Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Brand Communication Through Social Media Influencers: How Organizations Can Advance Effective Relationships With Smis In Brazil, Andressa Ferreira Gaertner

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to shed light on how brands can build relationships with social media influencers (SMIs). By replicating Pang et al. (2016) research in different cultural settings, the present study identified internal and external influences that are important for SMIs routines in Brazil, generating additional enlightenment into the Mediating the Media model for SMIs and evaluating to what extent cultural differences may impact the proposed theoretical framework. The research was conducted in two major parts. The first replicated the method used previously by Pang et al. (2016), performing in-depth interviews with eight SMIs. In the second …

Developing Cultural Competency In Anesthesia Through Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists, Emma To

Doctoral Projects

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) are the main anesthesia providers in over 70% of rural hospitals providing anesthesia. Each year, over 2,000 student registered nurse anesthetists (SRNAs) graduate and continue as licensed CRNAs. This Doctor of Nurse Practice (DNP) project emphasizes the importance of developing culturally competent providers in anesthesia by promoting early outreach in cultural competence education of SRNAs. Cultural competence is described as possessing characteristics of congruent attitudes, awareness, and conduct that provides and enables effective skills in cross-cultural encounters. Encompassing cultural competency education early in the SRNAs profession may provide valuable lifelong cultural skills that will benefit …

Does Machismo Culture Influence Latina/O Attitudes On Mental Health?, Amanda R. Mercado

Theses and Dissertations

This study represents an attempt to contribute to the identified gap in knowledge towards the effects of machismo on both Latina women and Latino men and how it effects their attitudes towards mental health. The idea that previous research on machismo has been so one-sided, but has revealed that psychological distresses were present and ignored, leaves room for my research to explore how Latina women are affected because they are just as susceptible to psychological distresses as men. By using a research based framework to explain the effects of machismo on both Latina women and Latino men, my study will …

A Recipe For Success In The ‘English World’: An Investigation Of The Ex-Amish In Mainstream Society, Jessica R. Sullivan

Dissertations

As a largely understudied and misunderstood religious group, the Amish appear to be a relic of more traditional times. Because they are a secluded group with little influence from the outside world, they remain relatively untouched by technology and social media. This results in a strict, fundamentalist church community with extremely high rates of retention. Distancing themselves from outsiders and temptations in the English world aids in retaining strong church boundaries, and results in a population that doubles every 20 years (Kaufmann 2010). Acknowledging these aspects, this research delves into the lives of those who have defected from the church …

Chinese Government’S Inability To Use Film – One Of The Most Powerful Cultural Tools Of Soft Power Expansion – To Achieve Its Soft Power Expansion Goals: Lessons For China To Tackle Its Soft Power-Deficit Problem, Kyungin Kim

International Political Economy Theses

Many scholars of Chinese soft power commonly believe that despite the fact that China has been working hard to achieve successful soft power expansion, one of the biggest factors that leads to Chinese soft power deficit or failure of the Chinese government to effectively trump “China threat” is its inability to use its cultural industries as a tool to fulfill its soft power expansion goals. This is a major obstacle to China in achieving its goal of successful Chinese soft power expansion, as it is said that culture is the most traditional and powerful source of soft power expansion. This …

A Qualitative, Phenomenological Study Of Psychotherapists’ Perception Of Ethnic Identity Shifts In Immigrant Patients, Ricardo Corbetta

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This qualitative phenomenological paper investigates ethnic identity shifts in immigrant patients by interviewing nine psychotherapists who work with immigrant patients in New York City. It takes into consideration the privileged and biased perspective of the therapist’s subjective experience of their patient’s ethnic identity shifts. The study argues that ethnic identity affiliation is relevant and worth investigating during the psychotherapeutic work, as it can shed light on crucial aspects of one’s emotions, thoughts and behavior.

Perceptions Of Educators Regarding The Impact Nonprofits Have On Academically Unacceptable Schools In An Urban Louisiana Community: A Case Study, Frederic D. Washington

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

This qualitative case study explored the perceptions of educators regarding the impact nonprofit sanctioned programs and services have on schools rated as failing, or academically unacceptable by the Louisiana Department of Education during the 2014-2015, 2015-2016, and 2016-2017 school years. The schools represented in this study are in an urban Louisiana community, serving grades K-8. Each of the schools represented in this study partnered with at least four nonprofit agencies that provide services in after school enrichment, community learning centers, fight diversion programs for students, mini grant programs for teachers, and sex respect/teenage pregnancy prevention for middle school campuses. This …

Survey Of Research In Multiculturalism In Expressive Therapies, Christine Yerrakadu

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This capstone thesis literature review defines and explores the issues concerning multiculturalism in the field of expressive art therapies. Many authors have stated the need for multicultural education and self assessment of the clinician. Personal identification of the client should take precedence over generalization of world cultures. Self-assessment of the clinician is needed in order to examine possible personal biases. Awareness of multiculturalism is only the first step, and further exploration into education and skills using the expressive art therapies would hone multicultural competencies.

The Culture Of Sexuality: Identification, Conceptualization, And Acculturation Processes Within Sexual Minority And Heterosexual Cultures, Joshua Glenn Parmenter

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study aimed to provide insights into the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) people within LGBTQ+ culture, and to explore how they disclose or conceal their sexual identities within different social environments. A qualitative study enabled me to become immersed within the stories of LGBTQ+ people, in order to better understand the construct and importance of LGBTQ+ culture. Through in-depth interviews and focus groups, 14 members of the LGBTQ+ community from around the nation volunteered to share their experiences with LGBTQ+ culture and their negotiation of identity within heterosexual culture.

From participants’ stories, key themes were …

Fighting For Fellowship: An Ethnographic Exploration Of Mixed Martial Arts Culture In Las Vegas, Brian O'Hara

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Due to the legalization of social taboos including prostitution, gambling, and marijuana, many historical portrayals of Las Vegas have been unfavorable. Furthermore, powerful mediated imagery complete with vivid pictures of encouraged hedonism and celebrated debauchery has added to negative perceptions of this city. Despite negative sentiments, city officials are often unapologetic, and even publicly boastful about the absence of traditional values and communal appeal. However, I argue that many depictions of this city do not tell the full story of what is going on here. I looked beyond surface-level imagery and representations of Las Vegas, to discover a strong sense …

Resisting Essentialism In Cultural Research: A Participatory Action Research Study Of Parent Involvement In Education Among Spanish-Speaking Students And Families, Michael J. Frank

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study aimed to investigate a locally-driven action research project to improve connections between Spanish-speaking Latinx parents and the high school that their children attend. Using Participatory Action Research (PAR), the study sought to create a collaborative research agenda that would empower the participants to study their own culture and practices at the school, and how the two combined to create a home-school partnership. Six parents and two members of the school’s bilingual staff comprised the PAR team, with a total of nine members including the principal investigator. The project began with the creation of a public sphere in …

Decreased Visibility: A Narrative Analysis Of Episodic Disability And Contested Illness, Melissa Jane Welch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the United States alone, disability touches the lives of a tremendous amount of people. An increased prevalence of chronic illness, coupled with an aging population means it is likely and perhaps inevitable that everyone will experience disability in one way or another over the course of their lifetime. However not everyone who is disabled is recognized as such. Culturally, the narrative of “the healthy disabled person,” – or someone who is healthy, permanently, predictably, and visibly disabled renders many people with chronic and episodic pain, fatigue, and illness as unrecognizable as disabled. Even though increasing numbers of disability scholars …

Economic Pressure And Depressive Symptoms Among Latino Youth: The Role Of Control Beliefs And Family Obligation, Ashley Castro

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Latino youth in the United States experience high rates of both poverty and of depressive symptoms and disorders (CDC, 2012; DeNavas-Walt, Proctor, & Smith, 2014). According to the Adaptation to Poverty Related Stress model (APRS; Wadsworth, Raviv, Compas, & Connor-Smith, 2005), economic pressure is positively linked to adolescent depression via coping. Using a resilience perspective, the present study extends the APRS model by exploring the role that cultural values, namely family obligation, and control beliefs play in the relation between economic pressure and depressive symptoms for Latino youth. Participants in this study were 404 Latino children and adolescents (M …

“After-Ozymandias”: The Colonization Of Symbols And The American Monument, H. R. Membreno-Canales

Theses and Dissertations

After-Ozymandias examines the visual rhetoric of American patriotism through its many symbols, including flags and monuments. My thesis project consists of photographs of empty plinths, objects, products and archival materials. Countless relics remain today memorializing leaders and empires that inevitably declined, from antiquity to modern times. Looking back at distant history feels like a luxury, though: the question for our time in America is whether we have the strength of mind as a society to scrutinize our history, warts and all.

Art Therapy And The Recovery Process: A Literature Review, Michelle Sharp

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Addiction to drugs and alcohol is a multi-faceted disease that has physical, mental, and financial consequences for the individual and for society at large. The global burden of disease related to substance use disorder is 5.4 percent worldwide according to World Health Organization (2014). There is a need to expand knowledge of the illness as well as create a more effective treatment method. The demand for addiction-based treatment is rising. There is a need to explore and strengthen research on therapeutic approaches to help individuals to combat substance use disorder and aide in the recovery process. Art therapy, according to …

“The Lolelaplap (Marshall Islands) In Us: Sailing West To East (Ralik→Ratak) To These Our Atolls (Aelon Kein Ad) Ad Jolet Jen Anij (Our Blessed Inheritance From God)”, Desmond N. Doulatram

Master's Projects and Capstones

This paper discusses the expansion of Oceania through a Marshallese indigenous lens as a focal point. It explains that decolonizing methodologies allows reclaiming of space for mental liberation and reassurement of constitutional rights. It highlights similar occurrences of decolonization practices meeting resistance in the 21st century all while strengthening the human right argument that no human deserves any less than their fellow human brothers and sisters. It argues that an indigenous imagery can only be viewed through an indigenous lens where the researches’ level of purity is retained and unfiltered. It nevertheless argues that Marshallese ethnolinguistics reveal the same cultural …

Essays On Economic Growth, Minhyeon Jeong

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation investigates how economic growth is determined in the long run. To do this, I focus mainly on culture and institutions as fundamental growth factors and develop a general theoretical framework in which culture, institutions and growth are all endogenously determined. Using the framework, I highlight the crucial role of interaction between culture and institutions in the long-term growth.

Chapter 1. Endogenous Financial Friction and Growth

The first chapter investigates the role financial frictions play in economic growth. Most existing studies consider an exogenous form of borrowing constraint, the tightness of which is arbitrarily fixed at a certain value …

A Church’S Approach To Intercultural Communication Encounters In Short-Term Missions, Carolotta Anweiler

Communication ETDs

The prevalence of short-term mission trips by churches and/or faith-based organizations has increased tremendously (Howell & Door, 2007, Anaheier & Themudo, 2005). However, no research has been completed on the training offered to in preparation for these types of trips, specifically, training for intercultural trips. I joined a church on their short-term mission experience to examine as a participant observer how they were trained to interact with people of another cultural group and then, how the training affected the interactions on the trip.

Through the use of Grounded Theory, I examined the discourse used in the trainings offered and throughout …

Changing Car Culture: A Case Study At Binghamton University, Daniella Madubuike

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

Binghamton University has a parking problem fostered by the car culture of today. A change in car culture through the shift from single occupancy driving towards higher occupancy transit was identified as a possible solution. An online survey was used to acquire students' opinions and thoughts on the issue. Its 824 responses highlighted variables that were grouped into five overarching themes: Convenience, Quality of Transportation System, Satisfaction with Parking, Comfort with Carpooling, and Perceived Benefits and Drawbacks, which were analyzed under different qualitative and quantitative methods to test for their effect on car culture. Qualitative analysis was conducted using R …

The Role Of Leadership In Student Organizations, Samantha Mcanallen

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the extent to which the leaders of the Eta Delta chapter of Beta Alpha Psi (BAP) and the JMU Women’s Rugby club embody the characteristics of the leaders of successful organizations by examining these two organizations in the context of the characteristics of successful organizational cultures. In order to conduct an appropriate examination of the cultures of these two organizations, I chose to compare them to the characteristics of successful group cultures presented in Daniel Coyle’s The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups. Throughout his book, Coyle highlights the …

The Application Of The Specific Learning Disability Exclusionary Clause As Practiced By Virginia School Psychologists, Kaitlynn Carter

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

When special education eligibility is being determined under Specific Learning Disability, the exclusionary clause needs to be carefully considered. The current study was concerned with the exclusions of cultural factors, environmental or economic disadvantage, and limited English proficiency. The study used a semi-structured interview to explore when and how the exclusionary clause is considered by school psychologists in Virginia and what type of impact it has on eligibility decisions. Ten school psychologists were contacted via the email database of the Virginia Department of Education and completed a phone interview. Grounded theory was used to investigate the themes and ideas regarding …

Grooves In The Landscape: Vanished And Persistent Record Stores In The Post-Industrial City., Thomas Anthony Calkins

Theses and Dissertations

Despite digitization, record stores remain an important third place for contemporary urban neighborhoods. As places of cultural consumption, they provide locals a source of music, knowledge, pleasure, distraction, and distinction. Where these places sit in the contemporary city has shifted over time though. This dissertation asks: how has the distribution of record stores changed over time and space when accounting for demographic, economic, and technological factors? Based on original datasets created from city directories and phone books, census-tract data, and record industry sales data, I find that predominantly black neighborhoods were once home to many more record stores than today. …

Gender Diversity Around The World: The Role Of Country Legal Regulations And Culture, Madison E. Newton

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

The goal of this project is to analyze the factors that contribute to the gender discrepancy in labor force participation rates around the world. This paper will explore potential drivers of the gender disparity phenomenon through the analyzation of country-specific elements to detect related impacts that may be imposed on a country’s composition of labor force as it relates to gender. More specifically, I interpret the degree to which specific factors can directly influence the proportion of female presence in labor forces around the world. My empirical results suggest that the societal factors, legal regulations, culture, total fertility rate (births …

Colonial Legacies In Morocco’S Urban Spaces: Policies Of Modernization And Preservation, Christina Gnedash

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Globalization has touched Morocco through the historical process of colonization. Though the colonizer has left, a relationship remains and Morocco like many other countries is far too entangled in the global system of economics and politics to withdrawal. The restructuring of urban spaces and the preservation of cultural and historical sites have contributed to the country’s economic dependence on and the expansion of the tourist industry at the expense of local communities and certain industries. Culture has become a commodity that is profitable and thus countries besides Morocco continue to present an inauthentic and static experience for visitors that perpetuates …

Corrupting Roots: The Impact Of Neoliberalism And Seed Patent Laws On The Mapuche People Of Chile, Callahan Powell

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

In a globalizing world, indigenous communities are repeatedly targeted by development practices that threaten their cultural heritage and traditions. The Mapuche people of Chile are the largest indigenous group still occupying South America. Practices by wealthier nations, to include; seed patent laws, intellectual property right agreements, and development, have threatened the Mapuche and their deeply embedded cultural traditions. I use a critical approach, a main sociological research method, with a focus on the neoliberal regime of truth to analyze the consequences of development and capitalism to the indigenous Mapuche people. Through use of Immanuel Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory, David Harvey’s …

Persistence Of Cultural Heritage In A Multicultural Context: Examining Factors That Shaped Voting Preferences In The 2016 Election, Anna M. Schwartz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The prevailing discourse about the myth of the “melting pot” of American culture implies that heritage cultures are eliminated in favor of a homogenous “American” norm. However, this myth belies the persistence of our cultural heritage in forming our attitudes, morals, and habitual patterns of thought, each of which shape how we participate in our democracy through voting. By contextualizing voting predictors such as authoritarianism, social dominance, and sexism in developmental and ecological theories, this dissertation shows how they are shaped by culture and transmitted through consumption of media and interaction with members of one’s community and family. In an …

Child Labor : An Adaptive Strategy Among Syrian Refugees., Tasneem Karim

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

This thesis investigates child labor as an adaptive strategy among Syrian refugees living in urban host communities in the Middle East. While research has shown an increasing prevalence of child labor in these communities, an anthropological investigation into how it manifests and why it persists is valuable in elucidating the implications of systemic barriers to socioeconomic success and the dissonances in discourse regarding child labor between families and aid workers. Accordingly, this research is based on transnational, multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork conducted in an urban host community in Irbid, Jordan, humanitarian/government offices in Irbid and Amman, Jordan, and the resettled Syrian …

Soccer, Space, And Community Integration: Being And Becoming Canadian In London, Ontario Through The World's Game, Marcelo Eduardo Herrera

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Abstract:

In this thesis I explore various forms of participation in organized soccer in London, Ontario – a mid-sized Canadian city with a diverse and growing immigrant community. My research took place between April 2015 and September 2015 and is based on focus group discussions, individual interviews, and casual conversations mainly, but not exclusively, with players and non-players, parents of players, and team or club administrators from London’s soccer community. My work’s primary objective is to provide an informed account of how and why soccer has and continues to be used by immigrant groups in London to integrate into Canadian …

Accessing Healthcare In Ontario: Influences On Utilization Among Asian Immigrant Women, Gwynne Ng

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Previous research on immigrant integration has tended to focus on economic and social integration. As such, the factors shaping health integration are less understood. At the same time, health researchers suggest that immigrants in Canada may underutilize certain health services. For instance, studies have documented the low participation rates of cervical cancer screening among Asian immigrant women in Canada (Xiong, Murphy, Matthews, Gadag, & Wang, 2010; McDonald & Kennedy, 2007; Woltman & Newbold, 2007). This study sheds light on immigrant integration by exploring the experiences of Asian immigrant women with cervical cancer screening and Canadian healthcare services more broadly. Through …

A Cross-Cultural Comparison Of Perceptions By Public Relations Practitioners In The United States And Germany, Leila Schmidt

Theses and Dissertations

In our globalized world, becoming aware of the interdependence between public relations and culture becomes more and more important. This cross-cultural study combines an emic and etic approach to explore how PR practitioners in two individualistic countries, the United States of America and Germany, experience and perceive the impact of culture on their practice, specifically the development of campaigns. To understand the broader image, the study incorporates Hofstede’s (2009) cultural dimensions; to examine similarities and differences in terms of cultural nuances, the study relates to Spitzberg’s (2015) intercultural communication competence. The participants consisted of sixteen male and female PR practitioners …