Digital Commons Network^™

A Multiyear Investigation Of Combating Bullying In Middle School: Stakeholder Perspectives, David L. Shriberg, Mallory Burns, Poonam Desai, Stephanie Grunewald, Rachel Pitt

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

Working collaboratively to address bullying among middle school students is an ongoing challenge. This study used participatory action research to collaborate with key stakeholders within a middle school to identify needs and implement more effective practices. Extensive qualitative and quantitative data are presented, along with process recommendations for bringing different stakeholders together for a sustained change effort.

Paradoxes In Physical Health, Robert Crosnoe, Aida Ramos-Wada, Claude Bonazzo

Faculty Publications - Department of Sociology

This chapter reviews the evidence from social science and medical research that sheds light on this potential immigrant paradox in health -- when, where, and for whom it holds or does not apply. In doing so, two important points need to be kept in mind. First, the existence of the paradox does not necessarily mean that immigrants are doing than everyone else. Rather, it means that they are doing better than social and economic positions suggest that they should be. Second, paradox may apply in general but not hold in specific domains of health for certain subgroups or at certain …

Ethnic Identity Maintenance Within The Latino-American Church: A Structuration Perspective, Charles W. Choi, Deborah Berho

Faculty Publications - Department of Sociology

The Latino ethnic/immigrant church plays a significant role in maintaining the ethnic identity of its congregants. Through the perspective of structuration theory, this qualitative analysis investigates how the activities of the church impact its members and how an individual might contribute to the cultural structure of the Latino church (i.e., duality of structure). Interviews of 25 pastors from Spanish-speaking congregations in both urban and rural settings in Oregon resulted in several themes including the initial planting of the church, the denominational structure, the emergence of a new multiethnic cultural identity, generational differences, and the influence of Spanish.

Audit, Accountability And Commitment: School Business Officials' Perceptions Of An Audit Regime, Michael A. Torak

Dissertations - ALL

Prior research has suggested that models intended to explain the organizational commitment of public employees have not accounted for the substantial and often intense external controls imposed on public organizations. A public scandal involving corruption and mismanagement in a New York State public school district resulted in the state legislature implementing a program of reforms intended to increase the financial accountability of public school districts. The aim of this exploratory, multi-subject qualitative study is to gain insight about how financial managers in public school districts experienced the reform and think about external controls that feature an extensive regimen of auditing. …

Privileged Resistance: Prisoners Of Conscience In The United States, 1980-2013, Anya Stanger

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation tells the story of modern anti-war prisoners of conscience in the United States-people who are incarcerated for six months or more as a result of nonviolent resistance. It explores how they intentionally use and learn about their own privilege in solidarity actions that land them in the belly of the imperial beast; the prison. It traces the lives of forty three such prisoners of conscience, from discernment of action through release, to show how "who they are" (in terms of their visible identities and private senses of self) impacts their experiences, the ways they are understood, and their …

Screens And Stereotypes: The Transmission Of Images Of Women Of Color On Twitter And Television, Sherri Marie Williams

Dissertations - ALL

For decades African-American women and Latinas have lamented the abundance of negative and unrealistic images of them reflected on television. Such images appear to be pervasive today on reality television shows, the most popular television show genre, where many historic negative stereotypes of women of color are conveyed. Social television, the practice of watching television and simultaneously commenting on social media, is now common among viewers. The aim of this research is to determine if the same old stereotypes of women of color on television are finding their way to the new medium of Twitter. This study is a textual …

All Joking Aside: The Role Of Religion In American Jewish Satire, Jennifer Ann Caplan

Dissertations - ALL

Jewish humor is a well-known, if ill-defined genre. The prevalence and success of Jewish comedians has been a point of pride for American Jews throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. What I undertake in this dissertation is to isolate one particular form of humor-namely satire-and use it as a way to analyze the changing relationship of American Jews to traditional religious forms. I look at the trends over three generations, the third generation (who came of age in the 40s and 50s), the Baby Boom generation (who came of age in the 60s and 70s) and the contemporary generation (who …

Students' Attitudes Towards Socially--But Not Scientifically--Controversial Subjects: Evaluating Ways In Which These Attitudes May Be Shifted, Benjamin Elijah Carter

Dissertations - ALL

Chapter1: Numerous anti-science bills introduced into state legislatures reference the "strengths and weaknesses" of scientific subjects, but the subjects they target, most commonly evolution and global climate change, are not topics of contention within the scientific community. This brief work provides a researched rebuttal to the notion that evolution and climate change have strengths and weaknesses of the form implied by anti-science legislation while providing examples of actual scientific disagreement about these subjects. The disagreement is not, of course, about whether or not evolution or climate change are factual occurrences, but rather over ideas such as the finer points of …

Essays On Local Political Economy In Brazil And The United States, Evan Andrews

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation covers different aspects of political institutions and fiscal policy in local governments. The first essay examines the political consequences of an increase in the district magnitude (the number of open seats) for legislatures. The second essay studies how the size of a local legislature affects the size and composition of public spending. The third essay develops and tests a theory of how transaction costs might affect the use of earmarked revenues by local budgeting authorities. The last essay compares the relative impacts of factors that might make a local government more likely to adopt own-source revenues. These questions …

Shusterman’S Thinking Through The Body And Everyday Aesthetics, Tom Leddy

Faculty Publications

How does Richard Shusterman’s Thinking Through the Bodyapply to the issues of everyday aesthetics? As it turns out, many chapters contribute significantly to everyday aesthetics, in particular the work on architecture, self-styling, the body as background, lovemaking, and the process of making a photographic portrait. Shusterman’s concentration on the art of living has special importance to everyday aesthetics. Current debates within the field of everyday aesthetics also raise problems for somaesthetics. I also question the limits of somaesthetics and Shusterman’s rejection of defamiliarization in making the ordinary extraordinary.

The Scientist, 2015, San Jose State University, College Of Science

The Scientist (College of Science)

No abstract provided.

White Woods And Blue Jasmine: Woody Allen Rewrites A Streetcar Named Desire, Verna Foster

English: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The film's reviewers almost invariably commented on the parallels with Streetcar, many noting, too, that Cate Blanchett, who plays the title character, Jasmine, had also successfully played Blanche Dubois in Liv Ullmann's 2009 production of the play at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.2 But for all the similarities in character types and plot structure and for all the allusions to specific lines in Streetcar, the themes of Blue Jasmine are very different from those of Williams's play because the story that Allen tells also channels the fall of Bernie Madoff and his wife, Ruth. The flashbacks are a filmic equivalent …

Mature Women And Higher Education: Reconstructing Identity And Family Relationships, Louise Webber

Plymouth Institute of Education Theses

Previous research suggests that through engagement with Higher Education (HE), mature women students experience identity change and transformation which could lead to conflict and strain on marital relationships. The aims of this thesis are to explore the effects of identity transformation on mature women and the family unit as a whole, through a consideration of the impact of HE on family life. Qualitative methods were adopted using a narrative inquiry methodology of focused interviews, mind mapping and a student led mosaic approach to gather the data. Women with families were selected from one Foundation Degree in Early Years in a …

The Importance Of Humour In Educational Staffrooms, Kmita Maria

Plymouth Institute of Education Theses

Staffroom humour constitutes an integral part of teachers’ workplace culture and contributes to the quality of workplace relationships, yet it remains under-researched in the field of educational research. This thesis explores the importance of humour in relationships between teachers and its meaning for the overall workplace culture. This research has two foci; one intended and one acquired. Originally this research was set up to investigate staffroom humour in three educational settings. However, humour between participants and I became another focus of the research. Therefore, apart from exploring how staff use humour in the staffroom and what influences staffroom humour, this …

Professional Development And Beyond: A Participative Study Of A Self-Facilitated Learning Group, Helen Goodall

Plymouth Institute of Education Theses

This is a participative case study of a self-facilitating, collaborative, women’s learning group. The group’s longevity afforded a unique opportunity to investigate, in depth, both what encouraged its members to join at its outset, and what has sustained the participation of its current members for thirteen years. Its longevity also provided an opportunity to explore the impact of sustained membership on the women in the group. These two components of the study are its most significant original contributions to the existing literature which does not appear to cover anything similar. The initial raison d’étre of the group was its members’ …

Understanding Waste Management Behaviour In Care Settings In South West England: A Mixed Methods Study, Sean Manzi

School of Nursing and Midwifery Theses

Introduction - Health and social care sector activities in the United Kingdom have a considerable carbon footprint which impacts on the natural environment. Waste management is one area of focus for the reduction of this environmental impact. Previous research has studied the quantities and compositions of healthcare waste highlighting the potential for recycling. Limited research to date has investigated both health and social care waste management in a holistic study incorporating the behaviour, composition and systems. The current study aimed to investigate waste management behaviour, systems and compositions at four health and social care sites in the South West of …

What Is Love In Nursing Care? A Qualitative Study, Tracie North

School of Nursing and Midwifery Theses

Abstract What is love in nursing care? A qualitative study Recent failures in care highlighted through documents such as the Frances report have pointed to lack of kindness, respect and dignity in patient care and lack of professionalism. As a consequence, nurse education has come under the microscope, with questions about the potential to teach nurses compassion. The demonstration of these values were once, perhaps, more tangible and overt in nurse training and nursing care. The expression ‘tender loving care’ was used as an expression of nursing intervention, which often gave comfort and confidence to patients and their loved ones. …

High Times: An Ethnography Of Young Adult Drug Use, Ben Coombe

The Plymouth Law and Criminal Justice Review

This research explores the phenomenon of 'legal highs' or Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS), directing substantial focus towards the exploration of user attraction. Whilst legal high research is expanding, the topic of legal highs still remains a relatively under-researched topic. In particular, research concerning the user is in short supply, as policy makers remain detached from the importance of understanding the attraction for users (Winstock and Ramsey, 2010). Therefore, this paper attempts to capitalise in the expansion of this knowledge and discover what reasons users attribute for the use of these psychoactive substances. A comprehensive review of the current literature has …

Liberty And Security In The Age Of Terrorism: Negotiating A New Social Contract, Ifeolu Tokimi

The Plymouth Law and Criminal Justice Review

The prevalent rise in terrorism related attacks and the susceptibility of the State to such attacks has, in an effort to counter future threats and neuter the ability of terrorists, brought to the fore the tensions between liberty and security. Ironic as it might seem the values that made western democracies the shining examples of free and rules governed societies are the same values that provide fertile ground for planning and executing horrific acts of terror. Taking a historical look at the concepts of security and liberty, this paper aims to understand if these ideals can still co-exist in a …

Foundations In Wisconsin: A Directory [34th Ed. 2015], Mary C. Frenn, Jason Bermender, David Glenn Butner Jr., Brittany Carloni, Clare Mcnamara, Dominic Zappia

Foundations in Wisconsin: A Directory

The 2015 release of Foundations in Wisconsin marks the 34th production of the print directory and the 15th year of the online version. The directory is designed as a research tool for grantseekers interested in locating information on private, corporate, and community foundations registered in Wisconsin. Each entry in this new edition has been updated or reviewed to provide the most current information available. Most of the data was drawn from IRS 990-PF tax returns filed by the foundations. Additional information was obtained from surveys, foundation websites, annual reports, and newsletters.

Wisconsin foundations have shown significant growth in two key …

Law And People With Disabilities, Janet E. Lord, Deepti S. Raja, Peter Blanck

All Faculty Scholarship

This article describes the progressive development of disability law, particularly in light of international developments that are transforming domestic disability law frameworks. It provides an overview of the conceptualization of disability in law, charting the shift from a medical model to a social model of disability and more recently to a human rights model. The abstract covers the implications of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and the processes and approaches for translating international disability law standards into national level law. It sheds light on the contemporary disability rights landscape in the light of dramatic legislative …

Law School Culture And The Lost Art Of Collaboration: Why Don't Law Professors Play Well With Others, Michael I. Meyerson

All Faculty Scholarship

I have an Erdős number. Specifically, I have an Erdős number of 5. For the uninitiated, the concept of an “Erdős number” was created by mathematicians to describe how many “degrees of separation” an author of an article is from the great mathematician Paul Erdős. If you coauthored a paper with Erdős, you have an Erdős number of 1. If you coauthor a paper with someone with an Erdős number of 1, you have earned an Erdős number of 2. Coauthoring a paper with someone with an Erdős number of 2 gives you an Erdős number of 3, and so …

There Is No Such Thing As Litigation: Access To Justice And The Realities Of Adjudication, Robert Rubinson

All Faculty Scholarship

Does a "contest by judicial process" describe litigation's "means and applications"? Overwhelmingly, no. Litigation is not about judges: it is about default judgments, settlements, plea bargains. It sometimes does not even involve judges at all. Litigation is not about trials: the amount of litigation that goes to trial is infinitesimal. It is not about "process": the process is so minimal that to dignify it with that term stretches the word beyond recognition. It is not a "contest": it is an exercise where one side has no plausible chance of winning, especially since that side either has no lawyers or lawyers …

Development And Validation Of The Cognitive Behavioral Physical Activity Questionnaire, Susan M. Schembre, Casey P. Durand, Bryan J. Blissmer, Geoffrey W. Greene

Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Purpose: Develop and demonstrate preliminary validation of a brief questionnaire aimed at assessing social cognitive determinants of physical activity (PA) in a college population.

Design: Quantitative and observational.

Setting: A midsized northeastern university.

Subjects: Convenience sample of 827 male and female college students age 18 to 24 years.

Measures: International Physical Activity Questionnaire and a PA stage-of-change algorithm.

Analysis: A sequential process of survey development, including item generation and data reduction analyses by factor analysis, was followed with the goal of creating a parsimonious questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used for confirmatory factor analysis and construct validation was confirmed against …

Poverty, Dignity, And Public Housing, Jaime Alison Lee

All Faculty Scholarship

Antipoverty efforts are persistently subverted by broad societal contempt for poor people. The belief that poor people are morally and behaviorally inferior, and that their personal failings are the cause of their own poverty, is a staple of American opinion polls and political rhetoric. This presumption is so widespread that it even permeates antipoverty programs, which treat poor people with disdain even as they offer aid and assistance.

Income discrimination creates not just social stigma, but legal inequalities. The Supreme Court recognized some forty years ago that welfare law promoted wealth-based Constitutional inequalities, and responded by invoking the doctrines of …

An Electrophysiological Investigation Of Reward Prediction Errors In The Human Brain, Thomas Sambrook

School of Psychology Theses

Reward prediction errors are quantitative signed terms that express the difference between the value of an obtained outcome and the expected value that was placed on it prior to its receipt. Positive reward prediction errors constitute reward, negative reward prediction errors constitute punishment. Reward prediction errors have been shown to be powerful drivers of reinforcement learning in formal models and there is thus a strong reason to believe they are used in the brain. Isolating such neural signals stands to help elucidate how reinforcement learning is implemented in the brain, and may ultimately shed light on individual differences, psychopathologies of …

Brain Inspired Approach To Computational Face Recognition, Joao Paulo Da Silva Gomes

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Face recognition that is invariant to pose and illumination is a problem solved effortlessly by the human brain, but the computational details that underlie such efficient recognition are still far from clear. This thesis draws on research from psychology and neuroscience about face and object recognition and the visual system in order to develop a novel computational method for face detection, feature selection and representation, and memory structure for recall. A biologically plausible framework for developing a face recognition system will be presented. This framework can be divided into four parts: 1) A face detection system. This is an improved …

Affective Quality Of Educational Services Measurement In The Context Of Higher Education Marketing, Hanna Shauchenka

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Educational marketing has become an increasingly important area within Higher Education as the competition for students has intensified. Being able to measure and understand the quality of educational services – a key factor in the decision making process for a prospective student – is an incredibly challenging problem as it involves the quantitative measurement of factors such as emotions and affections towards an Institution or programme, which themselves tend to be intangible. The application of total quality management philosophy and methodology in the context of higher education today is fully acknowledged and widely used. These conditions have defined the main …

Physical, Chemical And Functional Properties Of Tiger Nuts (Cyperus Esculentus) Selected From Ghana, Cameroon And Uk Market (Spain), Thomas Adjei-Duodu

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Physical, chemical and functional properties of tiger nuts selected from Ghana, Cameroon and UK (market (Spain) Abstract The tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus) has attracted a lot of unsubstantiated health claims, yet there is a dearth of research investigation within Ghana specifically in the area of food product development. This study addresses the development of ‘functional bread and biscuit’ from tiger nuts obtained from UK market (Spain). The chemical constituents; carbohydrate, lipid, protein, dietary minerals and antioxidants, the functional properties of three varieties of tiger nuts obtained from Ghana (black and brown), Cameroon (yellow) and UK market (Spain) (brown) were investigated …

Art In The Public Realm And The Politics Of Rural Leisure: Access And Environment, Alex Murdin

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

Exploring both political aesthetics and the politics of aesthetics to outline an environmental ruralism for art in public spaces, this practice lead research project postulates a “complemental practice”, outlining its methodology and contexts for operation, the rural, spaces of leisure and the public realm. It is a response to threats to spatial and environmental commons from heritage, place-making and nostalgia, psychological inhibition such as a sense of global contingency and widespread economic exploitation. Responses by artists to this situation can be characterised as a binary of dialogism (Kester, 2004) and relational antagonism (Bishop, 2004), i.e. consensual/collaborative or antagonistic/autonomous practices. Informing …