Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Charting Your Own Course: Diverse Paths To Occupational Health Psychology, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

This piece describes my pathway, via stressful work experiences, into occupational health psychology (OHP). Those work experiences combined with my later training in epidemiology at Columbia led me to the study of work, stress, and health. I briefly describe key research experiences with Joe Mazzola of Meredith College (the role of qualitative research in theory development and hypothesis generation) and Renzo Bianchi of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (research on burnout–depression overlap and the creation of scales to assess occupational depression, occupational anxiety, and pandemic-related anxiety). The piece concludes with ideas for newcomers to OHP for getting the …

Opinion: The Constitution - Not Trump - Demands Our Allegiance, Christian G. Fritz

Faculty Scholarship

Supporting the Constitution not only requires submission to constitutional authority but implies resistance to powers that are exercised unconstitutionally. Such resistance might take the form of brave individuals living up to their oath of office or courts defending the rule of law and the Constitution. But while the Supreme Court plays a key role in interpreting the Constitution and holding a president in check, it has long been recognized that others besides the court have always been necessary to help monitor America’s constitutional order. The practice of resisting unconstitutional acts of the federal government by sounding the alarm was described …

The Significance Of Labels: From Shy And Lazy To Autistic And Adhd, Katrine K. Bechsgaard

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

This article examines the ways in which language and conceptions of neurodivergent conditions, autism and ADHD, are connected in a Danish context. As in other Western countries, there are significant increases in diagnoses, and particularly women are being diagnosed in adulthood. The article focuses on how these conditions are perceived and talked about, utilizing concepts such as othering, labeling, and performativity. The analysis suggests that when individuals feel othered and stigmatized by diagnostic labels, it has less to do with the labels themselves and more to do with the connotations and pathologization connected with the labels. Furthermore, the analysis shows …

My Mind In Middlemarch, Margaret A. Fisher

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

“My Mind in Middlemarch” is a creative-critical essay and personal narrative of self-diagnosis. It was modeled in length and (somewhat) in style on Rebecca Mead’s essay, “Middlemarch and Me,” which appeared in The New Yorker in 2011 and was later expanded into her book, My Life in Middlemarch (2014). This personal essay narrates my journey to self-diagnosis and the initial discovery of my autism— a realization sparked by the resonance I found between my life and that of Dorothea Brooke, the central heroine of George Eliot’s classic British novel.

Dangerous Disclosure: An Autoethnographic Account Of My Autism Diagnosis And The Social Work Profession, Alice Running

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

The disclosing of an autism diagnosis presents particular challenge for autistic mothers, especially for those autistic mothers who are additionally advocating for their autistic children within public service provision. Research into autism and parental blame demonstrates how autistic mothers are disproportionately exposed to aspects of mother-blame.

Disclosure of an autism diagnosis for autistic mothers can therefore be understood as a complex decision-making process whereby managing autistic identity and understanding autistic self are impacted by the additional need to manage the perceptions of others and associated stigma. The decision-making process is further influenced by the tangible consequences of mother-blame (child removal) …

To The Person Who Will Assess Me For Autism: On Self-Diagnosis And The Longing To Be Seen, Torri Blue

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

Artist Statement (Creative Nonfiction):

I was self-diagnosed autistic before I went in for my so-called professional assessment. The months leading up to my assessment brought a good deal of stress. Would I be believed? Seen? How could I be? How, when I had spent a lifetime feeling misunderstood? "To the Person Who Will Assess Me for Autism" is exactly what it sounds like: a letter to my assessing psychologist. It was written in real-time, processing my self-diagnosis, yearning for proof, and working toward the belief that my identity as an autist would not be diminished by someone else's disbelief. I …

Identity Ramifications, Tina E. Wilson

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

No abstract provided.

Black And Autistic In Neo-Nationalist America, Timotheus Gordon Jr

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

In "Black and Autistic in a Neo-Nationalist America," Timotheus “T.J.” Gordon, Jr. explores the intersectional challenges faced by Black autistic individuals in a socio-political climate marked by rising neo-nationalism. Drawing on personal experiences and historical contexts, Gordon navigates the metaphorical tightrope of double consciousness, as articulated by W.E.B. DuBois, to highlight the precarious existence of those who do not conform to monolithic identities. The essay critiques the melting pot analogy of American culture, advocating instead for a pluralistic society that recognizes and values diverse identities. Through a blend of autobiographical narrative and scholarly analysis, Gordon underscores the systemic marginalization of …

Inside Out: Autistic Psychologists On The Power Structures Of Diagnosis, Audrey J. Scaer, Christopher R. Dabbs

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

How do relationships between medicalized diagnostic powers and training intersect with the complex social identity of autism? How does self-identification (self-diagnosis) challenge the diagnostic status quo, created and scaffolded by enormously powerful social systems? In this paper, we reflect on the historical and modern dynamics of these power relations. As autistic psychologists actively working with and diagnosing autistic clients, we end this paper with an autoethnographic interrogation of our own self-diagnostic journeys and ways in which we’ve integrated our identities across personal and professional spheres of functioning.

Etchings Of The Exiled, Jan A. Wozniak

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

No abstract provided.

It's Lonely At The Centre Of The Earth [Book Review], Jessica D. Gilbert Redman

Disability in LIS (DisLIS)

It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth focuses on the author/artist’s battle with depression and anxiety—and the overwhelming urge to end her own life. Readers who are dealing with anxiety or depression will recognize themselves over and over again, as they read the graphic novel and identify the myriad of ways they themselves are trying to function and “make it” in a world that doesn’t seem to be built for them—or to understand them.

The Development Of The Disclosed Reasons Of Partners' Premature Discontinuation In Couple Therapy Questionnaire (Dropped-Ct), Luca Codeca'

Theses and Dissertations

Premature discontinuation from couple therapy presents a substantial challenge for clients, therapists, and society. Inconsistent data on the frequency and reasons for premature discontinuation may be attributed to a lack of methodological rigor in assessing the phenomenon. This study addresses this gap by developing the Disclosed Reasons Of PrEmature Discontinuation in Couple Therapy Questionnaire (DROPPED-CT), a comprehensive instrument designed to assess the reasons why couples prematurely discontinue therapy. Utilizing a mixed-method approach, the DROPPED-CT was developed through the integration of qualitative and quantitative data. The questionnaire demonstrates strong potential for enhancing the consistency of construct operationalization and improving the comparability …

The Adoption And Implementation Of Lean And Six Sigma In State Governments And Its Impact On Efficiency, Effectiveness, And Equity, Jin Hong Kim

All Faculty Scholarship

This research explores the contextualized use of Lean and Six Sigma (LSS) practices in the state governments in the United States. It analyzes LSS’s capacity to innovate public service administration to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and equity in government.
This study employed the Grounded Theory Method to analyze 2,048 LSS project reports from 32 state governments between 2003 and 2024, aiming to identify systematic patterns in the adjustment and application of LSS within state service administration and its outcomes.
Thirty-two states applied LSS across 24 service areas, adapting it in five ways: strategic programming, production efficiency, customer focus, internal accountability, and …

More Schooling Can Delay The Onset Of Dementia Later In Life, Vikesh Amin, Jere R. Behrman, Jason M. Fletcher, Carlos A. Flores, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, Iliana Kohler, Hans-Peter Kohler, Shana D. Stites

Upjohn Institute Policy and Research Briefs

No abstract provided.

An International Perspective On Geography Curricula: Paving A Way Forward For Geographical Thinking, Tomáš Bendl, Hilde Storrøsæter, Lene Møller Madsen, David Trokšiar, Raphaële De La Martinière, Shanshan Liu, Sizakele Serame, Jerry T. Mitchell, Péter Bagoly-Simó, Yushan Duan, Gillian Kidman

Faculty Publications

Geographical thinking is a cornerstone of modern geography education. Despite its universal value, no large-scale international study has systematically examined its integration into diverse curricular documents. This study investigates how geographical thinking is embedded in the curricula of nine countries, focusing on content and procedural dimensions. Using a structured analytical framework, the research reveals significant patterns and gaps, particularly the underrepresentation of place as a central concept, the lack of explicit focus on geographical thinking, and the limited emphasis on its procedural dimension. The findings emphasise the need for stronger interconnections between these dimensions to promote a more comprehensive approach …

Self-Collection For Cervical Cancer Screening In A Safety-Net Setting: The Prestis Randomized Clinical Trial, Jane R Montealegre, Susan G Hilsenbeck, Shaun Bulsara, Susan L Parker, Trisha L Amboree, Matthew L Anderson, Maria Daheri, Maria L Jibaja-Weiss, Kathleen M Schmeler, Ashish A Deshmukh, Elizabeth Y Chiao, Michael E Scheurer

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Importance: There are limited data on the effectiveness of mailed self-collection to increase cervical cancer screening (CCS) participation in underresourced health care settings.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of mailed self-collection kits, with and without patient navigation, to telephone reminders to increase CCS in a safety-net health system.

Design, setting, and participants: This pragmatic, parallel, single-blinded, randomized clinical trial within a publicly funded safety-net health system in Houston, Texas, compared (1) telephone reminder (TR) for clinic-based screening, (2) TR with mailed self-collection (SC), and (3) TR with mailed SC and patient navigation among a random sample of CCS-eligible patients not …

The Employment Situation Of Veterans: May 2025, Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

In May 2025, U.S. employment grew by 139,000, with gains in health care, leisure, and social assistance, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%. Veteran unemployment rose slightly overall, with notable increases among younger and mid-aged veterans, while female veterans and Black veterans saw improvements; trends continued to vary across demographic groups.

From Prohibition To Prescription: Exploring Injustice, Bias, And Science-Based Solutions, Alexander Campos

University Honors Theses

This thesis critiques the war on drugs for disproportionately targeting minority communities and prioritizing systemic exploitation over public health. It examines the flawed, politically influenced DEA drug scheduling process, which neglects evidence of the medical benefits of substances like cannabis, psilocybin, LSD, DMT, and MDMA. This thesis gives a brief history of the evolution of US drug policy, which contributed to mass incarceration, reinforced racial disparities, and failed to reduce overdose deaths. It also highlights the potential mental health benefits of decriminalizing and regulating psychedelics to treat conditions like PTSD, depression, and substance abuse disorder. This thesis concludes by promoting …

From Lockdown To Learning: Understanding Motivation Shifts In High School Students Due To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kelly Lindberg

University Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic induced profound disruptions to the educational landscape, significantly impacting high school students' motivation to learn. This thesis explores how these disruptions affected students' intrinsic and extrinsic motivations through the lenses of three motivational theories: Self-Determination Theory, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and Expectancy-Value Theory. By examining changes in the learning environment, social connections, and mental health before, during, and after the pandemic, this study identifies key factors that shaped changes in students' academic engagement. The shift to online learning during the pandemic, combined with social isolation and increased mental health challenges, diminished students' intrinsic motivation and weakened their …

Codifying Capital: Legal Power, Racial Hierarchy, And The Gendered Dynamics Of Law, Tavia Andrew

University Honors Theses

This paper analyzes how law operates as a structuring force within racial capitalism by applying Austin Turk's "law as power" framework. It explores how legal institutions not only reflect but actively reproduce racial and gender hierarchies through their functions. Drawing from foundational work by Cedric Robinson, W.E.B. Du Bois, Angela Harris, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and others, this paper defines racial capitalism as a system in which economic exploitation is inseparable from racial and gender domination. The first section contextualizes the emergence of racial capitalism and its intersection with gender, emphasizing how bodies are commodified and governed through legal regimes. The core …

Inhibitory Control: A Mediator Between Sensory Responsivity And Externalizing Behaviors In Children On The Autism Spectrum, Kaitlyn M. Drafton

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Sensory differences are among the most commonly reported symptoms in children on the autism spectrum and have been linked to both externalizing behaviors and executive functioning challenges. However, few studies have explored the potential mechanisms that underlie these relationships. The present study examined whether inhibitory control mediates the relationship between sensory responsivity and externalizing behaviors in young autistic children, each rated via caregiver-report measures. Participants included 107 caregivers of autistic children between the ages of 5-10 years old. It was hypothesized that higher levels of sensory responsivity would predict greater difficulty with inhibition, which in turn would be associated with …

Examining County-Level Implicit Stereotypes And Prejudice As Predictors Of Racial And Gender Disparities In Incarceration Across The United States, Emma Elizabeth Lee Money

Dissertations and Theses

Background: This dissertation investigated the role of local macropsychological factors - specifically, county-level implicit racial bias and implicit gender stereotyping - in shaping inequalities in incarceration across the United States. Despite overall declines in incarceration, trends in the incarceration of women and people of color (particularly Black women) show disparities compared to White men. Regional aggregations of implicit biases have been proposed as robust markers and drivers of systemic inequalities and are examined in current research.

Research Questions: Three overarching research questions (RQ) guided this dissertation: RQ1 tested the relationship between county-level implicit racial bias and proportions of Black (relative …

Building A Theory-Based Understanding Of Sexual Health Provider Stigma: A Phenomenological Study, Harit Agroia, Rebecca Reno, Maytal Bach, Jenette Spezeski, Erin Starzyk

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Unraveling provider-level sexual health stigma requires building an understanding of contributing factors, such as provider knowledge, values, beliefs, medical training, and other intrapersonal or interpersonal factors that may influence its manifestation at the clinic level during patient–provider interactions. Healthcare provider stigma has not been sufficiently understood or explained using classic psychological theories, such as Cognitive Dissonance Theory (CDT) or Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). We build a theory-based understanding of sexual health-provider stigma by proposing modifications to the SCT to develop the Modified SCT (M-SCT) model, where cognitive dissonance is hypothesized to influence the personal/cognitive and behavioral factors of the M-SCT. …

Does Schooling Improve Cognitive Abilities At Older Ages? Causal Evidence From Nonparametric Bounds, Vikesh Amin, Jere R. Behrman, Jason M. Fletcher, Carlos A. Flores, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, Hans-Peter Kohler

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

We revisit much-investigated relationships between schooling and health, focusing on schooling impacts on cognitive abilities at older ages using the Harmonized Cognition Assessment Protocol in the Health & Retirement Study (HRS) and a bounding approach that requires relatively weak assumptions. Our estimated upper bounds on the population average effects indicate potentially large causal effects of increasing schooling from primary to secondary; yet, these upper bounds are smaller than many estimates from the literature on causal schooling impacts on cognition using compulsory-schooling laws. We also cannot rule out small and null effects at this margin. We do, however, find evidence for …

Causal Effects Of Schooling On Memory At Older Ages In Six Low-And-Middle-Income Countries: Nonparametric Evidence With Harmonized Datasets, Vikesh Amin, Jere R. Behrman, Jason M. Fletcher, Carlos A. Flores, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, Iliana Kohler, Hans-Peter Kohler, Shana D. Stites

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Higher schooling attainment is associated with better cognitive function at older ages, but it remains unclear whether the relationship is causal. We estimate causal effects of schooling on performances on the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease (CERAD) word-recall (memory) test at older ages in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa. We used harmonized data (n=30,896) on older adults (≥50 years) from the World Health Organization Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health. We applied an established nonparametric partialidentification approach that bounds causal effects of increasing schooling attainment at different parts of the schooling distributions under …

Iep Process As An Avenue Or Barrier To Inclusion For Autism Spectrum Students: The Importance Of Collaboration, Stephanie C. Holmes

Tapestry: Journal of Research in Education

Decades of research concerning the implementation of Individual Education Plans (IEPs) have shown that building and implementing an IEP for a student with additional needs can be adversarial between the child’s parents and the school system. In 1975, when Public Law 94-142 was passed, the idea behind the law was not only to provide a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) for children with needs and disabilities but also to give parents of these children a voice in the process of creating the child’s IEP. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) was not added to the list of needs to be served …

Refugee Student Perspectives On Educators’ Role In Fostering Resilience In U.S. Schools, Ann Marsh, Clementine Msengi, Sandra Harris

Tapestry: Journal of Research in Education

This qualitative study focused on five individuals who arrived in the United States either as refugees from conflict areas or as asylum seekers already residing in the country. The refugees were from Afghanistan, and the asylum seekers were from Iran. The researchers employed a phenomenological approach to conduct in-depth interviews with refugees, asylum seekers, and parents of such students, all of whom had experienced attending school after their arrival in the United States. The research question explored the role of teachers, instructors, and professors in fostering resilience among refugee students. Consistent with existing literature, the findings indicated that the teachers' …

Understanding The Persistence And Retention Factors Among First-Generation Online College Students: A Comprehensive Study, Lakeeta Q. Prunty, Tana Palafox

Tapestry: Journal of Research in Education

This qualitative descriptive study examined the impact of internal institutional support on retention, as perceived by first-generation Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) online undergraduate students at a private Christian university. Institutional support encompasses academic advising, tutoring services, mental health counseling, career guidance, financial aid, diversity and inclusion programs, faculty support, and technological resources for online learning. The virtual learning environment presented unique challenges, particularly for first-generation BIPOC students, who navigate multiple layers of identity requiring specialized institutional support. Factors influencing online student attrition, including school policies, instructional methods, and personal circumstances, warrant collaboration among administrators, advisors, and faculty …

Ensuring Success And Retention: A Review Of Key Factors For Diverse Online Scholars, Leila Romeo, Cicely Ward, Jesiah Brock

Tapestry: Journal of Research in Education

The widespread adoption of online learning in higher education necessitates a critical understanding of factors that promote the retention and academic success of diverse student populations. This paper provides a synthesis of existing research investigating the numerous elements that influence the educational experiences of distinct student cohorts, with a particular focus on literature pertaining to non-traditional Latina students in postsecondary online learning environments. This review critically examines established scholarship to comprehend the array of challenges and prospects these students encounter, identifying critical determinants of their academic trajectories as established in prior studies. Key determinants frequently cited in the literature include …

Online Learning And Private Christian Hispanic Serving Institutions: A Narrative Review Of The Literature, Daniela A. Hernandez, Brandi R. Munoz, Stephanie Ferrell

Tapestry: Journal of Research in Education

This narrative literature review explores the intersection of Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), online education, and the role of private Christian universities in addressing educational disparities for Hispanic students. It synthesizes existing research on the challenges Hispanic students face in higher education, including financial barriers, limited digital access, underutilization of student support services, and institutional identity issues. Drawing on social capital theory and student engagement theory, this review highlights how HSIs, particularly private Christian institutions, can develop culturally responsive initiatives and leverage federal Title V funding to support Hispanic learners. The paper also examines emerging efforts such as the “Seal of …