Digital Commons Network^™

Warren Spahn's Legal Legacy: The Right To Be Free From False Praise, Ray Yasser

Seton Hall Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law

No abstract provided.

I'Ll Make You A Deal: How Repeat Informants Are Corrupting The Criminal Justice System And What To Do About It, Emily Jane Dodds

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Self-Consciousness Moderates The Relationship Between Perceived Norms And Drinking In College Students, Joseph W. Labrie, Justin F. Hummer, Clayton Neighbors

Heads Up!

The current research examines whether self-consciousness subscales have prognostic value in the relationship between perceived norms and drinking and if that differs among college men and women. Results indicate that self-consciousness moderates gender differences in the relationship between perceived social norms and drinking. A strong positive relationship was found between perceived norms (descriptive and injunctive) and drinking for men relative to women and this was more pronounced among individuals who were lower in public self-consciousness. Similarly, the relationship between perceived injunctive norms and drinking was significantly stronger among men than women and this was more pronounced among individuals who were …

Changes In Drinking Patterns Across The Transition To College Among First-Year College Males, Joseph W. Labrie, Toby Lamb, Eric Pedersen

Heads Up!

Few studies examine changes in drinking behavior during the transition from high school to college. Using a sample of 239 first-year males, we hypothesized that participants would increase drinking from pre-college to the first month of college. Results reveal a general trend toward increased drinking upon entering college. Caucasians increased drinking more than non-Caucasians. Social expectancies of alcohol moderated increases in drinking behavior. These findings indicate that differential changes in drinking behavior occur among incoming college males. Interventions with college students need to address both preventing heavy consumption and alcohol-related problems in pre-college light drinkers and in reducing these behaviors …

Estrogen And Hippocampal Plasticity In Rodent Models, Michael R. Foy, Michel Baudry, Roberta Diaz Brinton, Richard F. Thompson

Psychological Science Faculty Works

Accumulating evidence indicates that ovarian hormones regulate a wide variety of non-reproductive functions in the central nervous system by interacting with several molecular and cellular processes. A growing animal literature using both adult and aged rodent models indicates that 17β-estradiol, the most potent of the biologically relevant estrogens, facilitates some forms of learning and memory, in particular those that involve hippocampal-dependent tasks. A recently developed triple-transgenic mouse (3xTg-AD) has been widely used as an animal model of Alzheimer's disease, as this mouse exhibits an age-related and progressive neuropathological phenotype that includes both plaque and tangle pathology mainly restricted to hippocampus, …

Assessment And Accountability: An Exploration Of Teachers' Practices In Assessing English Language Proficiency, Mari B. Rasmussen

Theses and Dissertations

Assessment is an important component in an education program. Current educational policy includes large scale assessments with stringent accountability requirements. All students are expected to meet standards for achievement, including those who have historically not been successful.

Students from non-English language backgrounds are one of the populations of students who do not achieve academic success at the same rate as other students. This population of students is increasing in our nation's schools, causing this achievement gap to be of greater concern. Added to the concern is the requirement that English Language Learners (ELLs) must meet rigorous standards in both academic …

Theorizing Destruction: Reflections On The State Of Comparative Genocide Theory, Maureen S. Hiebert

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article reviews the current state of comparative genocide theorizing, focusing on theories that attempt to account for the causes of genocide and the processes of genocidal killing. The literature is divided into three broad categories, based on the relative weight given to (a) individual or group agency, (b) structural factors, or (c) processes of identity construction in accounting for the origins and unfolding of genocidal destruction. The discussion of agency- oriented approaches focuses on theories that suggest that genocide is driven, in terms of decision making and perpetration, by elite decision makers, front-line perpetrators, and societal behavior. The literature …

Counteracting Hate Speech As A Way Of Preventing Genocidal Violence, Wibke Timmermann

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Hate speech regularly, if not inevitably, precedes and accompanies ethnic conflicts, and particularly genocidal violence. Without such incitement to hatred and the exacerbation of xenophobic, anti-Semitic, or racist tendencies, no genocide would be possible and persecutory campaigns would rarely meet with a sympathetic response in the general public. In order to successfully prevent genocidal crimes and violence, therefore, it is indispensable to effectively address the problem of systematic incitement to hatred. While less virulent forms of hate speech may be adequately addressed by human- rights law obligations on governments to prohibit such acts, vicious, systematic, and state-organized hate propaganda should …

Perpetual Conflict Or Compromise? The Cost Of Domestic Legitimacy In The Realm Of Women's Human Rights: A Case Study On The Right To An Abortion, Kim Andrea Kelly

Honors Scholar Theses

With its turbulent and volatile legal evolution, the right to an abortion in the United States still remains a highly contested issue and has developed into one of the most divisive topics within modern legal discourse. By deconstructing the political underpinnings and legal rationale of the right to an abortion through a systematic case law analysis, I will demonstrate that this right has been incrementally destabilized. This instability embedded in abortion jurisprudence has been primarily produced by a combination of textual ambiguity in the case law and judicial ambivalence regarding this complex area of law. In addition, I argue that …

Communicable Disease And International Security: The Case Of Africa & Hiv/Aids, Amy L Rue

Archived Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I will look at how communicable disease fits into the human security discourse particularly with the disease being views as the 'potential threat' and the 'referent object' within the international sphere. The case of Africa will be used to illustrate the impact of HIV/AIDS on international security at country, regional and international levels. Ultimately, I will argue that communicable disease, as a human security issue, is a clear and important international security issue due to its status as a continual "potential threat" within international relations particularly in Africa. The elements that I will use to establish my …

Cognitive Development And The Understanding Of Informed Consent, Lindsey Elizabeth Pearse

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The informed consent process is an important criterion for all research studies. However, researchers rarely ask or even consider how many participants truly understand the informed consent information and their research rights. Currently, researchers base a participant’s ability to understand informed consent information and research rights on age. In the present study it was hypothesized that cognitive development is a predictor of ethical knowledge. Accordingly, it was argue d that a participant’s ability to understand informed consent and research rights should not be based on a participant’s age but instead on the participant’s cognitive development. Students at the University of …

Organisational Commitment: Buffer Of Work Stress?, Laura Jones

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Work stress has been linked to negative health outcomes; however, evidence has shown that organisational commitment can act as a buffer to work stress. This is known as the buffering hypothesis of commitment. It was hypothesised that affective commitment would buffer negative effects of specific work stressors and reduce ill health. A convenience sample of 52 urban bus drivers (44 male and 8 female) completed the ASSET questionnaire (an organisational stress screening tool). Limited evidence to support the buffering hypothesis was found, although high levels of commitment were associated with low levels of psychological ill health. Suggestive gender differences were …

Seeing The Bigger Picture: An Amblyopic Advantage In The Global Integration Of Moving Visual Information?, Hannah Jeffery

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Devices used to incorporate global information by normal and amblyopic eyes were investigated using the Classification Image (CI) technique. An orientation task with randomly orientated tilting Gabor patches and a motion-direction task using randomly directed moving discs were utilized. Participants judged the near-threshold average global orientation or motion-direction in each. CIs were calculated, adding noise samples eliciting correct responses and subtracting noise samples producing incorrect responses. Results illustrated normal participants had consistently narrow perceptive fields as was the case for amblyopes in the orientation task. For global motion-direction judgements, amblyopic perceptive fields were far wider, illustrating sparse sampling of elements. …

Is There A Visitor Effect On Abyssinian Ground Hornbills (Bucorvus Abyssinicus), Papuan Wreathed Hornbills (Aceros Plicatus), Wrinkled Hornbills (Aceros Corrugatus) And Toco Toucans (Ramphastos Toco) In A Captive Zoo Environment?, Susanna Frances Thicks

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Research into the possible effects that zoo visitors have on the captive animals they come to visit is still relatively poorly understood. Most of the studies all ready completed have used non-human primate subjects, but there is a distinct lack of studies using non-primate species. One of the groups that are in particular need of this kind of research is birds. This study examines a potential visitor effect in captive Abyssinian Ground Hornbills (Bucorvus abyssinicus), Papuan Wreathed Hornbills (Aceros plicatus), Wrinkled Hornbills (Aceros corrugatus) and Toco Toucans (Ramphastos toco) at Paignton Zoo Environmental Park®. This study also investigates the evenness …

Does He Know I'M His Brother? A Multi-Method Inquiry Into Sibling Relationships Involving Children With Disabilities, Annabel David

The Plymouth Student Scientist

A mixed method approach was used to investigate the impact of disability and family-size on sibling relationships. The quantitative component used a questionnaire to analyse 191 sibling dyads in terms of companionship, empathy, teaching / caring, rivalry, aggression / conflict, and avoidance. Lower levels of positive behaviours and higher levels of negative behaviours were reported when one of the children was disabled. Non-disabled children displayed more positive and less negative behaviour towards their disabled siblings in three-child-families, compared with those in two-child-families. The qualitative component consisted of interviews with four families and the data was analysed using a grounded theory …

Generalization Effects Of Social Story Interventions For Individuals With Asperger's Disorder, Jennifer Alphonso Abraham

Dissertations

Social Stories™ (Gray, 2004) is a relatively new intervention designed to teach appropriate skills to individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Although there is preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of Social Stories it has typically been implemented in one target setting. As a result, there are little data to support whether or not the effects of Social Stories will generalize to other settings. The current study examined the effectiveness of Social Stories for increasing appropriate behaviors exhibited by four children diagnosed with Asperger's Disorder. Generalization effects across settings were assessed using a typical Social Story (Train and Hope) format and …

The Role Of Racial Attitudes And Identity In Black Client-White Counselor Dyads, Tara Michelle Ferguson

Dissertations

The therapeutic alliance has become an important area of investigation in the psychotherapy literature due to its demonstration of a moderate and consistent relationship with therapy outcomes. Some researchers have suggested that barriers to alliance formation may exist in cross-ethnic dyads due to different worldviews, race related socialization experiences, and racial attitudes. Although past research has indicated that racial identity and attitudes played a role in predicting various counseling processes, no studies in this area have examined their influence in actual counseling dyads. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of Black racial identity and attitude …

Student Persistence At A Small, Private, Religiously-Affiliated College: An Examination Of Retention Theory, Benjamin Arendt

Dissertations

This study seeks to understand how one small, private, religiously-affiliated institution can maintain a high persistence rate while not seeming to exhibit several necessary retention factors as described in the literature and prescribed in theory. This study incorporates a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods within a two-phased research structure. The first portion of the research examined a national dataset (NSSE) while the second phase included student interviews based on the quantitative findings.

Key findings suggest that students are satisfied with the level and quality of their interactions with faculty at this institution. Students reported high satisfaction with peers and …

The Impact Of Divorce On Physical, Social, Psychological, And Socioeconomic Well-Being, Robyn J. Barrus

Theses and Dissertations

Divorce brings unprecedented changes. The prevalence of divorce today constitutes a need to thoroughly study the well-being of divorced peoples. This study used a multidimensional definition of well-being to study divorced peoples and other marital statuses. Physical, social, psychological, and socioeconomic well-being were used. This study hypothesized that the married and remarried have higher well-being than the never married who in turn have higher well-being than the divorced or separated. It was also hypothesized that some are pre-disposed to divorce. ANCOVA analysis was used to test these hypotheses in a sample of approximately 9,863 respondents from the NSFH study. Support …

Regulation With Placebo Effects, Anup Malani

Duke Law Journal

A growing scientific literature supports the existence of placebo effects from a wide range of health interventions and for a range of medical conditions. This Article reviews this literature, examines the implications for law and policy, and suggests future areas for research on placebo effects. In particular, it makes the case for altering the drug approval process to account for, if not credit, placebo effects. It recommends that evidence of placebo effects be permitted as a defense in cases alleging violations of informed consent or false advertising. Finally, it finds that tort law already has doctrines such as joint and …

Dimond, Not Daubert: Reviving The Discretionary Standard Of Expert Admission In Alaska, Gregory R. Henrikson

Alaska Law Review

No abstract provided.

Marsingill V. O’Malley: The Duty To Disclose Becomes The Duty To Divine, Douglas E. Hutchinson

Alaska Law Review

No abstract provided.

When Parent’S Fight: Alaska’S Presumption Against Awarding Custody To Perpetrators Of Domestic Violence, Lisa Bolotin

Alaska Law Review

No abstract provided.

Full Issue 3.3

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Rape As A Weapon Of Genocide, Alllison Ruby Reid-Cunningham

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Sexual violence against women during war and genocide is a pressing problem. Rape is used as a tactic of war and genocide because of its physical and psychosocial consequences for individuals, families, and communities. The physical and emotional sequelae of individual assaults are magnified when rape is committed on a mass scale, as in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1992–1996), Rwanda (1994), and Darfur, Sudan (2003–present). The victimization of raped women affects the community through the collective responses of survivors and their families, friends, and neighbors. Forced intercourse and impregnation represent a symbolic conquest of the woman by the rapist. This conquest becomes generalized …

The Relationships Among Adaptive Behaviors Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Their Family Support Networks, Parental Stress, And Parental Coping, Heather Roberts Hall

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the adaptive behaviors of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), their family support networks, parental stress, and parental coping and the relationships among these variables.

Background: Autism is the fastest growing diagnosed developmental disorder. When parents receive a diagnosis of autism for their child, mothers and fathers are affected differently. The costs to families of children with autism are personal, social, and affect family finances and day to day living. Parents of a child with autism are at high risk for increased stress levels. The child’s socially unacceptable behaviors and communication …

War Without Borders: The Colombia-Ecuador Crisis Of 2008, Gabriel Marcella Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

Unprotected borders are a serious threat to the security of a number of states around the globe. Indeed, the combination of weak states, ungoverned space, terrorism, and international criminal networks make a mockery of the Westphalian system of international order. Latin American countries are experiencing all of these maladies in varying degrees. The Andean region is under assault by a different kind of war that defies borders. In this context, Dr. Gabriel Marcella analyzes the lessons to be learned from the Colombian attack against the clandestine camp of the the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which was located at an …

Regional Spillover Effects Of The Iraq War, W. Andrew Terrill Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

The Iraq war has been one of the dominant factors influencing U.S. strategic thinking in the Middle East and globally since 2003. Yet the problems of this highly dynamic and fluid war have sometimes forced U.S. policymakers to address near-term issues that cannot be safely postponed at the expense of long-term strategic thought. Such a technique, while understandable, cannot continue indefinitely as an approach to policy. Long-term planning remains vital for advancing regionwide U.S. and Iraqi interests following a U.S. drawdown from Iraq. Such planning must include dealing with current and potential “spillover” from the Iraq war.

Regional spillover problems …

Hamas And Israel: Conflicting Strategies Of Group-Based Politics, Sherifa D. Zuhur Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

Efforts to separate HAMAS from its popular support and network of social and charitable organizations have not been effective in destroying the organization, nor in eradicating the will to resist among a fairly large segment of the Palestinian population. It is important to consider this Islamist movement in the context of a region-wide phenomenon of similar movements with local goals, which can be persuaded to relinquish violence or which could become more violent. Certainly an orientation to HAMAS and its base must be factored into new and more practical and effective approaches to peacemaking in the region. At the same …

A Qualitative Study Of The Achievement Goals Of Recreational Exercise Participants, Helen Rogers, Tony Morris, Melissa Moore

The Qualitative Report

Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for many of today’s leading causes of ill health. In-order to increase physical activity (PA) participation and information about why people engage in PA is needed. We interviewed 11 recreational exercise participants to examine their goals for participating in recreation al exercise. Our results revealed 13 first-order themes, which we reduced to seven second-order themes (personal comparison, extrinsic rewards, social, physical condition, psychological condition, mastery, and enjoyment), and two general dimensions (intrinsic and extrinsic goals). We argue that self- determination theory (SDT) of motivation provides a strong foundation for understanding the goals and …