Digital Commons Network^™

Field Issue 3, Grant Kester

FIELD: A Journal of Socially-Engaged Art Criticism

From https://field-journal.com/, where you can also find current issues of FIELD:

"ISSN 2694-0094

We are living through a singular cultural moment in which the conventional relationship between art and the social world, and between artist and viewer, is being questioned and renegotiated. FIELD responds to the remarkable proliferation of new artistic practices devoted to forms of political, social and cultural transformation. Frequently collaborative in nature, this work is being produced by artists and art collectives throughout North, South and Central America, Europe, Africa and Asia. While otherwise quite diverse, it is driven by a common desire to establish new …

Meditation And Mindfulness: Combatting Negative Mindsets And Mental Health Afflictions While Promoting Positives Such As Confidence And General Well-Being, Charlotte R. Dicharry

University Honors Theses

Popular opinion holds that meditation and mindfulness render positive effects. However, minimal empirical evidence has been submitted except in the last seven years that it has gained attention. This study uses data from these recent years to gather a concise view of the effects of meditation and mindfulness practices in combatting anxiety, depression, and poor self-esteem as well as the increase in positives such as confidence and general well-being.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. has been promoting meditation and mindfulness as treatment for stress since the 1980s. He has applied the practice to physical ailments as well as mental maladies (Kabat-Zinn, 2014b). …

The Role Of Portland State University As A Community Partner In Addressing Homelessness, Jennifer Hoskins

University Honors Theses

This paper explores the role of Portland State University as a community partner in addressing the issue of homelessness. The research includes a literature review, findings from a 10-month participant observation study, and interviews with community and academic leaders. The findings from the study focus on community needs, which include having a citizenry educated on issues of poverty and homelessness; having vocal support for public policies that serve people who are homeless; insight from research; and having labor to get work done. The research findings also focus on university needs, which include classroom curriculum centered on poverty and homelessness; service …

Color Associations As Advertising Strategies: An Analysis Of Consumer Attitudes Toward The Healthfulness Of Energy Bar Packaging, Rachel Lotz

University Honors Theses

Color plays a strong role in shaping consumers’ attitude toward brands, expectations, and likeability in the field of advertising. Associations with colors are formed within consumers’ culture and are often universal in meaning. Through three studies, the role of color in relationship to perceived healthfulness on energy bar packaging is observed. The results show a strong correlation between a particular color associated with healthfulness due to preconceived color associations often highlighted in advertising strategies. However the results raised unexpected, yet insightful correlations with other colors, which participants identified as healthy. When participants were asked to pick the energy bar that …

Psychology At A Distance: Examining The Efficacy Of Online Therapy, Ryan Baird Thompson

University Honors Theses

Online therapy presents both potential benefits, and possible hazards, when compared with traditional face-to-face (FTF) therapy. Questions of clinical efficacy are of primary interest to mental health workers and researchers. In this literature review, I break the concept of efficacy into a tripartite investigation of outcome, process, and self-report evidence. The outcome evidence indicates that teletherapy patients experience similar results compared with control groups. The process studies indicated that working alliance was unaffected by the medium of communication. Finally, the survey studies reported that clients were predominantly satisfied with online therapy. Therapists, however, had misgivings about the online therapy environment. …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Helping Young Adults From Foster Care Succeed In College, Heidi Feight, Breanna Bell, Ashley Conway, Shannon Turner, Neal Naigus, Laurie E. Powers

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

A major barrier experienced my many youth and young adults from foster care is life instability associated with living in multiple foster homes and changing schools, all of which requires repeatedly adjusting to new environments and expectations. This instability can hinder development, learning in high school, and higher education engagement and academic success. Additionally, many young adults from foster care do not have consistent adult support in their lives, which can make succeeding at college even more difficult.

Building Community Supports For Young People In The Transition Years: A Tip Sheet For Service Providers, Pauline Jivanjee, Eileen Brennan, Maria Carolina Gonzalez-Prats, Pathways Transition Training Partnership

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Social support is vital for the well-being of children and adults of all ages. Social support includes information, advice, or practical help from others that has positive effects on the young people receiving it (Munson et al., 2015). Since formal support ends when a young person transitions out of services, providers can assist young people to strengthen their existing informal supports and/or to connect them with other supports.

Social support is particularly valuable during times of difficulty or stress. Support from family members, friends, romantic partners, neighbors, mentors, and other community members may be given during a single event or …

Margaret’S Family Tree: A Story Of Hope And Belonging [Simulizi Ya Familia Ya Margareta: Hadithi Ya Matumaini Na Jumuiya], Susan Halverson

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Margaret’s Family Tree: A Story of Hope and Belonging (2016), is a coloring book designed to help children work through their grief in a constructive way and to help them acknowledge feelings about their lost loved ones. The book is written in both English and Swahili. It is illustrated in black and white by Oregon artist Edna M. Kennel. Halvorson-Westerberg is offering it free for duplication to anyone working with children, especially in African countries.

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.

The Efficacy Of Vocational Skills- Based Training Program For People With Intellectual Disabilities At The Stage Of Vocational Rehabilitation, Abdelaziz Sartawi, Owaisha Al Muhairy, Yasser Al Natour, Rawhi M. Obaidat

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

This study targeted investigating the efficacy of a vocational skill- based training program for people with intellectual disabilities. The program was set forth by the Department of Welfare and Rehabilitation of Persons with Disability, Ministry of Social Affairs (2009) at UAE. Subjects were 10 male individuals, age 15-20, with intellectual challenges who receive vocational training in Dubai Rehabilitation Center, UAE and who had an IQ score of 55-69 on Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (The Emirati Version). A control group was also recruited for the purpose of comparison (n=10). The Vocational Skill Scale as introduced by the investigators and was conducted …

Polishing The Apple: A Holistic Approach To Developing Public Health Law Educators As Leaders Of Change, Debra Gerardi

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.