Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Carpas, Cuentos, And Corridos: Chicano Arts And Community Building, Tanya Marina Mote

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study suggests that effective forms of participation are grounded in histories of opposition and resistance. The intermediate relationship provided by voluntary associations, unions, clubs and even bowling leagues might teach citizens to act democratically; that is, to participate in activities related to electing leaders, but their usefulness extends beyond conventional politics to efforts to expand public life and to promote democracy through a broader set of activities that combine intensely social and personal public engagement, resistance, protest, and opposition, with conventional efforts to influence leaders. The experiences of community based arts organizations provide a lens to examine both the …

Analyzing The Factors Behind Crude Oil Price Increases From 2002–2007 And The Implications For The Oil Industry: A Non-Technical Assessment, Brian Patrick Shepherd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this paper I analyze how various price regimes inherent to different oil industry structures affected crude oil prices in the 20th century. Overall, there are strong relationships between oil prices and the corresponding price regimes. Using an informal approach as well as concepts from economic theory, I also analyze the effects of supply and demand variables including spare capacity, stocks, futures prices, OPEC production, and GDP on crude oil prices from 2002 - 2007. The results of my analysis are fairly consistent with economic theory as they elucidate the consequences of severe underinvestment in the oil industry and price …

Religio-Political Groups And The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process, Catherine Ruth Orsborn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a quagmire of interests working against one another. In this paper, I explore the specific role of religio-political groups in the conflict. I particularly examine the ideological political and religious foundations of Gush Emunim and Hamas, paying much attention to the question of why they are attractive to people in our current era. I argue that these groups are continuously effective in opposing the current quest for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, and that they continue to grow as the result of an identity crisis brought about by factors related to globalization and the failure …

A Clash Of Worldviews: The Impact Of Modern Western Notion Of Progress On Indigenous Naga Culture, Tezenlo Thong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The term "progress" is a modern Western notion that life is always improving and advancing toward an ideal state. It is a vital modern concept which underlies geographic explorations and scientific and technological inventions as well as the desire to harness nature in order to increase human beings' ease and comfort. With the advent of Western colonization and to the great detriment of the colonized, the notion of progress began to perniciously and pervasively permeate across cultures.

During the classical colonial period, Western anthropologists, sociologists and others had hypothesized, or at least ardently bought into the notion, that human beings, …

Multicultural Events Within Group Supervision: Minority Experiences And Supervision Satisfaction, Jacqueline Renee Moreno

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current investigation utilized a mixed-methods design. In Phase I, 76 ethnic minority graduate students in psychology and counseling Master's and doctoral programs completed surveys that explored their general experiences in group supervision as well as the occurrence of multicultural events, and positive and negative factors of the reported events. Surveys also assessed supervisees' perspectives of their supervisor's multicultural competence level, group supervision satisfaction, and their own racial identity and multicultural competence. In Phase II, 20 volunteers from the first phase participated in qualitative interviews that explored in more depth the multicultural event they more briefly discussed in the survey …

Reducing Disparities In The Adult Criminal Justice System: Creating A Model For Denver County, Shelley Siman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Overrepresentation in the criminal justice system of people who are marginalized by society has been researched for decades. Major challenges as they relate to overrepresentation of people of color in the system include a silo approach to research which leans towards analyzing system decision points in a vacuum, the misuse of official statistics to determine who is involved in crime, and the difficulty in translating solutions to the problem into practice. Disparate treatment of people of color in the American criminal justice system has also been reported by the United Nation's International Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination as …

Cortisol Reactivity Across The Day At Child Care: Examining The Contributions Of Child Temperament And Attachment To Mother And Lead Teacher, Lisa S. Badanes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous work has shown that full-day center-based child care is associated with increased physiologic stress for many young children (e.g., Tout, de Haan, Campbell, & Gunnar, 1998; Watamura, Sebanc, & Gunnar, 2002). Specifically, increasing cortisol from morning to afternoon at full-day child care in contrast to decreasing cortisol across the day for these same children at home has been repeatedly demonstrated for toddlers and preschoolers. Factors that have been related to rising cortisol across the day at child care include the child's age (rising cortisol at child care between 2 and 5 years, but not for infants or older children, …

A Critical Realist Exploration Of The Relationship Between Personal And Professional Value Systems In Social Workers And The Impact On Motivations For Participation In A Social Work Community Of Practice, Philip Jonathan Osteen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses questions about the nature of relationships between personal and professional value systems and between personal and professional identities, about motivations for engaging in a social work community of practice, and about alternative statistical methods for evaluating the psychometric properties of an original measure of motivation for participation in a social work community of practice. By merging communities of practice theory, derived from social learning theory, and critical social realist theory, this study bridges an ideological gap between the origins and evolution of personal and social identities. The study utilizes a mixed-method approach to (1) develop a measure …

Becoming Good Europeans? Globality, The Eu And The Potential To Realize Nietzsche's Idea Of Europe, Michael J. Mcneal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation takes up Friedrich Nietzsche’s notion of ‘good Europeanism’ and his related idea of Europe to show how the former disposition may be cultivated to achieve the latter—a reinvigorated culture on the continent. It does so by applying his vitalist politics and power ontology (will to power hypothesis and theory of decadence) to critique European integration in the broader context of globalization. The analysis enables me to theorize how “healthy” individuals might exploit opportunities in the present to become 'good Europeans', with the aim of realizing Nietzsche’s quasi-cosmopolitan idea of Europe. It is my primary contention that Nietzsche’s diagnosis …

April 4, 1968: Death, Difference, And Dialogue, Kristine Marie Warrenburg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Robert Kennedy's announcement of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in an Indianapolis urban community that did not revolt in riots on April 4, 1968, provides one significant example in which feelings, energy, and bodily risk resonate alongside the articulated message. The relentless focus on Kennedy's spoken words, in historical biographies and other critical research, presents a problem of isolated effect because the power really comes from elements outside the speech act. Thus, this project embraces the complexities of rhetorical effectivity, which involves such things as the unique situational context, all participants (both Kennedy and his audience) of the …

Creating An Indian Space In The City: Development, Maintenance, And Evolution Of Cultural Identity And Cultural Connectedness Among Multiple Generations Of Urban American Indians, Nancy Marie Lucero

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the cultural identity and cultural connectedness of multiple generations of American Indians whose families had been living continuously in an urban area for 40 to 50 years. The intent of the current study was to better understand how members of this group developed and maintained their cultural identities while living away from a tribal community and as a small percentage of the population of a large and culturally diverse metropolitan area. The study also sought to identify what constituted cultural connectedness--a term used frequently amongst urban Indians that appears to encompass factors of importance to being American …

Participants' Perception Of The Utility Of An Adult Day Health Care Center, Sherry Ann Snyder

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study is to assess the participants' perception of San Bernardino Adult Day Health Care. Adult day health care centers serve the mentally ill as well as the mentally disabled and elderly population, and are designed to help keep the participants in the community and free from institutionalization.

Informational Social Support And The Stress Involved In Surviving A Reduction-In-Force, Woodstock Leben Koch-Wain

Theses Digitization Project

This study looked at companies experiencing severe economic downturns and reductions-in-force (RIF) to help mitigate financial short fallings. While employing a smaller work force intially saves capital, the psychological ramifications of such a process can be detrimental for those employees released (i.e., leavers) as well as those that remain (i.e., survivors). This study examined the effectiveness of informational versus emotional or instrumental social support in mitigating stress amd also considered the effectiveness of procedural justice.

Private Foster Family Agencies' Certified Foster Parents' Perceptions Of County Social Workers And Services, Maria Gabriela Casillas

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to explore the support and services available to foster parents from government-run services and to examine attitudes resulting from the contact they have with county social workers and the services they received from them. The foster parent's suggestions and/or responses allowed this study to uncover frequent themes that lead to a theory of their perceptions, and served to add knowledge and make changes in social work practice at the micro and/or macro levels of human organization. This study was conducted with 15 foster parents that provide foster care for the agency, Community Access Network …

Modulation Of Memory Formation Following Violations Of Conditioned Expectations, Dennis Antonio Amodeo

Theses Digitization Project

Increment in attention to the conditioned stimulus (CS) leads to an increased rate of acquisition of new associations involving CS. While the neuroanatomical basis of the phenomenon is largely understood, little is known about the synaptic mechanisms underlying memory formation for prediction error. The current experiment tests the overall hypothesis that this specific form of memory depends on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation.

Role Of Dorsostriatal D1 And D2 Receptors In Modulating The Kappa Opioid-Mediated Locomotor Activity Of Preweanling Rats: Importance Of Synergistic Activation, Sergios Charntikov

Theses Digitization Project

Infusions of the nonselective dopamine agonist R( - ) propylnorapomorphine (NPA) into the dorsal striatum of preweanling rats atteuates kappa opioid-mediated locomotor activity. The purpose of this thesis was to ascertain which dopamine receptor subtype (D1 or D2) is responsible for this effect. It was hypothsized that a) D1, but not D2, receptors in the dorsal striatum underlie NPA's ability to attenuate the kappa opioid-mediated locomotor activity of preweanling rats, and b) microinjectng SKF38393 (a D1 agonist), and not quinpirole (a D2 agonist), would attenuate kappa opioid-mediated locomotion.

Lesbian Subjective Distress To Violations Of Trust As A Function Of The Butch/Femme Paradox: Evolutionary And Social-Cognitive Hypotheses, Sarah Carver-Steil Mcnay

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis investigated both evolutionary and social-cognitive hypotheses regarding butch and femme lesibans' subjective distress to imagining a romantic partner's emotional and sexual infidelity. Findings from this study, that conform to findings from other research indicate a need to conduct more research and to continue to develop existing theories of sex-based behavior in lesbian romantic pair-bonds.;Summary.

The Impact Of California's Service Delivery System On Developmentally Disabled Youth Emancipating From The Child Welfare System, Carey Ann Doetschman

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to examine public child welfare and regional center workers' perceptions of the experiences that developmentally disabled youth have as they emancipate from child welfare services into the adult developmental service sector. Data was collected by interviewing workers from Inland Regional Center and San Bernardino County's Child Welfare Department. The sample of this study included nine case managers and social workers who presented nine cases. Qualitative Interviews were designed and conducted with workers from both agencies utilizing the same basic interview guide.

Establishing Adult Lifelong Connections For Emancipating Foster Youth, Tylia Lindsey Jones

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which Riverside County Children's Social Services Workers (CSSW's) are establishing adult lifelong connections for emancipating foster youth. Interviews were conducted with CSSW's from the Independent Living Program (ILP) and the Planned Permanency Living Arrangement (PPLA) units. The purpose of the interviews was to identify resources that CSSW's are using to secure adult lifelong connections for youth transitioning out of the foster care system.

Research On Autonomous English-Learning Strategies Of American Culture And Language Students, Jing Xu

Theses Digitization Project

This study will serve as a guideline for adult second-language learners who want to strengthen the effectiveness of self-directed learning outcomes or develop their self-directed learning strategies. Through the understanding of learning factors, fossilized language elements, and their own learning strategies, learners will be more confident and motivated to pursue their personal second-language acquisition goals and aspirations. These strategies are designed to help Taiwanese second-language learners.

Hispanics' Experience With Hospice Care, Maria Rosario Diaz

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project was to learn about Hispanic's experience with hospice care and gain insight into their unique needs. The findings will offer Hospice programs with information on how to provide the most appropriate care to the Hispanic population. This study found that the quality of patient care transcended cultural and spiritual boundaries.

The Relationship Between Kinship Support Services And Placement Outcomes, Maria De Jesus Flores, Jennifer Lau

Theses Digitization Project

This study examined the relationship between kinship support services and placement outcomes using secondary data collected by Chang and Liles (2004) in the Counties of San Bernardino and Riverside. This study aimed at assessing kinship care placement outcomes by reviewing the characteristics of kin caregivers and their dependent children, types of financial support and services received, and contact with social workers. This study sample included 130 kinship caregivers and 291 dependent children from the original study (Chang & Liles, 2007).

Perceptions About The Effectiveness Of Play Therapy Among Parents, Maria Nina Joy Malasig Flores

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis will explore the perceptions about the effectiveness of play therapy among parents. This study will work with Bilingual Family Counseling Services, (BFCS) in Ontario, with their school based program. Their school based program runs throughout the Montclair and Ontario school districts and helps counsel children with behavioral problems who are from 5-12 years of age with play therapy. The issue that will be addressed in this study is to find out through the perception of the parent whether or not play therapy has been effective with their child. This study will survey parents about their child's progress throughout …

Co-Sleeping Deaths In Riverside County, Christine Leigh Brown

Theses Digitization Project

The focus of this study was to look at cases of co-sleeping deaths and find the similarities between them and determine if these deaths were preventable. The research site for this study was the Riverside County Child Death Review, which meets twice a month to discuss all child deaths in Riverside County, as well as Riverside County Child Protective Services. The study participants chosen for this study were from cases discussed at these meetings. The cases for this study were selected from the Riverside Child Death Review Team from the years 2003 to 2008.

Is Public Education Preparing Learning Disabled To Succeed At The College Level?, John Fermin Ramirez

Theses Digitization Project

This study will use a qualitative and quantitative methodology to investigate and analyze if special education departments of school districts and universities are following the federal law in preparing students with learning disabilities to succeed in college. Research indicates universities are not complying with the federal mandates for learning disabled students. This research project will investigate whether or not some school districts and universities are implementing programs consistent with federal law.

Social Workers' Perceptions Of Barriers To Father Involvement In Case Planning In San Bernardino County Department Of Children's Services, Deborah Ann Kay, Tina Marguerite Wright-Ervin

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to examine social workers perceptions of barriers to the involvement of fathers in case planning. Two focused groups were conducted utilizing a sample of eleven social workers from two Children and Family Services offices in San Bernardino County. Participants were asked to express their opinions on what the barriers to father involvement have been in their work experience. Ultimately, the study found that social worker bias, systemic bias, paternity issues, and father's lack of motivation are the four major barriers to father involvement.

Substance Abuse Among The Aging Population: A Needs Assessment, Stephen Michael Clark

Theses Digitization Project

This needs assessment was composed of 33 clinicians' in Riverside and San Bernardino counties that work in the substance abuse field. This study was developed to test if there is a need to increase clinicians' knowledge level base when working with older adults age 65 plus with a substance abuse problem. This needs assessment looked at demographics and tested the differences between self reported knowledge and what instruments their agencies are currently using.

Attitudes Regarding Gang Affiliation Of Select Adolescent Boys Residing In Group Homes, Gina Michelle Aguirre

Theses Digitization Project

This study contains a program evaluation of a four week series of group sessions, involving a variety of group activites, including role plays, exposure to a former gang member, and group dialogues on a variety of topics, to determine whether the program caused a change in the attitudes of adolescent males residing in group homes regarding gang affiliation. The research utilized a convenience sample, utilizing male residents of Fields Comprehensive Group Homes, between the ages of 15 and 18, residing at one of two affiliated locations. Each location housed six adolescent boys. One group home was randomly selected as the …

Group Therapist's Perceptions Of Group Treatment Of Intra-Familial Child Sexual Abuse Offenders, Elena Diana Inzunza

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not therapy is effective among intra-familial child sexual abuse offenders and to identify successful strategies and techniques. An intra-familial child offender is a person whose sexual desire is directed toward children, usually of pre-pubertal or early pubertal age. The distinction within an intra-familial child sexual offender is that the offense was that the victim was within the perpetrator's family.

The Use Of An Environmental Education Service Learning Project To Enhance Student Motivation In A Secondary School, Mary Frances O'Connell-Hershey

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project was to show any possible variations in environmental education awareness and changes in student motivation among secondary students. In this study two student cohorts from two separate classes completed assignments based on a traditional approach of education and environmental science service-learning project.