Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Exploratory Scale Of Christian Privilege: The Development Of A Scale To Measure The Attitudinal Constituents Of Christian Privilege, Brier S. Gallihugh

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Research surrounding measures of privilege awareness commonly involve White privilege awareness. However, relatively few (i.e., Privilege and Oppression Inventory) look other forms of privilege (i.e., heterosexual, sexism, religion). As such, this study looked to create a more extensive scale that would assess Christian privilege awareness among Christian participants. Items were adapted from theoretically analogous White privilege scales in addition to literature on Christian privilege. Using a sample of 391 participants recruited from Facebook, Reddit, SONA and Twitter, an exploratory factor analysis was run on a 28-item scale. The analysis suggested that a final 21-item, two-factor solution was the best fit …

A World Grappling With Pope Francis: Laudato Si' And The Contested Frames Of A Secular-Minded Church, Joseph R. Blaney

Faculty Publications - Communications

Pope Francis has been misunderstood by liberals and conservatives alike, confusing an emphasized pastoral tone and approach for theological departure. This confusion is exacerbated in the United States where the faithful are tempted to understand and evaluate pastoral figures in terms of secular political ideologies. This study extends Blaney’s (2017) media framing study of news coverage of cardinalate appointments by examining commentary about the papal encyclical Laudato Si’ found among readers of the National Catholic Register, the National Catholic Reporter, and The New York Times. Thematic analyses affirm that the faithful of the U.S. church succumb to the same secular …

Barriers To Implementation Of A Technology-Based Mental Health Intervention In A Rural Setting, Becky F. Antle, Lesley M. Harris, Jesse H. Wright, Tracy D. Eells, Amy Cappiccie, Sara M. Williams, Rebecca Katz, Ashley Logsdon, Jesse Owen

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

This study utilized qualitative focus groups with rural health providers and patients to explore barriers to implementation of a technology-based mental health intervention for the treatment of depression in a primary care setting. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) was implemented in both urban and rural primary care practices to test the feasibility and effectiveness of computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (CCBT) for depression. Early implementation identified lower rates of willingness to participate in the intervention by rural patients. Subsequently, focus groups were conducted with rural providers and patients to explore barriers to participation and strategies to overcome these barriers in future …

Exploring Regional Differences In Social Work Pedagogy: Attitudes Toward Poverty, Michael L. Burford, Peter A. Kindle, Laura Brierton Granruth, Elena Delavega, David H. Johnson, Susan Peterson, Mary Caplan

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

This study explores regional differences in student learning outcomes from pre and post-test surveys of undergraduate and first year graduate social work students (N = 373) enrolled in a social welfare policy class at six different CSWE accredited institutions. As expected, overall results showed a shift in student attitudes away from a personal deficiency explanation for poverty, a decline in stigmatization of poverty, and toward a more structural explanation for the causes of poverty, but significant differences were reported by geographical region. Future research should explore the instructor, pedagogical, and geographical factors that may help of hinder attitudinal preparation …

No. 23: Inclusive Growth And The Informal Food Sector In Windhoek, Nambia, Ndeyapo Nickanor, Lawrence Kazembe, Jonathan Crush, Tobias Shinyemba

Hungry Cities Partnership

This report presents the results of the first comprehensive survey of Windhoek’s rapidly-growing informal food sector. As such, it aims to shed light on the food system of Windhoek, Namibia’s capital and largest urban centre. The report is part of a research programme on food security in cities of the Global South by AFSUN and the Hungry Cities Partnership (HCP) and builds on earlier publications on Windhoek’s food system including:

- The State of Food Insecurity in Windhoek, Namibia (Pendleton et al 2012);

- The Supermarket Revolution and Food Security in Namibia (Nickanor et al 2017);

- Urban Informal Food …

No. 49: Urban Food System Governance And Food Security In Namibia, Jonathan Crush, Ndeyapo Nickanor, Lawrence Kazembe

Hungry Cities Partnership

Namibia’s transition to an urban society is occurring extremely rapidly and with it has come a transformation of urban food systems, changes in diets and food consumption patterns, increased undernutrition and overnutrition, and the rapid growth of non-communicable diseases. This paper examines the policy response of the Namibian government to the nutrition transition and double burden of malnutrition with particular reference to urban centres and populations. The national government assumes responsibility for all food security and health-related programming, while local government’s mandate is largely confined to non-food related management issues such as housing, transport and sanitation. The paper shows that …

No. 46: Hunger, Anger, And Strangers: Precarious Status And Food Insecurity Among Refugees And Asylum Seekers In South Africa, Jennifer Kandjii

Hungry Cities Partnership

This discussion paper analyzes the impact of a multiplicity of actors, policies, and practices on the food security of refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa’s urban spaces. Building on recent work that focuses on the legal production of illegality, institutionalization of precarity, and the reproduction of bordering practices by the state and citizenry, the paper reviews how South Africa’s migration governance processes coalesce with societal xenophobic tendencies to shape food security outcomes for forcibly- displaced populations. The discussion paper aims to fill a policy and research gap through understanding the experiences of displaced persons at the intersection of food …

No. 47: Urban Food Security And Household Shocks In Nairobi, Kenya, Elizabeth Opiyo Onyango, Jonathan Crush, Samuel Owuor

Hungry Cities Partnership

Even though urban poverty is a key component of the development agenda in Nairobi with a focus on job creation, provision of basic infrastructure (such as roads and clean drinking water), food security has traditionally been omitted by city planners and managers despite its centrality to people’s health and wellbeing. One of the consequences of the lack of integration of food security into development planning is that emergency food preparedness planning has not been viewed as a priority. Rather, emergency procedures are only enacted when a food emergency is already in progress. This discussion paper demonstrates that female-centred households, households …

No. 83: Between Burden And Benefit: Migrant Remittances, Social Protection And Sustainable Development, Sujata Ramachandran, Jonathan Crush

Southern African Migration Programme

As the role of migrant remittances for poverty reduction, economic growth and sustainable development in sending countries gains increasing attention, this report reviews the evidence for the linkages between remittances and the social welfare of receiving households, communities and countries, as well as remitters themselves. In low and middle-income countries, where national social security systems have been underdeveloped, monetary and other assistance by family and community members have long constituted an important form of non-state social welfare. Rooted in social relationships and networks of family, kinship connections and social community, individual remittances offer informal mechanisms of social protection. The report …

Agroecology And Participatory Action Research For Food And Water Justice In Central America, Christopher M. Bacon

Environmental Studies and Sciences

I remember driving with local community leaders into northern Nicaragua’s mountains to meet with organized farmers as we continued a long-term relationship that sought to explain and construct strategic responses to drought and an El Niño event in 2016. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network warned that this area, and much of Central America, was experiencing a stage three food crisis characterized by severe food insecurity coping responses, such as skipping meals and selling assets. Yet here we found farmers that had organized themselves into a cooperative and invested not only in organic coffee for export, but also in corn …

Shopping For An Ir: The Search, Adoption, And Implementation Of The University Of Louisiana At Lafayette’S Institutional Repository Platform, Zachary G. Stein

Faculty Scholarship

Institutions wishing to disseminate their scholarship on a wide scale have influenced the need for institutional repositories (IR). These repositories provide institutions the opportunity to display and preserve what they have to offer in an open access environment. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette) had attempted to adopt an IR for years and finally achieved this goal. Many issues impacted the adoption, including funding, deciding on the appropriate platform solutions, and marketing the need for contributions from faculty and university administration. There is much optimism for the IR, as it is also included in the university’s Quality Enhancement …

Black And Brown Centered Placemaking Rooted In Identity And Ownership, Ebony Walden

Richmond Racial Equity Essays: Individual Essays

The author outlines ideas for advancing racial equity in Richmond through creating neighborhoods and communities rooted in Black and Brown cultural identity, while supporting Black and Brown ownership and entrepreneurship.

From Ideas To Action, Ebony Walden, Meghan Z. Gough Ph.D.

Richmond Racial Equity Essays: Individual Essays

Conclusion to the book Richmond Racial Equity Essays by the editors Ebony Walden and Meghan Z. Gough. The book is a collection of essays on creating racial equity in Richmond, Virginia.

Spaces To Breathe, Ryan Rinn

Richmond Racial Equity Essays: Individual Essays

The author's vision is of a racially equitable Richmond that looks like every resident having the mental and physical health benefits of green space easily walkable from where they live. He outlines ideas for achieving this vision, with Black and Brown-led onboarding of new parks in neighborhoods and communities where no greenspaces exist within walking distance. Community-led creation of public open space is the inverse of annexation; it is an anti-racist land use strategy that empowers residents to build and enjoy places for the people.

The Case For Meaningful Language Access, Tanya M. González

Richmond Racial Equity Essays: Individual Essays

Through her experience working with the immigrant community in Richmond, the author makes the point that the Richmond metropolitan area needs a comprehensive immigration integration policy that centers language access services and that is implemented by localities, nonprofits, and other human service providers to begin to move towards racial equity for immigrant families.

Peace For Communities Of Color: A Conversation Between A Black Woman And A White Woman On Shifting Power And The Need For Radical Imagination In The Nonprofit Sector, Lea Whitehurst-Gibson, Bekah Kendrick

Richmond Racial Equity Essays: Individual Essays

The authors discuss their nonprofit sector work towards equity in Richmond, stating that achieving equity requires a culture shift within the nonprofit and philanthropic sector and noting that despite an increasingly diverse nation, white people make up the majority of nonprofit executive leadership.

Between Two Litanies: Equity And Public Education In Richmond, Va, Dennis Williams Ii

Richmond Racial Equity Essays: Individual Essays

The author examines white backlash (white resistance to and prevention of racial and educational equity), calling it a social mechanism as persistent as the struggle for racial equality itself.

Toward A Vision Of Racial Equity In Richmond Schools, Taikein Cooper, Genevieve Siegel-Hawley

Richmond Racial Equity Essays: Individual Essays

The authors present their vision for racial equity in Richmond schools, including real integration, enabled by stronger and more inclusive advocacy. It is based on their collective personal and professional experiences, research, and best practices from around the country. They believe these strategies will lead us toward greater racial equity in Richmond and the education all of our children deserve.

There Goes The Neighborhood: Combatting Displacement In Richmond’S Historically Black Neighborhoods, Mariah Williams

Richmond Racial Equity Essays: Individual Essays

The author examines the national trend in gentrifying legacy Black cities and neighborhoods across the country (wealthy, white families moving to non-white, predominantly Black neighborhoods). As the city of Richmond undergoes significant transition, achieving racial equity means implementing policies to combat involuntary displacement of Black residents and to preserve the culture embedded within historic Black communities. Creating an equitable Richmond means being intentional about promoting policies that combat involuntary displacement, ensuring that Black households truly have a choice in remaining in their communities and that they can reap the benefits of reinvestment as much as their white counterparts.

Richmond Racial Equity Essays: 24 Visions For Racial Equity In Richmond

Richmond Racial Equity Essays: The Book

This ebook of 24 essays is a component of the Richmond Racial Equity Essays project. The idea was inspired by and modeled after The Just City Essays: 26 Visions of Equity, Inclusion and Opportunity, an ebook of 26 essays edited by Toni L. Griffin, Ariella Cohen, and David Maddox and published by J. Max Bond Center on Design for the Just City at the City College of New York, the Nature of Cities and Next City.

Using The Just City Essays as a model, urban planner and consultant Ebony Walden collaborated with Dr. Meghan Gough from VCU's Wilder School …

The Relationship Between Psychiatric Symptomatology Types And Difficulties With Activity Caused By A Nervous System Or Sensory Organ Condition Among Latinx’S, Oswaldo Moreno

Psychology Publications

No abstract provided.

Vcu Service-Learning Impact Measure (Slim) Report, 2020-2021, Katie Elliott, Jackie Stephens

Division of Community Engagement Resources

The VCU Service-Learning Office distributes the Service-Learning Impact Measure (SLIM) at the end of every semester to evaluate the impact of service-learning classes on student learning. Results are used to guide program improvements that enhance the quality of service-learning courses and outcomes for students, faculty, and partners. This report covers the 2020-2021 academic years and highlights assessment focus areas including: career readiness, academic learning, civic learning identity development, diversity and inclusion, and the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Is There A Difference Between Democrat And Republican States In The Percentage Of Male High School Students Who Have Ever Used Marijuana?, Jordan Caldwell, Wayne L. Davis

Lincoln Memorial University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

There are opposing viewpoints on whether marijuana should be legalized. Democrats and Republicans have different attitudes toward the drug. Democrats believe marijuana should be legalized for medical patients, if it is prescribed by a physician and is needed to reduce severe pain. In addition, Democrats believe that the war on recreational marijuana has been a waste of time and government resources. Many Democrats are in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana because it is considered normal by social standards. Republicans, on the other hand, oppose legalizing medical marijuana because they believe other drugs can be prescribed by physicians to reduce pain …

Developing Sustainable Solar-Powered Electricity For Rural Ethiopia, Yonas Workie Cherenet

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

The main objective of this capstone paper is to identify the barriers in developing sustainable solar-powered electricity for rural Ethiopia and to review solutions and access the practical challenges using a case study called “Maji Decentralized Off-grid Solar Energy Project (MDOSEP)”. The findings in the case study showed that even though there are many challenges in providing solar solutions for an entire rural community, it is possible to have an impact step-by-step using different approaches. The project used PAYGO payment option for distribution of Solar Home Systems (SHS) in which customers pay a deposit, and commit to making ongoing payments, …

Un Sdg Goals: Wales' Research Performance With Uk And Global Comparators (2010-2019), Jörg Hellwig Phd, Jan-Maarten Van Schalkwijk

Public Reports

The purpose of this report is to assess the relative performance of Welsh research outputs related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over the past decade (2010-19). This analysis builds on a methodology developed by Elsevier and partners that uses a bottom-up approach to identify SDG-relevant publication sets.

This report was funded and commissioned by the Welsh Government Office for Science.

Predicting Treatment Response In Borderline Personality Disorder: What Can Neuroimaging Tell Us?, Christina Ann Michel

Theses and Dissertations

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe mental illness affecting over four million individuals in the United States alone. Emotion dysregulation is a core feature underlying BPD; however, the neural underpinnings of emotion dysregulation and how neural correlates relate to treatment response is not well understood. The present study examines BOLD activation during a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task of emotion regulation to understand neural correlates of reappraisal and how this neural activity is related to treatment outcomes. Individuals with BPD (N=37) underwent fMRI at baseline and were randomized to 6-months of either dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT; N=17) or …

Corruption: An Impediment To Delivering Pathology And Laboratory Services In Resource-Limited Settings, Emily H. Glynn Md, Timothy Amukele, Taryn Vian

Nursing and Health Professions Faculty Research and Publications

OBJECTIVES

Corruption is a widely acknowledged problem in the health sector of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Yet, little is known about the types of corruption that affect the delivery of pathology and laboratory medicine (PALM) services. This review is a first step at examine PALM corruption risks.

METHODS

We performed a critical review of medical literature focused on health sector corruption in LMICs. To provide context, we categorized cases of lab-related fraud and abuse in the U.S.

RESULTS

Forms of corruption in LMICs that may impact the provision of PALM services include informal payments, absenteeism, theft and diversion, kickbacks, …

Tolle Lege Works Published In 2021, Mcquade Library

Bibliographies

Compiled Tolle Lege bibliography of works published by members of the Merrimack College Community in 2021. Works include journal articles, books, book chapters, conference presentations and posters, and more.

Hand In Hand, Winter 2021

Hand in Hand

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Milwaukee, WI

Hand in Hand Finding Aid

St. Dominic Deaf Center, January-February 2021

Saint Dominic Deaf Center

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Houston, TX

Saint Dominic Deaf Center Finding Aid