Other Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Nihilistic Violence Aesthetics In Public Online Communication, Heath Nicholas Landress

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Public online communication has increasingly included violence-related content that is meme-based, ironic, visually stylized, multimodal, and only partially ideological. This comprehensive literature review synthesized research on online extremism, extremist memes, toxic multimodal content, dehumanizing digital communication, nihilistic violent extremism, warning behaviors, platform affordances, and youth-facing online environments. The purpose was to clarify what the literature had established; identify where the scholarship remained fragmented; and map research domains relevant to social, behavioral, public safety, and human services scholarship. The review used a structured, comprehensive literature review strategy supported by integrative synthesis procedures. The final corpus contained 34 scholarly sources, including 32 …

Beyond Boundaries: Unlocking Positive Social Change Through Shared Expertise, Sigifredo Castell Britton

Journal of Social Work in the Global Community

Societal progress thrives through the dynamic interplay of diverse disciplines, each contributing unique insights to advance positive change. Interdisciplinary collaboration plays a crucial role in addressing complex social challenges by combining the strengths of various fields. This article explores the historical evolution, theoretical foundations, and practical applications of interdisciplinary collaboration to foster positive social change. The discussion provides definitions of key terms, such as societal progress and positive social change, within distinct ideological and contextual frameworks. It makes use of these to clarify the direction of positive change in different societal settings. Historical and contemporary examples, such as Bolivia’s social …

Maintaining Excellence Under Pressure: The Stress–Performance Paradox In A Multi-Campus State University System, Rico D. De Asis Dr.

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objectives: This study examines how multiple stress dimensions (levels, sources, effects, and coping mechanisms) relate to teaching performance in resource-constrained Southeast Asian public higher education, addressing the geographic concentration of faculty stress research in Western contexts.

Methods: Using multiple regression analysis with 80 permanent faculty members across three campuses of a state university system, I assessed relationships between stress factors and teaching performance. The study employed validated stress assessment instruments examining stress levels, sources (student, teacher, environment, work-related), effects (self, family, work), and coping mechanisms.

Results: Self effects of stress demonstrated the strongest negative relationship with teaching performance (R² …

A Systematic Review Of Restorative Justice In Criminal Contexts, Sigifredo Castell Britton

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Restorative justice has gained growing attention within criminal justice reform as a practical alternative to approaches centered only on punishment. It emphasizes accountability, dialogue, and community reintegration, offering a different way to understand how change in behavior takes place. This systematic review examined quantitative evidence from 34 studies, selected from an initial pool of 112 records identified through databases such as Google Scholar, ProQuest, JSTOR, and institutional repositories. The studies assessed a range of interventions, including victim-offender mediation, diversion programs, community conferencing, and in-prison initiatives, which allowed comparison across different settings and populations. Across these studies, 79.4% reported statistically significant …

Identity Restoration Theory: Reclaiming Cultural Identity As A Pathway To Reintegration, Sigifredo Castell Britton

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

This article introduces Identity Restoration Theory (IRT), a new theoretical framework that explains what formerly incarcerated individuals need to reconnect with disrupted cultural identities as a pathway to reintegration. Grounded in qualitative fieldwork with Raizal ex-offenders and community leaders on San Andrés Island, Colombia, IRT is designed to conceptualize reintegration, not as institutional resettlement, but as a culturally rooted process of re-embedding identity within community and place. The framework delineates five interdependent constructs—cultural memory, place reconnection, narrative repair, communal belonging, and agency activation—that emerged inductively from participant narratives. Anchored in the postcolonial context of an Afro-Caribbean island society, IRT provides …

Walk A Mile: Exploring Cause-Based Charity Event Participation As A Catalyst For Increasing Physical Activity Behavior, Kimberly S. Fasczewski, Andrey A. Sanko Posada, Meg Hopkins

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Despite the known benefits of physical activity (PA), more than half of U.S. adults do not meet the American College of Sports Medicine’s PA recommendations for health, often resulting in negative health outcomes. Developing programming that increases motivation for PA participation is critical for healthcare professionals to combat physical inactivity. Previous research has demonstrated that framing disease-based PA charity fundraising events as “helping a cause” improved motivation for PA due to the individual’s emotional connection to the cause. There is currently no congruent research on motivation for participation in cause-based charity events. Behavioral economics theory posits that cognitive, emotional, and …

Information Sharing As A Determinant Of Pro-Environmental Behaviour In Student Population In Ghana, Cyril Amengor, Theophilus Agama, Ohenebeng Boapeah

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

People have always struggled to find a lasting solution to the persistent problem of the management and segregation of waste. The amount and variety of waste produced globally has grown exponentially with the ongoing rise in human population. As a result, there have been several studies conducted in this field, some of which have been supported by private organizations, NGOs, and governments. To protect the environment while progressively achieving global sustainable development, Pro-Environmental Behavior (PEB) has been advocated as a universal endeavor for each individual. In affluent nations like the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and France, there …

Epidemiology And Criminology: Managing Youth Firearm Homicide Violence In Urban Areas, Joseph A. Mcmillan

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Violence is considered a public health problem in the United States, yet little is known about the benefit of using a combined epidemiology and criminology (EpiCrim) approach to focus on urban youth gun violence. The purpose of this general qualitative study was to determine in what ways Akers and Lanier’s EpiCrim approach, in tandem with Benet’s polarities of democracy approach, is explanatory of gun homicides by youth in U.S. urban areas and if the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System adequately addresses gun abatement measures. I collected data through semi-structured interviews with 16 criminal justice practitioners and medical professionals with experience …

Language Style Matching In Older Couples And Marital Satisfaction, Benjamin Burke, Amy Rauer

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Research on marital communication has focused on nonverbal behaviors (e.g., affect), leaving specific word use relatively unexplored. Recent work, however, suggests that similarity in function words (e.g., articles) may be associated with relational functioning in younger couples. We explored if this language style matching (LSM) also occurred in more established relationships and whether it was related to marital satisfaction within a sample of 64 older adult married couples. Using a dyadic, two-wave, observational research design, our results suggest that LSM is highly prevalent in older couples’ conversations across three different tasks (reminiscence, problem solving, and health support). Only LSM during …

Emotional Experiences Of Muslim Americans Regarding The Intolerance Displayed By Non-Muslims, Munder Abderrazzaq

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Muslims in the United States report experiencing unequal treatment and racial profiling from non-Muslims. Recent literature (Simon et al., 2018) suggests the need for further research on the intolerance displayed by majority members from the point of view of minority members in the United States. The unwillingness or refusal to respect or tolerate individuals from a different social group or minority groups, who hold beliefs that are contrary to one’s own, is referred to as intolerance. The display of intolerance among members of different cultural and religious backgrounds can hinder the discovery of new information needed to promote positive social …

The Relational Assessment Of Neglected Youth (Rany): Probing The Need For An Assessment Tool, Corrine Dale

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

While child neglect is the most substantiated form of child maltreatment, there is a lack of assessment tools leading to effective treatment, particularly among older victims of neglect. To date, the research has focused on younger victims and the subsequent disruption in the attachment relationship. Although development of child neglect assessment tools has been pioneered by an ecological model, the relational nature of this type of maltreatment also necessitates an assessment of relational factors that are highly correlated to child neglect. Because neglect occurs within the caregiver relationship, assessment of interpersonal impairments among older youth can best be guided by …

Child Marriage: Parents’ Lived Experience Of Decision-Making Processes And Consequential Health Effects, Hadiza Yakub, Jirina Foltysova, Jeanne Connors

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

Child or early marriage is increasingly recognized as a public health concern that poses significant health challenges for a young bride. This qualitative research explored child marriage among Hausa-Fulani ethnolinguistic communities in Northeastern Nigeria. Qualitative interviews were conducted with parents who married off their underage children. The central research questions relied on a theoretical foundation of social values theory and interpretative phenomenological analysis. The study results provide an in-depth understanding of the child marriage phenomenon by exploring parents' lived experiences and the role of a child bride's health in the decision-making process and illustrates how social values and norms drive …

The Intersection Of Civic Engagement And Civic Attidues Among Latino Youth Through A Factor Analysis, Nicole Webster, Erica Sausner, Bader Alotaibi, Ashley Patterson

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

The extent to which civic and citizenship education captures the ways Latino youth perceive their roles as social change agents is largely absent from academic literature. This article examines how youth perceptions of and interactions with civic education define the civic lens they apply to their societies. The article examines a new way of interpreting the International Civic and Citizenship Study data and how it investigates new ways to view the civic lens of youth within three Latin American countries. Results of the exploratory factor analysis indicate a three-factor structure of civic lenses and show that youth who have been …

Whom Should I Talk To? Emerging Adults’ Romantic Relationship Work, Jakob Jensen, Amy Rauer, Yuliana Rodriguez, Andrew Brimhall

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

This exploratory study examined how often young adults discussed their romantic relationship problems with their social networks: partners, friends, mothers, and fathers (“relationship work” or RW). Using a sample of 82 heterosexual, romantically involved young adults, we found that participants engaged in RW most frequently with partners, followed by friends and mothers, and least with fathers. Suggesting that young adults vary in their disclosure patterns, cluster analyses revealed three groups: disclosers, who shared romantic challenges with all parties examined; selectives, who primarily discussed romantic problems with partners and mothers; and discretes, who engaged in low RW overall. Although RW with …

Book Review: Social Policy And Social Change: Toward The Creation Of Social And Economic Justice, Jan Vinita White

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Although the book title, Social Policy and Social Change: Toward the Creation of Social and Economic Justice, suggests social change, the focus of the book is social justice, particularly in social work policy and practice. In this second edition of Jimenez, Mayers Pasztor, Chambers, and Pearlman Fujii's seminal exploration, issues of inequality and the widening gap between the wealthy and poor, health care disparities, discrimination, and developing issues are investigated and analyzed in a reader-friendly format.

Informal Partnerships Between Nonprofits And Local Governments And The Role Of Trust, Scott Pozil, Anne Hacker

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Informal partnerships between nonprofit organizations (NPOs) and local governments represent a winning combination for affective positive social change in communities. These partnerships thrive on the development and sustainment of trust as a guiding force between NPO executives and their local government counterparts. Qualitative case study research reveals such an assertion to be true, based on interviews and document reviews of informal partnerships in a metropolitan area in the Northwest United States. The implications for social change include establishing successful models of informal partnerships between NPOs and local governments that impact the social and economic well-being of communities.

The Extent And Nature Of Bullying In A Christian School, Brian Hazeltine, David A. Hernandez

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Bullying is a problem that has been studied in schools worldwide, but there is little research on bullying within Christian schools, a dearth which may stem from the assumption that Christian schools teach character traits that are inimical to bullying. Yet understanding the extent and nature of bullying in Christian schools may lead to a better understanding of ways to address the problem in all schools. Guided by social identity theory, which allowed for a focus on moral and character development, this study examined the extent and nature of bullying among 347 students in Grades 3 through 10 in a …

Effect Of Employee’S Life Events On Organizational Withdrawal Behaviors, Anthony H. Brown

2010-2016 Archived Posters

Research on the impact of employees’ life events as possible effects on organizational withdrawal behaviors (OWBs) unveiled that employees’ personal distractions ultimately could lead them to voluntary or involuntary turnover. Employees’ better health and economic status were factors that impacted employees' currently working.

Fear Of Fatherhood, Deborah Weatherspoon, Wendy Sponsler, Christopher Weatherspoon, Dorothy Campbell

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

The fatherhood role is influenced by culture, religion, social factors, and economic norms. In Jamaica pregnancy is often treated as a female only event. Women are left to visit their clinics alone and have support from female family members. The man’s focus is providing financial support. In the past fathers were subjected to migrant labor and left their families for long periods. This tradition remained even when they were not working. Today, men are taking on more of the role of fatherhood, becoming involved and supportive and experiencing the privilege of pregnancy though of a secondary nature through their partner’s …

The Positive Deviance Phenomenon Of Leading Successful Strategic Change, Gail Johnson Morris

2010-2016 Archived Posters

The focus of this phenomenological study was to explore how the positive deviance phenomenon and strategies manifest through the lived experience of successful Canadian financial services strategic change leaders. The 4 leadership dimensions culminate in the Leading Successful Strategic Change: The 4 Factor Formula.

Encouraging Corporate Social Responsibility In Rayong, Thailand, Christina Spoons, Mark Gordon

2010-2016 Archived Posters

A review of literature revealed a gap in research on effective ways to promote corporate social responsibility in the Rayong province of Thailand where the Integrated Refinery and Petrochemical Company (IRPC) is located. This case study used purposeful sampling of eight key informants in a CSR program designed to help restore the environment surrounding the refinery, increase cooperation and good will between IRPC and surrounding villages, and make better use of local resources.

Citizen Participation, Trust, And Literacy On Government Legitimacy: The Case Of Environmental Governance, Myung Jin

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

This paper explores the role of direct citizen participation, trust, and environmental literacy and its impact on the legitimacy of government institutions in the context of environmental governance in the U.S. The current knowledge regarding the dynamics of the institutional legitimacy at the policy level is significantly lacking. This paper addresses broadly the effects of direct citizen participation, citizen trust, and environmental literacy on government legitimacy. Findings indicate that citizens prefer government institutions over ordinary people on leading environmental governance. However, the preference was less clear when asked to choose between the government and businesses as to who should lead …

An Innovative Approach To Action Research In Family Violence Prevention, Linnaya M. Graf, Nancy K. Rea, William M. Barkley

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Violence prevention remains a priority in the current public health agenda because of continuing high rates and debilitating effects of violence that exist across the globe (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families [USDHHS-ACF], 2009; World Health Organization [WHO], 2013). This article presents the use of an innovative qualitative study developed from community action research methods in the area of family violence. By applying the combined framework of force field analysis (Lewin, 1958) and the public health model (Centers for Disease Control, 2002; Knox & Aspy, 2011), the current study identified factors that positively …