Digital Commons Network^™

The Perfect Storm: Motherhood, Intimate Partner Violence, And Covid-19, Kelly Blauschild

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an insidious societal problem with potentially lethal ramifications. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread conditions and virus risk mitigation procedures like social distancing and stay-at-home orders exacerbated factors that contribute to IPV such as poverty and substance use. Though anyone can experience IPV, mothers carried unparalleled burdens in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic such as increasing childcare responsibilities, growing financial difficulties, and worsening mental health, and many of these factors have been linked to experiencing IPV. The growing body of literature indicates a rise in IPV during COVID-19, but little has …

Becoming Racially Aware: A Social Process Of (Re)Constructing An Alternative White Identity, Ashley Sobke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Structural and systemic mechanisms reinforce institutionalized racism, whiteness, and white supremacy in the United States. These mechanisms prove adaptable and resilient, shifting and changing to continuously restructure and reinforce the material reality that people experience within a racialized social order. White people's incomprehension of complicity in racism and privilege, along with color-blind ideologies, perpetuate racialized disparities resulting from this social order and render white superiority as "normal" and "universal." This underlies an often internalized sense of normative, white American identity interconnected with racism and white supremacy. In a society where many white Americans remain sheltered from and/or resistant to acknowledging …

Christian Perspectives On Natural Disasters Using A Religious Systems Approach, Lakelyn Taylor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study investigated how Christian beliefs and the perceived importance of practice at each level of the religious systems model may impact Protestant Christian beliefs about natural disasters and natural disaster responses. This study was conducted to address diverging trends in religious interpretations of and reactions to risk and crisis events. Participants answered a series of close- and open-ended questions via on online survey about religious beliefs and practices and their personal experiences with natural disasters and responses. Qualitative findings demonstrated an overarching Christian ethic underlying participants' experiences and responses. Most comments from participants mentioned individual and micro level actions …

Student Reactions To Trauma-Related Course Content, Jessica D. Cless, Briana S. Nelson Goff

Human Development and Family Science Faculty Publications

Higher education courses frequently utilize trauma-related content material as part of the curriculum. To reduce the potential for secondary traumatic stress, it has been recommended that instructors be purposeful and cautious with the use of trauma-related materials in the classroom. Most recommendations for implementation of these materials are based on theory, as few empirical studies examine actual student reactions to this content. This study, guided by Hill's ABC-X Model, presents mixed methods survey data from undergraduate students enrolled in a trauma course across three semesters to measure trauma exposure and subjective reactions to course materials. Qualitative results indicated a range …

On The Phenomenon Of Populism And Extremism In The Balkans, Mustafa Cerić

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This paper is based on my personal experience of war and peace in Bosnia. The basic notion is that it is easier to start a war than to stop it. Thus, postwar recovery or peacebuilding is not easy. But thanks to open-minded people who have been all along against a mythical populism that caused the bloody war against Bosnia and its autochthon people, the peace, although unjust, was reached after all. The focus here is on the idea of pluralism in Bosnia as an opposite to "populism" and "extremism." For a positive narrative like pluralism is a good way to …

Beyond Employment: Lower-Income Participants’ Experiences In A Healthcare Training Program For Medical Assistants, Pharmacy Technicians, And Certified Nursing Assistants, Skye N. Leedahl, Emma Pascuzzi, Karen Mccurdy, Nilton Porto

Human Development and Family Science Faculty Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of participant experiences in a healthcare training program for medical assistants, pharmacy technicians, and certified nursing assistants in areas beyond employment procurement or retention. During the year 2020, employment rates decreased and the cost of living increased. Those changes ultimately put lower-income populations at risk for not meeting the basic needs of life, as it became increasingly more difficult to obtain an adequately paying job. Healthcare training programs for lower income individuals allow for participants to gain the appropriate knowledge and experience required for working in the healthcare …

Informing The Development Of School-Based Strategies To Promote Children's Executive Function Skills: Considerations, Challenges, And Future Directions, Jennie K. Grammer, Sammy Ahmed

Human Development and Family Science Faculty Publications

In recent years awareness of the importance of executive function (EF) skills for students' academic growth has increased. Research suggests that experience in school promotes EF development; however, recommendations regarding evidence-based practices that educators can use to support EF in their classrooms are limited. Here we outline two main reasons that this may be the case. First, there are significant challenges in the measurement of EF, which have implications for our understanding of how children use EF skills in support of learning in the moment and in real-world settings like the classroom. Second, there is limited direct research on the …

Financial Inclusion, Financial Capability, And Financial Fragility During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kyoung Tae Kim, Jing Jian Xiao, Nilton Porto

Human Development and Family Science Faculty Publications

Purpose: Financial inclusion can be proxied by banking status. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential effects of financial capability on the financial fragility of U.S. adults with various banking statuses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach: This study utilized the 2021 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) dataset to investigate the relationship between financial capability and financial fragility among consumers with different banking statuses. The analysis controlled for employment shocks, health shocks, and other consumer characteristics. Banking statuses included fully banked, under-banked (utilizing both banking and alternative financial services), and unbanked individuals. Logistic regression analyses were …

Feasibility Of Earthships As Sustainable Homes In Brookings County, South Dakota, Whitney Sunkwah Yeboah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Addressing the issue of housing deficit while providing affordable and sustainable homes is a significant problem in the United States today. This has prompted architects to design homes with less adverse environmental impacts despite their affordability, hence the birth of sustainable housing. Earthships are sustainable homes built from recycled materials, utilize solar or wind energy, and function as self-sufficient units. The study's main aim is to assess residents' perceptions of earthships and their willingness to adopt earthships in Brookings County, South Dakota. The research employs online surveys to garner data from residents, and data are analyzed using mixed methods. Results …

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (Pck) Change And Professional Development For Educators: An Assessment Of A Master’S In Chemistry Program For High School Science Teachers, Mary Charlotte Bautista

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The M.S. Chemistry – Chemical Education Specialization program at South Dakota State University provides in-depth general chemistry coursework to in-service high school science teachers in a virtual format. The goal of the program is for the teachers enrolled to become more effective teachers while gaining content knowledge in chemistry; in essence, to increase their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The aim of this study is to follow participants through their experience in this program in order to understand how the program’s requirements enhance its participants’ teaching and learning. A narrative framework follows one participant through their two-year experience in the program, …

An Analysis Of The Effect Of Temperature On Asphalt Paving In South Dakota, S M Rahat Rashedi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Temperature is an important parameter to consider for asphalt paving since this work is generally susceptible to weather due to outdoor construction. The South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) developed working day weather charts in 1998 to address the expected adverse weather days. This thesis investigated the effect of temperature on adverse weather days for asphalt paving and compared them to the value reported in the 1998 SDDOT study. Moreover, the thesis also examined how closely the maximum temperature data from project sites' weekly progress reports (WPR) matched the data from the closest weather stations. When the maximum temperature (TMAX) …

Time For Some Robust Atonement, Samuel Lebens

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

Performance Capital: Retailing Myth, Identity, And The Practices Of Governance, Richard Sherwin

Other Publications

No abstract provided.

Average Or Outlier? Introductory Statistics Adjunct Instructors’ Beliefs, Practices, And Experiences, Samantha Estrada, Erica Martinez

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In recent years, the adjunct faculty phenomenon has grown steadily. This research focused on adjunct instructors teaching introductory statistics courses. The purpose of the study was to give a voice to adjunct instructors by allowing them to describe their experiences teaching statistics. We conducted a qualitative study with 15 adjunct instructors of introductory statistics through semi-structured interviews. The participants came from several fields: psychology, nursing, and business, among others. Thematic analysis was used to find themes of statistical anxiety, use of technology in the classroom, lack of curriculum flexibility, and connection to the host institution. Our findings can inform institutions …

Moral Elevation Online Intervention For Veterans Experiencing Distress Related To Posttraumatic Stress Disorder And Moral Injury (Moved): Pilot Trial Of A 4-Week Positive Psychology Web-Based Intervention, Adam P. Mcguire, Binh An Nguyen Howard, Thane M. Erickson, Suzannah K. Creech

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and moral injury can encounter several barriers to treatment, including limited access to care and low engagement with therapy. Furthermore, most treatment approaches focus on alleviating distress rather than cultivating positive experiences that could facilitate trauma recovery. A potential way to address these issues is through moral elevation: feeling uplifted and inspired by others’ virtuous actions.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a novel, web-based moral elevation intervention for veterans with PTSD symptoms and moral injury distress (Moral Elevation Online Intervention for Veterans Experiencing Distress Related to PTSD …

Diabolical Disregard For Consent, James Dominic Rooney Op

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

Crescas, Hard Determinism, And The Need For A Torah, Aaron Segal

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

Front Matter, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Front Matter for Volume 122, Issue 2 of Michigan Law Review

The Impact Of Post-Dobbs Abortion Bans On Prenatal Tort Claims, Aviva K. Diamond

Michigan Law Review

In June 2022, the Supreme Court revoked Americans’ fundamental right to abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. However, the Court said nothing about how its decision would impact tort claims related to reproductive care. Many states have since adopted near-total or early-gestational- age abortion bans, which has not only diminished access to reproductive care, but has also incidentally impaired the ability of plaintiffs to bring long-recognized prenatal tort claims. Prenatal tort claims—wrongful pregnancy, birth, and life—allow victims to recover when a medical professional negligently performs reproductive or prenatal care. This Note identifies the impact that post-Dobbs …

Between The Noise And Silence: An Autoethnography Challenging Schools Of Social Work To Evolve For Trans Students, Isaac M. Akapnitis, G. Trey Jenkins, Natasha S. Mendoza

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social work programs have been largely silent in the face of legislative at- tacks on transgender/nonbinary (TGNB or “trans”) communities across the U.S., which signals to TGNB students that they may not be supported in their respective programs. Consequently, TGNB students, staff, and faculty shoulder the burden to advocate for change within social work academic institutions and to speak out about violence perpetrated against TGNB communities. Using our voices as two trans doctoral students and a queer cisgender associate professor, we employed collaborative and critical autoethnography to share insights about the impact of this burden on TGNB social work students …

Volume 50, Issue 1 (2023)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

No abstract provided.

Teaching Beyond Trans-Competency: Exploring Trans-Affirming Pedagogy Through Applied Case Studies, Sam Harrell, Sarah Mountz, Hazel (Bobbi) Ali Zaman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In this paper, we share two applied case studies social work instructors can use to teach trans-affirming, anti-oppressive practice. These cases span two practice arenas, child welfare and low-barrier shelter services, and are derived from practice in the authors’ personal and professional experiences in the Northeastern and Midwestern regions of the United States. For each case, we describe the accompanying class context, share our pedagogical approach, name the underlying assumptions and structures that facilitate harm, explore relevant practice skills, and identify theoretical, philosophical, and ethical commitments essential for trans-affirming practice. Our approach to social work education on transgender and gender …

Applications Of Transformative Justice Principles For Centering Transgender And Gender Expansive Experiences In Social Work Education And Practice, E. Bickford, Angela Matijczak, Aaron Kemmerer, Florence Martinez, M. Alex Wagaman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social work education has traditionally used frameworks, such as cultural competency, to guide implicit and explicit curricula that shape how we think about communities that live and thrive outside of white supremacist and cis/heteronormative norms and values. While the cultural competency framework intends to promote a level of consciousness and attention that is required to practice with diverse individuals, families, and communities whose identities differ from that of the social worker, it instead inadvertently creates a knowledge base that reinforces harmful power dynamics between social worker and client/community. The cultural competency framework is absent of historical and structural context and …

Racial Microaggressions And Asian Americans' Well-Being: A Scoping Review And Exploratory Meta-Analysis, Shinwoo Choi, Amy Alberton, Hyejoon Park, Eun-Jee Song, Heather Gough, Inyoung Stella Lee

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

BACKGROUND: Racial microaggressions continue to be a serious problem in the United States. While racialized microaggressions have been a long standing, though under explored, issue for all Asian Americans, Covid significantly amplified both overt and microaggression-based discrimination against Asian Americans because of the links between the origins of the viral spread and China (Lee & Waters, 2021). Despite this history of discrimination against Asian Americans, research in the area of microaggressions has lagged compared to other groups. However, research in this area has recently grown significantly, warranting a synthetic study of existing literature in order to better frame understandings of …

The Impact Of Adverse Childhood Experiences On Mental And Physical Health For Low-Income Women Receiving Tanf, Elizabeth Hendrix, Mary Beth Vogel-Ferguson, Christina Gringeri

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked to poorer mental and physical health in adulthood. We examine the experiences of low-income women (N = 884) receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) cash assistance through a state workforce service agency. Participants averaged 4.66 out of 10 ACEs. Higher ACE scores were significantly associated with increased odds of: any physical health issue, fair/poor physical health, any mental health issue, fair/poor mental health, depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and drug misuse. We discuss implications for state TANF agencies and others administering employment programs, and recommend flexibility in eligible participation activities, including activities …

When Contraceptive Means No Pregnancy: Narrative Account Of Contraceptive Use Among Reproductive Women At The Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana, Akosua Bonsu Karikari, Nana Afia Karikari, Akua Afriyie Karikari, Amos Apraku

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Contraception is a major intervention in improving maternal health. There are about 214 million women of reproductive age in developing countries who are not using modern contraception to prevent pregnancy. For proper locale-specific analysis of female reproductive health issues in Ghana, it is vital to explore the knowledge base and hindrances to contraception use in local communities. We used a phenomenological design to study reproductive- aged women in the Tamale Metropolis of the Northern Region of Ghana in order to comprehend the life world of study participants. This research demonstrates that the majority of the women in the study area …

Lived Experiences Of Voluntary Retirees Within Ghana’S Semi-Urban Space, Michael Tuffour

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In this study, we examined the lived experiences of voluntary retirees on formal pension schemes within a semi-urban space in Ghana. This was necessitated by the paucity of knowledge in voluntary retirement within a semi-urban space in Ghana and Africa. Besides, the concept of voluntary retirement within Ghana has not really come to the limelight of research. Based on this we situated our study within a qualitative method approach of phenomenology and used a thematic analysis to assess the lived experiences of seven voluntary retirees with respect to their knowledge of the pension scheme, the challenges they faced as early …

The Myth Of Programmatic Intervention To Tackle Intergenerational Poverty In Post-Industrial Societies: A Longitudinal Study In Hong Kong As A Vantage Point, Wing Chung Ho

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Through tracking the educational and career trajectories of the young adult members (aged 24–26) of 154 families over 13–15 years, this study suggests that the problem of intergenerational poverty is serious in Hong Kong. Quantitative data indicates that adolescents with poor parents have a 104 percent higher chance of being poor in young adulthood, and nearly 60 percent (58.4%) of the samples follow “the-poor-begets-the-poor; therich- begets-the-rich” pattern across generations. However, the explanatory power of the logistic regression models consisting of confounding factors are weak (R2=0.15). Subsequent focus group discussions with 30 mothers from the samples point to myriad forms of …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Volume 50, Issue 3 (2023)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

No abstract provided.

Dynamics Of Organisational Politics And Library Administration On The Motivation And Job Performance Of Library Staff, Omobolade Opeyemi Adeagbo Dr., Iwok Nnah Shabi Dr., Femi Zacch Oguntuase Dr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Organizational politics is present in every secular establishment including the library with its attendant pros and cons. The paper aims to describe the observed interplay between organizational politics, motivation, and job performance of academic library staff to achieve organizational goals and promote workplace peace and harmony. The study employed a qualitative approach based on personal observation by the researchers and interviews of library managers conveniently selected from four academic libraries in Nigeria; two from the south–south and two from the south–west geopolitical zones. The findings showed that organizational politics can negatively influence library staff's motivation and job performance and lead …