Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Evaluating Employees’ Experiences In Implementing Covid-19 Safety Protocols In Ontario Parks, Jessica Kaatz

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a wide range of public health challenges for park management and staff in Ontario. Green spaces have become a source of resilience during the spread of the virus, partly due to their proven positive impacts on social, mental and physical well-being. With the introduction of social distancing protocols, utilization of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and standardizing constant sanitation efforts, park employees are more responsible than ever for the daily implementation of rules governing park safety and security. At the same time, increased visitor numbers and continually changing government protocols that varied between regional jurisdictions have …

A Tale Of Two Tweets: What Factors Predict Forgiveness Of Past Transgressions On Social Media?, Andrew Dawson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

As more and more of our lives take place online, we are developing a very public and permanent record of our past views and actions. It is increasingly common for public figures to have their current image tarnished by their mistakes and transgressions in what is often the distant past. Although factors such as the passage of time and age of the actor are typically given consideration in moral judgement, they may be swept away by identity and politics when the transgressions are viewed along partisan lines. Three experiments (N = 2,018) found that judgements of a public figure …

Bicultural Identity And Academic Achievement: The Second-Generation Immigrant Student Experience, Karimeh Haddad

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

By comparing the academic success and internal processes of immigrant groups, this study aimed to explore the impact of immigration status (first, second, and third-generation) and cultural backgrounds on academic achievement on a holistic level. By measuring acculturation, parental expectations, self-efficacy, goal adjustment, motivation, control beliefs, and vocabulary knowledge of university students, the combination of constructs best correlated to academic achievement was studied with determinants of demographics playing a key role. In addition to quantitative analyses, in-depth interviews supplemented the analyses and further gave insight to the backgrounds of the target population, second-generation immigrant students. The results indicated that there …

"Learning" To Feel Valued: Exploring The Impact Of Community Service Learning On Student Mattering And Mental Health, Emily Weatherhead

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Post-secondary students are facing an unprecedented level of mental health concerns. While treating mental illness has traditionally been prioritized, mental health promotion strategies are also essential. Existing research has shown that mattering, one’s ability to feel valued by and add value to their community, can promote positive mental health in post-secondary students. Using mixed methods, the goal of this research was to explore the potential of community service learning (CSL), which allows students to participate in community placements in exchange for course credit, to increase student mattering and positive mental health. Pre- and post-online surveys were administered to a sample …

The Politics Of The Visible/Invisible Border: Canada's Responses And (In)Actions Towards Refugee Claimants' Protection, Monica Romero

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis explores Canadian responses towards unexpected arrivals of asylum seekers at their borders. Grounded in critical and feminist geopolitics, it aims to unveil hidden and concealed policies that are implemented behind a narrative of humanitarianism. In particular, it takes the land border crossings from the US to Canada that occurred after the implementation of restrictive asylum policies in the US in 2017 and following years. Although migratory movements can be attributed to several factors, this displacement was triggered by Trump’s anti-immigrant narratives and policies aimed to decrease refugee and immigrant arrivals to their territory.

The dissertation’s central argument is …

A Low Self-Esteem Perspective On Support Provision, Alexandra Hirniak

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Social support is an essential part of personal and relationship well-being. However, not all relationship partners may be equally willing to provide social support to close others. Due to their tendencies toward pessimism (Baumeister et al., 2003) and self-protective biases (Murray et al., 2003, 2008) individuals with lower (vs. higher) self-esteem may have biased perceptions about their own efficacy when it comes to providing support, as well as the consequences and benefits of support provision. These biased beliefs could mediate the relationship between provider self-esteem and support provision. In the present research, I examine how self-esteem affects social support provision. …

Collaboration, Knowledge-Sharing And Natural Hazard Risk Management In The Greater Pinery Provincial Park Region, Madeline Mcfadden

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In Canada, parks and other forms of protected areas are visited by tens of millions of people annually. By their very nature, parks and protected areas present various risks that must be mitigated. Risk management is an area of research that is receiving increased attention because in recent years, natural hazards (e.g. effects the environment) and disasters (e.g. effects the environment and humans) have exacted significant economic, social, health, cultural, and environmental impacts on persons and communities across Canada. Natural hazards, which pose significant risks to the natural environment and those individuals who inhabit or visit them, are expected to …

The Combined Transitions Of Great Power Politics And The Global Energy System A Comparative Analysis Of China, The United States And Russia, Roger Boyd

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The objective of this study is to provide a framework that allows for a holistic and integrated analysis of what will become, if they are not already, the two most significant determinants of foreign policy – the need for a fundamental change in the global energy system and the nature of major power competition within the international system. It specifically rejects the eco-modernist framing of the required energy transition as simply a technocratic challenge, and instead accepts the large-scale nature of the social, political and economic changes and disruptions that will be required. By framing these changes within the dynamic …

Submission To The Future Of The Media Commission, Brendan K. O'Rourke, Joseph K. Fitzgerald

Reports

Dr. Brendan K. O’Rourke is a Senior Lecturer at Technological University Dublin, where he focuses on learning in the area of discourses of the economy, in particular examining enterprise, policy and public discourses on the economy. His scholarly work has been widely published as chapters in edited volumes, encyclopedia / handbook entries and in over 20 peer-reviewed academic journals such the Critical Discourse Studies, Politics and Social Semiotics. More information on his work is available on www.brendankorourke.com . Dr. Joseph K. FitzGerald lectures in international strategy at Technological University Dublin and has published on topics such as how young men …

The Impact Of Microfinance On Women Empowerment In The Case Of Vietnam, Long Bui Thanh

Doctoral

In recent years, most microfinance programs have focused on gender issues with significant support given to poor female clients with the goal of facilitating their access to capital. An interesting fact to be considered is that women are regarded as wonderful clients, as they appear to engage in a more efficient manner in the saving process and the repayment of microloans when compared to men. Based on existing studies, researchers suggest that women are also more responsible regarding the management of finances in the context of poor families (Aggarwal et al., 2015; D'Espallier et al., 2011; Mayoux, 2005).

The Traded Water Footprint Of Global Energy From 2010 To 2018, Christopher M. Chini, Rebecca A. M. Peer

Faculty Publications

The energy-water nexus describes the requirement of water-for-energy and energy-for-water. The consumption of water in the production and generation of energy resources is also deemed virtual water. Pairing the virtual water estimates for energy with international trade data creates a virtual water trade network, facilitating analysis of global water resources management. In this database, we identify the virtual water footprints for the trade of eleven different energy commodities including fossil fuels, biomass, and electricity. Additionally, we provide the necessary scripts for downloading and pairing trade data with the virtual water footprints to create a virtual water trade network. The resulting …

The Ghost Town: An Autoethnographic Study On The Effects Of Loss And Trauma On A Saudi Arabian International Student’S Well-Being, Salman J. Alzowibi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We all have fought on grief’s battleground; some of us started at early ages, while others during their developmental age, teen’s years, or later in their adulthood. All of them are valuable resources and sites of knowledge that need to be explored. Yet, recent studies reduced grief into clinical psychological well-being. However, as I lived these experiences, trauma, loss, and grief impact all well-being dimensions. Grief intersects with large structures (e.g., social, economic, cultural, locations, etc.); all these components impact our way of grief how socially displayed (mourning). This dissertation encapsulates my personal experience elevating it to an academic work …

Book Review: 101 Women Who Shaped South Carolina, Maggie Albro

Publications

No abstract provided.

Making A List And Checking It Thrice: Three Universities Implement Ex Libris’ Leganto, Maggie Albro, Ariana Baker, Heather Gilbert, Jennifer Hughes, Ed Rock, Elena Rodriguez, Suzanne Rook Schilf, Christopher Vinson

Publications

In the 2020-2021 academic year, Clemson University, Coastal Carolina University, and the College of Charleston were the first three institutions in the state of South Carolina to implement Leganto. This implementation followed closely on the heels of a statewide migration involving 55 academic libraries to Ex Libris’ library services platform, Alma, and discovery service, Primo VE. Each institution completed their migration and went live with Alma and Primo VE in June 2020. Coastal Carolina University launched Leganto in July 2020 and Clemson University and College of Charleston each launched Leganto in August 2020. This article explores the faculty engagement, instructional …

Uncovering An Alternative Social Structure To Social Dominance: A Blend Of Ethnography And Community Based Participatory Research, Andrew A. Fox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated social structures that are alternative to the prevailing assumption of Social Dominance Theory (SDT), which is that all human interaction is based on social hierarchies. The implications of social dominance impact health at an institutional, interpersonal, and intrapersonal level. The intersection of these levels of social dominance cause health disparities that perpetuate gaps between populations. This study explored one community organizing group who is challenging social dominance by creating alternative social structures. The methods of this study included Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and Arts Based Research (ABR) as ways to generate middle-range theorizing and attempt to …

Pulling Back The Curtain: A Student Collaborative Case Study Of Equity Issues In Colorado’S School Finance System, Amy Jo Schwartz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

After the Great Recession, a seven percent decrease in funding ended decades of academic growth and further widened the achievement gap between White and Black students (Jackson et al., 2020). Colorado’s school-finance system is particularly distorted and inequitable because of a series of tax-limiting policies which, combined, have led Colorado to become one of the lowest-funded per pupil states in the country (Resnick et al., 2015). The purpose of this study is to describe the policymaking context, as it relates to equity within Colorado’s school-finance system and explore policy alternatives to improve equity within the system. The study was designed …

Reconstructability Analysis Of The Predictors Of Physical Functioning Status In Older Americans By Race And Ethnicity, Amanuel Melekin, Martin Zwick

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper demonstrates the use of reconstructability analysis to examine race/ethnic differences in physical functioning status among older Americans. Reconstructability analysis is an information theory and graph theory method which has been successfully used in multivariate data modeling. The health and retirement study data from 2004 are used for this demonstration. Out of eighteen independent variables included, seven variables appeared in the best models selected. Uncertainty reductions in physical functioning status were substantial across the models but the magnitudes and predictive variables varied slightly by race/ethnicity. Examination of the model probability distributions indicated that composite independent variable states of overlapping …

Research To Consider While Effectively Re-Designing Child Welfare Services, Richard P. Barth, Jill Duerr Berrick, Antonio R. Garcia, Brett Drake, Melissa Jonson-Reid, John Gyourko, Johanna K. P. Greeson

Department of Social Work - Faculty Scholarship

An intense appetite for reforming and transforming child welfare services in the United States is yielding many new initiatives. Vulnerable children and families who become involved with child welfare clearly deserve higher quality and more effective services. New policies, programs, and practices should be built on sound evidence. Reforms based on misunderstandings about what the current data show may ultimately harm families. This review highlights 10 commonly held misconceptions which we assert are inconsistent with the best available contemporary evidence. Implications for better alignment of evidence and reform are discussed.

“One Hundred And Ninety-Four Got Licensed By Monday”: Application Of Design Thinking For Foster Care Innovation And Transformation In Rhode Island, Johanna K. P. Greeson, John Gyourko, Andrew J. Ortiz, Durell Coleman, Sixto Cancel

Department of Social Work - Faculty Scholarship

The American child welfare system is in crisis. Given its history, the beleaguered state of the system evokes little surprise. There is an urgent need for new and creative approaches to problem-solving and transformation in child welfare. Design Thinking, a change management framework that prioritizes deep empathy for end user needs is one such approach, holding promise for helping child welfare systems transform to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Like many states, Rhode Island has long struggled to effectively recruit, license, and retain an adequate pool of resource families. From 2012 to 2017, Rhode Island saw a 12% …

North Korea: How Fear Is Used To Control A Nation, Ashley Clisby

Capstone Showcase

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, more commonly known as North Korea, is most commonly known for its possession and testing of nuclear weapons and threatening to use these weapons of mass destruction. Less commonly talked about are the human rights violations that are being experienced by the citizens of North Korea. Most, if not all, of the information regarding North Korean human rights that have been reported on comes from individuals who have escaped the Kim regime. There is very limited information traveling in and out of North Korea that is not heavily monitored by the government. These individuals …

Gaming And Culture: How Videogames Can Affect Global Players' Preception And Understanding Of Japan's History And Culture, Garrett Davies

Capstone Showcase

Video game developers have the ability to create synthetic worlds. These are places where players have the ability to immerse themselves within a culture presented to them by the creators. This allows a global audience to participate in the expression and learning of culture but that may come at a cost. Focusing on Japan, I want to dive into how culture is presenting within video games, why it is presented in such ways, and what that means for players' perception of the country through play.

Was Soft Power Used During The Cold War?, Drake C. Dewey

Capstone Showcase

On December 25, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as the leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which resulted in the formal conclusion of the Cold War. The Cold War was an ideological battle between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from the mid-1940s until 1991. I have decided to put the beginning date of the Cold War as March 5, 1946, while the end date is December 25, 1991. During the Cold War, there was a new form of power which was coined by Joseph Nye. Scholars have questioned the influence of soft versus hard …

Covid-19 In Correctional Settings: How Has The Covid-19 Pandemic Impacted Prison Policies And Conditions?, Marissa Tepper

Capstone Showcase

Due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), the public has been advised to isolate and quarantine from one another. These social distancing practices have also been applied to institutions such as schools, universities, businesses, and even prisons. Within prisons, officials have been working with the medical community to determine the best course of action to contain the spread of the virus. The current proposed policies for prisons to contain COVID-19 are decarceration or medical isolation. However, in the medical community, there is some concern with implementing medical isolation in prisons. Under supervision of the prison officials, medical isolation could become …

Fp-21-24 Marital Experiences In The U.S., 1996 & 2018, Krista K. Payne

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

No abstract provided.

Fp-21-23 Young Adults In The Parental Home, 2007-2021, Adrianne R. Brown

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

No abstract provided.

Good For You Or Good For Us? A Field Experiment On Motivating Citizen Behavior Change, Syon Bhanot

Economics Faculty Works

In recent years, public sector agencies have increasingly been moving citizen services online to reduce administrative burdens for citizens and costs for governments. However, motivating citizens to make the transition to online services can be difficult. In this paper, I report on a randomized control trial with the Philadelphia Licenses and Inspections Department, testing a letter intervention with 11,579 rental license holders designed to encourage them to register for an account and renew online. Subjects were randomly assigned to either a control group that did not receive a letter or one of three treatment groups: 1) Standard (a simple reminder …

Assessing Barriers And Benefits To A Food Waste Composting Pilot Program In Oberlin, Ohio, Julia Halm

Honors Papers

Food waste represents significant amounts of money, energy, and natural resources throughout its lifecycle from production to disposal. Diverting the quantity of food waste sent to landfills is necessary to address the growing strain on resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This study was a collaborative effort between the City of Oberlin and Oberlin College designed to identify challenges and benefits to establishing a pilot municipal composting program. Establishing a citywide composting program will help Oberlin achieve its goal of carbon neutrality. We used food audits, stakeholder interviews, and emissions reduction models to better understand the best approach to municipal …

The Relationship Between School Shootings And Gun Acquisition Rates, Sun-Il (Sun) Moon

Honors Papers

In this paper, I seek to understand how communities respond to tragic events involving violence, exploring the relationship between school shootings and gun acquisition rates. Using National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) as a proxy for firearm acquisition rates, I estimate an event study framework, finding that gun acquisition rates increase by up to 32% one month after a school shooting compared to firearm acquisition rates one month before a school shooting. Furthermore, I supplement my analysis by using Google Search data on firearms. Additionally, I stratify my analysis by the four census regions and whether a school shooting …

The Compromises Progressive Prosecutors Must Make: Three Case Studies, Alexander John Kott

Honors Papers

Elected prosecutors in the United States have facilitated mass incarceration, especially since 1994. In response, activists have helped to elect progressive prosecutors at the local level. This thesis examines whether prosecutors can achieve progressive goals, including increasing the fairness of the criminal justice process, prosecuting police abuse, and reducing incarceration. Based on three case studies, I find that prosecutors can reduce incarceration and increase the fairness of the criminal justice process, but that they currently face significant constraints in prosecuting police abuse. A prosecutor’s capacity to collaborate with more conservative agents is the most crucial factor for success and depends …

Impact Of Race, Tracking And Advanced Course Experiences On Self-Esteem, Identity And Access To Higher Education Among Students Of Color, Katharine A. Ware

Honors Papers

This paper contributes to existing research on race, educational experiences, access to higher education, and self-esteem. Through fifteen in-depth interviews with Oberlin students of color, I investigate the impact of tracking in high school experiences as it relates to self-esteem and identity. Additionally, I examine how these experiences, along with educational support, affect access to higher education. Three major findings emerge. First, during late elementary school/early middle school, students are assessed, grouped by presumed abilities, and placed in specific, racialized educational tracks. My participants described a train analogy in which the advanced track train leaves the station in early middle …