Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Cross-Institutional Collaboration And Exhibit Making: “On The Gold Mountain: Chinese Mining History And Heritage Of Idaho” At The Idaho Museum Of Mining And Geology, Jordan Kathleen Bennett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Gold Rush, which brought many new immigrant communities to the American West, made a permanent impact on American culture by prompting the development of many Western towns. However, the Chinese immigrant mining population in the Boise, Idaho area has had little museum representation despite the more than 300,000 Chinese people who emigrated to the US between the 1840s and 1880. To rectify this, the Idaho Museum of Mining and Geology (IMMG), in collaboration with members of the Payette National Forest, the Asian American Comparative Collection, Boise State University/US Army Corps of Engineers, and the University of Denver, developed an …

#Getinked: An Anthropological Exploration Of Tattooing And Social Media, Delanee Taylor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aims to address two inquiries regarding contemporary tattooing. The first goal is to explore how social media has changed the practice of tattooing while the second goal is to examine how tattoos are used to express or explore the differing facets of a person’s identity. Identity theory, social identity theory, semiotics, and the concepts of stigma and deviancy form the theoretical framework which allows one to understand the ways in which tattoos can provide insights into the various aspects of someone’s identity as well as how social media can influence members of the tattoo community. An online survey, …

The Use Of Regularization To Detect Racial Inequities In Pay Equity Studies: An Empirical Study And Reflections On Regulation Methods, Christopher M. Peña

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the late 1970s, multiple linear regression has been the preferred method for identifying discrimination in pay. An empirical study on this topic was conducted using quantitative critical methods. A literature review first examined conflicting views on using multiple linear regression in pay equity studies. The review found that multiple linear regression is used so prevalently in pay equity studies because the courts and practitioners have widely accepted it and because of its simplicity and ability to parse multiple sources of variance simultaneously. Commentaries in the literature cautioned about errors in model specification, the use of tainted variables, and the …

The Rural Post-Graduation Plan Development Model: Advancing Student College Choice By Centering Rural Communities, Steve Jenks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

College choice models have been used since the 1980s to try and explain the processes and influences high school students use to decide if and which college to attend after graduation. These models focused solely on college attendance and lacked attention to the nuanced needs and resources found in rural communities. In this three-paper dissertation, a new, rural-centric model is proposed, tested, critiqued, and revised. The first paper proposes a new conceptual model of Rural Post-Graduation Plan Development using a critique and synthesis of prior college choice models, Critical Rural Theory, Funds of Knowledge, and socio-ecological models. The second paper …

Expanding The Network Evaluation Toolkit: Combining Social Network Analysis & Qualitative Comparative Analysis, Debbie Gowensmith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collective action networks are complex systems of interrelated individuals or groups that come together for a common social change purpose (Ernstson, 2011). Researchers have used social network analysis (SNA) to examine the relationship structures and characteristics of collective action networks. However, determining whether collective action networking produces outcomes has been challenging because networks are complex, affected by context, and produce interdependent data. I addressed these challenges by pairing SNA with qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), a configurational comparative method. Using QCA, researchers can tease out which conditions are necessary or sufficient to produce an outcome. I analyzed a collective action network …

The Intersection Of Traumatic Brain Injury And Homelessness, Stephanie A. Chassman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The rates of TBI are significantly higher among individuals experiencing homelessness compared to the general population. Up to half of individuals experiencing homelessness may have a TBI. Accurate prevalence rates of TBI among individuals experiencing homelessness are difficult to obtain due to different methods of sampling participants and differing definitions of TBI; therefore, estimates may be underrepresented. Despite past research that has examined the relationship between TBI and homelessness, there are specific gaps in knowledge such as correlates and risk factors of TBI among individuals experiencing homelessness. This three-manuscript dissertation attempts to address these gaps in knowledge.

The first manuscript …

Application Of An Organizational Evaluation Capacity Assessment In A Multinational Ngo: A Case Study To Support Applied Practice, Ryan James Smyth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As evaluation capacity building (ECB) has rapidly emerged as a practice in human service organizations and as a field of academic inquiry, attention has focused on methods of evaluation capacity building while assessment of organizational evaluation capacity (EC) has lagged behind. To examine the practice of organizational evaluation capacity assessment, this dissertation presents two separate but related studies. In sub-study 1, I present a qualitative evidence synthesis of the research theorizing organizational evaluation capacity models. In sub-study 2, I support the implementation of one of the tools from the evidence-synthesis at a multinational human service organization. I use a concurrent …

Geovisualization And Open-Source Web Mapping Of Big Origin-Destination Data, A Test Case, Joseph Hiebert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Migration plays a key role in determining the health and success of cities, counties, and countries. It also plays a key role in determining the health and wellbeing of the individuals and families that undergo a migration event. This has led many scholars to map and study global migration patterns to understand how and why people move. While migration data are powerful, the origin-destination (O-D), tabular format of the data can be hard to interpret. To make O-D data more powerful, geographers can lean on computer cartography and new geovisualization techniques to help decision makers make sense of large, complex …

Care Infrastructure Accessibility And The Gender Wage Gap – A Way To Improve Women’S Ability To Equitably Engage In The Paid Labor Market?, Julia Schinnenburg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

World-wide, women are less integrated into the labor force than men and if they are, they earn considerably less on average. This unequal treatment of women results in negative consequences for all members of society, as it harms women’s financial realities and also affects women’s care receivers due to a lack of resources that women can spend on their care giving. The research presented analyses how much the institution of better accessible care infrastructure could improve women’s ability to work for pay and decrease their daily workloads. The extent to which improved care infrastructure accessibility affects women’s lives is determined …

Exploring Gaps In Understanding And Responding To Ageism: A Conceptual Model, Psychosocial Health, And Racialized Ageism, Andrew T. Steward

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ageism is an insidious, prevalent social justice issue which has harmful effects on the health of older adults. This dissertation includes three manuscripts which explore gaps in understanding and responding to ageism through three distinct methodological approaches. Two primary gaps are addressed in the three manuscripts: 1) conceptualizing and testing activities or interventions to reduce internalized ageism and enhance psychosocial health for older adults, and 2) exploring the intersectionality of ageism with racism.

The first manuscript draws from stereotype embodiment theory and theories of successful and productive aging to detail a conceptual model of interventions which may reduce internalized ageism …

Assessing The Relationship Between White Privilege, White Fragility, And Masculine Gender Identity And Stressors In The Workplace, Anna Edelman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined how White privilege information avoidance and White fragility are related to aspects of traditional masculinity. Informed by Critical Race Theory and Critical Whiteness Studies, this study examined the link between traditional masculine norms, masculine gender identity stress, and White privilege reactions. A sample of White, working men were recruited both through snowball sampling and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Participants were first assessed on a variety of masculinity variables and then were randomly assigned to view one of two video vignettes. After viewing this video, their affective responses, White privilege information avoidance, and White fragility were assessed through …

Making The Most Of Program Evaluation Data: Understanding Human Services Professionals’ Well-Being Through Qualitative Secondary Analysis, Elizabeth Ann Deaton Wacker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Qualitative secondary analysis (QSA) allows researchers to explore new research questions and ensure that participants’ voices are heard to the greatest extent possible, without the burdens of additional data collection. However, this approach is rarely used outside of the health sciences, and little guidance exists in the literature about how to conduct QSA. This study is a secondary analysis of qualitative program evaluation data related to the well-being of human services professionals from two fields: child welfare and early care and education (ECE). It explores these professionals’ well-being, as well as the methodological issues of how well-being has been addressed …

Employee Ownership And Moral Hazard: How Broad-Based Equity Sharing Can Lower Agency Costs And Reduce Inequality, Colin Clinton Hudson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Providing incentives to top managers by offering equity has become the norm; this practice, however, does not hold for all levels of employees. After tax incentives for employee ownership were introduced through the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, there has been little legislative support to encourage companies to implement broad-based equity sharing programs. Moreover, decades of neoliberal policies have incentivized the pursuit of short-term profits and speculation, which contribute to economic instability and explain the growing gap between productivity and real wages observed since the late 1970s. Developments in the literature contend that employee ownership aligns the goals …

The Social Determinants Of Diabetes And Coronary Heart Disease In South Asian American Immigrants, Mishal Ayaz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An astounding 20% of South Asian Americans have diabetes (Matthews and Zachariah 2008). Conventional risk factors for coronary heart disease includes: age older than 65, sedentary lifestyle, cigarette smoking, hypertension, elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL), cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes, all factors beyond health care (italicized for emphasis) (Mathews and Zachariah 2008). But conventional risk factors alone are not sufficient to predict the alarmingly high rates of coronary heart disease (“CHD”) for South Asian Americans. In fact, the only conventional risk factor more prevalent in this community than others is diabetes. So, the question remains, what factors are contributing to the …

Resentenced And Released: Re-Entry Needs Following Release From Juvenile Life Without Parole, Daphne M. Brydon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over 2,100 individuals serving juvenile life without paroles (JLWOP) sentences in the U.S. became eligible for resentencing following the 2016 Montgomery v. Louisiana Supreme Court ruling. Michigan housed an estimated 370 juvenile lifers at that time, the second largest JLWOP community in the country and has since resentenced and released approximately 120 juvenile lifers. Folx released from prison encounter many barriers to successful re-entry. Barriers are often amplified for those incarcerated as adolescents. Further, services are de-prioritized for folx serving JLWOP sentences, which can be especially damaging for this community whose life experiences are marked by high rates of trauma, …

Trainee Attitudes Toward Social Class As Predictors Of Clinical Decision Making: Exploring The Effects Of Classism In Psychotherapy, Jeremy J. Coleman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined the effects of classist beliefs on trainee attitudes toward their client based on perceived social-class status. This study sought to determine whether classist attitudes contribute to meaningful differences in clinical decision making. A sample of mental health trainees (n = 147) attending graduate-level programs in the U.S. were recruited and randomly assigned to one of two clinical vignette conditions. Both vignette conditions included identical data regarding a hypothetical client’s presenting concerns (e.g., sleep disturbance, worry, rumination, loneliness), but differed on indicators of client socioeconomic status (SES). Results showed statistically significant between-group differences on ratings of clinical …

Rape: A Settler-Colonial And Anti-Black Project, Cristy A. Dougherty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

White feminist theorizations of rape privilege patriarchy as the main source of gender violence, ultimately centering white cisgender women. In doing so, white women are treated as subject in anti-rape discourse while the violence inflicted on women of color is rendered as secondary and insignificant. Conversely, Indigenous and Black feminist analytics center Indigenous and Black women’s experiences with sexual violence, ultimately pointing to the ways in which rape has been used as a tool to perpetuate heteropatriarchy, settler-colonialism, and anti- Black racism. For instance, Deer (2015) explains that Indigenous women experience disproportionately high rates of sexual violence that spans generations. …

Uncovering An Alternative Social Structure To Social Dominance: A Blend Of Ethnography And Community Based Participatory Research, Andrew A. Fox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated social structures that are alternative to the prevailing assumption of Social Dominance Theory (SDT), which is that all human interaction is based on social hierarchies. The implications of social dominance impact health at an institutional, interpersonal, and intrapersonal level. The intersection of these levels of social dominance cause health disparities that perpetuate gaps between populations. This study explored one community organizing group who is challenging social dominance by creating alternative social structures. The methods of this study included Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and Arts Based Research (ABR) as ways to generate middle-range theorizing and attempt to …

Statistical Modeling Of Positive Peer Support On Longitudinal Adolescent Substance Use, Kady Rost

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To evaluate this study’s research question of ”Does the latent construct of Positive Peer Support (PPS) relate to the construct of Adolescent Substance Use (ASU) over time, controlling for neighborhood safety, race, and sex?”, Structural Equation (SEM) and Latent Growth Curve Modeling (LGCM) were used to investigate trajectories. Secondary longitudinal data from Zimmerman (2014) of 604 students enrolled for four consecutive years in public schools located in Flint, Michigan. In the secondary data resource, students who participated were declared “at risk” by GPA. Significant relationships were found in SEM: Positive Peer Support to Adolescent Substance Use, All Control Variables to …

Demystifying School Resource Officers: A Case Study, Alexis Sliva

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, there has been a dramatic spike in student arrests for behaviors that previously fell under the auspices of suspensions, expulsions, or family consultations. Black and Latinx students receive discipline and law enforcement referrals at superfluous levels compared to White peers. Additionally, the disproportionate and aggressive referral of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students for disciplinary action are often for infractions that are considered less severe than the actions of their White counterparts. Punitive discipline advances school-based pathways to the juvenile justice system (SPJJ), formerly known as the school to prison pipeline (STPP). School psychologists are …

So What, Now What? Using Social Media Activism To Inform Power-Conscious Prevention Of Gender-Based Violence, Andrea R. Thyrring

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We will not end gender-based violence by responding to it. Experts and national organizations agree that effective primary prevention programs are essential to stopping harmful behaviors before they start (DeGue et al, 2014; American College Health Association, 2016; American College Health Association, 2018; Townsend, 2017; Schneider & Hirsch, 2018; McMahon et al, 2019), so much so that primary prevention to address gender-based violence on college campuses has been mandated by state and federal policy (SB 19-007, 2019; Institutional Security Policies and Crime Statistics, 2020). In order to be effective, primary prevention programs should be tailored to the community in which …

Decolonizing Interfaith Interaction: Common Humanity And Colonial Legacies, Teresa A. Crist

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Among various formations of interfaith interaction in the United States, practitioners strive to build relationships across religious difference through appeals to commonality. Problematically, relying on commonality to unite religiously diverse groups can ignore the colonial history behind what is considered common across humanity, and may serve to make interfaith interaction ineffective. The interfaith project is itself connected to the colonial legacy of Western epistemology, which tacitly normalizes Protestant Christian norms and conceptions of “Religion” and human subjectivity. This dissertation explores whether interfaith interaction, while trying to relieve the religious oppression caused by the normalization of Christianity, may in fact support …

The Productivity Wage Gap, Monopsony, And Labor Share Decline: An Analysis Of Wage Suppression Perpetuated By Power, Alexandra Coulter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis argues that wage suppression along with the decline in the labor share is caused by a rise in monopsony power realized as a significant increase in the profit share. It attributes the rise in monopsonistic behavior to the development and expansion of the modern corporation. This thesis investigates the reasons for wage suppression, identifies causes of the declining labor share left as exogenous in mainstream models, examines traditional economic wage determination and search models, and evaluates the political economy implications. This work reviews literature on imperfect competition, the corporation, contracts, search and match models, and the motivation of …

Use Of Research Tradition And Design In Program Evaluation: An Explanatory Mixed Methods Study Of Practitioners’ Methodological Choices, Margaret Schultz Patel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this explanatory sequential mixed method study was to assess whether there were observable trends, associations, or group differences in evaluation methodology by settings and content area in published evaluations from the past ten years (quantitative), to illuminate how evaluation practitioners selected these methodologies (qualitative), and assess how emergent findings from each phase fit together or helped contextualize each other. In this study, methodology was operationalized as research tradition and method was operationalized as research design. For phase one (quantitative), a systematized ten-year review of five peer-reviewed evaluation journals was conducted and coded by journal, research tradition, research …

Social Work, Social Justice, And The Causes To Which We Are Called: Attitudes, Ally Behavior, And Activism, Brittanie Atteberry Ash

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As a profession, social work has codified within its ethical guidance and educational policies a commitment to social justice. While social justice is enumerated in several guiding documents, social work continues to lack consensus on both the meaning and merit of social justice (Abramovitz, 1993; Funge, 2011; Hong & Hodge, 2009; Specht & Courtney, 1995; Van Soest & Garcia, 2003). Due to the lack of agreement within the profession about the centrality and meaning of social justice, many educational practices, attitudes, and actions of those working within the profession may not align with socially just ideals that are codified in …

Sex, Love, And Masturbating: A Touchy Subject, Gabrielle Kaminsky-Bayer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The topic of female masturbation has long been considered taboo and this has impacted the sparse research on female masturbation. In addition to the limited literature that exists on women’s reasons for masturbating in general, there are even fewer studies regarding the motivation for women to masturbate while in a relationship or how masturbating in a relationship impacts relational and sexual satisfaction. To date, there has been no study that specifically looks at early adult women (25-35 years old) in relationships that assesses the attitudes and behaviors of masturbation on relational and sexual satisfaction. Additionally, this paper was structured …

Disrupting Disparity: A Critical Race Transformative Mixed Methods Examination Of School Discipline, Ceema Samimi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Racial disparities in school discipline are well-established in the United States’ public-school system. These disparities contribute to a phenomenon known as the school-to-prison pipeline. This phenomenon is a metaphor for the mechanisms that push students, especially students of color, out of school and into the justice system. While research has examined the causes and impacts racial disproportionality in discipline, no studies have focused on schools with no disparities. This study used Critical Race Transformative Mixed Methods to examine school-level quantitative data while employing phenomenological methods to interviews with 12 teachers using critical race theory as a lens. Findings revealed that …

A Qualitative Study Of Non-Relational Foster Families Experiences Navigating The Education System, Emma Grace Topf

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach to capture the lived experience of non-relational foster families navigating the Colorado public education system. While most research on children in foster care looks at all sub-populations of foster care combined, this is the first known study to focus solely on non-relational foster families navigating the education system. I explored non-relational foster parents experience navigating the education system for the school-age children in their care through a semi-structured two-interview approach. Four levels of data analysis were completed (descriptive coding, emergent coding of themes, a priori coding of research questions, and a priori coding …

Telling Our Stories: Exploring The Path Toward Successful Mathematics Degree Attainment At An Under-Resourced Predominantly Black Institution, Lauren E. Mckittrick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The under-representation of Blacks in mathematics related professions stems from an American educational system of inequity. Many Black students, including a substantial proportion of those who enroll at Predominantly Black Institutions, attend elementary and secondary schools in under-resourced districts with limited access to quality teachers and rigorous, culturally-relevant instruction that would adequately prepare them for college attainment in mathematics.

The primary research question guiding this study was: What are the challenges and opportunities associated with building and sustaining a successful mathematics degree program at an under-resourced Predominantly Black Institution? Concurrently, this interpretive case study examined and documented the experiences of …

Resonances Of Love And Social Complexity In The Circadian Novel: Virginia Woolf, Christopher Isherwood, And Mulk Raj Anand, Mikayla Marie Peters

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Both Mulk Raj Anand and Christopher Isherwood admired and borrowed from Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway to build their own circadian novels. This thesis attempts to apply three major theories from three different disciplines - narrative theory, sociology, and psychology - to three major circadian novels to explain how societal pressures and the past influence the protagonists' connections with others. Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway (1925), Anand's Untouchable (1935), and Isherwood's A Single Man (1964) all use a circadian (single-day) structure to explore how the past influences every decision in a single day. This thesis combines Michel de Certeau's Theory of the Everyday …