Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Holding Space, Creating Change: A Journey Through Social Work, Angela M. Millet

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

Holding Space, Creating Change reflects my journey through the Master of Social Work program and the personal, academic, and professional growth that shaped my emerging identity as a social worker. Rooted in a person-in-environment perspective and guided by trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and justice-oriented frameworks, this portfolio integrates my learning across coursework, practicum experiences, and community-based work. I trace my development from an early interest in macro-level advocacy to a deep commitment to clinical practice grounded in empathy, connection, and humility.

Throughout this portfolio, I demonstrate competence across the advanced generalist dimensions of ethical practice, ADEI engagement, research-informed practice, policy analysis, …

Healing, Together, Courtney Cleek

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This portfolio reviews the topics of mutual rehabilitation and the human animal bond (HAB) as a holistic approach to addressing topics of mental health, suicide prevention, and innovative services. Displaying work through the Ten Specialization Year Competencies and the Five Elements of Advanced Integrative Practice, we examine ways to expand social justice, amplify voices, and promote healing within our communities.

Empathy In Action: A Personal Transformation, Kiley S. Radich

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This portfolio reflects both my accomplishments and my development as an advanced integrated practitioner. It is also a testament to the love, experiences, and opportunities that have shaped me and continue to inspire my practice.

Social Work In Practice, The Final Stretch, Madison M. Fernandez

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This professional portfolio reflects what I have learned in the MSW program at the University of Montana.

Journey Through, Cathan B. Tautfest

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

Journey Through is the Master's Portfolio for the University of Montana for Author Cathan Tautfest. This paper serves as the capstone graduation requirement for students of the School of Social Work. Over the final semester of the Master's program, this Portfolio was created, reviewed by committee, and defended before its publication. This Portfolio is a culmination of three years and thousands of hours to demonstrate mastery of the ten Social Work competencies, the elements of Social Work Practice, and critically reflect on time spent in the School of Social Work's Master's of Social Work (MSW) program. This Portfolio reflects on …

Master Of Social Work Portfolio, Cynthia Elaine Worcester

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

The Experience Of Suicidal Ideation In Adults With Adhesive Arachnoiditis, Kathleen J. Haynes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States. Chronic pain has been linked to death by suicide, and a considerable amount of research has examined how conditions that produce chronic pain increase the risk of SI and suicide attempts. Adhesive arachnoiditis (AA) produces chronic, intense pain and has not been well-studied. It was thought to be a rare condition, but the number of cases has grown dramatically in recent years. The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) study was to explore the experience of SI in individuals with AA. The interpersonal theory of suicide was …

Learned Resiliency: Lived Experiences Of First Responders, Kevin Francis Sullivan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Scholarly literature has found that post-traumatic stress impacts first responders; however, little attention has been paid to how first responders learn resiliency through post-traumatic growth (PTG). The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore a gap in the literature of first responders who learned resiliency through posttraumatic growth following a critical incident in the line of duty. The research study was grounded in Heidegger’s philosophy of hermeneutic phenomenology, guided by resiliency theory , and informed by post-traumatic growth theory. Seven first responders from multiple disciplines were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews designed to provide rich and reflective …

The Safety Net And The Gig Economy: Policy Attitudes And Political Participation, Juhyun Bae, Jake Haselswerdt

School of Political Science, Public Affairs, Legal and Security Studies Faculty Publications

The emergence of the so-called gig economy has reshaped the labor market and, potentially, the politics of the safety net. Much of the American welfare state is based on a traditional model of employment, excluding most gig workers from benefits like subsidized employer-provided health insurance and unemployment insurance. Despite these trends, there is little research on how these changes might affect politics. Are gig workers likely to become a relevant constituency on social welfare and other issues? To address this, we conducted a unique online survey examining policy attitudes and political behaviors among gig workers compared with traditional workers. Our …

Psychological Capital Of Hospital Nurses In The United States During And After The Covid-19 Pandemic, Mary Jean Erschen-Cooke

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study was conducted to explore lived experiences, perceptions, and associated meanings reported by nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic to determine what protected their well-being. A plethora of research focused on the negative impact of exhaustion, compassion fatigue, moral distress, and burnout; however, there was a gap in information regarding supports for emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical health, particularly among U.S. nurses. The foundational theory of psychological capital (PsyCap), focusing on the positive psychological traits of hope, self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism, grounded this investigation. A basic qualitative research design yielded rich data from semistructured interviews with 16 nurses working full …

Are We Leaving Donors Behind? An Evaluation Of Accessibility Of Higher Education Donor Webpages And Leadership Priorities, Lauren E. Baldwin

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated the web accessibility and readability of U.S.-based nonprofit higher education institutions (HEIs) across the Foundation home, donation, and contact pages of selected websites. Utilizing a combination of manual verification and computer-automated analysis techniques, this study analyzes (n=101) institutional websites. Quantitative analysis reveals these webpages frequently contain WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility error types that are likely to affect the perceivability, operability, and understandability of the user’s experience, especially for individuals with disabilities or limited English proficiency. Further, these tests reveal significant differences by sector across multiple WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility error types, indicating that …

Musculoskeletal Disorders In Dentistry: An Insight Into Dental Techniques And Practices, Mehwash Kashif, Aman Ashar, Amna Rehman, Abdul Aleem, Sidra-Tul-Muntaha Hashmi, Muhammad Yousuf Ali

Journal of Dentistry Indonesia

Objective: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are common workplace hazards in dentistry resulting from poor ergonomics and static postures, which lead to back, neck, and upper limb (shoulder, elbow, wrist, and hand) problems among dentists, resulting in harm to their health, productivity, and career. This study aimed to assess the frequency of MSDs, risk factors related to MSDs, and awareness of ergonomics among clinicians. Methods: Data were collected from 400 dental professionals, including house officers, postgraduate trainees, general dentists, and teachers/consultants, each with at least 12 months of practice. Data were collected using a structured, closed-ended questionnaire. Before data collection, ethical approval …

Is Public Website Design An Administrative Burden? The Case Of Snap, Guangli Zhang, Stephen Roll, Mathieu Despard

Center for Social Development Research

How do websites for public-benefit programs affect access to benefits?

This brief examines the state websites for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), investigating whether there is a relationship between site design and experience of administrative burdens in SNAP. The authors examine page design using Google’s Lighthouse service and draw upon data from the Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility Survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,511 low-wage U.S. workers to examine administrative burdens in SNAP. Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are used to investigate the relationship between SNAP page design and SNAP quality-control measures. The finding suggest …

From Incomplete To Impactful—Finalizing Unfinished Nursing Projects In Nart And Polypharmacy For Lasting Improvement, Paula Thanh Nhat Pham, Armine Lianna Chamichyan, Anastasia Yerofeyeva, Stelene Alexis Tragus

Master's Projects and Capstones

This quality improvement project addressed the problem of incomplete or unsustained clinical initiatives at a long-term care facility by introducing Kotter’s Change Model, an evidence-based framework designed to support and sustain lasting improvements in clinical practice. Within the context of a religious-based residential community for older adults with complex chronic needs, the objective was to strengthen the facility’s capacity to implement and sustain change more effectively. By using two previously unfinished initiatives, the NaRT triage tool and Polypharmacy management process, the project applied Kotter’s model to evaluate how structured change strategies can improve staff engagement, leadership alignment, and long-term project …

Bicultural Identity, Work-Life Balance And Mental Health Outcomes In Swana Students, Julie M. Salama

Master's Theses

Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) college students navigate academic demands alongside immigration-salient stressors that may shape their mental health and academic performance. This study examined generational status (Gen 1 vs. Gen 2+), identity conflict, ethnic identity, and work–life balance (WLB) in overall GPA and major GPA, and mental health outcomes of depression (PHQ-9), and anxiety (GAD-7) among SWANA students (N = 35). Two one-way MANOVAs found no generational differences for academics (overall/major GPA) or mental health (PHQ-9/GAD-7). Identity conflict was unrelated to GPA or symptoms but was positively associated with ethnic identity, while WLB was negatively correlated with depression …

Yao Shaman Priest Robe, Zoe Smith

Department of Anthropology

This report examines a “Yao Shaman Priest Robe” from the May Weber Ethnographic Study Collection. It is attributed to the Yao Mien group, people who live in Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, or China. Based on other robes (found in appendix), it dates from the nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. This piece studies the attribution, function, material, provenance, date, and iconography of this specific robe.

California Water Reuse: State Of The Industry As Direct Potable Reuse Comes Online, Guy Gutterman

Master's Projects and Capstones

Since the early 1900’s, California has found ways to reuse its wastewater, and in 2023 the state added a new method, Direct Potable Reuse (DPR), to its toolkit. DPR allows for advanced treated wastewater to be sent directly to a drinking water system, without an environmental buffer. Through a synthesis of the literature and related government documents of the state's water reuse history, an analysis of regional water recycling trends, and a survey of water utility professionals, this paper aims to understand DPR's future role in securing California's water supply. Historically, public perception has delayed adoption and development of California's …

Holding Space For Complexity: Remembering Leslie Combs, Kimberly A. Morelli

Journal of Conscious Evolution

This tribute reflects on the teaching legacy of Allan Leslie Combs, focusing on his capacity to hold space for complexity during intimate online salons conducted with students and colleagues. Drawing from my experience as a participant in these gatherings, the essay highlights Leslie’s emphasis on relational, creative inquiry over rigid theory. Rather than positioning development as linear progress or achievement, these conversations were experienced as an ongoing, reflective inquiry into consciousness itself. Leslie’s mentorship fostered deep personal reflection and affirmed lived experience as a valid and generative source of knowing. His legacy endures not only through his scholarship, but also …

An Axe To The Funny Bone: Curated Instability And Horror-Comedy Intersections In American Storytelling, Samantha Box

Masters Theses

Funny. Terrifying. Subversive.

Horror-Comedy twists and bites at the intersection of two incredibly reactive genres— with both Horror and Comedy being well known for the political and social discourses they embody and reinvent through story. While prevalent in American popular culture, scholarly analysis of this hybrid space barely exists beyond a small number of Film Studies investigations. Despite this lack, Horror-Comedy works continue to be successfully produced. This thesis unpacks the vibrant relationship between fear and laughter in contemporary American storytelling through Horror-Comedy, maintaining a focus on structural dynamics and the audience-disarming results of simultaneously applying horror and humor to …

The Social In The Spiritual: Non-Theistic Spirituality In 12-Step Addiction Recovery, Steph Jacobs

Theses and Dissertations

To investigate whether Western-raised Narcotics Anonymous (NA) members engage in non-theistic spirituality and non-humanist modes of sociality with non-human beings, I conducted six qualitative interviews and a small-scale survey within a Vancouver NA community. The majority of participants practice non-theist spirituality, and three interviewees relate to non-humans in ways not accounted for by Western humanism. Findings suggest that connection and sociality are intrinsically woven into recovery and well-being. This research opens conversations about non-theistic spirituality in NA recovery, non-human sociality and healing, processes of ontological negotiation, and the entanglement of spirituality, sociality, and well-being. Through daily practices of exploration and …

Anxiety, Stress, And Depression As A Predictor Of Established Vaping Among High School Students, Autumn Schneider

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has linked initiation of e-cigarette use with mental health but has not identified how mental health factors impact patterns of use of these products in adolescents. I tested the hypothesis that adolescents who report vaping to cope with stress, depression, and anxiety have more established patterns of use with data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey. Crosstabulations and logistic regression outcome measures included current use, intensity of use, and cumulative lifetime use. Reasons for initial and current use related to mental health were associated with current e-cigarette use, more intense use, and higher cumulative use. Mental health plays …

‘Cog In The Machine’ Or Social Being? How Digital Communications Affect Social Capital Development In Higher Education Institution Workplaces., Daphne Abigail Knox

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of digital communications on social capital development within the workplace in public institutions of higher education. While previous literature recognizes the potential implications of the internet on areas like social capital (Putnam, 2000; 2020) and formal and informal communications in organizations (Simon, 1997), an in-depth understanding of how modern digital communications impact social capital development is still necessary to address the gap in literature and to analyze the impact of digital communications on the development of organizational social capital. The potential implications of this work on scholarly research include expanding …

Advancing Equity In Adolescent Mental Health: A Literature Review And Telehealth Program Design For School-Based Access, Renatta Lindsey

Theses and Dissertations

Adolescents in the United States (U.S.) are experiencing a mental health crisis, with disproportionately high prevalence rates among marginalized youth. Approximately 1 in 5 adolescents are diagnosed with a mental, emotional, or behavioral condition (Panchal, 2024; Sappenfield et al., 2024). Yet, an estimated 40% (1.8 million) of adolescents aged 12-17 who experience a major depressive episode did not receive treatment (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, 2024). This project examines existing barriers that hinder access to care for this population. While schools are the most common settings for adolescent mental health supports, more than half report difficulties with meeting …

A Tale Of Four Cities: The Effect Of Job Specialization On Employee Turnover Within Mississippi’S Local Police Departments, Wesley Bunch

Theses and Dissertations

Unusually high employee turnover among local law enforcement officers in the United States has been well documented. This exploratory case study examines employee turnover from a bilateral perspective of both generalists and specialists within local police departments. The purpose of this study is to determine if working in a specialized unit has any effect on employee turnover amongst local police officers in Mississippi. This study used qualitative methods to conduct interviews with thirty-four officers from four different police departments encompassing Mississippi’s northern, southern, eastern, and western regions. The interviews were conducted with individuals at the rank of officer and having …

Mexican Bracero Railroaders In The United States During World War Ii: An Endangered History, Emily Mizokami

Journal of Western Archives

Mexican citizens came to the United States during World War II to work the most grueling railroad jobs through a contractual agreement between the U.S. and Mexican governments. These 136,000 Mexican men, however, have been the focus of less academic research than other groups during World War II. The railroaders were part of the larger bracero program which primarily employed farm workers. The railroad arm of the program lasted only two and half years, while the agricultural branch went on for 22 years. The short duration of the program, combined with the difficulty of accessing archival records documenting living and …

The Pricing Of Bonds Between Coupon Payments:From Theory To Market Practice

Journal of Economics and Finance Education

The transition for students from theory to practice is often abrupt and awkward. An example is the pricing of a bond that is between coupon payments. In this situation, students of finance may benefit from further exploration of the effect of compound interest before learning of the method that financial markets actually use to determine the price an investor must pay. This paper explores the confusing link between theoretical pricing of coupon bonds and the practice used by financial markets. Common financial calculators are used as a bridge to highlight this connection.

Grading Bias In The Grading Of Writing Assignments In The Principles Of Macroeconomics: An Exploratory Study

Journal of Economics and Finance Education

This case study explores potential grading bias when grading writing assignments. Given seven grading criteria, the mean difference between the scoring of two graders is statistically significant for three criterions: identification of concepts, organization, and writing style and mechanics. The differences in identification of concepts may be due to asymmetric information available to the graders while the differences in the other two presentation type criteria are likely due to the graders’ subjective preferences. Differences in these three criterions account for over 81 percent of the differences in the writing assignments’ overall scores when all criterions are weighted equally.

Attendance And Achievement In Economics:Investigating The Impact Of Attendance Policies And Absentee Rates On Student Performance

Journal of Economics and Finance Education

This paper investigates the impact of a mandatory attendance policy and absentee rates on student grades. Data collected from four sections of microeconomic principles classes taught by the same instructor are used to estimate performance. Results are found to be robust to corrections for survival bias and endogeneity, and indicate that the attendance policy did not impact grades. GPA prior to taking the course and SAT scores are found to be consistent predictors of performance and have a stronger impact on grades as compared to absentee rates. It is suggested that instructors encourage, but not mandate attendance in both small …

An Investigation Of Named Professorships Of Economics In The United States

Journal of Economics and Finance Education

This paper examines distinguished professorships in the academic field of economics in the US from the 1995-1996 and 2001-2002 academic years using data from the Prentice Hall Guide to Economics Faculty compiled by James Hasselback. Over the six year period, the number of named professorships in economics increased from 369 to 402. Our findings suggest that the typical named professor in economics is most likely to be a male, full professor, with teaching and research interests in microeconomics or macroeconomics, and is employed by a private institution. In addition, the evidence shows that in 2001-2002 just 12 schools had over …

A Re-Examination Of The Mundell-Fleming Flexible Exchange-Rate Model

Journal of Economics and Finance Education

For over thirty years, the Mundell-Fleming model has served not only as a template for research in international macroeconomics, but also as an important pedagogical tool. The underlying pedagogical value of the model is that it can be combined with other models to explain how different exogenous factors impact the balance of payments and the exchange rate. The purpose of this paper, in turn, is to elucidate the pedagogical value of the Mundell-Fleming model by presenting a traditional market model consisting of their model and a Keynesian-Hicksian IS/LM and aggregate supply and demand curve model that can be used to …