Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding And Supporting Asian American Youth’S Mental Health Within Cultural And Family Contexts, In Young Park

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mental health problems are a major health issue among East Asian American (EAA) youth. Although previous research has explored the risk and protective factors associated with mental health problems of EAA youth, many studies have employed Eurocentric perspectives, thereby excluding their unique cultural backgrounds, beliefs, and values. To better understand mental health needs and support these youth, further research that identifies different factors associated with mental health problems in their cultural context and assesses evidence-supported and culturally responsive interventions is needed.

This three-manuscript dissertation is presented in three papers. The first manuscript presents an integrative conceptual framework that uses two …

Socioeconomic Factors And Mass Shootings, 1982-2016, Taylor Petkovich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper is an examination and investigation of the relationship between socioeconomic factors and mass shootings. The objective of this paper was to see if economic policy making could be an effective tool for reducing the level of mass gun violence that America has been experiencing. This paper highlights the known relationship between violent crime and economics and tries to bridge that connection to mass shootings specifically through literature review and econometric testing. The ultimate takeaway from this paper’s results and analysis is the need for a universal definition and governing body for data on mass shootings in order to …

Trans And Genderqueer Military Service Member-Veterans: An Acculturation Phenomenology Of Civilian Reintegration, Joseph A. Galluzzo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As United States military policy continues to evolve and affirm the accession and retention of trans and genderqueer (TGQ) service members, more TGQ people will join and ultimately separate from military service. Reintegration is a term that represents the experience of beginning to separate from the military and transitioning into civilian life, and those who encounter it are referred to as military service member-veterans (MSMVs). Though empirical knowledge of reintegration for MSMVs overall continues to improve, cultural relevance has only recently been considered, and no research has investigated the reintegration experiences of TGQ MSMVs specifically. The primary purpose of this …

The Intersection Of Traumatic Brain Injury And Homelessness, Stephanie A. Chassman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The rates of TBI are significantly higher among individuals experiencing homelessness compared to the general population. Up to half of individuals experiencing homelessness may have a TBI. Accurate prevalence rates of TBI among individuals experiencing homelessness are difficult to obtain due to different methods of sampling participants and differing definitions of TBI; therefore, estimates may be underrepresented. Despite past research that has examined the relationship between TBI and homelessness, there are specific gaps in knowledge such as correlates and risk factors of TBI among individuals experiencing homelessness. This three-manuscript dissertation attempts to address these gaps in knowledge.

The first manuscript …

Restorative Justice & A Dean Of Students: An Auto-Criticism Of The Role Of Care In School Discipline In A Poverty Impacted Public High School, Alicia D. Vasquez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study is an auto-criticism, an approach that allows researchers to study themselves. This emergent methodology is derived from educational criticism and connoisseurship, which fits under the broader category of arts-based research. School discipline is a programmatic component of any secondary school’s educational framework and directly effects student engagement and academic achievement. An analysis of the dean role in relation to school discipline is central to this study. The main research question is what are the lived experiences of a dean who incorporates restorative justice practices in a poverty impacted public high school?

The author spent two years as …

Exploring Opportunities For Supporting Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth: A Path Forward Through Expanding Graduate Training In School Psychology, Erica L. Gleason

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School psychologists are equipped with a dynamic skill set and an ethical and moral responsibility to support the diverse needs of all youth. While juvenile justice-involved youth may not be a primary subpopulation served by all school psychologists, they are a high-needs group that requires special consideration and attention. As a professional entity, school psychologists’ knowledge and expertise are not optimally applied to serving these youth. Consequently, school psychologists may be forgoing an opportunity to improve rates of successful school and community reintegration and overall positive life outcomes for justice-involved youth. The first manuscript of this dissertation presents precipitating and …

Relationships, Relevance, And Reflection: How White Teachers Are Working To Dismantle White Supremacy In Their Classrooms Through Culturally Responsive Education, Zion W. Gezaw

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the multitude of ways in which White supremacy manifests in the education system and examines how White teachers specifically are working to dismantle White supremacy in middle school classrooms through culturally responsive education. This educational criticism and connoisseurship study focuses on the interactions of White teachers in relation to their Black students, along with observations of their teaching and planning methods. The following research questions guided this research: How are White teachers implementing a culturally responsive classroom environment for Black students? How do White educators plan and enact a culturally responsive curriculum for Black students? How do …

Extra-Legal Factors In Juvenile Court Outcomes: What Is The Role Of Youth’S Race/Ethnicity And Family Structure In Disposition Decisions?, Vitoria De Francisco Lopes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to the unique nature of the juvenile justice system, its focus on rehabilitation and the population it serves, juvenile court judges serve as the sole decision maker and are given substantial power of discretion. Prior literature has indicated extra-legal factors to influence court outcomes, and scholars have argued that the use of discretion has led to a significant variability in the way youth are treated by juvenile court officials and may contribute to the issue of minority overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system. Yet, family structure has not been examined in depth, especially as it relates to race/ethnicity. The …

Fugitivity, Confinement, And The Afterlife Of Slavery In Contemporary African American Migration Narratives, Juyoun Jang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates a post-Civil Rights-era literary history of fugitive slave figures and their fugitive acts amid temporal and spatial confinement as constituting a tradition of contemporary African American migration narratives. The point of departure for this project is the Prologue of Ralph Ellison’s novel, Invisible Man, where the unnamed Black narrator endures a forced migration to New York, but also invites readers to witness his performance of hibernation in an underground space in a building reserved for white tenants. On the one hand, the low, claustrophobic, and dark space of the narrator’s basement signifies Black migrants’ historical subjection to …

The Few Among The Many: Women's Labour In British Guiana Prisons, 1838-1917, Estherine Gwendoline Adams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the history of incarceration in British Guiana between 1838 and 1917 with emphasis on the interconnections between the colony’s burgeoning carceral apparatus and the life and labour of women. It highlights the intersection of coerced labour and colonialism in the colony in the post-emancipation period, by centering the lives of incarcerated women to understand the nature of state governance and the use of labour in this colonial spaces. I argue the plantocracy leveraged the expansion of the penal apparatus not to control crime but to control labour.

Tracing the use of prisons in the colony, I demonstrate …

The Relationship Between Ethnicity, Immigrant Generation, & Delinquency: Examining Youth In Child Protective Services., Erin Leigh Geist

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although minority youth are overrepresented in the makeup of the welfare and juvenile justice system, there is a lack of research that examines dually-involved youth. In recent years, there has been an escalation in the number of Hispanic youth that have become involved in the child welfare system, including youth that identify as Hispanic immigrants. This study uses nationally representative data of children receiving welfare services to examine the relationship between ethnicity, immigrant generation, and delinquency. The results of binomial regression models illustrated that there was no effect of Hispanic ethnicity or immigrant generation on delinquency. However, the analysis provided …

Gendered Negotiation Of Space: A Study On Gender And Mobility Among Transgender Persons In Pakistan, Sana Illahe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Transgender persons, known as khwaja sira in Pakistan, have historically been marginalized and excluded from various spatial domains, as they do not fit the societal norms of binary gender. They are subject to gender discipline by the Pakistani society to coerce them into conforming to the social norms. This research study uses in-depth interviews and applies grounded theory in conjunction with Michel Foucault’s concept of discipline to explore how khwaja sira are subject to societal discipline in Pakistan. The discipline ranges from tacit to overt forms, including verbal and sexual harassment. Khwaja sira are disciplined within their families, in formal …

Going Green – The Relationship Between Medical Marijuana Policy Implementation And Opioid Prescribing Patterns, Tyler James Dunn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objectives

The objectives of this dissertation are: 1) To measure the prevalence of medical marijuana use in the U.S. and to identify predictors of medical marijuana use; 2) To measure opioid prescribing patterns among Medicare beneficiaries within states following the implementation of medical marijuana policies and to compare opioid prescribing patterns among Medicare beneficiaries residing within these states compared to individuals within states without medical marijuana policies in place; and 3) To determine if racial disparities exist in the effect of medical marijuana policy implementation on opioid prescribing patterns among Medicare beneficiaries.

Methods

A retrospective secondary database analysis was conducted …

A Public Health Ethics Approach To Substance Use Disorder, Adele Flaherty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of the dissertation is to undertake an analysis of substance use disorders that focuses on a public health ethics perspective. The ethical argument focuses upon justifying the use of harm reduction and is primarily concerned with the current opioid crisis. While substance abuse/misuse over the course of history has been identified as a public health concern, this dissertation presents substance use disorders over the course of the lifespan, examining various contexts in which it can affect daily living and health outcomes. It achieves this by analyzing substance use disorders through the lens of the socioecological model of public …

"If Fear Wasn't Enough?!": African American Perceptions Of Policing After Breonna Taylor's Unprovoked Death., Moriah Antoinette Bellamy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates how African Americans perceive the racialization process in the criminal justice system following the death of Breonna Taylor. Focusing primarily on police-community relations in Louisville, KY, I find the Breonna Taylor case amplifies preconceived perceptions of race between civilian and non-civilian groups. To test the hypothesis that racialization in the criminal justice system has caused damaging effects on relations between African Americans and police, two virtual focus groups were designed to discuss participants’ experiences with law enforcement. My findings suggest that the racialization process in the criminal justice system negatively skewed African American civilians’ attitudes towards law …

Charting The Unknown: Examining The Prevalence And Correlates Of Seconday Traumatic Stress In Kentucky Probation And Parole Officers., Amanda Marie Roberts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to discern the prevalence and magnitude of both exposure to traumatic events and Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS); as well as potential correlates of STS in a group of Probation and Parole officers in the state of Kentucky Department of Corrections (KY DOC). Participants (N=302) completed a written survey which asked them to indicate demographic variables (age, gender, and ethnicity), as well as several important occupational variables, namely years of experience in the KY DOC, caseload volume, prison work experience, and whether or not they are responsible for a sexual offender caseload. Participants were also …

Social Disorganization And Violent Crime Across Nonmetropolitan Areas Of Kentucky., Daniel Ray Jude

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This macro-level study examines the effects of social disorganization predictors on violent crime registered in nonmetropolitan areas of Kentucky from 2012 to 2016. The study intends to expand the line of research interested in verifying the applicability of the social disorganization theory (Shaw & McKay, 1942), including its new theoretical developments, to non-urban settings and plans to contribute to the literature willing to provide a better understanding of violent crime in rural areas. In response to Narag et al.’s (2009) call for a theoretical integration of environmental contaminants among the ecological factors that influence variations in crime, the study also …

Exploring The Promotion Of Youth Voice And Activism By Youth Development Workers In Community-Based Programs., Rebecka M. Bloomer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Youth-adult partnerships (Y-APs) and youth voice promotion are best practices within the youth development sector, but youth development workers receive little training or guidance in employing these concepts. A scarcity of research explores the relationships between organizational supports, as demonstrated by training, supervision, evaluation, and worker engagement in promoting youth voice. The two studies within this dissertation investigated the social processes of how and why youth development workers promoted youth voice. Program participants were primarily youth of color living in areas of high multidimensional poverty. They also explored how and why organizational factors impacted the promotion of youth voice within …

Exploring Service Provider Perspectives On Facilitators And Barriers To Needle Exchange Program Participation By Females Who Inject Drugs., Tammi Alvey Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the opioid epidemic lingers on across the country, many areas have set up harm reduction strategies such as needle exchange programs (NEPs) to combat the long-term consequences of injection drug use (IDU). Males and females face a plethora of health issues associated with injection drug use such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C. While males comprise the largest portion of the injection drug use population, most research is gender neutral, which makes it difficult to discern issues specifically related to females inhibiting our ability to design interventions and procedures targeted to address their needs. Females require varying …

Correctional Career Pathways: A Jail Reentry Program Evaluation, Grace Gass

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are numerous types of reentry programs available to inmates to help avoid the cycle of recidivism. There is little research on the impacts of reentry programs in jail populations. This current study sought to provide more research in this area by evaluating a local jail reentry program’s effect on recidivism. A quasi-experimental design was used to estimate the program’s effectiveness by comparing the recidivism statistics of inmates that have participated in the reentry program to a control group of inmates that did not. Inmates in the control group were matched according to their gender, age, race, and current offense …

Peer Recovery Support Specialists: Role Clarification And Fit Within The Recovery Ecosystems Of Central Appalachia, Angela Hagaman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Peer Recovery Support Specialist (PRSS), a certified professional who self-identifies as being in recovery from a substance use disorder (SUD), mental illness, or co-occurring disorders, plays a key role in the ongoing transformation of SUD treatment from one of acute clinical service provision with documented short-term outcomes including symptom reduction, to a more holistic and comprehensive approach to long-term recovery. Empirical evidence specific to outcomes of PRSS working in the addiction treatment realm is sparse and equivocal, indicating the need for additional research and improved methods designed to explore the nature of the PRSS role and fit within the …

Traditional And Non-Traditional Gender Role Stereotypes In Children’S Animated Films, Rachael Davidson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As gender stereotypes could lead to adherence to rape myths later in life, it is important to study the potential development of gender role stereotypes. Based on the theoretical approach of Bandura’s social learning, this mixed methods study sought to expand the literature on children observing gender stereotypes through film viewing. A content analysis of verbal and body language of the highest grossing animated films between 2017-2019 was conducted. The results indicated that most main characters displayed both traditional and non-traditional gender role stereotypes, which is indicative of gender role flexibility. This shows promise that there could be a moderating …

The Efficacy Of A Rapid Rehousing Program Serving Adults Experiencing Homelessness In West Central Texas, Unique Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis discusses the dynamics of homelessness and examines one agency (Abilene Hope Haven) that aims to help homeless individuals receive permanent housing. This study explores the characteristics that influence the likelihood of placement in permanent housing within 12 months at Abilene Hope Haven. The different types of supportive housing programs and their roles in helping homeless individuals will be discussed. Secondary data gathered from the Homeless Management Information System were entered into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, and then a logistical regression analysis was created to explain the relationships between the different characteristics and permanency placement. A key …

An Exploration Of Teachers’ Perceptions And Experiences Serving Students Of Incarcerated Parents In A Rural Setting, Melissa P. Phelan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The increase in the United States prison population over the past several years has precipitated a record number of children in the public school system with incarcerated parents. Consequences of this trend have recently been given significant attention by researchers due to the myriad of difficulties noted to be associated with parental incarceration. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions, experiences, and insights of educators in a small rural district in Texas as they serve students experiencing parental incarceration. Presentation of an educator in context schema was provided by the application of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological …

The Cultural Worldview Of Women Trafficked For Sex In The U.S: An Ethnonursing Study Exploring Health And Well-Being Beliefs, Values And Practices From An Emic Perspective, Christine Lepianka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Women who have been trafficked for sex in the United State report that the health care they receive is not consistently helpful or tailored to their unique needs. The purpose and domain of inquiry (DOI) for this study was to discover, understand, and describe health and well-being beliefs, values, and practices of U.S. born women who have been trafficked for sex in the United States, in order to provide culturally congruent nursing care. Method: Leininger’s Culture Care Theory (CCT), ethnonursing research method (ERM), and enablers guided the researcher as she explored the DOI. Interviews were conducted with 11 key …

Inviting Friendship: A New Approach To Nonprofit Communication, Stacia Glenn Wetherington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Beginning with Greeks’ concept of virtuous friendship philanthropy has been part of society. Metaphors of civitas, caritas and social responsibility dominated man’s understanding of charity until the explosion of neoliberal thought in the 1980s. The Band Aid movement in response to the Ethiopian famine permanently changed the way we view philanthropy. This movement created an environment of extreme commodification of charity which has created a highly competitive nonprofit sector and a loss of the collective spirit upon which it was founded. This competitive atmosphere has led nonprofits to chase dollars at the expense of their missions while also relying heavily …

Exploring The Impact Of The Achievement Gap On Shame And Resilience In African American College Students, Brittany R. Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The achievement gap refers to the stark difference that occurs between racial or gender groups, as one group performs significantly higher than the other. An achievement gap has the propensity to produce psychological distress, as well as buffering techniques that are necessary for survival and success. Growing research shows that African American college students experience unique levels of trauma, shame, hardship, macro, and micro-aggressions, suggesting that these students learn to self-preserve as early as 10 years old. This study used a Pearson correlation, Independent T-Test, and a Moderated Multiple Regression to explore the impact of the achievement gap on shame …

General Strain Theory And Violent Behavior In A Military Sample., Leslie A. Greenwell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study examines violent behavior in a military sample through an examination of General Strain Theory (GST). The overall sample (n = 21,449) is made up of active-duty, national guard, and reserve U.S. Army soldiers surveyed from 2011 to 2013 for the All Army Study (AAS) component of the Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (STARRS). The present study is a secondary analysis of the STARRS’ data. Overall, the results of the present study produce empirical support for GST. Binomial logistic regression analyses show that all measures of strain (e.g., deployment, health, and life spheres strain), …

The Impact Of Criminal Justice Involvement: Examining Experiences In A Housing First Program., Amanda N. Denton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Individuals who come into contact with the criminal justice system are more likely to experience housing instability and homelessness, which, in turn, increases the likelihood of subsequent criminal justice involvement. Due to a lack of federal funding, as well as disjointed and inconsistent policies regarding eligibility criteria, people with criminal records are unlikely to receive federal rental assistance. While the exclusion of people with criminal histories is presented as necessary to protect communities and residents from crime, improving access to stable housing may reduce recidivism, incarceration rates, and correctional costs and increase public safety. The present study examined the differences …

A Qualitative Study Of 129 Police Lethal Force Incidents In 2016 Examining Participant Behavior Relating To Mental Illness That Contributes To The Use Of Lethal Force., Edward H. Byers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This multi-case, exploratory research study examined videos and related news media articles of lethal police shootings and found commonalities and possible contributing factors. Videos and informational articles posted on news media websites in the public domain were used in a qualitative content analysis to identify common elements in police lethal force incidents. The results of this study revealed contributing behaviors by the participants related to mental illness that contribute to lethal force. The decision to use lethal force by a police officer is framed using four analytical themes.