Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

To Ban Or Not To Ban? Should Youth Social Media Use Be Regulated?, Leena Hilaly

Opinion Matters: Student Analyses of World News

This piece discusses Australia's recent social media youth ban and the negative implications of implementing sweeping government legislation on privacy, personal liberties, and state power.

How British Toy Company Jellycat Should Manage Demand And Supply-Chain Volatility In An Uncertain Economic Landscape, Ava Heckmann

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Jellycat is a London-based toy company established in 1999 that gained traction during the pandemic as a result of a viral social media craze driven by nostalgia and renewed focus on mental well-being among adults and Generation Z in particular. Jellycat toys became an international sensation–sold in 77 countries worldwide with majority of sales from the United States, China, EU, and the UK (Jellycat, n.d.). Their plush toys are produced primarily in China and Vietnam (Jellycat, n.d.). This unanticipated social media trend caused a spike in demand that the company struggled to match as supply was constrained due to recent …

Advancing Environmental Justice Through Chemical Education: Perspective From New Orleans’ Water And Air Quality Challenges, Ja’Lynn Keller, Sita Aggarwal, Rami A. Al-Horani, Morewell Gasseller, Navneet Goyal

Faculty and Staff Publications

New Orleans, Louisiana, faces profound environmental vulnerabilities arising from the convergence of industrial pollution, urban runoff, and climate change–driven weather events. This paper examines systemic challenges affecting water and air quality in the region, with particular focus on low-income and marginalized communities disproportionately burdened by environmental degradation. Drawing on educational and community-based monitoring initiatives at Xavier University of Louisiana and Southeastern Louisiana University, we highlight the integration of student learning with real-time data collection of contaminants such as fecal coliforms, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina revealed significant fecal contamination in sediment layers, …

What Holds High-Speed Rail Back: Lessons From Global Systems And California’S Experience, Deepak K. Sharma, Rajnish Lekhi, Scott Parr

Mineta Transportation Institute

This report examines benefits and challenges of integrating California High-Speed Rail (CHSR) with other rail systems and reviews California legislation impacting HSR’s contracting and financing alternatives. The research compares CHSR with high-speed rail systems around the world to identify similarities and differences in costs, speeds, ridership, and operating conditions. It also reviews Japan’s Land Readjustment Act as a model for value capture and land assembly and explores international experiences on rail integration, along with U.S. cases from the East Coast and Los Angeles. A review of California’s transportation legislation highlights how laws for highways and bridges differ from those for …

Unearthing "Storied Lives:" Building Resilient And Recontextualized Collections At Unh Library Through Community Archives Collaborations, Kai H. Uchida, Eleta Exline, Morgan Wilson

Faculty Publications

A strength of the University Archives at the University of New Hampshire is its strong administrative and institutional history collections through the mid 20th century, with hundreds of linear feet of manuscripts from offices across campus. However, some of these collections were processed more than 30 years ago and are missing descriptive work that would ideally highlight communities of color on campus and their inclusion and self-advocacy in the history of higher education.

In the absence of resources that would prioritize reprocessing these collections, the University Archives has partnered with the Digital Collections Team at UNH to broaden the access …

Social Control And Neglect At A Crossroads: Unpacking The Interactive Effects Of Residential Segregation And Violence On Pretrial Detention, Paige Vaughn, Joshua H. Williams

Faculty Publications

Racial segregation and violent crime are both important predictors of jurisdiction-level criminal justice outcomes, yet little research has examined their influences on front-end detention patterns and how they may interact to shape local punishment practices. The current study uses official sources and Vera Institute of Justice data spanning 1496 decennial county-years (374 counties from 1980 to 2010) to examine the independent and combined effects of county-level racial segregation and violent crime on pretrial detention rates. Drawing on group threat and minority neglect arguments, we find that high segregation levels are associated with neglect, especially in violent areas. Reduced segregation between …

Cycling Past 50: A Closer Look Into The World Of Older Cyclists, Year 5 Survey, Carol Kachadoorian

Mineta Transportation Institute

This document reports on approximately 2,800 responses to a North American survey of older adults who cycle. The survey, open from March 2024 through February 2025, included questions that captured a person’s cycling over their life course, as well as their current cycling styles, habits, and preferences. Responses reflect the impact of various factors on an older adult’s cycling habits with respect to their ability and agility and their expectation to continue cycling. The survey asked about falls and near misses in the past year, coding fall descriptions into six categories and sorting them by the respondent’s gender and age. …

Adaptations Of Collaborative/Therapeutic Assessment With Survivors Of Torture: Clinical Insights From Shareback Conversations, Samantha Correa

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Survivors of Torture (SoT) experience disproportionately high rates of PTSD, depression, and anxiety (Steel et al., 2009). Many SoT treatment programs use brief assessments to monitor symptoms (McFarlane & Kaplan, 2012). However, research on integrating feedback into treatment had been limited until Colpas et al.'s 2024 study on Sharebacks, a novel approach where clients review their progress with their clinician in structured feedback sessions. Given the therapeutic potential of assessment feedback (Tarocchi et al., 2013; Smith & George, 2012; Poston & Hanson, 2010) and Colpas et al.'s findings on Sharebacks' importance, this study explores how practitioners can most effectively incorporate …

Analyzing Methods To Support Students Left Behind In Colorado Primary/Secondary Schools, Grace Hudson

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

In the United States, there has been an increase of deportations, since 2024, of undocumented immigrants. This has disproportionally affected Mexicans and others from Latin American countries (Dreby 2012) due to them being the largest group of undocumented people in the United States. One effect of these deportations is an increase in children that are left in the United States while their parent(s) are in detention or have been deported. Some of these children are in mixed-status families, which means that the child has a different citizenship status than their parents or other members in their family, which allows for …

Critical Roles And Critical Rolls: A Frame-Analytical Perspective Of Self-Making, Safe Spaces, And Worldbuilding In Tabletop Role-Playing Games, Cal Quayle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many gamers prefer to play tabletop roleplaying games, or TTRPGs, in order to a) join a community, and b) tell a story collaboratively with friends and acquaintances. This thesis discusses selfhood-making, safe spaces, and allegory in imaginary worlds from the perspective of Erving Goff man’s frame analysis. It relies on a theoretical framework of imagined communities, the magic circle, and subcreation. This research culminated in the understanding that people play TTRPGs for a variety of reasons - collaborative storytelling and exercising critical thinking skills, but respondents overwhelmingly reported that they enjoyed the ability to socialize with friends and strangers, and …

Equity Evaluation Of Residents’ Transit+Walk Accessibility To Sacramento Healthcare Facilities, Masoud Ghodrat Abadi, Ahoura Zandiatashbar, Aaron Pickett, Stephanie Nemet, Soheil Sharifi

Mineta Transportation Institute

Access to healthcare is a key component of public health equity, yet many U.S. communities remain dependent on private vehicles for medical travel. This study introduces an integrated framework, the Transit+Walk Score (TWS), to evaluate how effectively residents of Sacramento, California, can reach healthcare facilities via public transit and how safely, comfortably, and conveniently they can walk from transit stops to those facilities. The research aims to inform planners, transit agencies, and policy makers in designing equitable and multimodal transportation systems. The research team combined geospatial network modeling and field-based walkability audits to assess 123 healthcare facilities across Sacramento, with …

Impeachment Can Be Based On Non-Criminal Misconduct: Corpus-Linguistic And Historical Evidence, Clark D. Cunningham, Ute Römer-Barron

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Party Over Country: The Inability For Congress To Check The Executive, Jordin A. Dickerson

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Federal Prosecution In The Shadows Of Constitutional Immunity, J. Richard Broughton

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

President Biden's Influence On The Use Of Executive Privilege, Mitchel A. Sollenberger, Mark J. Rozell

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Executive Immunity, Corruption, And The Rule Of Law: Death By A Thousand Cuts, Kimberly Breedon

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Removal Responsibility, Kevin Frazier

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Somebody's Watching Me: Modern Abusers Use Modern Methods Of Control, Savannah Molyneaux

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Pull Factors Of College Selection: The Role Of Club Sports In Student Enrollment Decisions, Brett A. Anderson, Sean Seiler, Thomas Baker

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

The relationship between club sports in intercollegiate athletics and their influence on student recruitment and retention remains underexplored within the broader participatory sport ecosystem. Guided by push–pull models of college selection, this study examines whether the availability of club sports functions as a meaningful pull factor in students’ decisions to enroll in and remain at an institution. Survey data were collected from 151 current undergraduate and graduate club sport athletes across the United States. Exploratory factor analysis identified a distinct Club Sports factor, demonstrating strong construct validity and internal consistency. Multiple regression analyses revealed that club sport availability was a …

Optimizing Clutch Performance In Euroleague Basketball: A Data-Driven Analysis Of Late-Game Decision-Making, Panagiotis F. Foteinakis, Stefania P. Pavlidou, Athanasios Chatzinikolaou, Nikolaos Stavropoulos, Maria Michalopoulou

Baltic Journal of Health and Physical Activity

Background: Decision-making during late-game possessions in basketball is considered one of the most essential aspects of winning a game. This study examined key determinants of late-game shot-making success in closely contested EuroLeague basketball matches, aiming to optimize offensive decision-making in clutch situations. Material and Methods: An observational analysis from the last two minutes of 83 EuroLeague games recorded 471 clutch shot attempts. Logistic regression and chi-square analyses assessed the impact of offense time, shot range, defensive pressure, game status, and offensive tactical strategies on shot success. Results: The results showed that paint clutch shots (63.9% success) were significantly more effective …

Enacting Tension: A Phenomenological, Art-Based Study Of Nicu Siblings’ Lived Experience Through Engagement With Dramatic Reality, Rebecca A. Versaci

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

A Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitalization reorganizes family life, yet siblings’ perspectives are rarely centered in NICU research. This phenomenological, art-based dissertation explores NICU siblings’ lived experience as revealed through the roles they created during engagement in dramatic reality. Eight child siblings of NICU patients participated in a storymaking and improvisational role-play intervention. Transcripts, participant artwork, and stories were examined through thematic analysis, and dramaturgical coding. Three central tensions organized children’s dramatic worlds: It’s Hard to be Together and It’s Hard to be Apart, I Want to be Free, but I am Trapped; I Want to Help …

The Development Of Poker As A Sport In Japan: Intersections With Culture, Law And Public Administration, And Community, Masatoshi Minowa

Japanese Society and Culture

This study examines the emergence of poker as a competitive mind sport in Japan, a country where strict anti-gambling laws (Penal Code Article 185) prohibit cash wagering. Drawing on secondary materials—including newspaper and magazine reports, and online media—as well as primary data from Poker Guild Corporation and interviews with the Kamiichi Town Planning Division, the research applies established theoretical frameworks (Getz & Page’s event tourism, Putnam’s social capital, Reith’s techno-economic systems) to analyze the distinctive evolution of Japanese poker culture. Findings reveal that tournament‐focused venue operations and the innovative Poker Web Coin system have fostered a nationwide network of skill‐based …

Restricting Academic Dishonesty At A Japanese University, Joel Weinberg

Japanese Society and Culture

This research explores three approaches to handling academic dishonesty: punitive, preventive, and positive. First, the history of cheating and the punitive approach is briefly discussed. Next, research results of a preventive approach that was used at a Japanese university are given. During this research, three surveys were conducted to gauge students’ opinions about cheating, to account for the methods, and to measure the prevalence of cheating on post-reading quizzes. The survey results show that at least eleven types of cheating on post-reading quizzes were used and that non-cheating students were concerned about this issue. As a result of the surveys, …

Healthcare Decision-Making In An Ageing Society: Legal, Policy, And Ethical Challenges In Japan, Yukio Sakurai

Japanese Society and Culture

This paper examines the evolving landscape of healthcare decision-making in Japan’s rapidly ageing society, with a focus on the legal, policy, and ethical challenges it entails. It analyzes the limitations of the adult guardianship system, the risks associated with family-dependent decision-making, and the underutilization of advance care planning (ACP). The study further considers how demographic shifts, advances in medical technology, and socio-legal inertia affect end-of-life care, particularly for individuals with diminished capacity. A central theme is the inherent ethical dilemma in balancing individual autonomy with Japan's cultural context, where explicit self-assertion can be challenging, especially for older adults. Cultural dimensions …

Institutional Transitions In The Employment Of Foreign Workers In Japan’S Agriculture And Food Manufacturing: From Technical Intern Training To Employment For Skill Development And Specified Skilled Worker In Comparison With The Uk, Tomoyuki Kuwaharada

Japanese Society and Culture

This paper investigates the institutional transition in Japan’s acceptance of foreign workers in the agriculture and food manufacturing sectors, focusing on the restructuring of entry-stage training schemes and their linkage to skill-based employment. In particular, it traces the shift from the Technical Intern Training Programme (TITP) to the Employment for Skill Development (ESD) Programme as the primary entry route, and examines how these institutional changes are embedded within the Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) framework.

Drawing upon official statistics from 2012 to 2024 and sector-specific case studies, the analysis demonstrates that the introduction of the SSW status in 2019 marked a …

Supervisor Behaviors And Perceived Organizational Impact Of Telework: A Work Disruption Perspective, Tsuyoshi Ohira, Masaki Hosomi

Japanese Society and Culture

As telework (e.g., working from home) has become widespread, understanding its organizational impact from managers’ perspectives and identifying supervisor behaviors that influence this impact are critical. Drawing on work disruption theory, we examined the relationships between four supervisor behaviors in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) management competencies—respectful and responsible (RR), managing and communicating work (MCW), reasoning and managing difficult situations (RDS), and managing the individual within the team (MIT)—and the perceived organizational impact of telework. We also tested whether telework rate and intensity moderated these relationships. Survey data were collected from 239 supervisors at two time points. Results showed …

A Decade Revealed By Npo Financial Data In A Depopulating Region — Tottori Prefecture, Japan, 2014–2023, Yoshinori Shimosakai

Japanese Society and Culture

This paper examines the quantitative scale, field composition, and financial structure of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in rural regions experiencing population decline and aging at three levels—the nonprofit sector as a whole, policy fields, and individual organizations—and explores their adaptation and sustainability under demographic change. The empirical setting is certified NPO corporations located in Tottori Prefecture. Drawing on publicly available financial data for fiscal years 2014–2023, the study constructs ratio indicators and per-capita indicators and, in particular, depicts recent trends through a two-point comparison between FY2014 and FY2023 together with a description of year-by-year changes. The analysis shows that, although the …

The Impact Of Michi-No-Eki (Roadside Stations) On The Regional Economy: An Input–Output Analysis Of Minamiboso City In Chiba Prefecture, Ryusaku Matsuo, Takeru Aizawa, Gon Jan, Wei Yuanxin, Masaharu Uchiyama, Gento Tagami

Japanese Society and Culture

This study quantitatively examines the economic impact of Michi-no-Eki (Roadside Stations) in Minamiboso City, Chiba Prefecture, using an input–output analysis based on the Chiba Prefectural Interindustry Table. Eight Michi-no-Eki were evaluated in terms of direct, indirect, and induced effects, including employment creation. The results show that the total production-inducing effect generated by the stations amounts to ¥7.02 billion per year, and the employment-inducing effect reaches 108.7 persons annually, indicating that Michi-no-Eki function as a central engine of the local economy. Moreover, thematic diversity among stations—such as loquat, flowers, and seafood—enhances multiplier effects through inter-sectoral linkages. These findings demonstrate that Michi-no-Eki …

Employment Contracts, Working Time, And The Well-Being Of Schoolteachers In Japan, Haojun Gong, Shinpei Sano

Japanese Society and Culture

This paper quantitatively analyzes trends in the working hours of schoolteachers in Japan using Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) data from three survey waves. The analysis focuses on differences between fixed-term and permanent employment contracts and on school environment variables, and their relationships with working hours and teacher well-being. Teachers on permanent contracts tend, on average, to work longer hours than those on fixed-term contracts, largely because of greater time spent on administrative duties and extracurricular activities. School environmental characteristics and principal leadership show only weak statistical associations with total working hours. Subjective job satisfaction is lower, and workload …

A Consideration Of Food In A Diversity Society, Masayo Morofushi

Japanese Society and Culture

In recent years, the number of foreign visitors such as tourists and businesspeople, and the number of foreign residents such as workers and international students, have been steadily increasing in Japan. However, the decrease in the number of foreign residents in Japan is relatively small compared to the number of foreign visitors to Japan, due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regarding restaurants, Japan has experienced diversity, progress, and cross-cultural understanding; however, these changes have been stagnant due to a decrease in the number of foreign visitors to Japan during the pandemic. Many natural disasters have recently occurred, and …