Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Sex Worker Stigma, Morality And Ambivalent Sexism, Emily Kate Kinzel

Dissertations and Theses

Sex worker stigma has received limited attention in psychological research. Although stigma is often theorized to relate to moral concerns, the relationship between stigma and moral concerns has not been empirically established. This study aims to address these gaps by developing a measurement tool for attitudes towards sex workers--specifically an implicit association test (IAT)--and explore the relationships between sex worker stigma, moral concerns, and ambivalent sexism. Mock policy questions on the criminalization and punishment of sex workers were also included to approximate behavioral intentions of participants. A cross-sectional correlational study of 168 community members found evidence that both moral concerns …

Exploring Impacts Of Diversity Ideologies On Allyship (Intergroup Responsiveness), Fiona Nguyen

Dissertations and Theses

Colorblindness and multiculturalism are widely studied diversity ideologies that reflect prominent attitudes about how diversity should be understood and managed, as they can help predict individual behavior. Colorblindness proposes that distinct group identities should be ignored, and can be used to exclude minoritized groups and downplay racial minorities' experiences, whereas multiculturalism embraces and values group differences, can foster inclusive environments for minority groups, and leads to positive intergroup outcomes such as reduced prejudice. Despite much research dedicated to exploring the intergroup outcomes of diversity ideologies, few studies have examined their impacts on specific interpersonal interactions, particularly allyship. Research has defined …

Faith Vs. Morality: Do Viewpoints Of Protestant Christians Attending Psu Align With Anti-Transgender Legislation Being Proposed In Oregon?, Asher Schneider

University Honors Theses

Transgender-identifying individuals living within the US face significantly higher rates of discrimination and harassment compared to the general US population. Recently, there have been thousands of legislative measures introduced with the intent of limiting the rights of Transgender and other LGBTQ identifying individuals. Christian Americans are significantly more likely than irreligious Americans to be against various rights for Transgender people, such as the ability to participate in sports or use restrooms that correlate with their self-identified gender rather than their biological sex. Research indicates that recent anti-transgender legislative measures introduced in several states is in part driven by the large …

Fight, Flight, Freeze 2: An Update On Tenants’ Responses To Eviction Across Urban And Rural Oregon, Natalie J. Cholula, Lisa K. Bates, Alex Farrington, Marisa Zapata, Jacen Greene, Colleen Carroll

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the original "Fight, Flight, Freeze" (FFF) report, the Evicted in Oregon researchers reported on the experiences of tenants who faced eviction during the COVID-19 pandemic and their access to resources. This brief provides updated analysis, now including 121 tenants with eviction experiences in Oregon. The analysis includes 13 new focus groups with tenants in both rural and urban Oregon, focusing on the type of support they received while navigating eviction. These groups represent tenants from diverse backgrounds.

Using the fight-flight-freeze framework, we analyzed tenants' reactions to eviction. We also report the resources they accessed after being threatened with eviction …

What Kinds Of Experiences And Activities Contribute To College Students' Sense Of Purpose? A Mixed-Methods Study, Katlyn Rochelle Viers

Dissertations and Theses

For many young people, attending college is a core marker of the transition to emerging adulthood. Some students thrive in college while others become lost, confused, or seem to be just marking their time. Some researchers have hypothesized that one thing that can help students take advantage of their college experience is if they are firmly anchored in their own life goals and sense of purpose. The primary goal of this study is to contribute to knowledge about the role of a sense of purpose in college students' development, including not only its potential benefits to their academic functioning and …

Understanding Covid-19 Message Fatigue And Reactance In A Post-Crisis Context, Lillian Hamilton Mantel

Dissertations and Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted widespread public health messaging encouraging behaviors such as vaccination, mask-wearing, and staying home when sick. However, persistent exposure to these messages has sometimes produced unintended effects, including message fatigue and psychological reactance. Drawing on psychological reactance theory (PRT) and the integrative model of behavioral prediction (IMBP), this study examines the relationships between message fatigue, psychological reactance, and behavioral intentions toward three COVID-19 preventive behaviors: vaccination, masking, and staying home when sick. A survey of 348 U.S. adults assessed participants' levels of message fatigue, psychological reactance, attitudes, perceived norms, self-efficacy, response efficacy, collective efficacy, and behavioral intentions. …

Prospective Associations Among Loneliness And Health For Servicemembers: Perceived Helplessness And Negative Coping Appraisal As Explanatory Mechanisms, Sarah N. Arpin, Cynthia D. Mohr, Todd Bodner, Leslie B. Hammer, James D. Lee

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Links between loneliness and health are robust, though evidence for associations with alcohol use is mixed. Previous research has supported perceived stress as a predictor of alcohol use and as a pathway through which loneliness impacts health over time. Yet findings are primarily limited to civilian samples, and less is known about how loneliness relates to stress and health among service members. The current study explores prospective associations among loneliness, stress, and health (i.e., sleep, alcohol misuse, and psychological distress) within a sample of mostly male service members. We examine two dimensions of perceived stress, perceived helplessness and negative coping …

The Addition Of Chinese Herbal Medicines Is Effective As A Prophylactic Treatment Against Dental Diseases For Sjögren’S Syndrome Patients: Insight From Real-World Database, Ching-Ya Juan, Wei-Jen Chen, Hanoch Livneh, Ming-Chi Lu, Tzung-Yi Tsai

Leadership, Learning and Counseling Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background and Objectives:

Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects the salivary glands and increases the risk of developing dental diseases (DDs). Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) represent a promising alternative strategy for SS treatment; however, the association between CHMs and DD risk has not been confirmed. In this retrospective, cohort-based, nested case-control study, we explored whether or not combining CHMs with routine treatments for SS can reduce the chance of DDs.

Materials and Methods:

In the beginning, we recruited subjects aged 20–80 years with newly diagnosed SS who were free of DDs between 2001 and …

Collaborative Anti-Racist Perinatal Care: A Case Study Of The Healthy Birth Initiatives–Providence Health System Partnership, Roberta Hunte, Susanne Klawetter, Monique Gill, Desha Reed-Holden, Kevin Cherry

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article describes a case study of the partnership between Healthy Birth Initiatives, a community-based organization (CBO) and Black-led public health nurse home visiting program, and the maternal health division of the Providence Health System located in the Pacific Northwest. This study’s purpose was to explore the formation, significance, and impact of this partnership from the perspectives of staff and leadership members from both organizations. We conducted a case study through qualitative interviews with staff, participant observation, and debrief of leadership meetings. We completed a hybrid deductive–inductive thematic analysis of the data, followed by member checking with study participants and …

Abolition And Social Work: Dismantling Carceral Logics To Build Systems Of Care, Durrell M. Washington, Brittany Ribeiro Brown, Diana Ballesteros, Rebecca Lynn Davis

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Social work has historically operated as an extension of the carceral state, embedding policing, surveillance, and punishment into youth-serving institutions under the guise of care. This paper examines carceral seepage—the infiltration of punitive logics into social work practice—across child welfare, education, and juvenile legal, revealing how these systems function as interconnected circuits of criminalization rather than support. Using abolitionist frameworks, we critique social work’s complicity in punitive interventions and address common concerns about safety, scalability, and sustainability. Instead of reforming oppressive institutions, we argue for a fundamental transformation of social work, advocating for non-carceral models such as community-led crisis response, …

The Effect Of Mesoscale Frontal Waves On Landfalling Atmospheric Rivers And Their Associated Precipitation Over The Green River Watershed, Washington, Joseph Michael Riedl

Dissertations and Theses

In this study, the effect of mesoscale frontal waves (MFWs) on extreme precipitation (EP) in the Upper Green River Watershed (UGRW), Washington is investigated. 205 EP days (>95th percentile) are identified in the UGRW between the years 1980 and 2021. To characterize the range of large-scale meteorological conditions associated with EP days, the self-organizing map (SOM) approach is used to cluster daily integrated water vapor transport (IVT) on EP days. To further diagnose the meteorological drivers, composites of several other diagnostic fields are constructed for each SOM node and the preceding days. Together, these results illustrate common orientations of …

Probabilistic Intervals Around Population Forecasts: A New Approach With A Subnational Example Using Washington State Counties, David A. Swanson, Jeff Tayman

Publications, Reports and Presentations

Population forecasts produced by governments at all levels are used in the public sector, the private sector, and by researchers. They have been primarily produced using deterministic methods. This paper shows how a method for producing measures of uncertainty can be applied to existing subnational population forecasts while meeting several important criteria, including the concept of utility. The paper includes an assessment of the efficacy of the method by: (1) examining the change in uncertainty intervals it produces by population size and population growth rate; and (2) comparing the width and temporal change of the uncertainty intervals it produces to …

Industries, Self-Rated Health, And Status Characteristics: An Exploration Of Health In Industries At The Intersection Of Race/Ethnicity, Gender, And Disability, Emmanuel Legarreta

Dissertations and Theses

While industries, occupations, and health outcomes have been widely studied, research has neglected self-rated health (SRH) and the intersectionality of different status characteristics in various industries. Using an IPUMS version of the Current Population Survey, this study explores the possible relationships between industries and SRH. More specifically, it seeks to find if workers' disability status, racial minority status, or gender moderates (i.e., differentiates) the relationship between their industry and SRH. Findings show that certain industries are significant predictors of SRH, and that women with disabilities working in Mining and Construction, and Business and Repair Service have significantly worse SRH than …

The Living Dead On Mount Athos: Monastic Politics Of Escape, Patrick Reilly

Dissertations and Theses

The Monastic Republic of Mount Athos is a unique and confounding political entity - both Greek and multi-national, democratic and theocratic, autonomous and subject to the European Union - with more than a millennia of history and institutional memory. While Athos has been amply appreciated for its religious, historical and cultural significance, the political institutions which govern this community have been neglected in the modern era and merit greater attention. Similarly, while much of the recent English-language literature on the topic focuses on the near-death and miraculous resurrection of Mount Athos in the 20th century, this work also tends to …

Exploring Underrepresented Stem Undergraduates' Stem Identity Development: The Role Of Social Partners, Sandy Cerda-Lezama

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation employs a three-study qualitative design to investigate the role of mentorship and social interaction in the identity development of racial minority undergraduate students in STEM disciplines. Grounded in Communities of Practice theory, this research amplifies student narratives to elucidate the relational and contextual factors that inform science identity, belonging, competence, and persistence in higher education. Study One draws upon interview data from fifteen participants in the BUILD program to analyze the role of recognition, particularly from expert scientists--in students' science identity development. This study aims to understand how racial and ethnic identity intersections influence the processes and impact …

(De)Centralized Water Futures: Key Dimensions Of Infrastructure, Governance, And Operations, Alicia Dailey Cooperman, Jenny Linder Rempel, Ellis Adjei Adams, Alida Cantor, Manuela Muñoz Fuerte, Jeremiah Osborne-Gowey, Nicole J. Wilson, Cassandra L. Workman, Melissa Beresford, Leila M. Harris, Multiple Additional Authors

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Water system centralization and decentralization have variously been promoted as key to achieving household water security and Sustainable Development Goal 6.1. We argue that the lack of specificity with which scholars and practitioners use the terms centralization and decentralization limits our understanding of different water system configurations and their impacts. In this Primer, we provide a framework for thinking about levels of (de)centralization across three linked system dimensions: infrastructure, governance, and operations and maintenance. We encourage those analyzing water systems to characterize (de)centralization with respect to these multiple dimensions, as well as the system's broader political-economic and hydro-climatic contexts. Emphasizing …

Reining In Plasticulture From Land To Sea: Pacific Northwest (Usa) Perspectives On Agriculture And Aquaculture, Susanne M. Brander, Gail A. Langellotto, Minal T. Mistry, Sebastian L. Singleton, Mackenna A. Hainey, Lauren M. Kashiwabara, Kelsey Arthur, Elise F. Granek, Kervelle Baird, Ricardo Palazuelos, Multiple Additional Authors

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Plastic use in food production—known as plasticulture—has transformed agriculture and aquaculture globally. Plasticulture gained momentum in the mid-20th century with the development of novel plastic materials, and by 2009, U.S. farmers used over 200 million pounds of plastic films annually. Though plastics have increased yields and efficiency, they now pose environmental hazards through the release of microplastics (MPs) and chemicals. Despite extensive documentation of MPs in the environment, their role in U.S. food production and impacts on crop, livestock, and aquaculture health remain underexplored. In regions like the Pacific Northwest (PNW), with robust agricultural and aquaculture sectors, plastics from films, …

Demographic And Economic Implications Of Alternative Us Immigration Policies, Guizhen Ma, Erin Trouth Hofmann, Ethan Sharygin

Publications, Reports and Presentations

Due to the United States’ decades-long stalemate in federal immigration policy-making, major institutional forecasts of the U.S. population have not included assumptions about changes in immigration policy. However, the 2016 election of President Donald Trump and the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated just how much policy shifts can affect immigration flows, with substantial implications for the country’s demographic future. We created national-level population and economic projections through 2060 using nine different immigration policy scenarios, reflecting differences in both the scale of immigration allowed and the mix of immigrant visas issued (family reunification versus economic and labor visas). The projections highlight the dramatically …

Barriers Beyond Bars: Examining Experiences Of Students With Criminal Records, Anakin Rivera Ramirez

Dissertations and Theses

As educational opportunities, particularly prison education programs, continue to expand for incarcerated individuals, this study, which included two participants, one formerly incarcerated and one who pleaded guilty to avoid incarceration, suggests that those who plead guilty to avoid prison may enter college without the structured reintegration resources available to their incarcerated peers. While substantial research has explored the school-to-prison pipeline phenomenon in K-12 settings, fewer studies have examined its impact on students with criminal records navigating higher education. Grounded in Critical Race Theory (CRT) in education, this study seeks to understand the experiences of carceral system-impacted students of color in …

Fathers' Racial Differences In Perceived Workplace-Induced Stereotype Threat: Impacts On Sense Of Belonging, Job Satisfaction, And Turnover, Frances Evalyne Kealiimahiaiokalani Hampton

Dissertations and Theses

Black fathers (BFs) face unique workplace challenges due to racialized and gendered stereotypes that undermine their legitimacy as men, workers, and parents. Drawing on Stereotype Threat Theory (STT) and Stereotype Embodiment Theory (SET), this study examined how workplace-induced stereotype threat (WIST) affects BFs' job attitudes and turnover intentions (TIs). I hypothesized that BFs would report higher WIST than White fathers (WFs), and that WIST would mediate the effects of race-related perceptions on job satisfaction (JS), sense of belonging (SOB), and TIs. In addition, perceived organizational support (POS) was tested as a moderator on the relationships between WIST and these job-related …

Influences On Suicidality And Suicide-Prevention Needs For The Autistic Community: Qualitative Insights From Multiple Perspectives, Anne V. Kirby, Kristina Feldman, Wilhelm Clark, Amber N. Darlington, Alissa Atisme, Bobbi Duncan-Ishcomer, Rachel Kripke-Ludwig, Andrea Joyce, Whitney Lee, K. Rodriguez, Zack Siddeek, Kavitha Murthi, Brooks Keeshan, Hilary Coon, Christina Nicolaidis

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Autistic individuals are disproportionately likely to experience suicidal thoughts, feelings, and actions. Addressing suicidality is also a high priority of autistic community members. The goal of this study was to understand broad influences on suicidality and suicide-prevention needs for the autistic community. Using a community-based participatory research approach, we conducted a reflective thematic analysis of qualitative interviews with 16 autistic adults, 8 family members, and 14 mental health providers. Themes summarizing influences on suicidality and suicide-prevention needs centered on three broad thematic concepts: (1) Pervasive negative societal attitudes and social experiences have a lasting impact on autistic people's feelings of …

Controlling The Curriculum: A Content Analysis Of Prageru's Children's Educational Material, Heather Katherine Costa

Dissertations and Theses

PragerU is a conservative media outlet founded by Dennis Prager in 2009 that aims to insert new conservative content into existing U.S. public school curricula. While conservative activist groups have attempted for decades to alter educational content and policy, PragerU is attempting to directly influence public school curricula by having their materials authorized for use in public schools.

This study utilizes qualitative content analysis to understand the meaning behind PragerU's content, using a sample of 39 videos, targeted at students in grades 6 and higher. The transcript data were analyzed to address two research questions: 1) What are the key …

Path To Parenthood For Medical Residents And Fellows: The Impact Of Leave Policies On Parent Trainees At Oregon Health And Science University, Eline Lenne, Marie Soller, Gillian Lashen, Stephanie Dukhovny, Alinda Reimer, Susanne Klawetter, Emily Carter

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Residents and fellows in graduate medical education (GME) programs across the USA often complete training during childbearing years, presenting challenges for pregnant and parenting trainees balancing work and family. Institutional policies must better support these trainees. Previous studies show supported trainees experience reduced burnout, better health, and improved patient outcomes.

This study assessed the experiences and unmet needs of pregnant and parenting GME trainees and presents their recommendations for improved support.

Methods: Using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, we examined the unmet needs and challenges of pregnant and parenting trainees, and their recommendations for improvement. We distributed a survey to …

Estimating Historical Age-Sex Distributions Of A Tribal Population: A Case Study Of The Hopi, 1900 To 1940, David Swanson, Jeff Tayman

Publications, Reports and Presentations

Historical information on tribal populations in the United States is scattered and discontinuous. A significant part of the discontinuity is the gap between 1900 and 1970. This paper describes a process that may partially fill this gap by developing decennial age-sex data from 1900 to 1940. Where temporally consistent, we compare these estimates to those done by others. This work provides a point of departure for generating more demographic information about the Hopi from 1900 to 1940 and, ultimately, beyond 1970, a critical turning point regarding the increased availability of American Indian data from the U.S. Census Bureau. It also …

A New Era Of Zines: Taking Lessons From The Past To Combat Intellectual And Political Fascism, Catherine Kane

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

Zines have long functioned as a way to circumvent the traditional gatekeepers of news, art, mainstream narratives, and publishing. They are largely non-commercial, and their emphasis is to put the means of production and distribution directly into the hands of the individual. Although their roots are in DIY, proletariat culture, they are now the subject of study in museums, libraries, and higher education, and have been co-opted by big brands, media outlets, and publishing houses—the institutions they originally sought to undermine.

In their most authentic form, zines have represented free thinking and speech, while giving individuals and communities a rallying …

“Migration Craziness!” Financial Turbulence And Transnational Families In Sri Lanka, Michele R. Gamburd

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Why might three relatively well-off, middle-class, young adults from Sri Lanka chose to leave their parents and their village to emigrate to Australia and Italy? Why would these men and women give up promising careers and comfortable homes to start over elsewhere and endure the hardship of an immigrant’s deskilled and displaced life? To understand their decisions, I rely on anthropology’s holistic perspective to help me stitch together intimate details about family choices within a context of global economic structures and national politics. I have done ethnographic research in the village that I call “Naeaegama” since 1992. I have studied …

The End Of International Migration? The Case Of North America, David Swanson, Jeff Tayman

Publications, Reports and Presentations

Although there are exceptions (forced migration and retirement migration, for example), international migration is largely driven by people of working age. Population forecasts to the year 2100 show that the numbers of people of working age (20-64) will diminish in North America (Canada, Mexico, and the United States), and dramatically diminish among those of the younger working ages (20-34 and 35-44). Underlying this expectation is the fact that North America, like the world as a whole, will have completed the demographic transition or be very close to completing it within 75 years, which means this region of the world will …

The Birnirk To Thule Transition As Viewed From Radiocarbon And Tree-Ring Dating Within Two Adjacent Houses At Cape Espenberg, Northwest Alaska, Claire Alix, Lauren E. Y. Norman, Antony M. Krus, Juliette Taieb, Shelby L. Anderson, Dennis H. O'Rourke, Owen K. Mason

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The transformation of the Birnirk culture into the Thule culture is essential in reconstructing the emergence of modern Inuit across Alaska and the larger Bering Strait. To this end, two adjacent semi-subterranean houses of late Birnirk and early Thule affiliation, respectively, at the Rising Whale (KTZ-304) site at Cape Espenberg were recently excavated and dated by radiocarbon and tree-ring measurements. We present the Bayesian analysis of the resulting large series of dates, demonstrating the lack of contemporaneity between the two features: the Birnirk house was occupied in the late twelfth to early thirteenth centuries AD, whereas the occupation of the …

The Social And Political Identities Of Latine Republicans In The U.S., Gabriella M. Mota

Dissertations and Theses

Between the 2016 and 2024 presidential elections, support for Republican candidate Donald Trump among Latine voters increased from 29% to 42%. This rise has attracted interest given Trump's nativist rhetoric and policies that target Latine immigrants. Previous literature has examined the growing Republican partisanship among Latine Americans, focusing on the processes of assimilation and the effects of racial ideology on the partisanship of the Latine electorate. Although this research is gaining traction, the political attitudes of Latine Republicans remain understudied. This study explores how Latine Republicans manipulate ethnoracial attachments to justify their support for Donald Trump and the Republican Party. …

Conversations With The Ancestors: Pursuing An Understanding Of Klamath Basin Rock Art Through The Use Of Myth, The Ethnographic Record, And Local Artistic Conventions, Robert David

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Past archaeological practices have resulted in a distorted history of Native American cultures based upon western-biased research. This has been especially apparent in the rock art of the Klamath Basin in southern Oregon and northern California. In response to this, Native and non-Native scholars are striving to develop a counter-discourse that both challenges and replaces western constructs in research on Native American communities. The result of this approach is a growing trend within the discipline that has come to be called “Indigenous Archaeology.” Critical to this approach is that Native voices are transported from the margins of the research to …