Digital Commons Network^™

The Rest Of The Story: Exploring The Overall Functioning And Maturational Experiences Of Former Foster Youth In Middle Adulthood, Jessica Lynn Yang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Middle adulthood as a developmental stage is often neglected in developmental research, yet it is vitally important to the cohesiveness of the life span as this is a time when integrating the experiences of the earlier developmental periods such as emerging adulthood, setting the stage for healthy aging. Emerging adulthood is but one unique stage in the life course, and situating this phase within a holistic developmental context is essential. Doing so illuminates the ways in which the past influences current functioning and the ways in which one's present developmental state sets the stage for later development. To date, no …

Impacts Of Workplace Violence: The Role Of Inequality, Lindsey Singer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2011 the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) reported that of people who are employed and aged 16 and older, 24% of nonfatal violent incidents happened at work. To understand the magnitude of the problem, from 2005 to 2009, 572,000 nonfatal workplace crimes occurred against people aged 16 or older. Annually, the rate of workplace violence was about 5 victimizations per 1,000 employed persons aged 16 and older (Harrell 2011). The impact of crime on victims is a topic that deserves attention because it extends our understanding beyond descriptive rates of violence. Workplace victimization, like most other types of victimizations …

"Why You Gotta Be So Mean?" Examining The Impact Of Underlying Social Factors On Traditional And Cyberbullying Offending, Emily Strohacker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Instances of traditional school yard bullying among adolescents have been examined by researchers for decades. More recently, cyberbullying has been introduced among adolescents and has begun to be seen as a counterpart to traditional offending behaviors. Scholars have examined the rates of these types of offending, as well as the negative outcomes that result from victimization. However, studies examining the underlying factors that lead to these types of offending, specifically a comparison and combination of the two, are few and far between. This research examines how factors of strain, association with deviant peers, alcohol and/or drug use, and time spent …

Black, White, And Read All Over: Exploring Racial Bias In Print Media Coverage Of Serial Rape Cases, Lauren Wright

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The discussion of race and crime has been a long-standing interest of researchers, with statistics consistently showing an overrepresentation of non-white offenders compared to their white counterparts – specifically in relation to violent crimes such as murder and rape. Prior research has found that about 46 percent of serial rapists are black, a fact that correlates with other sensationalized violent crimes such as mass murder and serial murder. The news media are the primary sources of this kind of information for the general public, with previous studies acknowledging that the media primarily focus on discussing non-white offenders in their crime-based …

The Workplace Consequences Of Obesity: Impacts On The Organization, The Employee, And The Proximal Coworker, Michael Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Obesity is a condition affecting billions of people around the world. Its societal, psychological, and health outcomes have been well documented across multiple disciplines. Moreover, obesity leads to serious workplace outcomes for the organization, the obese individual, and the coworkers working around the obese employee. With this multi-chapter dissertation, I review the literature on the workplace consequences of obesity and extend one potentially fruitful area within this literature base: obesity's impact on a proximal employee. Chapter 1 reviews the workplace consequences associated with obesity. The purpose is to evaluate and integrate this multidisciplinary literature so that management scholars can take …

Gee, Thanks: The Emotional And Structural Forces That Influence Subordinates' Upward Gratitude Expressions, Sharon Sheridan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recently, relationship scholars have demonstrated the importance of expressions of gratitude in cultivating relational bonds and relational satisfaction between close friends and romantic partners. Although there is growing evidence that gratitude facilitates improved relationships, organizational scholars have largely ignored the importance of gratitude in the workplace. What little we know indicates that expressions of gratitude in organizations may be rare. Indeed, a recent national survey revealed that 74% of the participants rarely, if ever, expressed gratitude to their supervisors (Kaplan, 2012). What might explain this apparent lack of gratitude? Research demonstrates that when individuals feel grateful for the generosity of …

Predicting Gun Ownership In America: Birth Cohort, Political Views, And Attitudes Towards Gun Control Legislation, Jared Adams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With mass shootings occurring with frightening regularity, research into gun ownership behavior is becoming increasingly important for public policy creation and public safety. While extant research tells us that firearm ownership is woven deep into the historical fabric of American culture, scholarship has yet to fully explore predictors for gun ownership. Employing 2015 Pew Research Center political survey data, this study examines the predictive effects of birth cohort, political ideology, and attitudes towards gun control legislation on gun ownership, with and without controls, using hierarchical binary logistic regression models. The presented models examine three separate cohorts: The Millennials, Generation X, …

Abortion Attitudes And Subjective Religiosity: Examining A Fourfold Typology, Christopher Guido

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is an exploratory study that examins the relationship between religious persons and attitudes toward legal abortion. This study presents a fourfold typology of respondents: (1) pro-choice, but not religious, (2) pro-choice and religious, (3) pro-life, but not religious, and (4) pro-life and religious. This study looks for characteristics of respondents in these categories. As previous research was examined on the relationship between religion and abortion attitudes, the question on what social characteristics make up the four categories of pro-choice and pro-life respondents was examined. Findings show that social characteristics of respondents vary across categories of subjective religiosity and attitudes …

Female Offenders Of Intimate Partner Homicide: Victim, Offender, And Case Characteristics, Alec Szalewski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Intimate partner homicide (IPH) represents between 10% and 16% of all homicides (Catalano, Smith, Snyder, & Rand, 2009; Cooper & Smith, 2011; Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2011; Gruenewald & Pridemore, 2009). Yet, research on gender-specific IPH offending is lacking at the individual offense level, especially when a woman is the offender. The majority of the research assessing gender-specific IPH offending examines motivations, as well as situational and structural variables. For instance, motivations may include self-defense or jealousy and situational variables may include employment status or past criminal histories. Structural variables include macro-level concepts such as poverty, education, or income. The …

Dating Violence Victimization And Substance Use: Do Genes Play A Role?, Alexis Yohros

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dating violence (DV) victimization in adolescence has been shown to be predictive of both negative emotions and delinquent behavior later in life. However, research that delves into DV victimization and subsequent outcomes, such as deviant behavior, is largely atheoretical. Robert Agnew's general strain theory (GST) provides a theoretical framework to address this limitation. In focusing on negative interactions with others, the theory posits that strain produces negative affect states which leads to deviant or criminal coping. Prior research has identified victimization as a strain, a type of noxious stimuli, which is significantly related to negative emotionality, crime, and deviance. I …

A Place In The Pew: Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Individuals' Perceptions Of Religious Traditions, Mandi Barringer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research shows that sexual minorities have been criticized and rejected by nearly every major religious group in the United States. The cumulative alienation that sexual minorities experience from mainline religious groups may leave them feeling disillusioned and even hostile toward religious organizations which have historically rejected them. However, research to date has not explored sexual minorities' perceptions of religious collectives in the United States. The current study examines the variations between lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals regarding their religious beliefs and perceptions of religious collectives' attitudes toward the LGB and transgender (LGBT) population. Utilizing data from the 2013 Pew …

Damned To Hell: The Black Church Experience For College Educated Lesbians, Gays, And Bisexuals, Edwanna Andrews

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite increased acceptance nationally towards same-sex sexuality, intolerance within the Black Church against those who identify as lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) continues to persist. As one of the most important institutions in the African American community, the significance of the Black Church makes the religious experience particularly influential. LGBs frequently experience homonegativity in the Black Church in the form of homophobic laced sermons, Microaggressions, and church gossip. The stigma LGBs encounter around homosexuality in the Black Church has created a dissonance between their religious beliefs, faith, and sexual identity. This study explores the multifaceted experience of lesbian, gay, and …

Rhetoric Of Imagery: Gendering And Consumption Throughout Interwar American Advertisment, Natalie Delgado

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Interwar American advertising rose alongside new levels of hygiene, personal appearance, and technology in order to sell their products to target audiences. Despite the abundance of scholarship on media and gender, few studies have examined the gendered techniques through which interwar advertisers communicated with consumers in response to changing social norms and economic stability. The question this thesis explores is how these changes and communication shifted in response to consumer culture and how advertisers utilized early market research and persuasion techniques to target their audiences. Building on the studies of gender, consumption, and identity, this thesis examines the relationship between …

Faculty Knowledge And Readiness In Reporting Student Victimization Disclosure And Title Ix Compliance, Abigail Malick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The U.S. Department of Education and Title IX Educational Act of 1972 shaped the way institutions of higher education address and prevent student victimizations. The law originally sought to eliminate sex-based discrimination in education but has evolved to include sexual misconduct. Since the Dear Colleague Letter of 2011, the position of institutions has changed significantly in the way they address student victimization as it relates to dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking (Rosenthal, 2017). One requirement is that institutions inform and train Responsible Employees to report when a student discloses experiencing sexual misconduct, including dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. …

From Dude To Dad: A Study On Prenatal Fatherhood And Its Representation In Theatre, Michael Nilsson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A man in the preparatory phase for parenthood with his first child can go through a lot of extreme emotional highs and lows, depending upon the man's economic, relationship, and physical status, as well as community pressures and support. In preparation to portray an array of prenatal fathers in a showcase of scenes, I have read an assortment of plays and scholarly sources. In reading a large sample of prenatal plays, I have extracted several possible emotional changes within a man's psyche. I also analyzed the social rationale behind these changes through the writings of sociologists and other scholarly sources. …

Living With Marie: Dramatherapy In The Creation Of Performable Theatre, Madelyn James

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Living with Marie is a project aiming to adapt dramatherapy techniques so that they are better suited to the creation of theatre in an attempt to educate audiences of the struggles some individuals cope with while living with mental illness. By using the practices implemented by dramatherapists Sue Jennings, John Casson, R. M. Simon, and Phil Jones, the evolution of my play Living with Marie can be seen as first originating in imagery before progressing to text and finally, performable art. This venture, inspired by my own psychotic struggle, gives audiences a glimpse into the clandestine existence of a nameless …

The Expansion Of Financial Regulation To Include Humanitarian Issues:An Examination Of The Development Of Conflict Mineral Reporting Requirements Using Actor-Network Theory, Robert Tennant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study conceptually and empirically examines the establishment of certain financial regulation that resulted from the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007-2009. The crisis led to the establishment of the most extensive change in the regulation of the financial sector since the Great Depression (Green, 2011). During the forty years leading up to the crisis, the United States had engaged in a process of increased deregulation to promote greater efficiency (Yaron & Hendershott, 1998). The belief that reduced regulation would improve efficiency and foster innovation became the mantra of many economic advisers to policy setters, to the point that as …

Understanding Arson Through Community Resilience, Rhena South

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over 40,000 arsons were reported in the 2014 Uniform Crime Report; however, this number is underestimated since there are no official arson trends reported by the FBI due to the lack of agencies reporting this offense. Arson is one of the most destructive and under researched crimes. This lack of research can be attributed to the dual definition of arson – that is, the destruction of one's own property or someone else's property – the opportunistic nature of arson, and the inability to determine a measurable rate. The current study uses data from the Chicago Police Department's Citizen Law Enforcement …

Navigating The (Im)Perfect Performances Of Queer Iranian-American Identity, Shadee Abdi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Within the social sciences and humanities, failure to adequately account for the intersectional ways people of color navigate their multiple identities within contesting cultural systems, creates an unfinished portrait of queer identity. For queer people of color, negotiating queer identity is always in relation to their nationality, race-ethnicity, class, gender, religion, and family. While many queer of color stories share similar obligatory cultural norms, the legal ramifications that impact the lives of queer Iranians and their families, both within Iran and abroad, challenge many queer of color expectations. Due to stringent cultural and legal influences, Iranian social discourse heavily impacts …

Tobacco Use, Cessation, And Locus Of Control Among College Students, Bernard Ambe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to (a) determine the locus of control among American college students (b) determine if tobacco use or cessation correlate with any demographic variables to better understand the efficacy of tobacco interventions and help design an intervention most effective in the prominent LOC of college students.

The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) was modified for the purposes of this study and used to determine demographic factors and tobacco usage status. The modified GATS survey also included the LOC questionnaire which yielded the data. Seventy-four responses were recorded. The mean locus of control scores were …

Patchwork : A Southern Family Portrait., Rebekah Dement Farmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a jointly scholarly and creative exploration of the potentials of autobiography. Specifically, this dissertation seeks to examine how the personal narrative may be utilized to undermine or challenge prevailing cultural myths and legends of the American South as they are manifested in master narratives propagated within an individual family’s narrative. As emblems of Southern culture, these master narratives have privileged the white male experience over other Southern voices. An interdisciplinary examination of selected historical and literary texts reveals certain external challenges to the resilient master narrative, but this dissertation suggests autobiography may prove a particularly potent force …

To Write A Life : Three Women In History., Justy Louise Engle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This creative and critical hybrid dissertation explores the spiritual connections between three women in distinctly different time periods: contemporary America, nineteenth century America and early fifteenth century France. The overall dissertation explores the autogenealogobiography, what the author defines as the self-writings of women composed within a specific time period in relation to the current moment and generations of ancestral women. The objective of the creative texts is to record the spiritual journeys of life for the women who will come after for the purpose of encouraging careful observation of history so that women will be able to note and internalize …

Workplace Spirituality And Employee Work Intentions : Examining The Relationship And The Mediating Role Of Ethical Leadership., Paula F. Soder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examined the extent to which workplace spirituality was associated with work intentions, and whether ethical leadership served as a mediator of the relationship between workplace spirituality and work intentions. The study begins with an overview of the significant workplace spirituality literature, and a brief overview of work intentions and ethical leadership. A convenience sample of 405 U.S. based adults, employed full-time were surveyed. Using correlation and path analysis, results from the study showed a positive strong association between workplace spirituality and employee work intentions, and mediation via ethical leadership. The findings of the study provided support for both …

Heritage Tourism In Washington County, Tennessee: Linking Place, Placelessness, And Preservation, Chad F. Bailey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the formation of spatial theory and the linkage between space and place and their relationship with historic preservation and heritage tourism. First, this thesis analyzes the terms space and place, and how scholars define each term. Second, this thesis focuses on the concept of placelessness. Third, this thesis examines historic preservation as a strategy to help alleviate placelessness and as a crucial link to heritage tourism. This thesis also will use regional examples of preservation and tourism as exemplified by the preservation efforts of private organizations, citizens, and government officials in Jonesborough,Johnson City, and Washington County,Tennessee. This …

Forgiveness And Suicidal Behavior In College Students: Cynicism And Psychache As Serial Mediators, Trever Dangel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research has long documented beneficial associations between forgiveness and numerous health outcomes; however, its relationship to suicidal behavior has been relatively neglected. Both cynicism, and psychache, or agonizing psychological pain, have displayed deleterious associations with suicidal behavior, but have rarely been incorporated into more comprehensive models of suicidal behavior. Recent work has resulted in the development of a theoretical model of the forgiveness-suicidal behavior association, which can incorporate several mediator variables including cynicism and psychache. The present study used an undergraduate sample of college students (N = 312) to test a serial mediation model of the cross-sectional associations between forgiveness, …

Recasting The White Stereotype Of Southern Appalachia: Contribution To Culture And Community By Black Appalachian Women, Sherry Kaye Ms.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The myth and image of Southern Appalachia spun by local color writers of the early nineteenth century and, later, by local elites in privileged positions of power have long cast the historiography of the region in tones of Caucasian lineage and remediation. The production of culture, contribution to community, and service to church and, family long considered to be the domain of women has predominantly been viewed from the privilege of a white perspective. Prescriptive definitions of a monochromatic culture in the Uplands of Southern Appalachia has written out the cultural contribution of diverse ethnicities who continue to call the …

A First-Year Experience Course And Its Relationship To Retention And Academic Success At A Public Community College, Jackie F. Newman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative comparative study was to determine the relationship between retention and academic success of students who participated in a First-Year Experience (FYE) course and students who did not participate in a FYE course within a southeastern community college in the United States. The impact of the relationship was to inform an understanding of how a FYE course influences student success.

Archival data were collected from the southeastern community college’s student information system, Banner, Data for first-time full time students were gathered, including whether or not the individuals enrolled in a FYE course. Other data included the …

A Study Of The Perceptions Of Racial Equity In One Early Childhood Education Program, Dawn M. Meskil

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although public education in the United States has had remarkable growth and improvement since its beginning, significant inadequacies concerning racial equity continue to cast a shadow on the system. Despite desegregation efforts and specific attention to providing integrated school settings there has been little progress in establishing educational justice. The purpose of this case study was to uncover perceptions about racial inequity within Asheville City Schools as well as potential facilitators of equity. A qualitative case study using 10 guiding research questions was conducted to evaluate the perceptions of parents as well as educators at Asheville City Schools Preschool regarding …

Social Identities And Meanings In Correctional Work, Caitlin C. Botelho

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on correctional officers’ values and perceptions of their workplace, the people they work with and for, and members of the general public. Although prior research has investigated correctional staff members’ feelings about their occupation, far fewer studies have implemented a comprehensive qualitative, microsociological approach. The author conducted 20 in-depth interviews with current and former correctional officers (COs) in public-supported facilities. Additional data were collected through two public Facebook pages designated for COs and citizens interested in the criminal justice system. The study offers insights about the significance of COs’ feelings about their work and how the correctional …

Defying Convention: Atypical Perspectives Of Slavery In Antebellum New Orleans, Amanda N. Carr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During the first half of the nineteenth century, slavery became a vital economic component upon which the success of the southern states in America rested. Cotton was king, and slavery was the peculiar institution that ensured its dominance in the domestic and international markets of America. Popular portrayals, however, often neglect the complicated dynamics of American slavery and instead depict the institution in simplistic terms. The traditional view has emphasized an image of white southerners as slaveholders and blacks as slaves. In New Orleans, the lives of three men—all of whom were tied to slavery in varying capacities—reveal a much …