Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Eyes In The Sky: Public Attitudes Towards Police Use Of Drone Technology, Miliaikeala S.J. Heen, Joel D. Lieberman, Terance D. Miethe

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

No abstract provided.

The “World’S Greatest Deliberative Body” And The Decision To Invade Iraq: The Rhetoric Of Senatorial Debate On Senate Joint Resolution 46, Henry Castillo

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

On the issue of the Iraq invasion, many in the public view President George W. Bush as the primary actor in its execution. Yet Bush explicitly sought congressional approval before employing military force against the country and elevated Congress’ role in the Iraq crisis. A plethora of academic research exists on how Bush persuaded the public into supporting the invasion. However, a dearth of scholarship exists on how Congress, specifically the Senate, deliberated on this decision. As a chamber often labeled as the “World’s Greatest Deliberative Body,” as well as having constitutionally-unique responsibilities in matters of foreign affairs, this study …

The People’S College?, K. C. Brekken, E. Lee Bernick

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

The so-called People’s College, America’s community colleges provide the most affordable higher education opportunities and educate nearly half the nation’s minority undergraduates (Mullin, 2012). This study examines representation of local community college governing boards to better understand who governs these two-year post secondary institutions. Descriptive representation provides the main framework for studying minority representation: Boards should mirror the populations they serve (Meier, Gonzalez Juenke, Wrinkle & Polinard, 2005). This research finds that these boards are under representative of the black and Hispanic populations they serve and that minority population plays a large role in the variation of the number of …

Exploring Cross-National Differences In The Incarceration Of Women: A Conjunctive Analysis Approach, Breanna Boppre, Terance D. Miethe, Emily J. Salisbury

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

Cross-national studies of imprisonment rates have examined the social, political, and economic conditions associated with criminal punishments. However, because of the higher numbers of male incarcerated and the lack of national data disaggregated by gender, most previous research on imprisonment rates has focused directly or indirectly on the socio-economic predictors of male imprisonment rates. Using disaggregated data for 128 nations, the current study employs the method of conjunctive analysis to explore the unique and common effects of particular social conditions that underlie female incarceration rates. Measures of nations’ social development, violent crime rates, socio-economic inequality, and political instability are used …

Abuse Us And Lose Us: Regional Effects Of Disarming Domestic Violence Offenders, Dory Mizrachi

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

Domestic violence is among one of the most underreported crimes in the United States. Yet, national and international estimates suggest that approximately one in three girls/women will experience domestic violence. Research also demonstrates that this form of gendered violence is commonplace in the lives of millions of women and that it has deleterious outcomes, such as intimate partner homicide. It was not until recent decades that several legislations have been enacted to combat this critical problem. The Lautenberg Amendment, also known as the Domestic Violence Gun Ban of 1996 provided an essential addition to the Gun Control Act of 1968. …

Engagement And Control: Comparing Participation Structures In The Guardian And Washington Post's Coverage Of People Killed By Police, Dan Michalski

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

People killed by police have become a focus of current political and social discourse related to criminal justice reform in the United States. Two data journalism projects by respected news media have been central to many of these discussions. The Guardian’s The Counted and Washington Post’s Investigation: Police Shootings have each attempted to create a running log of fatalities at the hands of law enforcement. Such an endeavor not only has added to a collective consciousness about the scope and commonality of deadly police encounters, but also has led to legislation toward police accountability reforms, including greater use of cameras …

Developing Scan-And-Return Collecting At Unlv Libraries, Emily Lapworth

Library Faculty Presentations

This presentation discusses how UNLV is providing access to primary
sources that would otherwise remain in the hands of private individuals.
Through their innovative “scan and return” process, UNLV is borrowing
important historical documents, digitizing them, and then returning the
originals to the owners. The digital surrogates become available through
UNLV’s Digital Collections.

Inequality, Mobility, And Cities, Alan Berube

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Inequality may be the result of global economic forces, but it matters in a local sense. Large population, diverse housing types, and generally progressive politics mean that big cities will always have higher shares of the rich and poor than smaller places. But a city where the rich are very rich, and the poor very poor, is likely to face difficulties educationally, fiscally, and socially. In the face of these economic forces and political gridlock in Washington, many cities are becoming the testing ground for new public policies to fight inequality and promote social mobility: local minimum wages, new affordable …

Systems Of Access: A Multidisciplinary Strategy For Assessing The Social Dimensions Of Sustainability, Christopher Wolsko, Elizabeth Marino, Thomas J. Doherty, Steve Fisher, Amanda S. Green, Briana Goodwin, Ryan Reese, Andrea Wirth

Library Faculty Research

The concept of access to natural resources has been a specific concern of economists and ecologists and is a distinct component in recent models of social sustainability. Using a series of conceptual and empirical examples, this article extends the notion of access broadly to social institutions and sociocultural norms. We argue that access may be usefully construed as an analytic tool that has direct applicability to many sustainability issues as it allows for cross-disciplinary and public engagement. Here the concept of access, linked to Amartya Sen’s theory of capabilities, also makes visible the multi-scaled and interconnected social processes that influence …

Developing Capacity, Skills, And Tobacco Control Networks To Address Tobacco-Related Disparities: Leadership And Advocacy Institute To Advance Minnesota’S Parity For Priority Populations (Laampp), Linda M. Bosma, Raffaele Vacca, Raymond G. Boyle, Jaime L. Martinez, Rod Lew

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Priority populations disproportionately experience tobacco-related disparities, despite population level declines in tobacco use. The Leadership and Advocacy Institute to Advance Minnesota’s Parity for Priority Populations (LAAMPP) recruits and trains African immigrants/African Americans, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders, American Indians, Chicano/Latinos, and LGBTQ community members to develop leaders to address tobacco harms in their communities. This paper describes and evaluates the LAAMPP Institute, and discusses lessons learned through the Institute and future directions for community-based tobacco-control efforts.

The mixed-methods evaluation included qualitative key informant interviews with LAAMPP Fellows and community and project contacts, a Skills Assessment Tool, project case studies, and a social …

"Mi Niño Con Asma": Hispanic/Latina Mothers, Environmental Justice, And Photovoice At The Front Lines Of The Asthma Epidemic, Robin A. Evans-Agnew Rn, Phd, Julie Postma Rn, Phd, Lee Sledd M. Ed

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Asthma is an important environmental justice concern for first generation Mexican-Americans. Families experience disparities in housing conditions, access to care, and legal marginalization. Little is known about how Hispanic/Latina mothers of children with asthma navigate these oppressions.

Problem: The purpose of this paper is to describe the discourses of environmental justice of a group Hispanic/Latina caregivers of children with asthma.

Method: A photovoice design was used with Hispanic/Latina mothers (n=11) in Tacoma, Washington, to take, discuss, select and display phototexts to policymakers that communicated their experiences and opinions in managing asthma for their child. Using critical narrative analysis, phototexts were …

The Construct And Predictive Validity Of Psychosocial Correlates Of Television Viewing, Raheem Paxton, Pascal Jean-Pierre, Saehwan Park, Yong Gao Dr., Stephen Herrmann, G J. Norman

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Background: Many studies have examined the consequences of prolonged television viewing, but few studies have examined the psychological states that contribute to this behavior. In this study, we evaluated the construct and predictive validity of psychosocial correlates of television viewing in a population of African American (AA) breast cancer survivors (BCS).

Methods: AA BCS (N = 342, Mean age = 54 years) completed measures of decisional balance, self-efficacy, family support, and time spent watching television online. Exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) was used to examine the construct and predictive validity as well as the differential item functioning of the instruments …

Balancing Coordinated Care With Tribal Sovereignty: Lesson’S From Oregon’S Medicaid Reform, Lydia E. Riley, R. Turner Goins, Stephanie Bernell

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

The purpose of this case study is to examine the efforts made by the legislature and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to involve Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes in the implementation of the revised Oregon Health Plan. We identified eight key informants, consisting of four tribal representatives and four state representatives, for interviews. Additionally, we identified the contact person from each newly-established Medicaid delivery network to determine if they had included the tribe(s) or planned to include the tribe(s) in their network. The OHA made some steps to ensure the inclusion of tribes in the planning and implementation process, but …

Development And Implementation Of A Culturally Tailored, Community-Based Intervention To Raise Awareness Of Brain Health Among African Americans, Mary Ann K. Hall, Ashani Johnson-Turbes, Felicia T. Fuller, Petra Niles, Shileah Cantey-Mcdonald

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

African Americans bear a disproportionate burden of age-related cognitive impairment in the United States compared to Whites or Hispanics. African Americans experience greater prevalence, higher risk, and lower rates of treatment and diagnosis for dementia. In response to these health disparities the Alzheimer’s Association developed and implemented the Healthy Brain Initiative (HBI) demonstration project, the first community-level intervention to help reduce health disparities related to cognitive impairment among African Americans. The HBI promotes awareness of brain health, understanding of the heart-brain connection, and seeks to increase African American baby boomers engagement in health-protective behaviors to promote brain and overall health. …

Small-Scale Societies Exhibit Fundamental Variation In The Role Of Intentions In Moral Judgment, H. C. Barrett, A Bolyanatz, Alyssa Crittenden, D. M.T. Fessler, S. Fitzpatrick, M. Gurven, J. Henrich, M. Kanovsky, G. Kushnick, A. Pisor, B. A. Scelza, S. Stich, C. Von Rueden, W. Zhao, S. Laurence

Anthropology Faculty Research

Intent and mitigating circumstances play a central role in moral and legal assessments in large-scale industrialized societies. Although these features of moral assessment are widely assumed to be universal, to date, they have only been studied in a narrow range of societies. We show that there is substantial cross-cultural variation among eight traditional small-scale societies (ranging from hunter-gatherer to pastoralist to horticulturalist) and two Western societies (one urban, one rural) in the extent to which intent and mitigating circumstances influence moral judgments. Although participants in all societies took such factors into account to some degree, they did so to very …

Explanatory Journalism, John Hudak

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

John Hudak discusses how members of the press help shed sunlight on the inner workings of government, expose flaws and problems in our system, and inform the citizenry, making journalism a cornerstone of a healthy democracy—and a subject deserving of careful consideration and thoughtful critique.

Reconciling The Rhetoric And Reality Of Student Loan Debt, Elizabeth Akers

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Student loan debt has increased over the past three decades. This lecture will identify the factors that led to that increase in student loan debt what economic and social factors drove that increase. The talk will also consider the economic effects of increased or decreased earnings generated by individuals with student loan debt. This analysis will present data to assess the validity of several widely-held beliefs about the impact of student loan debt in the United States (e.g., increased student loan debt is depressing the housing market) and apply data-backed evidence to determine ways in which current and proposed policies …

The Changing Geography Of Poverty & Opportunity In Nevada, Elizabeth Kneebone

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Today, suburbs are home to the largest and fastest growing poor population in the country. Regions like Las Vegas have been at the forefront of that trend since 2000. Elizabeth Kneebone, co-author of the book Confronting Suburban Poverty in America, will discuss the rapid growth of poverty and concentrated disadvantage in the suburbs; how these trends intersect with the changing location of affordable housing, services, transit, and jobs; and what the changing geography of poverty means for policymakers and practitioners in Nevada working to promote economic opportunity throughout the state.

What Is Light Rail And How Can It Benefit Las Vegas?, Robert E. Lang

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Brookings Mountain West will lead an analysis of selected rail transportation systems in place and under construction throughout the United States, with an emphasis on the development of light rail systems in America's western cities. The implications for developing a light rail system in the Las Vegas Valley, including the impact on traffic congestion, environmental conditions, and the larger metropolitan economy will be explored. In addition, Keolis, a rail and transit operator in the United States and Canada, will be available to discuss the light rail option from a technological perspective. This summit is brought to you by Brookings Mountain …

Tempo Perception Across Cultures: The Beat Is All It Takes, Kendall L. Lyons, Jessica E. Nave-Blodgett, Erin E. Hannon

AANAPISI Poster Presentations

• Dancing to music is a human universal that relies on beat perception.
• Listeners may infer the “tempo” or speed of music from:
• the time interval between beats;
• the density of events;
• higher-level features of musical temporal organization (the meter).
• The “Gabbling Foreigner Illusion” is the observation that listeners perceive unfamiliar languages as being faster than familiar ones.
• Even when music is the same speed, listeners tap faster to unfamiliar music.
• Does culture background impact how we perceive musical tempo?

Construction And Assembly Of A Hyperdrive Recording Implant, Andrew A. Ortiz, Ryan A. Wirt, James M. Hyman

AANAPISI Poster Presentations

The ability to record neural activity from multiple brain areas is crucial for the understanding of how different areas of the brain function or interact. This poster will cover instructions on how to construct and assemble a hyperdrive recording implant that bilaterally targets the ACC and the hippocampus. Intriguingly, the design of the hyperdrive recording implant is flexible and can be constructed to target other brain areas. The implant consists of 32 twisted bundles of tetrodes with a total of 128 individual recording wires which are controlled by movable ‘drivers’ (Gray et al., 1995; McNaughton et al., 1983). All 128 …

The Teshik-Tash Child: Evolutionary Montage During The Middle Paleolithic, Nirosh Moodley, Alesha Pettit

AANAPISI Poster Presentations

Discovered in 1938 in the Bajsun district of southern Uzbekistan, Teshik-Tash 1 represents a juvenile male hominin, aged between nine and eleven years old. He was classified as Homo neanderthalensis. Two pertinent characteristics of the find’s in situ context provided the backdrop for this classification. Firstly, the Teshik-Tash child was buried with associated grave goods surrounded by a Middle Paleolithic assemblage which has been described as “Mousterian-like” (Glantz et al, 2009: 45). Secondly, the very location of this find was the furthest eastern extent of hominin discoveries outside of the Levant. Recent research, however, challenges this boundary by questioning …

Homelessness In The Valley, Termaine Turner Ii, Christopher Wakefield

AANAPISI Poster Presentations

• In today’s society, there is a common belief that homeless people are the problem and that they have services at their disposal to end their homelessness. Yet, there is little consideration given to how society has influenced this population.
• Homelessness is a serious problem nationwide and is also a challenge to resolve once you have found yourself within the homeless community. It is important not to judge each homeless individual’s situation the same.
• The demographics of the homeless population is just as diverse as the factors that led to their homelessness.
• This paper examined the available literature on the contributing …

The Ideal Judge: How Implicit Bias Shapes Assessment Of State Judges, Rebecca D. Gill, Rafael Oganesyan

Political Science Faculty Research

Judicial Performance Evaluation (JPE) is generally seen as an important part of the merit system, which often suffers from a lack of relevant voter information. Utah’s JPE system has undergone significant change in recent years. Using data from the two most recent JPE surveys, we provide a preliminary look at the operation of this new system. Our results suggest that the survey component has difficulty distinguishing among the judges on the basis of relevant criteria. The question prompts intended to measure performance on different ABA categories are also indistinguishable. We find evidence that, on some measures, female judges do disproportionately …

Representation And Governance In International Organizations, David P. Rapkin, Jonathan R. Strand, Michael W. Trevathan

Political Science Faculty Research

What does representation mean when applied to international organizations? While many scholars working on normative questions related to global governance often make use of the concept of representation, few have addressed specifics of applying the concept to the rules and practices by which IOs operate. This article examines representation as a fundamental, albeit often neglected, norm of governance which, if perceived to be deficient or unfair, can interfere with other components of governance, as well as with performance of an organization’s core tasks by undermining legitimacy. We argue that the concept of representation has been neglected in the ongoing debates …

Improving Capstone Papers For Baccalaureate Nursing Students: With An Evidence-Based Partnership Between A Health Sciences Librarian And A Nurse Educator, Xan Goodman, Cheryl Perna, Pamela Marie Juniel, Rachelle Weigel

Library Faculty Presentations

This presentation will describe a partnership between a nursing faculty member and a health sciences librarian to improve capstone papers submitted by Baccalaureate Nursing students in the last semester of their program.

Academic health sciences librarians will find the description of partnering and applying evidence-based librarianship in the classroom informative, specifically for academic librarians who struggle with the question of, should librarians teach APA? This project involved: an instruction intervention, developing a rubric, scoring capstone papers and developing supplementary materials to support the capstone assignment.

The nursing faculty member noticed that the APA errors in capstone papers were egregious. To …

Using Single-Case Research Design To Assess Course-Embedded Research Consultations, John Watts

Library Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

Health Care Limitations Available To Transgender Teenagers: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Yessenia Madrigal, Michael Curtis

McNair Poster Presentations

This systematic review of literature explores the current academic literature that is available in regards to transgender teenagers, their healthcare options and the services that are available to these teenagers and any obstacles they face when seeking and obtaining healthcare services. This review specifically focuses on transgender teenagers and their family’s experiences and the lack of support given to them at different levels in different healthcare facilities. For this review a total of 29 articles were included in the final literature review and were categorized into different areas: the detrimental effects of non-accepting parents are explained healthcare options available, the …

“There Is No Such Thing As Single Issue Struggles”: Undocuqueer Students In Higher Education, Briceida Hernandez-Toledo, Anita Tijerina-Revilla

McNair Poster Presentations

• Immigration remains a controversial topic dominating domestic and international conversations about borders, migrants, and human rights.

• The undocuqueer movement and identity evolved from the immigrant rights movement of the early 2000s

• Undocuqueer immigrants are those who identify as undocumented and queer

• According to the Perez (2014), approximately 80,000 undocumented teens turn 18 every year, with 65,000 graduating from high school (cited by the Department of Education 2015, p. 3).

• only 54% of undocumented teens earn a high school degree, compared to 82% of their peers who earn it. • Extant research on this topic is …

Native American Identity: A Review Of Twenty-First Century Research, Bridgett G. Giordmaina, Carolee Dodge Francis

McNair Poster Presentations

The purpose of this literature review is to exam research on Native American identity within the social sciences in the twenty-first century in order to identify trends in research topics, various perspectives, and potential future studies, through the review of a sample of 86 publications relating to the topic of Native American identity. The sample was retrieved utilizing three scholarly databases across a wide range of fields of study. Publications are examined by area of focus and publication year.