Digital Commons Network^™

Social Media And English Language Writing Performances Of A Ghanaian Esl Class: The Nexus, Ramos Asafo-Adjei, Ronald Osei Mensah, Ernest Kwesi Klu, Enock Swanzy-Impraim

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The nexus among social media usage and the English language writing performances of a Ghanaian English as Second Language (ESL) class was investigated in this enquiry. The simple qualitative case study design was used, and the data was collected from a co-educational government secondary school Form 2 General Arts One class in Ghana. A focus group discussion (FGD) guide was employed to elicit the data, and the data were synthesised and analysed using the Data Analysis Spiral. It was evidenced that social media has adversely impacted the students’ English Language learning, as oblivious and non-standard contents have been smuggled into …

Awareness Of Social Media Audiences Among Adolescents In A School-Based Intervention, Keeley Hynes, Luke Russell, Daniel Lannin, Leandra N. Parris, Ani Yazedjian

Faculty Publications – Psychology

The current study investigated adolescents’ (N=213) decision finding processes and affective reactions to interactions on social media via 29 focus groups. As part of a larger study, adolescents participated in focus groups at two time-points across an academic year while participating in a school-based intervention promoting healthy romantic, interpersonal, and family relationships, job readiness, and financial literacy. Qualitative analyses indicated adolescents’ experiences and decisions on social media platforms were informed by their awareness of audiences, namely who they thought would view their posts and anticipated responses from “friends,” “family members,” “fans,” “creeps,” and “potential employers.” Comprehensive school-based interventions may serve …

Admissions Viewbook, 2023-2024, Illinois State University, Office Of Admissions

Admissions Viewbook

Recruitment booklet created by Illinois State University's Office of Admissions

Listening To The Aftermath Of Crime: True Crime Podcasts, Amanda R. Keeler

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Kids, Courts And Canines: An Evaluation Of The Justice Facility Dog Pilot Program In Perth's Children's Court, Suzanne Rock, Natalie Gately

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The Justice Facility Dog Pilot Program (JFDPP) was introduced to Perth Children's Court, Western Australia in September 2021 to improve the wellbeing of victims, witnesses and other Court users attending the Court for criminal or child protection matters.

As requested by the Office for the Commissioner of Victims of Crime, the program was evaluated by independent researchers from Edith Cowan University. The project was funded by ECU and Partial funding was sought and granted by the Western Australian Office of Crime Statistics and Research Criminal Justice Grant scheme to facilitate the evaluation (See Appendix J).

Short surveys were conducted at …

Psychologist Perspectives On The Treatment And Assessment Of Problematic Sexual Behavior In Neurodivergent Youth, Emily R. Marhan

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The following dissertation explored the subjective experience of mental health clinicians regarding their perceptions of providing treatment and assessment to neurodivergent youth (ND) who exhibited problematic sexual behavior (PSB). Prior to this study, scant research has been conducted pertaining to the treatment and assessment of youth who exhibit PSB, and less still on those with comorbid neurodivergence (Jones & Chaplin, 2017; Malovic et al., 2016; Pratt, 2013). This study utilized Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to inform interpretations of participant responses collected through semi-structured interviews. Participants consisted of five licensed psychologists with experience providing assessment and/or treatment to both neurotypical and ND …

A Mental Health Professional Opinion On Family Involvement During The Treatment Of Severe Mental Illness: A Multiple Case Study, Vanessa Perocier

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

While severe mental illness (SMI) is extensively studied, less attention focuses on the relationship between people with SMI and their families and the impact this may have on treatment. Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological systems theory conceptualized the treatment and recovery of people with SMI and their families. This study proposes that if family members getting social support contribute to a person's treatment plan, the individual's treatment outcome will improve rather than the individual enduring the treatment process individually. By applying ecological systems theory, mental health professionals and policymakers can better grasp the systemic nature of individuals, their family members, and surrounding …

“Living With Life”: Experiences Of Families Of People Serving A Life Sentence In Western Australia, Hilde Tubex, Natalie Gately

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper contributes to the growing body of scholarship related to the impact of imprisonment on families, from the particular perspective of parents, siblings and other close relatives of people serving a life sentence. We argue that those family members are often overlooked in research and service provision, while bearing the burden of the association with the offender. This is particularly problematic for relatives of life sentenced prisoners, having to cope with the seriousness of the offence, and the uncertainty of the perspectives of release. Based on 17 interviews conducted in Western Australia, we discuss family members’ confrontation with and …

A Vulnerability Approach To Irregular Migration And Modern Slavery In Australia, Jamal Barnes, Mostafa M. Naser, Joshua Aston

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

It is widely recognised that migrants and irregular migrants are at risk of modern slavery and slavery-like practices worldwide. As migrants and irregular migrants make their way across state borders, or reach their destination countries, they have been victim to practices such as forced labour, exploitation, wage theft, torture and inhuman treatment and sexual servitude, among other practices. Australia is no exception, with just under 300 cases of modern slavery reported to the Australian Federal Police between 2021 and 2022. Although Australia has acted to stop slavery and slavery-like practices, it has focused on a law enforcement response, ignoring the …

Cyber-Aidd: A Novel Approach To Implementing Improved Cyber Security Resilience For Large Australian Healthcare Providers Using A Unified Modelling Language Ontology, Martin Dart, Mohiuddin Ahmed

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose: This paper proposes a novel cyber security risk governance framework and ontology for large Australian healthcare providers, using the structure and simplicity of the Unified Modelling Language (UML). This framework is intended to mitigate impacts from the risk areas of: (1) cyber-attacks, (2) incidents, (3) data breaches, and (4) data disclosures. Methods Using a mixed-methods approach comprised of empirical evidence discovery and phenomenological review, existing literature is sourced to confirm baseline ontological definitions. These are supplemented with Australian government reports, professional standards publications and legislation covering cyber security, data breach reporting and healthcare governance. Historical examples of healthcare cyber …

Managing Emotional Labour: The Importance Of Organisational Support For Managing Police Officers In England And Italy, Yvonne Brunetto, Ben Farr-Wharton, Paresh Wankhade, Chiara Saccon, Matthew Xerri

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper empirically examines the impact of organisational psychological support on employees’ outcomes as an example of the ‘Common Good HRM’ model on the well-being–performance continuum of police officers, using a Conservation of Resources (COR) theoretical framework. The study uses Structural Equation Modelling to analyse data from 220 Italian police and 228 English police officers to compare the impact of Perceived Organisational Support (POS) on organisational stress, employees’ resilience, and engagement. The findings show that low Perceived Organisational Support (POS) leads to high stress, which then comprises employees’ resilience and likely demotivates them from being engaged on the job, explaining …

Benefits Of Work-Integrated Learning For Students, Denise Jackson, Elizabeth J. Cook

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The authors aim to assist work-integrated learning (WIL) stakeholders in identifying and understanding the broad range of evidenced benefits for engaging in WIL. The chapter features a synthesis of empirical higher education research on the benefits of WIL across various dimensions of student employability. The introduction briefly considers the meaning of WIL and employability, as both are considered in this chapter, and discusses the scope and framing of the synthesis informed by a review of the relevant literature. The gathered literature is summarized in tabular form across the dimensions of employability and then discussed through the lens of Tomlinson’s graduate …

#Metoo & The Courts: The Impact Of Social Movements On Federal Judicial Decisionmaking, Carol T. Li, Matthew E.K. Hall, Veronica Root Martinez

Faculty Scholarship

In late 2017, the #MeToo movement swept through the United States as individuals from all backgrounds and walks of life revealed their experiences with sexual abuse and sexual harassment. After the #MeToo movement, many scholars, advocates, and policymakers posited that the watershed moment would prompt changes in the ways in which sexual harassment cases were handled. This Article examines the impact the #MeToo movement has had on judicial decisionmaking. Our hypothesis is that the #MeToo movement’s increase in public awareness and political attention to experiences of sexual misconduct should lead to more pro-claimant voting in federal courts at the district …

Flexible Institution Building In The International Anti-Corruption Regime: Proposing A Transnational Asset Recovery Mechanism, Laurence R. Helfer, Cecily Rose, Rachel Brewster

Faculty Scholarship

Asset recovery is a fundamental principle of anti-corruption law, without which the financial damage from corruption cannot be repaired. Yet recovering assets is notoriously difficult and time-consuming, and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption provides little technical or institutional support to facilitate such returns. To remedy this, we propose the creation of a transnational asset recovery mechanism that could provide myriad services to states upon request, including gathering and publishing information, providing technical assistance and capacity building, helping to conclude agreements on asset return, and monitoring returned funds. Theoretically, we introduce the concepts of customizability and selectability to explain why …

No Peace Without Punishment? Reintegrating Islamic State “Collaborators” In Iraq, Mara R. Revkin, Kristen Kao

Faculty Scholarship

How does variation in the severity of punishment affect public opinion toward the reintegration of former enemy “collaborators” after war? We study this question in the context of Iraq where the Islamic State, an armed rebel group, captured and governed a population of more than five million Iraqi citizens between 2014 and 2017. Building upon extensive fieldwork and interviews in Iraq, we designed a survey experiment that randomly varied the severity of sentences in hypothetical scenarios of civilians who supported the Islamic State in non-violent roles (e.g., cleaners, cooks, and wives of fighters). The experiment allows us to estimate the …

What Happened Within The Police Service When The Government Created The Offence Of “Corrupt Or Improper Practice” In Section 26 Of The Criminal Justice And Courts Act 2015?, Brendan Brookshaw

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

Title. What happened within the police service when the government created the offence of “Corrupt or Improper Practice” in section 26 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015? Author Brendan P. Brookshaw Purpose. This PhD thesis offers explanations for the way in which the offence of Corrupt or Improper Practice by police officers was implemented within the service and is analysed through a framework of the psychology, ethics, and management of implementation. Using autoethnographic data as policing parables, it explores stories of police misconduct and suggests theoretical underpinnings for the drivers of corruption and how the police may react …

Memory Reconsolidation And Alcohol Use Disorder: Intravenous Infusion Of Ketamine To Alleviate Addictive Symptoms In Alcohol Use Disorder Diagnoses, Yasaswi Veera

UROP Posters

According to the National Institute of Health, substance use disorder in the United States in 2021 caused nearly 106,000 deaths and an annual healthcare and criminal justice expenditure of roughly $200 billion, however, only 10% of diagnoses receive proper treatment. This is primarily due to the lack of previous research in addictive studies as well as the lack of accessibility to resources and proper treatments. Current treatments for alcohol use disorder range from medications and behavioral therapies, such as acamprosate, naltrexone, and cognitive behavior therapy. Much of these treatments consist of reconditioning the brain to associate alcohol with a negative …

Conflict: The Missing Ingredient For Sustainability In Complex Partnerships, Ami Carpenter

School of Peace Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Addressing today’s most pressing challenges requires collaboration between professionals of different disciplines and the capacity to work effectively across sectors. Cross-sector partnerships (CSPs) are an increasingly common vehicle for doing so, but too often they fall short of achieving the desired social impact. Three years of research alongside a unique multi-sector partnership to prevent human trafficking identifies lack of shared understanding as the main problem, caused by conflict avoidance during early stages of partnership development. Counterintuitively, controversy is necessary to develop shared norms, power structure, and communication practices—all elements of participatory design—through a process of stakeholder dialogue. Effective dialogue requires …

The Laws That Regulate Police: The Wilson Center’S Policing Legislation Database, Brandon L. Garrett

Faculty Scholarship

To better understand lawmaking in response to calls for reform, the Wilson Center for Science and Justice began tracking the introduction of policing-related legislation. This report covers our database tracking policing legislation and our initial findings.

Decoupling Property And Education, Nicole Stelle Garnett

Journal Articles

Over the past several years, the landscape of K–12 education policy has shifted dramatically, thanks in part to increasing prevalence of parental-choice policies, including intra- and inter-district public school choice, charter schools, and private-school choice policies like vouchers and (most recently) universal education savings accounts. These policies decouple property and education by delinking students’ educational options from their residential addresses. The wisdom and efficacy of parental choice as education policy is hotly debated. This Essay takes a step back from these education-policy debates and examines the underappreciated fact that decoupling property and education also advances at least economic development goals. …

Contact-Tracing Apps As Boundary Objects Of Pandemic Governance: The State-By-State Approach To Contain The Spread Of Covid-19 In The United States, Eugene Jang, Jeeyun (Sophia) Baik, Katrin Fischer

Communication: Faculty Scholarship

Digital contact tracing has been claimed as imperative to controlling the spread of COVID19. However, the state-by-state approach in the United States led to divergences in contact tracing. This study analyzed contact-tracing apps as “boundary objects” through which each state worked toward the governance of the pandemic without having a formal consensus. Through media coverage and walkthrough analyses of three digital contacttracing apps in Alabama, California, and New York, we closely investigated both convergences and divergences of the apps. In the process, we located the implications of Google/Apple’s Bluetooth-based exposure notification system for digital contact tracing within and beyond state …

Becoming A Restorative University, David R. Karp Phd

School of Leadership and Education Sciences: Faculty Scholarship

This article describes the concept of a restorative university, an organisation that embraces restorative justice principles and practices. The article reviews the emergence of contemporary restorative justice; a framework for restorative justice in higher education; implementation in student affairs; the place of restorative justice in academic affairs; restorative justice and organisational culture; what we know about campus implementation, including results of a survey of universities; and suggestions for practical next steps for higher education institutions to become more restorative. Where possible, the article references restorative applications globally, but predominantly focuses on university campuses in the United States.

Restorative Pedagogy To Build Community In The Classroom: Autoethnographic Reflections From Faculty, Sheila Mcmahon, Zara Ahmed, Michelle Bemiller

School of Leadership and Education Sciences: Faculty Scholarship

Restorative justice (RJ) is a philosophy and set of practices that center harms and needs. Within a classroom setting, an RJ pedagogical approach invites a process of shared learning that attends to critical issues of equity, power, and voice. Utilizing an autoethnographic approach, this manuscript includes critical reflections from three faculty members from diverse disciplines and positionalities about the use of RJ approaches to teaching in our respective classrooms. This paper includes discussion about the intersection of RJ with critical pedagogy, power differentials, and pragmatic issues of classroom structure learning design.

Character Evidence As A Conduit For Implicit Bias, Hillel J. Bavli

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The Federal Rules of Evidence purport to prohibit character evidence, or evidence regarding a defendant’s past bad acts or propensities offered to suggest that the defendant acted in accordance with a certain character trait on the occasion in question. However, courts regularly admit character evidence through an expanding set of legislative and judicial exceptions that have all but swallowed the rule. In the usual narrative, character evidence is problematic because jurors place excessive weight on it or punish the defendant for past behavior. Lawmakers rely on this narrative when they create exceptions. However, this account arguably misses a highly troublesome …

Religious Convictions, Anna Offit

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The Anglo-American jury emerged at a time when legal and religious conceptions of justice were entwined. Today, however, though the American public remains comparatively religious, the country’s legal system draws a distinction between legal and religious modes of determining culpability and passing judgment. This Article examines the doctrine that governs the place of religious belief and practice in U.S. jury selection proceedings. It argues that the discretion afforded to judges with respect to applying the Batson antidiscrimination doctrine has given these beliefs and practices an ambiguous status. On the one hand, judges aim to protect prospective religious jurors from discrimination. …

Middle Children Of History: Male-Authored Post-1960s Fiction & The Nihilism Of White Male Protagonists, Emma C. Baughman

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the phenomenon of the white male nihilist as a recurrent character in British and American fiction post-1960. The utilization of this archetype by predominantly white male authors during this time period is symptomatic of the social, political, and economic changes that fundamentally altered the perception of the white masculine mythos in much of the Western world after the end of World War II. Because the perception of whiteness and masculinity is a primary signifier of the period’s changing value, my project approaches fictional texts of white male nihilism as objects of socio-cultural analysis that constitute a genealogy …

Enhancing The Forensic Comparison Process Of Common Trace Materials Through The Development Of Practical And Systematic Methods, Meghan Nicole Prusinowski

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

An ongoing advancement in forensic trace evidence has driven the development of new and objective methods for comparing various materials. While many standard guides have been published for use in trace laboratories, different areas require a more comprehensive understanding of error rates and an urgent need for harmonizing methods of examination and interpretation. Two critical areas are the forensic examination of physical fits and the comparison of spectral data, which depend highly on the examiner’s judgment.

The long-term goal of this study is to advance and modernize the comparative process of physical fit examinations and spectral interpretation. This goal is …

Three Essays In Applied Microeconomics: Philly Style, Alexander Christian Marsella

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

My dissertation analyzes several contemporary policy-based and institutional occurrences in an urban setting to help guide further advancements in reducing violence, drug overdose deaths, and other unhealthy behaviors that city governments look to curb. Several recent developments in Philadelphia offer a promising setting for studying policies that have broad implications.

Chapter 1 examines the effect of the West Philadelphia Promise Zone initiative on violent crime rates in a high-crime area of West Philadelphia, where a series of educational, public-safety, and quality-of-life improvement grants were disbursed from 2014 onward. My difference-in-differences analysis with two-way fixed effects and cluster bootstrapped standard errors …

Sexism In The Digital World: A Thematic Content Analysis Of The Cyberbullying Of Lil Miquela, Shyanne Elizabeth Schmithorst

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As artificial intelligence (AI) evolves, social issues associated with this technology are also perpetuated. This is especially pertinent to online violence against women. In April 2016, fictional character “Lil Miquela,” an AI robot who would quickly rise to fame as a social media influencer, was created using Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI). Significant backlash has persisted against Lil Miquela throughout its existence, which has typically taken the form of demeaning comments made by other users on Lil Miquela’s social media pages. As the robot looks deceptively like a human female, the robot receives online treatment that mimics that of human women. Utilizing …

Understanding The Impact Of Scientific Testimony On Potential Jury Members: Independent And Interactive Effects Of Expert Characteristics And Jury Member’S Social Location, Ellory R. Dabbs

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As science and technology evolve, they impact society at different levels. With these changes, it is important to understand how members of society will be affected. One area where there has been a rise in the use of scientific information is in jury trials. Those who are on trial for a criminal offense are more often relying on forensic evidence, and forensic experts, to aid in their defense, and those who are prosecuting a criminal case are also relying on forensic evidence and forensic experts. However, forensic evidence is not consistent in type or interpretation – what one person may …