Digital Commons Network^™

Comics And Conflict: War And Patriotically Themed Comics In American Cultural History From World War Ii Through The Iraq War, Cord A. Scott

Dissertations

Illustration has been an integral part of human history. Particularly before the advent of media such as photography, film, television, and now the Internet, illustrations in all their variety have been the primary visual way to convey history. The comic book, which emerged in its modern form in the 1930s, was another form of visual entertainment that gave readers, especially children, a form of escape.

As World War II began, however, comic books became an integral part of war propaganda as well providing information and education for both children and adults. This dissertation looks at how specific comic books of …

A Developmental Model Predicting Adjustment In Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Role Of Executive Functions, Social Impairment, And Friendship Quality, Rebecca Wasserman Lieb

Dissertations

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are pervasive developmental disorders characterized by several core deficits including social skills impairments and difficulty processing social information. Little is known about the role of contributing factors adjustment in this population. The first aim of this study was to evaluate two meditational models of youth with ASD in which social impairment and friendship quality mediated the relation between various domains of executive functions (EF) and adjustment, as well as a full developmental model in which EF contributed to compromised social skills which influenced friendship quality leading to increased adjustment difficulties in this population. The second aim …

Characteristics Of Advocates: An Exploration Of Skills And Skill Development Used In The Performance Of Advocacy Work In The Mental Health Profession, Lydia R. Wiede

Dissertations

This dissertation sought to explore the skills necessary to become an effective advocate in the mental health profession. Additionally, this study sought to discover how and where mental health professionals learned the necessary skills to be advocates. This qualitative study examined the factors identified by individuals actively engaged in advocacy work.

Education, Fascism, And The Catholic Church In Franco's Spain, Joan Domke

Dissertations

Societies in transition are vulnerable to strong forces for political change. When Franco's fascist government defeated the socialist party that had taken control from 1931 to 1936, it aligned itself with Spain's Catholic Church. For most of Spain's history, the established Church culture had been inseparable from Spanish identity and Catholicism was taught in all schools, private and public. Therefore, under the guise of religion, the government used the educational system as a means of socialization, connecting nationalism and religion to promote their fascist agenda. The purpose of this historiographic study is to examine the relationships among the school, government, …

Examining Leadership Styles In Ten High Poverty Elementary Schools, John Will Cook

Dissertations

This qualitative research study examines the construct of leadership styles as perceived by the principals and the teachers. The personal experiences of the participants, their perspectives, and their insights will be an important element of this researcher's inquiry and significant to understanding how leadership is perceived at 10 elementary schools with a high poverty student population.

The research questions of this study are as follows:

1. What is the perception of principals and select teachers of the leadership style of five principals at low SES area elementary schools (kindergarten through eighth grade) that achieve adequate yearly progress overall for 3 …

Meta-Analysis Of The Relationship Between Collective Teacher Efficacy And Student Achievement, Rachel Jean Eells

Dissertations

Collective teacher efficacy is an emergent school level variable reflecting a faculty's collective belief in its ability to positively affect students. It has been linked in the literature to school achievement. This meta-analysis systematically synthesized results from 26 component studies, including dissertations and published articles, which reported at least one correlation between collective teacher efficacy and school achievement.

The research questions addressed the distribution of effect sizes for the relationship and the moderator variables that could explain any variance found among the studies. It was hypothesized that collective teacher efficacy would be strongly associated with subsequent student achievement, and that …

An Examination Of Internet Pornography Usage Among Male Students At Evangelical Christian Colleges, Paul Olaf Chelsen

Dissertations

Internet pornography access among male students at Evangelical Christian colleges presents two dilemmas. First, Internet pornography access is institutionally prohibited based on a Biblical view of sexuality. The second dilemma is that individual students who choose to follow the teaching of Jesus Christ in the context of Evangelical Christian faith tradition can experience internal distress in response to Internet pornography access. No empirical study to date has examined Internet pornography access only among male undergraduates only at Evangelical Christian colleges. The first guiding research question is, "To what extent do male undergraduates at select Evangelical Christian colleges in the Midwest …

Australia V. Usa: Indian Engineering Students Pursuing Graduate Degrees Abroad, An Analysis Of Factors Influencing The Choice And Location Of Institution, Louis Berends

Dissertations

The global market of higher education is growing at a rapid pace. Prospective graduate students in engineering have more options - domestically and internationally - than ever before. At this moment, the international setting of engineering graduate programs continues to shift and expand. This study analyzes the decision-making processes of students from India who pursue graduate education in Australia and the United States of America. In this setting, decision-making processes of student choice were examined after study participants selected higher education institutions in Australian and U.S. The research question is: why do graduate degree-seeking engineering students from India pursue studies …

Youth And Risky Consumption: Moving Toward A Transformative Approach, Marlys J. Mason, John F. Tanner, Maria Piacentini, Dan Freeman, Trena Anastasia, Wided Batat, Wendy Boland, Murad Canbulut, Jenna M. Drenten, Anne Hamby, Priyamvadha Rangan, Zhiyong Yang

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Recent statistics indicate that youth continue to engage in a wide variety of risky behaviours in spite of significant investment devoted to improving their well-being. One possible factor is a paternalistic view in understanding risk and promoting well-being. Participants in the Youth and Risk track of the Transformative Consumer Research conference challenge the paternalistic view, arguing in this paper for a more inclusive perspective that requires a reexamination of the nature of risk. The paternalistic view is discussed, and then countered with a more participatory approach that develops a role for youth in research in order to achieve socially desirable …

Body Image And Body Mass Index: An Investigation Of Preadolescent Low-Income, Urban Ethnic Minority Girls, Amanda K. Ward

Master's Theses

Utilizing a sample of low-income, urban preadolescent African American and Latina girls, this study examined ethnic differences in two aspects of body image (i.e., body dissatisfaction and weight descriptions), and determined if this relation varied as a function of age. This study also examined the relation between the body image variables and self-esteem and BMI and self-esteem, and determined if these relations differed depending on age or ethnicity. Participants were recruited from 3rd through 5th grade at five Chicago Public Schools, and completed measures of body dissatisfaction, weight descriptions, self-esteem, and had their anthropometric measurements taken. Results showed that Latina …

The Uses Of Expertise: Science, Medicine And Body/Self-Fashioning, Amanda J. Counts

Master's Theses

This paper draws on empirical evidence collected from pro-anorexia websites and qualitative interviews with dieters to develop an analysis of the uses of medical and scientific expertise in processes of body- and self-fashioning. It builds on previous work by examining how `lay publics' refashion expertise in order to use it for new purposes, sometimes contradictory to the purposes of medicine itself. Four distinct groups are analyzed: Women diagnosed with anorexia; women diagnosed with EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified); dieters using traditional methods of caloric restricting; and dieters using a new method called Primal Dieting. Overall, respondents indicated an ambivalence …

The Influence Of Supportive Parenting And Racial Socialization On Internalizing And Externalizing Behaviors Among African-American Youth, Corinn Elmore

Master's Theses

The current study examined the additive and interactive effects of racial socialization on internalizing and externalizing behaviors. One hundred and thirty-six youth (mean age = 11.49, SD = 1.71) in fourth through eighth grade and parents of children these ages (n = 150) from 3 three locations of a community based family support agency reported on the youth's internalizing and externalizing behaviors, parental behavior, and racial socialization experiences. Correlational analyses were conducted to determine the relationship between study variables. Consistent with hypotheses, supportive parenting was associated with fewer maladaptive outcomes. Racial pride messages showed a trend level association to outcomes. …

Emotional Exhaustion, Work-Family Conflict, And Marital Satisfaction Among Professional Psychologists., Alisha Oscharoff

Master's Theses

While a wealth of research has examined how the occupational role affects family domain functioning, there is limited research investigating these issues among mental health professionals. Using a sample of 160 professional psychologists, this study examined the relationships between emotional exhaustion at work, work-family conflict (WFC), and marital satisfaction as well as gender differences in the strengths of these relationships. Analyses indicated that increased emotional exhaustion was associated with increased WFC and that both emotional exhaustion and WFC were negatively associated with marital satisfaction. However, WFC did not emerge as a significant mediator of the relationship between emotional exhaustion and …

Predictors Of Academic Achievement And Failure Among Low-Income Urban African American Adolescents: An Ecological Perspective, Israel Moses Gross

Master's Theses

Predictors of academic achievement among urban low-income African American adolescents have primarily been investigated by examining "main effects," or limited interactions with conventional statistical techniques. This paper adds to the literature by examining the factors that influence academic outcomes among this population within an ecological systems framework. This allowed for a comprehensive understanding of how numerous protective and risk factors, across ecological settings, interact to influence academic outcomes.

Optimal Data Analysis (ODA) was employed to create prediction models for mathematic and reading achievement. ODA allowed for the examination of a vast number of variables in one statistical model without increasing …

The Melting Pot Versus The Salad Bowl: American Attitudes Toward Acculturation Of Middle Eastern Immigrants, Hannah M. Alarian

Master's Theses

Since the formation of the United States of America the debate over the environment of America as a melting pot in which immigrants assimilate or as a salad bowl in which immigrants acculturate rages on. Acculturation in its conceptual definition is dualistic, meaning it affects not just the immigrating group but also the host culture group (Berry, 1990). In most research, however, acculturation only refers to the change in the acculturating group and not to the host culture group. This study examined the multidimensionality of attitudes toward Middle Eastern immigrants through an investigation of intergroup relations (threat, perceived group permeability) …

Accountability And Political Tolerance: "Sober Second-Thought" Or Knee-Jerk?, Erika D. Price

Master's Theses

This thesis explores the cognitive underpinnings of political tolerance. Past research suggests that political elites are more tolerant than the general population, regardless of political orientation. Survey results suggest that political expertise, interest, and attention to politics foster increased political tolerance, regardless of ideology, party, or the extent to which tolerance is carefully considered by the respondent.

Prosocial Behavior And Teamwork In Online Computer Games, Julia Elizabeth Fredrickson

Master's Theses

The use of technology for training purposes is a growing field. Many of the traits for successful team building are shared by a variety of video games, overcoming the limitations of traditional team-building exercises. The goal of this research project was to study social and teamwork oriented behaviors within the settings of online computer games. One hundred and eighty-one individuals completed an online survey in which they were asked questions regarding team-work behaviors. These individuals also participated in a game scenario which measured their social orientation. The hypotheses for this research were that individuals who play online computer games will …

The Ends Determine The Means: Activated Goals Explain The Decision To Confront, Kala Jean Melchiori

Master's Theses

Women believe that they would confront perpetrators of sexual harassment, but when put in a sexually harassing situation they rarely confront (Woodzicka & LaFrance, 2001). Women may overestimate their likelihood of confronting because they think they would be concerned with fairness, but in actuality the need to belong strongly dissuades women from confronting harassers. I tested this idea by randomly assigning women to be primed with a belonging, fairness, or no goal, and then had them predict how they would respond to sexually harassing or surprising interview questions. Women who viewed the sexually harassing interview questions predicted more confrontational behavior …

An Attack On One Is An Attack On All: Factors That Influence Responses To Witnessing Discrimination, Hilary E. Slover

Master's Theses

Witnessing discrimination against a racial minority should be threatening to both racial minority and majority group members, but for different reasons. One's racial group membership and one's relationship with the perpetrator could both serve as sources of threat to a third party observer. Ninety-two participants identified as racial majority group members (i.e., White) and 48 identified as racial minority group members (i.e., Asian, Black, and other). Each participant was asked to report one instance of discrimination perpetrated by a close other and one by a distant other. Some differences between minority and majority group members' responses emerged. For example, compared …

Global Influences And Resistance Within: Inclusive Practices And South Africa's Apartheid Government, Jean Marie Fagin

Master's Theses

South Africa's racially segregating apartheid government officially lasted for over forty years, from 1948 to 1994. Black South Africans were the victims of established oppression resulting in poverty, poor health care, and limited educational opportunities. Black South Africans with disabilities faced even greater exclusion from society due to their physical and cognitive challenges. Education for black students was neither compulsory nor free, and few black students with disabilities received services.

During the apartheid regime (1948-1994), disability issues were being address globally. The United Nations issued declarations, conventions, and a programme of action devoted to people with disabilities. In the early …

Role For Histone Deacetylases In Glucocorticoid Receptor Mediated Transpression Of Natural Killer Cell Activity, Kristin Bush

Master's Theses

During periods of psychosocial distress glucocorticoids (GCs) are known to reduce the lytic activity of natural killer cells (NKCA). Glucocorticoid treatment also reduces acetylation of histone residues; however, the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) lacks deacetylase activity. GR is known to interact with histone deacetylases (HDACs) and with corepressors that mediate gene transrepression. In this investigation, GC induced histone deacetylation was demonstrated to be due to GR recruitment of HDAC1 and the corepressor complex SMRT. These data show that reduced acetylation of immune functional genes associated with NKCA is likely due to histone deacetylation by HDAC1 and transrepression of those genes by …

Toward A Practice-Based Approach In Foreign Language Education, Kristin Davin, Richard Donato

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

In 1999, Ball & Cohen called for a practice-based curriculum in teacher training. While content areas such as math and science have responded to this call, few studies in foreign language education have been published on practice-based teacher training. This session details a course designed by the foreign language department at the University of Pittsburgh. This course centers around three high-leverage practices (HLPs). HLPs are practices which are done frequently and which novice teachers must be able to implement in order to be effective teachers. They are often context-independent and improve the learning for all students. This presentation describes how …

Sibling Suicide In Indo-American Families: Acculturation, Acculturative Stress, And Family Relationships, Suresh Unni

Dissertations

This study investigated suicide in Indo-American families. Relationships between acculturation, acculturative stress, and family relationships in completed suicides of Indo-American youth were examined. Snowball sampling procedures were used to find six adult sibling survivors of suicide as participants. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted by the researcher. Grounded theory strategies were used to analyze data and generate theory. Analysis of results yielded both protective and risk factors for suicide. Acculturation risk factors resulted from homogeneous populations lacking in diversity while protective factors were progressive and integrated neighborhood and schools. Integration was the preferred mode of acculturation by participants and suicide victims. …

So That Love May Be Safeguarded: The Nature, Form, And Function Of Obedience As A Heuristic Device For The Theology Of Hans Urs Von Balthasar, Daniel Paul Burns

Dissertations

Hans Urs von Balthasar's literary body of work is enormous. His style is erudite and often abstruse. As a result, it is often difficult to systematize and arrange his work into coherent and consistent categories. This dissertation offers the singular category of obedience as a heuristic device to help render the entire von Balthasarian corpus more understandable. For von Balthasar, the word "obedience" is multivalent and rich in meaning. It cuts across all aspects of human relationships, of human relationships with God, and even God's relationship with Himself. This dissertation claims that the meaning of the word "obedience" is central …

Leading With Love: The Confluence Of Spirituality And Leadership In College Students, Eileen Patricia Doherty

Dissertations

This study explored the relationship between spirituality and leadership in college students, creating a conceptual framework for student spiritual leadership. Based in the prior work of leadership theory, college student leadership development, faith development, spiritual leadership, spirituality in higher education, and the environment of faith-based institutions, this research built upon previous research to create a framework for future study.

Using a case study method that considered a specific context, fourth-year students at a mid-size Catholic institution were interviewed, along with faculty and staff who offered observations of the students. While these students are a small sample of the college student …

To Advance A Race: A Historical Analysis Of The Intersection Of Personal Belief, Industrial Philanthropy And Black Liberal Arts Higher Education In Fayette Mckenzie's Presidency At Fisk University, 1915-1925, Christopher Nicholson

Dissertations

This dissertation used archival and historical methods to examine Fayette Avery McKenzie's tenure as President at Fisk University from 1915-1925. Specifically, this project investigates the influence McKenzie's work with Native Americans, industrial philanthropy, and American culture of the period played in McKenzie's administration. The research seeks to provide a more complete narrative of McKenzie's administration that is absent from current scholarship, and examine how McKenzie's work at Fisk helped advance Black liberal arts higher education. Analysis of McKenzie's personal papers and other primary and secondary sources provide a strong scholarly basis to examine his administration from multiple perspectives. Through an …

Working Together Toward A Common Goal: A Grounded Theory Of Nurse-Physician Collaboration, Lori Lynn Fewster-Thuente

Dissertations

Purpose: Effective collaboration has been identified as essential to quality patient care processes and outcomes. Yet, the conceptual and theoretical basis for understanding and practicing collaboration remains underdeveloped and imprecise. These factors may hamper the study of collaboration and therefore the optimization of care processes and outcomes. The purpose of this study was to understand the social processes associated with collaboration between nurses and physicians, with the intention of theory development.

Background: Collaboration, or a lack thereof, has been shown to impact both provider and patient satisfaction and outcomes. JCAHO now requires proof of collaboration for accreditation. Many organizations state …

Being And Becoming A U.S. Iraq War Veteran: An Exploration Of The Social Construction Of An Emerging Identity, Anna Stachyra

Dissertations

Background: Traditional perspectives of veteran mental health are grounded in physiological and psychological principles of trauma response and recovery. An alternative perspective is needed for the provision of culturally relevant healthcare to our nation's newest veterans. Research Question: Based on the premise that each veteran cohort has a characteristically identifiable cultural form and process of cultural identification and negotiated development, the research question guiding this study was, "What is the culture of the Iraq War veteran?" Study Aim: The purpose of this study was to describe, from social constructivist perspective, Operation Iraqi Freedom [OIF] veteran cultural identity development. Study Design …

Justice Across Group Boundaries: Extending Empathy-Motivated Helping To Out-Groups, Elizabeth K. Jacobs

Dissertations

This research integrates the theoretical perspectives of three separate but related areas of social-psychological research to hypothesize about relationships between the emotion of empathy and an individual's effort to extend helping behaviors to out-groups. The literatures on social justice, prosocial behavior, and group stereotypes are reviewed. An experimental study manipulated empathic concern for an out-group by varying the perspective through which participants interpret an experience that is had by a fictional immigrant group to America. In addition, the study manipulated the stereotypes that characterized the immigrant group. The effects of these independent variable manipulations on psychometric measures of empathic concern, …

The Relationship Between Transformational Leadership And The Emotional And Social Competence Of The School Leader, David Saxe

Dissertations

Sustainable school reform efforts are needed to move schools closer toward the ideals of equity, justice and success for every student. The success or failure of a school and its students often hinges on the effectiveness of leadership. Research reveals that transformational school leaders become effective change agents by developing a shared vision for the school, building consensus around key priorities, holding high expectations, providing support, modeling appropriate values and building collaborative cultures and shared leadership. The purpose of this study is to examine the predictive relationship between the emotional and social competence and transformational leadership behaviors of school principals. …