Digital Commons Network^™

Demographic And Population Change In Mountain West Cities And Suburbs, 2020 Census, Zachary Billot, Saha Salahi, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

This fact sheet examines the five metro areas with populations exceeding one million in the Mountain West, drawing from the Brookings Institution report, “Today’s Suburbs are Symbolic of America’s Rising Diversity: A 2020 Census Portrait” by William Frey. Demographic data are included for both primary city and suburban portions for the major metros in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah.

Canadian Lower Risk Gambling Guidelines: Investigating Feasibility Of The Guidelines In A Finnish Cultural Context, Sari Castren, Tiina A. Latvala, Anne Salonen Phd, Riitta Matilainen, Michael Egerer, Jussi Jussi Palomäki

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

ABSTRACT

At-risk and problem gambling is a significant public health concern globally, and it causes harm not only to the gamblers but also to their significant others as well as the society at large. This study evaluates the feasibility of the Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines (LRGG), developed by the Canadian Centre of Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), in a Finnish cultural context. The LRGG was developed to lessen the harms related to gambling in Canada, using gambling data from eight countries, including Finland. We use both qualitative and quantitative methods to find out whether the established guidelines of: 1) Gamble no …

Mobile Free-To-Play Gaming Practices: The Entanglement Of Time, Technology And Games In Everyday Life, Jean-Philippe Laforge, Sylvia Kairouz, Annie-Claude Savard

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Mobile games have become a major part of many people's everyday life, especially since the rise of the Free-to-Play (F2P) model which brought mobile gaming to the fore of gaming culture. As a “new” cultural phenomenon, “playing” is now accessible anytime, in part due to the widespread availability of mobile technologies that host these games. Drawing from key concepts of the social practices theory, this study aims to explore how do mobile F2P games fit into the players’ everyday activities and occupations. Specifically, in what ways can time, mobile technologies and games shape the integration of gaming practices into the …

Similarities And Differences In Crypto Trading And Gambling Discourses And Practices: Why Should Scholars Of Gambling Be Interested?, Riitta Matilainen, Jani Kinnunen

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Cryptocurrency trading is an action of selling and/or buying of virtual or digital currencies for profit. The value of many cryptocurrencies has fluctuated greatly, which has led to enormous winnings and losses for some traders. The presentation focuses on the similarities and differences in discourses and practices towards crypto trading and gambling. In addition, the presentation discusses why scholars of gambling should pay closer attention to cryptocurrency trading and the consequences it may have for the gambling industry and regulation. Historical examples of previous divisions between gambling, finance, and speculation are also presented.

The presentation is based on an Internet …

Monetary Consumption In Gambling, Digital Gaming And Their Converged Forms: Findings From The Finnish Player Barometer 2022 Study, Jani Kinnunen

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

In the Finnish Player Barometer study gambling games and other types of games, including non-digital and digital game genres, are studied together. This nationally representative study differs from many other studies, which usually concentrate either on gambling or on other types of gaming. The study also includes many of converged forms between gambling and gaming.

Almost all Finns play games at least occasionally. In the year 2022, active digital gamers consumed on average 10,6 € per month on digital gaming, including online gambling. High monetary consumption in digital gaming seems to be connected in active gambling, but also those players, …

How Does The Responsible Gambling Discourse Shape The Mind Of Young Adult Gamblers?, Annie-Claude Savard, Jean-Philippe Laforge, Mélina Bouffard, Sylvia Kairouz

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

The responsible gambling approach is the subject of significant debate in the scientific community due to its tendency to individualize responsibility, focusing most heavily on gambler’s responsibility for gambling-related harm. In the meantime, studies have showed that young adult gamble at a higher rate than the general adult population. They are now more than ever susceptible to being drawn in to gambling due to the availability of online gambling. In this context, this study aims to explore the social representations of the concept of responsibility held by young adult gamblers. How do they perceive the concept of responsibility? Do they …

Sex Trafficking In Southern Nevada, Julianna Jovillar

Student Research

Southern Nevada is facing a sex trafficking epidemic that continues to impact people in the state. Thus, in this brief, I investigate Southern Nevada’s sex trafficking crisis. Based on recent sex trafficking studies and the current legislature, it is apparent that although Southern Nevada is aware of the problem, more can still be done to stop it. As a result, this policy work explores sex trafficking in Southern Nevada, addresses stigmatization as a causal factor, provides political context, and offers policy recommendations related to child victim aid and protection to be considered for legislation.

Investigating Students’ Career-Readiness In The Agricultural Sciences: A Phenomenological Case Study, Jean A. Parrella, Holli R. Leggette, Theresa P. Murphrey, Christi Esquivel, Anna Bates

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

The agricultural industry lacks qualified workers, suggesting students may not participate in opportunities that effectively develop their employability skills. We used a phenomenological case study approach to investigate Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences students’ career-readiness and factors influencing career-readiness. We conducted interviews with 19 juniors and seniors. Open coding procedures revealed five emergent themes—Career Advice-Seeking Behavior,Employability Skills Development, Network Establishment, Relevant Experiences, and Personal Growth. Findings indicate that students do not take advantage of University resources to help them with career preparation. Findings also revealed a lack of employability skills development, especially relating to …

Pathways To Credentials: Does The Timing Of Earning An Industry Certification In High School Influence Postsecondary Educational Outcomes?, Elizabeth Glennie, Erich Lauff, Roger Studley, Ben Dalton

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

Earning industry certifications helps people prepare for jobs in a range of careers. Doing so in secondary school may help students prepare for college as well. Using administrative data on two cohorts of first-time 9^th graders in Florida, we examined whether earning a certification was associated with postsecondary enrollment and degree attainment and whether the timing of the certification influenced that relationship. Earning a certification in high school prepared students for success in both 2-year and 4-year colleges. However, the patterns of certifications and college enrollment and degree attainment differed based on when students earned the certification. For early …

The Black Progress Index In Mountain West Metropolitan Statistical Areas (Msas), Zachary Billot, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

This fact sheet examines data from the Brookings Institution report, “Black Progress Index: Examining Social Factors That Influence Black Well-Being” authored by Andre Perry and Jonathan Rothwell in September 2022. The Black Progress Index (BPI) score is constructed using data and social factors that impact life expectancy for Black Americans. This fact sheet compares the BPI with the actual life expectancy of Black people in Mountain West metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). This fact sheet also examines each of the 13 variables included in the original report to present the BPI in the Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV MSA.

The Impact Of Childhood Experiences On Involvement And Confidence In Social Institutions, Jordan Sydney Donohue

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Childhood is made up of a wide array of both negative and positive experiences. One potential negative childhood experience may be understood as childhood maltreatment. Childhood maltreatment consists of physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, or neglect prior to age 18 (World Health Organization, 2020). Neighborhood, family, and school dynamics are other areas in a child’s life that may create difficulties and challenges. Prior research has concluded that negative outcomes are associated with poor school, community, and family dynamics (Coulton, 2007; Lansford, 2009; Split et al., 2012). Previous research has also examined the impact of childhood maltreatment on different domains …

The Impact Of Attachment And Optimism On Delinquency, Kaylee Dawn Faria

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to assess if justice-involved juveniles’ optimism toward future prospects mediates the relationship between parental and peer attachment and the likelihood of future delinquency. Theory and prior research support the argument that there is a negative relationship between parental and peer attachment and delinquency, and a negative relationship between optimism and delinquency. This study attempts to expand on this research by exploring whether parental and peer attachments influence delinquency through their influence on optimism for future prospects. This study utilizes data from the Pathways to Desistance Study, a panel study of seriously justice-involved youth, to …

Digitods, Statistical Machine Learning Algorithms, And Internet Cognition: Sociocultural Learning Through Familial Modeling And Mediated Exchanges, Sina Foley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With ever-advancing technology and the ubiquity of smart devices, younger generations of children are growing up with access to smart mobile technology from birth. These digitally acculturated children ages 0-5, or digitods, are learning to make sense of the world in large part through sociocultural exchanges in the home. As these digital natives are habituated to mobile media, prevalent and accessible, they are also opened to data-mining and target-marketing as their online engagement signals algorithmic function. This study adds to our understanding of how digitods may be susceptible to algorithmic culture and strategic digital marketing, as familial modeling and mediated …

Maternal Health In The Context Of Social, Political, And Economic Change Among Hadzabe Foragers Of Tanzania, Kristen Herlosky

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many low and middle-income countries have implemented new national policy measures aimed at reducing maternal morbidity and mortality due to globalized efforts to improve women’s maternal health. One of the main goals is to move childbirth into hospital facilities and improve health access and education outreach. For Indigenous communities around the world, these measures have fallen short of their goals. Indigenous women suffer from greater social, political, and economic disparities and inequalities, have poorer health indicators overall, and worse maternal health outcomes compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts. For small-scale communities, we have limited data on reproductive health among women, specifically …

The Closing Of One Black Box, The Opening Of Another: A Self-Study Of How An Instructional Coach Makes Decisions, Andromeda L. Hightower

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Despite the efforts of traditional and alternative teacher education programs (i.e. pre-service teacher education) in the United States, teachers frequently report feeling unprepared by the time they begin teaching full time in the classroom. Teachers with low levels of self-efficacy are correlated with lower job satisfaction, higher levels of stress and anxiety, and lower student achievement gains in the classroom. To assist with ameliorating these gaps, schools, districts, and private distributors provide training opportunities for teachers once they have begun the job (i.e. in-service teacher training) in the form of teacher professional development. Mainstream professional development approaches are traditionally simplistic …

Individual Differences In Police Officers’ Decision Styles In Order Maintenance Policing, Damarrah Elisheba Jameson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Day-to-day police work tends to be in order maintenance policing. These encounters necessitate officer discretion in decision responses to manage them. These decision responses reflect an officer’s decision style which precedes the encounter and drives subsequent decision making to manage them. However, little is known about officer-level decision style. For example, whether an officer has a rational, intuitive, dependent, avoidant, or spontaneous decision style (Scott& Bruce, 1995). Police training in any format often lacks attention to decision styles. As such, an officer’s decision style is most likely associated with demographics (e.g., age, gender) and occupational self-efficacy – a reflection of …

How Animals Affect Us: Examining The Relationship Between Human-Animal Interactions And Human Well-Being, Elizabeth A. Johnson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation utilized a mixed-methods approach which illustrated the potential benefits of HAI in addressing human health concerns, focusing on specific populations within the United States. The chapters presented in this dissertation provide insight into the complex relationships between humans and animals, including the roles of companion animals in promoting human well-being. Chapter three surveys 234 Americans observing COVID-19 stay at home isolation orders and findings suggest that the presence of companion animals alleviates stress and isolation by providing attachment figures and activities on which to focus one’s energy. Chapter four explores women’s oxytocin levels after interacting with their cat …

An Exploration Of Popular Tenor Audition Arias And A Guide To Selecting Opera Audition Repertoire, Tung Kei Lam

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A prevalent way to enter the opera industry in the 21st century is through participation in young artist programs (YAPs), which are stable and consistent employment opportunities designed by opera companies to train and nurture emerging talents. To be considered by such companies, each applicant goes through the audition process, which requires each applicant to submit an aria package. An aria package consists of four to five pieces that best display the applicant’s abilities and artistry. Based on Wolf Trap Opera’s aria frequency lists, I selected several popular audition arias and carried out an in-depth analysis. The analysis includes a …

The Influence Of Prediction Error Strength On Reconsolidation, Kevin D. Mohawk

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

It has been well established that consolidated memories can be reactivated and enter a labile state where they are once again vulnerable to modification. Reactivated memories, therefore, need to be restabilized or reconsolidated. Prediction error (PE) is one of the most common ways of reactivating consolidated memories, yet no studies have examined how varying the strength of PE influences reconsolidation. The present study aimed to determine if the strength of PE is an important factor for triggering reconsolidation and if so, how PE strength influences the reconsolidation process, whether through strengthening or weakening the memory. To vary PE strength, participants …

Multiple Approaches To Examining Gender Norms In Romantic Relationships, Carrie Underwood

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Romantic relationships are essential to the human experience, and gender stereotypes are so ingrained they can be automatic. In this dissertation, I address three empirical questions through both quantitative and qualitative research methods, all of which contribute to the growing body of literature on gender norms and romantic relationships. In Chapter 2, I present a mixed-methods study that examines how heterosexual men reason about benevolent sexism. Results revealed themes of equality in the workplace and men’s roles as providers. In Chapter 4 I implemented a two-study research design to understand how heterosexual women and men reason about troubled romantic relationships. …

Relationships Between Healthcare Technology Experience, Acceptance, Attitudes, Self-Efficacy And Readiness In Pre-Licensure Nursing Students, Emily Lynne Boyce

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Introduction: Technology is embedded in many aspects of healthcare. This is especially true in nursing, where technology is used daily in charting, medication administration, clinical decision-making, healthcare team communication, and information resource utilization. In nursing programs, students are exposed to healthcare technologies and expected to use them once entering the workforce. Healthcare technologies such as electronic health records (EHR), barcode medication administration, medication dispensing machines, and mobile technologies are critical to adopt to leverage their efficiencies and safety mechanisms to provide the best patient care. Despite evidence indicating the benefits of using healthcare technologies, new graduate nurses enter the workforce …

Occupational Therapy Fieldwork In An Emerging Justice-Based Setting: Hope For Prisoners, Noah Claypool

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This capstone occurred through a partnership with HOPE for Prisoners in Las Vegas, Nevada. As an emerging area of practice, the occupational therapy profession needs more resources and programs focused on the justice system. The lack of evidence-based resources to support future level I fieldwork students at HOPE for Prisoners poses a barrier for students to maximize their fieldwork experience and effectively engage with the organization’s population of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated men, women, and young adults in southern Nevada.This capstone experience involved a 14-week immersion at HOPE for Prisoners, including participation in training and workshops and engagement with clients, …

Black Girl Magic: History, Identity, And Spirituality In Contemporary Fantasy And Science-Fiction, Taylore Fox

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In 2013, activist and social media influencer CaShawn Thompson composed a Tweet claiming, “Black Girls Are Magic,” which shortened to the hashtag “#BlackGirlMagic.” As the hashtag began to circulate social media, the phrase birthed a digital movement that celebrated the beauty, accomplishments, and mere presence of Black women and girls. This project argues that Black Girl Magic, operating as a social and literary framework, combats the injustice, inequality, and lack of respect and representation that Black women and girls faced in the past and continue to face today. In Black Girl Magic literature, Black women characters perform literal and figurative …

Coercive Sexuality: The Effect Of Early Victimization On One’S Views And Attitudes Toward Sex, Kevin Elias Hoover

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The prevalence of childhood sexual abuse is difficult to assess but research is growing on possible long-term consequences of this victimization. Two areas of concern are potential repeat victimization and changed attitudes toward the coercive nature of sexuality. Children who have their sexual boundaries violated at a young age may be more likely to experience sexual assault later in life (Scoglio et al., 2021). Research continues to confirm that many sexual abusers were in fact abused themselves as children (King et al., 2019). This research seeks to make connections between these experiences of sexual victimization and support for coercive sexual …

A Cultural History Of Anti-Feminism In Marvel's Scarlet Witch, Madison M. Kooba

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Marvel Comics character Wanda Maximoff, otherwise known as the Scarlet Witch, has received significant attention in popular culture due to her recent appearances as the primary protagonist and antagonist in television show WandaVision (2021) and film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). These depictions foregrounding Wanda’s struggles with mental health have made her an admirable character to many who see her drawing power from her emotions as a celebration of aspects of womanhood that have long been shamed by society. Sourcing these contemporary adaptations, however, lies decades of blatantly anti-feminist and sexist comics that villainize and ridicule Wanda’s …

The Issue Of Communicability In Guerra-Peixe’S 1947 Solo Violin Works, Lucas Henrique Teixeira Martins

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Throughout an important period of his career as a composer, César Guerra-Peixe demonstrated a preoccupation with both the issue of communicability between listeners and the musical composition, as well as avenues for expressing national identity in music. The works composed between 1944 and 1948 present several possible paths for answering these questions with the musical language of the twelve-tone style. Música no. 1 and Música no. 2 for solo violin demonstrate a search for familiarity through the use of chords created by grouping sets of pitches from the originating tone row. The simple linear motif of the movements within these …

The Role Of Small Puebloan Architectural Sites On The Southern Shivwits Plateau, William M. Willis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This work concerns itself with the Virgin Branch Pueblo of the southern Shivwits Plateau. Within their settlement systems lies considerable variation in terms of architectural sites. The smallest of these sites are often referred to as fieldhouses, a term that has distinct meaning within the archaeological discourse of the American Southwest. Fieldhouses are seasonally occupied structures used by Puebloan people during the agricultural growing season. They arise out of the necessity of land tenure systems that evolve in response to growing competition for arable land in the face of population pressure and finite resources. This research finds that the small …

Mental Health Education Protocol For Staff Members In An Inpatient Rehabilitation Center, Charles Nicholas Salvatera

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Mental health illnesses have a significant impact on the lives of individuals and society. Despite the availability of effective treatments, many people with psychosocial issues or cognitive impairments do not receive the right care. This highlights the importance of timely care and effective help-seeking opportunities. Increased mental health literacy and supportive behaviors in the social networks of people with mental health disorders can be achieved by providing hospital staff with education on mental health disorders. It is believed that improvements in these areas increase the likelihood that people will seek effective assistance. When healthcare providers are educated about mental health …

Supervision In The Digital Age: Online Sexual Solicitation Of Children And Youth, Kaitlyn Taylor Swanberg

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Since the creation of the internet, offenders have been using cyberspace as a means to solicit children and adolescents for sexual content. With children having unrestricted access to the internet at an earlier age than ever before, it is crucial for academics to better understand the digital world in order to protect children online. This study aims to understand the relationship between internet activities, age, and online sexual solicitation largely using an environmental criminology framework, utilizing the Routine Activities Theory by Cohen and Felson (1979) and Target Congruence Theory by Finkelhor and Asdigian (1996). The sample of this study consisted …

The In/Visible Stockade: Sex Offender Management, Governmentality, And The Search For Normal Life, Christopher Wakefield

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Over the past thirty-five years, the United States has seen a dramatic expansion of regulatory policy around individuals convicted of sexual offenses. Sex offender management policies include national and state registries, notification laws, treatment mandates, residency restrictions, and numerous exclusions from institutions. A growing body of research from sociologists and criminologists has tracked the effects of this sex offender regime by measuring recidivism and collateral consequences among released offenders. Less attention has been paid to how sex offenders adapt to their regulator context—especially the selective public visibility that the registry generates. Furthermore, sociological scholarship has not yet developed strong theoretical …