Digital Commons Network^™

How Power And Control Drive Behaviour & Identity Modification Among Cruise Ship Workers: A Qualitative Study, Richard Parkman

Plymouth Business School Theses

This study explores the workplace experiences of maritime hospitality officers on cruise ships. The study aims to evaluate the complexities and common influences of both work and social experiences of cruise ship officers as they negotiate, create and modify their identities in the cruise ship workplace. The qualitative approach adopted, used semi-structured interviews in a phenomenological paradigm of enquiry, dissecting the connections between power and control of the cruise ship setting as a panoptic environment by drawing on Irving Goffman’s [1922-1982] ‘total institution’ control, where behavioural performances and emotion management modify identities as acts of compliance to the highly regulated …

Saudi Equities Herding: The Role Of Regional And Global Factors, Dina Gabbori

Plymouth Business School Theses

Herding is an important stock market behaviour for investors and policymakers, it may affect market volatility, which investors need to understand to properly assess risks. Financial instability may deter risk-averse investors while benefitting investors seeking profit from market inefficiencies. Policymakers who understand herding impacts are better placed to improve the information available to investors. Herding behaviour in the Saudi equity market was examined between 2006 and 2016 using the method suggested by Change et al. (2000), from three related perspectives. Firstly, through its influence on oil market volatility, including during OPEC conference meetings. Results showed significant herding behaviour in most …

‘Not Shap’D For Sportive Tricks:’ Representations Of Disability In Film And Digital Broadcast Cinema Adaptations Of Early Modern Drama, Grace Mccarthy

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In films that feature disability, we see the recursive and discussion-limiting impulse to say “this representation is negative. Therefore, the representation should not be seen,” based on critical theories and methodologies outside the purview of film studies. Unfortunately, the overlay of an English, narratological, sociological, or medical methodology and terminology onto a film representation of disability is ultimately recursive and self-limiting; critical and advocate calls for accuracy to the lived experience of people with disabilities in on-screen representations decline to engage with the visual construction of cinematic representations of disability and the often fascinating cinematographic and thematic patterns that emerge …

A Threat Assessment Of Radicalized Extremist Right-Wing White Nationalist Subcultures In Canada: A Social Media Analysis, Dylon Groom

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

As literature and media findings suggest, right-wing extremism has been a growing threat to the security of Canada. This qualitative research study seeks to develop a better understanding of the way Canadian right-wing white nationalists develop online in order to aid future radicalization research. After the tragic attacks on September 11^th, 2001, radicalization research has largely been focused on Islamist extremism. By utilizing a conventional content analysis approach to the open-sourced white nationalist discussion forum, stormfront.org, this thesis bridges the gap between the understanding of Islamist extremism and right-wing white nationalists. Ten Canadian white nationalists active on the …

Constructions Of Sympathy: A Media Discourse Analysis Of Detained Children And Youth In Canada, Lauren Ashby

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Over the last few years, there has been an abundance of media articles published on irregular migrants (Msefer, 2017). While there is much research attention on media discourse on individual adult asylum seekers and refugee claimants, there is little research attention on how media portrays detained children and youth affected by immigration detention. A deductive content analysis of 35 Canadian newspaper articles published between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2019 was conducted to explore the media discourse of youth held in immigration detention. Social construction of social problems (SCSP, Best, 2017) theory focuses on the way people create an …

A Qualitative Exploration Into The Subjective Experiences Of Healthcare Serial Killers, Florence Tang

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The prototypical serial killer is widely perceived as extremely violent offender who murders out of sexual gratification (Hodgkinson et al., 2017). The perception of serial killers primarily being sexual sadists may be greatly affected by an overfocus of research on sexually violent serial killers and a lack of attention on their non-sexually motivated counterparts such as healthcare serial killers (HCSK) (Lubaszka et al., 2014). In addition, a lack of qualitative inquiry into the experiences of serial homicide may be an impediment to understanding the deeper psychological reasons of why serial killers commit homicide (Kerr & Beech, 2016; Skrapec, 2001a). The …

Improving Encounters With People Who Hold Contentious Differences: An Exploration, Morgan Braganza

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

It is inevitable that we will encounter people different from us in terms of worldview, values, or lifestyle choices. Research suggests that people struggle to encounter such differences when they find them contentious. This study is guided by the broad research question, “How can we better encounter persons who hold contentious differences?” I explore approaches for improving contentious encounters described in three multidisciplinary frameworks – the anti-oppressive practice/intergroup dialogue (AOP/IGD), inclusion/exclusion, and hospitality frameworks. Using narrative inquiry, I conducted 32 interviews with persons for whom their Muslim faith, Christian faith, or their membership in the LGBTQ+ community was important. Participants …

Tradition As Flow: Decolonial Currents In The Muslim Atlantic, Jason Sparkes

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study contributes a decolonial critique of the world-system from the longue durée perspective of the Muslim Atlantic. It connects contemporary Traditionalist Islamic discourse in North America to human networks developed since the long sixteenth century. Traditionalist Islam can be described as a discourse about traditional Islam. Genealogically, it draws upon many sources. Two important ones are (1) the oeuvre of French metaphysician and Sufi René Guénon, and (2) the Shâdhilî school of Sufism born in North Africa. Traditionalist Islam distinguishes itself from what it depicts as fundamentalist (or Salafist) and modernist (or progressive) currents, representing two extremes of …

Rethinking The "Crisis" Of Indigenous Mass Imprisonment, Efrat Arbel

All Faculty Publications

In R v Gladue, the Supreme Court of Canada famously remarked that the incarceration of Indigenous people represents a “crisis.” Since Gladue’s release, the language of “crisis” has been used with frequency in Canadian legal discourse. In this article, I analyze how this language has shaped the broader legal under- standing of Indigenous mass imprisonment. My focus is not on speci c iterations or uses, but on the cumulative impact of the language of “crisis” over the last twenty years. I suggest that however well-meaning these representations may be, their cumulative impact is harmful. In the face of the relentless …

The Torch: Suffolk University College Of Arts & Sciences Honors Program Newsletter, No. 9, Summer 2020, College Of Arts & Sciences Honors Program

Torch Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The Torch: Suffolk University College Of Arts & Sciences Honors Program Newsletter, No. 8, Winter 2020, College Of Arts & Sciences Honors Program

Torch Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Sowing The Seeds Of Love: Dialogic And Collaborative Literacies For Social Change, Liz Murray

Doctoral Dissertations

This ethnographic case study explored the impact of community organizing on the literacy practices of elementary and middle school aged children and youth in a Bay Area intergenerational non-profit centered on education justice and equity. The participants in the study were part of a program that addressed the needs of children and youth aged four to fourteen. This study foregrounded collaborative critical literacy practices that promoted engagement with topics relevant to their lives. This study is informed by a belief in critical literacy and community organizing as tools to change the world. The children and the youth drew on a …

Easily Overstated: Estimating The Relationship Between State Justice Policy Environments And Falling Rates Of Youth Confinement, Douglas N. Evans, Gina Moreno, Kevin T. Wolff, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

Researchers used state-level data on youth justice policies and practices to explore the association between state policy environments and recent changes in the use of residential placements for adjudicated youth (i.e., confinement). The study assigned a score to each of the 50 states based on the extent to which their youth justice policy environments could be considered "progressive" as opposed to punitive or regressive. Using data from the National Center for Juvenile Justice's compendium of justice system characteristics, "Juvenile Justice, Geography, Policy, Practice & Statistics" (JJGPS), the research team created an index that accounts for 16 policies that are more …

Care In Crisis: Covid-19 As A Catalyst For Universal Child Care In The United States, Nicole Elias, Maria J. D’Agostino

Publications and Research

School closings during COVID-19 exposed an under-addressed gender equity issue in the United States: child care in crisis. To better understand the child care crisis in the current U.S. context, we detail how New York City is addressing child care during COVID-19. We then connect the current approaches to the Lanham Act that was instituted during WWII as a historical parallel. Ultimately, we argue for the adoption of a universal system that is affordable, high-quality, federally-funded with local involvement and discretion, and flexible for primary caregivers seeking care support. This potential system builds on current congressional proposals and should take …

Student Success In Psychology-English Learning Communities., Jillian Grose-Fifer, Kimberly A. Helmer

Publications and Research

Participation in a learning community has been widely recognized as a high impact educational practice. Here, we focus on a highly successful partnership between a psychology professor (JGF) and an English professor (KAH), who codesigned and cotaught a first-year cocurricular (Psychology/English Composition) learning community (LC) course for multiple semesters at a large public Minority/Hispanic Serving Institution in the Northeast. We describe how we created co-curricular links between our courses, which hinged in part on a collaborative podcast assignment based on psychology-themed books. We detail how we built a strong sense of community, designed scaffolded assignments targeting skills, such as information …

Did Juvenile Domestic Violence Offending Change During Covid-19?, Michael T. Baglivio, Kevin T. Wolff, Joan A. Reid, Sherry L. Jackson, Alex R. Piquero

Publications and Research

The current study adds some of the first light into the initial impacts of the largest global health crisis in a generation on family and domestic violence, the long-term repercussions of which may take decades to unpack. Statewide trends in juvenile arrests for domestic violence (DV)-related offending are examined, taking into account school closures for in-person learning in March 2020 and the subsequent mandate for an in-person learning option in Florida in August 2020. Additionally, trends by sex, race/ethnicity, and severity of the offense are examined. Contrasting with growing studies demonstrating an increase in DV-related arrests among adults, we find …

Popular Culture Informing Public Administration: Messages And Prospects For Social Equity, Sean Mccandless, Nicole M. Elias

Publications and Research

In the discipline of public administration, popular culture remains under-examined in scholarship and under-utilized in pedagogy. However, the field would benefit from greater integration of popular culture to expand understandings of governance, especially in that it provides important representations of and messaging about some of today's most pressing social equity issues. To contextualize popular culture in public administration, we use critical discourse analysis as a frame to demonstrate how popular culture can inform public administration, especially regarding social equity. We argue that popular culture should be more extensively covered in public administration, because it offers a lens for better understanding …

Examining Public Opinion About Abortion: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review Of Research Over The Last 15 Years, Amy Adamczyk, Chunrye Kim, Leevia Dillon

Publications and Research

Although abortion became legal four decades ago, Americans remain staunchly divided over its acceptability. While researchers have been interested in the factors shaping abortion attitudes, there are almost no reviews of this work. We examine the factors shaping Americans’ abortion attitudes and assess the state of published peer-reviewed articles in this area over the last 15 years. Using a mixed-methods systematic review, we analyze and critique the findings from 116 journal articles that have examined attitudes about abortion between 2001 and 2016. Amongst the many predictors and outcomes examined, we show that religion is by far the most utilized statistically …

“The Police Don’T Do Anything. Even When They Get Told About These Creeps”: An Exploration Of How Vigilantes Attempt To Gain Legitimacy As Leaders Of Status Degradation Ceremonies, Hannah Eggett

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Status degradation ceremonies are a process through which a denouncer(s) and members of a community shift an individual’s status within their social group to a lower position (Garfinkel, 1956). Current status degradation ceremony literature primarily focuses on ceremonies that are carried out by formal officials as well as the impacts of these ceremonies on the denounced individuals. This research provides insights into ceremonies led by “pseudo-officials,” individuals or groups who hold no formally recognised position but claim to act in the public interest in the same manner as formally appointed officials are expected to. This exploratory case study focuses on …

Exploring The Relationship Between Gender, Race, And Space, And Toronto Community Housing Policy, Anita Rachel Ewan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation presents the racial-gendered lived experiences of Black women living in Toronto Community Housing (TCH; subsidized housing). This research found that Black women and their families are disproportionately faced with challenges due to barriers caused by housing policy and procedures that also affect the overall development and wellbeing of their children. It also highlights the ways in which Black women continue to thrive and survive in the face of detrimental and derelict living conditions; accomplished through community development and support initiatives, and fostering strong communities.

This is a qualitative research project that includes an art-based method. Utilizing a feminist …

Rural Malawian Women’S Resistance To Systematic Oppression, Violence, And Abuse By Their Husbands, Lucy Mkandawire-Valhmu, Wendy S. Bauer, Patricia E. Stevens, Loren W. Galvao, Katarina M. Grande, April Yerges, Lindsay Emer, Thokozani Mwenyekonde, Lance Weinhardt

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

In Malawi, 41% of women aged 15 to 49 report ever experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). Although there is evidence of the pervasiveness of IPV in Malawian society, the context in which it occurs and how women respond is not well described. The purpose of this study was to describe experiences of IPV of rural Malawian women. In-depth interviews were conducted with 55 rural Malawian women aged 21 to 75 years (M = 39) as part of a larger, mixed-methods study. This qualitative thematic analysis highlights husbands’ IPV against wives and women’s actions to protect themselves and their children, …

Undergrads In The Workplace: The Many Hats Of Anthropology Alumni, Jessica Skolnikoff, Bridget Fitzpatrick

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

This collection focuses on students who earned a degree in sociocultural anthropology; in future editions, we hope to include alumni from all four subfields of anthropology. The contributors graduated from colleges in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts; in the future, we would like to expand this project to include students from other states and regions. We believe there is a strong need for a compilation of this kind. People with undergraduate degrees in anthropology are doing incredibly interesting and valuable work; their stories are both informative and inspiring. We are pleased to publish the first of what we hope will …

The Development Of A Project Typology And Selection Tool To Improve Decision-Making In Sustainable Projects, Rakan Alyamani

Doctoral Dissertations

"Decision-making in sustainable projects is a complex and challenging process, especially during the initiating and planning phases of project development, due to influence from several external factors, as well as the uncertain environments surrounding their creation. It is essential to improve the decision-making process in sustainable projects during these two phases by relying on strong decision-making tools. The first contribution in this work identifies gaps in the literature of how institutionalization can impact sustainable projects through the effects of institutional isomorphisms from institutional theory. This helps decision makers better understand the relationship between institutionalization and sustainable projects. The second contribution …

World Peace And Gender Equality: Addressing Un Security Council Resolution 1325’S Weaknesses, Eric Talbot Jensen, Elizabeth Griffiths, Sara Jarman

Faculty Scholarship

The year 2020 marks the twentieth anniversary of the passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution (“UNSCR”) 1325, the most important moment in the United Nations’ efforts to achieve world peace through gender equality. Over the past several decades, the international community has strengthened its focus on gender, including the relationship between gender and international peace and security. National governments and the United Nations have taken historic steps to elevate the role of women in governance and peacebuilding. The passage of UNSCR 1325 in 2000 foreshadowed what many hoped would be a transformational shift in international law and politics.

However, …

Acoustics To Quantum Materials: A Centennial History Of The Department Of Physics, University Of Arkansas, Rajendra Gupta, Paul C. Sharrah

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The department of physics at the University of Arkansas was established in the 1907-08 academic year, although physics was taught from the very start of the University in 1872. The department celebrated its centennial in 2007-2008. Acoustics to Quantum Materials is a centennial history of the department covering the period 1907-08 to 2007-08. While the emphasis is on this period, instruction of physics over the period 1872-1907 is covered in two prologues, and the period 2009-18 is briefly covered in an epilogue. The first research laboratory to be established was in the area of acoustics. Subsequently, the department’s faculty have …

Trauma-Informed School Practices In Response To The Impact Of Social-Cultural Trauma (Chapter In How Shall We Then Care? A Christian Educator's Guide To Caring For Self, Learners, Colleagues, And Community), Anna A. Berardi Phd., Brenda Morton

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Excerpt: "In this chapter we present a model for addressing the academic and behavioral challenges of students impacted by unmitigated stress and trauma. Typically, trauma-informed school literature addresses trauma resulting from abusive, or neglectful behaviors that occur in the home (Bailey, 2015; Craig, 2016; Massachusetts Advocates for Children, 2005; Souers & Hall, 2016). Here, the type of trauma we are addressing is threats to the physical and emotional health of students due to social and cultural factors. Perhaps most detrimental and deadly is trauma resulting from war, economic collapse, civil unrest, and social-political attitudes, laws, and customs that exclude, marginalize, …

Race, Rights, And The Representation Of Children, Barry Feld, Perry Moriearty

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Labor, Trade, And Populism: How Ilo-Wto Collaboration Can Save The Global Economic Order, Sungjoon Cho, Cesar F. Rosado-Marzan

American University Law Review

Populists are trying to take down the global economic order and its institutions. While some of those forces might be fueled by racism, they also play to legitimate social concerns that include massive plant closings and deindustrialization, inadequate skills programs, and lack of decent jobs. Some of these problems also concern the Global South, as workers there face exploitation, unhealthy working conditions, and other social ills caused by global capitalism. In light of these problems, this Article argues that the International Labor Organization (ILO) should design new conventions on lead firm liability and mass layoffs. While other scholars and policymakers …

The Dichotomy Between Overcriminalization And Underregulation, Ellen S. Podgor

American University Law Review

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) failed to properly investigate Bernard Madoff’s multi-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme for over ten years. Many individuals and charities suffered devastating financial consequences from this criminal conduct, and when eventually charged and convicted, Madoff received a sentence of 150 years in prison. Improper regulatory oversight was also faulted in the investigation following the Deepwater Horizon tragedy. Employees of the company lost their lives, and individuals were charged with criminal offenses. These are just two of the many examples of agency failures to properly enforce and provide regulatory oversight, with eventual criminal prosecutions resulting from the …

Religion As A Source Of Tolerance And Intolerance: Exploring The Dichotomy, Quinn Galbraith, Alexandra Carlisle, Ben White

Faculty Publications

Previous research on tolerance and intolerance in religion has focused on individuals’ internal religious commitment and their relationship within religious groups. In exploring religion’s ability to generate both tolerance and intolerance, this qualitative study draws on data from interviews with 220 highly religious individuals living in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 2016 in order to suggest how religious individuals see themselves interacting with tolerance and intolerance in their daily lives. Many of our subjects identified themselves as tolerant people while viewing others as intolerant of their religious beliefs. An analysis of our findings and prior research suggests that religious …