Digital Commons Network^™

Leading Schools Effectively During A Crisis: Lessons Learned From The Covid-19 Pandemic, La Tonya Elizabeth Overton

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract This qualitative study explored the successes, challenges, and lessons learned by elementary principals serving systemically marginalized communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through in-depth interviews with nine principals across multiple school districts, the study identified three overarching themes that characterized effective crisis leadership: relationships, well-being, and innovation. Principals described how sustaining strong relationships, prioritizing humanity, and centering trust were essential for navigating trauma, uncertainty, and rapid change. They emphasized meeting basic needs such as food, technology access, health supports, and housing stability as foundational to school continuity. Principals also demonstrated equity-driven responsiveness by removing systemic barriers, adapting communication to diverse …

Investigating Intersectionality: How Multiple Marginalized Identities And Social Perceptions Of Victims Influences The Efficacy Of Panic-Defense Narratives In Bathooms, Demitri James Aguilar

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Despite transgender Women of Color being the main victims of violent victimization and panic-narrative cases, very little research has investigated how race/ethnicity might impact perceptions of violence or the influence of panic-narratives. Thus, the current experiment (N = 1275) examined the social and legal ramifications of using panic-narratives against transgender and cisgender women of color (Black vs. Latino vs. White) in bathroom victimization contexts. The predictions were partially supported. Regardless of racial identity, the justification of transgender (versus cisgender) victimization via panic-narratives produced more anti-victim (e.g., increased victim guilty verdicts, sentencing, victim culpability, perceived deception, and threat) and prodefendant outcomes …

Factors Related To Deviant Behavior, Chiara S. Popp

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Understanding the factors that contribute to deviant behavior across the life span remains an important goal in psychology and criminology. Guided by life course theory, the present study examined whether childhood trauma, social connectedness, perceived childhood socioeconomic status, and key life transitions are associated with deviant behavior in adulthood. The purpose of this research was to better understand how early life experiences and social relationships may shape behavioral outcomes later in life. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with adult participants in the United States, aged 18 to 55. Participants completed measures assessing adverse childhood experiences, perceived childhood socioeconomic status, …

Honor Of Culture, Gender Socialization And Behavioral Outcomes In College Students, Ana Maria Moreno Henriquez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Honor of culture is a culturally based concept that involves holding a strong defense for  the dignity and reputation on one’s family and self. This thesis focuses on the relationship between this honor of culture and gender socialization in the behavioral outcomes of college students, who are in a highly important learning phase of discovering their identity and independence from familial values. Participants were University of Central Florida (UCF) students who completed an online Qualtrics survey, which included an Honor of Culture Scale (Rodriguez Mosquera et al., 2016), Gender Role Beliefs Scale (Kerr & Holden, 1996), the Short Dark Triad …

Symbolic Racism And Punitive Policy Preferences In The First Quarter Of The Twenty-First Century, Anthony T. Fulinello

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Despite the decay in the acceptability of explicit racism brought about by the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, implicit racism may continue to inform individual decision making even into the first quarter of the twenty-first century. Utilizing data from 25 years of the General Social Survey, this study examines how indicators of symbolic racism, a form of implicit racism, impact punitive policy preferences among the general United States population using separate logistic regression models isolating each indicator, plus a full model, for each outcome. Punitive policy preferences were operationalized as support for increased spending on crime prevention …

A Feminist Analysis Of Forensic Psychology: Ethics, Power, And Practice In Carceral Systems, Sarah Mcgarry Gray

Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Abandoning Press Freedom, Ronnell Andersen Jones, Sonja R. West

Scholarly Works

Among elected officials and the broader public, attitudes toward the press are deeply polarized along ideological lines. Polling shows that most liberals favor the press, while conservatives view it more negatively— a partisan divide that has widened significantly over the past decade. Conventional wisdom suggests that the same ideological split is also at work at the Supreme Court, with liberal Justices championing the work of the press while their conservative colleagues express more skepticism. This perception is reinforced by historical examples of liberal Justices advancing press rights alongside broader democracy-engagement and social-justice issues. Recent calls from some conservative Justices to …

Protecting The Due Process Rights Of South Dakota Treatment Court Participants Facing Termination, Ryleigh Christopherson

South Dakota Law Review

Treatment courts in South Dakota are designed to reduce recidivism by treating the root cause of criminal behavior. The data shows that, of the almost three thousand participants who have applied and been selected to take part in a South Dakota treatment court, over a thousand participants have successfully graduated from these post-plea diversion programs. A slight majority of participants, however, did not complete the program and either left voluntarily or were terminated from treatment court. The apparent success of treatment courts can overshadow due process concerns which arise when a participant faces termination. While the Supreme Court of the …

Table Of Contents, South Dakota Law Review

South Dakota Law Review

No abstract provided.

Access To Justice In Indian County: Strengthening The Ecosystem Of Law In Native Communities, Mary Smith

South Dakota Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pona V. State, 329 A.3d 485 (R.I. 2025)., Trina Capezza

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Because It's Family: A Generic Qualitative Study Of The Implementation Of Restorative Practices In A Urban Middle School Classroom, Anthony Rodriguez

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Restorative Circles provide an answer to creating engaging, creative and positive elementary classroom environments. There is currently limited research of the practice’s efficacy in K-12 classrooms and even more so from the point of view of the student’s experience. This General Research study explored the co-creation of a trusting classroom environment through the structural implementation of Restorative Practice Circles. The responses collected provided an opportunity for the participants to provide insight on their experiences and perceptions of the classroom engagement approach and express their thoughts on its weekly implementation over the course of one academic school year. Utilizing Restorative Justice …

Exploring Culturally Responsive Faculty Practices That Support Student Success In Community College Classrooms, Mary Catherine Flynn

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the culturally responsive teaching practices used by six community college faculty and instructors in their in-person courses. Faculty and instructors taught courses included in certificate and degree programs related to early childhood education, human services, and criminal justice at one midwestern community college. Specific content areas included sociology, political science, and child development. Data collection for this study included comprehensive interviews with each instructor, an analysis of documents including syllabi, student assignments, and assessments, and multiple classroom observations. This study was anchored in a theoretical framework based on the constructs of culturally responsive teaching practices. Each …

Analyzing An Ai Summary Of An Executive Order, Natalie D. Ebolum

Open Educational Resources

This assignment asks students to critically analyze the Executive Order on Incarceration in Private Prisons by producing an independent summary of its intent, purpose, and implementation, along with best-practice recommendations for improving its effectiveness. Students then use the Grammarly AI Summary Tool to generate an alternative summary and compare it with their own analysis. Through structured self-assessment and revision, students evaluate differences in interpretation, identify gaps or insights, and reflect on the strengths and limitations of AI-assisted analysis. The assignment emphasizes critical policy analysis, ethical use of AI tools, and student-centered judgment.

Species Of State Constitutional Lockstepping, Michael L. Smith

Faculty Articles

When interpreting state constitutional provisions, state courts frequently take a "lockstep" approach by adopting the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of analogous federal constitutional provisions. Critics often portray lockstep interpretation as misguided and have identified varieties of lockstepping, including unreflective, reflective, prospective, and methodological lockstep interpretation. This Article contributes to these discussions by identifying several additional forms of lockstep interpretation that have thus far gone undiscussed: lazy, mandatory, atextual, and sticky lockstepping.

Several of these variations highlight distinct failures of state courts to independently interpret state constitutions. This includes lazy lockstepping, where state courts tend to engage in repeated, thoughtless …

Legalizing Magic Mushrooms: A Different Set Of Laws For A Different Kind Of Drug, Edward S. Adams

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Justice In Erotic Spaces, Elena L. Cohen

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

This Article posits that the concept of "erotic justice" could be used by courts to push back against the current cascade of anti-LGBTQ+ laws and meaningfully improve the lives ofgay and trans people. The beginning of the twenty-first century was widely seen as a time of great progress for LGBTQ+ people, with the legalization of gay marriage in countries across the world seen as the ultimate triumph. Yet there is a strong contemporary movement to re-criminalize the lives of LGBTQ+ people and to remove protections that have been granted by courts. In the U.S., the 2020s have seen an ongoing …

Annotated Legal Bibliography

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Linking Social Entrepreneurship To Crime Reduction Among Young African Americans In Chicago’S South And West Sides, Grady C. Wheaton Jr.

All Student Theses and Dissertations

This study examined community members’ perceptions of social entrepreneurship as an employment-centered strategy for addressing youth violence among African Americans on Chicago’s South and West Sides. The study was guided by the following research question: Can social entrepreneurship be leveraged to reduce youth violence among African Americans on Chicago’s South and West Sides, as perceived by community members? Using Fillmore Laundry, a healthcare linen-processing social enterprise located in North Lawndale, as a case example, this quantitative, cross-sectional study collected survey data from 99 eligible community members recruited through community-based partnerships. The survey assessed perceived youth- and community-level program benefits, evaluations …

Plutocratic Public Safety, Erin R. Collins

Law Faculty Publications

Recent political events have laid bare the ways that the United States functions like a plutocracy, in which the ultra-wealthy exert influence over core governance functions. The criminal system is not immune from this influence. Big Capital shapes the operation of the criminal system in highly visible ways through its investments in policing technology, electronic monitoring systems, and correctional and detention systems. This Article shows how the economic elite shape the operation of the criminal system in a less obvious way: through philanthropic giving. Big Philanthropy provides another—albeit seemingly benevolent—avenue through which the ultra-wealthy can advance a vision of public …

“Being Treated As The Expert:” A Blueprint For A Community Advisory Board Approach To Elevate The Voice Of People With Living Experience With Substance Use In Academic Research, Trevor Moffitt, Survivors Union Of The Bluegrass, Bryson Henson, April M. Young, Sharon L. Walsh, Rachel Vickers-Smith, Junior Cruz, Jeremy Byard, Brook West, Amanda Fallin-Bennett

Nursing Faculty Publications

Introduction: Researchers have traditionally engaged Community Advisory Boards (CABs) to meaningfully involve community members in the research process. However, CABs are often formed only after a grant is funded, leading to criticisms of functioning merely as “ethical approvers.” For substance use researchers, the inclusion of people with living experience (PWLE; current experience with drug use) across all stages of research is especially important as they have historically been the experts in the needs of their community.   Methods: In response to this need for community engagement in research, the University of Kentucky, in partnership with a local recovery community center (RCC; …

2025-26 Annual Report, Tennessee. Board Of Paroles

Annual Reports

This document is the annual report for the Tennessee Board of Parole during the fiscal year.

Front Matter

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Toward A General Legislative Presumption Of Probation In Nebraska, Velma Lockman

Nebraska Law Review

“It is curious that the Legislature has chosen to give a presumption of probation for more serious felony offenses, but not for lesser misdemeanor offenses.” With those words, Judge Bishop concluded a heart-wrenching opinion in State v. Anderson, which upheld Courtney Anderson’s sentence of 240 days in jail. Despite being sentenced for a first offense Class I misdemeanor and nearly every sentencing factor counseling in favor of probation, the district court decided to separate Ms. Anderson from her two children, one of whom was a newborn. A combination of the Nebraska Supreme Court’s highly deferential standard of review for excessive …

Protecting (Restorative) Justice: An Analysis Of Confidentiality, Admissibility And Privilege Provisions In State Law, Thalia Gonzalez, Aidan Lorraine Tomlinson

Nebraska Law Review

Over the last thirty years, the use of restorative justice within and adjacent to state juvenile and criminal proceedings, including community contexts, has expanded significantly in the United States. As such, what once could be fairly characterized by scholars as a norm and practice at the legal margins has moved widely into the mainstream. As increased legal institutionalization occurred, so too has scholarly attention. Shifting away from foundational “first generation” theoretical and empirical legal studies of practices and programs, a second stream of interdisciplinary legal scholarship has emerged centralizing structural questions as to the legalization of restorative justice. In this …

Introduction: Righting Wrongs Through Restoration–A Nebraska Law Review Symposium, Kristen M. Blankley

Nebraska Law Review

No abstract provided.

Restorative Reparatory Justice, Inga N. Laurent

Nebraska Law Review

As global calls for reparatory justice—aimed at addressing “historical” and ongoing harms stemming from genocide, dispossession, assimilation, and enslavement—grow, this Article explores critical challenges in designing transformative processes of reparation. While a host of transitional justice mechanisms, such as reparations, tribunals, and truth and reconciliation processes are at the forefront of these discussions, a critical examination of their limitations will provide the groundwork for their enhancement. Past applications of transitional justice mechanisms have frequently failed to address root causes of violence, which reinforces State power despite its failures to protect its citizens from that violence, causing secondary harm to survivors/victims.

Governors State University College Of Business Annual Report - 2025-2026, College Of Business

Annual Reports

A report of the accomplishments of College of Business faculty, staff, students, and alumni in the 2025-2026 academic year.

Parity In Practice: The Defender's Duty To Ethically Use Ai, Mason R. Clark

Faculty Articles

This white paper provides a framework for ethical and practical AI use across all types of criminal defense practice, grounded in the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and best practices as described by practitioners, academics, and other experts. While AI tools can meaningfully improve efficiency and expand analytical capacity, those benefits are highly contingent on tool selection, implementation, and oversight. The white paper also recognizes that cost, access to training, and institutional resources remain significant barriers — particularly for solo practitioners, small firms, and under-resourced public defense offices — and discusses AI throughout as a set of tools whose …

Front Matter

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.