Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Thomas Malthus In East Asia : Population Policy, Elite Competition, And The Developmental State In East Asia, Yimang Zhou

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

East Asia is one of the most important origins of government-led population control in the mid-twentieth century. The states in Japan (1946-62), mainland China (1958-73), Korea (1951-1961), and Taiwan (1949-1964) developed different discourses and intervening policies of population control. In particular, Japan witnessed a population regime of human resource paradigm aimed at higher labor quality in the early 1960s, while the Chinese government launched a Malthusian paradigm to accelerate capital accumulation by slowing down population growth in the early 1970s. The states of Korea and Taiwan also established the Malthusian paradigm in the 1960s and transferred it to the human …

“Talking Sweet And Moving Quiet”: Trauma And Resiliency In Gang-Involved Girls In Belize, Kristcha Deguerre

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Background: Currently, the research exploring gangs in Belize is growing, with one exception; current research excludes gang-involved girls and women. Besides a previous pilot study conducted by this author, there is no known research on gangs in Belize that includes girls and women. Given the extent to which gang violence and activity is increasing within Belize, it is crucial to understand the entire gang-involved population in order to combat this growing social issue.

The Burnout Crisis In Education : A Systematic Review Of Interventions To Ameliorate Burnout And Promote Self-Care In School-Based Professionals, Jacqueline Sturdevant Blass

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this study was to systematically review available research on interventions that aim to reduce burnout and/or promote self-care in school-based professionals. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was used to identify studies for inclusion. Six databases were reviewed and a total of 4,571 records were generated. The titles and abstracts of these articles were reviewed for the inclusion criteria, yielding 200 articles matching eligibility criteria. Additionally, 107 duplicates were removed, yielding 93 studies eligible for closer review. After reviewing these studies, a total of 59 studies were analyzed. Most studies included burnout as …

The Role Of Micro-Business Owners’ Social Networks : Mutual Aid In Community-Led Economic Eevelopment, Kelly J. Gross

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation sought to fill gaps in our knowledge of the role that social networks play in fostering economic development in low-income, urban, highly distressed communities. It utilized both a quantitative methodology using social network analysis (SNA) and a qualitative methodology using NVivo v.12 software to identify themes emerging from interviews and observation. Although social networks have empirically been shown to support better success rates for small businesses in the United States, less is known about micro-business networks and the contributions they make to economic development efforts in a low-income setting. The study focuses on “micro-business owners,” which were the …

Lay Judges Vs. Lawyer Judges : How Much Difference Can A Law Degree Make?, Jingyi Fei

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

With about 13.2 million misdemeanor cases processed through the criminal justice system each year, an increasing number of researchers has shifted their interests from felony courts to lower criminal courts (Smith & Maddan, 2019). One aspect of these lower criminal courts that is of particular interest is the eligibility of non-lawyers to run for and hold judgeships. Although New York and 18 other states have permitted the employment of lay judges, court reformers have long questioned their ability to safeguard defendant’s due process rights. However, at no point in the history of agitation against lay judges have their critics sought …

Immune System Dysfunction To Toxicant Exposure: An Examination Of Mismatch Theory With Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs) And Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (P,P'-Ddt), Florence Lee

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Exposure to environmental contaminants, including persistent organic pollutants (POPs) can disrupt normal immune function. As POPs, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (p,p’-DDE, a metabolite of p,p’-DDT), and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) are synthetic chemicals with long half-lives and can bioaccumulate and biomagnify within organisms throughout the food chain. This dissertation proposes that pollutant exposure can affect the immune system based on a sample of Native American women, thereby influencing human biological variation, and the development of an autoimmune phenotype. Data was collected from a sample of Native American women utilizing anthropometric measurements, medical diagnoses of autoimmune disease, autoimmune dysfunction symptoms, and serum samples. …

Value Congruence And Employee Engagement: An Exploration Of Mechanisms, Laura Santiago

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Employee engagement has been linked to a host of organizational outcomes such as turnover, commitment, and productivity, as well as employee outcomes such as depression, job satisfaction, and anxiety. As such, it is critical to understand how engagement can be fostered at work, or even predicted in applicants. Organizational culture has been linked to engagement, as well as person-job fit, but not enough research has been done on the link between organizational culture fit, or value congruence, and employee engagement. Specifically, not enough research has been done looking at why value congruence could lead to engagement. This study evaluates two …

Street-Level Goals And Teacher Discretion: An Exploration Of Antecedents And Consequences, Heasun Choi

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Scholars have long noted that street-level administration faces significant challenges due to ambiguous work environments and limited resources. At the same time, street-level bureaucrats exhibit widely different behavioral patterns when using discretion while scholars continue to examine their motives. Despite a substantial body of literature on street-level bureaucracy, little attention has been given to the connections between goal dynamics and street-level discretion. This dissertation addresses this gap by conducting three empirical studies that combine a survey of teachers’ priorities, time allocation, and working conditions with administrative data on student achievement. The studies explore the antecedents and consequences of street-level goals …

Mindful Control Vs. Mindful Acceptance : An Experimental Evaluation Of The Acute Impact Of Intentions Guiding Mindfulness Practice On Psychological And Emotional Experiences, Eric Daniel Tifft

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Mindfulness meditation (MM) has gained attention from the mainstream media and scientific communities due to its benefits in ameliorating psychological suffering, aiding in the treatment of physical conditions, and promoting well-being. However, a growing body of research suggests that MM may also produce unintended, adverse effects. Research in emotion regulation suggests that how people use MM may be critical in understanding both the benefits and iatrogenic effects of such practices. Emotion regulation science suggests that efforts to avoid, suppress, or otherwise control unwanted internal experiences are ineffective long-term strategies and can backfire, thus potentiating psychological distress. Conversely, acceptance of difficult …

Community Perceptions Of Therapist Support After Media Coverage Of Anti-Black Violence, Adela Scharff

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Viewing media coverage of violent acts committed against Black individuals (i.e., police violence and other racially motivated violence) can lead to distressing mental health impacts including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptoms. While several cognitive-behavioral and acceptance-based therapy techniques may help therapists to support Black clients in these moments, little is known about how these interventions are perceived by prospective therapy clients. Acceptability of these interventions may also differ by therapist race, and Black individuals of differing identities and with life experiences may hold different views. This therapy analogue study included N = 179 Black adult participants recruited in the …

Masculinity And Colorectal Cancer Screening Intent Among Men: Examining Moderated Mediational Effects, Michael G. Verile

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Masculinity has been theorized to affect engagement in health behaviors and may be helpful in predicting men’s colorectal cancer (CRC) screening intentions. Christy and colleagues’ (2014) proposed a model in which masculinity and social support predict men’s CRC screening intentions by way of engagement in health behaviors, cancer fear, and cancer-related stigma. This study examined how the theory might differ for males based on previous colonoscopy status. 422 men above the age of 45 were recruited using an online survey. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling to test a modified version of Christy and colleagues’ (2014) theory. A modified …

Caregiving Automatons: Gender, Care, And Disability In Poland, Michalina Grzelka

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The last few years in Poland have seen the increasing visibility of disabled people and family caregivers who demand the introduction of public policies more responsive to their needs. Such development suggests a shift from deeply rooted gendered ideas about caregiving and the rise of activism of people with disabilities and family caregivers who call for solutions to the neoliberalization of care work. However, despite growing attention to disability and care within anthropology, few studies have focused explicitly on caregiving relations in the context of disability, especially in the formerly socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe. This dissertation attempts …

Applying The Theory Of Planned Behavior To Intentions To Seek Couple Therapy : The Role Of Attachment, Relationship Satisfaction, And Expectations, Allison Ann Megale

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Although the negative consequences of relationship distress on mental health symptoms have been amply documented (e.g., Beach & Whisman, 2012), many distressed couples do not seek professional help (Cicila et al., 2014). While previous studies identified various barriers to help seeking, such as financial concerns and a lack of childcare (Williamson et al., 2019), there is limited knowledge of psychological factors that encourage distressed couples to seek help. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Azjen, 1991), the present study examined several predictors of a person’s intention to seek couple therapy. Participants were a convenience sample of 665 adults …

Semiparametric Distributional And Quantile Models Applications In Health, Labor And Banking, Li Lu

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The first chapter study the medical expenditure on prescription drug utilization on racial/ethnic disparities using a partially linear quantile treatment effects (QTE) model. We consider the quantile treatment effect inequity from race conditional on other covariates. We find that people tend to spend more depending on prescription drug use as growing old, especially those with insurance coverage. In addition, females spend more than males generally, and the male minority groups have higher treatment effect values, compared to that White female usually spends a lot on medical expenditure. From a racial disparity perspective, we observe that the male Hispanic group QTE …

Informal Migration Resilience And Response To External Shocks : Evidence From India, Jayanta Talukder

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation explores facets of inter-state migration in India through the lens of various external shocks. The first chapter aggregates descriptive and economic statistics from primary surveys conducted in India in response to COVID-19 lockdowns in the form of a survey paper. The second chapter utilizes the survey data to provide detailed empirical contexts on the migration patterns and occupational choices of informal migrant workers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The third chapter investigates long term changes in inter-state migration flows as a response to extreme climate events in India.

"Tu Eres Inmigrante, Pero Con Mucho Honor": Exploring School-Based Identity Messaging, Belonging, And Biculturalism In Central American Immigrant Students, Stephanie L. Carnes

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study explores the lived experiences of Central American immigrant youth (N = 20) in two high schools located in the same Northeastern state in the U.S. This student sub-demographic represents one of the fastest growing populations in U.S. public schools (Suárez-Orozco & Todorova, 2009; Sibley & Brabeck, 2017). As the primary institutions charged with reception and social inclusion, schools shape trajectories of acculturation, bicultural identity development, and social integration for immigrant youth.

Public Opinion And The Morality Of Drug Use : Experimental And Time-Series Analyses, Benjamin Kuettel

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Trends in public opinion research suggest that Americans are becoming more liberal with respect to drugs. This research is limited by the absence of a reliable and valid indicator of drug sentiment, which inhibits our understanding of how and why public opinion toward drugs evolves over time. Recent studies also suggest that Americans are morally approving of drug use in certain contexts and are supportive of “harm reduction” or other progressive drug policies viewed as solutions to the drug war, but the underlying reasons as to why are not completely understood. This dissertation uses time-series analysis and two survey experiments …

Acceptability And Feasibility Of Arfid-Ptp : A Brief, Virtual, Parent-Training Intervention For Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder In Children, Courtney Elizabeth Breiner

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Introduction. Avoidant/restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) is a relatively novel feeding and eating disorder diagnosis with limited evidence-based treatment approaches. Current treatment approaches have been adapted from treatments for other restrictive eating disorders, however eating disorder treatment is notoriously inaccessible due to geographic, financial, and/or time constraints. The present study aims to establish the acceptability and feasibility of a two-session, parent-training approach, “ARFID-PTP,” for the treatment of ARFID disseminated via telehealth. ARFID-PTP was adapted into a brief, virtual format from other evidence-based treatment approaches. Methods. Participants (n=27) included children ages five to 12, inclusive who meet criteria for ARFID and …

Ascriptive Entrepreneurs And The Rise Of The Illiberal Tradition How Benjamin Tillman, George Wallace, And Donald Trump Exploited Ascriptive Americanism, Ryan Thomas Pettibone

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

My dissertation identifies a type of political actor, the ascriptive entrepreneur, who through innovative and creative methods advances the ascriptive tradition. I expand upon two branches of political science literature: political entrepreneurship and Rogers Smith’s multiple tradition thesis. Political entrepreneurs are able to recombine political alignments, causing endogenous shocks to a political system. The concept of the ascriptive entrepreneur augments Rogers Smith’s multiple tradition thesis to include those actors who use the ascriptive tradition to obtain power at the expense of Lockean liberalism and civic republicanism. These political actors, through their own individual efforts, restructure American politics in favor of …

Toward A New Approach To Job-Related Distress: A Three-Sample Study Of The Occupational Depression Inventory, Renzo Bianchi, James Sowden, Jay Verkuilen, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

The Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI) was recently developed to assess depressive symptoms that individuals specifically attribute to their work. One purpose of the ODI is to respond to limitations of current assessments of job-related distress, most notably, assessments relying on the burnout construct. In this study, we conducted a thorough examination of the psychometric and structural properties of the ODI using exploratory structural equation modelling bifactor analysis and Mokken scale analysis. The study involved three samples of employed individuals, recruited in France (N = 3454), Switzerland (N = 1971), and Australia (N = 1485). Results were consistent across the three …

Do Lawyers Inhibit Economic Growth? New Evidence From The 50 U.S. States, James V. Koch, Richard J. Cebula

Economics Faculty Publications

Whether the activities of lawyers might hamper economic growth has been hotly contested over the past three decades. Contradictory conclusions have flowed from evidence that typically has focused on the impact of lawyers on the growth rates of countries. Disputes over definitions and samples that vary among countries have colored portions of these debates. We surmount many of these issues by adopting a 50-state panel covering the period 2005-2018 for the United States and by utilizing widely accepted variables regarding economic activity and who is considered a lawyer. Further, we utilize two distinct measures of the activity of lawyers and …

Taking A Heavier Toll? Racial Differences In The Effects Of Workplace Mistreatment On Depression, Ji Woon Ryu, Erik Gonzalez-Mulé, Ernest H. O'Boyle

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Previous studies have found that workplace mistreatment positively relates to depression, a critical mental health disorder. However, it is unknown whether mistreatment affects all individuals’ depressive symptoms equally. Drawing from the hopelessness theory of depression and the stigma literature, we suggest that Blacks suffer from greater depression than Whites when they experience similar levels of workplace mistreatment because Blacks, as members of a racial minority group, are more likely to attribute workplace mistreatment to their race. This, in turn, causes them to make a pessimistic attribution (i.e., attributions that are internal, stable, and global) about themselves that, ultimately, leads to …

Heterogeneity In The Covid-19 Pandemic’S Labor Market Effects, Carlos Montelongo

CMC Senior Theses

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, labor market outcomes in the United States drastically changed as the country entered its first recession since the Great Recession. The lives of millions of Americans became upended as economic shutdowns and lockdown orders spread across the United States. This paper attempts to quantify and examine the heterogeneity of employment trends before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic along the following four dimensions: race/ethnicity, gender, education, and age. By using cross-sectional data from the Current Population Survey, I gathered a representative sample of different demographic groups in the United States. My objective is …

Migrant-Activist Evidentiary Practices In The Aegean Sea, Beatrice A. Abbott

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

This project examines digital maps and images made by migrants and activists traversing or helping others to traverse the Greek-Turkish maritime border in 2015 and early 2016, when over a million people arrived to European shores, mostly by way of the Aegean Sea. These maps were made using applications such as Google Maps, Bing Maps, Maps.me, and WhatsApp and circulated on public Facebook groups and pages. Through a visual analysis of these digital artifacts, I look at how they can be read to witness and contest deadly border geographies produced through migratory policies and practices of deterrence. Further, I argue …

Hoarding Lifesaving Knowledge While Millions Die: The Political Economy Of Global Covid-19 Vaccine Apartheid, Kenneth Stancil

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Coronavirus vaccines saved millions of lives, but experts estimate that the suboptimal production and inequitable distribution of shots resulted in nearly 3 million preventable Covid-19 deaths in 2021 and 2022 as well as millions of indirect deaths during the pandemic. These avoidable fatalities are inseparable from the grotesquely unequal vaccination rates between rich and poor nations. Dose hoarding by high-income countries contributed to vaccine inequality, but the “vaccine apartheid” inflicted on low-income countries reflects an even more fundamental injustice: knowledge hoarding by profit-maximizing pharmaceutical corporations—aided and abetted by wealthy governments—which deprived generic manufacturers of the right to produce additional lifesaving …

Teacher Perceptions Of Adhd And The Impact Of Using Modifications For Students Diagnosed With Adhd In A High School Mathematics Classroom, Andrew Mccully

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This study was designed to examine the instructional modifications teachers use with students who have been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It determined teacher perceptions of students with ADHD and the impact those perceptions had on participants’ implementation of instructional modifications designed for students diagnosed with ADHD. This study also considered what effect instructional modifications have on the academic achievement of students diagnosed with ADHD within the context of a traditional high school mathematics classroom. Data were collected through participant interviews, classroom observations, and statistical analysis of pre and post-assessment scores. The results of the study showed a lack …

2023 Angeleno Poll: Housing And Homelessness In Los Angeles, Thomas And Dorothy Leavey Center For The Study Of Los Angeles

StudyLA Data Briefs

ABOUT THIS STUDY

The 2023 Angeleno Poll conducted by StudyLA involved telephone sessions, online, and face-to-face surveys with 2,008 adults living in Los Angeles County. The survey was conducted in English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Korean from January 3th to February 12th, and respondents were asked a range of questions about quality-of-life perceptions and various civic issues. The margin of error is ±3.0% for the entire sample.

ABOUT THIS REPORT

Survey results are presented in two sections: (1) toplines, or total responses for each question and (2) crosstabs, or all questions crossed by major demographics. The following report presents data pertaining …

Police Data Brief: 2023 Police And Community Relations Survey, Thomas And Dorothy Leavey Center For The Study Of Los Angeles

StudyLA Data Briefs

ABOUT THIS STUDY

The 2023 Police and Community Relations Survey conducted by StudyLA involved 20-minute telephone sessions and online and face-to-face surveys with 1,751 adults living in the city of Los Angeles. The survey was conducted in English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Korean from April 19th to May 23rd and respondents were asked a range of questions concerning policing in Los Angeles. Margin of error in this report is +/-3%.

ABOUT THIS REPORT

Survey results are presented in two sections: (1) toplines, or total responses for each question and (2) crosstabs, or all questions crossed by major demographics. The following report …

Angeleno Opinions On Lausd: 2023 Los Angeles Public Opinion Survey, Thomas And Dorothy Leavey Center For The Study Of Los Angeles

StudyLA Data Briefs

ABOUT THIS STUDY

The 2023 Los Angeles Public Opinion Survey conducted by StudyLA involved telephone sessions, online, and face-to-face surveys with 2,008 adults living in Los Angeles County. The survey was conducted in English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Korean from January 3th to February 12th, and respondents were asked a range of questions about quality-of-life perceptions and various civic issues. The margin of error is ±3.0% for the entire sample.

ABOUT THIS REPORT

Survey results are presented in two sections: (1) toplines, or total responses for each question and (2) crosstabs, or all questions crossed by major demographics. The following report …

2023 Angeleno Poll: Racial Relations In Los Angeles, Thomas And Dorothy Leavey Center For The Study Of Los Angeles

StudyLA Data Briefs

ABOUT THIS STUDY

The 2023 Los Angeles Public Opinion Survey conducted by StudyLA involved telephone sessions, online, and face-to-face surveys with 2,008 adults living in Los Angeles County. The survey was conducted in English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Korean from January 3th to February 12th, and respondents were asked a range of questions about quality-of-life perceptions and various civic issues. The margin of error is ±3.0% for the entire sample.

ABOUT THIS REPORT

Survey results are presented in two sections: (1) toplines, or total responses for each question and (2) crosstabs, or all questions crossed by major demographics. The following report …