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Persuasion, Political Warfare, And Deterrence: Behavioral And Behaviorally Robust Models, William N. Caballero

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines game theory models in the context of persuasion and competition wherein decision-makers are not completely rational by considering two complementary threads of research. The first thread of research pertains to offensive and preemptively defensive behavioral models. Research in this thread makes three notable contributions. First, an offensive modeling framework is created to identify how an entity optimally influences a populace to take a desired course of action. Second, a defensive modeling framework is defined wherein a regulating entity takes action to bound the behavior of multiple adversaries simultaneously attempting to persuade a group of decision-makers. Third, an …

Examination Of Student-Athletes' Developmental Transition From Youth Sport To College Sport, Coleman Childers

Theses and Dissertations

The majority of research in developmental sport psychology has targeted the youth and adolescent age groups (aged five to 18) and has tended to avoid athletes in organized and highly competitive environment such as major college athletics. The transition from high school to college brings many challenges. Academically and socially, students encounter increased course rigor, decreased in-class time, and adjustment to new social groups. Additionally, student-athletes encounter scrutiny from the public, extensive time commitments, changing social dynamics, and physical and mental demands as they combine athletic and academic pursuits. This on-going study explores student-athletes’ perspectives of the developmental transition from …

Should States Adopt Overdose Immunity Laws?, Jordan Norton

Theses and Dissertations

From 2014-2015, the CDC saw a 72.2% increase in death rates related to synthetic opioids other than methadone, and a 20.6% increase in heroin related death rates. States have looked to one another for policy examples that would bring these numbers down. One of the earliest of these policies came out of 2001 in New Mexico with the first Naloxone Access Laws (NALs) followed by Drug Overdose Immunity Laws (DOILs) in 2007. These laws sought to remove barriers to people administering Naloxone and calling emergency responders due to overdoses, granting immunity to callers and overdose sufferers. This study looked at …

Assessing Perception Of Risk Of Sexual Assault At A Border Region University, Mary Lisa Mckinnon

Theses and Dissertations

It is important to recognize the sociological contexts for understanding why sexual assault is an ongoing problem in society. There are important implications for major institutions with regards to sexual assault reporting and victimization. The stigma associated with victimization, marginalized populations who feel blamed for their victimization, and outdated attitudes about sexual assault all affect reporting and policy. This research will conduct a study on resources, reporting, and perceived personal safety and the effect of risk associated with sexual assault on college and university campuses. By using data that was collected through a survey, information was collected from a border …

Walking The Tightrope: A Qualitative Study Of Women In Law Enforcement Navigating Their Work-Life Challenges, Yanira E. Resendez

Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to explore the work-life challenges that women face in male-dominated professions, specifically in the criminal justice system. The purpose of this study is to analyze the work-life challenges women face while working in the criminal justice system, a traditionally male-dominated field. Amidst the myriad of challenges, women bring a unique face to policing and other professions within law enforcement and legal professions; understanding women’s work experiences and how they articulate and implement strategies to manage the varying challenges is critical in evaluating women’s position within the law enforcement culture and the pulse of the legal profession. Employing …

Religion, Acculturarive Stress And Immigration Generations Among Hispanics In The Texas-Mexico Border: Predictors Of Attitudes Toward Substance Use, Diana Karen Vaquera Santos

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding Hispanic cultural aspects and their influence on mental health will be crucial to better serve Hispanics (Kouyoumdjian, et al., 2003). Alcohol and drug use disorders have been identified as a major health problem in the U.S. Hispanic population (Vega, Sribney, & Achara-Abrahams, 2003). Regarding substance use, religiosity tends to be a protective factor among Hispanics. Acculturation and acculturative stress have been found as additional factors associated with substance use. Moreover, an individual’s intentions to engage in certain behavior can be defined by their attitudes toward this behavior and their perceived subjective norms regarding such behavior (Lorenzo-Blanco, et al., 2016). …

Beyond The Sentimental Cliche: How Local Communities Impact Residents And Shape Public Opinion, Kate Brunk

Theses and Dissertations

The Trump administration has recently established a rule that will prohibit abortion services providers from receiving Title X funds for the non-abortion family planning services they provide. Little public opinion research has focused on family planning and reproductive health topics outside of abortion. I find statistically significant experimental evidence that increasing perceptions of local need for a local reproductive health clinic caused subjects to be more supportive of federal reproductive health funding for local clinics. I did not find statistically significant correlational evidence that objective measures of poor reproductive health at the county level influence public opinion on federal reproductive …

Police Body-Worn Camera Perceptions Pre/Post Deployment, Aaron Veerman

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if officers’ perceptions of Body-Worn Cameras (BWCs) changed over the course of a six-month pilot program. Officers from a Midwest police department were surveyed prior to or shortly after receiving their BWCs (Pre-Test) and again approximately six months later (Post-Test). Once completed, independent samples t-tests, mean comparisons, and Pearson’s correlations were used to analyze the data. This study did not produce many significant differences in officers’ perceptions over the course of the study, according to t-test results. However, several significant differences were found after each shift was analyzed separately. Overall, less than …

Providing Prevention Education About Child Sexual Abuse To Parents: Testing Media Effects On Knowledge, Behavioral Intentions And Outcomes, Jane Long Weatherred

Theses and Dissertations

For over thirty years, efforts have been made by child sexual abuse (CSA) advocates to attract and engage parents in child sexual abuse prevention education programs. This study provided parents with CSA prevention education about how to talk to their children about CSA and assessed their attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral intentions to perform this behavior utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior. A follow-up survey was conducted to find out if the parents actually performed the behavior of talking to their children and what they talked to them about. The results were 1) that all of the …

The Impact Of Project-Based Learning Assignments On The Writing, Communication And Interpersonal Skills Of Students In A College Skills Course, Aungeto Ditze Lockhart Sigman

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research study was to determine the impact of project- based learning on the writing, communication and interpersonal skills of students in a college skills course. This course was required for students who were enrolled in at least one or more developmental courses. The purpose of this course was to equip the students with skills necessary for success during college and beyond. However, the syllabus for the course did not include any activities or assignments to improve the students’ writing, communication or interpersonal skills. As a result, the students were not successful in completing the final …

Reading Between The Lines: An Intersectional Media Analysis Of Female Sex Offenders In Florida Newspapers, Toniqua C. Mikell

Theses and Dissertations

The media is one of the furthest reaching social institutions of our society. It is a source of white patriarchal ideologies and a vehicle through which they are communicated. Female sex offenders represent a nexus of prescribed social and legal violations. This dissertation examines the reinforcement of patriarchal ideas in media coverage of female sex offenders by posing the question: how are female sex offenders portrayed in the media? Specifically, how are those portrayals racialized? Using an intersectional lens, this study employs a qualitative content analysis to examine the top five circulating newspapers in Florida and their coverage of female …

Minimum Wage And National Culture, Zhongyu Cao

Theses and Dissertations

Minimum wage adjustment affects economic agent behaviors and leads to an unintended side effect s. The first chapter of the dissertation studies the impact of the minimum wage level on the college enrollment. Using institution-level data from IPEDS, the results show that the real minimum wage level has significant and diverse effects on different types of enrollment. The results are robust using several alternative specifications and individual level analysis. The second chapter of the dissertation addresses another side effect of the minimum wage law: crime. Using U.S. state-level arrest and offense data and agency-level offense data, this chapter provides empirical …

The Prescribing Patterns Of Gabapentin And Pregabalin In A Medicaid Population Amid The Opioid Epidemic, Sarah Sullivan

Theses and Dissertations

OBJECTIVE: Drug overdoses continue to be the leading cause of accidental death in the United States resulting in a nationwide crisis. Opioids, many of them prescription, are now the primary cause of drug overdose related deaths. Gabapentinoids are being promoted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a safer alternative to opioids and have steadily been rising in prescribing rates. However, growing concern is mounting on the potential for gabapentinoid misuse. The goal of this dissertation was to deepen the knowledge and understanding of how gabapentinoids are currently being prescribed, with an emphasis on their co-prescribing with an …

Causes And Consequences Of Police Militarization, Edward Eugene Lawson, Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

After the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown, and many other incidents of police violence that followed, the militarization of policing and the use of violence by police became the subjects of contentious debate among the public, policymakers, and scholars. Research on these subjects necessary to inform the debate has been lacking. This work examines the causes and effects of police militarization in the United States. Specifically, I argue that militarization is a response to perceived threat from minority racial groups, but the rela- tionship between racial demographics and militarization is curvilinear. Militarized begin to see themselves as soldiers fighting on …

Understanding Alternative Education Student Self-Efficacy Related To Experiential And Organizational Factors, Megan Maczonis Brown

Theses and Dissertations

The need for a high school diploma or equivalent is a social justice concern as the consequences of not earning a diploma or equivalent degree are lower income, higher crime rates, and poorer health (McClatchy, 2013; NCES, 2015; NCES, 2017; Freudenberg & Ruglis, 2007; Thrane, 2006). The median earnings of young adults with a high school diploma and young adults with a bachelor's degree were 22 and 100 percent higher respectively than those of young adults without a high school diploma. Additionally, lower levels of educational attainment are related to higher rates of arrests and incarceration (Eby, 2013). Lower levels …

The Role Of Perceived Academic Control, Preoccupation With Failure, And Academic Emotions On Major Satisfaction, Alison N. Lehman

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reports the results of a study exploring how preoccupation with failure, perceived academic control, and academic emotions are associated with students’ major satisfaction. The responses of 391 college students to an online survey revealed that positive emotions and perceived academic control were significantly related to major satisfaction. Even after controlling for the variables of year in school, interests overlap, preoccupation with failure, and positive and negative emotions, academic control and academic emotions still explained a significant proportion of the variance in major satisfaction, which provides counselors and college professors possible intervention points to target major satisfaction. Contrary to …

Do College Students’ Perceptions Of The Police Differ By Education Level And Major?, Lashanti Wilson Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Little is known about the impact that higher education has on students’ perceptions of the police, especially with respect to justice education. This study examines perceptions of the police among college students at Illinois State University. It questions how differences in education levels, major, race, age, and gender affect student perceptions about the police. A 55-question online survey was administered to 451 students at Illinois State University.

Results revealed that those with more education did not have significantly different contact with police officers than those with less education, however, they were significantly more likely to report negative attitudes towards the …

Access To Mental Health Facilities And Homicidal Circumstances, Shalini Hathurusinghe

Theses and Dissertations

This paper considers the possible links between access to mental health facilities, victim-perpetrator relationships, and crimes that occur in conjunction to homicide.

Life, Death, And Corporeal Resistance In Immigration Detention, Jana Michelle Moss

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes corporeal strategies of resistance used by immigration detainees in the global North. Corporeal resistance is defined as an act of protest that physically harms the actor but is not intended to harm anyone else. Examples include hunger strikes, lip sewing, self-immolation, and other forms of public suicide. In response to the prevailing public opinion that detainees' acts of self-harm or suicide are simply acts of desperation by disenfranchised people who have nothing to lose, I argue that they can be a logical and strategic response to state necropolitics. Detainees take back corporeal necropower by reasserting control of …

The Death Penalty In Contemporary Egypt: States, Murderers, And State Murderers, Amira Mahmoud Othman

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an ethnography of the encounters between figures of the state and some death row detainees and their family members. The project explores what it means to be sentenced to death and executed in contemporary death row cases, what fantasies encounters with the ‘state’ imply or satisfy, and how time unfolds throughout the murder. As such, in exploring the genealogy and bureaucratization of murder, this ethnography problematizes the official discourses of abstraction, efficacy, and sanitization around the penalty. Instead, it focuses on the everydayness of the penalty within the legal and penal systems, and draws heavily on the …

Examining Effects Of Parental Sexual Abuse On Female Juvenile Delinquency Using A Social Developmental Perspective, Michelle Nagle

Theses and Dissertations

Delinquency has traditionally been viewed as a male phenomenon, often defined in androcentric terms, and neglecting females in studies regarding delinquent behavior. However, females are the fastest growing subpopulation of the correction population, which amplifies the importance of understanding the nature and etiology of their offending. Recent research has suggested that predictors of male juvenile delinquency do not adequately explain delinquency in females, because the androcentric research ignores the damaging impact of sexual childhood abuse and other prominent family factors on female juvenile delinquents. This study aimed to examine the impact of childhood parental sexual abuse on female juvenile delinquency …

Demographic, Legal, And Clinical Predictors Of Long-Term Trial Competency Restoration, Jonathan F. Shook

Theses and Dissertations

Trial competency is the foremost context in which forensic evaluators interact with criminal courts in the United States, and court-ordered restoration to competency (RTC) substantially contributes to hospitalization via the criminal justice system. Predictors of restoration to competency (RTC) have been extensively studied to date, yet few studies have been conducted with RTC patients in a long-term setting. The present study aimed to examine predictors of successful restoration for defendants who underwent RTC from a long-term inpatient facility in Texas from 2012 to 2017. Patients (N = 261) were compared across retrospective demographic, clinical, and criminogenic factors via binary logistic …

Predictors Of Employment In A Treatment Sample Of Individuals With Substance Use Disorders, Enkelejda Ngjelina

Theses and Dissertations

Efforts to increase employment rates through vocational skills training and job interview skills development have yielded mixed results. While initial studies of Job Seekers Workshop (JSW) found greater employment success for participants randomized to JSW as compared to a control condition (Hall, Loeb & Norton, 1977), a more recent Clinical Trials Network (CTN) study found no differences in employment outcomes between the JSW and control groups and the rate of employment overall was substantively lower than those reported in the early studies (Svikis et al., 2012). To better understand these discrepant findings, the present study conducted secondary analyses using the …

Advocacy Education For Psychology Graduate Students: A Curriculum For Professional Advocacy In Psychology, Tracey Wheeler

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this dissertation was to synthesize information from the empirical literature, psychology professional organizations and other relevant sources into a graduate-level curriculum for education in professional advocacy for psychology. Professional advocacy practices, such as public policy and legislative involvement, are necessary to protect and grow psychology's place in the healthcare system, funding for psychological research and access to services for the public. Remarkably low involvement by psychologists in advocacy is theorized to be due to a lack of training, awareness and professional values related to advocacy. This dissertation proposes that graduate school education is an optimal and effective …

Race Matters: A Phenomenological Study Of Cultural Education And Preservation In The Gullah-Geechee Community, Triba Gary-Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Even with the success of the American Preservation Movement and National Trust, most preservation efforts in the United States are focused on sites with patriotic significance favoring the nation’s dominant culture and overlook protecting the land and culture of minorities and indigenous populations (Stradling, 2003). The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore, through the lens of the Critical Race Theory, the extent to which, if at all, race, racism and environmental injustices impact the preservation efforts of members in the Gullah-Geechee community. This study also explores what programs and activities, if any, that members of the Gullah-Geechee community …

Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Foster Youth Who Obtained Graduate Level Degrees: Self-Efficacy, Resilience, And The Impact On Identity Development, Cristina Miranda

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of former foster youth who have completed graduate level academic programs in order to discover and describe the elements that these individuals believe led to their academic success. The primary research question for this study was: what do former foster youth who completed graduate level programs report as elements that contributed to their academic success? The researcher utilized a qualitative approach and portraiture methodology. In depth, interviews were conducted with six individuals, three women and three men, who spent time in foster care and later went on to …

#Blacklivesmatter: A Mixed Methods Exploratory Study Of Tweets And Individuals Participating In The Black Lives Matter Movement, Jesusa Fortunata Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

The Black Lives Matter movement is a social movement that seeks to stop the persecution and mistreatment of Black people. The research goal is to explore the Black Lives Matter movement through Twitter (https://twitter.com) posts and participant interviews, using the frameworks of framing and new social movement. Insight on how to address social injustice issues can derive from this study. There is very little research about the Black Lives Matter organization and social media. Social justice is at the heart and soul of these movements, prompting activists and social media users to get involved. The Black Lives Matter organization was …

A Multiple Case-Study Approach To Examine Police Officers Perceptions On Narcan® Policies, Casey Gnann

Theses and Dissertations

In October 2017, President Trump officially declared the opioid epidemic to be a public health emergency. Reports from the CDC indicate that over 140 Americans die per day as a result of an opioid overdose (NPR, 2017). This statistic alone highlights the tragic effects of the current opioid climate. To date, an abundance of research has been conducted on opioid addicts, family members, doctors approach to addiction, etc. However, there is a gap in the research regarding law enforcement officers and their ever-changing role in the fight against opioids. As the opioid epidemic has continued to worsen, many law enforcement …

The Nail That Sticks Up Isn't Always Hammered Down: Women, Employment Discrimination, And Litigiousness In Japan, Kristen Luck

Theses and Dissertations

Much recent scholarship is devoted to projecting Japan’s future and analyzing its prospects as a global power. After two decades of economic stagnation, alarming demographic trends, and the 3/11 triple disaster, some scholars argue that Japan is grappling with an era of precarity, marked with instability and anxiety. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to office in 2012, promoting his economic reform policy, “Abenomics” and within the third “arrow" of this approach targeting structural reforms, he promoted “womenomics”, a term coined by Kathy Matsui of Goldman-Sachs. Prime Minister Abe’s objective is to create a society where "women can shine” and women …

Effects Of A Heroin Conjugate Vaccine On The Antinociceptive And Abuse-Related Effects Of Heroin In Rats And Monkeys, Kathryn L. Schwienteck

Theses and Dissertations

The increase in heroin use is one factor contributing to the current opioid epidemic in the United States. There are three Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD), and these include agonist (i.e. methadone and buprenorphine) and antagonist (i.e. naltrexone) therapies. Although these medications are effective for some patients, regulatory constraints for agonist therapies limit access and patient compliance for naltrexone is poor. The development of new therapies, such as immunopharmacotherapies, for the treatment of OUD is a priority for the National Institute of Drug Abuse. A heroin immunopharmacotherapy, or vaccine, produces …