Digital Commons Network^™

Does Machismo Culture Influence Latina/O Attitudes On Mental Health?, Amanda R. Mercado

Theses and Dissertations

This study represents an attempt to contribute to the identified gap in knowledge towards the effects of machismo on both Latina women and Latino men and how it effects their attitudes towards mental health. The idea that previous research on machismo has been so one-sided, but has revealed that psychological distresses were present and ignored, leaves room for my research to explore how Latina women are affected because they are just as susceptible to psychological distresses as men. By using a research based framework to explain the effects of machismo on both Latina women and Latino men, my study will …

Hispanic Culture And Machismo: How Hispanics Interpret Transgender And Gender Non-Conforming Identities, Karen R. Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines dynamics linked to normative gender expectations and gender identities within Hispanic culture. Little is known in this regard concerning how Hispanics perceive and interpret transgender and gender non-conforming identities. The analysis provides qualitative assessment using 35 in-depth face-to-face interviews and examines the following research questions: 1) how do life experiences such as marriage, parenthood, and work force participation among Hispanics shape their formation of gender expectations? 2) Among Hispanics, how do class, race/ethnicity, and education shape the construction of gender ideologies.

The present study, in turn adds to the literature by examining gender norm constructs among Mexican-origin …

Understanding Men's Involvement In Marital Interventions, Thomas Jack-Esplin White

Theses and Dissertations

Past research has shown how personality characteristics and demographics influence the likelihood of couples and individuals participating in marital interventions. However, these studies do not focus on the factors that influence men’s participation and are limited to their respective sample frames, making them difficult to generalize to a population. A nationally representative, population-level study of newlywed males may help to provide more generalizable insights regarding the factors that influence men’s participation in marital interventions. The current study had two purposes. First, this study sought to examine the personality and demographic factors that influenced the likelihood of men participating in a …

Relationship Closeness And Joint Action Coordination, Vincent Tyler Cialdella

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers define joint action coordination as “two or more actors [coordinating] their actions under real time constraints with or without the explicit intention to do so” (van der Wel, Knoblich, & Sebanz, 2011, p. 1420). While previous research has investigated how the valence (i.e., the attractiveness or aversiveness) of interpersonal relationships affects interpersonal coordination dynamics (Hommel, Colzato, & van den Wildenberg, 2009), the present experiment examines the effects of relationship closeness on joint action coordination. First, dyads collaboratively completed a stimulus-control task on a computer. This task is used to assess general cooperative performance (Schloesser, Bai, Abney, & Jordan, 2015). …

Measured Expectations: An Examination Of Urban Agriculture Development And Operations In Milwaukee, Wi, Jamison Ellis

Theses and Dissertations

Urban agriculture has begun to shape urban spaces throughout the United States. Building from research on urban agriculture projects in Milwaukee I argue that in order for researchers to better understand urban agriculture, they must more thoroughly examine the various developmental and operational strategies that urban agriculture nonprofit organizations implement. The research questions that guides my thesis are the following: first, how do the developmental and operational strategies of urban agriculture projects differ? Second, how do different stakeholders perceive the implications of these approaches for creating positive and negative effects? To do this, I collected data through interviews and participant …

The Invisible Crisis: Framing The Remediation Of Milwaukee's Lead Laterals, Isabella Rieke

Theses and Dissertations

When Milwaukee’s municipal water system was developed in 1874, one-half-inch lead pipes were used to convey water from the mains in the street to a customer’s home; the City has since acknowledged that nearly 100,000 such lead pipes are still in use today, a revelation which has opened for debate whether or not these pipes pose a galvanizing public health risk with far-reaching policy and infrastructure implications. This study explores the community response to Milwaukee’s lead laterals through the efforts of the Freshwater for Life Action Coalition (FLAC). How do Milwaukeeans understand the risks posed by the lead laterals? In …

Project Central Voice: Assessing The Congruency Between African American Perspectives And The City Of Milwaukee's Community Development Block Grant Practices, Deborah Clements Blanks

Theses and Dissertations

Theories of Critical Race provide a foundation on which to analyze racism. Critical Race Theory uses elements such as the ordinariness of racism, convergence of interest, revisionist history, and the voice of the oppressed to identify how systems of oppression function to maintain institutional racism.

This dissertation is a community-based participatory research project that studies a government-funded social welfare system serving the African American community in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The research analyzes how the structure, policies, and practices of this decentralized system, composed of government institutions and community-based organizations, affects the infrastructure of Milwaukee’s African American community. Specifically, the research analyzes …

Generational Status And Views On Nonconforming Gender Expression Among Individuals Of Mexican Origin, Bianca C. Lopez

Theses and Dissertations

Despite recent change of perspectives and an increase of acceptance of gender nonconformity, the concept of gender still remains a controversial topic. Gender continues to be a developing idea and maintains an influential role in many cultural contexts. Examining facets of gender in various settings can perhaps enlighten our comprehension of such and a further understanding of those who express gender nontraditionally. This study examines the concept of gender in a less traditional stance, exploring views of non-conforming gender expression among generations of Mexican Americans and individuals of Mexican origin. Through analysis of survey data on views of gender nonconformity …

Age, Plans To Move, And Perceptions Of Collective Efficacy, Wesley B. Jeffrey

Theses and Dissertations

There is a growing recognition that to more fully understand the complex dynamics of neighborhoods and communities, we must effectively link the micro- and macro-level dimensions of community processes. As important as collective efficacy at the macro level has been shown to be, literature looking at factors shaping the individual-level experience is relatively scarce. Since the latent community attribute of collective efficacy is largely measured as a function of individual perceptions, understanding what affects the individual is vital, especially in light of within-neighborhood heterogeneity. In this study, I use insights from social disorganization theory, the systemic model to community attachment, …

Associations Among Different Types Of Prosocial Behavior Toward Friends, Friendship Quality, And Mental Health Outcomes During Adolescence, Daye Son

Theses and Dissertations

The current study used a multidimensional approach to prosocial behavior by a) exploring various types of adolescent prosocial behavior toward friends (physical helping, sharing, defending, emotional support, including) using both qualitative and quantitative data, and b) examining longitudinal associations among prosocial behavior toward friends, friendship quality, and mental health (anxiety, life satisfaction, depression). The data were taken from Waves 8, 9, and 10 of the Flourishing Families Project. Participants at Wave 8 consisted of 470 adolescents (M age = 18.4 years, SD = 1.04, 49% male, 32% high school students, 33% single-parent families) from the United States. Results revealed that …

Adverse Childhood Experiences (Aces) And Timely Bachelor's Degree Attainment, Carolina Otero

Theses and Dissertations

It is well established that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to health and emotional outcomes. But less is known about the relationship between ACEs and educational attainment—a potentially important feature of educational stratification in America. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), a nationally representative youth study of 7-12th grade students in the 1994-95 school year, I investigate whether ACEs is linked to post-secondary attainment and examine the role of health and socio-emotional factors as mediators. Results confirm that there is a graded relationship between ACEs and timely bachelor's degree attainment. I find that …

Is The Montessori Method A Solution To Improve Public Education? Comparing Two Pedagogical Models In Urban Schools, Iwona Beata Franczak

Theses and Dissertations

Education is one of the most important social institutions that can improve quality of life. While our schools, ostensibly, provide for equal education for all, they differ in their curricula and resources that ultimately impact the quality of learning experiences. Distinguished educational organizations emphasize the need to implement our curricula with constructivist pedagogy. Montessori is a holistic educational model that embraces this approach. While studies show that Montessori methods provide positive outcomes for students, these studies are largely limited to performance of students attending private schools. The purpose of this work is to examine the effectiveness of public conventional and …

Assessing The Experiences Of Women Who Have Suffered Intimate Partner Violence Living In Shelters, Queencilla N. Hammond

Theses and Dissertations

According to the Centers for Disease Control on National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence in 2010, more than 1 in 3 women (35.6%) and more than 1 in 4 men (28.5%) in the United States have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Throughout history, someone they knew has most often victimized women. Over the past thirty years, feminist organizers of the domestic violence (DV) movement powered public awareness regarding the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) dominantly. This led to the development of a network of shelters and other support services for victims, …

A Comparison Of Qualitative And Quantitative White Matter Methods In Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury, Kacie Larae Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Magnetic resonance imaging is used to assess white matter (WM) abnormalities including total WM volumes and WM hyperintensities (WMHs). Comparisons between several qualitative and quantitative methods to assess WM that are used in research and clinical settings are lacking in pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI). This study 1) WM methods including Scheltens ratings, manual tracings, NeuroQuant®, and FreeSurfer; (2) compared total WM volumes and WMHs to assess potentially similar reporting of WM integrity; and (3) assessed the relationship between cognitive functions (intelligence, attention, processing speed, and language) and WM in pediatric TBI.Sixty participants (65% male) between ages 8-13 years old, …

Doing And Interpreting Lyrical Sociology: Living In Detroit, Gregory Joseph Wurm

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines, experiments with, and theorizes the value of lyrical sociology as an approach to social scientific research. A lyrical sociology, as proposed by Andrew Abbott, seeks to describe an author's emotional response to a phenomenon rather than explain it. This allows for a researcher's own experience to play a role in the research process in a way that helps the reader to connect emotionally and ethically to both the world they read about and the world they themselves are a part of. It has valuable implications for the way researchers relate to their research, their research subjects, their …

More Than Just A Job: A Social Enterprise's Response To Homelessness, Molly Cook

Theses and Dissertations

For the first time since 2010, the number of individuals experiencing homelessness increased in the United States in 2017 (HUD 2017). A lack of affiliations with family and friends has been suggested as a cause of homelessness (Burt 1992; Jencks 1995; Lippert and Lee 2015). This study employs affiliation theory, thematic coding, and 21st century coding methods to examine social enterprise employment as a solution to ending homelessness and increasing the number and types of affiliations individuals gain while working at a social enterprise. Seven interviews were conducted at one case study social enterprise with the goal of employing the …

A Mission At 311, Nan Li

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis intends to look at how the aftermath of Holocaust has a tremendous life-changing impact on the children of Holocaust survivors, and to explore how these people has carried these misfortunes and burden to be resilient and joyful in their everyday lives.

Masculinity In American Television From Carter To Clinton, Bridget Kies

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines American television during a period I call the long 1980s. I argue that during this period, television became invested in new and provocative images of masculinity on screen and in networks’ attempts to court audiences of men. I have demarcated the beginning and ending of the long 1980s with the declaration of Jimmy Carter as Time magazine’s Man of the Year in 1977 and Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993. This also correlates with important shifts in the television industry, such as the formation of ESP-TV (later ESPN) in 1979 and the end of Johnny Carson’s tenure as …

Overwhelmed: A Qualitative Study Of The Mental Health Experiences Of Mothers Of Minor Children After Release From Jail And Prison, Ann Elizabeth Stanton

Theses and Dissertations

Mass incarceration in US jails and prisons is a major public health concern. Over one million women are released from US jails and prisons each year. Incarcerated women experience disproportionately high rates of mental health issues and most incarcerated women are mothers of minor children. Mothers of minor children who leave jails and prisons with mental health issues face increased risks of experiencing substance use, risky behaviors, homelessness, and recidivism. Their children are also at increased risk for adverse mental health, behavioral, and social outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore the mental health experiences of mothers of …

Family Influences And Its Effects On Completion Of Postsecondary Education Among Hispanics, Marlee Olivarez

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I will examine the relationship between family influences and college graduation among Hispanics. Compared to students in other race/ethnic groups, Latino students are underrepresented in college enrollment and completion of a bachelor’s degree. Prior research generally finds that higher parental educational attainment is positively associated with educational attainment for children. Highly educated parents may expect their children to attain a similar level of education, have the resources to support higher education and provide encouragement and assistance necessary for children to successfully pursue post-secondary education. Yet, at the lower end of the educational distribution, the relationship between parental …

International Migration In Santa María Huatulco, Oaxaca [Migración Internacional En Santa María Huatulco, Oaxaca], Yasmin Angelie Cordero

Theses and Dissertations

Migration into rural areas has been of increasing interest in the last decades of research. Mexico has implemented development initiatives to reduce emigration and strengthen locally depressed communities resulting in immigration to the target areas. Santa María Huatulco is one of the areas of focus where the Mexican government created tourism development projects subsequently attracting internationals to migrate. This study focuses on international migrants who have chosen to relocate to the area of Huatulco, currently under development by the Mexican government. This was one of Mexico’s poorer regions and has seen the slowest amount of growth since the development projects …

Grooves In The Landscape: Vanished And Persistent Record Stores In The Post-Industrial City., Thomas Anthony Calkins

Theses and Dissertations

Despite digitization, record stores remain an important third place for contemporary urban neighborhoods. As places of cultural consumption, they provide locals a source of music, knowledge, pleasure, distraction, and distinction. Where these places sit in the contemporary city has shifted over time though. This dissertation asks: how has the distribution of record stores changed over time and space when accounting for demographic, economic, and technological factors? Based on original datasets created from city directories and phone books, census-tract data, and record industry sales data, I find that predominantly black neighborhoods were once home to many more record stores than today. …

Experience As Counterpoint: A Qualitative Study Of Home, Happiness & Aging Amongst First-Generation South Asian Migrants In The U.S., Angela Singh

Theses and Dissertations

Susan Stanford Friedman writes that “Home comes into being most powerfully when it is gone, lost, left behind, desired and imagined” (202). My dissertation addresses notions of home, nostalgia, happiness and aging often found in South Asian diasporic fiction, and from the results of a qualitative study I conducted in which I interviewed five migrant couples who moved to the US from India for educational and professional purposes in the 1960s and 1970s. This project draws on and contributes toward the fields of Migration and Diaspora Studies, Transnational Studies and South Asian Studies. My research aims to explore more uncommonly …

The Mothers Of Family Place: The Role Of Trust And Support Among Homeless-Mother Families, Heather L. Duncan

Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the dynamics of network exchange and trust experience in becoming homeless and the influence of these conditions on life in the shelter for women who are homeless with their children. The plight of homeless mothers in twenty-first century Chicago echo those of poor mothers in the eighteenth century, with families and singles alike enduring inadequate affordable housing, both in quantity and quality. So too did the provision of poor relief prove inadequate throughout the past two hundred years. I examined theories of trust and network and exchange theory, challenging the adequacy of their application to homeless families. …

Does Race Matter? School Decision Making Among White, Latino, And Polynesian Families, Maria Daniela Barriga

Theses and Dissertations

Low-income parents value excellent schools, yet often enroll their children in low-performing schools. The literature is inconclusive when examining how low-income families go through school choice decisions. It is important to understand the school decision-making process among different racial groups because choosing a good school improves later academic outcomes. Choosing a good elementary school is especially important because this is a critical period in a child's development and can affect performance in subsequent educational institutions. I am interested in understanding how race/ethnicity shapes how low-income parents make decisions about schools. Using interview data from an extensive qualitative study, I examine …

The Influence Of Foreign-Born Population On Immigrants' Academic Achievement: A Multilevel Analysis Of Students In High-Income Countries, Florencia Silveira

Theses and Dissertations

Scholars have linked multiple background characteristics to academic achievement; among these are student SES and race/ethnicity. A largely understudied student characteristic in relation to academic achievement is student immigrant status. I contextualize this relationship by considering a macro social setting: country-level foreign-born population. To do this, I examine mathematics achievement from the 2015 PISA assessment in 41 high-income countries. Using mixed-effects modeling, I examine student- and country-level factors and their effects on mathematics achievement. I use within- and cross-level interactions to examine the relationship between 1) immigrant status and student SES and between 2) immigrant status and foreign-born population. To …

Can Mentoring Help Reduce The Risk Of Recidivism? An Analysis Of The Serious And Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (Svori) Data, Amanda Claire Workman

Theses and Dissertations

This research project investigates the effectiveness of mentors on rates of self-reported criminal offending for released offenders. I use data from the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) study (2004-2007), which sought to evaluate factors relating to high-risk offenders outcomes post release in an effort to reduce the societal problem of mass incarceration. Previous research has examined the use of mentors to improve the delinquent and criminogenic behavior of youth, but little is known about the effectiveness of mentors used to aid imprisoned adult males. I utilize negative binomial analysis to compare the number of self-reported criminal activities among …

You Have Seventy-Two Hours: How The City Complaint System Enables Criminalization Of The Unsheltered Population, Lindsey Grace Earl

Theses and Dissertations

The unsheltered population has been denigrated since the formation of the United States. This is true in a city I call Marinville, Illinois where the privatization paradigm, social stratification, and anti-homeless ordinances have contributed to the shutdown of at least five homeless encampments. Multiple times per week, law enforcement officials interact with the chronically unsheltered population and incarcerate individuals for petty ordinance violations. In our current regulatory system, city officials, police officers, and homeless service organizations (HSOs) all influence the unsheltered population’s lives, including options for social and spatial mobility. This thesis is based on multi-method research from 2016-2017: engaging …

Understanding The Experiences And Perceptions Of Specialty Mental Health Probation Officers, Brice Terpstra

Theses and Dissertations

Over the last two decades, specialty mental health probation caseloads have become increasingly common – focusing on offenders with serious mental illness (SMI). Scholars have examined overall effectiveness, the organization and design of these programs, and the differences between standard probation and specialty probation. Less attention, however, has been placed on examining how the officers supervising these SMI caseloads perceive their roles as specialty mental health probation officers and how discretion impacts their caseload management. In the current study semi-structured interviews were conducted with a complete census of 24 SMI caseload probation officers and supervisors in Maricopa County, Arizona over …

Stress And Anxiety Interventions For Classical Musicians, Tara Ashley Austin

Theses and Dissertations

This meta analysis looks at the results of performance anxiety related interventions with musicians. This meta analysis results from all found studies on computerized databases including National Library of Medicine's PubMed, Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest), PsycINFO, and Oxford Journals Database. They range from cognitive interventions, behavioral interventions, mediation, and biofeedback. The results are primarily drawn from participants self report before and after the intervention. They were coded for length of intervention, number of participants, level of participant (students or professionals), type of intervention, self report measures used, and the effect size of the intervention. The overall effect of all 17 …