Sociology Commons^™

Relationship Between Maternal Mortality And Zip Code In New Jersey, Katarina Rusinak

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Maternal mortality remains a pressing public health concern in the United States, with significant disparities influenced by geography and social determinants of health. This study investigates the relationship between zip code-level factors and maternal mortality rates (MMR) in New Jersey (NJ), a state with demographic and socioeconomic diversity. Using data from the NJ Department of Health, CDC, and recent literature, I identified patterns correlating higher MMR with areas experiencing poverty, limited access to healthcare, and predominantly minority populations. Counties such as Essex, Union, and Cumberland—classified as Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs)—exhibited particularly high vulnerability. These …

Exploring The Effects Of Target Race, Gender, And Weight On Pain Perception, Catherine Awad, Theresa Miller, Azer Tuerxuntuoheti, Peter Mende-Siedlecki

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Healthcare equity is an essential right, and while the quality of care is assumed to be uniform, notable disparities in care are associated with factors of race, gender, and weight-particularly in the domain of pain evaluation and care. In experimental work, target race and gender have varying, and interacting effects on visual thresholds for perceiving painful expressions. Racial bias in pain perception is well established as participants see pain on black faces less readily than pain on white faces; gender also impacts pain treatment, where women are susceptible to having their pain discredited. Across two experiments, the influence of weight …

Disparities In Demographics Of Patients Presenting To A Student-Run Free Clinic In South Jersey, Kirsten Carlberg, Sabah Iqbal, Christian Moya Gamboa, Daliza Diaz, Cerena Moreno, Rebecca Moore

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Medical schools around the country have established free clinics to better serve the underserved patient populations. In this study, we aimed to evaluate demographic characteristics in the patient population at our free clinic, Rowan-Virtua Community Health Clinic (RVCHC), compared to the general population of Camden County. We found a disproportionately higher percentage of black patients at our clinic when compared to the county overall. Addressing these disparities would require targeted outreach to specific patient populations and improved transit access. Future studies should aim to identify RVCHC health outcomes through the management of chronic disease and understanding emergency room utilization.

The Impact Of Food Deserts And Food Insecurity On Cardiovascular Outcomes In New Jersey, Amina Baig, Cheyenne Myklebust, Jack Hennen, Leah Perez, Rhoda Ukenna-Izuwa, Tayyiaba Farooq

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Food deserts - areas with limited access to affordable, healthful food - are increasingly being recognized as risk factors for adverse cardiovascular outcomes. This review discusses the link between food desert density and cardiovascular disease risk with a special emphasis on New Jersey. A systematic PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase literature review of studies from 2014 through 2024 was conducted, with some relevant older research dating back to 2001. Some of the keywords used in the search included "food desert," "food insecurity," "cardiovascular disease," and "New Jersey." The search was restricted to English-language research conducted within the United States. The literature …

Language, Equity, And Power: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Student Conduct Policies At Unl, Mandi Laib

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study conducts a Critical Discourse Analysis of student conduct policies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 1977 to 2003 to examine how language reflects and reinforces institutional power structures. Utilizing Critical Race Theory and Queer Theory, this research investigates how conduct policies have historically marginalized Students of Color, LGBTQ+ students, and those facing economic hardship. Through a deductive coding process, themes such as institutional control, surveillance, and punitive framing were identified across four decades of student handbooks. While there are moments where student rights and restorative justice are acknowledged, these are often overshadowed by dominant discourse that prioritizes compliance …

Exploring Contributions Of Partnerships Between Employers And Disability Organizations On Recruitment, Hiring, Training, Retention, And Accommodation Of Individuals With Disabilities In Mississippi, Peter Oluwadare Kalejaiye

Dissertations

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 provides equal employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities (IWDs) by prohibiting discrimination in employment. However, one out of four IWDs face discrimination in employment in the United States (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023). Additionally, despite establishing the Office of Disability Employment Policy and enacting the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to help integrate IWDs into the workforce, IWDs face barriers to equal and equitable employment (NASEM, 2017). Previous studies recommend partnerships between employers and disability organizations (DOs) to provide employment opportunities and benefits for IWDs through recruitment, hiring, training, retention, and …

Deep-Fake Revenge Porn: The Intersection Of Artificial Intelligence And Revenge Porn For A Modern Attack On Women, Eva C. Hunt

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This study aims to provide a legal analysis grounded in gender legal theory to critique current legislation enacted in the United States. It focuses on the societal and gendered impacts of revenge porn, particularly examining how victimization differs across genders. The legal analysis explores state-by-state legislation addressing revenge porn, assessing the severity of criminal penalties and the timeline of enactment. For current contextual reasons, the study evaluates how emerging Deepfake artificial intelligence technologies intersect with and complicate existing revenge porn laws. Finally, it analyzes the extent to which each state has incorporated Deepfake AI considerations into its legal framework.

Assessing The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Mental Health In Patients Presenting To A Student-Run Free Clinic, Sabah Iqbal, Kirsten Carlberg, Emily Reilly, Jessica Ivanov, Victoria Youssef, Lily Roessler, Maikel Monsour, Nils Brolis

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Background

Mental health is an important part of patient care, therefore it is imperative to understand how it’s recognized and treated. Socioeconomic status and the COVID19 pandemic contribute to disproportionate incidences of mental illness^{1, 2, 10, 11, 12}. This study uses data from a student-run clinic, the Rowan-Virtua Community Health Center (RVCHC), to examine disparities in mental health needs and screenings among the local population.

Hypothesis

It was hypothesized that underserved populations are at a disadvantage when it comes to both mental health screenings and treatment due to restricted access to healthcare and other unmet needs. Additionally, the …

The Impact Of Environmental Deficiencies On Maternal Health Outcomes, Zahra Wallizadeh, Emiyah Bullock, Antoinette Jones, Katarina Rusinak

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

This study examines the environmental factors contributing to adverse maternal health outcomes in New Jersey, with particular focus on their disproportionate impact on minority women. Analysis of data from PubMed, Policy Map, NIH, CDC, EPA, and the New Jersey Department of Health reveals that women living in low-income areas face significant environmental challenges, including food deserts, air pollution, unsafe living conditions, inadequate infrastructure, and limited transportation options. These environmental determinants exacerbate maternal stress and contribute to complications such as preterm birth and hypertension. Black women are nearly three times more vulnerable to these adverse outcomes compared to white women, highlighting …

Examining The Relationship Between Nutritional Access And Childhood Obesity In Low-Resource South Jersey Communities, Anastasiya Matveyenko, Saul Madrid-Flores, Arleen Fortuna, Kirsten Marie Carlberg

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity is defined as a child considered to have obesity when their body mass index falls in the top 5% compared to other children of the same age and gender. Unhealthy eating habits formed during childhood have been associated with diseases such as obesity and diabetes. We aim to examine the relationship between childhood obesity and barriers to optimal nutrition in our local South Jersey community.

METHODS: We conducted a literature review through Google, Google Scholar, and PubMed utilizing the key terms, “low socioeconomic status (SES),” “Childhood obesity in NJ,” “Nutritional Intervention,” and “Health Risks.”

RESULTS: Our study …

Chasqui, Nicole Lachat

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Chasqui is a creative dissertation comprised of a thirteen-page critical introduction and a series of poems which consider varying forms of migration, including that of border crossings. The internalization of displacement through longing and alienation is examined in these poems. The author considers questions of inheritance through an exploration of personal, familial and sociopolitical bonds. Varying forms of violence, including colonial and gendered violence are reflected upon in the work.

Advisor: Kwame Dawes

Exploring The Nexus Of Adverse Childhood Experiences And Illicit Substance Misuse Among Midwestern Adults, Anika R. Eisenbraun

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The positive association between illicit substance misuse and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) has been widely examined in prior literature. Yet, there is limited understanding of the varying factors, such as social support, depressive symptoms, or sexual victimization, that may impact the relationship between substance misuse and ACEs. As such, the purpose of the current study is to examine the relationship between ACEs (i.e., physical and emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect) with illicit substance misuse and to investigate indirect pathways of social support, depressive symptoms, and sexual victimization. Private, secondary data from the second cohort of a larger, longitudinal rural health …

Household Wealth And Mental Health In Older Adults Across Racial Groups: Moderating Role Of Social Support, Sunkanmi Folorunsho

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis examines the relationship between household wealth and mental health outcomes among older adults, with particular attention to racial and ethnic differences and the potential moderating role of social support. Although financial resources are widely recognized as important determinants of psychological well-being, less is known about how social support interacts with economic conditions to shape mental health in later life. The study also addresses how these patterns may vary among different racial and ethnic groups, given persistent inequalities in wealth and disparities in access to social resources.

Drawing on data from the 2020 wave of the Health and Retirement …

The Affordable Care Act: Analyzing Rates Of Healthcare Claim Denial, Lauren Sitter

Political Science Theses and Capstones

The United States healthcare industry is an integral aspect of every American’s life. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 reformed the healthcare system by expanding coverage to millions of Americans and eliminating claim denials due to pre-existing conditions. It requires participating states to submit transparency data. Despite these reforms, coverage denials continue and vary by plan category, metal level, and among different states. I analyze data from The Kaiser Family Foundation (2023) and The CommonWealth Fund to test the correlation between claim denial and a variety of variables, including state political culture, plan type, metal level, and out-of-pocket costs. …

Effects Of Food Insufficiency And Family Structure On Parental Aggravation And Child Outcomes, Angel Juarez

University Honors Program Senior Projects

Food insufficiency is a detrimental crisis that impacts families facing financial hardships across the United States (Nam et al., 2015). Research finds that economic difficulties and child maladaptive development are positively associated because parental stress is exacerbated by financial hardships affecting parental sensitivity to their children (Hill et al., 2013; Simons et al., 2016). The current study uses the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative (CAHMI) data from the 2021-2022 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). It builds on these findings, investigating the relationship between food insufficiency and parental aggravation on child behavioral outcomes across different family structures in the …

Dekonstruktion Der Afd: Eine Analyse Der Rechtspopulistischen Deutschen Partei Der„Alternative Für Deutschland”, Elizabeth A. Breckenridge, Elizabeth Breckenridge

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Die Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) ist eine rechtsextreme populistische Partei, die innerhalb eines Jahrzehnts rasch an Macht gewonnen hat, insbesondere in den ostdeutschen Bundesländern, aufgrund ihrer Betonung der Nationalisierung, ihrer populistischen Rhetorik und ihrer Anziehungskraft auf Wähler, die Ängste vor Einwanderung und kulturellem Wandel hegen. Die AfD hat es innerhalb von fünf Jahren geschafft, eine starke Wählerschaft zu mobilisieren, 2017 Sitze im Bundestag zu erringen und gilt nun als wichtigste Oppositionspartei zu den etablierten Parteien. Die AfD ist die erste rechte Partei seit 1945, die aufgrund des Aufstiegs rechtspolitischer Ideologien bedeutende Wahlerfolge erzielen konnte. Aufgrund des reaktionären Pendelschwungs nach dem …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Intersection Between Sex Trafficking And Domestic Violence: A Cross-Cultural Study Of The United States And India, Rachel A. Napier

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Domestic violence survivors are affected by long-term trauma from abuse, which can lead to them being more vulnerable and susceptible to sex trafficking tactics. Sex trafficking survivors are also at risk of becoming involved in an abusive relationship because they may have been previously exposed or due to a normalization of abuse. Both domestic violence and sex trafficking are prevalent issues within the world that continue to be ongoing due to their hidden nature. This study highlights the connections between domestic violence and sex trafficking and how each can be portrayed differently based on the environment and cultural norms within …

The Switch: Determinants Of Family School Modality Choices During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Steicy Dorfi Lopez

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

The K-12 system in the United States experienced substantial challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to give an overview of public, private, and homeschooling enrollment decisions during the pandemic, the changes families made between types of schooling and identify familial characteristics associated with the probability of switching in and out of public education. Knowing more about the groups exiting and returning to the public school system can help public school districts better tailor policies to attract and retain their students. Socioeconomic factors influencing a change could be signs of increasing segregation. Using a discrete choice duration model, a …

The Association Between Economic Outcomes And Abortion: A Scoping Review, Larisa Nicole Stephenson

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Background: Abortion access is not just an issue of autonomy, but an economic issue as well. Evidence of the intersectionality of abortion health care and economics has endured due to the financial cascading effects a denial of an abortion, or the inability to access an abortion, has on one’s personal, professional, and economic upward mobility. A change in recent policies impacting access to abortion warrants an updated synthesis examining the relationships between economic outcomes and abortion access for people of reproductive age in the United States (U.S.).

Aim: This scoping review summarizes evidence pertaining to the association …

Famílias Indigenas Entre Mundos: Standing In Pachakuti, Living In Chi’Xi Within The Constellation Of Their Comunidad De Saberes, Ymasumac Marañón Davis

Dissertations

To be Indigenous is to be la luz del mundo, to stand in your light and spread your sunrays, no matter winds or clouds of colonization that strive to dim you. This qualitative study explored ways Indigenous Latine families negotiate a sense of place within onto-epistemological realities and their home culture of learning and Western education. This research is desire-based (Eve Tuck, 2009), creating our own project of modernity, grounded in one Indigenous family’s experience within their Andean community. Drawing from Critical Latine Indigeneities Framework (Blackwell et al., 2017) and Chicana Feminist Epistemologies (Bernal, 1998), using an Entre Mundos methodology, …

Limitations Due To Occupational Credentialing For Immigrants In Massachusetts: Survey Report, Phillip Granberry, Florita Coto Tristán, Fabián Torres-Ardila, Jonathan Vega-Martinez, Maria M. Pache De Athayde

Gastón Institute Publications

The Gastón Institute began investigating occupational credentialing because of a previous research project with English for New Bostonians, which had found that many people in its ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes complained that lack of an occupational credential had caused them to suffer unemployment or underemployment. The Latino Equity Fund at the Boston Foundation provided the funding for a study addressing the problem of determining the extent to which Massachusetts immigrants are having trouble in the labor market because they lack the proper occupational credentials. The study has two complementary components: a qualitative study with interviews of …

The Shift In Children's Dance: From A Culture Of Innocence To A Battlefield Of Hypersexualization, Mary Bawden

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Men’S Fertility Beliefs, Intentions, And Contraceptive Use, Meagan Kunitzer

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Despite advancements in reproductive technology, gender-inclusive approaches remain limited, and research on men’s reproductive health is scarce. Specifically, little is known about how men conceptualize reproductive health and how perspectives vary by race and social class. As such, the purpose of this study is to further the field’s understanding of men’s reproductive health, including fertility beliefs, intentions, and behaviors. Guided by the theory of conjunctural action, this study uses survey-driven narrative construction to explore how 35 men think about their reproductive health and how this varies by race and class. The main benefit of using this method is that it …

Youth Sport Participation And Cognitive Development: The Need For Improved Measurement, Amelia Anne Miramonti

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Background: Youth sport participation is associated with numerous positive developmental outcomes, including potential cognitive benefits. However, research examining sport-cognition links often uses simplistic operationalizations of sport participation and cross-sectional designs, limiting causal inference and understanding of specific sport characteristics' roles. This study aimed to develop and compare a novel, nuanced sport participation scoring method against common operationalizations in predicting cognitive outcomes in a large youth sample, while controlling for general physical activity and health as a first step towards more robust longitudinal analyses.

Methods: Data were drawn from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study Year 2 follow-up …

Belly Dance In Nebraska: Identity, Social Acceptance, And Perseverance, Alex R. Mohr

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Belly dance is an art form as well as an often-contested practice due to tensions over dress, terminology and cultural practices within the belly dance community because the dance originated outside the United States. Additionally, there is often a need to prove the legitimacy of the dance to those outside its sphere because it is often stigmatized due to the early association with exotic dancing. Belly dance is inherently geographic, as seen through its places of origin, music and movement styles, global spread, practitioners, and spaces of practice. However, it has not been well-represented in geography, and there is also …

A Framework For Quantifying The Benefits Of Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Development, Donya Negahbani

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Under the Biden Administration’s Justice40 Initiative, a significant portion of benefits derived from federal clean transportation investments is required to be directed to disadvantaged communities. Meeting this mandate necessitates a transparent and reproducible approach that quantifies various dimensions of value and allocates them equitably. This dissertation presents a flexible framework specifically tailored for the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Nebraska, effectively translating equity goals into rigorous spatial and economic analyses. The framework first identifies multiple distinct categories of benefit that reflect the societal value of charging access: energy savings, economic opportunities, environmental quality enhancements, and public health improvements. …

Addressing Structural Violence In Eastern Nebraska Through The Assessment Of Mortality Profiles, Victoria M. Pate

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

Humanitarian forensics has recently expanded to include the examination of forensic casework demographics within the medicolegal community. Additionally, it is proposed that research and data collection should look beyond the individual case report to address public health, crime vulnerabilities, and marginalization at local and national levels to advocate for policy changes protecting against institutionalized violence. With the utilization of quantitative and qualitative methods, 294 case reports provided by Nebraska police departments, between the years of 2014-2024, were analyzed to conceptualize mortality vulnerabilities and the ways in which forensic anthropologists can aid in community action. Pearson’s Chi-Square and one-way Analysis of …

Recognizing Injustice, Reclaiming Voices: Establishing A Missing Persons Database For Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women And Children In Nebraska, Bayly W. Watson

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

Indigenous people have been the victims of harsh persecution since the time of colonization; this has negatively impacted Native communities and has contributed significantly to the ongoing crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Children (MMIWC) across the United States and Canada. Under Legislative Bill 154, Richards et al. (2021) conducted an initial study to identify missing Native cases in Nebraska and in 2023, the Attorney General appointed a Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) Liaison to help combat the number of missing Indigenous in the state. This thesis contributes to previous research by analyzing 20,049 reports from three …

Limited Supermarket Access Areas In The Mountain West, 2010-2020, Taylor Volk, Ivan Sun, Mohit Pande, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Health

This fact sheet presents data on limited supermarket access areas in the Mountain West from 2010 to 2020. The “Limited Supermarket Access Analysis” report, published by the Reinvestment Fund, offers data for populations that reside in Limited Supermarket Access (LSA) areas in U.S. states and in major U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) with a population of at least 1,000,000 people. This fact sheet presents both state-level and MSA-level data for the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

Sexual And Gender Minority Individuals In Our Community: Policy Recommendations To Address Discrimination-Related Stresses, Emylia N. Terry

Lincy Institute Events

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals face a wide range of mental and physical health challenges, which contribute to higher rates of suicide. SGM individuals encounter distress, discrimination, and in some cases, harmful anti-LGBTQIA+ laws and policies that contribute to additional mental and physical health stress. A web-based survey of 1,034 SGM participants in the United States measured the types and frequency of discrimination occurrences and related distress. The survey considers the variety of interactions between individuals and their relationships, while also measuring the community and societal factors that affect health outcomes for SGM individuals. This research evaluates many variables …