Digital Commons Network^™

Toward A Taxonomy Of Diversity At Work: Developing And Validating The Workplace Diversity Inventory, Aisha Smith Taylor

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this research was to develop a taxonomy of workplace diversity and examine its implications for understanding and predicting diversity at work. A 7-dimension taxonomy was originally developed by reviewing contemporary literature on diversity in the workplace. The taxonomy is grounded in Social Identity Theory. Preliminary research found that each of the seven dimensions of the taxonomy were present in 78 critical incidents describing work-relevant diversity dynamics. The current study reports the development and administration of an instrument, the Workplace Diversity Inventory (WDI), which was used to empirically examine the 7-factor model of the taxonomy in over 20 …

Working In An Artist Collective In Portland Oregon: The Artistic Benefits Of Cooperation And Place In An Underground Art World, Elizabeth Furlong Borders

Dissertations and Theses

This ethnography explores the underground art world in Portland, Oregon by showing how a Portland area artist collective, Oregon Painting Society, navigates their art world. Participant observation, in-depth interviews, and a short latent content analysis triangulate data to show the features and values of the underground art world. Using Becker's concept of art worlds, I show how artists working outside of a traditional art career in a commercial gallery system do their work by exploring how Portland's art world is structured and sustained. I find that group work, cooperation, and resource sharing in a vibrant neighborhood based social network enables …

The Moving To The Beat Documentary And Hip-Hop Based Curriculum Guide: Youth Reactions And Resistance, Jennifer Wallin-Ruschman

Dissertations and Theses

Many of the academic and popular treatments of hip-hop overlook the complexity of the phenomenon. Hip-hop is often portrayed solely as a source of corruption and regressive tendencies or, alternatively, as a sort of savior for otherwise marginalized individuals and source of revolutionary power. This thesis situates hip-hop between these poles and draws out its progressive and regressive aspects for analysis. Considering its vast global influence and a growing body of academic literature, hip-hop has been notably understudied in the field of psychology. Alternatively, educational theorists and practitioners have realized the power of hip-hop in revisualizing an emancipatory education that …

The Expressive Goals Of Bias Crime Legislation And The Media, Louis Panush

Dissertations and Theses

State level bias crime legislation was passed throughout much of the United States over the last three decades. Beyond their prosecutorial or instrumental application, bias or hate crime laws serve an expressive or messaging function. This function is meant to promote societal cohesion through the rejection of hateful ideologies, as well as signal to attacked or marginalized members of communities that the government is directly addressing the effects of bias crime. As the number of reported hate crimes in the United States remains essentially level, it is of importance to assess how well the expressive function is performing. Following a …

Capital Flows, Political Performance, And Development, Ayesha Umar Wahedi

Dissertations and Theses

This research explores the impact of various forms of capital flows on economic growth and development for a group of 120 countries from 1980-2007. Traditional growth literature as well as the textbook theory of economic growth looks at capital flows as playing a vital role in fostering economic growth and development. The textbook theories, as well as the existing approaches to study the capital flows and economic development connection, use growth and development interchangeably. This analysis, examines the consequences of different capital flows on growth and development separately because the determinants of growth may not be the same as the …

Toward A Richer Shade Of Blue: The Impact On Oregon Police Officer Perceptions Of Racial Minorities After Anti-Racial Profiling Training, David Andrew Kline

Dissertations and Theses

Four fatal shootings, during police interactions, of unarmed people-of-color occurred in the Portland, Oregon Metro Area from 2003 to 2010 calling into question from members of the community whether or not the officers involved and hence their representative police departments had been racially profiling. Of interest in this study is whether or not cutting edge anti-racial profiling police officer trainings have an impact on how officers in Oregon perceive members of racial minority groups. A review of literature found that previous inquiries into racial prejudice among police officers may be present and that previous efforts to address racial ethics in …

Race, Ethnicity And Attitudes Toward Same-Sex Unions In The United States, Claudia Plesa

Dissertations and Theses

Recent political and cultural trends have led to an evaluation of the meaning of marriage within American society, and especially marriage as it concerns couples of the same sex. However, little research has been done to find out how attitudes toward same-sex marriage might vary according to race and ethnicity. Drawing on data from the 2004 National Politics Study, the author investigates same-sex marriage attitudes and tests hypotheses concerning the attitudes of various American race-ethnic groups. This study employs multinomial logistic regression analysis to compare attitudes of African Americans, Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites. Results indicate that even when socio demographic …

Coupled Pedagogy: A Study Of Sustainability Education And Community-Based Learning In The Senior Capstone Program At Portland State University, Emily Erin Bowling

Dissertations and Theses

Sustainability has emerged in mainstream higher education over the last few years, and the fields of community-based learning and sustainability education are closely linked through their emphases on active, experiential learning in place-based contexts. In order to create ecologically literate citizens to more adequately address environmental problems, there is a logical connection between teaching about sustainability and engaging students in the community, which can serve as a relevant forum to address sustainability issues. However, there is a problem in that educational programs and courses dealing directly with sustainability topics across the higher education landscape often do not emphasize or include …

Conflict-Conditioned Communication: A Case Study Of Communicative Relations Between The United States And Iran From 2005-2008, Erin Leigh Mckee

Dissertations and Theses

In protracted international conflicts, truth is often sacrificed in the name of victory. Political realists see international politics as a competition to win power, retain power, and demonstrate power; misleading the enemy in the name of strategy and misleading the public in the name of security are necessary elements of the game. A less obvious condition is that those caught in the cycle of intergroup conflict also withhold truths from themselves. This denial of truth and reality--to the Other, to the public, and to the self--is especially prevalent in the communicative relationship between the United States and the Islamic Republic …

Transforming The Soul Of Education: Sustainability At The Center Of Teaching And Learning In Secondary Schools, Thomas Eugene Kane

Dissertations and Theses

Humanity is facing problems on a scale never before encountered. This dissertation traces the roots of modern culture's destructive relationship to the planet with its habits of over-consumption and exceeding the limits of the planet's ecological systems. Educational institutions are embedded in and replicate an unsustainable culture. As educational leaders, we need to challenge a system that is morally and ecologically bankrupt while providing a path toward sustainability at the center of teaching and learning. Using a narrative scholarship approach and theoretical frameworks drawn from ecological thinking and place-based learning, this dissertation provides models for transforming secondary education. While critiquing …

Information Processing In Two-Dimensional Cellular Automata, Martin Cenek

Dissertations and Theses

Cellular automata (CA) have been widely used as idealized models of spatially-extended dynamical systems and as models of massively parallel distributed computation devices. Despite their wide range of applications and the fact that CA are capable of universal computation (under particular constraints), the full potential of these models is unrealized to-date. This is for two reasons: (1) the absence of a programming paradigm to control these models to solve a given problem and (2) the lack of understanding of how these models compute a given task. This work addresses the notion of computation in two-dimensional cellular automata. Solutions using a …

Foreign Language Teaching In U.S. Higher Education Classrooms: An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Teacher Pedagogical Beliefs And Classroom Teaching, Shaojuan Lin

Dissertations and Theses

Previous research indicates that former schooling is an important factor to shape teachers' beliefs about teaching; teachers change the way they teach when their beliefs about foreign language teaching change. However, little research has discovered direct evidence concerning the processes that effect change in teacher beliefs. This study investigated the relationship between teachers' pedagogical paradigms and practices in Chinese language classrooms. Specifically, a qualitative analysis of educated teachers born in China examined how early pedagogical frames were formed, and then transformed in the context of American classrooms. Results of this study indicate that early schooling, language learning, and initial teaching …

Wherefore By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them: An Actor-Network Theory Analysis Of Mercy Corps' Peaceful Communities Initiative In Central Asia, John Thomas Westerman

Dissertations and Theses

The motivation for this research comes from the belief that an over reliance on a social constructivist perspective has caused development studies in general, and post-development in particular, to under-theorize the role of discourse in development. A key issue in post-development studies concerns whether or not development organizations depoliticize their interventions. The notion of depoliticization provides a perfect occasion for examining more deeply the role of discourse in development. This research uses the actor-network theory constructivist framework to analyze a USAID funded development program in Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan): Mercy Corps' Peaceful Communities Initiative (PCI). The research approach …

"An I Don't Give A Damn 'Bout My Bad Reputation": The Effects Of Family Type And Patriarchy In The Home On Female Adolescent Delinquency And Mental Health, Stephanie-Kaye Guenther

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the connection between household type and delinquency and depressive symptoms for female adolescents. The present study draws its claims from Power-control theory which, at its most abstract level, predicts gender differences in delinquency based on the level of patriarchy in the family and the theoretical works of Sarah Rosenfield, who argues that it is the over control of females that causes them to have higher rates depression than males. This study hoped to build on research that links differences in family type and parental control to sex differences in delinquency by using the Power-control theory to look …

The Effect Of Role Models On The Attitudes And Career Choices Of Female Students Enrolled In High School Science, Stephanie Justine Van Raden

Dissertations and Theses

Girls who have high aptitude in math are not entering careers related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM fields) at the same rate as boys. As a result, female students may have fewer employment opportunities. This study explores one potential way to reduce the gap between male and female career aspirations and choices. Specifically, it looks at the impact of bringing women with careers in math- and science-related fields into high school classrooms as role models. The study uses surveys to measure pre- and post-visit perceptions of science and scientific work as well as student's short-term interest in math …

Gender, Culture, And Prison Classification: Testing The Reliability And Validity Of A Prison Classification System, Aimée Ryan Bellmore

Dissertations and Theses

Research consistently shows actuarial classification instruments have equal or higher predictive validity than clinical judgment and can lead to more ethical and fair treatment of incarcerated men and women (Austin, 1983, 1986; Bonta, 2002; Clements, 1981; Holsigner, Lowenkamp, & Latessa, 2006; Meehl, 1954; Salisbury, Van Voorhis, & Spiropoulos, 2009). Best correctional practice recommends all objective classification systems are tested for reliability and validity to ensure they are effective for the population they intend to serve (Austin, 1986; Holsinger et al., 2006; Salisbury et al., 2009). This study examined the reliability and validity of the classification and assessment instruments currently used …

Net Resiliency: A Study Of Risk And Protective Factors In Single And Two-Parent Familes, Chad E. Depasquale

Master's Theses and Capstones

The main goal of this study was to discover how family makeup affects net resiliency scores of children. This quantitative study uses Two-Tailed t-tests, and Pearson correlation to uncover any relationships between net resiliency and living in a single or two-parent household. A sample of 91 children ranging from eleven to eighteen years old was utilized for the study's data collection. Their net resiliency scores, risk factors, protective factors, and family makeup were analyzed to discover any potential relationships between them. The analysis of these factors showed children living in single-parent families have: lower net resiliency scores, fewer protective factors, …

How Age And Religiosity Affect Forgiving Others, Andrew Schaefer

Master's Theses and Capstones

Using data from the General Social Survey (1998), Robert Wuthnow's Forgiveness Survey (1999), and ten in-depth interviews of members of an evangelical church (2010--11), I investigate three research questions: (1) How are age and religiosity related to people's attitudes toward forgiving others? (2) Do age and religiosity have the same effect on people's forgiving behaviors? (3) How do respondents' accounts of their own experiences forgiving others help explain and contribute to answers of the first two questions? I found that those with the highest levels of religiosity were most likely to have positive attitudes toward forgiving and to have engaged …

Consequences Of A Separatist Platform? The Rise And Fall Of The Bloc Quebecois, Zachary Azem

Master's Theses and Capstones

This thesis analyzes the contributing factors to the Bloc Quebecois' overwhelming loss in the 2011 Canadian Federal Election. Using both qualitative evidence and statistical analysis, it will investigate the extent in which five potential causes affected this outcome: a shift in support of the New Democratic Party, the distribution of Francophone protest party votes, campaign strategies of the New Democratic Party and Bloc Quebecois, changing views on separatism, and the single member district plurality system.

Effects Of Stereotype Activation On Self-Concepts: Differences Between Native American & Caucasian College Students, Laura R. John

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Prior research has shown that when individuals are exposed to stereotype activation (SA) mechanisms, such as priming, their subsequent behavior often conforms to stereotypical expectations. Previous studies have focused on measuring stereotype activation primarily with manipulations of task completion after subjects are exposed to a prime. This study intended to expand the current research by exploring the effect of SA on an individual’s self-concept. Research was conducted with Native American and Caucasian college students using an ethnicity salient questionnaire as a means of SA. Participants then completed self-report measurements associated with Native American stereotypes. It was hypothesized that priming Native …

Exploring Public Participation Decision-Making At Superfund Sites: A Mental Models Approach, Walter Steven Ackerlund

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

While public policies and programs in the United States encourage public participation in agency decisions on environmental issues, how best to engage the public remains controversial. Public participation is more challenging when complex and uncertain scientific or technical issues are involved. This research applies a mental model methodology to explore what people engaged in Superfund site cleanup decisions think about when making public participation decisions. The intent is to find better ways of engaging people in constructive processes that achieve mutual understanding and lead to better decisions.

An initial expert-informed mental model of public participation decision-making is developed based on …

From Camping To Permanence: A History Of Montana Mobile And Manufactured Homes, Zoe Ann Stoltz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis examines the history of Montanans use and perceptions of manufactured homes. Nationally, manufactured housing has enjoyed a dynamic historic and social evolution, as revealed by federal, state, and local documents, newspaper reports, periodicals, and interviews. Yet, manufactured housing struggles to escape its mobile origins and the negative stereotypes acquired during its rich history. In Montana, the housing form has experienced unprecedented success, both as transportable housing in the boom and bust cycles of the State as well as permanent housing. Montana’s rural population has embraced mobile home’s convenience and affordability. However, public misperceptions persist despite its success as …

Debt Structure In The West: Money And Gift, And The Influence On Community, James A. Becker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Debt structures all relationships in America as well as all of our economic material exchanges. Historically debt has always been seen thus with our religious texts being written both in the terminology of the metaphysical and the economical combining them together in an attempt to understand the social and economic systems that individuals live in. At the core of the social and economic systems is community. In America the myth of the gift is a dominant catalyst that uses debt to make community through time. In order to study the structure of debt within America I will be using an …

A Case Study Of Problems And Possibilities In The Establishment Of A Guide Training Institute In Uttarakhand, India, Benjamin Schwartz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This project sought to explore the problems and possibilities experienced during the establishment of a guide training institute in Uttarakhand, India. As originally proposed by the Mountain Shepherds Initiative, a small tourism organization based in Uttarakhand, the aim of the guide training institute was to provide participants with the knowledge and skills needed to gain employment as guides within, and expand the extent of, high quality/low quantity birdwatching tourism within northern Uttarakhand. This project was undertaken in conjunction with the Mountain Shepherds Initiative and the problems and possibilities were identified during a six month stay in the region from May-November, …

Analysis Of The Development And Applications Of Risk Assessment For Sex Offenders In Correctional Populations: A Comparative Review, Derek Nicholas Emerson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This review discusses the content and theory that drive the creation of risk assessment of sex offenders. While risk assessment tools are used by corrections agencies to determine the potential risk for reoffending for all types of offenders, this paper focuses on those used for sex offenders. The intent with this project is to assess various risk assessment tools and describe the implications on possible new scales, and to cover potential solutions to problems inherent to the field of risk assessment. These goals are accomplished by extensive inventory of the most widely used risk scales, followed by discussion of a …

Incentives And Disincentives Of Adolescent Girls Participation In Outdoor Activities And Recommendations For Practitioners, Sarah Anne Megyesi

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In order to increase adolescent girls’ participation in and enjoyment of outdoor activities (OAs), with the ultimate goal of increasing the number of future advocates and stewards of our natural environment, outdoor activity practitioners and other interested parties must gain an understanding of adolescent girls and their perceptions of the outdoors and outdoor activities. Every girl has unique insight and perceptions related to their own as well as other girls’ participation in outdoor activities. In order to best serve adolescent girls through outdoor activity, research must seek answers to how families, schools, mentors, and outdoor activity practitioners can best encourage …

Literature Meets Biology: An Evolutionary Approach To Literary Studies, Samantha Reneé Dwyer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The following thesis engages with the relatively young development in literary studies, called evocriticism, which uses scientific perspectives to look at literature. It first gives an overview of the current state of English departments and their decline in numbers, budgets, and cultural relevancy, mostly due to outdated modes of literary criticism and theory. It then introduces evocriticism as a new paradigm for studying literature. Literature and the arts are studied as human behaviors with possible adaptive benefits. Individual texts are interpreted through a scientific lens, using the theory of evolution to find cultural and biological human universals that can help …

Crossing The Border: State Forays Into Immigration Reform, Robert Bruton

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses 2010 - 2019

Today’s local and state governments face a diverse array of challenges when meeting the needs of their communities. Issues surrounding immigration reform and control in these communities have become politically sensitive as states attempt to pass their own reform bills. As states such as Arizona and Utah pass their own forms of immigration legislation the federal government and others believe that immigration legislation is solely a federal power. However, given that the federal government has failed to uphold and enforce its own immigration legislation the states should be allowed to create their own solutions to solve their specific problems. States …

Androcentric Expressions In Academic Writings, Ashley Coats

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses 2010 - 2019

The pervasiveness of androcentric thinking in many Western societies is evident in language. A prime example of androcentric language has historically been English, especially formal writing. In recognition of this detrimental practice, the American Psychological Association (APA) began prohibiting use of the generic “he” in articles published in psychology journals during the 1970's. However, other forms of malecentered language remained unchallenged, and I argue that academic writings still favor masculine interests. In this study, articles published in academic journals were examined for four instances of possible androcentric expression: number of citations for female versus male authors within a journal; frequency …

Towards Sentence Compliance: Examining Pfma Offender Pathways Through Missoula Municipal And Justice Courts, Sara Justine Shapiro

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In recent years, there has been great concern among those who work in the criminal justice system, in Missoula, Montana, about the processing of domestic violence offenders. Many of these people believe that domestic violence defendants are not being consistently prosecuted, and that convicted offenders are not completing their mandated anger management program. To address these concerns, this analysis examines the adjudication, from arrest to sentencing, of a cohort of defendants appearing in Missoula Municipal Court and Missoula County Justice Court. The sample includes defendants whose final charge between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008 was Partner/Family Member Assault …