Digital Commons Network^™

Introduction: Regional And Global Governance: Past, Present And Future, Ron Pagnucco

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

How Much Of The Sky Now? Visibility Of Women In American History Textbooks Over Time, Grace Martin, Emma Maroni, Roger Clark

Sociology Between the Gaps: Forgotten and Neglected Topics

No abstract provided.

The Freedom Myth: How Ski Culture's Hidden Conformity Reveals The Unconscious Power Of Brand Belonging, Isabel R. Phillips

University Honors Theses

Purpose: Ski culture sells freedom and enforces conformity. This review asks what unconscious behavioral patterns hold that contradiction in place, and how brands capitalize on it to manufacture belonging.

Design/Methodology/Approach: A narrative literature review across consumer psychology, behavioral neuroscience, sociology, and ski industry research. No primary data were collected. Four accounts of consistency-seeking are synthesized into one framework, then applied to three ski industry cases at ascending scales and tested against a comparative case from Spanish football.

Findings: Belonging is a conditioned response, and conditioning requires a stable stimulus. Consistency is therefore the precondition of belonging rather than a constraint …

Amplifying Community Voices In Climate Policy: Attitudes On Climate Change And Decarbonization In Cache County, Cristina Chirvasa, Rivkah Haubner, Stacia Ryder

Transforming Communities

Climate change is altering global ecosystems and imperiling human health, but knowledge of these impacts does not always translate into adaptation and mitigation action. Many solutions fall under decarbonization, or the reduction and capture of atmospheric carbon. These actions are increasingly developed at more localized, sub-state levels. Thus, understanding the attitudes of Cache County, Utah, residents, including students and faculty at Utah State University, toward different decarbonization techniques will be important to building successful climate action plans and policies. Here, as part of a large-scale collaborative group of different on-campus departments and community partners, we held focus groups to examine …

How Racial Bias And Job-Related Stressors Impact The Prospect Of Police Misconduct, Jean Emmanuel Brutus

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Police use of excessive force is an enduring challenge for criminal justice institutions and the public, particularly, affecting minority communities. This has contributed to diminished public confidence in U.S. policing institutions. Prior empirical studies among law enforcement officers, indicate that Black minorities have been discriminated by police officers. Stress research links social stress to mental health and identifies police brutality as an anticipatory stressor for minority groups. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify factors, including job-related stressors, and racial bias, that contribute to officers using excessive force, so to fill the gap in research, and develop …

Public Defenders’ Challenges Representing Erroneous Prosecution Cases In The Black Community, Kayla Kristine Stephens

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Public defenders in a southern state continue to face significant challenges when representing Black individuals in the criminal justice system, particularly in cases involving erroneous prosecution. These challenges are intensified by high caseloads, limited funding, and systemic inequities, which can be stressors affecting the prosecutors wellbeing and hinder the provision of adequate legal representation. Public defenders, appointed to represent indigent defendants, frequently navigate complex legal and social circumstances that intersect with racial disparities in the justice system. For this qualitative study the research question was, how do public defenders perceive and manage any stresses representing erroneous prosecution cases in the …

Promoting The Bipartisan Dimension Of Political Leadership: A Study Of The Impact Of A Normative Intervention With Newly Elected Members Of Congress, Jaime M. Ruvalcaba

Dissertations

The U.S. political system is more polarized now than at any time in the past century, as evidenced by the rise of political incivility, legislative gridlock, and hyperpolarization. To date, most studies and efforts have focused on institutional strategies to explain, transform, and mitigate the challenges posed to the political environment. By contrast, little attention has been paid to the normative or values-based behaviors of leaders to either explain or influence political leadership in ways that positively impact the political environment. Fortunately, some organizational programs, like Harvard’s Bipartisan Program for Newly Elected Members of Congress, have taken a different tack, …

Contradiction And Critical Consciousness: Engaging Canadian University Students In Racial Dialogue On Anti-Chinese Racism, Dan Cui

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This study examines how Canadian university students perceived and engaged with anti-Chinese racism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on grounded theory and interviews and written reflections from 28 undergraduates at a predominantly White university, the study analyzes students’ contradictory understandings of racism shaped by media, national narratives, and prior educational experiences. Informed by Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, it conceptualizes these tensions as a contradictory racialized habitus, in which awareness and denial, empathy and distancing, coexist. Three themes emerged: contradictory orientations toward anti-Chinese racism, the transnational influence of U.S. political discourse, and the limited transformative impact of a social justice course. …

Intersectionality And Institutional Power In Dystopian Cinema: Gender, Race, And Social Order In Sinners, Alexander Kilian, Amaya Baker

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

This research project, Intersectionality and Institutional Power in Dystopian Cinema: Gender, Race, and Social Order in Sinners, examines how Sinners construct and represent women through intersecting systems of gender, race, and institutional power within a dystopian framework. Situated within broader discussions of equity, embodiment, and access, the project addresses how speculative media reflect and shape contemporary social hierarchies, particularly in modeling institutional authority, social organization, and identity formation. The primary objective is to analyze how these intersecting systems influence perceptions of identity, hierarchy, and social cohesion. Employing an interdisciplinary humanities approach, the project integrates film analysis, feminist theory, and critical …

Family Religious Socialization Index: Development And Preliminary Validation, Kaelie Rene Crockett

Theses and Dissertations

A key area of interest for religious scholars is how religious beliefs are passed across generations, or religious socialization. To expand this field of study, a theoretically grounded, validated measure of this construct is needed. This article describes the development and validation of the Family Religious Socialization Index (FRSI), a multi-informant, multidimensional assessment of the processes through which parents socialize religion and faith in their children. Based on Social Cognitive Theory and through a rigorous development and validation process, three subscales were developed to represent the primary processes of religious socialization. The FRSI consists of two parallel scales, a parent …

Identifying The Brain Circuits Involved In Religious Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Kiana Bunnell

Theses and Dissertations

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an often-debilitating psychiatric disorder involving a pattern of obsessive thoughts and compensatory compulsions. Symptoms tend to be chronic, leading to substantial emotional burden and significant impairment across multiple domains of daily functioning. Previous research has identified some consistency in the brain regions implicated in OCD. In particular, cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) circuitry has been linked to behavioral features commonly observed in OCD. Moreover, some studies suggest that distinct patterns of brain activation and functional connectivity may be associated with different OCD symptom dimensions, though findings have not been consistent. One symptom dimension of OCD (scrupulosity) is characterized by …

Is “No Change” Really No Change?: A Qualitative Analysis Of Clients With “No Change” On Routine Outcome Monitoring Who Report Improving In Therapy, Audrey Louise Stewart Parker

Theses and Dissertations

Routine outcome monitoring (ROM), the practice of tracking client progress in therapy by administering regular questionnaires to assess functioning, has demonstrated a significant positive effect on psychotherapy outcomes, especially for clients are who not improving as expected. However, some researchers argue the symptom-based measures and outcome classification criteria commonly used in ROM may not represent a complete picture of client change. A recent body of mixed-methods research has investigated these ROM-determined outcome categories to gain insight into client experiences and whether the category and client perception of therapy outcome align. In this investigation, researchers have found significant variety within outcome …

Las Voces Olvidadas Del Territorio: Infancias Mayas Ante El Conflicto Socioambiental En Ixil, Cielo María Ávila López, Myriam Montserrat Baca Canché, José Israel Herrera

Journal of Maya Heritage

Resumen: En la península de Yucatán, en el sureste de México, la comunidad maya de Ixil resiste ante los diversos intentos de implementación de megaproyectos en su territorio. En el marco de estas disputas territoriales, las voces de las infancias adquieren un matiz clave en el análisis de las dinámicas de desterritorialización y las respuestas de resistencia que devienen del contexto del conflicto socioambiental. Es así como, a partir de la ecología política y metodologías que favorecen el acercamiento a las voces de las infancias, emergieron los significados construidos en torno a dichos sucesos, lo que reveló que más allá …

Gender Disparities In Sheltered Status And Systemic Drivers Of Homelessness In Johnson City, Tennessee, Preet Patel, Dr. Opal Frye-Clark

Journal of Appalachian Health

The article examines the homelessness crisis in Johnson City, Tennessee, a mid-sized Appalachian city. First, analysis of Point-in-Time (PIT) counts from 2023 to 2025, conducted in 2025, showed persistently high unsheltered rates (35.88% – 47.17%), with men comprising 60 – 65% of the unhoused population. Men experiencing homelessness also had approximately half the odds of being counted as sheltered compared with women, indicating a gender disparity in sheltered status. Second, an interview with an experienced public health practitioner from the Appalachian Region contextualized these findings by identifying systemic drivers, including the regional housing crisis and policy restrictions, and supporting equitable …

Deaths Of Despair Among Cancer Survivors In Rural/Urban Appalachia (2000-2022), Jason Semprini, Anders Erickson, Nosa Osazuwa-Peters

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: Rising deaths of despair (premature deaths from suicide, overdose, alcohol, and violence) in adults under age 65 persist across the United States, especially in Appalachia. People diagnosed with cancer may face elevated risks of such deaths due to pain, psychosocial distress, and financial hardship.

Purpose: Deaths of despair trends were compared among adults with cancer across Appalachian and non-Appalachian regions, stratified by sex and rurality.

Methods: Analyzing SEER-21 Incidence-Based Mortality data (2000–2022), deaths caused by suicide, cirrhosis of the liver, or accidents (includes overdose) were identified among adults aged 20–64 years. Annual mortality rates per 100,000 total population were …

Corruption In The Service Of The Common Good: The Legitimation Of Traditional Practitioners In Cameroon, Victorine Oyane Ossah

Journal of Law and Public Policy

This article shows how health law and public policy, in seeking to regulate traditional medicine, without fully recognising it, paradoxically end up producing the very social conditions for the corruption that they are supposed to combat. The aim is to identify, based on the experience of traditional healers, the various factors that contribute to establishing corruption not as a moral choice, but as a pragmatic strategy for preserving their knowledge, resources, and place in the healthcare system. The analysis presented is based on a qualitative survey of 30 traditional medicine practitioners in Yaoundé and Douala between 2021 and 2026, in …

Bridging Fiscal Sustainability And Health Equity: A Policy Analysis Of California’S Healthcare Coverage Safeguards, Guadalupe Castaneda Martinez

Master's Projects and Capstones

Without structural policy intervention, approximately 4.6 million Californians remain at risk of being uninsured by 2030, worsening racial and ethnic health disparities and hospital uncompensated care burdens. This policy analysis advocates for a hybrid universal coverage model combining sliding-scale subsidies (California Senate Bill 78) with full-scope Medi-Cal expansion for all income-eligible residents regardless of legal status (California Assembly Bill 133). The framework relies on existing funding mechanisms, including the Managed Care Organization tax and the Health Care Affordability Reserve Fund. Comparative analysis indicates that market-only subsidies leave severe equity gaps, whereas immediate single-payer transitions pose substantial fiscal and administrative risks. …

"Help Me Live It The Way You Do": Grounding Singaporean Responses To The Rorschach Situation, Casey Y. Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary research on the Rorschach and culture is striking for the latter’s disappearance as a variable of significance (Meyer et al., 2015; Meyer et al., 2007; Mihura et al., 2013; Viglione & Hilsenroth, 2001). This erasure is chronicled and reproduced in the narratives of universal objectivity, of extensive international meta-analyses, of replications, of standardized norms (Ritzler, 2004; Smith et al., 2018; Smith et al., 2020; Weiner, 2004). A different story emerges, however, when we ask, how has culture disappeared? The proposed study is a multimethod qualitative analysis of Singaporean responses to the Rorschach, aimed at generating sensitive yet critical discourses …

Race And Trauma: An Analysis Of Trauma Symptomology Across Diverse Youth Populations, Mara J. Niccoli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The adverse effects of trauma, particularly among youth who identify as Black, is a critical issue. This study investigated the relationship between race and trauma symptomology among children and adolescents who received weekly trauma therapy. With the use of clinical assessment data, this study sought to determine whether Black youth presented to treatment with higher trauma acuity than non-Black youth and if there were disparate outcomes in symptomology after treatment. The results indicated that on average, Black youth presented to treatment with lower trauma acuity than non-Black youth, and there were disparate outcomes in trauma symptomology between the two racial …

Consecuencias De La Violencia Docente: Recuentos Desde El Campo De La Formación Musical Universitaria En México, Karla M. Reynoso Vargas, Basilio Fernández-Morante

Visions of Research in Music Education

Este es un trabajo independiente, pero complementario al estudio «La violencia docente en la educación musical universitaria: una exploración en el contexto mexicano». Presenta el análisis de la información que se desprende de 53 relatos de víctimas de violencia docente en programas universitarios de música. Incorporamos reflexiones y aportaciones de estudiantes, profesionales y personas que abandonaron sus carreras de música en la República Mexicana, quienes compartieron voluntariamente sus historias. La primera categoría describe las consecuencias de la violencia docente. Por un lado, se observaron efectos interpretados como positivos, entre ellos la activación de la orientación al logro, el sobreesfuerzo y …

Violencia Docente En La Educación Musical Universitaria: Una Exploración En Contexto Mexicano, Karla M. Reynoso Vargas, Basilio Fernández-Morante

Visions of Research in Music Education

Este artículo presenta los resultados de una investigación fenomenológica exploratoria cuyo objetivo fue identificar expresiones de violencia docente en entornos de formación musical universitaria en el contexto mexicano. Se analizan 53 relatos de estudiantes, profesionales y desertores de carreras musicales que cursaron estudios en universidades o conservatorios de nueve estados de la República Mexicana, quienes compartieron voluntariamente sus testimonios a través de la Asociación Mexicana de Psicología de la Música (AMEPSIM). El estudio aborda supuestos sociológicos sobre las dinámicas de la violencia, el peso socioeducativo de la tradición del conservatorio y su posible vínculo con la limitada aplicación de principios …

A Sociological Framework For Spatial Analyses Of Institutional Musicking In Conflict Spaces, Carol Frierson-Campbell

Visions of Research in Music Education

This essay presents a framework that brings spatial sociology together with Small’s (1998, 1999) concept of musicking and Born’s (2011, 2012, 2015) Planes of Music Sociality. It was developed as an analytical scheme for an ongoing case study of musicking via the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music (ESNCM), the national music conservatory of Palestine. Small’s notion of musicking reminds music educators that musicking activities communicate meanings beyond the obvious: Individual and collective ideals about relationships with sound, with other people, and with the spaces they inhabit. Born’s conception of musical socialities as four interacting planes goes beyond Small’s ideas …

C.S.A. Assessment - Tamp Family Health Center Portal, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

This C.A.S. assessment evaluates how the Tampa Family Health Centers website influences userattention, cognitive processing, information accessibility, navigation efficiency, and digital user experience.The assessment examines whether the platform supports intentional engagement and informed decision-making while minimizing cognitive overload, distraction, confusion, and unnecessary attentional demands.

TFHC serves as a healthcare access portal providing appointment scheduling, patient resources, providerinformation, healthcare services, MyChart access, payment services, and community health resources.These functions make attention management and information clarity critical to successful user outcomes.

Zeus Network And The Commercialization Of Conflict: A Critical Analysis Of Exploitation, Representation, And Reality Television, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

This study examines Zeus Network as a prominent example of the commercialization of conflict within contemporary digital media. Through reality based programming that frequently emphasizes confrontation, public humiliation, emotional volatility, and interpersonal disputes, the network has cultivated a profitable entertainment model built upon spectacle and controversy. Drawing upon conflict theory, critical race theory, and media sociology, this paper investigates whether Zeus functions as a platform for cultural representation and economic opportunity or as a system that monetizes dysfunction for audience consumption. Particular attention is given to the portrayal of Black women and Black communities, whose experiences often become central to …

Sociology Of Mind Trap In Nepal, Makar Bahadur Sarki

Transformations

Nepali society is multilingual, culturally and ethnically diverse. It holds great potential for development and thought. However, the existing mental traps in society are creating obstacles to fulfilling those potentials. Mental entrapment is a problem in which people follow someone's words with complete faith, just like someone who runs after a crow without touching their own ears after hearing that it has ears. This forces people to live in illusion. This leads to individuals mistrusting their own abilities and pushing society towards inaction. This situation is not only due to individual thinking, but is the combined result of social structural …

Media Emotion Regulation And Executive Function In Childhood: Associations With Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia, Lara M. Almeida

Theses and Dissertations

Media emotion regulation (MER), or the use of media to help children manage emotions, may influence children's development by shaping opportunities for practicing self-regulatory skills. Guided by the Dynamic, Relational, Ecological Approach to Media Effects Research (DREAMER) model, this study examined longitudinal associations between MER and executive functioning (EF) in early childhood and explored whether respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a physiological index of regulation, predicted developmental changes. Participants included 175 parent-child dyads assessed across two annual waves when children were approximately 4 and 5 years old. Structural equation modeling was used to test bidirectional associations between MER and EF while …

Physical Activity, Trauma, And Posttraumatic Stress: The Indirect Role Of Exercise Addiction, Anastasiia Rozumna

Theses and Dissertations

Exercise is often conceptualized as a protective factor for mental health, including for individuals exposed to trauma. However, less is known about whether exercise may relate to posttraumatic stress symptoms differently when it is accompanied by compulsive or addictive features. The present study examined whether volume and intensity of physical activity were associated with posttraumatic stress symptom severity indirectly through exercise addiction symptoms. This secondary cross-sectional analysis included 557 adults living in the United States who reported regular participation in sport or physical activity. Participants completed self-report measures of physical activity behavior, exercise addiction symptoms, trauma exposure, and posttraumatic stress …

A Systematic Review Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Hispanic Immigrants In The United States, Rashel Acireale

Theses and Dissertations

This study systematically reviews the literature on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among Hispanic immigrants in the United States, a population exposed to cumulative trauma across the migration process. Stressors may occur before, during, and after migration and include violence, family separation, dangerous travel conditions, discrimination, and fear of deportation. Despite these risks, findings on PTSD prevalence remain mixed, and Hispanic immigrants are underrepresented in clinical research and culturally informed interventions. This review examines sample representation, types and timing of trauma, PTSD measurement approaches, and the inclusion of cultural and contextual factors such as acculturation and immigration-related stress. It also evaluates …

Trends And Disparities In Cardiometabolic Disease Prevalence By Physical Activity Among Us Adults: Nhanes 2007–2018, Zhijing Xu, Jinyu Hu Hu, Jackie Finik, Xiang Qi, Ruotong Liu, Yaguang Zheng, Bei Wu

Department of Family Science and Human Development Scholarship and Creative Works

Background: Cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs) significantly contribute to U.S. morbidity. Physical activity (PA) is associated with lower CMD prevalence, yet trends in CMD prevalence by PA level and associated disparities remain underexplored.

Methods: We analyzed 2007–2018 NHANES data from 26,380 adults aged ≥20 years. CMDs included diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and chronic kidney disease (CKD; eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m² or ACR ≥30 mg/g). PA was categorized as no activity, some/irregular activity, or regular activity. Age-standardized prevalence and survey-weighted logistic regression estimated trends (reference: 2007–2008) and adjusted odds ratios (aORs).

Results: Diabetes prevalence increased, with higher odds in 2013–2014 (OR = 1.27; 95% CI: 1.01–1.60), 2015–2016 (OR = 1.41; 1.08–1.84), and 2017–2018 (OR = 1.45; 1.16–1.80) and an absolute increase of 2.49% (0.85 to 4.13). No significant trends were observed for CKD (absolute change: 0.11%; …

A Poetic Call For And A Reflection And Commentary On Clarity, Understanding, Hope, Courage, And Compassion, Carroy U. Ferguson

Psychology Faculty Publication Series

Finding a published poem I had written as a teenager, titled “The Heavens Weep.” this article uses that poem as the basis for a commentary that reflects on the state of the world today (2026),  As a commentary, the article uses the poetic and metaphoric words in the poem as a relevant "reality check" for what is still going on today.  In essence, the commentary is about a call for Clarity, Understanding, Hope, Courage, and Compassion, or what I call Archetypal Energies, Higher Vibrational Energies that operate deep within our individual and collective psyches to creatively urge us to "see" …