Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Multi-Sited Examination Of Pregnancy, Birth And Women’S Perceptions Of Care In Ghana, Jessica M. Posega

Theses and Dissertations

In Ghana, both governmental and non-governmental agencies have been working to reach the 2015 United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The fourth and fifth goals are related to reproductive health, reducing infant and maternal mortality respectively. Through a combination of increasing midwifery and nursing training programs, public awareness programs, and programs designed to retain skilled birth attendants. This paper explores how the policies and practices intended to create better birth outcomes in Ghana are perceived by those targeted for intervention, and by the reproductive health workers. Drawing from in-depth interviews with pregnant women, mothers with children under one year, and …

A Comprehensive Disaster Risk Index For The United States, Michael E. Senn

Theses and Dissertations

Risks to life, property, infrastructure and even environmental security emanate from a variety of hazard sources. Key to reducing this risk is the ability to measure it and present it decision-makers and stakeholders in a meaningful and understandable way. Currently, there exist no comprehensive hazard risk indices for the United States that have the ability to capture and convey a contemporary conceptualization of risk to hazards. Such an index, the World Risk Index, exists at the global level. The World Risk Index serves as an analog for further research on risk at various scales.

The purpose of this dissertation is …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Esri Story Maps As Effective Teaching Tools, Caitlin Strachan

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore teachers’ perceptions of Esri Story Maps as effective teaching tools. Story Maps are a relatively new web application within Esri’s web-based GIS platform, ArcGIS Online. They combine digitized, dynamic maps with other story elements (i.e., title, text, legend, popups, and other visuals) to help the creator effectively convey a message. The relative ease associated with using and creating a Story Map as well as the simple, non-technical interface makes them ideal for use as an educational technology. Survey data were collected at several professional development events in the spring of 2014 in …

Psychometric Evaluation Of An Executive Function Battery For Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease, Melita T. Stancil

Theses and Dissertations

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a genetic disorder which affects hemoglobin and is associated with high rates of neurologic and neurocognitive deficits. Recent studies have indicated executive functioning (EF) as a common area of impairment for children diagnosed with SCD; however, there is no consensus about which measures of executive function are best to use in clinical practice or research. The purpose of the present research is to assess the properties of a new executive function measure, the “EXAMINER” to determine its utility with the SCD population. Thirty-two children with SCD and 86 demographically-matched controls completed established cognitive measures known …

The Emergence Of U.S. Hospital-Based Doula Programs, Violet Dawn Beets

Theses and Dissertations

Labor and birth related health outcomes remain suboptimal in the US. New initiatives and improvement efforts include peer and social support. Doula support is built on the concept of social support, including emotional support, comfort measures, information, and advocacy. Benefits of doula support include increases in women’s satisfaction with their childbirth experiences, postpartum interaction with infant, breastfeeding initiation, and APGAR scores, and reductions in cesarean deliveries, length of labor, use of analgesia, and healthcare costs to healthcare systems. Doula services based within the hospital are a relatively new phenomenon. How and why hospitals are incorporating doula services has not been …

Beating Down The Fear: The Civil Sphere And Political Change In South Carolina, 1940-1962, Sid Bedingfield

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation contends that print culture – newspapers in particular – played a decisive role in launching the black civil rights movement and shaping the white response to it during the middle of the twentieth century. Focusing on South Carolina, this study is the first to use civil sphere theory and frame analysis to explore the role of cultural expression in the political struggle over black equality in the years immediately before and after World War II. It shows how African-American editors and other activists made strategic use of the society’s symbolic codes concerning justice, freedom, and liberty to elicit …

A Bioecological Approach To Understanding The Interaction Of Environmental Stress And Genetic Susceptibility In Influencing Cortisol And Blood Pressure In African American Adults, Sandra Marie Coulon

Theses and Dissertations

African Americans are disproportionately affected by high blood pressure, a precursor to cardiovascular disease. Bioecological, biomedical, and gene-environment interaction theories were integrated to test the impact of environmental stress and genetic susceptibility on stress-related outcomes, including waking cortisol, perceived stress, and blood pressure in African-American adults. The primary aim of the study was to investigate the effects of neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES), neighborhood satisfaction, and neighborhood collective efficacy on waking cortisol, perceived stress, and blood pressure and to determine whether genetic risk for increased glucocorticoid receptor sensitivity moderated those relations in a gene-by-environment (GxE) interaction. A secondary aim was to …

Tradition Or Technology?: The Impact Of Paper Versus Digital Map Technology On Students’ Spatial Thinking Skill Acquisition, Larianne Collins

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates whether spatial learning outcomes differ with respect to different instructional media. Specifically, it examines traditional, paper aerial imagery as compared to digital imagery visualized with 3D globes. Two research questions provided the focus: 1) Does spatial thinking skill development differ between analog (paper) and digital map media; 2) Does spatial thinking skill development differ based on attitudes toward geography, past travel experience, or demographic variables such as gender, and are there interaction effects among them related to the different media?

Spatial thinking skill development was measured as students received instruction using either paper or digital maps. Spatial …

Towards Common European Energy Policy, Mariam Dekanozishvili

Theses and Dissertations

A common European energy policy is emerging. That poses a puzzling instance of European integration and policy‐making. Despite the origins of the European integration project rooted in the coal and nuclear sectors, integration in the energy domain largely failed until the 1990s. The last two decades, however, witnessed an increasing number of energy policy initiatives at the European Union (EU) level and culminated in the inclusion of the energy article in the 2009 Lisbon Treaty.

The dissertation aims to explain under what conditions, and how, European integration succeeds in the domain of energy policy, based on a novel fuzzy‐set qualitative …

Examining Correlates Of Correctional Officer Risk Perceptions And Decision-Making, Frank Valentino Ferdik

Theses and Dissertations

Developing a more complete understanding of the dangers and risks present within correctional environments can enhance prison safety. Research has revealed, however, that existing prison-based risk assessment and management instruments suffer considerable deficiencies, including failing to account for contextual factors that influence inmate misconduct, and basing generalizations off small sample sizes. Several studies have shown that correctional officers are often very accurate when it comes to the risk assessment and management of prison-based dangers. To expand this literature, the current study collected survey data from a statewide sample of maximum security correctional officers. Ultimately the objectives of this dissertation were …

Integrating Biomedical And Psychosocial Approaches To Study Pain In Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease, Alyssa M. Schlenz

Theses and Dissertations

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of inherited blood disorders characterized by recurrent pain. A distinctive obstacle to managing pain in this condition is the substantial heterogeneity of outcomes observed in children, including the rate, intensity, duration, and extent of disability from pain. Previous studies have largely examined this heterogeneity by focusing on either biomedical or psychosocial approaches to this condition rather than pursuing an integrated approach that is consistent with modern conceptualizations of pain. In addition, few studies have examining genetic heterogeneity in pediatric SCD, which remains one of the only strategies for establishing a preventative approach to …

How Much Do Groups Still Matter To Politics? An Examination Of Group Influences On Public Opinion, Lauren E. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Public opinion plays an important role in democracy. A system of government designed specifically to be by the people, for the people and of the people must by necessity listen to the opinions of the people. Accordingly, an important research agenda is determining conditions under which public opinion is listened to and translated into government responsiveness. Most of the public opinion literature answering this question focuses specifically on individual opinion. I argue that this is problematic because politics is ultimately carried out in terms of the collective. Further, I argue that collective opinion is often voiced through groups in society …

(Mascot) Nation: Examining University Engagement On College Football Teams’ Facebook Pages, Matthew J. Haught

Theses and Dissertations

In the sport of college football, engagement with fans drives revenue for the sports teams and the athletic department; the more fans buy, the more money the school gets. This study examines the ways college football teams use Facebook to engage their publics, and how that engagement builds a sense of community. Specifically, it explores six teams that represent new college football teams, midmajor teams, and state flagship institution teams. Ultimately, it seeks to explain how social media can be a force in establishing and maintaining an online community.

Why Open Access?, Allegra Swift

Library Staff Publications and Research

Panel presentation slides and notes for the library perspective on, “Open Access Publishing in Mathematics: Who? What? Where? Why? And How?” Math Fest, Mathematical Association of America, in Portland, Oregon - August 9, 2014.

Speakers:

• Gizem Karaali, Pomona College
• Jacqueline Jensen-Vallin, Lamar University
• Allegra Swift, Claremont Colleges Library

Organizer: Linda McGuire, Muhlenberg College

Sponsor: MAA Committee on Professional Development

Engagement In Technical Assistance And Its Impact On Prevention Capacity, Jennifer L. Duffy

Theses and Dissertations

Lack of widespread implementation of evidence-based prevention programs has been identified as a major challenge in the field of teen pregnancy prevention. Technical assistance (TA) has been proposed as an important strategy for building capacity of the community organizations to implement evidence-based strategies. This study uses data from an evaluation of Promoting Science-Based Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention, a five-year project conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to build the capacity of organizations to implement teen pregnancy prevention programs using science-based approaches. Data from 104 organizations nested within 12 TA providing organizations were analyzed using OLS regression …

The Impact Of Race On Strickland Claims In Federal Courts In The South, Wyatt Gibson

Theses and Dissertations

The primary goal of this study was to examine the legal and extralegal factors that lead to positive outcome Strickland claims. Specifically, the initial purpose of the research was to test whether a defendant’s race affects his/her likelihood of receiving a positive outcome Strickland claim in the South. Prior literature has indicated that black defendants are more likely to receive the death penalty than white defendants, but this study did not find that race is a significant factor in determining the likelihood of a positive outcome Strickland claim in Southern circuits. Of the 207 Strickland claims studied across the Fourth, …

Am I In Danger? : Predictors And Behavioral Outcomes Of Public Perception Of Risk Associated With Food Hazards, Sang-Hwa Oh

Theses and Dissertations

Using secondary data collected in South Korea, this study explores possible factors that may affect the way the public perceives risks of food hazards. The present study incorporates scientific knowledge, socio-demographic factors, trust in information sources, news media use, and engaging in interpersonal communication as the possible factors. This study also examines how two levels of risk perception–personal and societal – are related with preventive behaviors concerning food safety. More specifically, the current study examines whether personal-level risk perception correlates more closely than societal-level risk perception with one’s intention to engage in preventive behaviors.

Findings show that personal-level risk perception …

Do Americans’ Perceptions Of The Prevalence Of Prejudice Impact Their Racial Policy Preferences? Investigating Meta-Stereotypes As A Potential Causal Mechanism, Alexandra Reckendorf

Theses and Dissertations

Racial discrimination, though more subtle than in the past, is still an enduring presence in 21st century America. Whether looking at education, health care, the workforce, housing/lending practices, or the criminal justice system, studies routinely confirm that racial prejudice and discrimination persist despite claims of a “post-racial” America. Yet, despite the perseverance of racial prejudice and discrimination, policies correcting racial injustice remain contentious, either failing to receive the requisite support to pass reforms or receiving backlash from the public. This project explores meta-stereotypes in the Black and white communities, and highlights meta-stereotypes’ potential impact when determining why some individuals support …

Adultification In Juvenile Corrections: A Comparison Of Juvenile And Adult Officers, Riane Miller Bolin

Theses and Dissertations

The growing recognition throughout the nineteenth century that juveniles were different than adults culminated in the establishment of the first juvenile court in Cook County, Illinois in 1899. By 1945, every state had developed its own juvenile justice system separate and distinct from the criminal justice system. Since its inception, the juvenile justice system has experienced two waves of adultification in which the lines between the juvenile and criminal justice systems were blurred. While a number of studies have focused on the adultification of juvenile courts, no study has examined the adultification of juvenile corrections. Thus, the present study aims …

First-Year Students' Perspectives On Reasons For And Prevention Of Their Own Alcohol Overdose, Janet Reis

University Author Recognition Bibliography: 2014

Two hundred twenty-six first-year students enrolled at a large, public Midwest university and deemed to require an emergency transport for a potential alcohol overdose completed a brief questionnaire on the student's perceptions of why the event occurred, what might have happened to prevent the overdose situation, and personal assessment of experience with alcohol. The explanations for the event revolve around personal decision making (made decision to drink too much, absence of drinking control behaviors) as opposed to peer influence. Similarly, factors selected as preventing an alcohol overdose focused on knowing one's own tolerance, plus having a buddy system to slow …

The World Of Sex Trafficking, Angienieka S. West-Wek

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

There is a concern that people think that human trafficking only takes place outside of the United States. However, this crime happens right in the United States. Some people may be unaware of what human trafficking really is and all the other crimes that are generally associated with human trafficking. There also may be victims that want to seek help but really do not know :from whom to seek help from. Everyone needs to be able to identify a victim that may be involved in human trafficking. The victim may not be willing to step forward at that time but …

Who's Lying About Not Eating Meat?, Harold Herzog

'Animals and Us' Blog Posts

New research says some of us eat more meat than we claim. Find out who.

Managing Democracy In Social Movement Organizations, Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick

School of Peace Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Leaders are crucial to social movement mobilization and maintenance. They often experience conflict between a value for inclusive engagement and a sense that they are moving efficiently toward their organizations' goals. This study draws on a multisite ethnography to suggest two mechanisms through which leaders may resolve this conflict: staging (manipulating organizational procedures) and scripting (using language to reinforce these procedures). Resolving tension in this way often leaves the leader in control of organizational processes and outcomes, and has the unintended effect of stifling the actual process of democratic participation. This study emphasizes the culturally embedded inertia of the democratic …

Phonetics Instruction Improves Learners' Perception Of L2 Sounds, Elizabeth M. Kissling

Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Faculty Publications

Explicit phonetics instruction can help second language (L2) learners to moderately improve their pronunciation, but less is known about how the instruction affects learners’ perception, even though there is evidence that perception and pronunciation are related. This study provided phonetics instruction to students (n = 46) studying Spanish as a foreign language and measured the resulting change in their perception of eight target phones as compared with a control group (n = 41). Perception was assessed with discrimination tests immediately following instruction and three weeks later. Results indicated that the instruction conferred a small advantage in the delayed …

Looking For Friends, Fans And Followers? Social Media Use In Public And Nonprofit Human Services, David Campbell, Kristina T. Lambright, Christopher J. Wells

Public Administration Faculty Scholarship

This article uses interviews and internet data to examine social media use among nonprofit organizations and county departments involved in the delivery of human services in a six-county area in South Central New York State. Social media use was modest; and nonprofit organizations were much more likely to use it than county departments. Organizations used social media primarily to market organizational activities, remain relevant to key constituencies and raise community awareness. Most organizations either had a narrow view of social media’s potential value or lacked long-term vision. Barriers to use included institutional policies, concerns about its inappropriateness for target audiences, …

Risk And Resilience In An Urban School: How A Psychosocial Intervention Promotes The Educational Resilience Of Latino Youth, Kip Van Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

According to the Pew Hispanic Forum, the dropout rates for Latino youth (15%) are higher than all other youth in the United States (White youth = 8%; Black youth = 12%). Many Latino youth have difficulty identifying with the school environment due to a lack of cultural connection to the context. Youth Program (YP) program is a peer-led, school-based program driven by the theoretical foundations of Positive Youth Development and Self-Determination theory and is distinguished by its emphasis on building social and academic skills that ease the transition into high school for ninth grade students. The current study examines the …

The Sovereign Citizen Movement: Strain, Conflict, And The American Dream, Jessica Leann Middleton

Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine factors that may influence Sovereign Citizen Movement (SCM) activity in the United States from 2000 through 2010. Data is collected from all English language newspapers on the LexisNexis database, and incidents were coded and mapped spatially using ArcMap, a geographical mapping software. Using a state level analysis (N=51), incident frequencies are examined using OLS regression analysis of socioeconomic information, percent minority, African American and Hispanic, population, murder rate, percent manufacturing employment, and state hate group frequencies . The study found two significant indicators of SCM incidents, hate groups and percentage minority group …

Social Networks Of Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators, Wendy Elaine Viola

Dissertations and Theses

Empirical research in the areas of substance abuse (Beattie & Longabaugh, 1997; Beattie & Longabaugh, 1999; Falkin & Strauss, 2002; Gordon & Zrull, 1991; Humphreys & Noke, 1997; Mohr et al., 2001; Zywiak, Longabaugh & Wirtz, 2002) and general antisocial behavior (Browning, 2002; Capaldi, Dishion, Stoolmiller & Yoerger, 2001; Dishion, Patterson & Griesler, 1994) and a theoretical model of sexual assault perpetration (DeKeseredy & Schwartz, 1993; DeKeseredy, 1990a; DeKeseredy, 1988; Schwartz & DeKeseredy, 1997) highlight the role of peer groups' attitudes and behaviors in shaping those of their members. Intimate partner violence (IPV) among men's parents (Arriaga & Foshee, 2004; …

Racism, Heterosexism, Depression, And Hiv Risk Behaviors Of Native Men Who Have Sex With Men: Findings From The Honor Project, Matthew Alan Town

Dissertations and Theses

Racial minority men who have sex with men (MSM) experience greater levels of discrimination and higher rates of HIV infection. However, little is known about the associations between racial and heterosexist discrimination and HIV risk behavior. Further, little is known about the mechanisms of the association between racial and heterosexist discrimination and HIV risk behavior. There is some evidence to suggest that depression may be a mechanism that mediates the relationship between racial and heterosexist discrimination and HIV risk behavior. Thus, one purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which discrimination based on both race and sexual …

Research Brief: "Military Parents’ Perceptions Of Public School Support For Their Children", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This study examines the perceptions of school climates by military connected parents, and the effect on school culture and student engagement. The findings in this study imply that military families do not feel that educators understand complex issues associated with military connected individuals, and that districts should facilitate training programs for teachers and social workers. In the future, researchers should focus on collecting data from geographically diverse areas, as well as assess different factors, such as school curriculum and deployment length of family members.