Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Examining The Effects Of Leadership-Fostered Organizational Priorities On Employee Mental Health, Lauren Cornelio

Thinking Matters Symposium

This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge by addressing the gap in the current literature regarding how organizational priorities enacted by a leader foster a work environment that can impact the mental health of employees. Utilizing a qualitative research design grounded in phenomenology, this study explores employees’ subjective experiences within different organizational cultures. By adopting a phenomenological approach, the study uncovers nuanced insights into employees’ lived experiences, shedding light on the intricate interplay between organizational priorities determined by the leader and employee mental health. Data was collected through in-depth interviews, allowing participants to reflect upon their perceptions of …

Witches On The Wind: Weather Magic In New England Folktales, Zephyros Quinn Craven

Thinking Matters Symposium

The English language folktales collected from coastal New England in the 19^th and 20^th centuries display a prominence of weather magic motifs compared with folktales from other regions of the United States. This paper aims to explain the success of the weather magic theme in New England folklore collections and to serve as a starting point for scholarly discourse on the subject, which has hitherto been sparse. This study utilizes climate research, both scholarly and popular collections of folktales, local travel guides, and colonial and labor histories. Through a combination of historical analysis, comparative study, and textual analysis, …

Leading Development Of Skilled Workers: Transforming Unskilled Labor To Skilled Craft Labor In The Pulp And Paper Manufacturing Industry, Brian Barnes

Thinking Matters Symposium

The demand for entry level skilled trades workers in the pulp and paper industry has far outnumbered the supply of workers currently available in the United States. Many pulp and paper manufactures have dozens or even hundreds of unfilled high paying jobs with great benefits currently available. Concurrently to this, an available workforce of unskilled workers with little to no formal technical training remains available. These unskilled workers are frequently working in lower wage jobs with poor benefits that offer very little opportunity for advancement. This research explores and attempts to identify what is the most effective process that can …

A Guide To Vowel Pronunciation In Passamaquoddy-Wolastoqey, Penobscot, And Abenaki, Greyson Kurtz

Thinking Matters Symposium

There are many structural and cultural barriers to learning Wabanaki languages. These barriers are compounded by the fact that Abenaki, Penobscot, and Passamaquoddy use similar but varying writing systems. This issue was not contrived, but arose through the independent development of these writing systems. The key difference lies in the vowels; vowels are often among the first sounds to shift in any given language, and these three languages have followed this pattern. Any modern word that comes from a shared Proto-Eastern Algonquian root and appears in Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, and Abenaki will exhibit clear systematic variation in the pronunciation of their …

Economic Empowerment Through Art, Ava Ellis

Thinking Matters Symposium

Economic Empowerment Through Art: Final Abstract

Ava Ellis, Shaw Innovation Fellow, USM, MSW graduate student

My research project focused on using drawing and one-to-one art workshops as a way into discussing money habits. Participants shared their beliefs about money and responses to questions about money. They considered ways they may want to alter habits related to money within the 1 hour workshop, art was used as a scaffold to envision future-oriented economic goals. Participants mentioned uncertainty regarding financial planning and a lack of education regarding money in childhood. All felt they often needed more financial insight, in terms of developing …

Word Order Variation In "The Canterbury Tales", April Kurtz

Thinking Matters Symposium

Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales” is a collection of stories told from the perspective of various people on pilgrimage to Canterbury, England, in the late 14^th century. The tales vary in both content and style, in a way that reflects personality traits and background of the teller of the tale. This study explores whether syntactic structure, specifically word order, varies systematically for different characters. At the time, both English and French word order had recently shifted from verb-final to subject-verb-object. Verb-final order, though still grammatical, was much less common. Since the use of older vs. newer structures tends to signal …

Assessing The Impact Of Inequality On Political Activity And Class Consciousness, Matthew Prouty

Thinking Matters Symposium

Since 1980, the United States has experienced stagnating wages, higher levels of inequality, and intensifying political polarization. Despite this, U.S. domestic economic policy has not undergone the fundamental transformation needed to combat these systemic challenges. Why have these policies remained in place when they have a negative impact on the aggregate working class, and why has the working class not used American Democracy to change these policies? Could it be that the rising inequality has led to reduced political engagement with the remaining voters being more devout participants to their ideology than effective policy? Although there is an abundance of …

A Model For Equity In Arts Education For Youth In Greater Portland, Maine, Catherine Scheirer

Thinking Matters Symposium

Time and time again, by providing an outlet that allows innate human creativity to roam free, participation in arts activities such as dance, music, theatre, and visual arts is proven to have significant positive impacts on participants, regardless of age, experience, or background. Even though the arts have been acknowledged as critical for mental, physical, and emotional health, especially for children and adolescents, research has found that providing arts education in an equitable and culturally appropriate way is fraught with barriers. In addition, certain areas of the arts have seen a downward trend in educational priority and availability. My project …

Identifying The Support Women Entrepreneurs In Rural Maine Need From Each Other And Their Communities To Thrive, Lisa Luken

Thinking Matters Symposium

Rural women entrepreneurs have the power to positively impact the sustainability of their communities, yet they are faced with internal and external challenges in their pursuits to grow successful businesses and create sustainable livelihoods. While a number of scholars in the past 10 years investigated these challenges and suggested some solutions, more research is needed to identify additional solutions, including those specifically relevant to rural Maine communities. This qualitative study explored the support women entrepreneurs in rural Maine need from each other and their communities to thrive. Data gathered through semi-structured interviews with eleven women entrepreneurs from rural Maine revealed …

Transgender Experiences In Healthcare, Paige Grover

Thinking Matters Symposium

No abstract provided.

Substance Use & Misuse Disorder Among Immigrant Youths, John Sebit, John O. Sebit

Thinking Matters Symposium

No abstract provided.

Working With Interpreters In Refugee Mental Health, Kerstin Kirchner

Thinking Matters Symposium

For refugees, limited English proficiency hinders access to healthcare services. The language barrier significantly affects mental health and represents the most fundamental challenge preventing refugees from accessing mental health services. Previous research focused primarily on the role and impact of interpreters in mental healthcare. The existing literature unequivocally supports interpreters’ unique challenges and dynamics when working with refugees in mental health. We used a questionnaire-based survey to identify the need of interpreters in mental health. Questions were designed as closed-ended questions that would lead to a more appropriate response, are easy to understand and answer, and help obtain measurable data. …

What About The ‘R’ In Riot? : A Comprehensive Examination Of School Psychologists’ Record Review Processes, Hannah Luken

Thinking Matters Symposium

This poster aimed to describe part of a doctoral dissertation research study that comprehensively investigated school psychologists’ record review practices. Record reviews are a crucial part of the psychoeducational evaluation process (i.e., RIOT method), and there is relatively little previous research literature on this topic. This poster describes the following results: when record reviews are conducted, the amount of time is spent on each part of the RIOT method for initial and reevaluations, and record review approaches. The survey was distributed to school psychologists across the United States via school psychology state associations and Facebook. Results were analyzed via measures …

Conceptualizations Of Love In Social Work: A Naturalistic Inquiry, Galen Perkins

Thinking Matters Symposium

Love is recognized as healing, transformative, and emancipatory, and yet, conceptualizations of love are largely absent in social work—a field guided by core principles such as social justice, self-determination, and service. The limited number of studies on love in social work describe love as critical consciousness or a liberatory ethic to be practiced. Primarily participatory in design, these studies speak from the perspective of practitioners. The purpose of this study is to continue inquiring about how love is known among social work practitioners; in particular, we are asking the question, “how do licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs) conceptualize love in …

Women And Gender Studies And The Potentiality Of Feminist Leadership, Clara Perka

Thinking Matters Symposium

Graduates of Women and Gender Studies (WGS) programs gain skills that aid in the development of a feminist leadership, a leadership practice that is committed to challenging oppressive structures and institutions and empowering others to reach their full potential. Through semi-structured interviews, this qualitative study explored the experiences of five graduates of WGS undergraduate programs in the Northeast region of the United States whose post-graduation work across a variety of professional fields has offered them opportunities to practice feminist leadership. While research on both WGS and Leadership is abundant, this research addresses the gap in the literature on feminist leadership …

Political Attitudes, Outward Aggression, And Self-Directed Violence, Christopher Holloway

Thinking Matters Symposium

Violence has increased at political events and marches in the last several years, particularly during the Trump presidency and marked by the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Research has been conducted on approval of political violence, but little is known about political attitudes and how they relate to the likelihood of engaging in everyday generalized violence. Furthermore, violence against others and violence against the self, such as suicide, are usually treated and studied separately. This study hopes to identify what relationships, if any, exist between political attitudes and violence, both outward and self-directed. Participants (N = 153) completed …

The Maine Archaeology Cultural Heritage Guide, Colleen Metcalf

Thinking Matters Symposium

Public outreach is an important aspect of modern archaeology, it can help shape how people understand their past, and help them navigate their place in today’s world. As an archaeology-based public outreach effort, the Maine archaeology cultural heritage guide compiles information about one hundred selected archaeological sites across the state of Maine. The selected sites represent the unique history of Maine and have both historical and cultural significance. Information collected about each site includes: name, location, NRHP status, geo-coordinates, watershed, time period, native tribal affiliation, historical significance, curation, and excavators. The organization of information about these sites into a comprehensive …

To What Extent Has Covid19 Impacted Substance Use Among Homeless Populations In Portland, Maine, Daniela Mason, Madison Chadbourne

Thinking Matters Symposium

COVID19 pandemic has vastly impacted all populations within our society, homeless populations in particular. This study aims to uncover how the COVID19 pandemic has affected substance use among the homeless population in Portland, Maine. In particular, this study asks to what extent has COVID19 impacted substance use among homeless populations in Portland, Maine? We asked individuals to participate via convenience sampling, whereby anonymous surveys were completed through Survey Monkey by staff members employed at Preble Street in Portland, ME, who have worked directly with the homeless population during the COVID-19 pandemic. We expect the results to suggest an increase in …

A Path For Evidenced-Based Evaluation: The Case For Restorative Justice, Raúl D. Gierbolini-Rivera, Atc,Cscs

Thinking Matters Symposium

No abstract provided.

Implications Of Self-Care For Clinical Social Workers, Katelyn Costa, Joelle Cote-Powell

Thinking Matters Symposium

Recent research has shed light on the impacts of burnout on mental health practitioners and the benefits of self-care practices both in their workplace and personal lives. The research question guiding this study is as follows: What might be the effects of self-care on social work professional practitioners’ well-being? Clinical social workers in Cumberland County, Maine, were surveyed to assess the current level of self-care and the effects this has on clinical social workers and their clients. The research hypothesizes the need for a stronger emphasis on self-care among clinical social workers. An increased focus on self-care in social work …

A Crack In The Glass Ceiling: How Trio Programs In Maine Are Narrowing The Gender Gap, Michelle Richards

Thinking Matters Symposium

Although women have increased their presence within the workforce, higher education, and politics, they are still underrepresented in top leadership positions. Men outnumber women in the Senate, House of Representatives, Congress, and at the CEO level. Even in the nonprofit sector where women have historically outnumbered men, the top leadership positions are primarily held by men. However, there is a predominance of women directors in Maine’s TRIO programs. TRIO programs are federally funded non-profit organizations designed to encourage access to higher education for economically disadvantaged and first-generation students (Council for Opportunity in Education, n.d.). There are 23 TRIO programs in …

Courageous Followership And Leadership In Higher Education: The Professional Relationship Between Presidential Assistants And Their Leaders, Lisa Smith

Thinking Matters Symposium

The term courageous followership was introduced over fifteen years ago by author Ira Chaleff in his book The Courageous Follower: Standing up to and for our leaders (2009). While the concept of courageous followership is relatively new in leadership theory models, the idea has shifted from the all-powerful leader and submissive follower model to a more dynamic model that supports and balances leadership today (Chaleff, 2009). Whether an institution has a more hierarchical or a shared leadership model, some power exists in the leaders and some in the followers (Chaleff, 2009). To this end, a professional relationship between an assistant …

Veterinary End-Of-Life Care And Euthanasia In The Age Of Covid-19: A Qualitative Study Of Provider Perspectives, Elizabeth Chalmers, River Hodgdon

Thinking Matters Symposium

Veterinary staff experience job-specific psychological stress from both providing medical care to pets and supporting pet-owner clients through end-of-life care and the euthanasia process. COVID-19 has impacted the provision of veterinary care and substantially affected communication between providers and pet owners. This phenomenological research project explores the experiences of veterinary staff who provide end-of-life care and perform euthanasia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our research question is, what is the lived experience of veterinary staff who provide end-of-life care and perform euthanasia in the age of COVID-19? Participants for this qualitative study were recruited and interviewed using criterion sampling from four …

The Transmission Of Intergenerational Trauma: Conversations With Mental Health Professionals, Donnielle Woods Msw Candidate, Kayla Horner Msw Candidate, Adam Quinn Ph. D., Msw

Thinking Matters Symposium

Intergenerational trauma refers to the impact a traumatic experience has on subsequent generations that were not directly exposed to the original traumatic event. Existing research has shown that trauma affects subsequent generations biologically, culturally, and emotionally. The current study explored the question: To what extent, if any, does intergenerational trauma affect and transmit among African and Middle Eastern American subgroups living in Portland, Maine? This qualitative study utilized a phenomenological approach. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with staff employed at local agencies who work directly with African and Middle Eastern migrant families. We hypothesized that intergenerational trauma is being transmitted …

Substance Use And Misuse Among Lgbtqi+ Adolescents, Delaney Dow, Katherine Buzzell

Thinking Matters Symposium

Prior research suggests that LGBTQI+ adolescents use substances earlier and at higher rates than their heterosexual, cisgender peers. The research question for this study is “to what degree, if any, does substance use and misuse affect LGBTQI+ adolescents?” The existing data was extracted from the Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey. In particular, the authors focused on survey data from Maine high schools, consisting of adolescents in grades 9 through 12. Through the analysis of this survey data, the authors expect to confirm that substance use and misuse occur at higher rates among LGBTQI+ adolescents. The authors’ findings will contribute to …

Targeting The Needs Of Aging Lgbtq+: Addressing Barriers To Healthcare Access, Susan Wiley, Danielle Lachance

Thinking Matters Symposium

This research project aims to gather further insight of challenges aging LGBTQ+ individuals face while accessing healthcare; specifically nursing care facilities in the state of Maine. This is an exploratory pilot study that used mixed methods of quantitative survey questions and included open-ended questions. The researchers used a nonrandom, purposive sampling of LGBTQ+ individuals aged 65+ who are accessing residential nursing care, nursing care facility staff members, and family members of LGBTQ+ actively or previously in residential care facilities. For the purpose of this research project “healthcare services'' will refer specifically to residential nursing care facilities. Prior research indicates aging …

The Experiences Of Staff Working With Immigrant Students Who Have Experienced Trauma, Paula Hernandez, Jessica Mccaffrey, Gabby Poulin

Thinking Matters Symposium

There is ample research about immigrant students’ experiences in the school system (Womach, 2020), as well as the impact of trauma on learning (Gerrish, 2020), however there is limited research that reports on the experiences of school staff and what their needs are in order to best support immigrant students. The present study utilizes qualitative research methods to explore the experiences of school staff who engage with immigrant students who have experienced trauma. Researchers recruited public school employees from Lewiston and Portland school districts in Maine for participation in the study. The roles of the employees included teachers, social workers, …

Impact Of Viewing Fatphobic Messages On Facebook In Generation X, Emily Gobi, Anna Biasin, Emily Baronfeld

Thinking Matters Symposium

Social media has been found to directly affect body image dissatisfaction (BID), which is defined as a discrepancy between how a person views their weight, shape and size, and what is indicated by objective measures (Silva et al., 2011). Previous studies on body image and social media have mostly been limited to women and girls (Ginsberg et al., 2015), and little research is available for individuals past early adulthood. The current study surveyed individuals from Generation X, defined as anyone born between 1965 and 1980. In addition, this study recruited participants from all genders, asking participants to self-identify as male, …

Child Welfare Service Worker's Perspective Of The Juvenile Justice System, Valorie Antone, Kathryn Whitehead, Alexander Comeau, Zoe Donvan

Thinking Matters Symposium

Prior literature indicates youth who have had adverse childhood events or are diagnosed with a mental illness are more likely to become involved in the juvenile justice system (Chappard & Maggard, 2020). While research has been performed to involve juvenile justice workers and juveniles that have been involved in the system, there has been little involvement by the child welfare workers who have followed the trajectory of the youth from the beginning of involvement. This study investigates the perceptions of child welfare workers regarding youth involvement in the criminal justice system, addressing a current gap in the literature. In terms …

Caregiver Incarceration, Stigma, & Mental Health, Megan West, Megan Madden, Ramsey Wilson, Brandon Pelletier

Thinking Matters Symposium

Parental incarceration has adverse effects on children and young adults socially, physically, and mentally (Phillips et al., 2002). Caregivers with either past or present incarceration experiences increase adolescents’ tendency to correlate behaviors with exposures to traumatic events (Kautz, 2017). Our research question for this project is, “what is known about perceived stigma, mental health symptoms, and caregiver incarceration?” A systematic literature review has been conducted to determine various themes that arise in research examining stigma, mental health symptoms, and parental incarceration. The group has been conducting this research through twenty-eight separate databases in order to compare themes that have been …