grammatical Gender: A Study On Native And Second-Language Speakers, Abigail H. Gustafson

Scripps Senior Theses

This study investigates how native (L1) and second-language (L2) Spanish speakers process non-binary gender morphology, focusing on the pronoun ‘elle’ and the adjective/noun ending ‘-e’. Prior studies show that native speakers outperform L2 speakers in processing traditional masculine–feminine agreement, non-binary forms and their emergence in a binary grammatical system are understudied. To address this gap, I conducted an online reaction-time experiment with bilingual speakers from the Claremont Colleges, who judged the grammaticality of Spanish sentences containing either grammatical gender or social gender (él/ella/elle) agreement and disagreement. Survey data also captured participants’ familiarity with and attitudes toward the pronoun ‘elle’. The …

Maternal Child Maltreatment And Intimate Partner Violence: Effects On Perceptions Of Infant Temperment And The Mediating Role Of Emotion Regulation And Responsiveness, Jewelian N. Fairchild, G. Anne Bogat, Amy K. Nuttall, Alytia A. Levendosky, Joseph S. Lonstein, Maria Muzik

Psychology Faculty Publications

Purpose

Maternal adverse experiences, such as maltreatment in childhood and later intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy, can disrupt the mother-child relationship and influence maternal perceptions of infant temperament. The present study explored how these adversities influence mothers’ views of their infants’ temperaments and examined the role of maternal emotion regulation and responsiveness to their infants as mediators of these relationships.

Methods

Using data from a longitudinal study of highly stressed, vulnerable women, 355 mothers retrospectively reported on their own childhood maltreatment, as well as their experiences of IPV and emotion regulation during pregnancy. Maternal responsiveness was coded using mother-infant …

Early Parenting Stress And Later Abuse Risk: Dyadic Analysis Of Mediation By Maternal And Paternal Negative Attributions, Jewelian N. Fairchild, Christina M. Rodriguez

Psychology Faculty Publications

Predicting the likelihood parents will become physically abusive towards their children remains a high priority. Early parenting stress may increase the extent to which parents negatively appraise their children's behaviours, which in turn may influence their abuse risk. This study explored whether parental negative attributions mediated the association between early parenting stress and later abuse risk. A sample of 186 first-time mothers and 146 of their male partners reported on their parenting stress when infants were 6 months old and their negative attributions regarding child behaviours at 18 months. Parents' child abuse risk was assessed at age four using two …

Book Review: Hwaji Shin, Being Korean, Becoming Japanese?: Nationhood, Citizenship, And Resistance In Japan, Ray Matsumoto

Asia Pacific Perspectives

No abstract provided.

A Scoping Review To Conceptualize Social Privilege For Studying Patients' Health Outcomes And Health Disparities, Elizabeth A. Brown, Priyanka Patel, Esther May B. Sarino, Vladimir Markovic, Carles Muntaner

Health Behavior, Policy & Management Faculty Publications

Background

The continued reliance on single-category self-reported demographic data (e.g., race/ethnicity) reflects conceptual limitations that hinder the study and understanding of health outcomes research. There is a pressing need for more precise measures of social privilege that conceptualize privilege and oppression while enabling the examination of their effects on health outcomes in the United States (US) healthcare system.

Objective

The purpose of this scoping review was to review the literature, determine how researchers have measured aspects of privilege and oppression, and develop a conceptual framework to study patients' social privilege in the US healthcare system and public health research.

Methods …

Precarity On The Move: The Relative Economic Precarity Of Mobile Youth Moving To Australia, Lara Mckenzie, Anita Harris, Loretta Baldassar

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Analyses of precarity often focus on how insecure employment, careers, finances, and geographies influence people’s lives for the worse, with young people understood as especially precarious in their economic stability and transitions to adulthood. This article analyses accounts of precarity amongst middling transnationally mobile youth, drawing from 24 semi-structured interviews incoming to Australia, and longitudinal survey data. We show that experiences of economic precarity are impacted by their access to work, government support, ability to access or sustain visas, and access to support from family and partners. By drawing on migration scholars’ observations that transnational mobility can be privileged and …

Christianity As Coping Mechanisms For Migrants With Mental Health Challenges In Australia: Social Work Implications, Obed Adonteng-Kissi, Nnaemeka Meribe, Kathomi Gatwiri, Lillian Mwanri, Agness Tembo, Frank Darkwa Baffour, Edith N. Botchway-Commey, Aunty Kerrie Doyle, David Chisanga, Ahmed A. Moustafa, Uchechukwu Levi Osuagwu

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Christian religion may be a powerful resource that can serve as a coping mechanism to resolve challenges and provide comfort to African migrants confronted with mental health challenges. We aimed to explore the coping strategies among African migrants in Australia. We undertook semi-structured interviews online with 11 participants with African backgrounds, comprising six mental health clinicians and five migrant service users living in Australia for at least the past 12 months. Literature exploring religious coping mechanisms, social support and acculturation was drawn on. The interviews were undertaken online via Teams, WhatsApp call, and zoom with participants whom we recruited through …

The Emerging Social Media Water Cooler? Motivations For Reddit Use In A Niche League, Jan Boehmer, Brendan O'Hallarn

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

Social media play a key role in sport marketing—with athletes, teams, and leagues directly engaging with their audiences. While Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have received much attention in the sport marketing and communication literature, research on Reddit is scant. This is particularly noteworthy, as the platform is growing rapidly and promises utility for users with nonmainstream interests to find and engage with each other. This study employs a uses and gratifications approach to investigate how prevalent Reddit use is among fans of the United Football League (UFL), what motivates users to engage with the platform, and whether Reddit use leads …

Navigating Liminality: Building Resources For And With Undocumented Students, Yaneyry Delfin Martinez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Rooted in Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and Liberation Sociology, this project outlines an institutional blueprint for the resources and support systems needed to address the lived realities of undocumented students at Cal Poly Humboldt (CPH). Conducted during the second Trump Administration amidst escalating hostility towards immigrants and attacks on DEI initiatives, this work documents both the structural conditions shaping undocumented students’ lives and the collective resistance that emerged in response. Furthermore, it examines how immigration policy, access to and restrictions on federal and state aid, geographic conditions, and on-campus barriers reproduce and maintain legal liminality within higher education. Grounded in …

Neoliberalism And The Crimes Of The Powerful: Transforming The State During The First Trump Era (2017-2021), Charles Brandon Lonon

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This thesis examines the way the American capitalist state transformed during Donald Trump’s first presidential term (2017-2021), especially focusing on neoliberal policy and the framework of the crimes of the powerful. This thesis aims to answer the question of how neoliberalism transformed the state under Donald Trump. Drawing on Nicos Poulantzas’ theory of authoritarian statism and Frank Pearce’s conception of crimes of the powerful, this thesis examines how the state becomes more authoritarian to protect capital accumulation and the capitalist class. The research shows that Trump weaponized authoritarian populist rhetoric that targeted women, immigrants, and vulnerable populations to build support …

Community Engagement Newsletter, January 2026, University Of Northern Iowa. Office Of Community Engagement.

Community Engagement Newsletter

Contents:

--- UNI Earns Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement
--- UNI’s Day of Service - April 8, 2026
--- Engaged Department Institute: Save the Date, May 26-27
--- Volunteer & Internship Explore-A-Ganza
--- Community Engagement Celebration Day
--- UNI Engaged Podcast
--- Pack the Dome - Thank you!

Inclusive Psychology Pedagogy Is Linked To Increased Belonging And Reduced Prejudice Toward Consensually Non-Monogamous Relationships, Rose Bern, Rachel Dinero, Kate Linenbach, Amy Moors

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Students enrolled in an elective psychology course entitled Relationship Science, which emphasized inclusive curricula focused on relationship diversity, completed pre- and postcourse assessments of attitudes toward consensually nonmonogamous (CNM) relationships, relationship skills (e.g., constructive communication), and classroom belonging. Given the established literature on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+-inclusive pedagogy, attitudes toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+ individuals were also measured. Comparisons of pre- and postcourse assessments revealed significant reductions in stigma toward individuals engaged in CNM, alongside increased acceptance of CNM relationships more broadly. Students also reported increases in relationship skills and classroom belonging over the course of the …

The Bite Model And Multi-Level Marketing: How Monat Propagates, Lilly D. Cheung

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This study aims to understand how MONAT Global Corp, a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) company, utilizes rhetoric that aligns with Steven Hassan’s BITE Model of Authoritarian Control. Hassan is a cult expert and cult survivor whose work primarily explains undue influence and thought control with BITE representing Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotional control. The MLM MONAT is a haircare brand that operates through a recruitment-and-sales-based hierarchy, in which sellers sign up and work under one another in a layered marketing structure. To meet quotas and maintain ranks, representatives will use rhetorical strategies to recruit new sellers beneath them in their ‘downline’ …

Developing And Evaluating A Multidimensional Measure Of Pride In The Lgbtqia+ Community, Donovan Edward

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Pride in LGBTQIA+ spaces has thus far been an ethereal concept with no universally agreed-upon definition. Previous literature frequently connects pride to traits such as resilience, comfort, confidence, and identity expression. This is a critical oversight, as most measures of LGBTQIA+ experiences focus on the negative aspects of queer experiences (e.g., vulnerability, victimization) or are created to evaluate non-LGBTQIA+ perceptions of LGBTQIA+ people, falsely characterizing this community in a deficit-based light. In response, this study aimed to offer a holistic definition of pride and develop a psychometrically sound measure of pride stemming from culturally salient expressions by using rigorous analytical …

Identification Of A Rural Black Community-Based Mental Health Intervention Via Cbpr, Kirsten Mengell

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Poor mental health in the US has increased since 2011 (Mental Health America, 2022). Rural communities face disparities in mental health shortages (Andrilla et al., 2018). African Americans face additional barriers, including a historical underutilization of mental health and high mental health stigma. This is significant given the higher rates of mental distress and discrimination among rural African Americans compared to Whites (James et al., 2017), and a recent increase in suicide among Black Americans (Stone et al., 2023). Illustrating a need for options within rural Black communities that can overcome professional shortages and cultural barriers to improve mental health …

Science Sojourners: The (Un)Making Of Women Scientists From China To America, Jane Jia-Yin Wang

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Science is often imagined as a borderless profession in which knowledge, careers, and talent circulate freely across national boundaries. Yet scientific careers remain embedded within institutions that correspond to immigration regimes, geopolitical tensions, and unequal social structures. Drawing on 32 in-depth interviews with early-career Chinese women scientists trained in the U.S., this dissertation examines how globally mobile scientists navigate decisions about careers, migration, and everyday life between China and the U.S.

Rather than treating migration as a series of discrete decisions driven by labor markets or state policies, this dissertation argues that career and life orientations are fundamentally intertwined through …