Digital Commons Network^™

Talking The Talk: An Exploration Of Parent-Child Communication About Cyberbullying, Veronica Anne Droser

Dissertations and Theses

Technology has, without a doubt, altered the social fabric of society. Mediated forms of communication have paved the way for more efficient production, and the vast amount of information available online has given people the opportunity to be more informed than ever. However, the rise of mediated communication has also presented a number of new threats. The current study focused on one of these threats, cyberbullying, and was interested in looking at how parents talk about and understand their child's cyberbullying behavior.

This study had the goal of uncovering if parents talk to their child about cyberbullying, and how they …

Bringing Functional Family Probation Services To The Community: A Qualitative Case Study, Denise Lynmarie Austin

Dissertations and Theses

In March 2011, Multnomah County's Juvenile Services Division (JSD) in Portland, Oregon implemented a new program model called Functional Family Probation Services, a case management model based on the principles of Functional Family Therapy. Under this model JSD Juvenile Court Counselors deliver Functional Family Probation Services to medium and high-risk youth on probation; both to the youth and their family in their home. This qualitative case study examined the extent to which the Juvenile Court Counselors and Community Justice Managers implemented Functional Family Probation Service's components and recorded their opinions regarding Functional Family Probation Services as a case management model. …

Language At Play: Digital Games In Second And Foreign Language Teaching And Learning. Language Learning & Technology, Steven L. Thorne, Erin Watters

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

A review of Language at Play: Digital games in second and foreign language teaching and learning Julie Sykes and Jonathan Reinhard 2013 ISBN 10: 0-205-00085-1 US 157 pp. Pearson New York, US

by Steven L. Thorne, Portland State University and University of Groningen and Erin Watters, Portland State University

The Effect Of The Bicycle Detector Symbol And R10-22 Sign On Cyclist Queuing Position At Signalized Intersections, Stefan W. Bussey

Civil and Environmental Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Manual of Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) includes a roadway marking and accompanying explanatory sign which may be installed on public roads to help guide cyclists position themselves over detection at actuated traffic signals. While adopted into the MUTCD in 2003, little research is available on the effectiveness of the marking and sign. This study evaluates the influence that the roadway marking, roadway marking installed in conjunction with the explanatory sign, and an alternative detector marking comprised of the MUTCD marking installed over a one foot by two feet green rectangle, have on cyclist queuing position at actuated, signalized intersections. …

Attachment Relationships In Emerging Adulthood: Implications For Counselor Education And Supervision, Christina M. Schnyders, Joel A. Lane

Counselor Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

This session will explore the ways that attachment relationships influence emerging adulthood, the developmental stage experienced by individuals between the ages of 18-29. Findings will be presented from two research studies concerning attachment in emerging adulthood. Implications discussed will include adherence to CACREP standards, best practices for counselor educators who teach from a developmental framework, and best practices for supervisors working with emerging adult supervisees.

Conflict Resolution In Islam: Document Review Of The Early Sources, Flamur Vehapi

Dissertations and Theses

Islam is the world's fastest growing religion. It is known to have an abundant and very rich amount of knowledge found in the Qur'an and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, and as such, this religion has tremendously contributed not only to Muslim societies but also to the West. One aspect of this contribution explicated in this thesis is its contribution to the field of Conflict Resolution.

The primary purpose of this study is to unearth the tradition of peace and conflict resolution that comes out of the religion of Islam, which is unknown to many Muslims today. In this study, …

Mixed-Race Studies; Misstep Or The Next Step For Ethnic Studies In A Blending Nation?, Jennifer E. Robe

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

In January of 2011, the New York Times reported that 2010 U.S. Census data shows that younger generations are self-reporting their racial identity as multiracial or mixed-race in higher numbers than ever before¹. Classes in higher education that engage with race and ethnicity, often but not always as part of Ethnic Studies programs in universities, discuss and critique the categorizations of race and ethnicity. However, there is a social, political and economic power and privilege that groups have in being recognized as part of a categorized racial and/or ethnic group that mixedrace or multiracial identified individuals do not have when …

Mexico, Drug Trafficking Organizations, Realism, And Human Security, Nicole Mcgee

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Before traveling to Mexico, citizens of the United States are advised to check travel warnings for the country. Violence due to the war on drugs is causing people to be weary of visiting ruins from complex pre-Colombian cultures and enjoying the rich tourist industry Mexico provides. In place of cultural and economic highlights, it is now heavily associated with drug trafficking organizations and the violence associated with them. Much of this is due to the war on drugs, declared by President Felipe Calderon in 2006, which escalated the conflict between the state and the drug traffickers and drew increasing worldwide …

He’S Just A Man: Power Imbalance Between Female And Male Characters In American Sitcoms, Wenona Kimbro

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

This paper describes the occurrence and context of dismissive, condescending, and infantilizing linguistic behavior as used by female characters toward male characters in stable heterosexual partnerships portrayed in American entertainment television. This study is based on grounded theory, in that the initial interpretive framework for the analysis stemmed from preliminary data gathered in the study; this working framework directed the analytical approach during subsequent data processing, and was then further developed in response to the overall findings. The methodology used in this study is discourse analysis, an applied linguistic method of studying small units of spoken and written language, such …

Front Matter Volume 7, 2013, Mcnair Scholars Program

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Front matter includes program background, Table of Contents, and a complete listing of 2012 Portland State McNair Scholars.

Effects Of Environmental Enrichment And Natural Substrates On Increasing Species‐Specific Behavior Of Captive Northern White‐Cheeked Gibbons (Nomascus Leucogenys Leucogenys), Arina Woolery

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Suboptimal housing conditions in zoos can cause animals to develop negative behaviors associated with excessive stress levels. Environmental enrichment and the use of natural substrates can decrease stereotypy and increase species-specific behaviors of captive animals (Gibbons et al, 1994). This study observed two pairs of gibbons (Nomascus leucogenys leucogenys) at the Oregon Zoo for 40 hours from July 5th through August 7th in order to analyze the effect that increased environmental enrichment and natural substrates had on the behavior of captive white-cheeked gibbons. One of the gibbon pairs (Phyllis and Duffy) had been housed in the new Red Ape Reserve …

Spinoza And Virtue: The Significance Of Habituation To A Virtuous Character To The Ethics Of The Ethics, Bobbie Sue Schindler

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

The problem addressed in this work is how one can become the free person who only, or primarily, lives by intuitive knowledge. I argue that it is so near impossible or that so few could obtain having a perfected intuitive knowledge that in advocating one’s ability to achieve this ideal Spinoza creates a model of ethical behavior that is far outside his audience’s reach. Further, focusing on this goal of the Ethics, or in seeing that the ethics of Ethics is only fully realized through becoming the free person, diminishes the value of the pragmatic ethics found in habituation to …

Between Two Worlds: Identity And Community In Oaxaca, Amanda Elder

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Access to educational opportunities is the driving force in promoting gender equality and alleviating the effects of poverty among rural populations in Mexico. In Oaxaca, small universities with scholarship programs have recently opened in rural areas to increase logistical and financial access for young people from indigenous communities; however, proper consideration has not been given to cultural constraints and psychological factors that continue inhibiting university access, particularly for young women. Due to traditional, conservative family values with regard to gender expectations that maintain women in subordinate positions to men, women face additional challenges when attempting to balance home community life …

Front Matter Volume 6, 2012, Mcnair Scholars Program

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Front matter includes program background, Table of Contents, and a complete listing of 2011 Portland State McNair Scholars.

The Effects Of Experimentally Induced Psychological Stress On Memory Recall, Mohamed A. Mohamed

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Numerous studies have established the relationship between stress and memory, particularly stress and its effect on memory retrieval. When we experience stress, there is a cascade of hormonal responses which are critical to helping the body cope with the stressful event. When the stressful event persists, levels of the hormone cortisol--a type of glucocorticoid increases in response to the stress and have wide-ranging effects on the body. In particular, cortisol can have an effect on brain cells, particularly the hippocampus which is responsible for cognitive activities such as learning and memory. In this study, we utilized a public speaking task …

Income Disparity For Working Mothers: Eliminating Structural Discrimination Through Public Policy, Marques Lang

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Several studies have shown that in the United States mothers earn lower incomes than employees of similar qualifications and productivity levels. This phenomenon is known as the motherhood penalty. This paper analyzes the antecedents of the motherhood penalty as well as other factors that result in mothers earning lower wages than other women and men, particularly fathers. This begs the question: what role do institutions play in maintaining wage inequality through public policies, specifically maternity leave policy? In answering this question, both the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 are examined to …

Matching Organization Personality Perceptions And The Job Applicant's Personality: A Correlational Study, James Dakota Green

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Recruitment is the process by which organizations acquire the talent they need to be effective. As recruitment becomes more competitive, organizations need to attract the types of job applicants that best fit their needs. Recently, researchers have suggested that human resources departments adopt strategies that are similar to marketing strategies; specifically, it has been suggested that organizations can be characterized as having an organizational “personality,” and that the personality of an organization can be leveraged to attract the best applicants. Organizational personality is described similarly to brand personality and is defined as the human characteristics attributed to an organization. This …

Front Matter Volume 5, 2011, Mcnair Scholars Program

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Front matter includes program background, Table of Contents, and a complete listing of 2010 Portland State McNair Scholars.

Influential Factors Of Parental Substance And Alcohol Abuse On Children’S Academic Achievement, Andrea Winters

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

There is much research to support the idea that parental involvement benefits a child's educational performance. There is also strong evidence demonstrating that parental substance or alcohol abuse increases a child's risk for behavioral problems that include drug and alcohol abuse, social-skill deficits, and low educational attainment. Very little current research has focused specifically on children of substance abusers who, against the odds, achieve academically. This study investigates the relationship between parental substance or alcohol abuse and children’s academic achievement. Data will be collected using a self-report survey from adult-children who self-identify as being a child of a past or …

Urbanism And North American Funerary Practices, Rebecca Marrall

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Urbanism is a way of life for those who reside in a densely inhabited area with a heterogeneous human population. The diversity of cultures, worldviews and practices found in urban areas combine in a form of cultural mixing. The urban amalgamation of cultures raises the question of how urban dwellers process their dead. Indeed, does urbanism influence regional death rituals and funerary practices? Other elements such as urban zoning laws, funerary technology or land scarcity add further dimensions to the original question. In short, do urban funerary practices and death rituals differ precisely because they are urban? My research examines …

Searching The Silence: Finding Black Women’S Resistance To Slavery In Antebellum U.S. History, Loucynda Jensen

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

This paper will explore the topic of black female resistance to slavery in the antebellum United States with a focus on how female slaves’ reproductive decisions, namely abortion and infanticide, can be analyzed as resistance against slaveholders' methods of slave breeding, and therefore against the system of slavery and oppression itself. Within my paper I will appraise how a nuanced definition of resistance can be applied to these gendered methods of opposition, and how other historians before me have chosen to use this term in these instances. I will also investigate how other historians and writers have decided what, or …

The Invisible Victims: Children Of Incarcerated Mothers, Holly Hernandez

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

During the last several years the number of incarcerated mothers has steadily increased. Subsequently the number of children involved is also increasing. While substantial research has been done on the topic of children with incarcerated mothers, the voices of the children on the matter are often invisible from research. When a child’s mother is incarcerated they are often placed into a relatives home, or into foster care. Children become vulnerable and many times do not know how to deal with these issues, and do not know how to express how they feel. Many times children are left to make sense …

Towards A Tool For Measuring Student Role Mastery, Collin Fellows

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

The role of "college student" is an uncertain one for all freshmen, but some students come into the education system not sharing the common understanding of how to best enact that role. This study will look at new ways of measuring expertise in, and mastery of the role of college student. I will explore the possibility of using Cultural Consensus as a measuring rod of how well entering students understand this role. Finding such a tool can be of use both in predicting success and in developing specific interventions for those who might otherwise drop out of school.

Faculty Mentors: …

Africans And African Americans: Conflicts, Stereotypes And Grudges, Foday Darboe

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

This research focuses critically on the relationship between African immigrants and African Americans in the United States. It examines stereotypes, conflicts and grudges between the two groups and how they impact their co-existence and adaptation to each other. Most African Americans are descendants of enslaved Africans that were transported to the US during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Since African Americans and Africans are descended from the same root African cultures, it is reasonable to expect that they would adapt and co-exist in harmony; however, there is tension between the two groups. My objectives are to probe the issues between these …

The Relationship Of Acculturation And All Cause Mortality Among Mexican Americans: Results From The Nhanes Iii Mortality Follow Up, Gloria C. Diaz

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Background: Mexican Americans comprise the largest percentage of Hispanics in the United States, accounting for 9.5% of the population in 2006. Although more than 40% of Mexican Americans are foreign born, even individuals born in the U.S. face the process of acculturation, or the merging of Mexican and American cultures. Previous research has linked acculturation to both negative and positive health outcomes, with more acculturated Mexican Americans experiencing increased rates of substance use and abuse, asthma, and obesity, but decreased rates of physical inactivity and low self-esteem. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between acculturation and …

Front Matter Volume 4, 2010, Mcnair Scholars Program

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Front matter includes program background, Table of Contents, and a complete listing of 2010 Portland State McNair Scholars.

"We Don't Have Any Of Those:" Looking For Leaders In The Horizontal Structure Of Occupy Portland, Aaron Martin Bach

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis documents and examines Occupy Portland's organizational structure and the impact of this structure on the leadership roles of participants. Interviews with key activists and participant observation reveal that the ideologically influenced horizontal organization employed by the movement disrupts the emergence of centralized authority and charismatic leadership. This, in turn, encourages the rise of a "distributed leadership" comprised of multiple, task driven leaders. It finds that these task-oriented leaders within Occupy Portland tend to fulfill three specific leadership roles; the facilitation of process, the construction of movement structures, and the organization of actions. This study provides an exploration of …

Examining Differences In Student Achievements In Differential Equations, Erin Horst

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

This paper presents the results of an in-depth analysis of student responses to a differential equations modeling problem administered as part of an international comparison study. The international study compared students' skills and understandings in an inquiry-oriented approach to the teaching and learning of differential equations (project classes) to other traditional approaches (comparison classes). The guiding question of the research was to identify why United States comparison students fared better overall than project students on a routine modeling problem. To answer the research question a tripartite coding scheme was developed. The coding scheme illustrated that project students were failing to: …

Constructs Of Freedom And Identity: The Ethnogenesis Of The Jamaican Maroons And The Treaties Of 1739, Jessica Krug

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

This article is a study of the Maroons communities in eighteenth-century Jamaica. The Maroons did not end the institution of slavery, but they ended the condition of their own enslavement, and so made possible such actions as the successful revolt in Haiti, which, ultimately, collapsed racialized slavery in the New World. Understanding the ethnogenesis of the Jamaican Maroons provides an excellent opportunity for people to escape the narrow duality of victim-and-oppressor which most often shapes discussion of the history of slavery.

Faculty Mentor: John Ott

The Clerical Wife: Medieval Perceptions Of Women During The Eleventh‐ And Twelfth‐Century Church Reforms, Cara Kaser

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

To those who promoted the agendas of the eleventh and twelfth century church reforms the cleric’s wife embodied those things which inhibited the process of man reaching the holy: lust, defilement, worldliness, and temptation. But to those who demanded that she remain a part of conventional marital structures and sacred traditions, the clerical wife remained an important – and controversial – aspect of clerical culture throughout the Middle Ages. The figure and image of the priest’s wife has eluded historians for generations, as her presence as an important component of the controversy surrounding the heightened enforcement of clerical celibacy throughout …