Digital Commons Network^™

An Examination Of Approaches To Domestic Violence Advocacy: Recommendation For Generalizable, Experimental Study, Melanie Stewart

University Honors Theses

Only since the 1970s has there been societal interest in establishing Domestic Violence (DV) advocacy to address the violent oppression of women. The catalyst which brought this issue to the forefront of social consciousness was the Women's Liberation Movement. The activism of the 1960s civil rights movements set the stage for the Battered Women's Movement. Feminists recognized violence as a product of patriarchal society. Patriarchy, and with it personal and institutional violence, was embedded in every aspect of society. Shifting ideological and political views have influenced the evolution of DV advocacy from the grassroots activists’ fight for equality, to the …

Rewriting History: Using Reconciliation Processes To Revise Dominant Cultural Narratives And Assessing Cultural Readiness For Reconciliation, Flannery Mack

University Honors Theses

Truth and Reconciliation processes are key to rebuilding societies damaged by broad-based, government-sanctioned violence by revising dominant cultural narratives of the violence. In Indonesia, there has been no such process following the killings of between 500,000 and 2 million suspected communists in 1965-66. This paper is an exploration of conflict transformation theory, and of what form a truth and reconciliation process might take in Indonesia following 50 years of impunity. Using Joshua Oppenheimer's 2012 and 2014 documentaries The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence as primary reference points, I use critical discourse analysis to look at how the …

The Russian-German Exiles In Kazakhstan: 1940 & 1990 Migrations, Irina Rudenko

University Honors Theses

This thesis aims to review and contribute to the growing scholarship documenting the experience of the Russian-German exiles. Organized into two parts: the first half concentrates on the 1940 deportations and the second half on the 1990 migrations. The journey of the 1940 Soviet deportations is studied through parallels of the government’s intentions juxtaposed with the realities on the ground. Then a literature review of work done by scholars in the Soviet archives discusses the common consensus in regards to claims of Soviet ethnic cleansing and genocide. An overview of the documented realities of exile confronted by the deportees supplements …

Animal Hoarding: An In Depth Look At The Issues And Interventions, Amanda Mooneyham

University Honors Theses

Animal hoarding cases in regard to 501(c)3 nonprofit agencies have been on the rise in recent decades and current intervention strategies are struggling to address this complex social problem. Animal hoarding not only affects the animals being abused, but it has adverse effects on humans and the environment. This paper examines the complexities surrounding animal hoarding, specifically focusing on the rescue hoarder mentality. The current intervention methods used are criminal prosecution, civil/regulatory enforcement, and mental health evaluations/treatments. Criminal prosecution is effective for some animal hoarders, but a lack of laws protecting animals along with animals being viewed as property translates …

Cost Of Commuting: A Review Of Determinants, Outcomes, And Theories Of Commuting-Related Stress, Damon M. Holland

University Honors Theses

Commuter-related stress, its history, associated determinants, outcomes in work environments and theoretical and methodological approaches were examined. In this cross-disciplinary review, I synthesize the research findings on commuting-related stress as it relates to workplace outcomes. In the extant literature, control, predictability, impedance, and length of commute are commonly associated with commuter stress. In addition, prior research has identified workplace aggression and absenteeism as prominent work-related outcomes of commuter stress.

Best Practices For Internal Controls To Prevent Occupational Fraud In Small Businesses?, Stephanie Shao

University Honors Theses

Fraud is a growing issue that organizations face. In the 2016 Report to the Nations, the ACFE estimated that organizations typically lose 5% of revenues each year to fraud. This is an extremely large cut of revenues that most businesses cannot afford to lose.

The ACFE reports that 30% of fraud victims within their study was small businesses with less than 100 employees (2016). While the median loss per fraud case is the same at $150,000 for for-profit organizations of any size, the frequency of fraud at small businesses is much higher than at large businesses (ACFE, 2016).

Though $150,000 …

Fathering Interventions For Men Who Use Intimate Partner Violence And Child Maltreatment: Perceived Benefits And Risks, Aaron L. Brown

University Honors Theses

Intervention classes for fathers that use family violence are in the very early stages of development. The purpose of this paper is to better understand how fathering interventions are minimizing risks and maximizing benefits in working to address the service and knowledge gaps toward father’s that use IPV, CM, or both IPV and CM. Initially, the service and knowledge gaps are identified as well as the perceived benefits and risks of offering fathering interventions. Then, based on the analysis, several recommendations are made for the implementation of these interventions. Following this, I describe two widely available intervention curricula, and discuss …

Determining The Relationship Between White Matter Volume And Processing Speed In Adolescence, Julius Laxamana

University Honors Theses

Neuroimaging techniques have recently been used to research and identify relationships between structure and function. Because adolescence is a critical period for development of the brain, the present study’s goal was to identify the possible relationships between white matter (WM) volume and processing speed during this period. White matter was of particular interest as it consists of the myelinated axons of some nerve cells which are essential for nervous system functioning. The WM volume of 157 adolescents (ages 12-17) were determined from T1-weighted images via FMRIB’s Automated Segmentation Tool (FAST), whereby the brain was separated into WM, gray matter (GM), …

Self-Infantilizing Women: Paternalism In Abortion Lawmaking And Legislator Gender, Cherie H. Martin

University Honors Theses

Mainstream feminist political science discourse primarily focuses on abortion as an issue of male dominance over female individuals, and little research has been conducted to determine whether female lawmakers, too, are complicit in paternalism in anti-abortion rhetoric and lawmaking, and the implications of such self-infantilization. The present thesis surveys the existence of paternalistic language in state-level anti-abortion bills for the 2016 legislative session, and analyzes the results by legislator gender. The data conveys that both male and female legislators employ paternalistic language in anti-abortion legislation, which implies there is more to the abortion debate than gender differences. This paper explores …

How Felon Disenfranchisement Legislation Alters Citizenship And How It Can Be Challenged, Shanae Jung

University Honors Theses

Elements of "civil death" were put into heavy practice in the reconstruction era, as the U.S. sought to use disenfranchisement as a means of restricting the integration of "undesirable" groups, specifically the recently emancipated African-Americans. Many states have since done away with restrictions on the voting rights of ex-offenders beyond completion of their sentence and sentence requirements; however, Iowa, Florida, and Kentucky employ strict standards for granting re-enfranchisement—nearly impossible for most to complete. Elsewhere in the U.S. there has been a move from disenfranchisement; Virginia’s Governor recently reinstated franchise rights to ex-offenders through executive order and has continued to do …

Pre-Roosting Assemblages In Birds: An Observation Of American Crows In The Portland Park Blocks, Katherine Hendricks

University Honors Theses

The first objective of this study is to describe the seasonal patterns of variation in crow numbers and to assess the extent to which crow numbers vary with weather over the course of the winter in the Portland State University Park Blocks. The second objective of this study is to draw on current literature to help determine a possible explanation for the crow gatherings that occur at the Portland State University Park Blocks. I observed the population of crows from October 23^rd 2016 to March 31^st 2016 with a restricted survey area around Millar Library on the Portland …

A Low-Cost Apparatus For Laboratory Exercises And Classroom Demonstrations Of Geometric Optics, William Vincent Tex Hahn

University Honors Theses

Current trends in research towards the teaching of geometric suggest a constructivist approach. Student experimentation dealing directly with student misconceptions through repetition of examples in many contexts to confront conflicting reasoning allow students to construct definitions with their experiences and observations. Developing the scientific method of observation, prediction/experimental design, conducting experiments and repeating is reinforced with these techniques. Cataloguing student misconceptions and redesigning course material and laboratory experiments in their context has only recently begun. Use of technology has also been shown to increase student interest in course material and 3D printers have recently become common tools in schools. Additionally, …

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (Mbsr) As An Alternative Therapy For Chronic Pain, Kayla Ohlgren

University Honors Theses

This thesis discusses the possibility of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as an alternative therapy for chronic pain in contrast to traditional medical care. It examines 18 peer-reviewed scholarly articles and identifies benefits for chronic pain patients in terms of pain severity, quality of life, psychological distress, and duration of benefits. This thesis also identifies practical benefits of MBSR such as cost, implementation, no negative side effects, and the creation of life-long skills to be used after treatment has ended. In conclusion, there is a significant gap in the current academic literature pertaining to chronic pain patients who are minorities, men, …

Trust & Growth In The Workplace: An Analysis Of Leadership In Flat Organizations, Drake George

University Honors Theses

Management styles affect the overall performance of employees and the growth of a business. Intertwined with leadership are the concepts of trust and credibility in relation to the success of a business and the satisfaction of employees and customers. A leader’s ability to adapt their management style to forecast changes in their industry strengthens their command of the business, and can establish trust. The overall challenge of transparency is that it is multifaceted. Trust from employees to leadership, trust from leadership to employees and trust from consumer to business all play a large role in establishing honest business practices. Through …

Perceived Addiction To Pornography, Level Of Distress And Their Correlates, Paul Grimes

University Honors Theses

Negative psychological states such as distress, shame and depression have been linked to problematic porn use. This is a proposal for a study that seeks to identify if perceived addiction to pornography and stress are correlated. In addition to this perceived addiction to porn, other perceived addictions (food, sex, alcohol, marijuana and cigarettes) will be tested to determine the level of comorbidity of addictions in people. The hypothesis of this study is: People that perceive themselves as having pornography addiction will have higher rates of other perceived addictions than those who do perceive themselves to be addicted to pornography; in …

Who’S Afraid Of Response Bias?, Megan A. K. Peters, Tony Ro, Hakwan Lau

Publications and Research

Response bias (or criterion) contamination is insidious in studies of consciousness: that observers report they do not see a stimulus may not mean they have absolutely no subjective experience; they may be giving such reports in relative terms in the context of other stimuli. Bias-free signal detection theoretic measures provide an excellent method for avoiding response bias confounds, and many researchers correctly adopt this approach. However, here we discuss how a fixation on avoiding criterion effects can also be misleading and detrimental to fruitful inquiry. In a recent paper, Balsdon and Azzopardi (Absolute and relative blindsight. Consciousness and Cognition 2015; …

The “Burnout” Construct: An Inhibitor Of Public Health Action?, Bianchi Renzo, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

The prevention and treatment of the “burnout syndrome” within the critical care community is an important objective of the Moss et al. Burnout in the occupational area is based on the idea that burnout is especially common in individuals who care for critically ill patients. We think that the authors’ observations and recommendations are diminished by the fact that studies of burnout’s prevalence are methodologically problematic. The current definition and use of the burnout construct may in fact be detrimental to public health decision making.

Motivations And Predictors Of Cheating In Pharmacy School, Eric J. Ip, Kathy Nguyen, Bijal M. Shah, Shadi Doroudgar, Monica K. Bidwal

Faculty Publications & Research of the TUC College of Pharmacy

Objective. To assess the prevalence, methods, and motivations for didactic cheating among pharmacy students and to determine predictive factors for cheating in pharmacy colleges and schools.

Methods. A 45-item cross-sectional survey was conducted at all four doctor of pharmacy programs in Northern California. For data analysis, t test, Fisher exact test, and logistic regression were used.

Results. Overall, 11.8% of students admitted to cheating in pharmacy school. Primary motivations for cheating included fear of failure, procrastination, and stress. In multivariate analysis, the only predictor for cheating in pharmacy school was a history of cheating in undergraduate studies.

Conclusion. Cheating occurs …

Arts And Jewish Experience: Exploring Diverse American Identities Through Art Syllabus, Harold Schnitzer Family Program In Judaic Studies

Judaic Studies Artist in Residence Program

Arts and Jewish Experience: Exploring Diverse American Identities through Art Syllabus. JST 431 / 431H

Re-Envisioning Macro Social Work Practice, Bowen Mcbeath

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article presents 10 recommendations supporting a re-envisioning of macro practice for the 21^st century. These strategies are needed to counter a generational trend of disinvestment in macro social work practice and to support the historic vision of the social work profession as equally responsive to the needs of at-risk, disadvantaged populations and the organizational, community, and policy roots of social injustice. Before describing these recommendations and discussing their implications for the social work profession, I first briefly review the challenges facing macro practice and current initiatives promoting its renewal. The goal of this analysis is to define the …

Language Rich Early Childhood Classroom: Simple But Powerful Beginnings, Erin E. Flynn

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article highlights research exploring the benefits of small group storytelling as a way to promote rich language in early childhood classrooms. Using the storytelling of children from a preschool classroom serving lower SES children, the collaborative affordances of story circles are explored. Results show that small group storytelling engages children in ways of using language associated with literacy learning. When storytelling, children use language in extended, multi-clause turns, relaying what happened in another context. Story requires children to communicate what happened as well as the interpersonal significance of events. Small group storytelling also gives children a chance to practice …

Adjustment To College In The United States: Perceptions Of Qatari Students, Janet S. Walker, Jennifer E. Blakeslee, Batoul Khalifa, Ramzi Nasser, Atmane Ikhlef

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This qualitative study is part of a collaborative research effort undertaken by investigators based in the United States and Qatar to better understand Qatari student perspectives on their post-secondary adjustment and success. Here, we report findings from structured interviews with Qatari nationals studying abroad in the US, all of whom were males who were, or had recently been, undergraduates at state universities and/or community colleges in Oregon (n=21). Approximately two-thirds were in business or economics programs and about a third in STEM programs (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics). Most of the interviews were conducted in Arabic and translated into English …

Autism, Tara Crapnell, Lynette Lau, Christopher D. Hanks, Christina Nicolaidis, Alice Kuo

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex, lifelong neurodevelopmental condition that is marked by deficits in social communication and interaction, and repetitive or restrictive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. These symptoms can create challenges for individuals on the autism spectrum and their parents during the transition to adulthood, which may interfere with their ability to access and receive adequate and appropriate health care. Awareness of how the challenges associated with ASD may translate to healthcare barriers can help primary care providers address the complex needs of individuals who are on the autism spectrum and mitigate the risks of additional …

Creating An Inclusionary Bicycle Justice Movement, Aaron Golub, Melody L. Hoffman, Gerardo Francisco Sandoval, Adonia Lugo

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

This is a chapter in: Bicycle Justice and Urban Transformation: Biking for All?

Pdxscholar Annual Report 2015, Karen Bjork, Sherry Buchanan, David Coate, Bertrand Robinson, Stacey Schlatter

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

This report details the fifth year of operation for PDXScholar, Portland State University's institutional repository. The report covers the period between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2015.

From Grapheme To Phonological Output: Performance Of Adults Who Stutter On A Word Jumble Task, Megann Mcgill, Harvey Sussman, Courtney T. Byrd

Speech and Hearing Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose

The purpose of the present study was to extend previous research by analyzing the ability of adults who stutter to use phonological working memory in conjunction with lexical access to perform a word jumble task.

Method

Forty English words consisting of 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-letters (n = 10 per letter length category) were randomly jumbled using a web-based application. During the experimental task, 26 participants were asked to silently manipulate the scrambled letters to form a real word. Each vocal response was coded for accuracy and speech reaction time (SRT).

Results

Adults who stutter attempted to solve …

Introduction, Stefan Deines, Mario Wenning

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Family Aided Community Treatment For The Treatment Of Early Psychosis: A Proof Of Concept Study, Ryan P. Melton, Cass Dykeman

Regional Research Institute for Human Services

Major psychotic disorders are one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. If these conditions are identified early and treatment promptly implemented, the prognosis is improved. This study examined the impact of a yearlong family aided community treatment (FACT) intervention upon psychiatric symptoms. Psychiatric symptom scores improved with the FACT intervention. Improved training on early recognition for mental health clinicians, implementation of a specific treatment model in community settings and policy around treatment funding allocation are implications of this study.

Notices, Editorial Office

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

Recent Publications, Editorial Office

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.