Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Empowering Mothers: A Conceptual Model For Promoting Perinatal Mental Wellness Among Women In The United States, Kayla Acklin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Globally, there are certain expectations surrounding becoming a mother related to pregnancy and the birth. For many women, the birth of a child represents a natural event filled with joy. Societally, the expectation is that pregnancy, birth, and the transition into motherhood are normal, positive experiences for all women (Davis-Floyd & Cheyney, 2019). However, research shows that some women develop impairments in physical and mental health functioning and wellbeing as a result of the major physical and psychosocial changes that take place during the transition into motherhood (Austin et al., 2010; Ayers & Pickering, 2001; O’Hara et al., 2014).

This …

You Are Not Welcome Here: Sloterdijk’S Posthumanism And The Rhetoric Of Hostile Urban Architecture And Design, Brandon William Aungst

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation brings together three scholarship areas: rhetorical theory and analysis, hostile urban architecture and design, and Sloterdijk’s version of posthumanism. I synthesize these complementary areas to address the following questions: How do architecture and design contribute to the rhetorical meaning-making of being human and facilitate the communication of that meaning to others? How do different types of architecture and design produce the material contexts for conceptualizing what humanness means and contribute to the development of fore-structures for interpreting and communicating that humanness (e.g., hostile architecture and barbed wire)? How can we conceptualize various types of architecture and design, or …

An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis Of Psychotherapists' Experiences Of Vulnerability, Kay Yu Yuan Chai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the service of forging a deep authentic connection that has the power to heal and transform, psychotherapists create and hold space for their patients to show themselves in a deeply vulnerable manner so that they can be known and accepted as they are. At the same time, psychotherapists are also flawed and wounded mortal beings who cannot help but bring their own woundedness, personalities, and limitations into the space, and must negotiate the delicate balance between restraint and expressiveness of their vulnerability. This study is a phenomenological inquiry into how psychotherapists experience their vulnerability given the demands of their …

The Effects Of Asian Immigrant Parent Implemented Training On Mand Acquisition Of Children With Autism, Xiaohan Chen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Asian population is proportionally the fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States and Asian parents often hold different opinions on family functioning and childrearing. However, there has been no research conducted to examine how to best train parents from Asian immigrant backgrounds to teach manding to their children with autism at home. A behavioral skills training (BST) package was utilized to teach three Asian parents to train their children with autism aged between 6-12 to mand for preferred items. A multiple-baseline-across-participants design was used to evaluate the effects of parent training on parent participants’ implementation of mand training task analysis …

Civil Religion And The Second Amendment, Shivaun Corry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The American approach to legal hermeneutics emerged from the covenant theology of the Puritans. American civil religion understands the Constitution to be based in natural laws: a secularized conception of God-given rights. To change the text would collapse the epistemological framework of the nation. When a nation sees its constitution as a sacred text, then the answer to contemporary problems cannot be to change that text; rather, it must be to return to the text with an even more fundamentalist hermeneutic. Both gun rights advocate Charlton Heston, and gun control advocate Barak Obama, argued their cases using a fundamentalist hermeneutic, …

School Counseling In An Oppressed Society: Examining The Relationships Between Social Justice Advocacy Competence, Empowerment, And Social Justice Self-Efficacy, Michelle Tanner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current nature of oppression that exists in the United States can be seen in the structure and process of American schools, impacting students’ social/emotional, academic, and career development. The defined role of school counselors along with their educational background; strategic position within schools to make meaningful change; access to critical student, teacher, family, and community data; and their professional dispositions and experience make them the most logical choice to help remove systemic barriers and to create equitable opportunities for the marginalized students. School counselors must work as social justice advocates to lead these diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts; however, …

Technology And Pleasure: A Qualitative Study On Using Mobile Applications For Online And Offline Sexual Purposes, Gabriella Locke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The internet has long been considered an accessible, anonymous, and affordable platform for sexuality and the emergence of smartphone applications has made facilitating online and offline sexual behaviors even easier for young adults. Despite the increase, there continues to be a lack of detailed research on the experiences of young adults who use these types of applications. This qualitative study explored how young adults use mobile applications to engage in online and offline sexual behaviors and the motivations and perceived benefits and risks of such behavior. This study, analyzed using inductive thematic analysis, completed eight semi-structed interviews with individuals between …

Teachers’ Stress, Anxiety, And Depression: What Are Special Education Teachers Experiencing?, James H. Potter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown that people in the teaching profession have high levels of stress and often report increased levels of symptoms of anxiety and depression. Students’ academic progress may have adverse effects when their teachers have high-stress levels or report mental distress. Those who teach special education often face high levels of stress. However, there is little research considering special education teachers’ job-related health. This study collected data on 598 general and special education teachers in the United States. This study compared the endorsements of both stress and psychopathology between special education and general education teachers. This research found that …

K-12 Economically Disadvantaged Students, Poverty, And Education: Ecological Narratives Of Successful Raised-In-Poverty, Texas Educators, Rebecca N. Morris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research study aimed to understand how successful Texas educators who grew up in poverty understood and improved the educational experience of economically disadvantaged students. This study utilized a structural ecological theory and three theories of social relationships (Social Identity, Standpoint, and Cultural Capital). This phenomenological and qualitative study used a cross-sectional, descriptive, online case study design rooted in narrative nonfiction. Virtual interviews with six successful Texas educators that grew up in poverty were conducted. A narrative method of analysis was utilized to generate codes then organize them into themes, and to construct and compare the narrative findings. The results …

Coherence, Travis Walthall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

COHERENCE is a series of oil paintings and pen drawings that explores open narratives, or different ways to read artwork. The paintings and drawings showcase harmony, or tension, between ambiguous and representational forms. The visual experience requires the viewer to create their own narrative and decipher forms to do so. COHERENCE is a psychological and aesthetic exhibition fueled from human experience— one of fragility, uncertainty, imperfection, beauty, faith and memories.

Religiosity, Outgroup Contact, Postconventional Religious Reasoning, And Their Associations With Christians' Prejudice Against Sexual And Gender Minorities., Lucas Huckaby

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the last few decades there has been a resurgence of work investigating topics around religion and spirituality (R/S), with the majority of the literature demonstrating associations with positive outcome variables. However, R/S factors have also shown significant relationships with some negative outcomes, most notably prejudice towards sexual and gender minorities (SGM). Following the call of researchers, this study investigates the hypothesized positive relationship between postconventional religious reasoning (PRR), defined as an individual’s ability to engage in critical thinking around R/S ideas while also demonstrating increased perspective-taking, along with other known covariates of prejudice against SGM (religiosity, outgroup contact) to …

Correctional Officers' Response To Stress: An Exploration Of The Associations Between Violence And Trauma Exposure, Coping Mechanisms, And Ptsd., Katie Lorraine Hughes-Taylor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study examines correctional officer coping mechanisms and whether they impact the likelihood of an officer developing PTSD symptoms. Additionally, research questions focus on whether problem-focused or emotion-focused coping mechanisms moderate the relationship between exposure to trauma and PTSD symptoms. The data for the current dissertation comes from a larger National Institute of Justice grant determined to examine mindfulness as an intervention for correctional officer PTSD within Kentucky Department of Corrections. Approximately 245 officers from seven adult institutions participated in the study and completed a lengthy survey. Main variables for the current analysis include two dependent variables, both of …

Re-Visiting The Flutie Effect: An Exploration Of Athletic Success' Impact On Student Enrollment Decisions., Addison Pond

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With each passing year, FBS collegiate athletic departments are faced with increased expenditures (Huml et al., 2019). Subsequently, institutional funding has become an increasingly common and controversial method of athletic department funding (Jewell, 2020). These spending and subsidization patterns are commonly met with controversy, causing the need to further unpack the benefits that schools receive from these behaviors. One anticipated benefit of athletic success is increased numbers of student applications. While the impact of football and basketball success on student interest (the “Flutie Effect) has been a popular topic in sport management literature, there is a lack of primary data …

Major League Baseball Fans’ Climate Change Attitudes And Willingness To Adapt: Climate Vulnerability Vs. America’S Pastime., Jessica R. Murfree

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Climate change threatens the ability to enjoy sport around the world, including in the United States. While the scientific community reached consensus regarding the presence and severity of climate change near the turn of the twenty-first century, that same agreement has not been met across the American general public. Major League Baseball (MLB) is particularly vulnerable to climate change in the U.S. due to its season duration, geographic footprint, and largely outdoor nature. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between U.S.-based MLB fans’ sport identification and their climate change attitudes, perceptions of climate change risk, and …

Exploring Socialization Processes For Leisure-Based Esports: A Qualitative Study., Joseph R. Brewer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzed the perspectives of leisure-based esports participants from a Facebook group dedicated to a popular fighting game as esports. This study used a grounded theoretical approach, and several orienting theories/concepts (Serious Leisure, Recreation Specialization, social worlds, and the performance ethic) were used to study socialization into – and through – leisure-based esports participation. Based on ten interviews conducted from September through October 2020, this study found that if individuals were introduced to esports from the performance ethic, they tended to be socialized into social themes associated with the activity and vice versa. Through esports, participants were taught thoughts, …

Defending Judge Roy Moore: A Case Study Of Persuasion Resistance Strategies., Stephen F. Brockman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored what kind of persuasive resistance strategies people used when faced with information that was contrary to their existing belief system. A typology of resistance strategies as articulated by Fransen, Smit, & Verlegh (2015), was used to guide the development of a coding system. I coded the public quotes of supporters of a political candidate after sexual misconduct allegations came to light. The first research question investigated was: What kinds of persuasion resistance strategies were Roy Moore supporters most likely to use? The second was: What kinds of persuasion resistance strategies used tended to co-occur? The most important …

Conceptualizing The Psychosocial Elements That Should Be Assessed In Candidates For Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: Social Workers' And Psychologists' Perspectives., Jill Randall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: In the United States, approximately 23,000 hematopoietic cell transplantations (HCT), also known as a bone marrow transplant, are performed annually. Patients who undergo HCT are among the most acutely ill and medically vulnerable oncology populations. Given the arduous nature of HCT, patients undergo an extensive pre-transplant evaluation that typically includes psychosocial assessment. The literature lacks a well-defined conceptual framework of the psychosocial elements that should be assessed in HCT candidates. This has led to practice variation, which has in turn inhibited high quality psychosocial research. Method: Social workers and psychologists in HCT were recruited to participate in a concept …

Parents' Perceptions Of Leisure Constraints And Facilitators In Elite Youth Soccer: A Phenomenological Approach., Chelsea C. Police

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine perceived constraints and facilitators among parents and guardians as key stakeholders in elite youth soccer clubs. Specifically, this study identified constraints and facilitators affecting continued participation, negotiation strategies employed to help overcome constraints, demonstrated the role of parents and guardians play in organizational success, and illustrated their stakeholder salience. The present study utilized leisure constraint and stakeholder theories as the theoretical foundation. Leisure constraint theory outlined the three categories of constraints (and facilitators), which are intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural. Stakeholder theory described how constituent groups affect organizational success by examining their specific …

Presence Of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 In Urban Streams Receiving Sewer Overflow, Louisville, Kentucky, Usa., Cullen Hunter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pathogens may enter surface waters as they are shed in human feces and potentially delivered to surface waters via sewer overflows, particularly in the eastern United States. This study examined of the presence of fecal indicators in two forks of Beargrass Creek in Louisville, Kentucky. Surface water grab samples (N=30), sediment samples, water quality, and a paired wastewater surveillance study were analyzed. SARS-CoV-2 was detected in a single stream sample despite ubiquitous presence of the virus within the area in wastewater and consistent evidence of a human fecal indicator. These findings demonstrate the need for more green and gray infrastructure …

A Spatial Analysis Of Supply-Demand Of Public Transportation In Jefferson County, Kentucky., Nastaran Abdoli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Public transportation is important as it serves individuals, especially the transit-dependent population, by providing a basic mobility service to these people and all others who rely on public transportation. This research utilized estimating public transportation demand and supply to analyze the spatial patterns of public transportation in Jefferson County, Kentucky. The study focuses on the transit-dependent population, and it considers indicators of age, poverty status, vehicle ownership, and foreign-born population with less than five years residency in the United States. This study conducted a public transit supply-demand analysis to identify areas with imbalanced supply and demand in Jefferson County at …

The Lived Experience Of Women With Head & Neck Cancer And The Impact On Close Relationships., Georgia Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Head and neck cancer (HNC) is emotionally and physically burdensome to people who are diagnosed with this disease. In the United States, nearly 30% of people diagnosed with HNC are women. Studies about depression and anxiety in this population have been conducted for decades; however, there are no studies that specifically examine the psychosocial implications of this disease from the perspective of women. Method: Women diagnosed with HNC were recruited from two academic medical centers in the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana tri-state area to explore the lived experience of women with HNC and how this disease impacts their close relationships. Semi-structured interviews …

Incidental Exposure, Political Activity And Perceived Trust., Brianna Berry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study examines the concept of incidental versus traditional exposure to information through the context of a police brutality incident. Incidental exposure on social media is when a person is exposed to information or imagery without prior warning. It is hypothesized that 1) individuals who are incidentally exposed to a graphic police brutality event will be more likely to participate in politics and 2) will have lower perceived trust in the government. This randomized study utilizes two treatments (incidental exposure and traditional exposure) and a control group. Analysis of the data shows that support for H₁ is only …

Shifting Sands., Rachid Tagoulla

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Shifting Sands is a re-exploration of the presentation of North Africans in colonial postcards, an examination of identity, and a critique of the modern Western museum. Since the inception of photography, colonizers used this medium- especially in the form of postcards- to categorize and exoticize Eastern peoples in order to more easily subjugate them. Shifting Sands is a series of reconstructed colonial postcards which challenges colonial-era stereotypes of North African peoples. The colonial gaze, represented by the camera lens, is subverted through a lensless image-making process in which sand is used to remove the subject from the colonial gaze and …

The Rise Of The Nones: Religion, Leaners, And Their Connection With Partisanship In America., Kevin C. Orr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is based on the rise of the so-called “nones” in America - those who do not identify as religious - which has been a rapidly increasingly subgroup in the country. Along with the increase of the nones, religious belief and religious behavior have also been decreasing, showing a larger trend across the nation of a society detaching from religion. Nonetheless, religion in politics is still very visible. Additionally, another subgroup of America, the “leaners” - those who identify as Independents who lean towards Democrat or Republican - are a similar type of group to the nones in their …

Black Men Wanted: An Instrumental Case Study Exploring The Situational Factors Related To The Retention Of African American Male High School Teachers., Christopher Kevin Flores

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the nation’s high school student population becomes increasingly diverse, the declining number of minority teachers, particularly African American male teachers is becoming an area of concern. This instrumental case study of African American male high school teachers in the Fayette County Public School system in Lexington, Kentucky sought to identify the motivations for teaching, the barriers prior to and during teaching, as well as the roles these individuals are asked to fulfill in their schools. Using purposeful sampling, 10 individuals participated in semi-structured interviews aimed at providing insight to the three research questions related to motivations, barriers, and roles. …

Skin Deep: Body Modification And Agentic Identities Among Women With Skin Conditions, Christopher Walonski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores processes of identity construction among women who have skin conditions and body modifications. Analyzing seven semi-structured qualitative interviews, the author examines how individuals affected by skin conditions employ body modification practices to organize their identities and promote feelings of agency across both personal and social domains. Engaging a Bakhtinian dialogic lens, the author argues that body modification may operate as a de-stigmatization strategy that supports individuals with skin conditions in cultivating a sense of self-determination and bodily sovereignty. Shaped by grounded theory, this study’s findings trace relationships between body modification and the development of agentic identities among …

An Exploration Of Factors Related To Recidivism Rates Among Mentally Ill Parolees, Sierra Kitzmiller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although criminality among mentally ill individuals is a well-documented phenomenon, limited research has focused on specific factors that need to be addressed to combat this issue. Utilizing the theoretical framework of Shaw and McKay’s (1942) Social Disorganization Theory, in conjunction with collective efficacy (Sampson et al., 1997) and social capital (Coleman, 1988), different factors were explored in an attempt to discover their relationship with recidivism. Using secondary data from Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies, variables such as homelessness, unemployment, and religious importance were analyzed in relation to rearrest rates from 889 parolees nine months post-release. Marriage, sex, and age …

The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence In The Customer Journey: A Case Study Of Bosch Usa And Defy South Africa, Tariro S. Munyengeterwa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to gain traction and is increasingly reshaping the media and marketing communications field. While significant research has been conducted on the impact of AI in other fields, there is little empirical evidence on how AI is affecting the customer journey. The present study explored both organizations’ current use of AI tools and how customer perceptions about AI affect AI usage and adoption through the lens of diffusion of innovation theory. The research was conducted using mixed-method qualitative research. In-depth interviews and a case study content analysis were conducted to collect and analyze the data. The results …

Perceptions Of Roane State Community College Presidents On The Events Shaping The Institution’S Leadership History, John Norris Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A major focus of policymakers in recent years has been community colleges, which have been viewed as potential engines for economic advancement and student success. I examined the leadership history of Roane State Community College, a two-year institution of higher learning serving a nine-county service area mostly in rural East Tennessee as perceived by individuals who have served as the college’s presidents. Five current and former presidents were interviewed about their experiences as president and their perceptions of the college’s history. Narrative research was used to recount a history of Roane State Community College, and the key events and factors …

A Qualitative Investigation Into The Trauma Exhibited By First Responders Tackling The Opioid Epidemic In Tennessee, Thalia Sullivan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent increases in opioid overdose rates have changed the role of first responders on the front lines of this national crisis. The present study used a semi-structured qualitative interview to investigate how the increase in opioids, opioid-related harm, and opioid-related death within Tennessee has affected the first responder population. Law enforcement officers, firefighters, and paramedics (N = 30) from rural-serving counties in Tennessee completed a semi-structured interview. Eight themes emerged from the interviews: (1) mental health symptoms, including posttraumatic stress disorder and secondary traumatic stress symptoms; (2) coping behaviors; (3) available resources; (4) barriers to accessing resources; (5) recommendations …