Social Justice Commons^™

Embedded Researchers In Community Collaborations: Making Data Matter In Addressing The Overdose Crisis In Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Sean P. Varano, Pamela Kelley

Justice Studies Faculty Publications

This article is a story about privilege. The recognition that as an academic, it is a privilege to have a seat at the policymaking table. It is a privilege to be heard, to be valued, and to contribute in ways that impact the lives of real people, in real communities, related to real problems. Researchers who’ve had the opportunity to participate in community-based collaborations know well that such partnerships are built on trust, patience, commitment, and thick skin (Drawbridge, Taheri, & Frost, 2018). When someone allows us in the door it can come with perceived risk. They sometimes open their …

Critical Convergence: Mapping The Boundaries Of How Faculty Interrogate Whiteness In The Geoscience Educational Landscape, James E. Hobbs

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

This study examined the role of faculty members in interrogating whiteness within geoscience education. The dominant reliance on whiteness as the primary way of knowing in geoscience education has long perpetuated a singular perspective that serves as a mechanism for reinforcing existing power structures rooted in white supremacy. Drawing on tenets from Critical whiteness Studies, Curriculum Theory, and Transformative Learning Theory, this research investigated U.S. higher education faculty members' strategies and challenges in disrupting whiteness within the geoscience curriculum.

Through critical qualitative narrative inquiry, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with geoscience faculty members across multiple institutions across the United …

Toward Equal Access: A Model For Lay Advocacy Programs Serving People Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing, Melissa Bell

JADARA

Advocacy programs are prevalent among state government agencies that specialize in serving persons who are deaf or hard of hearing around the United States. The work is crucial to ensuring equal access and equal opportunity, yet the lay advocacy profession is not yet formalized with certification, ethical standards, or training programs for advocates serving this population. Research was conducted to advance efforts to maximize these programs’ effectiveness by compiling components of an ideal model for lay advocacy programs. Directors from state agencies that specialize in serving this population around the country refined the model and described the structure of their …

What Removal Causes Are Most Common For Children In Foster Care? Are There Discrepancies Across Age Groups?, Elise Woodliff

Social Work Theses - Archive

Although there has been recent focus on child welfare to prevent removals, little literature has examined reasons children are removed among diverse developmental stages. The present study explores the multifaceted demographics of children in the foster care system in order to recognize who is being affected by what removal causes. The purpose of this study is to better understand the foster care system to target interventions and screenings for children under eighteen years of age in the United States. Quantitative measures were used to analyze statistics that were made available through the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System. …

Peer-Led Mental Health Services On College Campuses: A Scoping Review, Anadja Tamofo

Social Work Theses - Archive

This scoping review explores peer-led mental health services on college campuses, focusing on virtual mental well-being support. It examines the implementation, effectiveness, and outcomes of these interventions, highlighting the pivotal role of peer supporters. The review identifies three key themes: the importance of structured implementation, the effectiveness of peer-led interventions in reducing stigma and improving outcomes, and the psychosocial benefits and challenges faced by peer supporters. Significant gaps remain in understanding how to train and support peer supporters effectively, especially in virtual environments. Addressing these gaps can enhance program sustainability, improve student well-being, and foster supportive campus environments.

A Study Of Multimodal Accessibility Equity And Spatio-Temporal Relationships Between Transit, Job Density And Modal Split, Seyedsoheil Sharifiasl

Planning Dissertations - Archive

In North American cities, the land use and transportation systems are associated with low-density, suburban-type urban development, where the built environment contributes to a mobility pattern that is extremely reliant on automobiles. Several studies in the past decades have documented noticeable and concerning patterns of unjust and unsustainable transportation in this context. As a result, for those population groups with limited access to private transportation, this form of urban structure is equivalent to limited access to opportunities, leading to various environmental and social problems. These problems exacerbate inequities in access to transportation, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities. From a sustainable development …

Boiling Behind Bars: Exploring The Hidden Toll Of Extreme Heat On Mental Health In Texas Prisons, Sandra K. Miller

Social Work Theses - Archive

The State of Texas supports the largest prison system in the US and held 132,859 people in 100 units scattered across the state as of December 2023. Approximately 70% of Texas prison beds are not air conditioned, despite the state’s reputation for dangerously hot, humid summers. The State has officially recorded temperatures inside Texas prison facilities as high as 120 degrees with heat index values of over 150. Although there is a growing body of research on the negative physiological and psychological consequences of extreme heat among the general public, little is known about the physical and emotional toll of …

What Are We Waiting For? A Collection Of Poems And Essays About Family, Love, Loss, Time, And Hope, Right/Write To Heal, Skye Adams, D W, N L, D G, Jillian Foley, Madison Burke, Erica King, Becky Wurwarg

Justice Policy

This anthology is a collaboration with the Opportunity Scholars project and the Right/Write to Heal Initiative. The collection tells the stories of women and their families who have been impacted by incarceration in Maine and New York, the pathways that brought them to justice system involvement, and what inspires them to remain hopeful. These stories of family, love, loss, time, and hope were written by residents at the Southern Maine Women’s Reentry Center and the Women’s Center at the Maine Correctional Center, and partners from New York who participated in a weekly creative writing project together. The authors and editors …

Looking At The Past To Change The Future: Showcasing Featured Collections, Building Communities, And Co-Creating, Sherry Buchanan

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

Academic libraries have the opportunity and the responsibility to promote and advance content that creates transformative and iterative learning opportunities. To that end, and in an effort to build communities and facilitate co-creation, Portland State University showcases three main Featured Collections in our open access repository, PDXScholar: Climate Justice, COVID-19, and Racial and Gender Equity, with a fourth pilot collection—Student Work: An Open Showcase of Outstanding Student-Created Research & Creative Work—under development. The collections include a broad range of audiovisual materials, such as podcasts and webinar series, as well as sustainability and equity work, student-created content, and numerous future-focused multidisciplinary …

Becoming Bridge Citizens: Educating For Social Justice In Conflict-Affected Settings, Stella Mi Cheong Cheong, Rowena Azada-Palacios, Kamille Beye

Philosophy Department Faculty Publications

This study draws on empirical data to fine-tune the theoretical concept, ‘bridging civic identity’, which we propose as an educational aim in conflict-affected settings. We analyse interview data from Liberian respondents and North Korean migrants living in South Korea, using a conceptual framework based on the notions of ‘bridge citizens’ and agency. The analysis reveals the following: (1) that a high sense of agency is related to resourcefulness and fortitude, (2) that identifying oneself as a ‘bridge citizen’ is connected to recognising others as such, and (3) that concrete, large-scale aspirations of social justice for the larger community – and …

Dedication To Suketu P. Bhazar, Linda Frost

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Dedication to Suketu P. Bhazar, a fellow of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC), member of the NCHC Board of Directors (2013–2016), and NCHC President (2021).

แนวทางเพิ่มประสิทธิภาพในการป้องกันและปราบปรามอาชญากรรมข้ามชาติ กรณีการค้าน้ำมันเถื่อนในพื้นที่ทะเลอาณาเขตของประเทศไทย, ฉัตรวรินท์ ภูวัชร์พิบูล

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

การศึกษาเชิงคุณภาพนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อ 1) ศึกษาปัญหา สาเหตุ นโยบาย กฎหมาย และการดำเนินงานของไทยในการป้องกันและปราบปรามการค้าน้ำมันเถื่อน 2) เสนอแนวทางเพิ่มประสิทธิภาพในการจัดการอาชญากรรมข้ามชาตินี้ และ3) สนับสนุนการพัฒนาประเทศอย่างมั่นคงและยั่งยืน โดยเก็บข้อมูลจากการค้นคว้าเอกสารและการสัมภาษณ์เชิงลึกผู้ให้ข้อมูลหลัก 23 ท่าน ซึ่งครอบคลุมผู้บริหารหน่วยงานภาครัฐ ผู้ปฏิบัติงานหน่วยงานภาครัฐ ผู้ทรงคุณวุฒิหรือผู้เชี่ยวชาญด้านการป้องกันและปราบปรามอาชญากรรมข้ามชาติ และกลุ่มตัวอย่างภาคธุรกิจเอกชนที่ค้าน้ำมันเชื้อเพลิง ผลการศึกษาพบว่า การค้าน้ำมันเถื่อนในทะเลอาณาเขตไทยเป็นปัญหาต่อเนื่อง มีลักษณะเป็นขบวนการหลีกเลี่ยงภาษี และมักมีนักการเมืองหรือเจ้าหน้าที่รัฐให้การสนับสนุน แรงจูงใจหลักมาจากราคาน้ำมันที่สูง แรงกดดันทางเศรษฐกิจ และผลตอบแทนจากการกระทำผิดที่สูง ทำให้เกิดการลักลอบค้าน้ำมันเถื่อนอย่างแพร่หลาย แม้จะมีกฎหมายและหน่วยงานที่เกี่ยวข้องหลายฝ่าย รวมถึงศูนย์อำนวยการรักษาผลประโยชน์ของชาติทางทะเล (ศรชล.) ที่ทำหน้าที่ประสานงาน แต่ก็ยังคงประสบปัญหาและอุปสรรคในการดำเนินงานอย่างต่อเนื่อง อาชญากรรมนี้ส่งผลกระทบอย่างกว้างขวาง ทั้งด้านเศรษฐกิจ การพัฒนาประเทศ ความปลอดภัยของสังคม สุขภาพประชาชน และคุณภาพสิ่งแวดล้อม จึงจำเป็นต้องอาศัย ความร่วมมือจากทุกภาคส่วน ทั้งภาครัฐ ภาคเอกชน และประชาชน เพื่อให้การป้องกันและปราบปรามประสบผลสำเร็จในระยะยาว ข้อเสนอแนะจากการวิจัยคือ ควรส่งเสริมให้ หน่วยงานที่เกี่ยวข้องสร้างความร่วมมือและบูรณาการ การทำงานระหว่างกัน ทั้งในระดับหน่วยงานและผู้ปฏิบัติงาน ภาครัฐควร จัดสรรกำลังพลและอุปกรณ์ให้เพียงพอและทันสมัย รวมถึง แก้ไขกฎหมายที่ไม่ทันสมัย นอกจากนี้ ควร สร้างองค์ความรู้และความเข้าใจถึงผลกระทบ ของอาชญากรรมนี้ให้แก่ประชาชน และที่สำคัญคือ ประสานความร่วมมือระหว่างประเทศอย่างจริงจังและเป็นรูปธรรม โดยเฉพาะกับประเทศเพื่อนบ้านผ่านความตกลงประชาคมอาเซียนหรือโครงการความร่วมมือต่างๆ เพื่อให้การป้องกันและปราบปรามการค้าน้ำมันเถื่อนในทะเลอาณาเขตไทยเป็นไปอย่างมีประสิทธิภาพยิ่งขึ้นในอนาคต

On The Ordinariness Of Murdering The Black Psyque And Flesh: Antiblackness In Educational Policy And Practice In Brazil, Colombia And Ecuador, Éllen Daiane Cintra, Mauri Balanta Jaramillo, Ethan Johnson

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper seeks to understand how anti-blackness has manifested in Brazilian, Colombian and Ecuadorian education based on analyzes of the education of ethnic-racial relations in these three countries. We start from the recognition of dynamics of violence that position Black people as socially dead (PATTERSON, 1982) in the afterlife of slavery (HARTMAN, 2007). Next, we analyze aspects of education and legal apparatus regarding ethnic-racial relations within education. We conclude that the lens of antiblackness (SHARPE, 2016; WILDERSON, 2010; VARGAS, 2020) in education advances analysis of the antagonistic and paradigmatic relationship that positions Black people as a problem and uneducable (DUMAS, …

"The Feminist Coven Did It": Nigerian Women's Feminist Leadership And Coalition Against Police Brutality During The 2020 #Endsars Protests, Bright Alozie

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

The 2020 #EndSARS protest—a movement against police brutality and state violence in Nigeria—is an excellent locale for the historical study of African women’s activism and contributions to social movements. Young Nigerian women actively spearheaded this movement. Employing oral history methods, social media, and other primary sources, I place these women at the center of the narratives surrounding the #EndSARS protest. Their exceptional leadership and coordination contributed to the success of the most extensive youth-led protests in Nigeria’s contemporary history. In locating their individual and collective activism, I argue that history provided the roadmap for how they did effective activism since …

Differential Impacts Of Weather Anomalies On Household Energy Expenditure Shares: A Comparison Of Clustered Panel Analysis Methods, Jordan Champion

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

Recent emphasis on environmental justice has highlighted deficiencies in our energy system that produce disparities in accessibility and affordability for the most vulnerable. Meanwhile, the realities of a gradually warming climate and the onset of a global energy crisis (IEA 2022) have coincidently contributed to spikes in both energy prices and demand. These implications threaten to further exacerbate existing disparities for income-constrained and vulnerable populations, enhancing their risk of falling into prolonged insecurity. To ensure our transition to a just, sustainable future, we must first ensure equitable access to affordable and reliable energy for everyone. Combining household-level panel and state-level …

Differentially Unwell: On Mimi Khúc's "Dear Elia", Seo-Young J. Chu

Publications and Research

[...] Inviting readers to reclaim the stigma of unwellness and collectively to "tend to our unwellness, together," Khúc approaches unwellness as a crucial resource for subverting the "wellness and unwellness" dichotomy entirely. After all, the opposite of "wellness" is not "unwellness"; the opposite of "wellness" does not exist. The opposition itself is an artificial framework, one that reductively harms more than it dialogically helps. We need to move away from these simplistic dualisms, Khúc suggests, and towards more generous, trauma-informed epistemologies. [...]

An Exploratory Study Of Anti-Black Racism In Social Media Behavior Intentions: Effects Of Political Orientation And Motivation To Control Prejudice, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Samantha A. Wilcox, Justine K. Brace, Melissa Anderson

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Considering the widespread prevalence of racist content and opinions on social media, there is a pressing need to understand how users react to such content in ways that might lead them to be drawn into echo chambers of racism, hate speech, and potentially even violence. We conducted an online study to investigate how two individual differences—political orientation and motivation to control prejudice (MCP)—may predispose people to accept anti-Black racism expressed in social media messages. Non-Black participants viewed racist and egalitarian mock social media posts and reported how likely they would be to respond favorably and/or engage in supportive social media …

Waiting On The World (Of Allied Healthcare) To Change: How Undergraduate Preparedness Curriculum Dis/Includes Ability, Brianna Donnelly

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Significant concerns for healthcare practitioners and allied health professionals continue to arise regarding treatment of persons with disabilities. Whether disability exists as apparent or non-apparent, temporary, or chronic, people with disabilities tend to be in poorer health and tend to use health care at a significantly higher rate than people who do not have disabilities. Importantly, the absence of professional training on disability competency issues for health care practitioners is one of the most significant barriers that prevent people with disabilities from receiving appropriate and effective health care. This qualitative narrative analysis explores the inclusion of disability concepts and people …

Afro-Latin Americans Living In Spain And Social Death: Moving From The Empirical To The Ontological, Ethan Johnson, Joy González-Güeto, Vanessa Cadena

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper has three objectives. First, we establish that although Spain has attempted to distance itself from its role in the sub-saharan African slave trade and the significance blackness plays within its borders, there exists a significant population of people of African descent from Latin America living in Spain. Second, we show Black people are living what Sadiyah Hartmann refers to as the afterlife of slavery in Latin America. We claim it is worthwhile to take into account that Afro-Latin Americans are fleeing to the country that is largely responsible for them being in Latin America and the conditions of …

Considering A Unified Model Of Artificial Intelligence Enhanced Social Work: A Systematic Review, Michael Garkish, Lauri Goldkind

Social Service Faculty Publications

Social work, as a human rights–based profession, is globally recognized as a profession committed to enhancing human well-being and helping meet the basic needs of all people, with a particular focus on those who are marginalized vulner- able, oppressed, or living in poverty. Artificial intelligence (AI), a sub-discipline of computer science, focuses on develop- ing computers with decision-making capacity. The impacts of these two disciplines on each other and the ecosystems that social work is most concerned with have considerable unrealized potential. This systematic review aims to map the research landscape of social work AI scholarship. The authors analyzed the …

Streamlining Public Engagement In Transportation Projects Using Text Analytics, Alireza Shamshiri

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Infrastructure projects impact a broad range of stakeholders, particularly local communities, whose engagement is critical for successful outcomes. Despite the importance of public engagement in these projects, traditional methods of capturing and analyzing public opinion often fail to fully represent the diverse, genuine perspectives involved. This has led to conflicts between community members and project sponsors. On the other hand, despite advancements in text analytics, including natural language processing (NLP) and its subfields such as topic modeling, sentiment analysis, and neural networks, their functionalities and effectiveness in analyzing public opinion in the domain of infrastructure projects have not been fully …

Awakening To The Politics Of Consumption: A Qualitative Study Of Politicized Consumerism As Social Identity, Julia Belmiro

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This qualitative study examines the influence of politicized consumerism on individual social identity through a social psychological perspective. Drawing from Tajfel and Turner’s Social Identity Model (1979) and Cross’s model of Black Identity (1991), we explored politicized consumption as a form of identity through the voices of consumers. Using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), we analyzed thirty-seven survey respondents’ descriptions of their types of politicized consumption choices, factors contributing to their “awakening” to consumer politicization, the integration of these choices into their identity, and whether they viewed politicized consumption as a mechanism for social change. Participants in our sample …

Feasibility Of Influencing Clinician Perceived Knowledge And Competence Of Human Trafficking Via A Continuing Education Workshop, Rachel Wakefield

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Previous research has examined the complex mental and social health deficits of those who were trafficked that clinicians have to treat therapeutically (Litam, 2017; Pascual-Leone et al., 2017). Other research has explored how continuing education workshops often change the knowledge, competence, and attitudes of attendees to use more effective and evidenced techniques and skills (Neimeyer et al., 2009; Raghavan et al., 2008). However, there is a lack of understanding about how a complex topic, specifically treatment considerations of those who were trafficked, changes the knowledge and competence of continuing education workshop attendees. The purpose of the current study is to …

Using Biological Parameters And Traditional Ecological Knowledge To Study The Status Of Spirinchus Starksi (Night Smelt) In Northern California, Z. Zenobia

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Night smelt spawns from central California to southeast Alaska, on the shore of sandy beach surf zones at night. This species is a vital part of regional food webs and, in California, is fished commercially primarily in Humboldt and Del Norte counties. It has cultural importance for dietary and subsistence needs to the Tribes across the coast, as well as inland. The objectives of this thesis are as follow: study the status of the population of night smelt in Humboldt and Del Norte counties by (A) comparing the abundance, length, weight, age, sex ratio, and timing of reproduction of the …

Is Energy Localized Or Gone With The Wind? An Analysis Of Iberdrola’S Wind Energy Localization Initiatives In Burgos, Spain, Mia Cromwell

Honors Theses

While renewable energy systems offer solutions to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, promote sustainable development, and foster a just energy transition, certain energy projects account for local needs while others do not. While community energy projects are known to provide localized energy benefits, less is known about large-scale companies’ abilities to foster just transitions through their energy systems. To better understand how global actors can promote a just and sustainable transition through renewable energy deployment, I explore the following research question with a focus on the global electric utility Iberdrola: To what degree does Iberdrola implement energy localization initiatives through wind …

Empowering Diversity: Unveiling The Impact Of Affirmative Action Policies On Intersectional Identities In Indian Village Councils, Auroshree Pani

Honors Theses

This study investigates the intersectional effects of affirmative action policies within the con- text of rural local councils in India. Utilizing the natural experiment provided by the randomized implementation of reservation policies in Uttar Pradesh’s gram panchayats, this research exam- ines how the intersectionality of marginalized identities—specifically gender and caste—affects policy outcomes. Employing data from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guar- antee Act (MGNREGA) and gram panchayat elections from 2015 and 2021, the impact on job demand and public asset creation is evaluated. The findings reveal that while female leaders gen- erally improve job demand and public asset creation, …

2023 Oregon Statewide Homelessness Estimates, Jacen Greene, Franklin H. Spurbeck, Marisa Zapata

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

Executive Summary excerpt:

The Point-In-Time (PIT) count is a census of people experiencing both sheltered and unsheltered homelessness on a single night in January. The federal government requires this as a condition of funding it distributes to Continuums of Care (CoCs), networks of government agencies and service providers that manage homelessness services and funding in specific regions. Oregon has eight CoCs, five of which manage their own PIT count, which leads to variation in methodology and completeness. The PIT count’s accuracy is further reduced because it only captures homelessness on a single night, missing changes throughout the year, and uses …

Alternative Shelter Evaluation Report, Jacen Greene, Todd Ferry, Emily Leickly, Franklin H. Spurbeck

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

This report summarizes research by Portland State University’s Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative for the Joint Office of Homeless Services on the cost, participant experiences, and client outcomes in village-style and motel shelters as compared to each other and to traditional, congregate shelters.

2023 Point In Time Findings Report: Count Of People Experiencing Homelessness In Clackamas, Multnomah, And Washington Counties, Oregon, Marisa Zapata, Jacen Greene, Carolyn Niehaus, Ethan Sharygin, Franklin H. Spurbeck, Christina Wei

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires localities to complete an annual census-style count of people experiencing homelessness in their jurisdictions. This count, called the Point in Time (PIT) Count, enumerates the number and characteristics of individuals and family households who are experiencing homelessness. In 2023, the Portland, Oregon tri-county region collaborated for the first time and jointly created, administered, and analyzed the count data. The Tri-County 2023 PIT Count report presents findings from this first regional count of people experiencing homelessness.

“You Are Not Obligated To Complete The Work, But Neither Are You Free To Desist From It.” Richmond Jews In Social Activism Post Civil Rights, Tracy S. Herman

Theses and Dissertations

For centuries, the Jewish people have faced expulsions, pogroms, massacres, and Propaganda. that runs so deep it would be like staring into an abyss. This oppression has motivated Jewish activists worldwide to fight back not only on behalf of the Jewish community but for many areas of perceived need. Jewish involvement in social activism in the U.S. has been particularly recognized by scholars of the labor and Civil Rights movements. This thesis is based on eighteen oral history interviews focused on social activism in Richmond, Virginia since the Civil Rights era. The author conducted these interviews in 2021, 2023, and …