Social Justice Commons^™

Envisioning Futures: A Photovoice Study On How An Urban Afterschool Program Empowers Caregivers To Be Agents Of Change In Their Community, Ellen Mays

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

As part of comprehensive whole-family out-of-school-time programming, parent engagement and education play an important role in addressing achievement and opportunity gaps in low-income neighborhoods. Parent groups have the potential to be a unique space of social justice work by creating supportive, innovative spaces to build social capital and organize around common action goals. This photovoice study looks specifically at “Parent University,” a parent out-of-school-time meeting group that focuses on empowerment education by providing opportunities for parents to meet, engage in rich consciousness raising dialogue, identify areas in need of change, and create and implement action for social change. This study …

Coalescence: A Carnivore Coexistence Curriculum That Braids Indigenous & Western Ecological Knowledge Into A Relevant And Experiential Learning Opportunity For Youth, Stephanie Anne Barron

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horriblis) begin to reoccupy more of their historic range, and as humans and large carnivore populations continue to increase, incidences of human carnivore conflict are on the rise. A decolonial curriculum designed in collaboration with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe’s wildlife biologists stands to increase awareness of Indigenous ecological knowledge and teach youth about the importance of coexistence with carnivores. Additionally, this project could greatly influence youth perceptions of grizzly bears and other large carnivores. This research project examines the development and implementation of a carnivore coexistence curriculum for youth that is guided by …

Examining Systemic And Dispositional Factors Impacting Historically Disenfranchised Schools Across North Carolina, Raketa Ouedraogo-Thomas

Dissertations

This mixed method sequential explanatory study provided analysis of North Carolina (NC) school leaders’ dispositions in eliminating opportunity gaps, outlined in NC’s strategic plan. The study’s quantitative phase used descriptive and correlation analysis of eight Likert subscales around four tenets of transformative leadership (Shields, 2011) and aspects of critical race theory (Bell, 1992; Ladson-Billings, 1998; Ladson-Billings & Tate, 2006) to understand systemic inequities and leadership attitudes.

The qualitative phase comprised three analyses of education leadership dispositions and systemic factors in NC schools. The first analysis of State Board of Education meeting minutes from 2018–2023 quantified and analyzed utterances of racism …

True Culture At War With Colonizer Culture: The Underrepresentation Of Pacific Islander Students In Higher Education., Loriann A. Leota

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation is an examination of the limited number of Pacific Islander students that advance from high school to higher education. It also examines the percentage of Pacific Islander students that attend higher education, but do not acquire their degree. Pacific Islander students informally recognize the dominant United States culture and curriculum as not culturally relevant and colonizing in nature. Thus, they struggle to adhere to colonizer culture and rely heavily on their culture (true culture), which has a set of norms that do not align with American cultural values. Pacific Islander culture is collectivist, which is in opposition to …

The Sociology Of Bail Reform: Crime, Social Interaction, And Offender Experiences In Rurality., Scott Kevin Turner

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The study sought to explore the impact of the New York State “Bail Reform Act of 2019,” in rurality. It examined some of the legislative goals of the law, the claim that it caused crime, and offender experiences in rurality. Secondary data was used to map the rural crime landscape and primary data was collected from offenders during face to face interviews. The study was framed using deterrence and opportunity approaches and situated within the broader field environments; legislative, courtroom, and community. The research failed to find support for the claim that bail reform caused crime. Instead, it revealed that …

Volume 6, Issue 1 (2023) Criminal Justice Agents And Responsibility, Colleen Berryessa, Elizabeth Griffiths, Kaitlen Hubbard, Deena A. Isom, Kateryna Kaplun, Hiuxuan Li, Siyu Liu, Esther Nir, Heather L. Scheuerman, Rachel Schumann, Sandy Xie, Carolyn Yule

International Journal on Responsibility

This special issue of the International Journal on Responsibility (IJR) advances scholarship on the various ways responsibility infuses the roles of criminal justice agents. As the inaugural issue of my tenure as Editor-in-Chief, Volume 6 deepens our understanding of responsibility in the context of the criminal justice system, thereby fulfilling IJR’s aim and scope. Specifically, the articles highlight issues of responsibility within each component of the criminal justice system: police, courts, and corrections.

Warming Up Cold Cases With Dr. Krystal Hans, Vanessa Cooper

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Dr. Krystal Hans is an assistant professor of forensic entomology in the Department of Entomology. Dr. Hans teaches courses on forensic science and forensic entomology, including the “Forensic Investigation” (ENTM 22810) course, where a major component of the course is a cold case project. The cold case project focuses on accessing information about an unresolved case and trains students to engage with empathy as advocates for victims while developing skills in research, digital and information literacy, submission of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, designing infographics, and public speaking. Students produce digital case files and infographics to display the …

Teaching And Teachings Of Black Mixed Girls As Unveiling Femme-Centered Anti-Blackness In Us Education, Miranda Mosley

Culture, Society, and Praxis

Through a lack of Black-centered, Black-empowering policies and strategies (Dumas, 2016), Black people are overlooked in the US public education system. Though this general disregard (and disdain) for Blackness in the education system is found to keep communities segregated and result in higher rates of expulsion and punishment for Black students (Dumas, 2014; Wun, 2016), we know relatively little about how experiences shape identities for Black girls in their schools. For Black girls, and specifically Black mixed race girls, we do know that physical attributes like hair texture and skin color shift the girls’ sense of racial identity (Hunter, 2016) …

The Peace Is Uneasy And Needs To Be Won Everyday: Economic Assistance And Peacebuilding Among Marginalized Groups In Northern Ireland And The Border Area, Mehmet Yavuz, Sean Byrne

Peace and Conflict Studies

While Northern Ireland is still recovering from the violent legacy of the 30-year Troubles during a global COVID-19 pandemic, people still experience violence daily. Economic and political inequalities heighten intergroup tensions and insecurity contributing to the promotion of destructive stories. Brexit has escalated the culture wars between the Protestant Unionist Loyalist and Catholic Nationalist Republican communities as Loyalist youth and paramilitary groups protest on Belfast’s streets. Through 120 semi-structured interviews, we explore the experiences and understandings of Civil Society Organization (CSO) peacebuilding and reconciliation workers that liaison with ex-combatants and youth in Derry and the Border area of Northern Ireland. …

757transfamily: Empowering Parents To Raise Their Transgender Child Through Knowledge, Connection, And Joy, Jessica Gurley

Institute for the Humanities Master's Papers, Projects, and Capstones

Parents of transgender and non-binary children often want to support their children, but are not sure how. Giving these parents the support and resources they need will increase their ability to support their children, further increasing the chance that their children will live a long, healthy, authentic life.

I built a website, and organized a workshop that parents can attend in order to access information and resources about the transgender community. These parents will receive the support they need to be better equipped to support their gender-diverse children. I will be collecting information about the parents' feelings and experience towards …

Negative Psychology Of Anti-Semitism: Fear Of The Uncategorizable, Benjamin Strosberg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Anti-Semitism is a pervasive global issue, particularly prominent in the United States. Studying and defining anti-Semitism prove remarkably challenging for scholars, leading to inadequate understanding and exclusion from contemporary academic discourse and social justice initiatives. In this dissertation, I made the case that anti-Semitism is hard to categorize, stemming, in part, from the difficulty in categorizing what it is to be Jewish, which seems to be multi-form (a figure of thought, a race, an ethnicity, a religion, a nation, none of the above). In thinking about the difficulty in categorization, I constellated various instances of anti-Jewish practices across historical epochs …

The Overture! Then Is Here-And-Now: Hindsight Is Twenty, Twenty?, Elena Kydd

Music Therapy Theses

My existence and presence as a Black woman and graduate scholar in music therapy have allowed me to share my experience of racial trauma and oppression in the hallways of GCSU’s music therapy program. Autoethnography is the method I use to write my thesis on the relationships between Blackness, pedagogy, and music therapy. Thus, I perform an evocative autoethnographic study that allows me to share my personal experience of racial trauma and oppression within the culture of music therapy and to critique the larger social structures of whiteness that disenfranchise and dominate me and other Black student music therapists (SMTs). …

Assessing The Sustainable Development Dimensions Of Environmental Public Policies For Protected Natural Areas In Mexico: A 1970-2018 Perspective, Cielo María Ávila López, José Israel Herrera

Journal of Maya Heritage

Abstract: This abstract discusses the challenges and issues related to the implementation of Environmental Public Policies (EPP) for Protected Natural Areas (PNA) in Mexico from 1970 to 2018. EPPs aim to achieve sustainable development by balancing economic, environmental, and social dimensions while reconciling conservation and the use of natural resources with restrictions on their use and economic compensation to communities. However, the results of this study reveal that the establishment of PNA has been unilateral and without consensus, leading to limitations on communities' use of the environment without granting them economic compensation or productive alternatives. This has resulted in conflicts …

The Underrepresentation Of Black Females In Cybersecurity, Makendra Latrice Crosby

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

The significance of cybersecurity methods, strategies, and programs in protecting computers and electronic devices is crucial throughout the technological infrastructure. Despite the considerable growth in the cybersecurity field and its expansive workforce, there exists a notable underrepresentation, specifically among Black/African American females. This study examines the barriers hindering the inclusion of Black women in the cybersecurity workforce such as socioeconomic factors, limited educational access, biases, and workplace culture. The urgency of addressing these challenges calls for solutions such as education programs, mentorship initiatives, creating inclusive workplace environments, and promoting advocacy and increased awareness within the cybersecurity field. Additionally, this paper …

Psu Student Housing Insecurity Report, Jacen Greene, Greg Townley, Kenna Estell Dickard, Desiree' J. Duboise

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

This study on student housing insecurity and homelessness was funded as part of a HUD FY2023 Community Project Funding Opportunity awarded to Portland State University. Phase 1 of the study included a literature review; a summary of past PSU student survey results; a description of PSU programs based on interviews with staff and administrators; an analysis of programs at other institutions; and a set of recommendations for better addressing student housing needs. Phase 2 of the study incorporated the results of a comprehensive student survey on housing insecurity and homelessness conducted in fall 2023. Additional reports by outside consultants on …

An Exploration Into Health Equity Discourse In Mississippi: Organizational Commitments And Practitioner Perspectives, Thuy-Vy Lillian Pham

Honors Theses

This thesis takes a sociological approach to examine healthcare workers' beliefs and medical organizations’ solidarity statements related to diversity and equity and how these discourses aligned and/or diverged. Through interviews with healthcare providers in Mississippi and content analysis of solidarity statements, the study finds that discussions on health disparities more frequently addressed socioeconomic inequality rather than systemic racism, diverging from organizational statements. This emphasis may partly stem from the demographics of the study participants, who were predominantly White—which also reflected the staff where they worked. Additionally, while healthcare workers recognized structural issues related to health disparities, they often showed hesitancy …

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Well-Being Of People Incarcerated In United States Prisons, Kimberly Rivera

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the population as a whole. However, the incarcerated population (which also experiences a variety of health disparities) has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Due to overcrowding, poor ventilation, and lack of resources, the incarcerated population already is at a heightened risk for negative health outcomes, made worse by the recent pandemic. To adapt to the rapidly changing conditions during the pandemic in 2020 and into 2022, new safety measures were implemented, but the unintended consequences associated with the implementation of these procedures have yet to be examined empirically. I conducted a qualitative content …

Respectful Workplace Policy To Conceive A Security Consciousness And Gender Equality As An Implementation Of Akhlak Core Values In State-Owned Enterprises Environment, Endang Susilowati, Erwin Susanto Sadirsan

Journal of Terrorism Studies

A safe work environment, mutual respect, freedom from discrimination, harassment, violence, gender inequality, discrimination of women is highly coveted in the Indonesian work environment. In State-Owned Enterprises there are still issues of harassment, gender inequality, violence, and women's opportunities to become leaders in the workplace. In 2021, the number of women leaders in workplace is still below 10%. The Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises is aiming to increase the representation of women in the Board of Commissions or Executives, and one level below the Board of Executives by 25% in 2023.

The purpose of this research is to analyse women's issues …

A Policy Evaluation For California’S Care Act And The Application Of The Social Determinants Of Health, Adelina Mercedes Lang

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

In 2022, California passed a legislative bill, SB 1338: the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act, which created a new statewide procedure for treating mentally ill homeless adults diagnosed with psychotic disorders through a court-ordered CARE plan. SB 1338 intends to alleviate the mental health and homeless crisis. This capstone project provides an early assessment of SB 1338 using a modified formative policy evaluation methodology, including a scoping literature review and applying a policy assessment using the CDC's Policy Evaluation Framework. A stakeholder survey was also applied to gather stakeholders' perspectives on SB 1338. The literature review supported the …

Youth Storytelling For Social Change: Guiding Questions For Effective And Ethical Delivery, Maru Gonzalez, Michael Kokozos, Nyawira Nyota, Christy Byrd

Journal of Extension

Storytelling is a powerful medium through which to nurture and amplify youths' voices. When employed effectively and ethically, storytelling has been shown to foster connection, improve intergroup relations, promote socioemotional well-being, and motivate social action. Drawing on foundational research, Aristotle's three rhetorical appeals, and our experience pilot testing the #PassTheMicYouth curriculum, we developed ten guiding questions for effective and ethical youth storytelling for social change. 4-H professionals can use these questions with youths to guide them through social impact storytelling creation and delivery.

Megaproyectos Y Su Impacto En Derechos Humanos En Una Comunidad De Origen Maya: Yaxhá, Yucatán, México., Gonzalo Manuel Herrera Canché

Journal of Maya Heritage

Abstract: The current development of extractive megaprojects in Latin American countries has had a significant impact on their societies and environments. This research addresses the issue of the impacts of extractive agricultural megaprojects on the environment, society and the economy, specifically the case of a pig farm in the community of Yaxhá, located in the municipality of Muna, Yucatán. The identified impacts are mainly attributed to the lack of strong and committed political institutions, lax environmental legislation, and the absence of an operating system, which facilitates human rights violations related to the environment, society, and access to information. In this …

Transgender And Gender Non-Conforming Leaders And Leadership: A Foundational And Integrative Review, Galen J. Talis

Libraries

Gender and leadership research has traditionally employed a binary framework, overlooking the experiences of transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) leaders and forcing leaders of all genders and intersectional identities into a dichotomous frame. This paper reviewed interdisciplinary literature using a robust search strategy in three academic databases and Google Scholar, as well as across eight leadership studies journals. Sixteen sources involving 440 leaders’ experiences were found. The author conducted a thematic analysis to explore how TGNC leaders’ experiences challenge and advance leadership theories, deepen understanding of discrimination, and offer ways to support their emergence and success. TGNC leaders’ experiences bring …

Taking Dominion To End Dominion: The Mennonite Influence On The End Of Russian Serfdom, H. Michael Shultz Jr.

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Serfdom in Russia was abolished in 1861, only 76 years after the first Mennonites were invited into Russia by Catherine II. By examining the lifestyle of the Mennonites who settled in the agriculturally productive “New Russia” (modern-day Ukraine), as well as the impact that the Mennonites had on the Imperial family, peasantry, and government, it is evident that the Mennonites played a recognizable role in bringing about the abolition of serfdom across the empire.

Interrogating Households In Anticipation Of Disasters: The Feminization Of Preparedness, Chika Watanabe, Celie Hanson

Critical Disaster Studies

It is now a maxim among scholars and policy-makers alike that disaster preparedness needs to involve community-based approaches in order to be effective. These include preparedness strategies in the household. But how do disaster preparedness policies and public discourses define “the household” in the first place? In this article, we explore how particular gendered notions of the household are reproduced in disaster preparedness policies and activities in Japan and the UK. Drawing on historical and cross-cultural analyses, we suggest that household preparedness efforts place the burden of labor on people coded as women—a phenomenon we call “the feminization of preparedness.” …

“No One’S Hearing Me”: A Grounded Theory Case Study Of One University's Institutional Discourse And Women Staff Perceptions Of Campus Climate, Lorianne Crowder

Student Theses

This qualitative case study explores the relationship between institutional discourse and women staff perceptions of campus climate at one public university. Through a critically informed grounded theory approach, findings revealed how ambiguous institutional values functioned as empty signifiers which, while aimed at creating the image of inclusivity, were subject to various interpretations that may have fostered conditions for the dismissal of care ethics and relational knowledge expressed by women staff. Embedded hierarchies also persisted, shaping recognition of women staff along gendered, racialized, and professional lines. Despite exclusionary discourse cultivating climates of epistemic marginalization, women staff exhibited agency through connection and …

Casar Public Lecture: The Gaza War: Implications For The United States And Egypt, The Prince Alwaleed Center For American Studies And Research Casar

Performances, Events, and Presentations

Director of CASAR Professor Mark W. Deets, also a current member of the History department of AUC specialist in African Studies acted as moderator for this Event. CASARs two guest panelists in this discussion were visiting scholar Professor David Dumke and Professor Karim Hagag. Dumke is the Executive Director of the Office of Global Perspectives & International Initiatives at the University of Central Florida (UCF). He teaches Middle East history, U.S. foreign policy, and American politics, and “has written extensively on these subjects.” He also is host and executive producer of WUCF-TV’s award-winning Global Perspectives (Public Broadcasting Service). Dumke spent …

An Analysis Of Racially Disparate Impacts On Housing For The City Of Tukwila, Washington, Neil Tabor

Community and Regional Planning Program: Professional Projects

The housing crisis within the Pacific Northwest of the United States has prompted action from Washington legislators, resulting in Governor Inslee identifying housing as a key priority and the legislature passing a number of forward-thinking bills in the last half decade, requiring the allocation of more resources, and asking more of jurisdictions to address current housing needs and anticipated future growth. Layered within the planning efforts for future growth are concerns and considerations for the potential of new housing development to perpetuate and exacerbate societal inequities built on discriminatory housing policies and practices of generations past and present. In an …

“This Is A Book About Relations”: Pollution Is Colonialism By Max Liboiron, Thomas Letcher-Nicholls

The Goose

Book Review of Pollution is Colonialism (2021) by Max Liboiron.

Auc Community Only Lecture: Gender-Based Violence (Gbv), Women & The Law In Egypt, The Prince Alwaleed Center For American Studies And Research Casar

Performances, Events, and Presentations

This special guest lecture was part of the course “Exploring Feminist Perspectives in Egypt and the US” taught by CASAR Adjunct Faculty Yasmeen El-Ghazaly. The lecture was given in Arabic by Counselor Mohamed Samir, who is a senior member of the judicial authority in Egypt, responsible for the accountability of civil servants’ crimes and misconduct. He is also a lecturer in Political Science and Gender Based Violence Crimes. Samir has over 25 years of experience in his career, and was invited to discuss “challenges and legal obstacles women face when discussing gender based violence in Egypt.” In his insightful lecture, …

Book Review: Kings, Conquerors, Psychopaths: From Alexander To Hitler To The Corporation, Tim Bakken

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The book Kings, Conquerors, Psychopaths is a survey of a vast amount of human wrongdoing. It lays bare the motivations of aggressors who wish to subjugate nations or groups of people and corporate executives and government bureaucrats who make discretionary decisions that harm people. Along with cataloging mass killings by despots and soldiers, the book includes stories about Ponzi-schemers and the deaths of automobile drivers and passengers who were killed by vehicle defects known to the manufacturer. The book posits that “[p]owerful, elite forces are trying to force us backward toward a non-democratic state, one where power, wealth, and prerogative …