Sociology Commons^™

Socio-Ecological Predictors Of Social Connection Among Older Adults, Georganna Amateau

Theses and Dissertations

Decades of research has established an unequivocal link between states of social connection and health status. Lack of social connection, whether construed as social isolation or loneliness, negatively influences health and is highly associated with cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, fall risk, and premature death. Despite extensive research on social isolation and loneliness, evidence relative to the broader construct of social connection suffers. Few studies inform practice standards for community-based organizations. This study aimed to develop a multidimensional, continuous composite variable of social connection and use the composite variable to examine predictors with a socio-ecological lens.

A secondary data analysis …

The Relationships Between Adolescents’ Future Aspirations And Postsecondary Enrollment: Finite Mixture Models, Chu Yi Lu Qiu

Theses and Dissertations

This study took person-centered statistical approaches to explore the multidimensional construct of adolescents' future aspirations and its associations with three covariates (i.e., gender, race, and SES) and a binary, distal outcome measure, postsecondary enrollment. Fourteen survey items representing the multidimensionality of adolescents' future aspirations were extracted from two-waves of Educational Longitudinal Study:2002 student data. The multidimensionality or the latent construct of the adolescents' future aspirations were explored using two finite mixture models called latent class analysis (LCA) and latent transition analysis (LTA). Based on the students' response patterns on the fourteen indicators, three latent classes representing three levels of aspiration …

Theorizing #Girlboss Culture: Mediated Neoliberal Feminisms From Influencers To Multi-Level Marketing Schemes, Frankie Mastrangelo

Theses and Dissertations

I define girlboss feminism as emergent, mediated formations of neoliberal feminism that equate feminist empowerment with financial success, market competition, individualized work-life balance, and curated digital and physical presences driven by self-monetization. I look toward how the mediation of girlboss feminism utilizes branded and affective engagements with representational politics, discourses of authenticity and rebellion, as well as meritocratic aspiration to promote cultural interest in conceptualizing feminism in ways that are divorced from collective, intersectional struggle. I question the stakes involved in reducing feminist interrogations and commitments to discourses of representation, visibility, and meritocracy. I argue that while girlboss feminism may …

The Student Experience Of Higher Education During The Covid-19 Pandemic: How Class And Race Shape Socially Distanced Learning At A Public University, Alice M. Quach

Theses and Dissertations

While prior research has examined trends toward growing uncertainty and precarity for young adults within the economy and higher education, the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be exacerbating these existing inequalities and risks. Drawing from 30 semi-structured in-depth interviews with college students at a large Southern and urban public university, this study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting students’ learning experiences, and how those experiences are differentially shaped, in turn, by their class and race. This exploratory research illuminates our understanding of the multiple mechanisms by which the COVID-19 pandemic is shaping existing inequalities in the higher education system, mostly …

The Harm In Seeking Care: Assessing The Relationship Between Healthcare Discrimination And Healthcare Avoidance Behaviors In The Past Year And Since The Start Of The Coronavirus Pandemic In A Transgender And Gender Independent Sample, Kyle L. Mason

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Gender minorities encounter a myriad of barriers to accessing general and gender affirming healthcare. Financial disparities impacting affordability of healthcare costs and insurance-based denials for gender-affirming care are among prominent barriers discussed. Considerations of the prevalence of stigma, discrimination, and erasure of gender minority identities must not be neglected when seeking to understand healthcare accessibility and utilization in this population. Previous researchers have examined gender minority patients’ experiences of discrimination in healthcare settings and delaying care due to fear of discrimination. There is a dearth of knowledge about the relationship between lifetime exposure to varied forms of healthcare discrimination …

American Epidemic: The Societal And Multi-Generational Impacts Caused By The Mass Incarceration Of Women In The United States, Jessica Younts

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the social impacts of incarcerating women, specifically mothers, as well as the far-reaching collateral consequences that the mass incarceration of women in the United States has on formerly incarcerated women’s successful reintegration back into society and analyzed how the harsh policies that exist detrimentally impact family members and society as a whole. This study revealed several themes that show the far reaching damage incarceration itself has on women and their families and provides a more comprehensive analysis of the incalculable costs of mass incarceration. By raising awareness to the long-term impact on society, this research can provide …

Community Attitudes Towards Juvenile Sex Offenders And Registration In Virginia, Paige Reed

Theses and Dissertations

The collateral consequences and harmful effects of juvenile sex offender registration and restrictions has been the forefront of conversation surrounding sex offender legislation in the United States. The literature available has consistently shown that juveniles profoundly differ from adults in significant areas such as decision making, cognitive capability, judgment, and overall development. The literature has also consistently shown that juvenile sex offenders are amenable to treatment, have considerably low recidivism rates, and are unlikely to offend into their adulthood. Despite this, and even though the juvenile justice system prioritizes rehabilitation over punitive measures, juvenile sex offenders are commonly subjected to …

Model Minorities: Asian Americans And The White-Black Racial Paradigm, Jason Tom

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the racial wedge driven by Whites between Blacks and Asian Americans during the Cold War on to the present. Model minorities is a term coined by whites in the 1960s to suppress Civil Rights protests and Black demands. By elevating a minority group through success stories, whites constructed a means to suppress Black people’s organizing for change against systemic racism and oppression.

An Examination Of The Sociocultural, Religious, And Racial Adjustment Experiences Of Jamaican Professionals In South Florida, Sharon R. Ritchie-Brown

Theses and Dissertations

An Examination of the Sociocultural, Religious, and Racial Adjustment Experiences of Jamaican Professionals in South Florida. Sharon Ritchie-Brown, 2020: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice. Keywords: immigrants, professional occupations, ethnic groups, culture, social adjustment

This transcendental phenomenological research was designed to advance an understanding of the adjustment experiences of Jamaican immigrant professionals in South Florida, United States. While the majority of present literature examines acculturation and adjustment experiences of other immigrant groups, there is not enough literature regarding the adjustment experiences of Jamaican immigrant professionals who have made significant contributions …

Pretrial Release Policy Portfolios: Examining Changes Over Time In States With Low Policy Activity, Madison Kristine Doyle

Theses and Dissertations

Changes in the policy process is one of the lesser explored phenomena within the field of criminal justice. A basis of knowledge about changes in various criminal justice policy processes in the U.S., could benefit scholars and practitioners alike. This thesis explores changes in content of pretrial release policy (PRP) portfolios in states with the least policy activity both within and across states over time. A thematic content analysis of PRPs from eight U.S. states (Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming) revealed how PRPs have changed in those states over time. States that had fewer …

A Study Of Fremont Snake Valley Black-On-Gray Ceramics From Sites In Northern Utah And The Parowan Valley, Stephanie K.Y. Abo

Theses and Dissertations

Archaeologists widely argue that Fremont potters from the Parowan Valley, in southwestern Utah, manufactured Snake Valley pottery. For my thesis, I examined Snake Valley Black-on-gray rim sherds using neutron activation analysis, oxidation analysis, metric data, and statistical methods. I compared my results on Snake Valley Black-on-gray sherds from three archaeological sites within the Parowan Valley (Paragonah, Parowan, and Evans Mound) to my results on Snake Valley Black-on-gray sherds recovered from three archaeological sites over 250 kilometers to the north (South Temple, Block 49, and Wolf Village). I argue that the Snake Valley Black-on-gray ceramics from the northern sites are tradewares …

Examining Psychotherapeutic Treatment Approach Preference In A Hispanic Population, Andrea Mayra Vieira Debarros

Theses and Dissertations

Minority groups are at a disadvantage when seeking psychological treatment. Interventions are often less effective for minority populations when treatment outcomes are compared to Anglo populations. Studies indicate that the stigma associated with mental health disorders and seeking psychological intervention within these minority subgroups may be at fault for this disparity. In this study, we explored this idea by examining what methods of intervention Hispanic-identified individuals are more likely to seek out. Participants were given the option to enlist in a biofeedback approach to intervention as well as a supportive talk psychotherapy. Participants were drawn from the community population in …

Attitudes Of Criminal Justice Students' Towards Women: Hegemonic Masculinity In The Workplace, Lauren Escovedo

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the following study is to examine positive, benevolent, and hostile attitudes towards women in the workplace held by criminal justice students enrolled at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. As well, to examine whether or not criminal justice students enrolled at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley believe that criminal justice personnel create a gender-neutral classroom environment. The application Qualtrics XM was used to comprise a 35 question survey that, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, was administered online to students for a two week period during the Fall 2020 semester. Criminal justice students …

Examining The Indoctrination Of Mexican American Criminal Justice Students, Noe Leal Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Mexican American Criminal Justice students (MACJS) sometimes select a career in Department of Homeland Security, which has a history of systemic racism and oppression. The purpose of this thesis is to examine MACJS conformity to U.S. ideological hegemony and examine the differences in their understanding of human rights/ethics. A questionnaire was administered to MACJS (n = 156) wishing to pursue a career in DHS. The survey instrument used is based on the concepts of Social Identification: Mexican versus U.S. American; Support for Nationalist Racist Policies, Internal Colonialism, Followership by engaging in policies/orders by the government; and Human Rights: Knowledge of …

Social Media Rumination: The Impact Of Materialistic Value Orientation, Keeley Hynes

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research demonstrates that ruminating on social media content is associated with greater mental distress (Yang, Holden, Carter, & Webb, 2018). However, it is unclear what factors are associated with rumination. Using Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as a theoretical framework, this study examined how materialistic value orientation (MVO) predicted social media rumination in a sample of racially and socioeconomically diverse high school students at two waves of time. Those who are more materialistic value the means by which to gain possessions, and extrinsic life-goals associated with MVO are aimed at garnering external reinforcers such as money and social status (Richins & …

Morals ‘Trump’ Party: Make America Cooperate Again, Jered Abernathy

Theses and Dissertations

Conflict between Democrats and Republicans is a central component of the contemporary American political system. Negative feelings and discrimination based on political orientation are at an all-time high, leading otherwise similar Americans to deeply distrust one another. Social identity theory provides a framework for not only understanding how this distrust between partisans persists, but how it may be negated. This study builds on recent work on moral judgments and trust games to create situations to increase trust across party lines. Using an online-experimental design, this study investigates the effects of two types of moral judgments on trust building: 1) moral …

Not All Factors Are The Same: Examining Institutions Among Sex Offenders Throughout The Life-Course, Brooke Cooley

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focused on the quality of institutions relative to theories of life-course and desistance. Specifically, this study focused on the quality of marriage, parenthood, and employment and whether the quality of these institutions inhibited or encouraged sexual offending/reoffending and how these factors influenced individuals’ offending behavior over time. While there is an abundance of literature relative to institutions and general offending, little is known about how these institutions impact sexual offending. The purpose of this dissertation was to fill this gap in the extant literature by qualitatively examining how the institutions of marriage, parenthood, and employment influenced sexual offending/reoffending …

Fear Of Crime On Campus: An Analysis Of Perceived Risk And Constrained Behavior, James Nathaniel Hurst

Theses and Dissertations

Fear of crime has often been measured as how afraid a person is of criminal victimization within their neighborhood yet, problems inherently arise with utilizing static measures for dynamic concepts. Predominant among such issues lies the environmental and temporal aspects of fear, as it is known that fear is not experienced equally at all places nor by all people. Recent analyses focusing on fear’s spatio-temporal nature have found within-neighborhood fluctuations at specific places and times, however, these studies only addressed emotional fear. Perceived risk represents another facet of fear. As campuses appear to have heightened levels of perceived risk, the …

A Vehicle For Crime: Ridesharing And Victimization, Lacey Roughton

Theses and Dissertations

Ridesharing services that allow the exchange of transportation services between a private vehicle owner and a passenger via smartphone applications (e.g., Uber, Lyft, and others) have revolutionized the way people travel within cities, however, ridesharing may be associated with changes in victimization risks. Few empirical studies have explored the possible connection between ridesharing and crime. This study examined the relationship between ridesharing and crime in Chicago and explored the types of crimes that occurred during ridesharing, the situational characteristics of those crimes, and how many crimes in ridesharing resulted in arrest. Crimes within taxi cabs, similar to ridesharing, were assessed …

Predictors Of Paternal Postpartum Depression: A Meta-Analysis, Zachary Joseph Blackhurst

Theses and Dissertations

While major depression is a well-defined mental health condition, it's presentation can be vastly different across individuals and groups, and many factors impact one's vulnerability. A critical period of vulnerability to depression is the postpartum period. Despite the frequent assumption that postpartum conditions solely affect women, prevalence estimates of paternal postpartum depression (PPPD) are comparable with those of women. Similar to mothers, men experience significant biological and psychosocial changes following the birth of a child that contribute to the onset of postpartum depression. A growing body of research has identified many potential variables related to PPPD, yet there is no …

The Association Of Sleep Quality And Loneliness With Perceived Physical And Mental Health Status In Autistic Adults, Nicholas Charles Clark Russell

Theses and Dissertations

Autistic individuals report a greater prevalence of physical and mental health difficulties, compared to the general population. This study examines factors which impact physical and mental health in the general population to evaluate whether they potentially underlie this increased prevalence in autistic individuals. We compared twenty-two autistic adults, twenty-three adults reporting symptoms of insomnia, and twenty-one neurotypical adults. The primary factors were sleep quality and insomnia; secondary factors were level of autistic traits, alexithymia, and prosocial behavior. Participants completed self-report measures looking at each of these factors as well as their perceived physical and mental health. Participants also wore an …

Executive Function, Eating, And Exercise Duration In Adolescents, Robyn C. Blackburn

Theses and Dissertations

Adolescence is an important developmental period for executive function as well as establishing lifelong health habits like diet and exercise. However, connections between exercise, executive function and dietary behaviors have not yet been adequately studied in adolescents, especially in terms of exercise duration. This research seeks to establish how 30 versus 60 minutes of exercise affects the association between executive function, calorie consumption and food-specific inhibition. The current research uses a within-participant design and linear mixed modeling to test the impact of exercise bout duration and executive function on calorie consumption and food-specific inhibition (food Go/No-Go accuracy and reaction time). …

The Effects Of Alcohol On Bdnf And Cd5 Dependent Pathways, Andrew Jordan Payne

Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol represents the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Yet, despite its prevalent role in impeding human health, there is much to understand about how it elicits its effects on the body and how the body and brain change when an individual becomes physiologically dependent upon alcohol. The work presented herein represents an effort to elucidate the acute and chronic effects of alcohol on the nervous system. We investigate two specific protein pathways and their role in alcohol's effects on the body. The first begins with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which acts on TrkB, and ends …

Alcohol Affects The Reward Pathway Of The Brain Via A6-Containing Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors In The Nucleus Accumbens, Elizabeth Qiufeng Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

The prevailing view is that enhancement of dopamine (DA) transmission in the mesolimbic system consisting of DA neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) that project to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) underlies the rewarding properties of ethanol (EtOH) and nicotine (NIC). Although the dogma is that EtOH enhancement of DA neural activity contributes to enhancement of DA transmission, DA neurons are not sensitive to rewarding levels of EtOH. However, VTA GABA neurons are sensitive to low-dose EtOH. We have shown previously that EtOH modulation of DA release in the NAc is mediated by α6-containing nicotinic receptors (α6*-nAChRs), that α6*-nAChRs mediate …

Logics Of Collaboration: An Ethnography Of Codesign In The Brazilian Amazon, Jacob Hartt Wixom

Theses and Dissertations

Engineers working internationally are increasingly concerned with the social impacts of their work. New frontiers in design show promise in helping practitioners address these concerns. One of these is codesign, a practice of making stakeholders co-decision-makers in the design process. Codesign has the potential to greatly improve the social sustainability of engineered products, but some concerns remain surrounding codesign’s practicability in engineering. I explore three such concerns: that conflicting institutional logics may undermine codesign’s collaborative aspirations, that codesign can perpetuate developmental idealism, and that codesign may insufficiently account for the needs and perspectives of marginalized populations. Through more than a …

Sexual Assault And Online Help Seeking: An Analysis Of Survivor Disclosure And Questions After Assault, Abby Luthi Sagers

Theses and Dissertations

Sexual assault is a pandemic issue that affects millions worldwide. In the U.S. it is estimated that one in five women and one in 38 men will be victims of rape or attempted rape at some point in their lifetime (Smith et al., 2018). Sexual assault has several significant long-term effects, including negatively impacting survivors’ psychological, emotional, physical, and interpersonal well-being. After a trauma from sexual victimization, survivors face the difficult process of making sense out of what happened, what to do about it, and whether to disclose the experience to others. Reporting, whether formally or informally, can be extremely …

Does Immigration Help To Explain Child Stress?, Elizabeth Marie Koch Sigler

Theses and Dissertations

The impacts of childhood stressors are harmful to the emotional and physical well-being of children of all ages. Past research has suggested that children experience increased stress due to change. One subgroup of the United States population that experiences change, is immigrants. Research provides empirical evidence of adolescent immigrant stress but has failed to examine stress experienced by immigrant children at a young age. The present study investigates how immigration status and child immigration generation might impact child stress at a young age using OLS regression. I predict that immigrant children will experience more stress than non-immigrant children and that …

A Content Analysis Of Sexuality-Related Scholarship For Sexual Minorities, Chelise Fox

Theses and Dissertations

Sexual minority individuals face disparities of treatment from clinical and medical health professionals. In particular, there is a dearth of research and training surrounding human sexuality topics for sexual minorities. Research on sexual minority groups in this area can contribute to reducing treatment disparities. Consequently, the proposed study is a content analysis of social science literature in order to gauge trends in the amount of research focused on the intersection of sexual minorities and sex research. Articles from a database search of relevant keywords were coded for several variables, including overall level of focus on sexual minorities and on human …

Understanding Relapse In Self-Perceived Problematic Pornography Users, Erin L. Rackham

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored reasons for relapse among a sample of 938 self-identified problematic pornography users. A combination of numeric content analysis and qualitative coding of responses to an open-ended question about pornography relapse revealed six main categories of reasons for relapse. The mental, emotional, and relational categories were then analyzed in detail, and this analysis revealed significant overlap of responses from the emotional and relational categories. Hence, a new category of relational-emotional reasons for relapse was created and analyzed. The findings from this study highlight the complex interactions of different types of factors driving relapse in self-perceived problematic pornography users …

Utility Of High-Definition Fiber Tractography And Eye-Tracking For Measuring Outcome In Chronic Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Hannah M. Lindsey

Theses and Dissertations

A complete understanding of the functional and structural impairments driving persistent post-concussive symptom (PCS) expression in approximately one-third of those who suffer from mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is essential for the development of effective treatment strategies and improving quality of life. While traditional outcome measures, such as neuropsychological testing and structural magnetic resonance imaging, are sensitive to the severe functional impairments and widespread tissue damage frequently seen after moderate-to-severe injuries, more advanced measures that are sensitive to the subtle changes in cognitive function and tissue microstructure that may underlie persistent PCS are necessary for the assessment of recovery from …