Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring The Role Of Adverse Childhood Experiences (Aces) Among Gendered Racial/Ethnic Groups Of Justice-Involved Youth, Linsey A. Belisle

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Justice-involved youth are exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) at higher rates than youth in the general public, highlighting the importance of addressing childhood trauma and adversity in juvenile justice settings. A majority of ACEs research has focused on the general population and has demonstrated the long lasting negative impact of ACEs, on mental health, physical health, and engagement in health risk behaviors. Both gender and racial/ethnic differences have been identified in ACEs literature, suggesting that not all groups in society have the same likelihood of experiencing ACEs. Additionally, ACEs may also impact individuals from racial/ethnic or gender groups differently, …

Treatment And Perceptions Of Lgbtqia+ Persons, Emily Bolshazy

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In school districts across the country, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQIA+) young adults are being bullied at alarming rates. These experiences have longterm implications for quality of life, employment opportunities, and justice system interactions. Yet, very little research is dedicated to understanding their experiences. This project includes qualitative triangulation analysis to compare common themes throughout three data sources. Research questions this project seeks to answer are 1) How do people who are anti-LGBTQIA+ policy perceive LGBTQIA+ young adults? and 2) What are the experiences of LGBTQIA+ individuals? The overall goal of this research project is to be able …

From Ex-Offenders To Hopefuls: Exploring Changing Narratives And Personal Stories Of Desistance, Darby Buckley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Research for this thesis seeks to understand how recently incarcerated individuals understand recidivism and how they desist from criminal activities and re-offending behaviors. It seeks to understand if desistance is occurring in a re-entry organization and if so, when. Participants from a Las Vegas, Nevada re-entry organization called HOPE for Prisoners (HFP) are the focus of this research. Overall, the purpose of this study is to see how a local re-entry non-profit organization helps assist with services and opportunities for individuals who were formerly incarcerated. Analyzing the research from this project will help provide information regarding how individuals who are …

American Samoa Politics: Performing Sāmoa, Dayonara S. Gaoteote

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

American Samoa as a self-governing U.S. territory located in the South Pacific is fortunate to be able to maintain their cultural traditions, language, and lands in all aspects- including their government. However, when the community suffers from a number of growing issues that affect the health and safety of its citizens, an analysis of the culture and leadership is fitting. I interviewed Jacqueline Tuiasosopo-Mata'u, Dr. Tapa'au Daniel Aga, and Chief Tauaisafune Niualama Taifane to gain insight into American Samoa government history, American Samoa government and community in the present, and to describe cultural practices and traditions that are in place. …

Examining Predictors Of Student Perceptions Of University Responses To Sexual Misconduct, Megan Giovannini

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The prevalence of college students’ experiences with sexual violence has been well documented (e.g., Cantor et al., 2015; Fisher, Cullen & Turner, 2000; Krebs et al., 2007), along with the negative consequences associated with sexual victimization (e.g., Campbell, Dworkin & Cabral, 2009). Court cases, student disclosures, and media coverage have brought more attention to university responses to sexual misconduct and have attempted to hold universities accountable. The purpose of this study is to examine predictors of student perceptions of university responses to sexual misconduct, therefore adding to the existing literature. It is among one of the first to examine predictors …

A World Of Infinite Possibilities: Recoding Popular Culture In Modern U.S. Ethnic Fiction, Todd Martinez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This project examines how the U.S. ethnic authors Ralph Ellison, Maxine Hong Kingston and Junot Díaz reflect the dynamic, reciprocal process of transculturation by decoding popular cultural forms. Using strategies made available by cultural studies, hemispheric theory and neoMarxism, critical attention will be directed to each author’s major literary work: Ellison’s Invisible Man, Kingston’s Tripmaster Monkey, and Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. This dissertation further analyzes a hitherto overlooked area of U.S. multiethnic literary studies: the ethnic subject’s relationship to encoded popular culture forms and how they impact dentity formation. Recent scholarship has focused on the ethnic …

Nos/Otrxs Que Fuimos Separados: Recovering Testimonios Of Separation And Resistance, Marcela Rodriguez-Campo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the U.S. xenophobia has been on the rise and current immigration policies have increased the occurrence of family separation. Experiences with family separation profoundly impact children and have a detrimental effect on their development and educational outcomes. However, limited research has been conducted exploring the long-term impacts of family separation on education, particularly as it relates to Latinx tender-age children (below the age of twelve). In the current political climate, Latinx children are precariously positioned to live under the constant threat of family separation due to anti-immigrant policies and xenophobic school climates. This hostile environment can have devastating effects …

Bystanders’ Willingness To Report Crimes And Cooperate With Legal Authorities: The Role Of Individual And Contextual Differences, Matthew P. West

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Studies and victimization surveys suggest that many, if not most, crimes are not reported to legal authorities. The overarching aim of this project was to examine the roles of individual and contextual differences in bystanders’ willingness to report crimes to, and cooperate with, legal authorities. A sample of 1,434 adults in the U.S. completed a survey in which they read and responded to crime vignettes and responded to items theoretically measuring individual differences in legal socialization, perceived legitimacy, the need for cognitive closure, right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and the general willingness to cooperate. Bystanders’ relationship to the victim, relationship …

Predictors Of Violent And Non-Violent Institutional Infractions Of Death Row Prisoners, Tereza Trejbalová

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Institutional misconduct has been widely researched in the criminological literature for more than 50 years, leading to an extensive knowledge about how and why different prisoners misbehave while incarcerated. Nevertheless, one correctional population has been mostly left out of these research pursuits – death row prisoners (DRPs). Although DRPs form a small fraction of the overall number of incarcerated individuals in the US, they tend to spend more than 20 years in maximum security facilities and require a considerable amount of resources. As such, it is imperative for the safety of the facility, the staff, and the prisoners themselves to …

Blue Lives Matter: Identity And The Internet, Jennifer M. Stevens

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Social movements scholars have long studied the role of identity, both individual and collective, in regard to social movement formation, mobilization, and persistence (Snow et al. 1986, Kellner 1995, Darnovsly, Epstein, and Flacks 1995, Jasper 1997, Cerulo 1997, Bernstein 1997; 2002, and Futrell, Simi, and Gottschalk 2006). Advances in technology have made the Internet, and particularly social media, a powerful piece in the activist’s toolkit. While scholars have researched what the Internet means for different social movement organizations, there are many questions to address. I examine the social media platforms (Facebook and Instagram) of the pro-policing social movement organization Blue …

Nonprofit Data Management: A Stage Model, Ashley M. Hernandez-Hall

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Managing nonprofit data is both complicated and essential. Nonprofits, while struggling to manage and utilize data to its fullest potential, are increasingly required to do so for funding purposes. Despite the increased pressure on nonprofit managers to report more outcomes to grant funders, little research is available to guide the data management process in nonprofits. Research that does exist is primarily focused on the for-profit or business sector, which is operationally and fundamentally different than nonprofits. For example, for-profit entities typically do not have the same restrictions on how to use funds, such as a percentage cap on spending for …

Still We Rise: A Black Feminist Qualitative Inquiry Exploring Black Women’S Experiences On Twitter, Yvonne C. Morris

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

#WOCAffirmation was a hashtag created by April Reign in October 2017 in response to how Black women do not have the same supports of solidarity from populations who are non-Black women. Serving as a counterpublic, #WOCAffirmation embodied how Black women created space to affirm and amplify each other while also highlighting the harassment and abuse they experience in form of misogynoir on Twitter. As Black women are already under-researched in academia and fields within digital humanities, this study centered Black women while also highlighting oppressive systems of power in both physical and digital spaces. Using Black feminist thought as the …

Who Participates In The Skilled Technical Workforce After College And What Are Their Educational Pathways?, Xianglei Chen

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

The skilled technical workforce (STW) comprises workers in occupations that require significant science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) skills but not a bachelor’s degree for entry. The United States had over 17 million STW workers in 2017, and is expected to be short about 3.4 million workers who are qualified for the available STW positions by 2022. Despite the important contribution of the STW to the U.S. economy, the policy discourse on the STEM workforce has largely focused on workers with bachelor’s or graduate degrees, overlooking those without a 4-year degree. Consequently, knowledge about the STW is limited. This paper …

The Value Of Education Between Two African American Male Populations In A Rural Southern Community, Quentin R. Tyler, Stacy K. Vincent, Tiffany C. Monroe

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

This study identified perceptions of education by low performing and college track African American males in a rural town in Southern Kentucky. Through the lens of Critical Race Theory and Symbolic Interactionism, the researchers explored how 16 young men value a secondary and postsecondary education. Selected by their administrator at two high schools, the males were identified as college track or low performing. The findings revealed that both groups identify racial relations as a barrier to educational achievement; however, college track males believed education would assist in overcoming racial divides. Additional findings highlight a difference in perception based upon the …

Official Misconduct And Error Correction Mechanisms In Exonerated Death Penalty Cases, Kamali'ilani Theresa Elizabeth Wetherell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

There has been an average of approximately 3.9 death penalty exonerations annually in the United States since 1973 (DPIC, 2021). Wrongful convictions and executions constitute grave and irreversible errors. Studies show official misconduct is one of the leading causes for wrongful convictions and exonerations. Misconduct by police, prosecutors, and judges includes a wide range of behaviors such as coercing confessions, depriving rights to legal counsel, threatening witnesses, and concealing evidence. Operating under the due process model, the adversarial legal system is designed to detect and prevent any procedural violations of defendant’s rights, including official misconduct. Utilizing Packer’s (1964) due process …

Increasing Investment In Stem Education For Females: Policy Considerations, Becky Harris, Andrea Dassopoulos, Daniel Sahl, Anna Starostina

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

During this difficult economic time, as policy makers decide how to use their limited resources to help prepare the rising generation for the demands of an ever-changing workforce, aligning K-12 educational priorities with higher education and economic development can help maximize public dollar investments in STEM education, particularly when females are given access to STEM and STEM-related education and programs. Smart public policy initiatives can help increase the representation of women in the technology, research and development, and innovation departments.

The purpose of this article is to provide policy recommendations that could help increase gender diversity and participation in STEM …

Conference Critique: An Analysis Of Equity, Diversity, And Inclusion Programming, Brittany Paloma Fiedler, Brittani Sterling

Library Faculty Presentations

You are a person interested in equity, diversity, and inclusion (or EDI), so you are excited to attend conference sessions that have the words equity, diversity, and inclusion in the titles and descriptions. However, these panels are not always what you expect. They mean all learning styles are equal. They mean the participants come from a diversity of places. They mean libraries should include more civility between colleagues. If you are a librarian whose professional interest is firmly rooted in EDI, you wonder how conference presenters can use these words without realizing that they have scholarly significance to those who …

Police Shootings In The Mountain West, 2015 - 2021, Elia Del Carmen Solano-Patricio, Madison Frazee-Bench, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

The Washington Post publishes and regularly updates a dataset regarding the use of deadly force by police since 2015. This fact sheet extracts data for each state in the Mountain West (Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah), and presents a regional perspective on the total number of individuals shot and killed by police, including demographic variables such as race, gender, and age. Two additional variables are included in this examination: the presence or absence of mental illness in the individual killed by police, and the presence or absence of a body-worn camera in incidents of deadly force by police.

2022 Graduate Program Rankings, Unlv & Unr, Madison Frazee-Bench, Marie A. Falcone, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This Fact Sheet presents the 2022 U.S. News and World Report Graduate program rankings for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). The rankings for 2022 are important when taking into consideration that both UNLV and UNR reached Carnegie R1 status in 2018. This status marks their place in the top 130 research universities in the country.

Economic Insecurity As A Risk Factor During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Klaus E. Cavalhieri

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is currently spreading at a rapid rate worldwide. The current pandemic may have several adverse effects on overall psychological functioning and health behaviors. Economic insecurity, operationalized as financial strain and employment uncertainty, can be a significant risk factor for both psychological outcomes and compliance with shelter-in-place recommendations (i.e., health behaviors). One hundred and twenty four participants answered survey data on economic security, fear of COVID-19, health care system distrust, anxiety, well-being, and compliance with CDC recommendations to curb the spread of COVID-19 (i.e., health behaviors; CDC, 2020). Economic security was significantly associated with well-being, …

Personal Internalization Of A Confederate Monument Removal Event Associated With Increased Depression, Anxiety, And Stress Among University Students, Erika M. Redding, Yucheng Hou, Riley E. Mulhern

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

This study sought to determine the association between racialized events relating to the removal of a Confederate monument and mental health outcomes among students at a Southern state-university in the United States. After the removal of a Confederate monument located on the university’s campus, racialized protests and violent clashes with police forces ensued. To assess the impact of these events on student mental health outcomes, a cross-sectional survey was disseminated to 10,000 current students. Student mental health was measured using the 21-item Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS). The key exposure, personal internalization of the event, was measured using the …

Analyzing The Gender Pay Gap At The University Of Nevada, Las Vegas, Caren Abourjeily, Peter Grema

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

The gender pay gap has been a persistent issue within many professions, including academia. This study examines the gender wage gap within UNLV for the tenured and tenure-track faculty belonging to the College of Liberal Arts, College of Sciences, and the Lee Business School. This study controlled for variables such as department, rank, time, race, and administrative roles in the attempt to find the most accurate gender wage gap possible using 2018 salary data. This study not only examines the gender wage gap within UNLV, but also at UNR. This study compared the two institutions in order to detect whether …

Lost In Translation: Exploring Uyghur Identity In Canada, Dilmurat Mahmut, Edmund Waite

Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education

No abstract provided.

Introducing Rape To High School And College Students: An Analysis Of Asking For It, Giulia Mastrantoni

Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education

No abstract provided.

Folklore And Fraudulent Collegiality: Perpetuating Patriarchal Culture In Women-Majority Academic Departments, Anna Fox

Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education

No abstract provided.

Taboos Of Masculinity: Positive And Progressive Masculinities, Biko Agozino, Augustine Agu

Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education

No abstract provided.

Existential Considerations To Disrupt Rigid Thinking In Social Studies Classrooms, Nicholas Jacobs, Cathryn Van Kessel, Bretton A. Varga

Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education

No abstract provided.

Despite The Place, Can’T Escape Gender And Race: Black Women’S Faculty Experiences At Pwis And Hbcus, Tara Blackshear, Leah P. Hollis

Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education

No abstract provided.

High Reliability Collaborations: Theorizing Interorganizational Reliability As Constituted Through Translation, Rebecca M. Rice

Communication Studies Faculty Research

High reliability organizations (HROs) need to collaborate to address risks that transcend organizational boundaries. HRO literature has yet to examine the challenge of creating interorganizational reliability, while collaboration literature can further explore how stakeholder priorities become dominant in collaborations. This study joins these bodies of literature to identify the growing domain of High Reliability Collaborations (HRCs). Drawing from 2 years of ethnographic research within a community emergency collaboration, the study theorizes that communicative translations constitute HRCs and serve to make sense of HROs and non-HROs as belonging to a shared collaborative framework. These translations are necessary to create reliability but …

Municipal Equality Index (Mei) For Nevada Cities And Municipalities, Kristian Thymianos, Elia Del Carmen Solano-Patricio, Saha Salahi, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Cities & Metros

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Equality Federation Institute compiled a 2020 Municipal Equality Index (MEI) that creates a scorecard measuring inclusivity and livability for members of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans Queer Intersex and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) communities who live and work in major U.S. cities and municipalities. For the purposes of this fact sheet, data for 10 Nevada municipalities are examined and ranked.