Digital Commons Network^™

Disentangling The Effect Of Criminal Legal System Involvement On Mental Health In The United States, Pui Ying Chan

Dissertations and Theses

BACKGROUND: Interactions with the criminal legal system (CLS), such as through arrest or incarceration, are relatively common in the United States (US) and are increasingly recognized as social risk factors for poor mental health. Previous studies have reported a positive association between CLS involvement and poor mental health, with some theoretical frameworks, including the ecosocial theory and the stress process paradigm, supporting a plausible causal relationship. However, prior research has significant limitations in providing casual evidence given possible reverse causation in cross-sectional studies and insufficient consideration for the dynamics between CLS exposures, mental health status, and related confounders over time …

Trauma-Born Generations And Intergenerational Conflict: A Study Of Tensions In The Contemporary South Korean, Daihyun Kim

Dissertations and Theses

This paper analyzes how traumatic events that have been repeated in modern Korean history have affected each generation's identity and emotional structure, and how intergenerational conflicts arise, are structured, and reproduced. This study divides the groups of people born in the period from "The Liberation" in 1945 to 2025 into four generations: the Industrialization Generation, the Democratization Generation, the Capitalist Generation, and the Isolation Generation. Each generation has remembered major historical events such as the Korean War, the Gwangju Democratization Movement, the IMF foreign exchange crisis, the Sewol ferry and the Itaewon disaster in a unique way, thereby forming an …

Emergence Of Norms In The Presence Of Social Network Structure In A Stochastic Evolutionary Game Theory Model, Parker Foresman

Dissertations and Theses

In their 2000 paper, The Emergence of Classes in a Multi-Agent Bargaining Model, Axtell, Epstein, and Young introduced an agent-based bargaining model to study how social norms can emerge and persist from the decentralized, asynchronous interactions of individual agents in the presence of noise, even when these agents have no predefined preferences or advantages. This thesis extends their model by incorporating structured interaction networks, allowing us to investigate how the topology of agent interactions influences long-run dynamics and norm formation. Using a custom simulation package built in the Julia programming language, we replicate the original results under a complete …

Mental Health In Prisons: Examining Variations In Disorders Across Custody Levels, Ariel Bysiek

Dissertations and Theses

The United States has a significantly large prison population with the number of people currently in a correctional facility being 1.9 million. Concern has been increasingly growing related to treatment of individuals in prison, particularly when it comes to solitary confinement. Many people believe that solitary confinement is unnecessarily cruel and debilitating to AIC's mental health. Studies have found contradicting information as to whether solitary impacts mental health. Part of the reason for this contradiction stems from the lack of measurement systems that are appropriate for AICs. The measures used in studies are meant for the general population, not individuals …

Beyond Translating Cultures: Organizational Cultural Brokering And Latin@/E/X Community Resilience After The "Mobile Home Parks" Fire, Christine Atalie Da Rosa

Dissertations and Theses

As wildfires increase in frequency and severity in rural communities, disaster management agencies are seeking to collaborate with community-based organizations (CBOs) working with rural, low-income Latin@/e/x communities to build wildfire resilience. This qualitative case study examines the critical role of CBOs rooted in their local, predominately low-income Latin@/e/x communities as cultural brokers in supporting Latin@/e/x wildfire survivors following the 2020 "Mobile Home Parks" Fire in a rural county in Oregon. Drawing from 23 semi-structured interviews, three focus groups, a review of relevant documents, and participant observations, the research investigates how Latin@/e/x CBOs navigated the complex cultural landscape between wildfire survivors …

Support Beyond Services: Examining The Role Of Neighbor Relationships, Housing Staff, And Place In Mental Health Recovery, Kenna Estell Dickard

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation explores the role of non-clinical support for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI). Through three interconnected manuscripts, this dissertation highlights the importance of housing staff support, places in the community, and neighbor relationships in fostering recovery for individuals with SMI. The first manuscript analyzes how housing staff support influences residents' well-being through an ecological lens. This study found that staff support is associated with reduced loneliness, higher residential satisfaction, and increased sense of community. This study also considers the role of self-determination as a moderator, demonstrating the importance of resident agency in maximizing well-being outcomes. The second manuscript …

A Mixed-Methods Study On Extended Parental Separation Among Mexican And Central American Immigrants: Insights From Legal Violence And The Stress Process, Natalie J. Cholula

Dissertations and Theses

My mixed-methods dissertation examines the mental health effects of legal violence on Mexican and Central American immigrants experiencing prolonged parental separation amid heightened immigration enforcement. The study encompasses three papers utilizing Menjívar and Abrego's (2012) framework of legal violence and Pearlin's (1989) stress process model. The first paper employs quantitative analysis of the Mesoamerican Migration Project data, revealing that heightened immigration enforcement is associated with increased distress among Mexican immigrants in the context of parental separation, the use of coyotes, and the Trump era. The second paper offers qualitative insights from 29 Mexican and Central American immigrants, highlighting the emotional …

The Ecology Of Gender-Based Violence For Syrian Refugee Women In Tripoli And Akkar, Dima Masoud

Dissertations and Theses

Lebanon is a country that suffers from multiple economic, political, and health crises. Additionally, the mass displacement of Syrian refugees to Lebanon after the war in Syria over a decade ago has left Syrian refugees vulnerable, including the vulnerability of Syrian refugee women to gender-based violence (GBV). While these conditions have affected all of Lebanon, this dissertation focuses on the regions of Tripoli and Akkar in northern Lebanon. Tripoli and Akkar are regions that border Syria, which means that an influx of Syrian refugees, mostly unregistered, comes in. While other regions in Lebanon also border Syria, Tripoli and Akkar are …

Race, Reflection And Resistance: An Autoethnographic Journey In Social Studies Curriculum Development, Jesse Nicholas Hendryx-Dobson

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this qualitative, self- study, autoethnography is to explore my instructional practices, strategies and decision making as I navigate my attempts to build a more anti-racist, racial justice social studies curriculum in a predominantly white school environment. Critical Race Theory as well as racial literacy provided me with a conceptual framework, but also with the language I need to articulate the research problem and my findings. Three research questions guided how I collected and analyzed my data: 1) How do I plan social studies lessons that address the topic of race/racism? 2) How can I use social studies …

#Clandestini: How Italy's Center-Right Parliamentary Coalition Frames The Migrant Crisis On Social Media, Jenna Lynn Depasquale

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation examines the intersection of Italian neo-fascism, the Mediterranean migrant crisis, and digital media. Through a qualitative content analysis of the Twitter and Instagram posts made by Italy's center-right parliamentary coalition from 2014-2018, this research outlines frameworks that facilitate both the physical and social deaths of migrants. Twitter is a platform on which bite-sized xenophobic messages characterize migrants as criminals, spoiled youth, spreaders of infectious disease, and future terrorists--sometimes in a contradictory fashion. Instagram is a medium for conveying Italian identity and history, which disregards the longstanding contributions of people of color, including Muslims, in Southern Italy. Comment sections …

Latino Threat Perceptions And Immigration Attitudes: An Examination Across Generations Of Latinos, Michelle Angel

Dissertations and Theses

Recently, immigration has been a major focus in U.S. politics, more importantly with the current administration pushing for the implementation of punitive immigration policies. Research shows that perceived Latino threat is associated with support of Trump and harsh border controls. While existing research has expanded the perceived Latino threat and punitive border control attitudes among non-Latinos, less is known about how perceived Latino threat and punitive border control attitudes function within their own group and how they might vary across different generations of Latinos. Accordingly, there has been a shift in Latino voting preferences, specifically across different generations of Latinos. …

How Do Health Insurer Practices Affect Health Equity For Gay And Bisexual Men And Transmasculine Individuals? A Qualitative And Health Policy Assessment, Alexa D'Angelo

Dissertations and Theses

In the U.S. there continue to be stark disparities in health that affect LGBTQ+ communities. These disparities include those related to mental health, sexually transmitted infections, along with chronic illnesses and some cancers. Higher health needs across diagnostic categories mean that LGBTQ+ individuals require access to the healthcare system both to prevent conditions disproportionately affecting the community, and to treat conditions as they arise. In the U.S., access to healthcare often requires either reliable insurance coverage or another payer to cover costs associated with care. Thus, health insurance status and coverage of care, along with coverage regulations and health policies …

The Silk Butterfly Effect: Japan And The United States 1853-1941, Melodee Birlew

Dissertations and Theses

This study examines the rise and fall of the silk industry in both the United States and Japan in the first half of the twentieth century. While silk had been a valuable commodity for millennia for royalty, aristocrats, and the extremely wealthy, the opening of Japan's ports in 1853 soon made silk more accessible to lower classes around the world.

Consequently, Japan's newfound wealth catapulted her status among other rich and powerful nations. Japan's military might, financed in large part by the silk trade and displayed by her victory over Russia in 1905, earned her even more prestige on the …

Their Will Is Wealth: American Billionaires, Illiberal Capital, And Their Immunity To Federal Law, Conor Kawika Carroll

Dissertations and Theses

Billionaires are inherently unique political actors. They, and their wealth, are a species apart. This rarity is measurable by quantifying relative consequences for actions made on behalf of that wealth. This thesis explores whether or not a billionaire's political power provides them with immunity to federal laws and regulations that govern wealth and its political use. The objective of this research is two-fold: to illustrate the scholarship gap regarding American billionaires and their relative immunity from federal law, and to instigate academia to study billionaires politically at increasing rates, providing more data for lawmakers regarding the most economically powerful political …

A Quantitative And Qualitative Analysis Of The Workplace Challenges Experienced By Women, Ahmed Mohammed Almousa

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation explores the persistent workplace challenges experienced by women through three interrelated studies using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Despite decades of progress, women continue to face structural barriers, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and emotional labor demands that shape their professional experiences.

The first study analyzes GSS data to examine the impact of the #MeToo movement on self-reports of sexual harassment and gender discrimination. Results show an increase in reporting sexual harassment among White men and Women of color. With respect to men of color and white women, the results were not significant or did not show an increase. …

Navigating Sovereignty And Human Rights: A Legal Analysis Of Palestinian Detention Under Israeli Jurisdiction In Comparison To International Law, Amani Nidal Odeh

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines whether Israeli detention practices of Palestinians conform to or contravene Israeli domestic legislation and international legal standards using a doctrinal legal analysis. This thesis evaluates six key areas through four hypotheses: the detention of minors, geographic disparities (particularly Gaza), administrative detention procedures, the use of military courts, due process violations, and detention conditions. While Israeli domestic law formally authorizes these practices, the analysis finds they routinely violate crucial international legal norms, including the ICCPR, CRC, CAT, and the Fourth Geneva Convention. The use of secret evidence, prolonged administrative detention without trial, and discriminatory legal frameworks undermines the …

"I'M Strictly T4t": Trans For Trans Connections In The Contemporary, Madi Lou Alexander

Dissertations and Theses

Trans for trans relationships, referred to as "t4t", are a relationship type specific to trans individuals. Linguistically originating from Craigslist personal ad spaces, t4t indicates a trans person seeking out and engaging with another trans person. The scope of relationships under the t4t label are often largely associated with sexuality and dating scenes due to their conception in online cruising spaces. Through qualitative analysis, I assess the range of what t4t relationships are through 30 in-depth interviews with participants identifying as trans. This work moves away from focusing on the deficits of holding a marginalized identity, instead aiming to center …

Retention Intervention Program Success: An Inquiry Into Learning Organization Structural And Cultural Elements In California Community Colleges, Paul Vernon Wickline

Dissertations and Theses

Community colleges serve a diverse, underrepresented, and economically disadvantaged student population, yet most students fail to complete their academic goals, with students from marginalized groups facing even more significant disparities. Some colleges have implemented Early Alert and Intervention (EA&I) programs to improve retention and completion rates. However, colleges may face organizational challenges in implementing and sustaining these retention programs. This qualitative study examined structural and cultural elements in community colleges that have successfully implemented EA&I programs, focusing on student services and student affairs practices that support a learning-centered environment. Findings suggest that effective EA&I programs are grounded in inclusive, collaborative, …

"This Revolution Been Televised": Media As A Tool Of Justice And An Apparatus Of State Violence, Nahal Rastegarpour

Dissertations and Theses

This study utilizes case information from an online database called Fatal Encounters, which has over 30,000 incident reports of civilian deaths involving a police officer. From this larger population, a sample of 415 cases is used to run an additional mixed method research design, which integrates quantitative data analysis and qualitative content analyses. The quantitative analysis sample includes all 415 cases, and the qualitative content analysis uses a subsample of 34 cases. Using demographic data provided by Fatal Encounters, this study expands case information to create new data sets. Both quantitative and qualitative data are collected, developed, and then analyzed. …

The Effects Of Family Cohesion On The Relationship Between Trauma And State-Level Social Policy Provision In The United States, Brandon Kendall Ross Fielding

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation examines how childhood trauma and family cohesion interact to shape state-level social policy generosity in the United States. The study begins with a multilevel quantitative analysis using data from the National Survey of Children’s Health and the State Safety-Net Generosity Index to assess how individual-level experiences of trauma and family support relate to state-level welfare generosity. Two trauma indices--one focused on adverse childhood experiences and bullying, and the other on food-related hardship--are used to explore how trauma influences attitudes toward public assistance, and whether family cohesion moderates this relationship. Results from marginal effects analyses indicate that family cohesion, …

An Exploration Of Holistic Admissions Protocol In Graduate School: Implications For Access And Equity, Kelly Doherty

Dissertations and Theses

Historically, graduate admissions policies at higher education institutions have heavily relied on standardized testing, which limits access to graduate and professional degrees for underrepresented demographic and gender groups. Recently, movements toward holistic graduate admissions processes and strengths-based evaluations of applicants have shown promise in equitably recruiting and admitting candidates. However, the field currently lacks common best practices and strategies for enhancing equity in the evaluation of applicant credentials. Furthermore, recent federal challenges to campus diversity and inclusion efforts have complicated these initiatives. To address these issues, this qualitative comparative case study examined five university graduate schools that are implementing holistic …

Institutions, Indigenous Peoples, And The Structure Of Power In Columbia River Basin Salmon Governance, Christopher Michael Page

Dissertations and Theses

As broad patterns of behavior influenced by norms and rules, institutions structure many aspects of modern society through coordination and the distribution of power. Due to the importance of common-pool natural resources to many aspects of society, they usually involve competition and lie at the intersection of multiple institutions. This combination of institutions, power disparities, and a competitive interest is what scholars have referred to as a "field." Fields can be complex, and the coordination among interests is generally done through a form of governance involving a wide array of laws, regulations, and actors. When at least one of these …

"Significant Bodily Intrusions": Investigations Into Law Enforcement Phlebotomy, Anne Kathleen Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

This three-paper dissertation explores law enforcement phlebotomy, the ability of law enforcement officers to draw blood. Phlebotomy is both a ubiquitous, invasive diagnostic tool as well as a social site with complex relational dynamics at play between phlebotomist and patient. Through law enforcement phlebotomy, the blood draw is co-opted from the medical field into the policing field, and the normative framework through which it is used changes: whereas medical edicts instruct providers to work with patients through an ethics of care--respecting consent and refusal--policing is not similarly bound, instead operating through a prioritization of security and efficiency. In the articles …

The Effects Of School Safety Strategies On K-12 Schools: Armed Civilians, School Resource Officers, And Metal Detectors As Contributors To The School-To-Prison Pipeline, Rebeca Petean

Dissertations and Theses

In recent decades, K-12 public schools have introduced get-tough measures ostensibly to improve school safety through punitive responses to misconduct and delinquency--expanding from traditional security measures to more punitive, zero-tolerance policies and surveillance-based approaches. Academic literature and media accounts highlight that such efforts continue to proliferate and extend across our nation's school spaces. This three-paper dissertation examines how specific safety practices--namely, the presence of armed civilians, School Resource Officers (SROs), and random metal detector checks--influence student outcomes and contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline. Rooted in Becker's (1963) and Lemert's (1967) labeling theory, as well as Sampson and Laub's (1997) cumulative …

Urban Beavers At The Crossroads: How Ecological Knowledge, Sociodemographic, And Spatial Context Shape Public Perception And Coexistence Preferences, Matthew Guziejka

Dissertations and Theses

Urban beavers demonstrate synurbization by adapting to urban environments, offering ecological benefits such as biodiversity enhancement and flood mitigation, while also occasionally conflicting with infrastructure. This study examines how ecological knowledge, sociodemographics, and spatial context influence public perceptions and management preferences for urban beavers in the Tualatin River watershed, Oregon.

A voluntary survey of 176 participants from peri-urban areas assessed demographic characteristics, ecological knowledge, and attitudes toward management approaches. Spatial factors, such as proximity to watercourses and green spaces, were also analyzed. Logistic regression analyses were used to explore relationships between these factors and management preferences. Political orientation was significantly …

Becoming A Learner: An Autoethnography, Joshua Dickinson

Dissertations and Theses

It is well understood that attitudes toward language learning impact outcomes. This thesis uses autoethnography to explore the author's experiences learning German, in-class and independently, examining the interplay between motivation, attitudes, and the learning environment. I analyze personal journals and notes, employing graphic storytelling to illustrate their emotional journey. This paper draws upon existing literature on second language acquisition, particularly focusing on Dörnyei's L2 Motivational Self System and Ushioda's person-in-context approach. The study reveals how personal beliefs, self-doubt, and the limitations of traditional classroom settings impacted my motivation and ultimately, how reflection facilitated a renewed commitment to learning. In conclusion, …

A Critical Appraisal Of Poverty In The Context Of Nature-Based Communities: Selected Cases From The Philippines, Carla Edith Gonzales Jimena

Dissertations and Theses

The Philippines is considered one of the wealthiest countries in both Southeast Asia and the world when measured by biodiversity, mineral resources and natural resources. It is also one of the most highly mineralized countries on earth. However, despite these natural endowments, when measured by established economic and human development indices the Philippines remains poor. Using critical perspectives derived from Marxist tradition, William Chambliss' theory of law and its dialectical nature, Immanuel Wallerstein's World Systems Theory, and Fred Block's structural mechanism of the state, this study aimed to critically appraise the persistence of poverty in nature-based communities in the Philippines. …

Displaced: An Ethnography Of Language And Identity Loss, Ariel Caroline Wilsey-Gopp

Dissertations and Theses

Through ethnography and personal narrative, I explore the language and identity loss of one person, my father, in order to understand the complex issues surrounding the effects of symbolic and structural violence on language and identity development. Through personal narrative, fieldwork, and interviews, I tell the story of one person, born in wartime during Nazi occupied Serbia, and follow the guiding questions: how does language get lost and what are the effects? Drawing on methodology set forth by empirical ethnographical work as well as more recent theory around epigenetics and trauma, my research synthesizes into focus three pillars of understanding …

"I'Ll Just Say It's Been A Racist Process": The Power Dynamics Within And Outside Diversity Requirement Classrooms At A Minority-Serving Institution, Kazusa Seko

Dissertations and Theses

U.S. higher educational institutions have increasingly implemented diversity requirements; however, institutional power dynamics during the implementation process and in a classroom after the implementation should be more highlighted. This study aims to understand the implementation of a diversity requirement during the implementation process and faculty and student experiences within required diversity courses at Portland State University (PSU) by analyzing one-on-one semi-structured interviews. PSU is a minority-serving educational institution that implemented a diversity requirement, the Race and Ethnic Studies Requirement (RESR), in Fall 2022. These data are analyzed through Critical Race Theory (CRT) lenses--introducing Okun's (2021) white supremacy culture in an …

Tree-Equity And Environmental Justice Discourses Among Urban Forestry Professionals In Portland: Current Impacts And Future Implications, Axcelle Deone Bell

Dissertations and Theses

Urban tree equity is critical for addressing environmental justice and mitigating the effects of climate change in cities. This study investigates how professionals in Portland's urban forestry sector conceptualize and implement tree equity, focusing on equity and justice discourses. Through 27 semi-structured interviews with 29 professionals from government agencies and NGOs, I examine how these discourses shape decisions regarding tree planting, distribution, and maintenance, particularly in underserved communities. The analysis draws on political ecology, systems dynamics, and structuration theory to explore the systemic barriers perpetuating inequities in tree canopy distribution. The findings reveal tensions between different approaches to equity, such …