Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Aid Effectiveness In Afghanistan: The Role Of Local Human Capacity In Explaining The Health Sector's Success, Ahmad Najim Dost

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The effectiveness of development assistance is one of the most contested debates in international development studies. While some of its most ardent supporters consider aid as the key to solving the plight of the developing world (e.g. Sachs 2006), its opponents consider it as part of the problem rather than the solution (e.g. Moyo 2009). By investigating the case of Afghanistan as one of the world's largest aid recipients from 2002 to 2014, I show that one reason for arriving at such diametrically opposed conclusions lies in the narrow definition of aid effectiveness as income growth rates. When this definition …

It's A Whole New Ball Game: The Mitchell Report, Performance Enhancing Drugs, And Professional Sports, Brian J. Schrader

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the findings of a congressional investigation into the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) in Major League Baseball, known as the Mitchell Report. It analyzes the primary arguments presented in the report, the argument for integrity, role-models, and apology specifically, through the lens of governmentality and moral regulation. It argues that the report represents a distinct mode of governance that seeks to condemn PED use in a moralizing way. This mode of governance is characterized by its emergence from a variety of locations as opposed to the relatively simple use of the state and its legal apparatus. …

The Adoption Of Feminist Policies Under Conservative Governments, Malliga Och

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation sheds light on the role conservative governments play in promoting feminist policies despite an inherent tension between conservative principles and feminist claims. It is critical to focus on the process by which conservative governments adopt or reject feminist policies not only because we know little about the process, but also because conservative governments represent the least likely case. As such, we can learn more from the case of conservative governments than from the experience of leftist parties as it allows us to understand the influence of variables beyond an egalitarian ideology. Specifically, the dissertation will consider feminist policies …

Influence Of Self-Stigma, Distress Disclosure, And Self-Compassion On Post-Traumatic Stress Reactions In Deployment Veterans, June Marie Ashley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Military deployments can contribute to significant changes among the service members who experience them. Particularly regarding traumatic or highly stressful deployment experiences, the potential exists for posttraumatic stress reactions with both detrimental outcomes and beneficial influence. The present study explored this spectrum of reactions through the lenses of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PTG). Given the well-researched presence of stigma within military culture toward psychological distress, consideration was given to how stigma may influence severity of PTSD and degree of PTG. Rather than focusing on public stigma, the present study explored the possible influence of internalized stigma, known …

Identifying Spiritual Themes In Narratives Of Young Adults Who Have Aged Out Of Foster Care: A Qualitative Study, Kerri Jane Tokarski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Each year up to thirty thousand young adults age out of foster care in the United States. Historically research has focused on more tangible issues for this population (e.g., employment, education, etc.). Recent research addresses more intangible issues (e.g., quality of their relationships, resilience, etc.). This study reviews and then furthers such research by doing qualitative research to conduct nine loosely structured interviews with young adults who aged out of foster care to (1) discern if and how they made meaning of their experiences and (2) identify if there are spiritual themes within those narratives. This project used a qualitative …

The Stigma Effect: The Role Of Internalized Racism And Internalized Homophobia In Risky Sexual Behavior Among Black Gay Men, Darren Lovell Whitfield

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Black gay, bisexual, queer, and same-gender-loving (GBQSGL) men account for less than 1% of US population, yet account for 36% of all new HIV infections. While, Black GBQSGL men experience higher rates of HIV infection compared to other gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men (MSM) from other racial groups, they are no more likely to report engaging in condomless anal sex (CAS). These findings suggest that one possible explanation is that the context of sexual behavior for Black GBQSGL men may be riskier because of the prevalence of HIV in the community. Furthermore, research suggests that racism …

Developing A Measure Of Inclusiveness: Factors, Reliability, And Relationship To Job Satisfaction And Intention To Quit, Briana K. Hedman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project was designed to develop the Inclusiveness Inventory, a measure of inclusiveness that was based on the integration of prior research and theory. Test construction consisted of conceptual item development, expert review, and editing by members of the participating organization to improve clarity. Survey items were administered to employees at a large, mid-western transit agency as part of a larger study on workplace climate. This paper explored the structure of the Inclusiveness Inventory by factor analysis. The hypothesized factors of the Inclusiveness Inventory included the dimensions of diversity climate, fairness, belongingness, uniqueness, and discrimination. Secondly, this study evaluated the …

Jotería-Historias: Theories From The Fringes, Robert Mitchell Gutierrez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

By collecting the cultural/historical narratives of gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (GBTQ) Chicanos of Colorado, this research project locates theories in the flesh, or theories of resistance and agency, in the forms of cuentos, pláticas, chismé, mitos, testimonios, and consejos to explicate a queer of color performance of intersectional and decolonial politics. To set the context, several historical and political snapshots of GBTQ Chicano experience over the last 500 years are reviewed to demonstrate how communication about, for, and between GBTQ Chicanos operate in a liminal state (nepantla) where violence, marginalization, and oppression are …

Crafted Places: The Use Of Place In Wisconsin Craft Beer Marketing, Joseph A. Quintana

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examines place-related themes used in craft beer marketing initiatives in Wisconsin. "Place" describes the emotions and perceptions individuals hold in certain locations. Place theory, despite being universally experienced, is relatively understudied. Furthermore, this project is grounded in the recent neolocal movement - a movement towards local culture, and away from national homogenous culture. Broadly, this paper aims to understand the perceptual linkages between people and "their" place. In order to understand place and neolocal themes within these linkages, this project analyzes how individual beer names, beer-label imagery, and beer-related advertisements use familiar places to link products with a …

Indigenous Curation At The Denver Museum Of Nature And Science, Julia Marie Strunk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the questions of how and why indigenous curation is incorporated into collections care and management for American Indian sacred, ceremonial, and religious items at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS) through the examination of staff discourse. This thesis also discusses the importance of incorporating non-Western ontologies and epistemologies into classically Western science and natural history museums, and how this helps reconcile differing collections care and management practices. Through the presentation and examination of data and literature, I argue that it is important to include indigenous curation in museums because it aids in cultural revitalization and …

Predictors Of Emerging Psychopathology Among Toddlers And Preschoolers Of Mothers With Childhood Abuse Histories, Rebecca Lynne Babcock Fenerci

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to elucidate cognitive and behavioral mechanisms involved in the intergenerational transmission of trauma from abuse-survivor mothers to their toddler/preschool-aged children. This study investigated whether maternal trauma-related cognitions, i.e. child abuse-related appraisals (betrayal, self-blame, fear, anger, shame, alienation), disorganized memory and intrusive memory for abuse were associated with toddler internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and whether mother-child dysfunctional interactions mediated these relationships among a sample of 113 mothers who survived child abuse. When controlling for maternal trauma symptoms, maternal child abuse-related appraisals, disorganized memory, and trauma symptoms predicted toddler internalizing symptoms, whereas maternal intrusive memory and …

Rethinking The "Marginal Revolution" In The History Of Economic Thought: A Brief Examination Of The Marginal Utility Theory Before And In The 1870s, Ding Ning

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The "Marginal Revolution," a well-known event in the history of economic thought, challenged the mainstream classical political economy and introduced new methods to economic study. The "Marginal Revolution" marked the rise of the Marginal Utility School and pushed the formulation of neoclassical economics. Because marginal utility is the core concept of the "Marginal Revolution," this thesis studies the origin of marginal utility theory by examining figures such as Bernoulli, Bentham, Dupuit, and Goseen, and the utility theory with its related topics of Jevons, Menger and Walras in the 1870s. This thesis considers the significance of the "Marginal Revolution," with particular …

When "I Do" Becomes "I Don't": Exploring Communication Behaviors And Dialectical Tensions In Broken Engagements, Chelsea Annette Hand Stow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Communication behaviors and precipitating events were studied in accounts provided by 109 heterosexual individuals living in the United States who had experienced at least one broken premarital engagement. Participants' responses to an exploratory survey designed by the researcher were thematically analyzed in order to determine the causes of broken engagements, communication strategies used in sharing the disengagement narrative, advice given and received, and the presence of relational dialectics (both tensions and coping strategies). Data revealed that broken engagements more closely mirror divorce than dating breakups, engagements are more likely to be broken by women than men, and disengagement more often …

The Eu's Impact On Managing Levels Of Corruption In The Post-Communist World, Sabina Gueorguieva Pavlovska-Hilaiel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the role of the European Union (EU) in the process of managing corruption in the post-communist world. Throughout the post-communist transitions, which began in 1989, the EU has been consistent in putting a strong emphasis on the problem of corruption. As part of the transitions, there were many attempts at abating corruption domestically, most of which were expressed in the creation of institutions and legislation. Yet such attempts had varying effectiveness, and outcomes were not always expected nor predicted by scholars and policy-makers. Internationally, the EU expected that conditionality, which offered EU membership in exchange for compliance …

The Impact Of Philanthropy, Jonathan F. Denzler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Forwarding a narrative framework of philanthropic impact this thesis problematizes the evaluation methods used by social engagement organizations to measure the impact or change that they are contributing to in a community. By focusing on the example of food access, and the corresponding language of the "food desert", this project locates the power to control the framing of social issues in the hands of funders as opposed to those who experience the real life effects of living in poverty or resource-poor communities. This process then lets the philanthropists set a goal and meet that goal without ever truly communicating or …

Interpreting The Intangible: Challenges To The Display Of Dance Objects In Museums, Kathryn Louise Brundige Grossman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes Indigenous and non-Western dance objects in museums, examining the role of theory from material culture studies, critical museology and museum education on approaches to their interpretation and display. To explore this topic, I conducted a comparative analysis of Indigenous and non-Western dance object displays at four museums - Denver Art Museum, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History in Norman, Oklahoma - investigating the use of Native voice, reflexive analysis and multisensory elements in the exhibits' organization, narrative …

Creating Rhetorical Subjectivities: Negotiating The Precarity Of The Homo Oeconomicus In The Neoliberal Workplace, Leslie Lynne Rossman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The ubiquitous impact of the neoliberal economy on our everyday life leads to questions of rhetorical significance. This project strives to incorporate service labor experience as a source as well as an effect of rhetoric thereby embodying materialist notions of the body at the site of production. I explore neoliberal discourses through the phenomena of outsourcing and offshoring by interviewing service industry employees that have experienced job uncertainty within a Fortune 500 corporation. By studying narratives, this project explores how the material effects of rhetoric are able to determine discourses of power relating to production. Thus, this study questions the …

Cuba After Fidel: Economic Reform, Political Liberalization And Foreign Policy (2006–2014), Arturo Lopez-Levy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation discussed Cuba's processes of economic reform and political liberalization, and their impact on Cuba's foreign policy's adaptation to the post-Cold War. The first part of the dissertation explains economic reform and political liberalization from the perspective of partial reform equilibrium as a result of the Cuban Communist Party's focus on domestic stability and international legitimacy. The second part of the dissertation focused on Cuba's foreign policy dynamics associated to the domestic reform, the changes in the international system after the end of the Cold War and the asymmetric conflict between Cuba and the United States.

Attention And Mimicry In Minimal Groups, Heidi Blocker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is a group effect on matching behavior; ingroups tend to be matched more than outgroups. Differences in attention to ingroup and outgroup members may correspond with group differences in matching. Determining how both attention and matching are influenced by minimal groups can help distinguish between potential mechanisms used to explain group effects in social behavior. Furthermore, it would be beneficial to know if attention biases can be trained to social groups. Study 1 replicated attention training to neutral faces, but study 2 failed to replicate attention training to emotional faces. Study 3 used the same attention training method, but …

Childhood Trauma, Reflective Functioning And Attributions, Self-Efficacy, And Perceived Parenting Competence: What Happens When The Traumatized Child Grows Up And Becomes A Mother?, Annelise Cunningham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous research documented the relationship between self-efficacy and perceived parenting competence. Further, previous evidence supported the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral consequences of early exposure to trauma. To build on these previously noted relationships, the present study examined the relationships among reflective functioning and attributions, self-efficacy, and perceived parenting competence, with self-efficacy serving as a mediating variable. Specifically, this study sought to focus on the cognitive variables associated with mothers' perceived self-efficacy and parenting competence and how those variables interact differently when early exposure to trauma is present. As part of this study, a national community sample of 126 culturally diverse …

Exploring Ethnocultural Differences In Distress Of Newly Arrived Refugees During Early Resettlement: A Mixed Methods Dissertation, Maria M. Vukovich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This mixed methods dissertation explored potential differences in distress levels between newly arrived refugees from Bhutan/Nepal, Burma, Iraq, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo during the first year of resettlement in Denver, Colorado. Utilizing RHS-15 quantitative outcomes and demographic data collected approximately every 3 months for 1 year, three approaches to propensity score analysis were performed with risk set matching on balancing time-varying covariates across treatment conditions at each time point. Subsequently, a three-way factorial ANOVA was conducted to examine mean differences in distress levels between treatment group, ethnocultural background, and time. In addition, clinical interview data were analyzed …

Growing Food Security: The Impact Of Community Gardens On Food Security In Denver, Colorado, Grace Catherine Kellner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Community gardens increase mental health, physical health and social inclusiveness and cohesiveness, while directly connecting gardeners to their environment. In some U.S. cities gardens additionally increase community and individual food security by providing fresh food to those who struggle to feed themselves and their families. This study examined the relationship between community gardens and increased food security in Denver, and is one of the first studies of its kind in this location. Specifically, I investigated who participates in community gardens, why they participate, whether gardens are accessible, and whether community gardens have the potential to improve individual and community food …

Moving From The Shadows: Shedding Light On Mixed-Citizenship Status Latino Families And Emotional Well-Being—A Mixed Methods Study, Ashley-Marie Vollmer Hanna

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Throughout history and in contemporary U.S. society, immigration policies and practices have been laced with racist nativism, benefiting the dominant (white, male elite) society at the expense of Immigrants of Color (Chavez, 2008; Hanna & Ortega, 2016; Huag, n.d.; Ortega, Hanna, & Haffejee, 2014; Pérez-Huber, 2008). Today, Latinos are particularly vulnerable as they are the target of racist nativist immigration policy and practices and anti-immigrant rhetoric.

This dissertation examines the emotional well-being of Latino youths and young adults in mixed-citizenship status families using mixed methods research methodology. The study is informed by Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Latina/o Critical Race …

Pathways From Childhood Abuse To Positive Adapation: The Moderating Roles Of Social Support And Coping Style, Sarah Elizabeth Cleary

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Studies show that up to 50% of children worldwide are affected by physical, emotional, sexual abuse and/or neglect. While these traumatic events can have profound consequences on development across the lifespan, it is important to note that approximately 20-30% of childhood abuse survivors do not report negative impacts. One explanation for this difference in outcomes is the concept of resilience, defined as successful adaptation in spite of the experience of high-risk trauma. Many studies have been conducted to delineate factors fostering resilience. Some researchers argue that individuals' ability to achieve resilience is a direct result of the environment, while others …

The Role Of The Judiciary And The Rule Of Law In Democratization: The Case Of Turkey And The Chances Of Democratic Consolidation, Semih Oktay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the role of the judicial system in democratic consolidation using Turkey as a case study. It reviews the theoretical literature on this topic and identifies the role played by such key elements of the political system as the legislature, the executive, civil-military relations, and party politics. The role of these factors in the development and functioning of the Turkish judicial system is then analyzed over time.

The first aspect of investigation comprised an overview of Turkish governmental development since 1920. The second period of focus was on the reforms from the foundation of the Turkish Republic to …

Measuring The Quality Of The Website User Experience, Jeff Sauro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Consumers spend an increasing amount of time and money online finding information, completing tasks, or making purchases. The quality of the website experience has become a key differentiator for organizations--affecting whether they purchase and their likelihood to return and recommend a website to friends. Two instruments were created to more effectively measure the quality of the website user experience to help improve the experience.

Three studies used Classical Test Theory (CTT) to create a new instrument to measure the quality of the website user experience from the website visitor's perspective. Data were collected over five years from more than 4,000 …

A Clipped Wing: An Assessment Of The Effectiveness Of The B-21, Aidan Thomas Hughes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the effectiveness of the Northrop Grumman B-21 long range strike bomber in advancing the ability of U.S. policy makers to achieve national security objectives. The operational value of the B-21 is assessed through analysing its probable role in four hypothetical combat scenarios, and the relative effectiveness of the B-21 is measured alongside the potential performance of alternative systems. This operational analysis is augmented by a consideration of the shape of recent U.S. national security strategies, as well as the anticipated future security environment, which provides the foundation of an analysis of the ability of the B-21 to …

The Online Dating Preferences Of Chinese American Older Adults, Lin Jiang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recently years, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of online dating websites among adults over age 50. Nevertheless, samples collected in existing literature are mainly centered on White/Caucasian Americans. Furthermore, the only theoretical guide has been sexual strategies theory. This study fills the gap by using sexual strategies theory and acculturation theory to test Chinese American older adults dating preferences.

The sexual strategies theory discusses how males and females use different mating strategies in short-term and long-term contexts. Acculturation theory describes changes in which individuals or groups adopt another culture when it makes contact with their …

Quantile Regression Analyses Of The Component Skills In Various Comprehension Tests, Anh Ngoc Hua

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many studies to date have examined cognitive factors that drive individual differences in reading comprehension. However, these studies often focused on typical readers, and it is not clear whether their findings apply similarly to readers performing in the extreme ends of the distribution, i.e., poor and good readers. In this dissertation, we used quantile regression on a sample of 834 children (age 8-18) to advance our understanding of the relative importance of different component processes of comprehension not just for the typical but also for poor and skilled readers. In Study 1, we examined how the relative importance of components …

The Spatial Distribution Of Terrestrial Stable Carbon Isotopes In North America, And The Impacts Of Spatial And Temporal Resolution On Static Ecological Models, Sydney M. Firmin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to the unique spatial and temporal characteristics of ecological phenomena, the extent and grain size of spatial data sets essentially filter the observations. This thesis examines the impacts of temporal and spatial resolution on the modeling of terrestrial stable carbon isotopic landscapes (isoscapes). I model the distribution of leaf stable carbon isotope composition (delta¹³C) for the continent of North America at multiple temporal and spatial resolutions. I generate each delta¹³C isoscape variation by first predicting the relative abundance of C3/C4 vegetation cover using monthly climate grids, crop distribution/type grids, and remote sensing data of plant …