Digital Commons Network^™

The Relation Of Court Appointed Special Advocate Education To Foster Care Outcomes, Leah Danelle York

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program is an organization that utilizes lay volunteers as advocates for children in foster care to improve outcomes for those children. The effectiveness of CASAs in achieving permanency outcomes for children in foster care has been established; however, the literature has significant methodological flaws and is outdated. The purpose of this study, guided by the theory of change and social cognitive theory, was to explore whether CASA self-efficacy, through a proxy measure of education level, is related to permanency outcomes such as reunification with parents and rate of reentry to the foster care system …

Adhd And Self-Regulation In The Workplace, Kristine Lynne Barnett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosed during childhood can continue into adulthood, but most research on the topic has been done on children and adolescents. This research focus has thus often left out the population of adults with this disorder. In particular, there is little research on the role that self-regulation plays in the lives of adults on several life domains, especially in the workplace. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to understand the role that self-regulation plays in the occupational functioning of adults with ADHD. Self-regulation theory provided the tenets that were used to examine how adults with ADHD …

The Influence Of Obstetrician And Gynecologists' Avoidance Behaviors On Maternal Morbidities, Nakisha Rene'e Boulware

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The prevalence of maternal morbidities continues to increase in U.S. women of lower socioeconomic status and non-Hispanic Black women despite the efforts of health care practitioners to reduce the disparities. Two decades of research has shown that physicians avoid patients based on insurance and socioeconomic status or their malpractice history. Reducing maternal illness and complications is one of the federal government's top 10 maternal health indicators in the Healthy People 2020 initiative. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of malpractice allegations on patients at high-risk for maternal morbidity. Supported by the theoretical foundation of human factor …

Exploring The Loss And Disenfranchised Grief Of Animal Care Workers., Benjamin Marton, Teresa Kilbane, Holly Nelson-Becker

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article explores the psychological distress of Animal Care Workers (ACWs), and the disenfranchisement of this distress through mixed methods study conducted as an online survey. In all, 139 participants responded about their experiences as an ACW, related psychological distress, and the systemic disenfranchisement of distress. Findings indicate that nearly half of ACWs experienced symptoms of depression in the previous month. Over 66% indicated it was difficult to cope. Limited support often resulted in a disenfranchized loss. Implications suggest ACW distress and disenfranchisement related to animals they serve is similar to that of individuals who lose animal companions.

Depression Education As Primary Prevention: The Erika’S Lighthouse School-Based Program For High School Students, Michael S. Kelly, Heather Freed, Peggy Kubert, Sarah Greibler

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Major depression is a treatable and common mental health disorder for youth. Untreated depression is a major risk factor for youth who become suicidal and die by suicide. Recent focus in the school-based literature on creating universal mental health promotion programs have recognized the need for effective depression awareness education programs to assist youth in identifying symptoms of depression in themselves and their peers, and to encourage those youth to seek trusted adults for help. A quasiexperimental design (QED) was employed in two suburban Chicago high schools (n=652) to evaluate the intervention, Real Teenagers Talking About Adolescent Depression (RTTAAD), a …

Positive Youth Development: Developing, Implementing, And Sustaining Music-Based Services For Emerging Adults Experiencing Homelessness, Brian Kelly

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Research suggests that comprehensive services that consider the complex and interconnected needs of emerging adults experiencing homelessness may be more effective than interventions with a singular focus. There is little research that demonstrates how agencies that implement programs for individuals experiencing homelessness develop and sustain meaningful services for emerging adults, especially under conditions of increasing austerity. This study targets this gap in the literature by investigating how one transitional living program for emerging adults experiencing homelessness developed a music studio. Specifically, this study examines the factors and processes that were involved in developing, implementing, and sustaining the music studio. Findings …

Neuroscience And The Personalization Of Criminal Law, Deborah W. Denno

Faculty Scholarship

While objective standards of reasonableness permeate most legal disciplines, criminal law has trended toward personalization since the 1960s, when the Model Penal Code introduced conceptions of mental states based on Freudian psychoanalytic theory. Today, advancements in neuroscience offer previously inconceivable insights into living brain structures and damage. This Essay contends that a criminal justice system that uses personalizing neuroscientific evidence will yield better outcomes. This Essay contributes two unique tools to the personalized law debate. First are the results of my two-decade-long Neuroscience Study, in which I have compiled eight hundred criminal cases that addressed neuroscientific evidence in any capacity. …

Regulating Prosecutors’ Courtroom Misconduct, Bruce A. Green

Faculty Scholarship

Trial prosecutors’ visible misbehavior, such as improper questioning of witnesses and improper jury arguments, may not seem momentous. Sometimes, the improprieties are simply the product of poor training or overenthusiasm. In many cases, they pass unremarked. As the Chicago Eight trial illustrated, trial prosecutors’ improprieties may also be overshadowed by the excesses of other trial participants—the witnesses, the defendants, the defense lawyers, or even the trial judge. And when noticed, prosecutors’ trial misbehavior can ordinarily be remedied, and then restrained, by a capable trial judge. It is little wonder that disciplinary authorities, having bigger fish to fry, are virtually indifferent …

How Should Organizations Support Trainees In The Face Of Patient Bias?, Kimani Paul-Emile

Faculty Scholarship

Some patients degrade, belittle, or harass clinicians and students based on their social identity characteristics, such as their race, gender, ethnicity, or religion. Some patients even refuse care. While this kind of behavior is difficult for all health care workers, it presents unique challenges for trainees. This article offers concrete protocols for supporting trainees when such patient encounters occur, including assessment, debriefing with affected staff, convening team meetings, event tracking, data collection, and initiating organizational cultural changes.

Deconstitutionalizing Dewey, Aaron J. Saiger

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Early Childhood Development And The Replication Of Poverty, Clare Huntington

Faculty Scholarship

Traditional understandings of federalism suggest that states are likely to take varying approaches to important policy questions, particularly in areas as sensitive as family law. And indeed, there are patterns of convergence and divergence in state approaches to supporting early childhood development. Surprisingly, however, the divergences do not always follow predictable political lines. These similarities and differences raise a puzzle that deserves attention by scholars and advocates.

In the United States, differences in early childhood play a key role in replicating poverty. Clear evidence establishes that child development in the first five years of life lays essential groundwork for future …

Risk-Averse Contract Interpretation, Aditi Bagchi

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Recovering Tech's Humanity, Olivier Sylvain

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

State Punishment And Meaning In Life, Youngjae Lee

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Becoming A Better Therapist: Eight Lessons From Running, Kelsey Hyde

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

This paper seeks to identify lessons that can be taken from the sport of running to serve as a map for learning skills needed to become a better therapist. The practice of running mirrors the practice of learning therapy skills. This paper takes the lens of how to practice to become a better runner and applies it as a new approach to skill development for therapists. Additionally, this paper incorporates self-reflection and disclosure as I myself identify as a female runner and therapist. I will use personal examples to highlight the ways that lessons from running have served as a …

Telebehavioral Health Program Needs Assessment Conducted At Aurora Mental Health Center, Iwei Wang

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

The purpose of this project was to conduct a needs assessment for a Telebehavioral Health Program at Aurora Mental Health Center (AuMHC) to determine how telebehavioral health aligns with the organization’s interests, needs, services, target population, and readiness for telebehavioral health services. This investigator used survey and content analysis methods to conduct this investigation. Findings of this assessment showed that both literature and existing programs at AuMHC were supportive of moving forward with telebehavioral health services. Considerations of AuMHC’s contextual conditions and recommendations for successful implementation are provided.

Liberal Democratic Civic Education And Rampage School Gun Violence: Why We Need An Alternative Theory Of Democracy To Guide Contemporary Civic Education, Samantha Deane

Dissertations

In this dissertation, which relies on philosophical inquiry, I use the case of rampage school gun violence to explore democratic education. Drawing a distinction between liberal-foundational democratic education, which aims to educate the individual on how to become an autonomous rational agent and pragmatic-antifoundational democratic education, which looks to help individuals to understand agency as shared, I argue antifoundational democratic education teaches individuals how to affect their environment and take responsibility for the renewal of their democratic society. Rather than allocating blame in the singular individual, antifoundational democracy teaches citizens how to share the blame, take responsibility for unacceptable violence, …

Consumer Remedies For Civil Rights, Kate Sablosky Elengold

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Behavioral Economics View Of Judge Posner’S Contracts Legacy, Deborah R. Gerhardt

Faculty Publications

Legal analysis has not sufficiently adjusted by applying behavioral economic theory to contract law. This Article contributes to filling that gap by considering the following questions. How does the economic analysis of law account for irrational behavior? If our choices do not always result from linear, rational thinking, should we consider using behavioral economics to rethink our understanding of contract law? If we can agree that behavioral economics challenges the theoretical coherence of rational economic reasoning, should we view behavioral economics as a substitute or adjunct to law and economics? Given the explosion of work in behavioral economics that has …

Fear, Power, & Teeth (2007), Olivia Hockenbroch

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Vagina dentata is the myth of the toothed vagina; in most iterations, it serves as a warning to men that women’s vaginas must be conquered to be safe for a man’s sexual pleasure (Koehler, 2017). The vagina dentata myth has been carried forth from ancient ancestors in numerous cultures all over the world (Koehler). It is one of many destructive cultural myths that guides discourses about sex and women’s bodies. In this paper, I explore a recent articulation of the myth, the 2007 film Teeth, and I argue that in this film, the vagina dentata is made more complicated. While …

The Impact Of Salient Naming Targets During Aphasia Therapy, Kathy Kay Molesh, Catherine Off Ph.D., Craig Mcfarland Ph.D., Jenna Griffin M.S.

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Translational research has led to aphasia therapies that incorporate principles of experience dependent neuroplasticity. The neuroplasticity principle of salience has received less attention from speech language pathologists than other principles, such as dose and treatment intensity. Incorporating salience in aphasia therapies has the potential to increase functional outcomes by addressing multiple aspects of the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. This study explored the impact of salient stimuli targets on picture naming acquisition and maintenance for two individuals with chronic aphasia, following cerebrovascular accident. Participants were enrolled in a five-week Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Program (ICAP) at …

Toward A Comprehensive Worldview Measure, Shailee R. Woodard

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Worldview is an individual difference construct that has been linked to various behavioral and health outcomes. However, very little is known about how worldviews develop and how worldview beliefs, values, and attitudes coalesce into different worldview factors. One obstacle that has impeded research on worldviews is the lack of a robust worldview measure. The creation of a new, more valid worldview measure will aid in answering these important questions. This research project is the first step in the creation of a more comprehensive worldview measure. The primary aims of Study 1 were to compile existing published worldview measures and reduce …

Pressure To Support Meritocracy Vs. Nepotism, Linus Chan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Elite universities in the United States aim to admit the most qualified and competent students (meritocratic recruitment), but also prioritize admitting children of alumni via legacy programs (nepotistic recruitment). These two approaches to admissions are often at odds because the children of alumni might not be the most qualified applicants. What happens when people are forced to support an applicant who is meritocratic, nepotistic, both meritocratic and nepotistic, or neither? To examine this question, I had participants assume the role of an admissions counselor in an admissions committee tasked with picking one top student to admit. I predicted …

Patient Perspectives Of An Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Program For Stroke Survivors, Anya A. Leyhe, Catherine A. Off, Carolyn R. Baylor, Jenna R. Griffin, Kirsten W. Murray

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Introduction: Persons with aphasia (PWA) who participate in intensive comprehensive poststroke language rehabilitation programs make a variety of significant investments. While intensive aphasia programs and intensive comprehensive aphasia programs (ICAPs) are becoming increasingly prevalent across health care settings, patient perspectives of ICAPs have not been explored. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine patient perspectives about the experience of participating in an ICAP at the University of Montana. The primary research question of this study was: “what is it like to be a PWA in an ICAP?” Methods: Researchers used an interpretive phenomenological approach to conduct …

Service Failure Management In High-End Hospitality Resorts, Hunter A. Dietrich

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to better understand the interactions that occur at high-end resorts during service failures that guests sometimes experience during their stay. Both service-failure managers and guests who had experienced service failures during their stay at a high-end resort were interviewed to examine the service recovery techniques and timing strategies (such as the ex-antecrisis crisis timing strategy) that are perceived to be the best methods to correct service failures during a guest’s stay. In comparing the responses from service recovery managers and guests, commonalities were found regarding the best practices for ways to treat guests during …

Speech-Language Pathology And Psychology Students' Perceptions Of An Interprofessional Autism Intervention: An Exploratory Case Study, Haley Marie Nelson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand how the interprofessional collaboration (IPC) experience of Youth Engagement Through Intervention (YETI) changes perceptions and knowledge regarding scope of practice of pre-service professionals in the Communicative Sciences and Disorders (CSD), School Psychology, and Clinical Psychology programs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with pre-service professionals participating in YETI as student clinicians at three different time periods. The results contribute to the existing literature base affirming that interprofessional experiences during pre-professional programs are beneficial. For the Departments of Communicative Sciences and Disorders and Department of Psychology at University of Montana, findings have the …

The Exploration Of Clinicians’ Lived Experiences In Culturally Adapting Empirically Supported Treatments For American Indian And Alaska Native Populations, Maegan Rides At The Door

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study investigated the lived experiences of clinicians who have culturally adapted Empirically Supported Treatments (EST) for American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) populations. The central research question for this investigation was: What is the experience of mental health providers in culturally adapting empirically supported treatments for American Indian and Alaska Native populations? A guided semi-structured interview protocol was used to interview eight participants. Giorgi’s descriptive phenomenological psychological method was used to develop a general psychological structure representing eight essential constituents. They are: developing an understanding of cultural adaptation, focusing on building and maintaining therapeutic relationships, immersion and engagement with community, experiencing …

Navigating The Closet: A Mixed Methods Approach To Assessing The Impact Of Concealment On Psychological Outcomes For Sexual And Gender Minorities, James Michael M. Brennan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Background: Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals suffer at disproportionate rates of depression, anxiety, and substance use, among other mental and physical health outcomes, compared to heterosexual individuals. Concealment of non-heterosexual sexual identity and/or non-cisgender gender identity may be a key contributor to these disparities. Many SGM individuals engage in concealment as a means to avoid victimization, or because of negative perceptions of their own identity. Concealment as a construct has been conceptualized as comprising cognitive, affective, and behavioral components, each of which individually has been demonstrated to have negative health impacts. Additionally, concealment occurs over time between the intrapersonal …

The Relationship Between Training Load And Injury Or Illness Symptoms Using An Acute And Chronic Workload Ratio In Collegiate Cross-Country Runners, Brennan T. Mickelson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Abstract

Objectives: Examining the relationship between workloads (miles ran) of collegiate cross-country (XC) athletes (n=18) and symptoms of injury or illness over the course of 10 weeks. This can assist sport coaches, athletic performance coaches, and athletic trainers in keeping athletes healthy and furthering adaptation throughout the course of the season, thus improving the team’s overall success during the season.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to show a relationship between an Acute and chronic workload ratio (ACWR) in miles run and weight lifted, ACWR in miles run grouped by z-scores, weight, age, years of collegiate XC experience, miles …

Saving Face: The Experience And Process Of Impression Management In Clinical Supervision, Ariel Heather Goodman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Clinical supervision plays an essential role in the training and monitoring of novice counselors. Supervisors are responsible for supporting counselor development as well as protecting the public from incompetent care. To fulfil their multiple roles, supervisors rely on supervisees to make relevant disclosures about their work with clients. This includes supervisees asking questions and disclosing mistakes and potential deficits. Supervisee impression management, defined as behavior intended to portray a desirable image of the self, therefore influences the supervision process. The following central question guided this grounded theory study: What is the experience and process of impression management in clinical supervision? …