Development Studies Commons^™

Learning How To A.C.T.: Opportunities To Bridge Education And Social Justice In Academia, Melissa Ponce-Rodas, Joel Raveloharimisy, Mkama Martine

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

In this session, the presenters will address the conference goal of exploring faith in thriving and its impacts on Adventism, education, and social issues, using Isaiah 1:17 as a guide. They will discuss how to teach students to “Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows” by discussing specific class offerings, assignments and capstone projects intended to teach assessment and intervention skills, using a social justice perspective. To highlight these principles in action, a current student will discuss his coursework and thesis project informed by the intersection of …

Women Parliamentarians In India Since 1991: Challenges And Opportunities, Vatsala Bhusry

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

India gained a new economic orientation in 1991 following the policy of economic liberalization. It offered the opportunities to close the gender gap in various fields including the political field as visualized in the original goal of the Indian constitution. However, there is an acute underrepresentation of women at the national political level and there is a lack of evidence-based research studies to analyze this gap. This study maps the political trajectories of 13 elected women leaders holding offices at the national level since 2019. To better understand the challenges and opportunities at both macro and micro levels they came …

The Honor Framework: Empowering Adolescent Girls To Address Violence, Naelijwa Manongi, Joel Raveloharimisy

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

Adolescent girls worldwide are subject to various forms of violence, such as corporal punishment and sexual abuse inflicted by family members, caregivers, and school violence. Girls are particularly vulnerable to gender-based violence, including sexual violence, exploitation, abuse, forced marriage, and human trafficking. While there is evidence that violence can be prevented, high rates of violence persist, and girls require empowerment and honor-based strategies to reclaim their power. Violence can have severe physical, psychological, and social consequences, making it crucial to address the issue. In this paper, we propose the HONOR framework. This approach combines Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Development …

Safeguarding From Scrutiny: Toward A Critical Consciousness Of Organizational Culture In Humanitarian Ngos, Andrew Henck

Dissertations

Humanitarian nongovernmental organizations (HNGOs) face a moment of reckoning brought on by decades of operational complexity and conceptual tensions between self-espoused values and external pressures as social change movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter demand organizational accountability. Humanitarian aid is being questioned systematically as most HNGOs continue reconciling with their colonialist origin stories from the Global North. Alongside a shrinking British foreign aid budget, and mounting pressures for proving value for money, HNGOs face a record number of natural disasters, energy crises, armed conflicts, and other major emergencies to respond to across the globe.

As the British aid sector …

Humanity In Animals: A Exploration Of The Complexity Of Elephants As Intellectual Beings, Xing Z. Huang

Honors Projects

Loxodonta (Elephants) are endangered species with only around 40,000-50,000 left in the world. They are part of the Elephantidae family with only three known existing species. Known for their cognitive capacity in their ability to recognize themselves in a mirror among many other actions, such as using self-made tools to aid them in their daily lives. Through past studies, it can be seen that vocalization and physical touch are the key steps of communication. Elephants have demonstrated their ability to distinguish between different frequencies and utilize them to communicate changes in the environment or indicate the absence of a herd …

Navigating Context Collapse: A Strengths-Based Approach To Building Youth Civic Empowerment. A Response To “Blended Spaces: Reimagining Civic Education In A Digital Era”, Ellen Middaugh, Mariah Kornbluh, Mark Felton

Democracy & Education

In the article “Blended Spaces: Reimagining Civic Education in a Digital Era,” the authors joined a new area of research on "civic media literacy," or the capacity to use media with civic intentionality. Building on previous scholarship that examined how to support youth capacity for effective civic inquiry, dialogue, expression, and action in the digital age, the authors contributed to this literature by usefully elaborating on the phenomenon of “context collapse” and the challenges this blurring of the boundaries between public and private spheres may present, particularly in the liminal spaces where the shifting boundaries most clearly depart from the …

Breaking Me Down And Lifting Me Up: An Autoethnography Of Being A Black Autistic Woman Online, Morgan Harper-Nichols

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

This autoethnography investigates the diverse challenges associated with being a Black, undiagnosed autistic woman coming of age on the internet, and examines how online experiences shaped my identity over the past twenty years. Early encounters with racism and cautious self-expression on platforms such as forums, GeoCities, Myspace, and YouTube are explored as my initial efforts to "fit in" in virtual spaces. I discuss how engaging with platforms like Instagram and Etsy enabled my participation in the gig economy while grappling with my pre-diagnosis social struggles. I also share how I navigate post-2020 experiences as a Black autistic online creator, how …

Women And Children’S Victims Of Violence Case Management During Covid-19 Pandemic, Eti Sumiati, Elvy M. Manurung Dr., Indraswari - Ph. D

The Qualitative Report

Many studies have been conducted to prove the threat of violence against children and women during COVID-19. Unlike other studies, this study focuses more on government services in receiving complaints from victims of violence experienced by women and children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using case studies as a qualitative method, documentary studies and in-depth interviews have been conducted on 13 informants from various parties in Bandung Regency, West Java, Indonesia. The results showed that the use of digital technology during the pandemic sometimes hampered the follow-up process for complaints of violence by victims due to a lack of equipment and …

It Is What It Is... Enduring The Never-Ending: The Lived Experiences Of Parenting Adult Children With Developmental/Intellectual Disabilities, Siri Gurunam Kaur Khalsa

Nursing ETDs

The parental home is the principal place of residence for adults with developmental disabilities/ intellectual disabilities (DD/ID) (Heller et al., 2007). More than 75% of the adult population with DD/ID living in the U.S. continue to have their basic needs provided by their parents (Williamson & Perkins, 2014). This is based on the estimated statistic that 1.0 to 1.58% of the U.S. adult population has a developmental disability (Anderson et al., 2019; Fox et al., 2015). About 2.9 million adults with DD/ID live with a parent of 55 years (Byun et al., 2006), with more than 25% of these parents …

Telepractice-Based Language Intervention Training For Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Sarah Bryan

Honors Theses

This study closely examined the progression and fidelity of strategy implementation of parents undergoing an ASD language intervention training program. This instructional, interactive program was designed for parents of children with autism, thus catering to the needs of participants involved. This study assessed the use of parent comments and redirects, two kinds of parent strategies, during each parent-child interaction to provide more information about the impact of training sessions. The researchers hypothesized that by the end of training, parent participants would increase their fidelity of strategy implementation, increase their use of comments rather than redirects, and employ more open-ended questions …

Exploratory Analysis Of The Attachment-Caregiving Scale And Its Association With Child Attachment Patterns, Robert Whelan

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

The assessment of child and caregiving attachment patterns produce data that can inform relational and family interventions. Currently, the supported and widely used methods of assessing these attachment patterns (observational and interview procedures) require extensive training and testing to use, making them less accessible to providers. Valid and reliable caregiver self-report questionnaires for attachment assessment, which generally require less training to interpret, have proven difficult to design in the past. The Attachment Caregiving Scale (ACS) is a caregiver self-report questionnaire that looks at caregiver attributions (i.e., to what do caregivers attribute their child’s behaviors and emotions). This exploratory study seeks …

The Unethical Use Of Children In War, Mariana Davis

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

This paper examines the role the nature of children has in the immorality of their use in warfare. The exploitation of children in war is a long, pervasive issue that is primarily documented in third-world countries with ongoing conflicts. This paper details the developments in the legality of the use of children in war. It expounds upon the current and historical use of child soldiers and the horrors that come with it. Evidence was taken from the consequences to the children and the nations that use them to demonstrate why this practice is unethical and immoral. This paper studies why …

The Relationship Between Family Communication Patterns, Conflict Strategies, And The Development/Management Of Eating Disorders, Ana Moyers

Honors College Theses

Eating disorders persist as one of the most prominent psychological and physiological illnesses among young adults and adolescents. Nonetheless, most research in the field focuses on external factors that influence the development of these disorders such (i.e., social media and an idolized body image). There is less research to investigate the role of an individual’s environment, more specifically the family dyad and communication related to such eating disorders. The family unit remains, often, the primary means of socialization for individuals during developing years, thus, this study seeks to expand on how current family communication and family climate contribute to eating …

Mind The Gap: Revealing The Association Between Depression, Marijuana Use, And Mental Health Care Utilization, Zachary (Zak) A. Kobs

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

Depression is a widespread mental health condition affecting millions worldwide, with young adults being particularly vulnerable. The concurrent use of marijuana has become an increasingly relevant factor in treating depression, especially in this population. However, recent literature reviews have highlighted a significant gap in knowledge regarding treatment outcomes in adolescents who utilize both mental health treatments, including antidepressants (AD), and marijuana. This research seeks to better understand the relationship between mental health treatment utilization and marijuana together by exploring the association between depression, marijuana use, and mental health care utilization. Our findings suggest that depression and marijuana use tend to …

Perinatal Experiences Of People With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Preliminary Scoping Review, Tanvi Shah, Andrea Iannuzzelli, Venkateswar Venkataman

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that is diagnosed in early childhood, typically in people who are assigned male at birth. However, this diagnosis and the sensory and behavioral divergence that comes with ASD stay with people throughout their lives. Based on the DSM-V diagnostic criteria and the history of how Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders were first identified, many people who do not identify as male and/or present atypically do not receive a formal diagnosis until later in life or self-diagnose. This in turn has led to a lack of research in both populations that do not …

Genetic Implications Of Language Acquisition, Marissa Renee Ciccarini

Honors Scholar Theses

The argument about whether language acquisition is "nature" or "nurture" has been long debated. Linguists have concluded that it requires the two, but how much does language acquisition rely on nature? Children show the capacity to learn languages quickly and without much effort. While research suggests that infants absorb many visual and verbal cues in their environment, biological structures are the underlying component of how this knowledge is gathered and organized. The genetics that code for specific neurophysiological pathways affect how people interact with their environment and where information is stored, forming the basis for these biological structures. Genetic research …

Developing A Program Of Well-Being For Coptic Orthodox Clergy In The Diocese Of Melbourne, Australia, Abanoub Attalla

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This project aims to develop a holistic recommendation of policies, procedures, and practices that can contribute toward achieving better well-being for clergy that will equip and support them for healthy and sustainable ministerial practices. Without a plan for suitable intervention, the current situation could be quite harmful to both clergy and their congregations. Therefore, it is critical to develop processes and protocols that will facilitate the support and practices of the clergy of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Australia so they can lead a balanced and spiritually fulfilling life. Within the context of this project, I will use the word …

Developing The Food Navigator Role At Everyone's Harvest, Chase Rodriguez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Everyone’s Harvest (EH) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that operates farmers’ markets. In order to reduce hunger in Monterey County, Everyone's Harvest offers several food assistance programs for low-income people including the Market Match (MM) incentive program which matches CalFresh money, modern day food stamps, dollar for dollar. The problem is that in Monterey County 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 3 children are food insecure. The purpose of the Food Navigator (FN) at EH is to engage with the local community and connect low-income people with food assistance resources, primarily the MM program. This project was a role development …

The Relationship Between Reading Anxiety And General Anxiety In 7-10-Year-Old Children With Reading Difficulties, Bo Dehm Wicklund

Honors Scholar Theses

Although it is established that children with learning disabilities tend to experience Reading Anxiety, less is known about this population’s extension to Generalized Anxiety. The current study presents findings from two cohorts of elementary-age children (N=51) over the course of two years during the summer BRAINCamp on the Storrs campus of the University of Connecticut. The current study explores if children with reading and math disabilities, who tend to have anxiety in reading performance, extend Reading Anxiety to the broader domain of Generalized Anxiety. The sample consisted of second to fourth-grade students who met the criteria for learning difficulties and …

Success Over Stress Support Group, Sophia Pescador-Torrance

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Harden Wellness Center is located in Salinas, California on the campus of Harden Middle School. After surveying and interviewing eighth-grade students at Harden Middle School, it was determined that there was a need to provide healthy coping skills for stress and anxiety. The project provided students a place to learn healthy coping skills along with normalizing mental health services among adolescents. In order to engage students and keep them interested each week, focus on a new skill with an activity attached to reinforce the coping skill. By the end of the six weeks, the group started to talk about …

How Has The Covid-19 Pandemic Impacted Clients Of The Early Development Center, Daniella Loera

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The research project explored the impact of factors that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic and families and children in the early development center, resulting in a decrease of child attendance. This research sought to analyze the impacts in one community to prepare for future national emergencies across different communities. The study was conducted with clients of a non-profit organization that offers services through their early development center for ages six weeks to five years old. Data was obtained through survey responses from participants to analyze their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Responses were analyzed through statistical analysis using SPSS. The …

The Impact Of Music Therapy On Language Acquisition In Children With Nonverbal Autism, Alecia Bernau

Senior Honors Theses

Through an experimental method, the researcher investigated whether children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely to develop verbal communication skills after consistent exposure to songs with lyrics. Six children with nonverbal ASD were exposed to the same song with lyrics, with the goal of increased vocalization and language acquisition. Over nine sessions, subjects were pulled to participate in the experiment. The researcher played the song for the participants, recording the responses from each trial and categorizing them as either full words, verbal approximations, or miscellaneous verbalizations. The findings of the study suggest that there is a relationship between …

Finding Their "Why": Examining The Development Of Sense Of Purpose During The University Years And Its Role In Student Well-Being, Michael Q. King

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Nearly 20 million students were expected to be enrolled for college or university studies during the 2020-2021 academic year. These institutions often advertise to prospective students that, in addition to advancing their education, they will discover their purpose. Given previous work and current interest in sense of purpose, additional attention on sense of purpose in the university setting is worthwhile. In addition, as many university stakeholders are concerned about an ongoing mental health crisis, a further examination into a developmental construct (i.e. sense of purpose) thought to provide a “sheltering fortress in a world of constant threat” seems …

Young Children's Nutrition, Growth, And Cognitive Development In The Ecuadorian Amazon, Kristin N. Murphy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The first few years of life are viewed as a critical period for development. Children who do not grow and develop well in these early years can experience life-long negative implications. Many children under the age of five in Ecuador suffer from high rates of malnutrition, stunting (low height-for-age), and delayed cognitive development. This dissertation aims to better understand why children from Ecuador, specifically from the Amazon region, are experiencing such high rates of delayed development. Fifty children and their mothers living in the Amazon region of Ecuador participated in this research study.

First, interviews were conducted by an Ecuadorian …

The Role Of Community Outreach Programs In Partnership With The University Of Mississippi In Combating Food Insecurity In The Oxford/Lafayette Area, Gabrielle Miller

Honors Theses

Grow Club is a community outreach programming effort that was formed in Oxford, Mississippi in the fall of 2020 by University of Mississippi undergraduate students. The program works towards bringing community members as well as university students and staff together in attempts at alleviating many stressors felt by local community members living in poverty. This written work aims to offer a breakdown of how this program began and the steps taken to recognize a community need, formulate solutions, and work with the community to offer resources.

Experiences Of Post-Master's Arts Based Supervision With Art Therapists Of Color, Madoka Urhausen

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This study explored experiences of art therapists of color who underwent post-master’s arts-based supervision (ABS) to obtain an art therapy credential. ABS emphasizes creation of clinical insight and knowledge through not only reviewing and evaluating client’s art and art processes but also having supervisees to engage in their own artmaking in response to their clinical work. The sample was chosen for their intersectional identities that added a layer of complexity to their identity formation. This qualitative phenomenological study employed Culturally Responsive Focus Group (CRFG) with Arts-based Research (ABR) methodology to explore two questions: (1) What are the experiences of …

How Nonreligious Parents Socialize Their Children Regarding (Non)Religion, Jamie Child

Student Research Symposium

Over the past few decades, the rate of religious disaffiliation in America has steadily increased. However, research on the experiences of nonreligious parents is lacking. In particular, little is known about how nonreligious parents socialize their children in regard to religious or nonreligious worldviews. This study aims to address this gap through an analysis of 35 interviews with nonreligious couples (N = 70 parents) residing in the United States. Initial analyses of the data identified the following four themes: (1) Encouraging Religious Exploration or Engagement (2) Family of Origin’s Religious Influence on Children, (3) Parents Concerns Regarding Children’s Religious Exposure, …

Understanding The Influence Of Colorism On The Dating Preferences Of Black Undergraduate Students At Predominantly White Institutions, Odessa Foster

LSU Master's Theses

This study examined the effects of colorism on emerging Black undergraduate college students and how it influences their dating preferences while attending a Predominantly White Institution. The participants were 18-24 years old and self-identified as Black women attending a PWI. A secondary analysis was conducted. The findings of this study revealed that family can influence emerging Black adults dating preferences as they are likely to have the same preference as their family. There is a significantly positive relationship between family preference and dating preferences. This study also examined the correlation between media/social media and dating preferences. As there were positive …

The Effects Of Family Size And Birth Order On Students' Social Emotional And Cognitive Development, Mary Watson

Honors Projects

This project sought to analyze and understand the differences in student’s cognitive and social emotional development based on their number of siblings (also referred to as family size) and birth order. To accomplish this, a 130-question survey was created and emailed to approximately 125 teachers. 27 survey responses were received, which is a response rate of approximately 21.6%. The response data was categorized by only child, oldest child, youngest child, child with one or two siblings, child with three or four siblings, and child with five or more siblings. Though the responses were varied, the data showed that oldest children …

Forging Flourishing Futures: An Ethnographic Analysis Of The Construction Of Dreams For Internally Displaced Cameroonian Youth, Alexandra Harakas

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Young people are thermometers and essential actors in the future-oriented process of national development. In Cameroon, youth are affected by constraints which can hinder these processes and aims–economic stagnancy, inequality of resources, ethnic nepotism and rampant government corruption. Additionally, thousands of youth are internally displaced (IDPs) by violent conflicts: particularly the Anglophone crisis in the South West and North West regions. This study seeks to understand young people’s experiences in this context. Through twenty interviews with IDPs in Yaoundé ages 18 to 30, the study sheds light on the following questions: How do young IDPs conceive the flourishing for themselves …