Digital Commons Network^™

The Psychological Turn To Relationality , Rusty R. Smith

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

No abstract provided.

The Secular And Religious Legal Framework Of Afghanistan As Compared To Western Notions Of Equal Protection And Human Rights Treaties: Is Afghanistan's Legal Code Facially Consistent With Sex Equality?, Laura Belkner

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note examines Afghanistan's legal framework, arguing that while it is facially consistent with sex equality as per the Afghan Constitution and international treaties, the practical implementation is hindered by cultural and traditional practices. This discrepancy highlights the gap between legal provisions and real-world application.

How Milk Does The World Good: Vernacular Sustainability And Alternative Food Systems In Post-Socialist Europe, Diana Mincyte

Publications and Research

Scholarly debates on sustainable consumption have generally overlooked alternative agro-food networks in the economies outside of Western Europe and North America. Building on practice-based theories, this article focuses on informal raw milk markets in post-socialist Lithuania to examine how such alternative systems emerge and operate in the changing political, social, and economic contexts. It makes two contributions to the scholarship on sustainable consumption. In considering semi-subsistence practices and poverty-driven consumption, this article argues for a richer, more critical, and inclusive theory of sustainability that takes into consideration vernacular forms of exchange and approaches poor consumers as subjects of global history. …

The Law And Economics Of Fluctuating Criminal Tendencies And Incapacitation, Murat C. Mungan

Scholarly Publications

Economic analyses of criminal law are frequently and heavily criticized for being unable to explain many criminal law rules and doctrines people find intuitively just. Existing economic models cannot properly explain, for instance, why criminal law distinguishes between (1) repeat offenders and first-time offenders, (2) murder and voluntary manslaughter, and (3) remorseful and non-remorseful offenders.

This Article proposes a richer economic theory of crime that captures the rationales behind these practices and potentially behind many other important criminal law principles and doctrines. Unlike an overwhelming majority of previous economic analyses, my theory accounts not only for the deterrent effect of …

What American Legal Theory Might Learn From Islamic Law: Some Lessons About 'The Rule Of Law' From 'Shari'a Court' Practice In India, Jeffrey A. Redding

University of Colorado Law Review

In 2010, voters in the state of Oklahoma passed a constitutional amendment that prohibits the Oklahoma courts from considering "Sharia Law." A great deal of the support for this amendment and similar (ongoing) legal initiatives appears to be generated by a deep-seated paranoia about Muslims and Islamic law that has taken root in many parts of the post-9/11 United States. This Article contends that the passage of this Oklahoma constitutional amendment should not have been surprising given that it is not only right-wing partisans who have felt the need to strictly demarcate and police the boundaries of the American legal …

Destinations: A Comparison Of Sex Trafficking In India And The United States, Sarah Montana Hart

University of Colorado Law Review

This Note examines the similarities and differences between sex trafficking in India and the United States. It highlights three similarities between the countries. First, the basic sexual demands of the johns are not being met by the local population of women despite that population's vulnerabilities. Second, sex trafficking is usually more profitable than legal alternatives for the pimps. Third, the victims are lured by the dreams of a better life that the traffickers supposedly can provide and will therefore often consent to travel with them until it is too late. This Note argues that if these three truths apply in …

A Systematic Approach For Identifying The Psychological Health And Work-Related Determinants Of Occupational Disability In A Target Sector, Marie-France Coutu, Iuliana Nastasia, Marie-José Durand, Marc Corbière, Patrick Loisel, Pierre Lemieux, Marie-Elise Labrecque, Sara Pettigrew

Rapports de recherche scientifique

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La difficulté à se maintenir au travail en raison d’un problème de santé psychologique constitue une préoccupation sociale grandissante. Les auteurs ont voulu développer une approche systématique pour identifier les déterminants de l’incapacité à maintenir une vie professionnelle active chez le travailleur ayant des difficultés psychologiques. Pour ce faire, ils ont élaboré et effectué une première validation de deux outils à l’intention des milieux de travail : un dispositif d’enquête permettant d’identifier les déterminants, la prévalence et la distribution de la détresse psychologique et du présentéisme et un outil ergonomique pour …

Preventing Violence Among Employees Of The Same Work Organization: Evaluation Of A Participatory Intervention, Julie Dussault, Nathalie Jauvin, Michel Vézina, Renée Bourbonnais

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Cliquez ici pour la version française de ce rapport

La violence au travail, particulièrement entre des membres d'une même organisation, a des répercussions sur la santé et la sécurité du personnel. Bien que le Québec se soit doté d'un cadre législatif pour contrer ce phénomène, on connaît peu l'utilité et l'efficacité des moyens servant à le prévenir. Les auteurs ont mené une recherche auprès d'agents de services correctionnels de trois établissements de détention, chez qui les chercheurs avaient préalablement démontré que des facteurs organisationnels étaient associés à cette problématique. Cette recherche reposait sur une démarche participative qu’ils ont systématiquement évaluée …

Mexican-Americans In Los Angeles: Strengthening Their Ethnic Identity Through Chivas Usa, Stephanie Goldberger

CMC Senior Theses

A large Mexican-American population already exists in Los Angeles and, with each generation, it continues to rise. This Mexican-American community has maintained its connection to its heritage by playing and watching soccer, Mexico’s top watched sport. In this thesis, I analyze how Major League Soccer's Chivas USA serves as an outlet through which many Mexicans in Los Angeles have developed their ethnic identities. Since the early twentieth century, Mexicans in Los Angeles have created separate residential communities and sports organizations to strengthen their connections with one another.

To appeal to Mexican-Americans, Chivas USA has branded itself closely to its sister …

Effects Of Early Round Venture Capital Syndication On Ipo Exits In Europe And The United States, Rosabella M. Magat

CMC Senior Theses

While the importance of venture capital (VC) can be highlighted by policy goals outlined in the 'Lisbon agenda', the European VC industry remains nascent in comparison to the more sophisticated VC market in the US. Researchers have identified key determinants that foster VC success on a broad level, and have often identified syndication as an important factor of success. This paper seeks to understand the role of syndication on the VC-backed company's success. I take a novel departure from past research in this area in three ways 1) I measure performance from the perspective of the portfolio company, rather than …

César Chávez And The Secularization Of An American Prophet Of Social Reform, Chelsee Lynn Cox

CMC Senior Theses

A largely overlooked chapter of American history is the struggle of Mexican Americans to achieve equal civil rights and humane working conditions. Although much ink has been spilled on the struggle of African-Americans to achieve civil rights and throw off the yoke of racial oppression, little attention is paid to the similar struggle carried out by Mexican Americans and the similarities and differences between them. It has been my desire to shed light on this forgotten story, because it is still relevant in the current political climate, given the explosive growth of Latinos in the United States today (50 million), …

Examining The Role Of Immigration In Crime Decline Across United States Cities, Brianna J. Losoya

CMC Senior Theses

Despite previous research in this area, the relationship between immigration and crime in the United States remains ambiguous and surrounded by misconceptions. However, recently, scholars have suggested that, despite the claims of policy-makers and popularized sociological theories, large immigrant concentrations may be linked with lower as opposed to higher crime rates. In the past, research in this area has been imprecise due to it its implementation of cross-sectional analyses for a limited selection of geographic regions. However, through the implementation of time-series procedures and the use of annual data for metropolitan statistical areas during the 2005–2010 periods, the present study …

Finding Profitability Of Technical Trading Rules In Emerging Market Exchange Traded Funds, Austin P. Hallett

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis further investigates the effectiveness of 15 variable moving average strategies that mimic the trading rules used in the study by Brock, Lakonishok, and LeBaron (1992). Instead of applying these strategies to developed markets, unique characteristics of emerging markets offer opportunity to investors that warrant further research. Before transaction costs, all 15 variable moving average strategies outperform the naïve benchmark strategy of buying and holding different emerging market ETF's over the volatile period of 858 trading days. However, the variable moving averages perform poorly in the "bubble" market cycle. In fact, sell signals become more unprofitable than buy signals …

Prose And Polarization: Environmental Literature And The Challenges To Constructive Discourse, Paige E. Costello

CMC Senior Theses

This work explores how authors employ literary modes to persuade readers towards one side or another of the environmental debate and whether the works promote constructive discourse on environmental issues. It uses two seminal works from each side of the environmental discourse, Silent Spring and The Population Bomb and The Ultimate Resource and The Skeptical Environmentalist, to analyze stylistic differences and similarities, to compare public reception, and to explain the increasing polarization of environmental discourse.

The Disappearing Middle Class: Implications For Politics And Public Policy, Trevor Richard Beltz

CMC Senior Theses

What does it mean to be middle class? The majority of Americans define themselves as members of the middle class, regardless of their wealth. The number of Americans that affiliate with the middle class alludes to the idea that it cannot be defined simply by level of income, number of assets, type of job, etc. The middle class is a lifestyle as much as it is a group of similarly minded people, just as it is a social construct as much as it is an economic construct. Yet as the masses fall away from the elite, and changes continue to …

"Sell Or Slaughter": The Economic And Social Policies Of German Reunification, Saraid L. Donnelly

CMC Senior Theses

This paper looks at the struggles faced by German policymakers in the years following reunification. East Germany struggled with an immediate transformation from a planned economy to a social market economy, while West Germany sent billions of Deutsche Marks to its eastern states. Because of the unequal nature of these two countries, policymakers had to decide on what they would place more emphasis: social benefits for the East or economic protection for the West. The West German state-level, Federal Government and the East German governments struggled in finding multilaterally beneficial policies. This paper looks at the four key issues of …

The Wealth Effects Of The 2010-2011 Arab Uprisings: A Market Model Event Study, Rachit Khaitan

CMC Senior Theses

Previous empirical analyses have concluded that political events can have significant linkages with stock returns. Using Brown & Warner’s (1984) OLS market model, I examine the effect of political disruptions in the 2010-2011 Arab uprisings on major stock indices of Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and London. My analysis finds mostly negative abnormal returns, highly statistically significant relative to the S&P 500, associated with many key events between December 1^st, 2010 and December 1^st, 2011. My findings suggest that the loss of investor wealth can be attributed to dramatic regime changes and large scale …

Editorial Statement

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

The Danish Society Dania Of California, Carl Plow

The Bridge

This society was established December 11th, 1879 in Oakland, California.

Its original name was “Den Danske Forening Dania af Oakland og Alameda” (The Danish Society Dania of Oakland and Alameda), and its original purpose was to further the social life among the Danish settlers in these twin cities.

It soon became evident, however, that if the young society were to grow and thrive and keep its membership, it would have to include other and more tenable points on its program, not just entertainment, and thus it was decided to establish a health and burial insurance, and it has been functioning …

Valuation Of Ecosystem Services: The Case Of Orseg National Park, Hungary, Ildiko Losonci

Master's Theses and Capstones

A chronic lack of sufficient financial resources has prevented many protected area professionals from achieving adequate ecosystem protection. Using a case study of O&huml;rseg National Park in Hungary and the contingent valuation technique, we examined the relative importance of various ecosystem services to respondents, their WTP for these services, and the oath of honesty's effect on hypothetical bias.

Results from the intercept survey that was administered in the park in the summer of 2011 and filled out by 212 respondents show that visitors prefer the protection of the park's cultural monuments, and ecosystems services like local natural food, climate regulation …

We're "Fed" Up And Tea'd Off: Frame Analysis Of The Tea Party Movement, Daniel Peter Flaaen

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

There is a new wave sweeping American politics. Beginning in 2009 as the people's movement, the Tea Party is taking American politics by storm. Hoping to change the way the American public thinks about American politics, the Tea Party is using some innovative tactics. Utilizing the only official Tea Party publication, an analysis of the publication's first year was done to identify the frames that were being put forth by the organization to gain support. By using the cross over frame, the us vs. them frame and the threat frame, the Tea Party hoped to resonate with a large population …

Grave Exclamations: An Analysis Of Tombstones And Their Use As Narrative Of Self, Lacey Jae Ritter

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

We establish our selves through narratives--with others and by ourselves--during life. What happens, however, when a person dies? The following paper looks at the way narratives about the deceased's selves are created by the bereaved after their loved ones have died. The paper focuses on the narratives created on the deceased's tombstones, as these are available to the public and last the longest of all final declarations of the person's identity (i.e., obituaries, funeral programs, eulogies). Because I am interested in the way narratives of the self are constructed postmortem, a symbolic interactionist approach was used. The study focuses on …

Exploring The Two-Year College Faculty Work Experience: The Active Job, The Evolving Institution And The Changing Effort-Reward Bargain, Jacobs Wayne Hammond

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

While significant research describes the occupational experiences of four-year college and university faculty, two-year college faculty have received little attention from scholars. This study enters the existing void. Fourteen two-year college faculty members from a variety of institutions in Minnesota were interviewed utilizing a semi-structured depth interview technique. Questions were derived from sociological and interdisciplinary literature pertaining to the higher education faculty experience. Two-year college faculty were found to hold active jobs, work in evolving institutions and face a decreasing effort-reward bargain. Faculty were also found to be susceptible to experiencing role strain, stress derived from group-decision making processes and …

Gender Differences In Cigarette Smoking: The Relationship Between Social Perceptions Of Cigarette Smokers And Smoking Prevalence, Juhee Woo

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This research is a descriptive study of gender differences in cigarette smoking. By comparing U.S college students with Korean college students, the researcher seeks to examine if there is a relationship between the extent of gender difference in social perceptions of cigarette smokers and the extent of gender difference in smoking prevalence. Results show that female smokers are more negatively evaluated than male smokers in both countries but the gender differences are greater in the Korean sample than the U.S sample. Likewise, the gender differences in smoking prevalence are greater in the Korean sample than the U.S sample. Consequently, this …

The Hyperactive Fan: Characteristics Of Online Fantasy Football Players, Christopher Patera

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study examines fantasy football players and their leagues because sports are a large and influential aspect of society, with fantasy football as an emerging form of sport spectatorship that has recently gained widespread popularity. From leagues we can learn more about the social identity of sports fans and the meaning behind identifying oneself as a fantasy football player. I also examine the presence of masculinities within fantasy sports along with their influence with respect to the significant population of women affiliated with sports. Further, I explore emotional elements that are embedded within sports and how those factors apply to …

Mental Illness And Stigmatization, Struther Louise Van Horn

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between mental illness and stigmatization. For most of the twentieth century, popular attitudes towards the mentally ill were overtly negative and stigmatizing. In the 1970s-1980s, however, a putative shift in perceptions--thought to be the result of increased public knowledge about psychological disorders--purportedly diminished the stigma attached to mental illness. Using race, gender, and age as moderating variables, this study draws upon data from the recent 2006 General Social Survey to reexamine more current attitudes by the public towards those with mental illness and how it affects the desire for social …

Are There Roles For Technical Communicators In Small Community Food Systems?, Brent William Chisholm

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The author explores the viability of incorporating technical communication genres, practices, and theory, into various components of small community food systems. He argues that certain types of food systems and users in those food systems allow technical communicators to participate in ways aligning with genres of conservation writing described by Johnson-Sheehan and Morgan (2009). He also incorporates ideas about authorship, describing that technical communicators can improve food systems by reconciling disparate agricultural technical material, advocacy for action, and the articulation of previously non-existent food systems.

Sex On The Bench: Do Women Judges Matter To The Legitimacy Of International Courts?, Nienke Grossman

Chicago Journal of International Law

International courts are playing an increasingly important role in deciding international disputes and in defining the content of international law. Yet women make up only a meager percentage of international court judges. This Article explores the relationship between the paucity of women judges and the legitimacy of international courts. After providing statistics on women's participation on eleven of the world's most important courts and tribunals, the Article argues that under-representation of one sex affects the normative legitimacy of international courts because it endangers impartiality and introduces bias when men and women approach judging differently. Even if men and women do …

Informal Math Education Using Origami To Teach Elementary School Students Math Concepts, Gina Fawks

Theses & ETDs

There is a disconnect that students have between what they learn in the math classroom and what they understand and can do in the 'real' world. Informal math education can be used to bridge that gap. A specific type of informal math education is the use of origami to teach math concepts. I worked with forty-five elementary school students at the Roy McBean Boys and Girls Club of America. I did three origami projects covering a variety of math concepts that students in kindergarten through fifth grade should know or learn based on Florida Sunshine Standards ([Anonymous] Florida 2010) with …

The Bi-Directional Relationship Between Juvenile Delinquency And Victimization, Emily Yearwood

Master's Theses and Capstones

The current study uses longitudinal data to examine the bi-directional relationship between delinquency and victimization and whether this relationship can be explained by possible mediating variables. Using longitudinal data from schools in four New Hampshire communities, results indicate a bi-directional relationship between victimization and delinquency exists such that reported victimizations are associated with increased future reports of delinquency involvement, and involvement in increased types of delinquency is associated with an increased likelihood of reporting experiences of victimization. Analysis is furthered with an examination of various types of delinquency and how the relationship is mediated by depression, self control, and time …