Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Limits Of Liberation: Youth And Politics In Brazil's Landless Rural Workers' Movement, Melinda Gurr

Dissertations - ALL

This thesis examines the forces that strengthen and weaken young people’s involvement in Brazil’s Landless Rural Workers’ Movement, the MST, during the twilight of the PT years, 2012-2014. The MST responds to displacement, environmental devastation, and capital- intensive development by fighting for land reform and socialist transformation. Although the MST’s politics of redistribution have attracted significant attention from activists and academics worldwide, little ethnographic attention had yet been paid to the experiences and subjectivities of rural youth affiliated with the movement. By attending to structural conditions, dynamics of family, sexuality, and gender, and political socialization in three regions of Brazil, …

Leader Self-Efficacy In Youth Leader Development: A Mixed Methods Study, Christopher J. Rehm

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Leader self-efficacy (LSE) is a construct studied in adults and college students which is associated with leader emergence, individual performance, and group performance. This mixed methods dissertation examines LSE in an eighth grade student population to determine if it can be impacted by a leader development intervention during this sensitive period of human growth. Both quantitative and qualitative methods demonstrate the effectiveness of the programming in impacting youth LSE. This holds significant implications for future educational practice, research, and the development of the next generation of leaders. A five item youth LSE scale was created which can aid in further …

Youth Engagement In Artisanal And Small-Scale Mining In The Upper East Region Of Ghana, Lydia Osei

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Youth unemployment remains a prevalent problem in sub-Saharan Africa and many of its governments are grappling with it. Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), however, is gaining prominence in generating employment avenues for the youth. In fact, ASM provides jobs for thousands of youth and is considered to be ameliorating hardships in many rural areas. ASM has therefore been broadly acknowledged as a ‘poverty-driven’ activity. Given the sector’s contribution (both legally and illegally) to rural livelihoods, governments and development partners interested in poverty reduction are uncertain of how to deal with the growth of ASM. Policymakers and development partners seem confused …

The Relationship Between Chronic Health Conditions And Health Literacy, Resiliency And Support/Self-Advocacy In Youth, Mercedes N. Cambric

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the past several decades the number of youth living with a chronic health condition has drastically increased. A chronic health condition can be defined as an illness that lasts three months or more that can be controlled but not cured (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2010). Although there is existing literature on youth with chronic health conditions, there are very few studies that examine the levels of health literacy, resiliency and support/advocacy within this population. The current study is a secondary analysis that utilized data collected from the 37-item Youth Health Literacy and Resiliency Scale (HLRS-Y version) …

The New Orleans Fight Against Gun Violence, Taylor E. Berry

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Gun violence in New Orleans has grown exponentially over the years. As a society we often forget to reflect on how gun violence effects the youth in our communities. Local members of the community in New Orleans have decided to come together to form organizations that can produce better outcomes for the youth in the New Orleans area, two of those organizations being Son of A Saint and the Youth Empowerment Project. Both of these organizations have started the journey to decreasing the amount of gun violence in the city.

Differences In German Youth Gender Ideologies: The Relationship Between Family Structure And Doing Gender, Alyssa Jane Alexander

Theses and Dissertations

Gender ideologies, which are constantly changing, are important for many outcomes in life, but the majority of gender ideology research focuses mainly on adults. Past research studying adult gender ideologies finds that adults' current relationship status affects their ideologies. For instance, divorced adults hold egalitarian ideologies more than stable married adults do (Davis, Greenstein and Marks 2007). Researchers attribute this finding to the types of gender behaviors adults perform with their partner or alone. What about youth? Understanding how these ideologies develop earlier in life is important, yet research rarely focuses on youth gender ideologies or their development. My research …

Predictors Of Health-Related Quality Of Life Among Youth With Spinal Cord Injury, Kathleen E. Mcauliff

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the different dimensions of psychosocial HRQOL for youth

with spinal cord injury (SCI) is still a developing research focus in medical and disability studies. Pediatric-onset SCI is relatively rare. Family Stress Theory’s Adaptation Phase accounts for how a stressor can impact all family members (McCubbin and Patterson, 1993). This study aimed to look at new factors, including cognitive approaches to challenges, physical health indicators (i.e., incontinence), caregiver mental health problems (i.e., anxiety and depression), and general family dysfunction that may impact psychosocial HRQOL for youth (ages 6-18) with SCI, in terms of the perspectives of both the youth and …

Youth Activists In Kashmir: State Violence, Tehreek, And The Formation Of Political Subjectivity, Mohamad Junaid

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is an ethnographic and historical study of youth activism in a space of geopolitical conflict. It examines ways in which young activists in Indian-administered Kashmir, caught in chronic conditions of state violence and traversed by transnational discourses of identity, experience precarity while desperately seeking to constitute themselves as political subjects through their involvement in Tehreek, or the movement for independence. Toward a theory of political subjectivity as a process of autopoiesis, understood both as a historically contingent yet critical form of reflexivity and as practices of protest, and precarity as a condition marked by persistent vulnerability to state …

From Food To Food Justice: Pathways And Narratives Of Young Food Activists In New York City, Amy Kwan

Dissertations and Theses

With a rise in obesity and other non-communicable, diet-related health problems and the persistence of food insecurity among many vulnerable populations, the involvement of young people in the current, burgeoning food-justice movement has the potential to bring forth transformative changes to our food system and thus improve population health. While much is known about the outcomes of providing opportunities for young people to be actively and civically engaged in their communities, there is a lack of research on the pathways, narratives, and experiences that bring young people into food justice activism.

Through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 25 young food activists …

Cal State San Bernardino Social Work Students' Attitudes Toward Domestic Minor Sex-Trafficked (Dmst) Youth, Crystal Lorraine Marinelli, Andrea Sara Hunt

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking (DMST) affects hundreds of thousands of youth every year. In the past, DMST youth were often viewed by law enforcement and the criminal justice system as "offenders" and were usually arrested for solicitation even though they were minors. While new laws have begun to identify youth as victims, it has not yet been ensured that social workers have adopted this perspective. This quantitative study's purpose was to examine Cal State University San Bernardino (CSUSB) Bachelor of Social Work (BASW) and Master of Social Work (MSW) students' attitudes toward DMST youth. Participants completed an online questionnaire using …

Hopelessness And Youth Violent Behavior: A Longitudinal Study, Janie Demetropoulos

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how hopelessness impacts youth engagement in violent behavior over time. The data are from waves I and II of The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Poisson regression was used to analyze contributors to violence in just wave I, and then again across time in wave II using explanatory and control variables from wave I. Results indicate that hopelessness is positively associated with violent behavior. Furthermore, while hopelessness and most of the other explanatory variables predicted violent behavior in wave I, almost all the variables became non-significant or negative except hopelessness and a measure of …

Social Stigmas Of Mental Health Counseling For The Youth Population, Norma Edith Morales, Kiah Kristionne Marks

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study was a quantitative survey that examined the parental perspectives concerning mental health counseling after their children received mental health services. The focus of this study was to analyze changes in parental perspectives in regard to mental health services for their children. The study considered social stigmas and diagnostic labels associated with mental health and counseling for mental health. The study found that parents whose children received mental health services reported they and their children had a positive experience. In addition, parents were open to receiving mental health counseling services in the future. The study was conducted within a …

Digital Mindfulness: An Emerging Field Of Inquiry And Practice, Sherri Henderson

Mindfulness Studies Theses

This two-part paper explores digital mindfulness as an emerging field of inquiry and practice into the integration of technology and contemplative practices. The first part surveys the growing research on the effects of technology on health and well-being. Investigating Buddhist teachings leads to a more balanced and aware approach towards integrating mindfulness with the digital world. Digital mindfulness encourages meaningful engagement while online. It also encourages thoughtfulness, awareness and intention. Digital mindfulness also reshapes and encourages conversations in our homes, schools, and proposes digital responsibility and digital citizenship. The second part of the paper proposes a framework for a workshop …

Changes In Body Fatness Among Mohawk Youth From 1979 To 1996-2000, Danielle Maria Garry

Anthropology

The research question is: Have the Mohawk people been affected by the obesity epidemic that has occurred in this country and globally? My research compares the data on height, weight, and skinfold thicknesses collected from 1979 by Dr. Susan Pfeiffer from Native American youth (10 to 15 years of age) of the Akwesasne tribe, located at St. Regis, with similar data collected by Gallo and Schell, from 1996-2000. I performed t-tests to compare the same measurements from the two studies. There is a significant difference in weight, triceps skinfolds, and subscapular skinfolds in all male age groups except for age …

Analysis Of Psychological Symptoms Of Youth In Residential Treatment Centers, Ashley Cummins

Criminal Justice

Residential treatment centers (RTCs) are equipped with the resources to increase coping skills, decrease antisocial behaviors, and foster positive personal growth. The purpose of this study is to analyze the prevalence and severity of psychological symptoms of youth entering and as they adjust to a treatment program in a RTC. Biological sex is also looked at to determine if sex influences the youth’s psychological symptoms and adjustment to program with the youth’s adherence to rules and engagement in treatment used to also show adjustment to program. The study concluded that there was a decrease in the prevalence and severity of …

Engaging In Effective Behavioral Health Treatment Methods: The Importance Of Building Trust And Relationships With High And Proven Risk Men With A History Of Childhood Trauma(S), Tracie Sullivan

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Nearly 60% of youth involved in the juvenile justice system in the United States have a diagnosable mental illness (Buffington, 2010; SAMHSA, 2012). These high and proven risk youth have fallen through the cracks in the behavioral health system, with a lack of prevention, intervention, and effective treatment methods being provided to them prior to incarceration. This paper presents connections between childhood trauma, undiagnosed and untreated mental illnesses, and delinquency in adulthood for high and proven-risk young men. It also investigates barriers to engaging high and proven risk young men in treatment with the concepts of stigma, and hyper-masculinity introduced. …

Bicycles And Youth: Impacts, Elizabeth Drews

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

Previous studies considered the factors leading or discouraging youth to use bicycles as a means of transportation or exercise. The purpose of this study was to consider the impacts of community based bike programming on youth of color and/or from lower income communities. The researcher interviewed four people who are in some capacity involved with bicycle programming aimed at youth. The interviews were transcribed, coded and analyzed. Initial themes arose among all participants, including the following: Early Experiences and Family Influences, Community Involvement, Knowing and Preparing for Target Populations, and Skills and Pride. Implications for social work practice and suggestions …

View Of Self And Its Effects On Higher Educational Goals In Mexican-American Youth, Rebekah Simpson

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

The Latino population is the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States, with 276,000 people identifying as Hispanics in Minnesota (Gonzalez-Barrera & Lopez, 2013). As the population continues to grow in number, more Latino students will continue to fill classrooms across the state. However, in 2012, only 53% of Hispanic students in Minnesota graduated high school, in comparison to 84% of white students (Race, 2012). The Latino population is the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States, with 276,000 people identifying as Latino in Minnesota (Gonzalez-Barrera & Lopez, 2013). As the population continues to grow in number, more …

Assessment Of The Impact Of The Premarital Interpersonal Choices And Knowledge (Pick) Program On Adolescents, Raquel R. Boehme

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was conducted to determine if the information from the Premarital Interpersonal Choices and Knowledge (PICK) program How to Avoid Falling for a Jerk/ette helped positively change adolescents’ attitudes about relationships. The program was taught to 9,130 high school students (ages 14 -18) from 35 different high schools in a Western state.

Surveys were given at the beginning of the first class (pretest) and at the end of the final class (posttest). In addition to demographic information, students rated (1) their attitudes about what it takes to get to know a potential partner, (2) their belief that love alone …

Cultivate Conscious Kids: Unique Youth Leadership Development Programming, Ashley Adams

M.A. in Leadership Studies: Capstone Project Papers

Regardless of what divides us as a global community, whether it be location, religion, ethnicity, politics, etc., it is generally agreed upon that the future of our increasingly complex world lies in the hands of our youth. As we, the current decision makers in society, continue to add to the complexities of this world, we also have the responsibility to empower the youth of today with the proper tools to navigate not only their current realities but also the complex local, national, and global concerns they will quickly inherit as they grow into adulthood. Developing young people’s ability to tap …

Socially Marginalized Youths' Experiences With Social Media And Its Impact On Their Relationships, Kira A. Regan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Social media use is prevalent among adolescents and young adults. However, little is known about the role and function of social media in the lives of youth who have experienced social marginalization. These youth face different challenges than their mainstream peers when it comes to the development, maintenance and outcomes of their friendships and relationships. It is unknown whether findings on social media and relationships accurately represent the experiences of youth who have experienced social marginalization, given the different challenges they face in achieving belonging and intimacy. Semi-structured interviews with youth regarding their social media use and its impact on …

Criminal Justice Theories And Variations In Legal Decisions Across Youth Justice Acts, Brenda Kobayashi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Media stories of violent young offenders, while rare events, “signal” to the public that youth crime is on the rise and worse, that today’s youth are capable of horrific crimes. As a result, both the public and politicians call for change – legislation and the courts need to toughen up on youths. The present study, guided by penal populism and focal concerns theory, fills a gap in the literature by examining sentencing decisions of young offenders convicted of violent offences in Ontario, Canada. Three research questions were asked. First, drawing on penal populism is there evidence in Canada, particularly Ontario, …

Domestic Homicide In The Youth Population, Kayla Christine Sapardanis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Homicide perpetrated by a dating partner is a tragic and disturbing event. Risk factors for domestic homicide have been well established for the adult population; however very little research has been conducted on domestic homicide in the youth population. It is important that this population is explored further as female youth (ages 15-24) are at the highest risk for experiencing dating violence. This study analyzed cases of domestic homicide that occurred in Ontario from 2003-2014. The data for this study was provided by the Ontario Domestic Violence Death Review Committee (DVDRC). A total of 18 youth domestic homicide cases (ages …

Effect Of Electronic Cigarette Messages On Young-Adult Behavioral Dispositions Towards Use, Idan Ariel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the last decade, electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have emerged as novel and popular nicotine delivery devices. Although many smokers use e-cigarettes, evidence suggests these products are also growing in popularity among young adult non-smokers. It is therefore important to examine factors that may contribute to onset of electronic cigarette use among young adult non-smokers. Critics and supporters of electronic cigarettes have been disseminating anti and pro e-cigarette messages (respectively) and it is currently unclear what effect, if any, these messages exert on young adult non-smokers. Critics of electronic cigarettes advocate caution towards these products, while supporters of electronic cigarettes argue …

Social Relationships In Young Offenders: Relevance To Peers, Poverty, And Psychological Adjustment, Victoria Sabo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The increasing influence of peers in adolescence is related to a developing array of skills, aspirations, attitudes, and behaviours. The nature and magnitude of this influence and the potential association of certain youth with deviant peers is among the most prominent risk factors in predicting youth crime. This becomes of greater concern for economically disadvantaged youth, whose neighbourhoods harbour greater susceptibility to negative peer influence. With social affiliations at the forefront of youth development and criminality, research efforts need to further characterize the nature, constitution, and influence of peers on adolescent offending. Two hundred and eighty-one Canadian youth were sampled …

Sticking To The Recipe: How Do Adherence And Differentiation To A Cbt Protocol Affect Client Outcomes In Youths With Anxiety?, Ruben G. Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Understanding the pathways through which treatments work to change symptom and diagnostic outcomes is important to the development and delivery of evidence-based treatments. This study assessed the extent to which adherence (therapist’s delivery of prescribed therapeutic interventions) and differentiation (therapist’s delivery of non-prescribed therapeutic interventions) to Coping Cat, a CBT program, affected client symptom and diagnostic outcomes. Method: The Therapy Process Observational Coding System for Child Psychotherapy – Revised Strategies Scale (McLeod et al., 2015) was used to characterize therapeutic interventions delivered within and outside of the Coping Cat program with youths aged 7-15 receiving treatment in one efficacy …

Exploring The Predictive Values Of Self-Evaluations And Cognitive Distortions In Relation To Childhood Anxiety Among Hispanic/Latino Youth, Cristina J. Sperrazza

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether self-evaluation and cognitive distortions are predictors of anxiety in Hispanic/Latino youth. Hispanic/Latino elementary- and middle-school students (n = 84) from Grades 4 through 8 (42.9% female; average age = 11.80 years) attending a bilingual inner-city public charter school completed self-reports of anxiety, self-evaluation, and cognitive distortions in their school setting. The selected measure of cognitive distortions, Inventory of Cognitive Distortions (Yurica & DiTomasso, 2005), was revised and factor analyzed for the current child sample. Findings demonstrated that, while taking grade and gender into account, different domains of self-evaluation and cognitive distortions …

Sustained Education Access For Homeless Youth: Case Study Of U.S. Transitional Living Programs, Heather Hall

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Without interventions to address homelessness among youth, the risk of homelessness for future generations is great. As a result, the federal government has invested in funding Transitional Living Programs (TLPs), though it is not clear whether these programs have achieved the intended outcomes of helping youth transition from homelessness to being able to sustain employment and avoid poverty through access to educational and workforce programs. Using the broad conceptualization of democratic governance as the foundation, the purpose of this case study was to assess whether access to educational programs through TLPs benefitted homeless youth in terms of program success. Data …

"They Don't Say It Up Front" : Immigrant-Origin High School Students' Experiences Of Disrespect And Racial Microaggressions By Teachers : A Project Based Upon A Group Research Investigation, Leah A. Gold

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative study used counter-storytelling methodology from Critical Race Theory to explore 15 racial and ethnic minority immigrant-origin high school students’ experiences of racial microaggressions by teachers. Previous research focuses on overt racism with youth or microaggressions with adults, but has not addressed subtle racism experienced by high school students. The findings suggest immigrant-origin experience teacher disrespect as racial microaggressions, including those that are related to immigrant identity. Though not conclusive, the results indicate that experiences of racial microaggressions and responses may differ for immigrant-origin youth with different generation status. Teachers’ racial sensitivity and school climate were demonstrated to be …

A Critical Look Through The Eyes Of Youth : A Study Examining High School Student Experiences Of Disrespect From Teachers In Relation To Race And Anxiety And Depression, Annika L. Marques Yokum

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study examined high school students’ experiences of perceived disrespect enacted by a teacher. The study was grounded in a critical race theory approach that informed data collection and results. Quantitative and qualitative reports were evaluated to determine possible relations between race, non-clinical reports of anxiety and depression and teacher-disrespect in high school. Participants were recruited from East Coast and West Coast regions and included current high school students and emerging adults creating a final sample size of 20 participants. Findings revealed that most participants discussed racial microaggressions when asked about disrespect and experienced significant symptoms of anxiety and depression …