Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding The Role Of Relationship Satisfaction In Social Support Provision For Youth In The Child Welfare System, Nathan Michael Lutz

Master's Theses

The objective of this study was to examine kin social support and relationship satisfaction, as well as the interaction between these two variables, in terms of their association with placement stability, externalizing behaviors, and internalizing symptoms for youth in the child welfare system. Ordinary Least Squares Regression methods were used in conjunction with Poisson and Negative Binomial Regression methods. the study also examined two different methods for calculating the interaction term to determine relationship satisfaction's moderating effect on the relationship between social support and the outcomes. Results suggested that relationship satisfaction does act as a moderator when externalizing behaviors and …

The Longitudinal Relationship Between Callous-Unemotional Traits And Exposure To Community Violence: Examining Primary And Secondary Psychopathy In Serious Adolescent Offenders, Elizabeth Sargent

Master's Theses

in youth, psychopathy is often represented by callous-unemotional traits, characterized by a lack of guilt and empathy. While justice-involved youth can exhibit such traits, less research has been done in adolescents than has been with adults in the justice system. Still, previous research supports that callous-unemotional traits in particular can predict higher risk for adverse outcomes and violent behavior in youth. Various vulnerabilities and experiences contribute to the development of callous-unemotional traits, and while some individuals with psychopathic traits are thought to have been born with an innate inability to feel empathy (primary psychopathy), others may experience psychological distress in …

Condition Severity And Parent Psychosocial Functioning In Families Of Youth With Spina Bifida: The Role Of Parental Attitudes And Beliefs, Elicia Wartman

Master's Theses

Past research suggests that parents of youth with spina bifida (SB) have worse psychosocial outcomes than parents of typically developing youth. SB is a complex medical condition that is accompanied by varying degrees of physical disability and cognitive deficits. Research on stress and coping suggests that parents' attitudes and beliefs may contribute to their own psychosocial adjustment. This study unpacks condition severity and examines the role of severity of condition-related factors in predicting parental adjustment and parental attitudes and beliefs. Participants were recruited as part of a larger longitudinal study. Information on condition severity, including type of SB, lesion level, …

The Creation And Evolution Of Introductory Courses In Women's Studies Programs, Tori Kay Olson

Master's Theses

This study seeks to understand what affects knowledge production in introductory women's studies courses. Using critical discourse analysis, the study looks at the archives of two very different programs within the Chicago area. the two programs studied, Loyola University Chicago and University of Illinois€”Chicago, offer two different examples of how women's studies programs were created and evolved, and how this influenced the knowledge production in their introductory courses. in addition to the archival materials of these two universities, this study relies on various reports and accounts written by women's studies scholars during the same timeframe as the documented archival material …

Trajectories Of Adaptive Functioning Among Youth With Spina Bifida: The Influence Of Neurocognitive Functioning And Parental Scaffolding, Adrien Winning

Master's Theses

Youth with spina bifida (SB), a congenital birth defect affecting the central nervous system, are at risk of experiencing an array of psychosocial and functional deficits (Copp et al., 2015; Holmbeck et al., 2003). Indeed, previous research has documented difficulties across the three adaptive functioning domains outlined by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD): conceptual (e.g., communication, self-direction, functional academics), social (e.g., interpersonal skills), and practical (e.g., self-care, navigating health-care; Copp et al., 2015). Despite this evidence, whether or not children with SB typically acquire skills across development is largely unknown. Additionally, little is known about risk …

Wayfinder Application For Autistic Occupational Assistance, Nathaniel Edward Hishon

Master's Theses

Employment among autistic individuals is an area of noted difficulty, with an employment rate well below the general population [1]. Several barriers attributed to autistic unemployment, including difficulties communicating with employers and social interactions with coworkers, obsessive adherence to routine, and trouble organizing and completing workplace tasks, are also attributed to challenges in maintaining employment [2]. Several studies have concluded that long-term employment support is necessary to acquire and maintain autistic employment [3]. The noted benefit of intensive job training, such as access to job coaches, indicates the need for further support to help autistic individuals complete workplace tasks and …

A Poetics Of Violence: Representations Of Violence As Storytelling And World-Building Tools Of The Theater, Richard Gilbert

Dissertations

This dissertation explores how representations of violence do dramaturgical work in theatrical production. Playwrights write scenes of violence, and directors and designers stage them, with specific dramaturgical goals in mind. The project of this work is to develop a theoretical framework for understanding how productions use representations of violence. Ideally, that framework will be of use both to critics seeking to analyze productions with violence and to practitioners who want to more consciously shape their own use of violence.

Representations of violence create a sudden change in the audience's affective experience of the fictional world. I call that sudden change …

Habermas And The Question Of Bioethics, Hille Haker

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In The Future of Human Nature, Jürgen Habermas raises the question of whether the embryonic genetic diagnosis and genetic modification threatens the foundations of the species ethics that underlies current understandings of morality. While morality, in the normative sense, is based on moral interactions enabling communicative action, justification, and reciprocal respect, the reification involved in the new technologies may preclude individuals to uphold a sense of the undisposability (Unverfügbarkeit) of human life and the inviolability (Unantastbarkeit) of human beings that is necessary for their own identity as well as for reciprocal relations. Engaging with liberal …

Bruno Latour And The Myth Of Autonomous Academic Discipline: Rethinking Education In The Light Of Various Modes Of Existence, Colby Dickinson

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Background: Issues of identity, interdependence, relationality and violence are far larger than the human species alone, although humanity has often pretended as if it alone were the beneficiaries of studying such ideas.

Aim: Pedagogically, the complexity of existence beyond human being must influence the traditional humanities curriculum or risk further isolation and alienation within humanity-dominant narratives.

Setting: As climate change continues to alter our comprehension of what is truly at stake in the survival of life on this planet, however, humankind needs a complete rethinking of its relationship with the multiple forms of life that dwell alongside it, as well …

Examining Psychological Self-Sufficiency Among African American Low-Income Jobseekers In A Health Profession Career Pathway Program, Philip Young P. Hong, Caleb Kim, Rana Hong, Jang H. Park, Dara Lewis

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

The aim of this study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of low-income African American jobseekers participating in the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) program by employing a mixed method (Qual-Quant) approach. For qualitative data, two in-depth focus groups were conducted with a total of 12 participants who either completed one program or graduated from the HPOG program. With quantitative data, amediation path analysis was conducted using Model 4 of the PROCESS macro (3.1) with a total of 386 participants. The qualitative content analysis of the focus groups generated an overarching theme of the relationship influence on generating hope …

’Let’S Call Ourselves The Super Elite’: Using The Collective Behavior Tradition To Analyze Trump’S America, Todd Nicholas Fuist, Rhys Williams

Sociology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The mid‐twentieth century “collective behavior” school asserted that (1) collective behavior—the actions of crowds, movements, and other gatherings—had distinct dynamics; (2) such action was often “nonrational,” or not governed by cost‐benefit calculation; and (3) collective behavior could pose a threat to liberal democracy because of these features. While this tradition fell out of scholarly favor, the 2016 election has given us empirical reasons to revisit some elements of collective behavior approaches. We argue for three key orienting concerns, drawn from this tradition, to understand the current political era. First is a focus on authoritarianism and populism, particularly among those who …

Entrepreneurship As Boundary Object: Toward Reintegration Of Colombia’S Ex-Militants Into Civil Society, Andres Barrios Fajardo, Clifford J. Shultz, Juan Carlos Montes Joya

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

War and other violent conflicts greatly degrade a country’s economic, social, and marketing systems. In the aftermath of conflict, national and international organizations develop different strategies, such as business development, aimed at the reconstruction of these systems. This article draws on boundary theory to frame the way in which entrepreneurship can help ex-militants to discard war-activities and to reintegrate peacefully and productively into a peace-time economy. An interpretive study examining the life-narratives of former militants of illegal groups involved in Colombia’s armed conflict – the world’s longest, lasting 52 years – regarding their business start-ups was designed and administered. Findings …

Response To My Commentators, David Ingram

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Exploring An Existing Weight Management App For Use With Adolescents And Young Adults With Spina Bifida: Usability Study, Elizabeth C. Stiles-Shields, Brittney Garcia, Kimberly Villota, Elicia Wartman, Adrien M. Winning, Grayson Holmbeck

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Background: Adolescents and young adults with spina bifida (AYA-SBs) have unique user needs, given their variable and complex symptom profile. Owing to multiple barriers to prevention and intervention treatments for secondary conditions (eg, obesity), AYA-SBs may benefit from the use of behavioral intervention technologies (BITs). However, as BITs are often designed and tested with typically developing individuals, it is unclear if existing BITs may be usable for AYA-SBs.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the usability of a high-quality, publicly available, weight management–focused mobile BIT (smartphone app) for AYA-SBs.

Methods: Overall, 28 AYA-SBs attending a Young Men’s Christian Association–based summer …

Catholicism In The Neonatal Context: Belief, Practice, Challenge, Hope, M. Therese Lysaught Phd

Institute of Pastoral Studies: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Roman Catholics comprise the largest single denomination in the United States and are the nation’s largest group of not-for-profit healthcare providers. Yet, there is little or no available literature to assist neonatal caregivers in understanding how religious beliefs and values might influence parents’ responses to the challenges posed by their newborn’s care. Equally, there is little or no available literature on the academic or pastoral side addressing questions of neonatal medicine from a theological perspective. This chapter addresses how Roman Catholic teachings might affect the ways in which parents and caregivers make treatment decisions. It examines the neonatal context in …

Rethinking Constitutional Interpretation To Affirm Human Rights And Dignity, Vincent Samar

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Professional Development: An Msw Course Based On Group Work Principles And Opportunities, Shirley Simon

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Professional development is a critical but frequently overlooked aspect of students’ education. This paper chronicles a group work-based MSW elective course that explores issues of professional identity and responsibility within a contemporary context, develops projects focused on individually-determined professional interests, and provides opportunities to participate in and present at professional conferences such as the International Association for Social Work with Groups (IASWG) Symposium. The syllabus, feedback from students, and recommendations for replication are shared.

Neurobiological Core Content In The Research-Supported Transforming Impossible Into Possible (Tip) Program Model, Rana Hong, Philip Young P. Hong

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article explores neurobiological components in the Transforming Impossible into Possible (TIP) program; a research-supported social work group model developed from the theory of psychological self-sufficiency (PSS). The PSS theory emerges from a participatory action research in workforce development, defining PSS as the force within someone that activates a process of transforming perceived barriers into hope driven actions. TIP program is a bottom-up, participant-centered, multi-systematic approach which empowers individuals to begin the PSS process by developing self-awareness, confidence, hope, goal-orientation, leadership, accountability, conscientiousness, and grit. Applying the core concepts of neurobiological content derived from both cognitive neuroscience and interpersonal neurobiology, …

Exercises Integrating High School Mathematics With Robot Motion Planning, Ronald I. Greenberg, George K. Thiruvathukal

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This paper presents progress in developing exercises for high school students incorporating level-appropriate mathematics into robotics activities. We assume mathematical foundations ranging from algebra to precalculus, whereas most prior work on integrating mathematics into robotics uses only very elementary mathematical reasoning or, at the other extreme, is comprised of technical papers or books using calculus and other advanced mathematics. The exercises suggested are relevant to any differerential-drive robot, which is an appropriate model for many different varieties of educational robots. They guide students towards comparing a variety of natural navigational strategies making use of typical movement primitives. The exercises align …

The Feminist Politics Of Choice: Lipstick As A Marketplace Icon, Lauren Gurrieri, Jenna M. Drenten

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Lipstick has been a dominant beauty practice across cultures and throughout history. Once deemed a sign of Satan, a potential health risk, and even an illegal product, lipstick has experienced centuries of controversy to secure its status as a marketplace icon – albeit a polarising one. Liberating to some; limiting to others. How have such tensions shaped lipstick’s cultural meanings? By examining lipstick’s gendered history, we highlight how lipstick reflects contested feminist politics of choice – regarded as playful and deliberately chosen as well as fostering appearance-based expectations based on idealised feminine beauty. We highlight how lipstick gives rise to …

Reenergizing And Renewing The Call For Asian American And Pacific Islander University Community Research Partnerships, Oiyan A. Poon, George Villanueva

School of Communication: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Sensorial Intermedialities In Roman Letters: Cicero, Horace, And Ovid, Jonathan E. Mannering

Classical Studies: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In recent years, much progress has been made towards elucidating the function of ekphrasis in Roman epistolography, especially with relation to the writings of Seneca and Pliny. Following on from these precedents, this article mines the epistles of three prominent Roman letter-writers, Cicero, Horace, and Ovid, for their intermedial elements. The motifs of oral quotations, handwriting, and human tear stains, which interweave the sources analysed, are shown not only to straddle the borders between distinct media, but also to engage with multiple senses as a result of their multiple medialities. Oral quotations integrate speech into written texts and thus necessitate …

Pathway Of Employment From Uncovering Barriers To Discovering Hope: Nontraditional, Student-Centered, Relationship-Based Approach, Philip Young P. Hong, Rana Hong, Dara Lewis, Diane Williams

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

This study explores the experiences and perspectives of service providers with regard to the process of psychological self-sufficiency (PSS) among students in the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) program. Based on a social work theory of PSS as our organizing framework, combined qualitative content analysis (inductive to deductive) was conducted with two service provider focus groups (n = 16) and three student focus groups (n = 27). The overarching theme of nontraditional, student-centered, holistic staff approaches which lead to the pathway from uncovering perceived employment barriers to discovering employment hope emerged with four phenomenological categories. The findings supported …

Chicago's School Closings: From A Civil Rights Perspective To A Human Rights Perspective, Lincoln Hill

Center for the Human Rights of Children

In May 2013, the Chicago Board of education approved a plan to close 49 of the city’s elementary schools and one of its high schools1 resulting in the largest mass school closure in United states history.2 Those against the school closings argued that the decision was discriminatory considering the racial and socioeconomic disparities of children directly affected. With Black children representing just 40% of the district’s students, 80% of the children impacted by the closings were Black students living in predominantly Black and impoverished neighbor- hoods in the south and West sides of the city.

Despite national criticism and protests …

Does Trust On Institution Affect The Informal Activities Among Youth In Mena Region (Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt And Lebanon), Lylia Sami, Moundir Lassassi

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

Several empirical works have analyzed the determinants of being in informal sector. Most focus on the effect of socioeconomic factors such as level of education, regions of residence, skills acquired, and gender. The most recent works has find that institutional factors can influence decisions to undertake activities in the informal sector such as corruption, regulations and legislation (Hart, 2012; Schneider et al., 2010) or tax burden (Schneider and Enste, 2000; Ferraira-Tiryaki, 2008, Friedman and al, 2000, Frey and Torgler2007) but alternative explanation concerning the institutional factor include Portes (1994, 2005, 2010) and Burroni and al. ( 2008) concern the effect …

Integrating Youth Participation And Ecosocial Work: New Possibilities To Advance Environmental And Social Justice, Tania Schusler, Amy Krings, Melissa Hernández

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article reveals possibilities to expand the role of youth within ecosocial work practice. The Where I Stand Youth Summit held in Chicago, Illinois, provided a safe space for young people to reflect upon their understanding of, and roles within, social and environmental justice movements. Drawing upon critical youth empowerment theory and participant observation, we note that youth shared experiences of oppression across unique social identities, while displaying authentic communication, acceptance, and desire for solidarity. Re-defining what knowledge matters, along with intention and self-restoration, also emerged as critical to building young people’s agency and power to effect social change.

Daoism, Flourishing, And Gene Editing, Richard Kim

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Given the potentially powerful effects of gene editing for human lives, it seems reasonable to reflect on the issue from a variety of scientific, moral, cultural, and religious perspectives to help us deploy this technology with a clear eye to all its possible implications. Given the global impact genetic modification will likely have, an inquiry seriously engaging with the values and ideals of non-Western cultures and societies will be helpful to achieve the sort of balanced understanding that will enable a proper evaluation. This chapter examines the account of well-being found in the Daoist classic, the Zhuangzi, and highlights some …

Collective Survival Strategies And Anti-Colonial Practice In Ecosocial Work, Finn Mclafferty Bell, Mary Kate Dennis, Amy Krings

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Oppressed communities have long used strategies of caring for and protecting each other to ensure their collective survival. We argue for ecosocial workers to critically interrogate how agency, history, and culture structure environmental problems and our responses to them, by developing a resilience-based framework, collective survival strategies (CSS). CSS consider power, culture and history and build upon the strengths of oppressed communities facing global environmental changes. We challenge the dominant narrative of climate change as a “new” problem and connect it to colonization. We discuss implications by examining a social work program explicitly built on Indigenous knowledges and anti-colonial practice.

Disturbing The Dream Of Integration: Critical Whiteness And The History Of Penn State’S College Of Education, 1954-1963, Ali Watts

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs

In this study I drawn upon Critical Whiteness frameworks and a deconstructionist historiographical method to explore tensions between espoused and enacted ‘integrationist’ values within the Pennsylvania State University’s College of Education in the decade following Brown v. Board (1954-1963). This site-specific historical approach is a response to the fact that the vast majority of higher education scholarship exploring the history of the Civil Rights era focuses on Southern institutions and their overt struggles over desegregation and racial integration. This focus is warranted given the dramatic and often violent nature of this period of Southern history, but it may serve to …

Race On Campus: Debunking Myths With Data, Nick Francis Havey

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs

There are many myths revolving race and diversity on college campuses. Are students of color choosing to isolate themselves in ways that hurt them? Did your friend from high school only get into Harvard because she’s Black? Does the SAT inherently favor rich kids? In Race on Campus: Debunking Myths with Data, Julie Park describes and deconstructs racial myths in an incredible contribution to the higher education literature on race, racism, and diversity issues on campus.