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The Gift Of Mourning, Harris B. Bechtol

All Faculty Scholarship (Archived)

Is mourning possible? Or impossible? And if impossible, in what sense impossible? What does this mean, in turn, for what we do as human beings in the face of the normal, natural experience of mourning the death of the other? How can we mourn? How should we mourn? For some, these questions arise on account of the death of a beloved pet, a friend, a child, a spouse, and/or a parent. Perhaps they arise even on account of the death of their own faith in God, others, humanity, and/or the universe. Yet since 2020, these questions have become especially emphatic …

Addressing Racial Disparities In Maternal Health Through Policy, Alexandria Alford, Alisha Riggins, Joanne Chopak-Foss, Sarah Sejoro, Tobi Oloyede, Mambwe Mutiti

Eagles Talking About the Public’s Health

No abstract provided.

Social Vulnerability And The Prevalence Of Opioid Use Disorder Among Older Medicare Beneficiaries In U.S. Counties, Tse-Chuan Yang, Seulki Kim, Stephen A. Matthews, Carla Shoff

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: Recent research has investigated the factors associated with the prevalence of opioid use disorder (OUD) among older adults (65+), which has rapidly increased in the past decade. However, little is known about the relationship between social vulnerability and the prevalence of OUD, and even less about whether the correlates of the prevalence of OUD vary across the social vulnerability spectrum. This study aims to fill these gaps. Methods: We assemble a county-level data set in the contiguous United States (U.S.) by merging 2021 Medicare claims with the CDC’s social vulnerability index and other covariates. Using the total number of …

Prospective Attitude About The Importance Of Planning Pregnancies Is Associated With Retrospective Attitude Toward A Specific Pregnancy, Arthur L. Greil, Karina M. Shreffler, Stacy M. Tiemeyer, Julia Mcquillan

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Several theories of fertility behavior assume that planning is important to women. Is this a reasonable assumption? To answer this question, the authors used the National Survey of Fertility Barriers. Among women with unsure or positive fertility intentions at wave 1, most (75 percent) agreed with the statement “It is important to plan my pregnancies.” Logistic regression, adjusted for control variables, indicated that fertility intentions are a distinct construct from pregnancy planning attitudes. Multinomial regression of retrospective pregnancy attitude three years later among a subsample of women who had pregnancies during that period indicated that women who felt that it …

The Rise Of Lobbying And Interest Groups In The States During The Progressive Era, Adam Chamberlain, James Strickland, Alixandra B. Yanus

Political Science

The postbellum rise of voluntary, federated associations set the stage for modern pressure politics in the American states, yet the connection between associations and lobbying in this era is grossly understudied. Relying on associations' own records and a new dataset of state lobbyists, we explore this relationship more deeply, documenting how federated associations gained membership, created political agendas, and lobbied state legislators for reform. To understand better the processes linking group strength with direct lobbying, we present descriptive case studies of the Grange (agriculture), the “Big Four” railroad brotherhoods (skilled labor), and the American Bankers' Association (finance). Our findings reveal …

An Analysis Of A Public Health Media Campaign In Switzerland, Eleanor Saskia Faulk-Antonakis

Plymouth Business School Theses

This multidisciplinary, grounded theory study analyses public health media communication for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) prevention in Switzerland. Health communication researchers measure the effects of media campaigns on populations to improve prevention. However, such effects may evade measurement due to complex interactions between audiences, media channels and ecology, message content, and targeting strategies. Competing theories explain media effects on health behaviours but there is a dearth of research examining upstream planning and stakeholder perceptions of media campaigns. In effect, interactions between communities, health officials, practitioners, and communication/media stakeholders are politically sensitive, and inaccessible to researchers. …

An Empirical Study Of Crowd Dynamics And Managing Safety At Events, Kristin Finn

Plymouth Business School Theses

The UK live events market has long been considered to be a growth sector. Given the range of challenges linked to event crowd safety felt by the industry in recent years, and despite recent setbacks associated with new safety measures and public uncertainty following the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, event organisers remain optimistic about the future. Many authors have studied crowd dynamics and safety planning in recent years, but often the emphasis has been one of objective observation and expert opinion. The outcomes of this thesis are timely as it aimed to investigate attitudinal differences among event …

What Factors Influence Individuals’ Level Of Engagement In A Banking Relationship In Jordan?, Nawal Wafa Tarazi

Plymouth Business School Theses

In a study (NFIS 2018-2019), conducted by the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) in cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, it was reported that 67% of people in Jordan above the age of 15 years do not have access to the formal financial system in terms of bank account ownership; 38.0% of adults are excluded from any formal financial services and 24.8% of adults are completely excluded from any formal and informal financial services. Only 33% of adults in Jordan, 27% of women, are financially included in terms of bank account ownership, which is a low percentage …

“Anything From The Land Is Good”: Understanding How Community Gardening In Kakisa, Northwest Territories, Can Contribute To Indigenous Food Sovereignty, Michelle Malandra

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Rates of food insecurity in Canada’s northern Indigenous communities are at levels that should constitute an emergency. Dominant explanations for these high rates of food insecurity often ignore the ongoing impacts of colonization and over-emphasize individual choices and nutritional guidelines developed by outsiders. The importance of holistic community health is ignored, along with the cultural and social values and practices that support community health and well-being, including traditional food systems. As the acute impact of climate change in the North threatens traditional food access, a shift toward an Indigenous food sovereignty approach in health and food policy is needed. With …

Towards Ending Incarceration Of Indigenous Peoples In Canada: A Critical, Narrative Inquiry Of Hegemonic Power In The Gladue Report Process, Judah Oudshoorn

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract

This study is concerned with the possibility that Gladue perpetuates the hegemonic powers of settler colonialism, white supremacy, patriarchy, and neoliberalism. Gladue is intended to remediate systemic anti-Indigenous racism by requiring judges to consider all alternatives to incarceration when sentencing Indigenous peoples, yet Indigenous incarceration rates continue to rise precipitously. On the surface, Gladue does not appear to disrupt the hegemonic status quo. How is it that the Canadian state, even when ‘remediating,’ keeps producing the same – colonial, oppressive, and tyrannical – result?

This qualitative study used a critical, narrative methodology, interviewing Gladue report writers (n=9) and judges …

Navigating Waters: Experiences Of Filipino Canadian Identity Making In The Diaspora, John Felix Tolentino

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Research states that while Filipino Canadians are the largest growing migrant population in Canada, they are the least represented and understudied subjects in the academy. The primary purpose of this qualitative study is to better understand the experiences of Filipino Canadians and how they create their identities in the diaspora. Since few studies take on a social work lens to explore these important stories, I attempt to unearth these experiences using these guiding questions: (1) How do Filipino Canadians integrate their cultural identity in the diaspora? (2) What are the sociopolitical and historical conditions that inform these identities? Following Charmaz’s …

Exploring Graduated Court Diversion Clients' Experience Of Psychotherapy In Their Community Reintegration, Daniel Oduro Sem

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Court Diversion Program (CDP) seeks to reduce the criminalization and reoffending among people living with mental illness to ensure their community reintegration (Schneider, 2010). The complex nature of achieving this goal calls for a comprehensive strategy, which requires a collaborative effort of legal, health care, and allied professionals including psychotherapists. However, because most CDP clients frequently receive medication treatment, not much is known about how CDP clients find psychotherapy services even though psychotherapy is effective for addressing mental illnesses and offending behaviors (Feingold & Fox, 2018; Feucht & Holt, 2016), To gain more insight into the issue, this study applied …

Empathy In Police Officers Undergoing De-Escalation Simulation Training: A Comparison Between Virtual Reality And Live Action Modalities, Jacqueline Kohl

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study compared empathy among police officers undergoing mental health crisis de-escalation training in virtual reality and live action training modalities. The study included police officers across different police services in Ontario (N=63) and evaluated the efficacy of the Mental Health Crisis Response Training (MHCRT, Lavoie et al., 2020) program delivered across virtual reality and live action modalities against a control group that did not receive the training program. After collection of participants’ demographics, empathy scores, and de-escalation competency scores, a series of correlations, ANOVAs and ANCOVAs were conducted. Results showed that participants receiving MHCRT virtual reality and …

(Re)Mediating History In Canadian Auto/Biographic Long Poems Since 1970, Heather Olaveson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Responding to current topics of national debate around cultural appropriation, authenticity of voice and identity, historical commemoration, and foundational systems of social injustice, this dissertation takes as its launching point the question of how we are implicated in each other's histories. It examines the politics of rewriting history in Canadian auto/biographic long poems from 1970 to the present, reconsidering historiography as it intersects with life writing, gender, race, and the performance of voice. What narratives are reimagined about the lives of Canadian historical figures, how are such stories articulated, and who is permitted to perform the telling? As a whole, …

The Torch: Suffolk University College Of Arts & Sciences Honors Program Newsletter, Spring 2023, College Of Arts & Sciences Honors Program

Torch Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The Torch: College Of Arts & Sciences Program Newsletter, Fall 2023, College Of Arts & Sciences Honors Program

Torch Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Cas Honors Symposium Program, Fall 2023, College Of Arts & Sciences Honors Program

College of Arts & Sciences Honors in the Major Symposium

No abstract provided.

Regulation As Respect, Cristie Ford

All Faculty Publications

The so-called “meme stock” phenomenon of early 2021 was an unexpected, riveting, short-lived, and ultimately tragicomic (or maybe just tragic) event. It was the product of many things but, on some level and for some investors, it was political protest: grassroots “voice” in the form of online stock purchases.

The modern regulatory state does not have effective mechanisms for absorbing public perspectives in all their variety and nuance. Public input mechanisms (including but not limited to notice and comment rulemaking) are embedded within what Julie Cohen and Ari Waldman have called the “regulatory managerialist” model. Within this paradigm, non-expert knowledges …

The Role Of Suspect Development Practices In Eyewitness Identification Accuracy And Racial Disparities In Wrongful Conviction, Margaret Bull Kovera

Publications and Research

This article reviews the three previously studied categories of variables that are related to eyewitness identification accuracy: estimator (characteristics of the witnessing conditions), system (characteristics of the identification procedure that are under the control of the criminal legal system), and reflector (variables that reflect the likely accuracy of a witness). Although eyewitness scholars frequently turn to these variables and models of memory to explain why eyewitnesses make mistakes, none of these variables provides a reasonable explanation for the large racial disparities in wrongful convictions based on mistaken identifications, yet problematic policing practices might. The policies and practices guiding police efforts …

The Political Ramifications Of Judicial Institutions: Establishing A Link Between Dobbs And Gender Disparities In The 2022 Midterms, Udi Sommers, Or Rappel-Kroyzer, Amy Adamczyk, Lindsay Lerner, Anna Weiner

Publications and Research

In the American system of government, courts are designed to operate within the legal sphere, with limited political interference. Is it possible, though, that a behavior that is at the heart of the political process can be influenced directly by a judicial decision? Focusing on voter registration big data for the universe of voters in North Carolina around the time of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the authors assess the roles of gender, political party affiliation, and age in voter registration. North Carolina is the only state whose voter registry has the necessary granularity over time and information needed. …

Differences In Religious Framing Of Muslims And Islam In American Media Coverage Before And After The Trump Campaign, Emily Greene-Colozzi, Amy Adamczyk, Senahan Kiyal Keles

Publications and Research

Over the last 20 years Muslims have received a disproportionate amount of news media attention. In 2017 they were again thrust into the spotlight when the Trump administration issued a travel ban blocking entry from seven predominately-Muslim countries. With our hand coding of over 900 newspaper articles and mixed modeling techniques, we examine the newspaper rhetoric surrounding Muslims before and during the Trump administration and across US states. We find that after President Trump’s election, fewer newspapers mentioned religion or referenced Muslim claimsmakers. We also reveal that higher state-level religious salience was associated with more newspapers referencing religious claimsmakers in …

Beyond The Bandwagon: Curating Cultural Memory At Milner Library, April K. Anderson-Zorn, Karmine Beecroft, Maureen Brunsdale, Brooke Bowers-Troutman, Sarah Coffman, Rebecca Fitzsimmons, Kathryn Jasper, Lauren M. Lowell, Tara Lyons, Morgan Price, Mark Schmitt, Rachel E. Scott, Samantha Wolter, Angela Yon

Reports and White Papers - Milner Library

Archival and manuscript materials record human experience; they document how people have lived, worked, interacted, and thought about the world. These unique or rare materials make visible the experience and impact of individuals and organizations within their respective cultural, geographical, historical, local, and educational milieu. By exploring such documents and objects, patrons can see and investigate these relationships firsthand. Primary sources form the bedrock of humanistic research, personal inquiry, and engaged teaching. With this volume, we invite you to explore the unique and rare materials housed in Milner Library’s Special Collections and Dr. Jo Ann Rayfield University Archives as well …

Learning A Healthy Rhythm: An Intervention To Increase Children’S Resources For Stress Management, Kristin Haglund, Amanda L. King, Abir K. Bekhet, Mauricio Garnier-Villarreal, Karen Olson, Rashs Atshan, Angela Ortiz, Johanna De Los Santos, Ruth Ann Belknap

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

This article describes a pilot test of a community engaged, culturally relevant, arts-based intervention. The purpose was to increase children’s personal protective buffering resources. Protective buffering resources help children cope with stressful stimuli, reduce activation of their systemic stress response, mitigate allostatic load, and promote optimal health. The “Learning a Healthy Rhythm” intervention included a stress management component and an ongoing Afro-Latino percussion program for 18 children ages 9–11. The stress management component included educational content about stress, self-assessment of stress symptoms, and stress management techniques. A mixed-method intervention evaluation design was used. Qualitative data, quantitative data, and biometrics including …

Sickle Cell Virtual Support Group Program For Adults: An Implementation Evaluation, Dora L. Clayton-Jones, Lee Za Ong, Abir K. Bekhet, Weneaka D. Jones, Elodie Ontala, James Griffin, Ethlean Peacock, Kristin Haglund

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is associated with medical and psychosocial challenges. SCD in adulthood is characterized by increased morbidity and mortality, vulnerability, inadequate self-management preparation, and limited social support. This study evaluated the implementation of a virtual support group during the COVID-19 pandemic using an intervention parameters framework evaluation. Participants included six adults living with SCD. Content analysis was conducted for each of the six intervention parameters, and satisfaction scores were summarized. Participants positively evaluated all intervention parameters of the virtual support group. Findings confirmed that a community-engaged intervention supports self-management and establishes key social networks for adult participants.

Accommodating Time-Varying Heterogeneity In Risk Estimation Under The Cox Model: A Transfer Learning Approach, Ziyi Li, Yu Shen, Jing Ning

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Transfer learning has attracted increasing attention in recent years for adaptively borrowing information across different data cohorts in various settings. Cancer registries have been widely used in clinical research because of their easy accessibility and large sample size. Our method is motivated by the question of how to utilize cancer registry data as a complement to improve the estimation precision of individual risks of death for inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) patients at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. When transferring information for risk estimation based on the cancer registries (i.e., source cohort) to a single cancer center (i.e., …

Pilot Study Of A Spanish Language Measure Of Financial Toxicity In Underserved Hispanic Cancer Patients With Low English Proficiency, Julia J Shi, Gwendolyn J Mcginnis, Susan K Peterson, Nicolette Taku, Ying-Shiuan Chen, Robert K Yu, Chi-Fang Wu, Tito R Mendoza, Sanjay S Shete, Hilary Ma, Robert J Volk, Sharon H Giordano, Ya-Chen T Shih, Diem-Khanh Nguyen, Kelsey W Kaiser, Grace L Smith

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Financial toxicity (FT) reflects multi-dimensional personal economic hardships borne by cancer patients. It is unknown whether measures of FT-to date derived largely from English-speakers-adequately capture economic experiences and financial hardships of medically underserved low English proficiency US Hispanic cancer patients. We piloted a Spanish language FT instrument in this population.

METHODS: We piloted a Spanish version of the Economic Strain and Resilience in Cancer (ENRICh) FT measure using qualitative cognitive interviews and surveys in un-/under-insured or medically underserved, low English proficiency, Spanish-speaking Hispanics (UN-Spanish,

RESULTS: UN-Spanish Hispanic participants reported high acceptability of the instrument (only 0% responded that the …

Promoting Enhanced Decision-Making And Proactive Management For Modularization In The Construction Industry Using Risk-Based Approach, Analytical Hierarchy Process, And Graph Theory, Mohamad Abdul Nabi

Doctoral Dissertations

"Modularization is an approach that can potentially mitigate many of the current construction industry’s challenges. Despite the documented advantages of modularization, the industry is still not able to capitalize on its full potential and benefits. The latter is due to the outdated decision-making models that may not reflect the multiple factors involved in modular construction, the unique source of risks associated with modular construction methods, need for continuous improvement, and complex contractual requirements and disputes. As such, the goal is to promote the use of modularization in the construction industry by enhancing decision-making and proactive risk management. The associated objectives …

Media Framing And Public Support For China’S Social Credit System: An Experimental Study, Ping Xu, Brian Krueger, Mingxin Zhang, Marc Hutchinson, Mingzhi Chang

Political Science Faculty Publications

Although China’s social credit system (SCS) is widely portrayed by Western media as repressive surveillance, recent studies show that it receives high levels of support among Chinese citizens. Previous research suggests that people support the SCS because they lack knowledge about the system. This study further examines the roles of media framing (Western vs Chinese framing) and monitored behaviors (financial vs social behaviors). The results from a survey experiment conducted in China (N = 1600) demonstrate that when exposed to Western framing, public support for the SCS is lower, but only when participants are informed that the SCS monitors …

Rightsizing Local Legislatures, Brenner M. Fissell

Faculty Publications

Local councils, boards, and commissions have all the lawmaking powers of a legislature—including the power to criminalize conduct—but they are far too small to deserve them. With an average size of only four members, local legislatures depart from the norm observable at all other levels of government. Only in the past few years have legal scholars turned their attention to the institutional design of these bodies, but this developing literature has yet to address their most striking feature—their small size.

This Article takes up this project. It claims that local microlegislatures are comparatively unrepresentative and undemocratic, and that their size …

Counselors’ Lived Experience Treating Patients Utilizing Methadone: The Intersection Of Culture, Policy, And Stigma, Kathryn Floyd Eggert

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The United States continues to experience unprecedented deaths related to the opioid epidemic. Efforts to address the epidemic remain hampered by war-on-drugs policies that stigmatize people who use drugs and create barriers to accessing evidence-based treatments, particularly methadone maintenance treatments (MMT). Despite 50 years of research regarding MMT, it remains highly regulated, and arguably the most stigmatized treatment. The punitive regulatory structure of MMT remained unchanged until emergency waivers were initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study used an exploratory, critical phenomenological approach to examine the intersection of culture and regulation on the lived experiences of 26 addiction counselors who …