Digital Commons Network^™

Reconceiving Romantic Agency: A Question Concerning Its Extent, Richard Edward Swatek

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This professional paper investigates and questions the extent to which romantic love is a matter of agency. Toward this end, I draw a distinction between two contrasting conceptions of romantic love—the “agent-external” conception and the “agent-centered” conception. In this paper I make the assumption that the agent-external conception is pervasive and commonplace in contemporary culture, and that it conceives of romantic love as being involuntary and without agency. My investigation then questions the accuracy of this agent-external conception by juxtaposing it with what I consider to be an agent-centered conception of romantic love. An agent-centered conception, I claim, conceives of …

Relationships Between Childhood Trauma And Eating Pathology, Lindsay Katherine Crosby

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Past research has demonstrated that a correlation exists between trauma exposure and eating disorder pathology. Specifically, sexual abuse has been implicated in the development of eating disorders, with particular attention focused on bulimia nervosa. However, the relationship between other types of trauma exposure and eating pathology has yet to be delineated, particularly how different types of trauma exposure may be related to disordered eating behaviors. The current study explored this relationship. Results showed while some experiences of trauma history predicted a proportion of the variance associated with disordered eating behaviors, others showed a positive but not significant correlation. Clinical implications, …

Safety In Numbers? The Effect Of Increasing Numbers Of Bicycle Commuters On Bicycle-Automobile Collisions, Luke Anderson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The idea that increasing the numbers of bicycle and pedestrians in an area lowers the automobile collision risk for individual cyclists and pedestrians is called the safety in numbers effect. This paper applies the safety in numbers effect to bicycling and pedestrian commuters in California cities from 2005 to 2011. The results indicate that cities with 10% more bicycle commuters will only see about 6% more collisions between cyclists and automobiles and thus have a lower average risk to bicycle commuters. These results are similar to those found by Jacobson (2003) although this study uses a multiple regression analysis on …

Performing At The Block: Scripting Early Modern Executions, Jennifer Lillian Lodine-Chaffey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis explores the executions of noble men and women in Tudor and early Jacobean England and the theatrical representations of executions that mirrored real life spectacles of deadly punishment. Historical scaffold confessions followed a formulaic pattern and condemned traitors performed their final moments before a crowd of witnesses with the power to judge the quality of the actor’s deportment, costuming and words. As a public stage, the scaffold allowed the traitor a chance to assert and define his or her own individuality in the face of death and formulaic requirements, which I outline in the first chapter. Dramatic representations …

Queer Panic In Native American Literature, Theodore Cecil Decelles

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Indigenous American sexual minorities and alternatively gendered voices went underground due to Eurowestern sexual colonization from the time of the conquistador invasions of the early 16th century to the political campaigns of cultural homogenization of the mid-20th century. A cultural distortion still exists in the postcolonial era. In the past many North American indigenous nations had culturally specific sexualities and genders that reflected the cultural heterogeneity of the Americas. Today cultural assimilation negatively affects queer Native Americans, and culturally imported attitudes of homophobia are reflected in Native American literature. An interdisciplinary approach must be used to study the cultural distortion …

A Comprehensive Literature Review Of American Sexual Assault Culture And The Status Of Women's Self-Defense, Jennifer Ann Just

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

According to the National Organization for Women (NOW), 232,960 American women were raped or sexually assaulted in 2006, equating to more than 600 women daily (2012). American women furthermore experience about 4.8 million intimate partner-related physical assaults and rapes each year (NOW, 2012). Violence toward women is also evident on American college and university campuses. The U.S. National Institute of Justice (NIJ), for example, states that 35 of every 1,000 female students are victims of rape—either completed or attempted—in a given nine-month academic year (National Institute of Justice, 2005). With more than 600 women being raped daily, the pervasiveness of …

A Culture Specific Grief Intervention And Its Affects Upon Coping Behavior And Perceived Social Support Among American Indians: A Treatment Development Study, William Henry Shunkamolah

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Numerous theorists have linked centuries of historical trauma to continued unresolved grief, a high level of distress (e.g., depression), and high rates of social problems (e.g., substance use/abuse) in American Indian communities, but interventions aimed at addressing the losses experienced by this population are virtually non-existent. Members of a tribe in Montana identified historical unresolved grief and personal grief, as the most salient underlying factors related to health disparities in their community. Collaboration between the tribal community, the tribal Community College, The University of Montana, and Montana State University led to the development of a culturally anchored grief intervention for …

Diagnosis Threat In Adults With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Renee Madathil

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a complex neurological condition currently defined by the American Psychological Association as "a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity" (APA, 2000, p. 85). Currently, there is no DSM-IV diagnosis for ADHD in adults, although some researchers estimate that approximately 50-80% of childhood cases of ADHD carry on into adolescence and adulthood (Barkley, Fischer, Smallish, & Fletcher, 2002). Obtaining an accurate estimation is prevented by several factors, including a lack of an objective diagnostic test for ADHD (Stefanatos & Baron, 2007). One construct that has not been well studied in ADHD populations is the effect of negative …

"Conspicuous Consumption:" Germs And Climate Cures In Denver, 1882-1915, Sydney Rene Gwinn

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis argues that the health-seeker’s quest for climatic cures persisted after the germ theory of disease began to alter medical approaches to tuberculosis after its announcement in 1882. Buoyed by anti-modern sentiments and a lack of effective medicinal interventions, physicians continued to recommend that tuberculosis patients travel to Denver to seek recovery in a healthier climate. In turn, Denver’s polity and public health approaches were shaped by the influences of the migration of tuberculosis patients to the city. After 1882, new approaches focused on sanitation and isolation began to take hold among physicians and public health reformers who worked …

‘Planting The Seeds Of Educational Change’ Indigenous Voices, Multicultural Education, And The Us Democratic Ideal, Miranda Crystal Laber

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

‘Planting the Seeds of Educational Change’ Indigenous Voices, Multicultural Education, and the US Democratic Ideal An Exploration of the Potential Roles and Influences of Indigenous Voices in Education on Collective Perceptions of Truth and Democracy

Assessment Of Public Land Values And A Comparison Amongst Nonresident Outdoor Recreationists In Montana, Megan Michele Tanner

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Recent data shows that three quarters of nonresident vacationers to Montana are primarily attracted to characteristics of public lands such as national parks, mountains and forests, and open space. Thirty-five percent of Montana is public land, therefore understanding what values those visitors have for these public lands is very important and has not been analyzed in previous research. This study used panel survey methodology to identify a set of respondents who are not Montana residents but have visited the state. One component of the study used Borrie, Freimund, and Davenport’s National Parks Values Scale and Winter’s Natural Area Values Scale, …

Care And Companionism: Animal Ethics At The End Of Life, Casie Jean Dunleavy

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this philosophical project, I discuss the different kinds of companion animal and human relations, or in other words, and provide an argument that specifies our ethical obligations to the animals we live with—-our ‘pets.’ In the first chapter, I suggest that there are three types of relationships that humans can have with animals. These are a relation of instrumentalism, paternalism, and companionism, respectively. Such relations rest along a spectrum, but I will argue that companionism is the ideal. After making and defending such conceptual distinctions between human-animal relations, the next chapter will tackle the problem of animal minds. Specifically, …

Chronic Trauma Effects On Personality Trait Trajectory In Police Officers, Jennifer Leigh Wills

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The impact of chronic trauma exposure on personality trajectories over time was examined in a sample of urban police officers. Scores from a personality measure taken in pre-hire psychological evaluations were compared with follow up scores administered for this study five to ten years later. An urban police agency of approximately 1000 commissioned police officers agreed to allow its officers to be recruited as participants. The consulting psychologist who performed the agency’s pre-hire psychological evaluations during the applicable period supplied historical data with participant consent and agency approval. Personality change between the two times was analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis, …

Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches' Perceptions Of And Preferences For Continuing Education, Collin M. Fehr

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to better understand U.S. intercollegiate tennis coaches’ perceptions of professional development and the factors that influence their participation in such endeavors. Based on discussions in the literature, a survey was created to quantify this population’s attitudes toward various components of continuing education. The survey included several closed-ended questions as well as rating questions, on a 5-point Likert scale. 181 participants (Male= 136, Female= 45) responded to the survey, representing 93 intercollegiate tennis conferences in the United States. The major findings of this study were: (i) the majority of intercollegiate tennis coaches perceive continuing education …

I Have An Enemy And I Am Glad: An Evaluation Of The Effects Enemyship Has On The Individual, Laura Janelle Gornick

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Despite its prevalence in popular culture, little research has specifically investigated the topic of enemyship and how it affects our lives. This research proposes to fill that gap by focusing on the effects involved with claiming to have an enemy. Specifically, this research introduces a theory of "optimal enemyship" which suggests that (1) there are both positive and negative psychological consequences for having an enemy, and (2) there are specific circumstances that maximize the positive benefits of enemyship. The focus of this research is to assess when "optimal enemyship" occurs by looking at characteristics of both the enemyship relationship and …

Three Facets Of Pau Casals' Musical Legacy, Silvia Maria Lazo

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Pau Casals (1876-1973, better known to American audiences as Pablo Casals) was a notable Catalan cellist, conductor and composer, also widely known as a humanitarian. He was raised in El Vendrell, a small village in Catalonia (Spain). He went into exile in Prades, France in 1939, towards the end of the Spanish Civil War, subsequently relocating to Puerto Rico in 1957. In October 1945, following the end of World War II, the lack of Allied intervention in Spain ignited Casals' international artistic boycott, wherein Casals vowed not to perform in any country recognizing General Francisco Franco's regime. To date, a …

Tourism On A Scenic Byway: Destination Image And Economic Impacts Of The Beartooth Highway, Jacob Daniel Jorgenson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Many tourism destination managers know who their visitors are and how they are perceived by them. However, when new destinations begin to take shape, understanding these perceptions and meeting the expectations of visitors can be a difficult task. Destination image provides the ability to explore the perceptions of visitors at a tourism place. One such place the Beartooth Highway in south-central Montana and north-central Wyoming is a scenic byway that reaches nearly 11,000 feet in elevation. Previously, little to no research has been conducted regarding travelers that frequent this region. The purpose of this study was to understand the destination …

Silent Sentinels: Archaeology, Magic, And The Gendered Control Of Domestic Boundaries In New England, 1620-1725, C. Riley Auge

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The following dissertation is an historical archaeological study of the material culture of gendered protective magic used by Anglo-Europeans in seventeenth-century New England as a tactic to construct boundaries that mitigated perceived personal, social, spiritual, and environmental dangers. Such boundary construction was paramount in the seventeenth-century battle between good and evil epitomized by the belief in and struggle against witchcraft. This dissertation sought to answer three interrelated research questions: 1) What constitutes protective magical material culture in seventeenth-century contexts and how is it recognizable in the archaeological record? 2) What signifies gender specific protective magical practices and what can these …

Surviving Probation: The Challenges Sexual Offenders Are Faced With In Mainstream Society, Krystal Stevenson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

"Society sees us [sexual offenders] as terrible people. Either lock us up or kill us. They don't want us in their community." Sexual offenders are seen as some of the most repulsive criminals through society's eyes. The term "sexual offender" encompasses many different types of people with regards to their crime, but society sees all sexual offenders as child molesters. This causes an over-whelming problem for sexual offenders, specifically in terms of housing, since there are many restrictions on where they can live. Legislation is implementing housing restrictions to prevent these criminals from re-offending, but in some cases, it can …

A Study Of The Relationship Between High School Principal Leadership Style And The Number Of Bullying Behaviors In Montana Public High Schools, James Edward Fuller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This quantitative study examines the relationship between the leadership style of 19 Montana high school principals and the number of incidents of serious bullying that occurred in their schools during the 2011-2012 school year. Bullying behavior and its many negative ramifications is a problem of paramount importance for educators today. This study shines new light on the topic by testing the effect of the principal’s leadership behavior on one measurement of the bullying problem.

Data on principal leadership style, the independent variable, was gathered via the Multi- Factor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ 360 Form 5X Short). This survey measured each leader’s …

A Preliminary Analysis Of Saw Mark Degeneration In Bone Due To The Application Of Hydrated Calcium Oxide, Heidi Lynne Johnson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The use of calcium oxide (lime) in both agricultural and burial customs has been seen since the Iron Age. Due to this usage, the myth stating that the application of this chemical will expedite the complete destruction of human remains developed. This myth, in conjunction to historical and contemporary instances of its usage related to criminal activities has demonstrated a need to better understand the interactions of this chemical with bony tissue, particularly as it relates to saw cutmarks. Using pig elements as proxies for human remains, this research aims to systematically examine the degenerative effects resulting from the application …

A Qualitative Study Of Returning Study Abroad Students: The Critical Role Of Reentry Support Programs, Raquel Alexandra Arouca

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Reentry Shock had been studied through psychological symptoms and inter-relationship problems. Previous research also focused on quantitative data of post-experience questionnaires. This dissertation examines how reentry support programs help students during the reentry process and how participants integrate the study abroad experience into their academic careers. A case study methodology was employed and qualitative data was gathered from eight students who volunteered to participate in two 90 minute workshops and an individual interview. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze the data with NVivo. Thematic analysis revealed a reentry process where students became aware of: a) the different ways …

A Longitudinal Exploration Of Factors Impacting Outcomes For Native American Students Participating In Cbits: Looking Beyond Quantitative Analysis, Kathrine Irene Butler Hepler

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Very few studies have addressed treatment outcomes for Native American youth, and none have qualitatively explored factors that may differentiate children in this population who benefit from intervention and children whose symptoms appear to remain unchanged or worsen. One area of particular interest is the treatment of PTSD, as epidemiological studies demonstrate a markedly elevated lifetime risk for trauma exposure and the development of PTSD in Native Americans. Interventions that utilize exposure and response prevention as a primary component have the best empirical evidence for alleviating symptoms of PTSD. One such intervention is Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools …

The Brave Heart Society: An Oral History Of An Indigenous Women's Society, Brook Spotted Eagle

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study examines the Brave Heart Society and the ways in which Brave Heart women collectively approaches trauma-healing outside of the programmatic structures of federally funded tribal systems. National statistics speak to the contemporary struggles impacting most US Indigenous populations in the present-day. Such struggles are residual symptoms rooted in a long history of domination and US imperialism. These data indicate that most tribes have not fully recovered from federally imposed systems of deprivation. Within the context of the Ihanktonwan Dakota community in southeastern South Dakota, the nuanced ways in which trauma impedes development and community wellness is both realized …

The Lived Experience Of American Indian Teen Parents From A Northern Plains Tribe, Ann Marie Douglas

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Although there is extensive research on the outcomes of teen mothers and their children, there is little research to date on how teen parents, especially American Indian teen parents, are functioning in their new role. This is alarming as the rate of births to American Indian teens is far greater than the same-aged Non-Hispanic White population. This study examined the lived experiences of teen parents currently living on a Northern Plains Indian Reservation. Seven participants were interviewed using a phenomenological method. Interviews were analyzed using NVivo and Giorgi’s method. The themes that emerged were traditional roles (child role, parent role, …

An Attributional Analysis Of Observers Helping The Bully In Bullying Episodes, Christopher James Bushard

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Student attitudes regarding bullying are mixed. Although most students appear to condemn the behavior (Boulton & Underwood, 1992), a sizable minority group displays beliefs and attitudes supportive of bullying (Rigby & Slee, 1991; Rigby & Slee, 1993). Previous research has also found that students involved in bullying situations can be categorized into different roles based on their behaviors during bullying episodes (Samivalli, Huttunen, & Lagerspetz, 1997). An established method to measure and predict attitudes and thoughts about a person’s actions in a situation is to use an attribution framework. Weiner (1995) proposes an attribution model in which the observer’s thoughts …

Information Seeking Sources Of Education Policy Makers, Shannon Louise O'Brien

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The information seeking sources of education policy makers was examined in an effort to reveal informed approaches toward minimizing the gap in communication and understanding between education policy makers and educators. Quantitative data were collected from state legislators (n=194) throughout the United States, including background information and information seeking frequencies from ten different sources. Analyses of the nonparametric data using the Kruskal-Wallis, Bonferroni, Mann-Whitney, and Wilcoxon methods showed statistically significant differences in the information seeking sources of education policy makers based on independent groups including: education committee membership and leadership on that committee, gender, party affiliation and experience level. Additionally, …

Psychological Adjustment And Relational Development In Ethiopian Adoptees And Their Families, Waganesh Zeleke

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The number of American families choosing to adopt a child from Ethiopia has increased exponentially since 2004. Over the past five years alone, between 2006 and 2011, 13.5% of internationally adopted children in the U.S. came from Ethiopia. The purpose of this study was to examine psychological adjustment and relational development of Ethiopian adoptees who have been adopted during 2007 -2010 and their families who reside in Montana.

Using a convenience-sampling method, data were collected from 25 adoptive parents who adopted a total of 35 children from Ethiopia. All families live in Montana and responded to questions through an online …

Working Memory Capacity Training And The Effect On Reading Comprehension, Numerical Reasoning, And Vocational Progress, David Evans Johnson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

An individual’s working memory capacity determines their ability to control attention and discard irrelevant and interfering information in large environments. It also plays an important part in information processing of goal-relevant tasks. It is important to study the ways in which learners can augment the capacity of an important cognitive construct and investigate the potential benefits to improving attention, reasoning, and comprehension. In educational settings, students actively seek help from assistance programs that target academic performance. However, it is often the case that this assistance comes in the form of a targeted specific skill that is focused on a particular …

Is Gun Crime Learned? Social Learning Theory And Guns, Krista Pearl Caffrey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study examines the relationship between specific childhood experiences and the use of guns in crime in a sample of incarcerated males in American prisons. Two specific childhood experiences are examined: exposure to violence in the home and exposure to guns in the home. Utilizing social learning theory, I argue that adult male felons who used guns in the commission of crimes will have had greater levels of exposure to violence and exposure to guns in their childhood home. Using a data set collected by sociologists James Wright and Peter Rossi, I conducted a binary logistic regression to determine the …