Sociology Commons^™

Liah Greenfeld: Scholar, Thinker, Friend, Joseph Drew

Comparative Civilizations Review

Professor Liah Greenfeld and I met several years ago when she submitted an article to the Comparative Civilizations Review. Her thoughtful demeanor and personal kindness to all were quickly evident, but so, too, was her scholarship, especially her probing theories of state, society, and civilization.

Online Mindfulness Training And Work-Related Outcomes: A Randomized Waitlist Controlled Trial, Conner Lee Deichman

Theses and Dissertations

Mindfulness-based interventions improve employee well-being, yet few studies have examined their impact on work-specific outcomes in private-sector samples. Online mindfulness programs offer a promising, accessible alternative to in-person training. This randomized waitlist-controlled trial evaluated the efficacy of Mindfulness for Humans (MfH), a fully online, self-directed 15-session program, on job satisfaction, burnout, work engagement, subjective well-being, and mindfulness skills among private-sector employees. Participants were randomly assigned to a training-first group or a waitlist-first group and completed measures at baseline, 30 days, and 60 days. Results showed significant improvements in job satisfaction, burnout, subjective well-being, and mindfulness following course participation. The training-first …

Artificial Intelligence And Technology - Joni Full Issue July 2026, Angie Holzer

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

No abstract provided.

Digital Infrastructure Implementation For Nonprofit Sustainability, Yana Kuzina

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Nonprofit organizations in the United States operate within a constrained regulatory and financial environment that limits their ability to invest in marketing, donor acquisition, and digital infrastructure. Federal funding regulations, particularly under 2 CFR Part 200, restrict the use of grant funds for advertising and public outreach, creating structural barriers to growth and long-term sustainability. This paper presents a scalable methodology for overcoming these constraints through the design and implementation of cost-efficient digital infrastructure systems.

The proposed framework integrates front-end digital acquisition channels with back-end data management and automated communication workflows. It is implemented through a two-stage model: (1) deployment …

Belonging's Influence On Volunteer Motivation In Faith-Based Nonprofit Organizations: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Adam Stockton

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Nonprofit organizations often overlook psychological belonging as a driver of volunteer retention and recruitment (Hurt, 2025; Mochin, 2022). The purpose of this qualitative Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) study was to explore how a sense of belonging influenced the intrinsic motivation of nine adults volunteering with a faith-based nonprofit organization in the southern United States. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using IPA best practices to identify themes from participants' experiences. The study was grounded in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, self-determination theory, and organizational identification theory—frameworks that describe how individuals connect personal values and identity to the values and …

Ai-Powered Logistics For Small Nonprofits: A No-Code, Sub-$10 System For Real-Time Distribution Across 41 Locations, Rishi D. Chundury

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Small nonprofits often struggle to coordinate multi-site distribution campaigns with limited staff, tight budgets, and little access to technology. This article describes how Eye on July Corp., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Omaha, Nebraska, built an AI-powered system to manage the distribution of 20,000 free safety glasses across 41 community locations for July 4th. The system was built without any coding using three commercially available tools, where Airtable stores the data, Make.com runs the automation, and Anthropic's Claude API provides the intelligence, all at a total cost of under $10. The platform collects stock counts from partner locations, analyzes inventory to …

Building Adaptive Capacity In Community Engaged Nonprofits, Lena Hatchett, Kenneth E. Steinkruger, Laundette P. Jones

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Nonprofit organizations face ongoing challenges related to uncertain funding, staff burnout, and increasing community needs. This article describes adaptive capacity as a proactive form of resilience that can help nonprofits prepare for unexpected challenges before they occur.  Drawing on examples from a small community-engaged nonprofit, the current article presented activities and tools for strengthening adaptive capacity through both longer-term capacity-building practices and everyday organizational decisions.  We used the McKinsey 7S framework to organize adaptive capacity opportunities across strategy, structure, systems, shared values, skills, style, and staff.  The examples suggest that, despite unanticipated challenges, community-engaged nonprofits may strengthen resilience by adopting …

Summary & Discussion On United Nations Preliminary Report On Ai: Benefits And Harms Of Artificial Intelligence For Civil Society, Angie Holzer

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

In July 2026, the United Nations' newly formed Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence released its first Preliminary Report, offering the first global, scientific assessment of AI's capabilities, risks, and impacts. This article examines the report's findings through the lens of civil society, organizing the Panel's evidence around three questions of direct relevance to nonprofit leaders and researchers: how rapidly AI capability is advancing, who controls its development, and where its benefits and harms are concentrated. Drawing on the Panel's data across societal applications, economic implications, human rights and information integrity, cultural flourishing and child safety, and AI governance, …

Academic Summaries - Artificial Intelligence, Angie Holzer

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

No abstract provided.

Split Alliance And Relationship Satisfaction In Couples Therapy: Examining Split Alliance As A Process Variable, Kyla Yetter

Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined how different patterns of alliance development impact couples' relationship satisfaction, with a particular emphasis on split alliances. The retrospective sample of 1149 couples was taken from the IRB approved Marriage and Family Therapy Practice Research Network. Alliance was measured at each session with the Intersession Alliance Measure- Couples version (IAM-C). The outcome variable, relationship satisfaction, was measured before the first and last sessions of therapy with the Couple Relationship Scale (CRS). Split alliance was operationalized using standard deviation differences in partners' alliance scores, and couples were divided into three groups: 1) Never had a split alliance, …

Respect And Aggression In Intimate Relationships: A Grounded Theory Of Relational Responsiveness, Aaron T. Fife

Theses and Dissertations

The negative effects of aggression in intimate relationships have been well documented through research and clinical literature (Lawrence & Bradbury, 2001; Shortt et al., 2006). Conversely, the positive effects of respectful behavior are well-known (Gottman, 1994; Dew & Wilcox, 2013). This important dimension of relationships is crucial to understanding what makes up healthy and unhealthy relationships. However, little is known about how couples understand the varying types of respect and aggression within intimate relationships, nor how they are lived and experienced relationally. The purpose of this study is to explore the dyadic processes behind respect and aggression as well as …

A Lesson In Class: How Parents' Class Identity Changes Relate To Children's Exposure To Social Classes -- A Latent Profile Analysis, L. Caroline Moore

Theses and Dissertations

Class inequality in the United States has reached levels not seen since the late 1920s. This inequality has been linked to numerous harmful societal outcomes and may be particularly detrimental for children, who often experience limited intergroup contact with individuals from different social class backgrounds. Drawing on Social Identity Theory and the significant role parents play in shaping children's social environments, this study examined how White and Black parents' changes in perceived social class from childhood to adulthood relate to the ways they prioritize exposing their children to different social class environments (N = 702, U.S. sample). Latent Profile Analysis …

Likes, Lies, And Body Esteem: The Moderating Effects Of Age, Concealment, And Gender Between Social Media And Body Esteem For Utah Adolescents, Talise Hirschi

Theses and Dissertations

Social media use has become common among adolescents and contains many messages about one's body such as the thin and muscular ideal. Many parents are learning how to help their adolescent learn how to use social media, and some adolescents may conceal their social media use for various reasons. 588 adolescents (ages 11-18; 77% White; 55% female) from Utah filled out surveys about their social media use and body esteem each school year. In a two-wave cross lag panel model, specific aspects of social media use such as time spent on social media, problematic media use (PMU), and social media …

Differentiation Of Self As A Therapist Effect In Couple Therapy, Nathan D. Knebel

Theses and Dissertations

Murray Bowen proposed that a therapist's level of differentiation of self influences therapeutic effectiveness, particularly in clinically distressed relational systems. Although existing literature has demonstrated that therapist effects account for a meaningful portion of variance in couple therapy outcomes, differentiation of self has received limited empirical attention as a therapist-level predictor. The present article proposes a framework for empirically examining Bowen's hypothesis by investigating whether therapist differentiation predicts trajectories of couple relationship quality across treatment. Additionally, the article explores theoretical pathways through which therapists may increase their level of differentiation, assuming Bowen's hypothesis is supported.

Testing The Moderating Effect Of Self-Compassion On The Relationship Between Perfectionism-Related Discrepancy And Perceived Social Support From Family, Marinne Hammond

Theses and Dissertations

Perfectionism involves an insistence on outstanding performance on tasks to an extreme level. More specifically, perfectionism-related discrepancy is when one subjectively sees a gap between their performance and their expectations for how they should perform. Perfectionism may be linked to mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and social disconnection. The perfectionism social disconnection model asserts that perfectionism can also lead to social withdrawal. Self-compassion involves the acceptance of imperfection; it has been associated with higher perceived social support and has also been shown to attenuate the relationship between perfectionism and psychological distress. This study aimed to further …

Functional And Structural Lesion Network Mapping: Insights Into Acquired Brain Injury And Insomnia, Kathleen Erekson Rugh

Theses and Dissertations

Insomnia disorder is the most reported sleep disorder and can negatively affect daily functioning. Acquired brain injuries can lead to insomnia disorder. Limited research has explored a causal link between brain networks and insomnia symptoms in this population. This study replicated a lesion network mapping methodology of an insomnia study (Helquist et al., 2024) and extended it to examine structural networks linked to insomnia symptoms in individuals with acquired brain injuries. Traced lesions (N =44) were used as seed regions to compare against normative functional and structural network data. For functional analyses, we used resting state fMRI scans from a …

Baseline Moderators Of A Transdiagnostic Adolescent Sleep And Circadian Health Intervention's Effectiveness At Improving Circadian Sleep Health: A Pilot Investigation, Jamon M. Jex

Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined whether baseline demographic and clinical characteristics moderate the effectiveness of the Transdiagnostic Sleep and Circadian (TSC) intervention in improving adolescent circadian sleep health. Using an integrative data analysis approach, data from three independent adolescent samples (N = 134; ages 10-18) were pooled to evaluate changes across multidimensional sleep outcomes defined by the RU-SATED model of sleep, including regularity, satisfaction, alertness, timing, efficiency, and duration. Linear mixed-effects models were used to assess pre-to-post intervention changes and test moderation by age, sex, family income, and clinical status. Results indicated significant improvements in sleep satisfaction following TSC, with greater …

Full Issue

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

Investigación Reciente (Resumenes Académicos), Sebastian Dorantes, Erica Jensen, Faith Manchester, Isabelle Stoddard

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

No abstract provided.

Por Qué Las Personas Hacen (Y No Hacen) Donaciones, Sebastian Dorantes

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

La filantropía es una práctica mundial formada por la cultura, los ingresos y las normas sociales. Su escala es considerable y puede ser medible a través de datos e informes. En los Estados Unidos, las donaciones benéficas alcanzaron $592,500 millones de dólares en 2024, la cifra más alta registrada. Las personas contribuyeron con aproximadamente $392,000 millones de dólares de esa cantidad, o aproximadamente dos terceras partes del total de las donaciones. A nivel mundial, la generosidad sigue siendo muy común. Países como Estados Unidos, Myanmar y Nueva Zelanda figuran consistentemente como los más caritativos, con grandes porcentajes de personas que …

Mapping The Global Classroom: An Innovation Spotlight On The Ngo Education Survey Directory Database, Angie Holzer, Roseanne M. Mirabella

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

This article highlights the NGO Education Survey Directory Database as a critical tool for strengthening global nonprofit infrastructure by addressing longstanding gaps in data on nonprofit education programs. It maps the global landscape of nonprofit management education with detailed, institution-level insights, enabling researchers, funders, and practitioners to better understand capacity-building efforts worldwide. By improving transparency and access to information, the directory supports more strategic philanthropy, fosters collaboration, and promotes the development of locally grounded leadership within the nonprofit sector.

Why People Do (And Don’T) Give, Sebastian Dorantes, Erica Jensen, Isabelle Stoddard, Faith Manchester

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Philanthropy is a global practice shaped by culture, income, and social norms. Overall giving remains high, but participation is becoming more concentrated. This raises key questions about who gives, why they give, and why others choose not to. Ultimately, the relationship between donors and nonprofit organizations can have a significant impact on philanthropic behavior. It is essential for nonprofits to consider what motivates a person to donate in order to create a point of connection between the donors and the organizations.

Academic Summaries - Philanthropy, Erica Jensen, Sebastian Dorantes, Faith Manchester, Isabelle Stoddard

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

No abstract provided.

Philanthropy - Joni Full Issue April 2026, Angie Holzer, Erica Jensen

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

No abstract provided.

Gender Dynamics In Upward Influence: Career Outcomes And Organizational Implications, Carrie Berg Ed.D.

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

This study explores gender-based differences in the perceptions and outcomes of upward influence strategies within nonprofit organizations. Using qualitative thematic analysis grounded in Social Role Theory and Impression Management Theory, this research draws from structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with 37 professionals across diverse nonprofit sectors. Findings reveal that men’s influence efforts are more frequently perceived as credible and authoritative, while similar strategies used by women are often subjected to increased scrutiny and bias. Key themes include gendered influence styles, differential recognition and credibility, mental and emotional labor, organizational gatekeeping, leadership receptivity, and informal networks. The study contributes to understanding …

What Makes Leaders In Human Services Effective? A Pilot Study Linking Systems Thinking, Perspective-Taking, And Leadership Success, Ryan Witterschein

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Leadership effectiveness is a persistent challenge in human services nonprofits, where organizations serving individuals with disabilities and complex needs have grown dramatically but lack validated tools for assessing the cognitive competencies that distinguish effective leaders. This quantitative pilot study introduces the ABA Leadership Assessment Tool version 2.0 (ABLA 2.0), a 48-item instrument integrating transformational and transactional leadership frameworks with three constructs from Relational Frame Theory—perspective-taking, temporal reasoning, and systems thinking. Eight Board Certified Behavior Analysts in organizational leadership roles completed the assessment, yielding 100% completion and strong preliminary reliability across all subscales (α = .71–.94). Leaders who demonstrated stronger cognitive …

Separating Access Legitimacy From Utilization Analytics: A Two-Layer Evaluation Model For Philanthropy And Development, Stephanie Zabriskie

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

This article introduces a two-layer evaluation model for philanthropic and development decision-making in access-based interventions. The first layer treats Access as Outcome (AAO) as a recognized outcome when essential goods, services or resources are delivered through a viable delivery pathway, without requiring post-access utilization or compliance to validate legitimacy. The second layer evaluates post-access variation through System Coherence Conditions (SCC), defined as internal alignment across governance and decision-making, distribution and logistics, social accountability and norms, and scarcity management and continuity, which explain differences in utilization, continuity, and downstream effects as signals of system coherence rather than as retroactive worthiness thresholds. …

Utilizing Supervised Practice In School Settings As An Opportunity To Increase Student Awareness Of Food Waste Reduction Strategies, Maria Givler

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) play a vital role in facilitating nutritional health across a wide range of settings, from clinical care to community-based environments. As the profession continues to evolve, dietetics training programs are emphasizing experiential learning opportunities that address real-world public health challenges (Wegener, 2018). One such challenge is food waste, an issue with significant nutritional, environmental, and economic implications (Seberini, 2020). Within school food service systems, where millions of meals are served daily (Toossi et al.,2024), reducing waste while maintaining student satisfaction presents both a challenge and an opportunity. This article will discuss four ways supervised practice rotations …

When Social Fundraising Is Active But Hard To Measure: Nonprofit Lessons From Social Media Roi Research, Dr. Blair W. Loveland

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

This article examines a nonprofit measurement problem that appears when social media is used to support fundraising but the organization cannot clearly connect that activity to a measurable financial result. The article draws on a non-experimental quantitative survey of 106 participants in roles tied to marketing, sales, or revenue reporting. The findings showed that social media use was common, but visibility into spending, formal ROI tracking, and end-to-end attribution was often weak. Seventy percent of respondents who answered the spend question did not know their organization's annual social media spend, 59 percent of respondents who answered the ROI question said …

Enhancing Transparency And Accountability In Federally Funded Nonprofits: A Convergent Framework Integrating Artificial Intelligence Analytics And Blockchain Technology, David A. Oduro, Vida Adeti

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

This study examines how artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology address persistent challenges in federal nonprofit grant management. Through systematic analysis of government pilot programs and nonprofit technology adoption patterns, we develop an integrated implementation framework. Treasury Department and National Science Foundation blockchain prototypes demonstrate 40% reductions in administrative burden, with report generation decreasing from 40 staff-hours to seconds. Nonprofit AI adoption reached 92% by 2026, though significant disparities exist between large organizations (58% using AI for data analytics) and small nonprofits (19%). Drawing on interviews with federal agencies and grant recipients, this research identifies technical capacity constraints, regulatory complexity, …