Sociology Commons^™

Reducing Transphobic Attitudes: A Cross-National Investigation Of College Students In Japan And The United States, Kazusa Seko

Dissertations and Theses

Transgender people routinely experience discrimination and mistreatment. Although transphobic attitudes vary from country to country, a more in-depth understanding of these attitudes is needed. Using a semi-structured online survey, this study investigates college students' attitudes toward transgender people in Japan and the United States, a cross-national comparison that aims to deepen our understanding of how transphobic attitudes are shaped and what opportunities exist to reduce transphobia amongst college students. Results show that Japanese students express more transphobic attitudes than U.S. students do; and that U.S. students had more experience with gender-based educational content and were more likely to know someone …

Bridging The Gap Between Clients And Public Defenders: Introducing A Structured Shadow Method To Examine Attorney Communication, Christopher M. Campbell, Kelsey S. Henderson

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

A growing body of scholarship argues that representing clients in an effective and quality manner should be a critical goal for public defenders, emphasizing the need to be client-centered. Beyond this call, recent research emphasizes that client-centered approaches hinge on good communication as it can contribute to a more effective attorney–client relationship. However, to identify and improve communication and client-centered relationships, major obstacles must be overcome which involve conceptualizing and operationalizing quality representation and communication. In this article, we introduce a two-phase, structured shadowing method as a way to overcome these obstacles. Phase I consists of a survey of public …

The Imperative For Climate Action At Portland State University, Stephen Percy

Office of the President Publications and Presentations

Portland State University President Stephen Percy announces the formation of the Climate Change Initiative.

Lifelong Instability And Perceived Risk Of Future Homelessness In Older Adults, Sarah Dys, Anna Steeves-Reece, Paula Carder

Institute on Aging Publications

Housing has long been considered a social determinant of individual and population health. Older adults with low incomes face several challenges to maintaining stable, affordable housing. Using data from a previous explanatory study of older adults waitlisted for housing assistance (n = 267), we explore individual characteristics and themes associated with older adults’ perceived housing instability and risk of future homelessness. This mixed-methods study identifies salient themes of financial insecurity, age discrimination, employment and health, interpersonal relationships, and trauma. Our analysis and findings highlight experiences of instability over the life course related to older adults’ current housing circumstances.

"We Had To Rely On Each Other": Voices Of Latinx Foster Youth With Experiences In Care With Siblings, Isabella B. Ginsberg

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Relationships between members of sibling groups have been found to impact well-being for children who enter foster care (Herrick & Piccus, 2005). Being placed in stranger foster care is often challenging and can be traumatic with children reporting confusion, worry, and loss of identity and sense of belonging (Herrick & Piccus, 2005, Unrau et al, 2008). While there is some research that explores the experiences of siblings groups in foster care and others separately that examines Latinx children in foster care, there is very little information that looks into the potentially unique experiences of Latinx individuals who were in care …

Retention Of A Diverse Construction Workforce, Maura Kelly

PSU Transportation Seminars

Having a strong pipeline of workers will be critical for ongoing efforts to improve transportation infrastructure, such as roads, highways, and bridges. This talk first provides an overview of the recruitment and retention of a diverse construction workforce in Oregon. Next are findings from research studies over the last ten years demonstrating the challenges experienced by workers on construction job sites that lead to low retention levels. The talk concludes with a discussion of several initiatives within the construction trades that have been implemented to address job site culture.

Validating The Resident View In Long-Term Care Settings: Final Report To Oregon Department Of Human Services, Aging & People With Disabilities Division, Diana L. White, Ozcan Tunalilar, Serena Hasworth, Jaclyn Winfree, Institute On Aging, Portland State University

Institute on Aging Publications

In 2015, Portland State University Institute on Aging (PSU/IOA) received a grant from the Quality Care Fund to develop the Resident VIEW (Voicing Importance, Experience, and Well-being), a measure of person-centered care (PCC) from the perspective of residents. Structured open-ended interviews were conducted with residents living in nursing homes (NH), assisted living (AL/RC), and adult foster homes (AFH) settings to learn more about their everyday concerns, values, and preferences. Each interview focused on one of eight domains of PCC. These domains had been identified from the literature and in prior research. Personhood, or as described by residents as being “treated …

Judicial Involvement In Plea-Bargaining, Kelsey S. Henderson, Erika N. Fountain, Allison D. Redlich, Jason A. Cantone

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The topic of judicial involvement in plea negotiations is a controversial issue, with potential benefits (e.g., ensuring that the process is fairer) and risks (e.g., inducing an innocent defendant to plead guilty). Currently, 20 jurisdictions explicitly prohibit judicial involvement in plea negotiations, whereas eight permit some type of involvement. We surveyed state court judges about judicial involvement in plea bargaining (colloquy and negotiations) and their perceptions on judicial participation. We expected judges in states that prohibit judicial involvement in negotiations to have a more negative view of judicial participation compared with judges in states that permit involvement or those in …

What Does It Mean To Be Deaf? Changing Meanings Of Deafness, Communication Technology, And Beliefs About Normality In The Us, Kathryn Elizabeth Burrows

Dissertations and Theses

How deafness is perceived as a problem by society dictates what types of technologies are leveraged to address the problem, and, conversely, available technologies shape how deafness is perceived. In this dissertation, I draw on multiple methods to explore the meanings of deafness in the US since the early 18^th century to the present, examine how the meanings of deafness in those eras shaped deaf technology, and assess how available technologies shaped how deafness was understood. Using primary and secondary historical sources, I identify that every era identifies a different "problem of being deaf" and it is that problem …

Social Mobility, Adolescents' Psycho-Social Dispositions, And Parenting, Dara Shifrer, Heili Pals

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Psycho-social dispositions and parental influence are central in early status attainment models. We apply the Social Structure and Personality framework to investigate the contributions of adolescents’ psycho-social dispositions to social mobility, and then the contributions of parents’ socioeconomic status (SES) and parenting to adolescents’ psycho-social dispositions. The Kaplan Longitudinal and Multigenerational Study includes data on two generations of respondents: the first-generation of respondents was observed from seventh grade in 1971 until midlife, and the second-generation, their children, was observed from adolescence to young adulthood. We find that upward social mobility is inhibited by poor psycho-social dispositions, particularly by negative …

Field-Specific Cultural Capital And Persistence In College Majors, Ned William Tilbrook, Dara Shifrer

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We investigate the possibility that Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital, ways of being that facilitate assimilation to the dominant culture, is field-specific in its manifestation and intergenerational transmission. We focus on a field of central economic and academic interest: STEM. Data on around 13,000 undergraduates from the large nationally representative High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 indicate that parents’ STEM-specific cultural capital positively contributes to youth’s selection of and persistence in STEM majors in the form of parents’ STEM education. We find that transmission is enacted through youths’ field-specific institutionalized cultural capital (e.g., STEM grades and test scores), field-specific embodied …

Marital Status Differences In Suicidality Among Transgender People, Hui Liu, Lindsey Wilkinson

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The suicide rate for transgender people is among the highest of any group in the United States. Yet, we know little about disadvantages or resources available to transgender people to prevent suicide. The overall purpose of this study is to assess how marital status modifies the risk of suicide among transgender people. We analyzed data from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey to predict marital status differences in both suicide ideation and suicide attempt in the past year. The analytic sample for suicide ideation included 17,117 transgender respondents (9,182 transwomen and 7,935 transmen), and the analytic sample for suicide attempt was …

Educational Outcomes Of Gender Diverse Youth: A National Population-Based Study, Lindsey Wilkinson, Dara Shifrer, Jennifer Pearson

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite the growing population of youth identifying with a transgender or nonbinary gender identity, research on gender diverse individuals’ educational outcomes is limited. This study takes advantage of the first nationally representative, population-based data set that includes measures of gender identity and educational outcomes: the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009. Using minority stress and structural symbolic interactionist frameworks, we examine the association between gender identity and high school and college educational outcomes. We compare educational outcomes of gender diverse youth—binary transgender, nonbinary, and gender unsure—to cisgender youth, and also examine differences within the gender diverse population. Given the strong …

Anti-Muslim Bias: Investigating Individual Differences, Threat Perceptions, And Emotions In Islamophobic Policy Support, Aeleah M. Granger

Dissertations and Theses

Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Muslims in the United States were victims of increased surveillance by law enforcement on the basis of their religious identity, often resulting in mistreatment and unjustified imprisonment. These biases against Muslims and subsequent policy shifts have been pervasive and have had negative impacts on the growing number of Muslims in the United States. The current study focuses on individual differences that predict Islamophobia, including Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), Right-wing Authoritarianism (RWA), and Nationalism, as well as the specific types of intergroup threat perceptions (i.e., realistic, symbolic, terroristic) and subsequent emotional reactions (e.g., anger, fear) …

Incarceration And Suicide: Do The Risk Factors Differ For Civilians And Veterans?, Rheannon Gail Ramsey

Dissertations and Theses

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in United States jails and prisons. Many researchers have looked at suicides in prisons and what can potentially cause suicidal ideation but there are conflicting findings among civilian incarcerated populations and United States military veteran incarcerated populations.

The intent of this study is to examine which risk factors are most prevalent among adults in custody, with a focus on mental health and substance use or abuse and how these risk factors differ between incarcerated civilians and incarcerated veterans. Using survey data from the 2002 Survey of Inmates in Local Jails conducted …

Navigating Services & Supports In South Central Oregon: Community Uplift Family Voice Journey Maps, Callie H. Lambarth, Kate Normand, Ron Joseph

Center for Improvement of Child and Family Services Publications

The Home Visiting Systems Coordination (HVSC) project aims to create coordinated home visiting systems that strengthen and benefit all home visiting models as part of regional birth-to-5 early childhood systems in southern Oregon and northern California.

The project’s long-term goal is to improve outcomes for families and expand each region’s capacity to serve more families through homebased early childhood supports.

Cost Of Oregon Evictions Report (Updated), Lisa K. Bates, Marisa Zapata, Jacen Greene, Stefanie Knowlton

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

Earlier this year, PSU’s Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative used a calculator developed by the University of Arizona and estimates of how many renter households are at risk of eviction to evaluate the downstream community costs of evictions in Oregon during the pandemic. In light of the state eviction moratorium that is set to expire this month and the CDC moratorium that expires at the end of July, the center is once again looking at the number of households at risk of eviction and the downstream costs.

The data gathered from emergency shelters, inpatient and emergency medical services, child welfare, …

The Development Of Community Relations With Low-Socioeconomic Status, Black Communities And Provisional Equity Of Fire And Emergency Medical Services, Claire R. Rutgers

University Honors Theses

The history of the fire service is unique and provides the opportunity for national growth and evolution through local level models of engagement with the Communities fire departments are tasked to serve. There is a specific project in realigning the narratives and improving the relational dynamic between fire service personnel and low-SES Black Communities. The investigation of the relational gap between low-SES Black Community members and fire and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel is conducted through historical investigation and quantitative analysis, situated in distinct moments of amplification that serve as a lens through which the dynamic can be understood. The …

Teen Dating Violence Prevention For Queer And Questioning Youth, Whitney Reek

University Honors Theses

Teen dating violence (TDV) is a prevalent problem among queer and questioning youth, yet research on TDV has not addressed how best to serve this population and current prevention programs do not directly target this population. This literature review compiles information on current TDV prevention programs recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); risk factors for TDV among queer and questioning youth; and social factors that indicate what type of prevention methods may be the most helpful for queer and questioning youth. These risk factors and social factors are then compared to the current TDV prevention programs …

Crime Patterns In Bend, Oregon Over A Twenty-Year Period, Holly Schorr

University Honors Theses

Most of the public's understanding of crime is based on mainstream media coverage, which is often tainted by sensationalism and oversimplification. News coverage tends to focus on shorter-term trends that can exaggerate crime patterns and obscure important contextual details. Although there are large quantities of data that can be used to analyze crime over long periods of time and in great detail, long-term analyses are often overlooked due to the ever-present need for shorter-term analyses to inform local policies and policing strategies. In this report, we will utilize UCR and NIBRS data to analyze both the nature of individual offenses …

Colorism In Mexico: An Examination Of Inequality And The Psychological Impact In The Form Of Depression, Ana K. Kinzie

University Honors Theses

Mexican society is engaging in racism in the form of colorism; while colorism is widespread, it is not acknowledged by the population. As a previous Spanish colony, the effects of the social caste system affect how Mexicans view themselves and others, creating a preference for lighter skin tones. The idea of Mexicans being a hybrid race (Mestizo) prevails in the country, which affects racial minorities as they are often ignored. Skin tone in Mexico can affect the socioeconomic status of their population and the chances of social mobility. While research on how colorism affects the mental health of Mexicans is …

The Community Case For Violence: Toward A Materialist Perspective On Community Work, Aven Handley-Merk

University Honors Theses

This paper examines and synthesizes existing critiques of contemporary community work in the United States. These critiques are substantiated and developed by a discussion of nonprofit history and formal structure, establishing the premise that contemporary community work is constrained both by its powerlessness and its collaboration with government. It is constrained to an extent that it cannot meaningfully address or remedy community problems. Theorists often see the root of this problem in the birth of neoliberalism in the 1970s, but this paper argues that it arises instead from liberal philosophy, and is rooted much more deeply in Western history and …

North American Expatriates In Mexico: A Discourse Analysis Of Facebook Groups, Liliana Carolina Brock

University Honors Theses

North American expatriates in Mexico often live in enclaves or affluent communities at a fraction of what it would cost in the US or Canada. Despite living in Mexico for years, many expatriates are poorly integrated into Mexican culture and society. This integration is made more difficult because many are unable to speak Spanish fluently. Instead, expatriates rely on English language Facebook groups to help them navigate life in Mexico. While scholars have explored the intersections of communication and interculturalism in expatriate communities, comparatively few have explored how the internet and the presentation of self on social media (specifically Facebook) …

Science In Service Of Man: Towards An Understanding Of Medicine As An Institution Of Control, Amanda M. Strother

University Honors Theses

This paper applies the theoretical work of Frantz Fanon to discuss healthcare as an institution that upholds the will of the dominant authority in the contemporary United States. The use of Fanon's work outside of its original context is justified by applying the internal colonialism theory. Correctional healthcare is discussed as an area of overtly controlling and dehumanizing medical care, highlighting caregiver loyalty to correctional authority and reciprocal distrust between prison physicians and patients. This inquiry proposes that clinical healthcare displays the same power relationships through loyalty to the business of healthcare and the reciprocal distrust between physicians and patients …

E(Raced): Race And Use Of Self Amongst Bipoc Social Workers, Anita Reinette Gooding

Dissertations and Theses

Use of self is defined as the social worker's instrument, and involves an intentional engagement of one's personhood in ways that facilitate client change (Heyt & Sherman, 2005). This dissertation argues that race is one component of the social worker's self that is visible, and that can affect how Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) social workers use self in their practice. Using Critical Race Theory, Social Identity Theory and an Interpretive Description methodology, this dissertation engages 27 BIPOC field instructors in semi-structured interviews in order to answer the following research questions: a) What are the components of use …

Open Crime Maps: How Are Police Departments Doing So Far?, Khaing Sandee Lynn

Dissertations and Theses

In recent years, some police departments have started providing open crime maps depicting select crime-related data. However, there has been no studies so far evaluating map delivery sources, the type of maps delivered, and why agencies might be doing so. Using a random, stratified sample of 1,677 police departments from the 2013 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey, the current study examines how many police departments provide access to online crime maps as well as how they are delivered (externally or internally) and prevalent map types (dot, density, choropleth, etc.). Furthermore, whether or not agencies provided a justification(s) …

Neoliberalism, Civic Identity, And Resistance: An Ethnographic Case Study Of A Community Development Organization, Erin Layne Elliott

Dissertations and Theses

Research on the marketization of the nonprofit sector and how it has come to operate in more business-like ways has been well documented in recent years. This research has largely focused on how marketization has pervaded the nonprofit sector, yet little research has been done on how business-like values and modes of acting are manifesting in nonprofits. Even less understood are the impacts marketization may have on foundational civic values in the nonprofit sector. As marketized discourses proliferate, concerns have been raised about threats to nonprofit autonomy and the sector's important civic role. This dissertation aims to fill this gap …

The Digital Divide And Health: Examining Digital Access As A Social Determinant Of Health, Elizabeth Melissa Withers

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation is comprised of three papers that consider ways in which one's level of digital access may impact self-rated health. Data are from multiple years of three separate nationally representative cross-sectional surveys: National Health Interview Survey, General Social Survey, and Health Information National Trends Survey to address the primary overarching research question: Is there an association between digital access and health? The examination of the relationship between digital access and health is situated within a social determinants of health perspective and draws on van Dijk's (2005) causal and sequential model of digital access. Education, income, race and ethnicity, work …

State Of Aging In Portland, Alan Kenneth Delatorre, Richard Lycan, Margaret Neal

Institute on Aging Publications

Introduction

From 2006-2019, the Age-Friendly Portland Initiative operated as a city-university- community partnership that began in 2006, resulting from a global World Health Organization (WHO) research project. In 2010, the City of Portland joined the WHO Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities and in 2012, it also joined the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities. The Action Plan for an Age- friendly Portland was passed by Resolution by Portland City Council in 2013 (Resolution No. 37039) and contains 10 domains: (1) housing; (2) transportation; (3) outdoor spaces and buildings; (4) employment and the economy; (5) civic participation and …

Connection, Compassion, And Honesty: Using Picture Books To Help Build A Healthier Relationship To Death In A Death-Denying Culture, Kami Sahalie Upshaw Gould

University Honors Theses

This paper explores the ways children are taught about death and dying and how children's picture books can be utilized in difficult conversations of this nature. I go into the historical advent of books specifically for children and research how different ways of explaining death can help or hurt a child. Through this research, I explore how our situationality in a death denying culture has shaped how we explain death to children and what steps can be taken to counter this denial.