Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Expected Risks And Exacerbations Of Poverty, Mental Health Disorders, And Maternal Mortality From Abortion Bans: A Comparative Literature Analysis, Daniel J. Francisco

All Master's Theses

Background. Early termination of a pregnancy (hereinafter referred to as an “abortion”) has been debated in the United States (U.S.) for decades, without much regard to the negative outcomes that forced pregnancies have for those assigned female at birth regarding poverty, mental health and maternal mortality. In 1973, access to safe abortions was protected so long that the procedure was done within the legal gestational period and/or was necessary for the health and safety of the patient (Blackmun, 1972). Unfortunately, in 2022, the Supreme Court took that protection away and made it legal for states to determine the reproductive rights …

A Contentious Crop: Exploring The Regulatory Debate Of Solar Power Production Facilities In Kittitas County, Washington, Daphne Condon

All Master's Theses

Between 2010 and 2018, Kittitas County, Washington faced an influx of Solar Power Production Facility (SPPF) proposals that challenged its traditional rural land management governance. Despite state support of decarbonized energy, variegated interpretations of project permitting procedures induced heated contentions amongst stakeholders. To explore this, this research constructs a multijurisdictional legal framework for SPPF advancement. It uses these laws to divulge the permitting processes of three case study projects founded in Kittitas County’s renewable energy history: The Wild Horse Wind Facility, the Iron Horse Solar Project, and the Columbia Solar Projects. Through a mixed methodology of project archival analysis and …

Immigration Offenses Throughout Federal Sentencing: An Analysis Of The Impact Of Political Affiliation Among Districts, Robin Hood

All Master's Theses

Immigration has remained one of the most controversial political debates throughout the United States. Research has yet to fully examine the effects of political affiliation of federal districts on sentencing outcomes for specific immigration offenses. To fill the gaps in research, this study compares political affiliation of federal districts among immigration offenses to determine variations in sentencing outcomes. Data included Presidential and House of Representative votes for the 2016 election and Monitoring of Federal Sentencing for the fiscal years of 2015-2016. Analysis includes case processing/legal variables, defendant characteristics, and political affiliation. To analyze political affiliation, a binary logistic regression was …

Water And Life. A Cross-Sectional Study On Determinants Of Beverage Consumption And Water Access In One Tribal Community, Christina White

All Master's Theses

Increasingly, poor diet has been shown to be one of the most crucial factors associated with cause of death, even more critical than smoking. Research in the past two decades has consistently linked increased consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) to the obesity epidemic contributing to a public health crisis all over the United States. Native Americans, among other minority groups, suffer obesity disproportionately from the rest of the US population, yet they continually fail to be included in research on the subject. Traditional research methods, sparse care coverage on reservations, consolidation of unique tribes into one classification, and failure to …

Terminal Illness: The Political Ecology And Political Economy Of The Millennium Bulk Coal Export Terminal, Longview, Wa, Paige Mcnorvell

All Master's Theses

The declining demand for coal in the United States (U.S. Energy Information Administration [EIA] 2016) has led to a push by the coal industry for the construction of export terminals in the Pacific Northwest that would supply coal from the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming to Asia. Though none of the proposed terminals have been approved for construction, the Millennium Bulk Coal Export Terminal in Longview, Washington remains a potentially viable option pending decisions in state and federal courts. In this thesis, I critically analyze the Millennium Bulk Terminal permitting process through a mixed-methods qualitative approach that uses …

Exploring Locus Of Control In Offender Cognition And Recidivism Paradigms, Anistasha Lightning, Danielle Polage

All Master's Theses

Working with four Washington State county jails to administer surveys to currently incarcerated inmates, we investigated locus of control and beliefs in the likelihood of continued legal involvement as possible antecedents to criminal recidivism. The surveys examined whether there was any connection between legal involvement frequency and the externalization of locus of control. We investigated external locus of control with specific respect to involvement with the law, the prospect of future incarceration, and feelings concerning the overall cause of original and/or sustained legal involvement utilizing the Revised Causal Dimension Scale (McAuley, Duncan, & Russell, 1992). We identified statistically significant interactions …

Criminological Self-Efficacy: Increased Or Hindered From Crime Tv Shows, Dorothy Moore

All Master's Theses

There is an age-old question that surrounds whether or not media have an effect on its viewers. There is substantial evidence that supports the claim that violent content in media may increase relational, physical, and/or overall aggression levels. The aim of the current study is to explore the relationship between several factors that may be related to one’s belief in one’s ability (self-efficacy) to commit and get away with murder. These factors are the amount of crime TV a person watches, aggressive tendency, recklessness tendency, and potential protective factors. It is hypothesized that the more crime TV watched, the higher …

Sustainability Policy’S Inherent Dilemmas – Exemplified Via Critical Examination Of The Las Vegas Metropolitan Sustainability Campaign, Kathryn A. Zimmerman

All Master's Theses

In response to a dual problem of critical water scarcity and rapid population growth, leaders of metropolitan Las Vegas implemented a region-wide, internationally marketed sustainability campaign. Preliminary studies found that, while sustainability policy attains its rhetorical goals, solutions initiated not only perpetuate but also purposefully expand the original dual problem to justify continuous water resource acquisitions. To examine this sustainability conundrum constructed by leadership—problem-perpetuation rather than problem-resolution—a critical examination in resource management asked two basic questions: what is being sustained and by what means? Via this inquiry, specific processes by which leaders perpetuate problems can be identified; and, so-informed, new …

Experiments To Measure The Effects Of Timber Harvesting Equipment On Surface Lithic Scatters, Douglas J. Baughman

All Master's Theses

The importance of cultural resource preservation cannot be overstated; however local economies are at least as important. Due to conservative archaeological site protection practices in Region 5 of the United States Forest Service, the economy of Northeastern California is being adversely affected. In an attempt to help the Forest Service make more informed management decisions and improve the Northeastern California economy, I undertook experiments on the effects of timber harvesting on lithic scatters on Modoc National Forest. The experiments involved placement of 225 glass tiles (proxy lithics) in each of three plots subject to vehicle traffic and log dragging by …

Pre-Academy Placement In The Washington State Patrol: Factors Associated With Academy And Job Performance, Richard Franklin Hamack

All Master's Theses

Washington State Patrol Trooper Cadets serve in a number of positions, a number of locations across the state and for varying lengths of time before they are selected to attend the academy. The purpose of the present research was to determine whether these factors were related to subsequent academy performance and job performance.

To that end, 255 cadets hired between 1979 and 1985 were studied. The results indicated that only pre-academy assignment duration was significantly correlated with academy completion and academy performance. Implications for further research and departmental policy are discussed.

Student Rights: U.S. Supreme Court Cases-- Their Implications For And Implementation In Washington Schools, Angela Dawn Ramsey

All Master's Theses

The relationship between national litigation and state legislation was studied. Seven areas of student rights were used in categorizing Washington State's educational laws and policies, and twenty-three precedent-setting United States Supreme Court cases. The results showed support for the hypothesis that national litigation impacts state legislation in educational policy-making. Implications for and impact that this has upon the future are discussed.

A Survey Of American Negro Slavery As Seen In Its Legal Aspects, Mona M. Webb

Graduate Student Research Papers

This paper presents a limited study of the legal basis for slavery in pre-civil war United States laws.

The Mind Of John Marshall, Richard H. Hanson

Graduate Student Research Papers

This paper will attempt to analyze the mind of Chief Justice John Marshall by examining those experiences that influenced his thinking, presenting some of the judicial opinions that illustrate his thinking, suggesting the lasting influences and contributions of these judicial opinions.