Digital Commons Network^™

Constructing And Deconstructing Homelessness: Challenging The Stigmatization Of The Unhoused Through Lived Experience, Brenna Jones

Theses and Dissertations

As homelessness rises across the United States, public discourse plays an important role in shaping how the housing crisis is understood and addressed. This study examines how homelessness is constructed through local media narratives and how these constructions shape the experiences of unhoused individuals. Using a case study of Greater Bangor, Maine, this research combines a critical content analysis of 315 news articles from the Bangor Daily News (2020-2025) with in-depth interviews with 18 unhoused and precariously housed individuals. The findings demonstrate how media portrayals construct homelessness as a stigmatized identity associated with disorder, addiction, and danger. These narratives contribute …

First- And Second-Generation Immigrant Emerging Adults’ Career Aspirations, Laura A. Botros

Theses and Dissertations

Despite first- and second-generation immigrants making up 19.6% of the U.S. workforce (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024), research exploring their career aspirations is scarce. Studies show that individuals’ cultural backgrounds significantly shape first- and second-generation immigrants' career aspirations, values, and professional goals (Kao, 2004; Polenova et al., 2017). The purpose of the study is to examine how first- and second-generation immigrant emerging adults' cultural backgrounds inform their career aspirations. I utilized a qualitative approach by asking participants about their cultural background, career aspirations, and what influenced their career aspirations. Interviews and a cognitive map activity were conducted to investigate …

From Rocks To Rockets: How Mineral Wealth Fuels The Arms Trade, Samuel G. Majka

Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses a critical gap in the resource curse literature by examining how strategic mineral wealth, central to the global clean energy transition, influences international arms transfers. While the relationship between oil rents, militarization, and conflict is well-established, the role of non-hydrocarbon resources and conflict-related variables remains underexplored. This paper posits that mineral rents provide governments with unearned, discretionary income, relaxing fiscal constraints and creating powerful incentives for both resource-rich states and major power suppliers to increase arms flows to secure political control, suppress internal dissent, and maintain access to valuable deposits. Using a country-year panel dataset spanning 1990-2023 …

Strike And Error: Assessing The Skill Level Of Crafters Using Lithic Blade Cores, Charles Roelant

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to ascertain whether or not the skill level of crafters can be assessed by the errors visible on the Hopewell cores used to make stone blades. This assessment was carried out using four points of focus; core shape, blade length, stepping mistakes and termination errors. This assessment was carried out on twenty-nine cores from the Crane site and nineteen cores from Mound house. Total error rates were used to assign cores to three different skill levels, experienced, intermediate, and novice. The assessment of these blade cores illustrates that skill can be observed, and that …

Digital Truth Making, Creative Resistance, And Power Negotiation Through Social Media: A Digital Ethnography Of The 2024 Gen Z Uprising In Bangladesh, Mustafizurrrahman Rahat

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates how social media shaped political participation during the 2024 July Uprising in Bangladesh, focusing on the production and negotiation of political truth, legitimacy, and resistance through everyday digital practices. Rather than conceptualizing social media solely as a communication tool, the study analyzes digital platforms as contested spaces where activists, state-aligned actors, and other participants constructed, circulated, and challenged competing political narratives throughout the uprising.

Drawing on digital ethnography, this study integrates netnographic observation of Facebook groups, pages, hashtags, memes, and protest-related visual content with content analysis, reflexive participant observation, and semi-structured interviews with Generation Z participants. The …

The Impact Of Trade Liberalisation On Human Rights To Freshwater For Domestic Uses In The Developing World: An Examination Of Nigeria., Dickson Esonarae

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

AbstractName: Dickson Efosa Esonarae.Title: The Impact of Trade Liberalisation on Human Rights to Freshwater for domestic uses in the Developing World: An Examination of Nigeria.Freshwater is a vital life-sustaining resource. Though considered basic in developed countries, it is often scarce and mostly of inadequate quality in the developing world (Global South), with the WHO and UNICEF Report estimating about 1.1 billion people globally lacking access. Consequently, several countries are determined to provide freshwater for their people but often hampered by financial constraints for the requisite infrastructure. Considering this limitation, the International Economic Institutions (IEIs) identified the private sector as the …

‘The Limits Of The Landscape: A Critical Examination Of Outdoor Learning, Self-Regulation, And Semh Within Neoliberal Schooling’, Nicola Clayton

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

This doctoral thesis critically examines a specialised outdoor learning intervention for primary pupils with significant Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH) needs who are at risk of exclusion. It assesses the intervention’s implementation and its efficacy in supporting these pupils' capacity for self-regulation and stress management.The study is situated amidst escalating global child mental health concerns and recent English educational policy shifts that mandate schools to actively foster pupil well-being. Exploring outdoor education as a widely cited approach for promoting positive mental health, this research engages with established social theories, particularly those of Bernstein and Bourdieu, to critique the wider …

Safe Family Therapy Activities And The Emotional Well-Being Of Parents Of Autistic Children, Gamze Camci

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

This thesis addresses a critical gap in the existing literature on the emotional well-being of parents of autistic children by applying SAFE family therapy activities grounded in the Narrative Attachment Therapy approach through a three-cycle action research design. Stage 1 involved 3 parents as primary participants, with their children present during selected sessions. Stage 2 included 2 families; the primary focus was on 3 parents across these families. Stage 3 engaged 5 therapists. Data were collected through interviews, diaries, questionnaires and therapy recordings. Data from interviews and journals were analysed thematically, whereas questionnaires were analysed idiographically. The first and second …

Social And Emotional Experiences Of Higher Education Students With Dyslexia In Türki̇Ye And England: Exploring The Effect Of Context, Levent Yigit

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

This research study examined the social and emotional experiences of university students with dyslexia in Türkiye and England who had received an official diagnosis at some point in their lives. Findings were compared and the differing experiences in two different countries highlighted. Six students in Türkiye and five students in England participated in the study. To produce an in-depth subjective dataset capturing life-stories, a qualitative narrative approach was adopted. Three, and for some participants four, consecutive semi-structured interviews were conducted, with at least a one-week interval between each interview. The study adopted a longitudinal approach as each interview investigated students’ …

Determinants Of Patient Satisfaction In An Academic Primary Care Setting: A Cross-Sectional Study Of The Postpandemic Era, Alvin Maliakal, Rajita Kanapareddy, Zooha Altaf, Janani Anbazhagan, Kristin Olson, Cynthia Avila, Rehan Qayyum

Department of Medicine Faculty Publications

Background

Patient satisfaction, a key indicator of healthcare quality, is associated with improved adherence, continuity, and outcomes. However, limited evidence describes determinants of patient satisfaction in contemporary primary care settings reflecting the postpandemic era, when care delivery models and patient expectations have evolved substantially.

Objective

To evaluate the sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with patient satisfaction in an academic primary care setting following the postpandemic era.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional survey of adult patients (≥18 years) attending a primary care clinic. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire including the Visit-Specific Satisfaction Questionnaire (VSQ-9) and measures of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. …

Performance And Safety Of A Multi-Cancer Early Detection Test: The Pathfinder 2 Study, Nima Nabavizadeh, Charles Mcdonnell, Dax Kurbegov, Marc Matrana, Shirish Gadgeel, Raymond H. Kim, Gretchen Stipec, Kevin C. Oeffinger, Michael J. Demeure, James W. Lillard Jr., Rebecca Kaltman, Jennifer Tran, Alan Roth, Samia Tahhan, Andrews Poklepovic, Donald Richards, Margarita Lopatin, Celine Marquez, Margaret Mccusker, Karthik V. Giridhar

Department of Medicine Faculty Publications

Early cancer detection improves survival; however, most cancer types do not have guideline-recommended screening. We previously reported the first PATHFINDER study that established feasibility of cancer screening with a blood-based multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test that predicts cancer signal origin (CSO) to guide diagnostic workup. The prospective, interventional PATHFINDER 2 study expands clinical evidence for the MCED test by evaluating co-primary endpoints of MCED performance metrics and safety in participants aged 50 years or older without clinical suspicion of cancer. Performance measures included cancer detection rate, positive and negative predictive values, episode sensitivity, specificity and CSO prediction accuracy. Safety was …