Digital Commons Network^™

Examining Police Officers’ Perceptions Of Stress: The Role Of Person−Environment Fit, Rachael Rief, Samantha S. Clinkinbeard

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Purpose

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between officer perceptions of fit in their organization and stress (organizational and operational), overall job satisfaction and turnover contemplation (within the last 6 months).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used cross-sectional survey data from a sample of 832 officers from two Midwest police departments to examine the relationships between fit, stress and work-related attitudes.

Findings

Perceived stress and organizational fit were strong predictors of overall job satisfaction and turnover contemplation; organizational fit accounted for the most variation in stress, satisfaction and turnover contemplation. Organizational stress partially mediated the relationship between organizational …

A Guide For Innovation In Lgbq+ Youth Peer Relationships Research, V. Paul Poteat, Sarah B. Rosenbach, Rhiannon L. Smith, Jonathan Santo

Psychology Faculty Publications

LGBQ+ youth (youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, or with diverse identities other than straight or heterosexual) contend with unique stressors in the context of their peer relationships. They also access critical support from peers. These circumstances likely influence how LGBQ+ youth navigate and experience their relationships. Nevertheless, research remains limited in its breadth and depth of coverage of LGBQ+ youth's peer relationships. We suggest ways to advance such research within the following areas: (a) identity development in the peer context; (b) identity disclosure and “coming out” to peers; (c) initiating, developing, and maintaining friendships under marginalizing conditions; …

Our Issue Or Their Issue? Media Coverage And Framing Of The Zika Virus Epidemic, Thomas Jamieson, Juve J. Cortés Rivera

Public Administration Faculty Publications

How does news media respond to health emergencies abroad? From 2015 to 2018, Zika virus disease spread rapidly throughout Latin America before arriving in the continental US. Despite risks to adults and newborns, it is unclear how media coverage responded and framed the risk for its audience. In this article, we argue that while frequency of coverage was responsive to infections, its content failed to promote proactive health behavior. To assess these claims, we analyze each article (442) dealing with Zika virus published between 2015-2018 by the New York Times. We find that the amount of coverage reflected infections but …

Leading Through Educational Distress: An Autoethnography Of The Journey Of A School Administrator, Michelle M. Klug

Educational Leadership Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

The purpose of this autoethnography is to provide analysis of personal leadership experiences during times of educational distress in order to extend understanding of the nuances of educational leadership for new and experienced leaders. An autoethnography is a qualitative research method in which the researcher is also the subject of the study. When looking at cultural groups or events, quantitative research methods do not translate to the meanings of humans in social interaction or speak to the significance of human thought and action (Adams, Holman Jones, & Ellis, 2015). In autoethnography, the researcher uses autobiographical stories to analyze and interpret …

Imprint Of Major Historical Events On The Lives Of Older Adults: Lessons Learned And Future Directions, Lindsay Wilkinson

CPAR Presents: A Data and Research Series for Community Impact

A large aging population, like here in Nebraska, has an impact on a variety of public policies and facets of life for all ages. Two Nebraska researchers will introduce a variety of data sources and resources on aging adults, review gaps in knowledge about this population, and share efforts to build a stronger evidence base about the policy impacts of aging.

Understanding Police Decisions To Arrest: The Impact Of Situational, Officer, And Neighborhood Characteristics On Police Discretion, Jessica Huff

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Purpose

Promote the use of multilevel modeling to refine theories of police discretion. Specifically, examine the simultaneous influence of situational factors, responding officers, and neighborhood context on arrests guided by a social-ecological framework.

Methods

Cross-classified models were used to assess the outcomes of 835,381 incidents responded to by 835 Phoenix Police officers in 388 census tracts.

Results

Situational, officer, and neighborhood factors all significantly influence arrests. Incident-level factors account for most of the variation, followed by officers, and neighborhoods. Incidents that resulted in arrest were more likely to involve victims, a greater number of responding officers, female officers, and college-educated …

Federal Policy Has Failed To Protect Indigenous Women, Sheena Gilbert, Emily M. Wright, Tara Richards

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Bounds Of Legitimacy: Weber’S Facets Of Legitimacy And The Police Empowerment Hypothesis, Kyle Mclean, Justin Nix

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Despite considerable evidence that police legitimacy results in beneficial outcomes like compliance, cooperation, and empowerment, scholars have yet to agree on how to define and operationalize legitimacy. Drawing on Max Weber’s facets of legitimacy, we developed and tested a measure of “traditional authority,” reflecting the possibility that some people legitimate the police more so based on tradition than normative concerns regarding fairness. Confirmatory factor analysis of survey data from a national sample of 701 US adults revealed that our traditional authority items loaded separately from items commonly used to capture feelings of trust, obligation to obey, and moral alignment. Furthermore, …

The Americanization Of Karen Refugee Youth: Exploring Attitudes Toward And Use Of Methamphetamine, Brooke N. Cooley, Lisa L. Sample, Karen Rolf, Julie D. Garman

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Drug use among refugee populations is a concerning trend in many urban American cities. For instance, Omaha, Nebraska is home to an estimated 7,000 refugees from Myanmar, with at least 75% of those being Karen refugees. The purpose of this paper is to explore methamphetamine use among Karen adolescents in Omaha and to examine whether Karen youth bring their drug use habits with them from refugee camps or if they learn about drugs from their American peers. Two focus groups of Karen youth and two focus groups of Karen parents were conducted to examine methamphetamine use among this population. Findings …

How Did You Become A Police Officer? Entry-Related Motives And Concerns Of Women And Men In Policing, Samantha S. Clinkinbeard, Starr J. Solomon, Rachael M. Rief

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

As police agencies in the United States suffer declining applications and struggle to recruit women, the National Institute of Justice has identified workforce development as a priority research area. To recruit more effectively, we must understand what attracts people to policing and what deters them. We surveyed officers in two Midwestern police departments (n = 832) about entry motivations and concerns and examined gender differences. Serve/protect motivations were most important for men and women, though women rated the category significantly higher. Women and non-White officers rated legacy motives higher than did males and White officers. Women reported more concerns overall …

The Founding Fathers Of American Jihad: The Impacts And Legacies Of Anwar Al-Awlaki, Samir Khan, And Ahmad Abousamra, Haroro J. Ingram, Jon Lewis, Program On Extremism, George Washington University, National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, And Education Center

Reports, Projects, and Research

Three Americans have had a profound impact on the evolution of jihadist English-language propaganda, particularly in the online magazine format, and revolutionized jihadi strategic, operational, and ideological trends in the West: Anwar al-Awlaki (1971-2011) and Samir Khan (1985-2011) who edited Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula’s Inspire, and Ahmad Abousamra (1981-2017) who edited the Islamic State’s Dabiq and Rumiyah magazines. The Americans were not the first to publish English-language magazines designed to appeal to Western audiences and mobilize support for wars in Muslim lands. That distinction arguably goes to the Cultural Council of Afghanistan Resistance and its quarterly magazine Afghan Jehad, …

Education, Political Party, And Football Viewership Predict Americans' Attention To News About Concussions In Sports, Andrew M. Lindner, Daniel Hawkins

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

News outlets, sports coverage, and even Hollywood movies have highlighted the growing body of research documenting the long-term negative consequences of traumatic injury in athletics, particularly, (sports-related) concussions. Despite so much media coverage, little is known about how much attention members of the American public pay to sports concussion news. Disparities in attention to concussion news among sociodemographic groups may contribute to further inequalities in rates of concussions that stem from participation in collision sports. In this study, using a 2017 nationally representative survey of US residents (n = 964), we examine the social, political, and demographic correlates of individuals’ …

Synthesis And Generativity: Elaborative Interrogation Prompts For Graduate Information Literacy Instruction, Omer Farooq, Monica Maher

Criss Library Faculty Publications

Discourse surrounding the pedagogy of undergraduate information literacy sessions is robust and plentiful, but graduate students in research-oriented degrees also need a strong understanding of disciplinary resources throughout the coursework stage of their programs. Library sessions guided by ACRL's Framework help to scaffold graduate students' knowledge of the current scholarly information landscape and how to navigate this landscape effectively and efficiently. In addition, these sessions establish the significance of the literature review in identifying subject epistemologies, paradigms, methodologies, and theoretical approaches. For graduate students, this provides an opportunity to conceptualize how to employ the presented material in the context of …

Cultural Skills As Drivers Of Decency In Decent Work: An Investigation Of Skilled Workers In The Informal Economy, Mahima Saxena

Psychology Faculty Publications

Over 61% of the world’s population lives and works in the informal economic sector. However, workers in the informal economy are conspicuous by their relative absence in work psychology research and practice. Policy agendas inspired by economic research often combine skilled and unskilled workers into a single category, lacking the voice of the poor worker and a psychological understanding of work in the informal sector. Using grassroots-level field data from highly skilled artisans in rural India, this study unearths the person-centric inner experiences of informal work, and examines the psychological foundations of Decent Work in a heretofore unexamined population of …

Caregiver's Difficulty Paying Child's Healthcare Bills And Bullying Victimization Of Adolescents With Physical Disabilities, Jun Sung Hong, Mi-Jin Choi, Isak Kim, Carl L. Algood, Dorothy L. Espelage, Chad A. Rose

Counseling Faculty Publications

Guided by the ecological systems perspective, the objective of the study was to examine whether caregivers' difficulty paying their child's health-care bills is associated with bullying victimization directly and indirectly through the mediating mechanisms of caregivers' frustration, adolescents' internalizing problems, and social difficulty focusing on adolescents with physical disabilities. The 2019 National Survey of Children's Health dataset, which collected data on adolescents' and caregivers' demographic characteristics and health and well-being, was used. The study sample consisted of 368 caregivers of adolescents, 12–17 years of age with physical disabilities. No direct association between caregivers' difficulty paying their child's health-care bills and …

Gender Minoritized Students And Academic Engagement In Brazilian Adolescents: Risk And Protective Factors, Alexa Martin-Storey, Jonathan Santo, Holly E. Recchia, Shayla Chilliak, Henrique Caetano Nardi, Josafa M. Da Cunha

Psychology Faculty Publications

Gender minoritized students experience unique challenges in their school environments that may have consequences for their educational outcomes, including academic engagement. The goal of the current study was to understand the association between gender identity and academic engagement among adolescents attending public high schools in Paraná, Brazil (N = 10,828). In particular, student perceptions of student-teacher relationships, school rule fairness and clarity, school-wide academic engagement, and peer victimization were examined as four facilitator/barrier factors that may account for lower levels of academic engagement for gender minoritized students as compared to their cisgender peers, and these processes were tested for …

Human Trafficking And The T Visa Process: Insights From Legal Representatives Working With Victims From Latin America: Blog Post, Elisha A. Novak

Latino/Latin American Studies Other Publications

No abstract provided.

Self-Continuity In Adolescence: A Buffer Against Decreases In Self-Esteem Due To Vicitmization, Gabriela Alvarez

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The purpose of this research was to explore how components of self-esteem, such as social, cognitive and physical competence, can explain the buffering effect of self-continuity. Self-continuity explains the associations between individuals themselves in both past and present and perceived sameness, despite growth and development of the self. As self-continuity becomes more complex throughout adolescence, children may find themselves lacking a sense of identity. Previous research shows that negative views of the self may later represent themselves in adulthood. There is evidence that suggests self-continuity protects against the negative effects of peer victimization by providing positive connections between one another. …

Gender Differences In The Effects Of Complementary Versus Competitive Gender Stereotypes On System Justification And Tolerance Of Sexism, Jordyn Bingham

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Research has shown that people often support social systems that are not in their best interests (Kay & Jost, 2003). One way that people may justify support for such social systems is by focusing on beneficial characteristics. For example, people exhibit greater system justification when people are described as poor but happy (complementary attributes) as opposed to poor and unhappy (non-complementary attributes) (Kay & Jost, 2003). The present study examined the effects of complementary (i.e., that women and men fulfill different career roles) versus competitive (i.e., that women and men compete for the same career roles) gender stereotypes on women’s …

Conducting Research In Indigenous Communities: Recommendations For Research Partnerships, Sheena Gilbert, Emily M. Wright, Raquel Deherrera, Tara Richards

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Before conducting research in an Indigenous community, a researcher, especially a non-Indigenous researcher, must recognize and acknowledge not only the historical impact research has had on Indigenous communities but the current impacts that arise when research is conducted in Indigenous communities. Specifically, one must consider settler colonialism and its continuing impact on Indigenous communities today. Professor of Indigenous Education Linda Tuhiwai Smith (2012) states: “The word itself, ‘research’, is probably one of the dirtiest words in the Indigenous world’s vocabulary”. Smith continues by linking research and Western imperialism and colonialism together, with research being a tool for imperialism and colonialism. …

School Interventionists Fy 2015-2020, Lindsey Wylie, Erin Wasserburger, Anne M. Hobbs, Juvenile Justice Institute, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Reports

School Interventionists identify and coordinate behavioral or academic intervention for a student. Youth can be referred to the School Interventionist for attendance issues, poor grades, lack of engagement, and/or behavior issues. The intervention process includes clearly identifying the problem, selecting a strategy to address the problem, and measuring the effectiveness of the strategy. The intervention can include other supports for the youth within the school or community. In interviewing School Interventionists, they are often responsible for addressing a range of school and home issues, and often use a range of activities to do so. These activities fall within three identified …

The Relationships Of Perceived Parental Social Support To Vigilance And Resilience Among Lgbtq And Straight Cisgender Adults, Brady Dodds

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships of parental support to resilience and vigilance in LGBTQ and straight, cisgender adults as the majority of research has examined these relationships in LGBTQ and straight, cisgender children and teens. It was hypothesized that greater parental support would be correlated with higher resilience and lower vigilance. Also, it was hypothesized that the relationships would be stronger for LGBTQ participants than for straight, cisgender participants. Participants who were recruited via Prolific Academic completed an online questionnaire that included measures of maternal and paternal support, resilience, and vigilance. Results indicated that participants …

Human Trafficking And The T Visa Process: Insights From Legal Representatives Working With Victims From Latin Ameria, Elisha A. Novak, Teresa C. Kulig, Cristián Doña-Reveco

Latino/Latin American Studies Reports

Human trafficking occurs when traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to compel individuals to provide labor or services—broadly known as labor or sex trafficking. Traffickers often take advantage of individuals who are perceived as vulnerable, including those lacking immigration status. In response, the United States Congress created a T nonimmigrant status (also referred to as a T visa) in October 2000 to protect immigrant victims and to strengthen law enforcement’s ability to investigate these crimes. The current study sought to examine the trafficking experiences of foreign national victims from Latin America specifically by interviewing legal representatives who assist these individuals …

Effect Of The Sars-Cov-2 Pandemic On Assistive And Interactive Technology Use: In- Person Versus Distanced Communication, Alexandra Swanson

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

COVID-19 risk-reduction efforts have protected high-risk individuals but have significantly altered life; persons now face reduced socialization. Advancing technologies (e.g., video-chat) may be useful in alleviating consequences of these efforts, potentially mitigating loneliness, and isolation by improving access to alternative communication. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between communicative technology use and individual characteristics, as technology use may contribute to well-being among adults during COVID-19 and future isolating events. This is especially relevant to older populations. Participants (N=645) aged 19+ completed a questionnaire via Amazon Mechanical Turk; demographic, socialization, and technology-use data were collected. Data were …

The Impact Of Service-Learning On General Chemistry Ii Students At The University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Kayla Rud

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Service-learning has been shown to enhance academic and leadership skills while promoting community engagement and exposing students to different career opportunities (Esson et al., 2005). While the benefits of service-learning courses are clear, few STEM courses include service-learning components (Esson et al., 2005). Here, students in a totally online 2nd semester UNO chemistry course completed a service-learning project where they remotely led a live, inquiry-based STEM activity for Girl Scouts. To quantify the impact of service-learning on professional development, future career plans, and future volunteerism, a series of pre and post surveys were administered. Paired-sample t-tests revealed a statistically significant …

Racially/Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremist (Rmve) Attack Planning And United States Federal Response, 2014-2019, Bennett Clifford, Program On Extremism, George Washington University, National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, And Education Center

Reports, Projects, and Research

After a five-year period between 2014 and 2019 in which the frequency and lethality of domestic terrorism incidents in the United States substantially increased, federal counterterrorism authorities now view domestic violent extremism (DVE) as the foremost terrorist threat facing the country. In March 2021, the Office for the Director of National Intelligence released an assessment that the “most lethal domestic violent extremist threat[s]” to the United States were racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVE).1 This assessment mirrored similar findings by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and National Counterterrorism Center …

Domestic Violence Calls For Help Increased During The Pandemic – But The Answers Haven’T Gotten Any Easier, Tara N. Richards, Justin Nix

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Multilingualism, Nation Branding, And The Ownership Of English In Kazakhstan And Uzbekistan, Madina Djuraeva

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

This study examines the ownership of English and linguistic (in)security of multilingual English learners in two post-Soviet nation-states. Using the chronotopic and scalar analysis of discourse, I examine students’ ideologies of English vis-à-vis their linguistic repertoires in the context of national imaginary and globalization. I utilize the concept of ‘nation branding’ to trace the relationship between language ideologies and broader sociopolitical factors, including neoliberalism. The analysis of 60 individual student interviews revealed that the state-circulated nation-branding discourse is a powerful tool for instilling the sense of linguistic ownership. The findings showed that students in Uzbekistan regard English as opportunistic and …

Reducing Mental Illness Stigma: What Types Of Images Are Most Effective?, Roma Subramanian, Jonathan Santo

Psychology Faculty Publications

Public stigma against mental illness is a barrier to treatment and recovery. Research into the design of anti-stigma messages has focused heavily on text; there is limited information on what types of images are most persuasive in eliciting anti-stigma outcomes. This is important to study because the type of image used to depict an illness can influence how the illness is perceived, which in turn can affect how people with the illness are treated. Through an online experiment with 162 American adults, this study investigated whether mental illness narratives about depression illustrated with photographs are more effective than those illustrated …

Racial Sympathy And Support For Capital Punishment: A Case Study In Concept Transfer, Kellie R. Hannan, Francis T. Cullen, Leah C. Butler, Amanda Graham, Alexander L. Burton, Velmer S. Burton Jr.

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Beliefs about race, especially racial resentment, are key predictors of public support for capital punishment and punitiveness generally. Drawing on a conceptual innovation by political scientist Jennifer Chudy, we explore the utility of transferring into criminology her construct of racial sympathy – or Whites’ concern about Blacks’ suffering. First, across three data sets, we replicate Chudy’s finding that racial sympathy and resentment are empirically distinct constructs. Second, based on a national-level 2019 YouGov survey (n = 760 White respondents) and consistent with Chudy’s thesis, racial sympathy is then shown to be significantly related to the race-specific view that capital punishment …