Sociology Commons^™

Assessing The Implementation Of Campus Safety Policies In Virginia Community Colleges: An Analysis Of The Forces At Play In Higher Education Institutional-Level Policymaking, Steven T. Keener

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which community colleges have implemented major post-Virginia Tech campus safety recommendations. In addition to gaining a comprehensive overview of the safety policies and practices in place, this study assessed if campus safety policy implementation levels at the community colleges correlated with institutional characteristics, and the internal and external forces that helped drive the implementation of these policies. Focusing specifically upon the Virginia Community College System, data on the policies and practices in place at each of the 23 Virginia community colleges were collected from institutional websites and through follow-up …

The Identity Formation Of South Asians: A Phenomenological Study, Shabana Shaheen

Theses and Dissertations

This research explores the lived experiences of South Asians college students. This research, through a qualitative study that is rooted in the philosophy of phenomenology, explores the essence South Asians’ identity formation. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews with South Asian college students. The data analysis was under a phenomenological lens that centered the lived experiences and the essence of these experiences in the results. Seven themes emerged from this phenomenological study: negotiating bicultural identity, model minority expectations, meaningful impact of religious spaces, understandings of intra-community tensions, racialization of Islamophobia, understandings of South Asian identity and efficacy of Asian …

Depressive Symptoms Among College Students: An Exploration Of Fundamental Cause Theory, Peter A. Carrico

Theses and Dissertations

Fundamental Cause Theory suggests that socioeconomic and demographic factors are causal to various illnesses, including depression. However, no known previously existing research has used Fundamental Cause Theory to create a model of depression among college students. To do this, the present study conducted a stepwise binomial logistic regression to examine how socioeconomic status and the sociodemographic variables of Gender, Race, and Sexual Orientation, and others predict depressive symptoms in a large sample of undergraduates when controlling for stressful life events and social support (N = 2,915). Results support the hypothesis that socioeconomic disparities in depressive symptoms are the result …

The Tea Party Versus Planning: A Study Of Tea Party Activism And Its Impact On Local Government Planning, Spencer A. Norman

Theses and Dissertations

The Tea Party movement’s effect on local and regional planning in Virginia has received little study. This work identifies how conservative political activism has impacted planning in the Commonwealth and how planners have responded. The study relies on a qualitative approach involving 22 semi-structured interviews with activists, planners, and citizens, as well as textual analyses of planning documents, local and regional news reports, and Tea Party social media. The resultant findings show that Tea Party activism is rooted in deep seated ideals about private property rights and individualism. It also reveals that planning processes that increased the amount of public …

The Role Of Afrocentric Features In Mental Healthcare Utilization And Counselor Preferences In Black College Students, Randl B. Dent

Theses and Dissertations

Though mental health issues are prevalent in Black young adults, they underutilize mental healthcare services. This research examined the role of feature-based discrimination in mental healthcare (under)utilization. Study 1, a secondary analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, provided no evidence supporting a link between skin tone and mental healthcare utilization, when controlling for depression diagnosis. However, when controlling for depression symptoms, there was a trend such that Black young adults with darker, as opposed to lighter, skin tone utilized healthcare less. Study 2, an experimental study with 33 Black college students, showed 73% of the …

Ethnic Racial Identity, Social Transactions In The Classroom, And Academic Outcomes, Krystal R. Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

Using a transactional framework, this study explored social relationships in the classroom as mediators of the association between ethnic-racial identity and academic outcomes. Participants were 101 5^th graders of diverse backgrounds who completed computer-based questionnaires about their friendships, ethnic-racial identity, and academic engagement. Teachers reported on closeness and conflict in the student-teacher relationship. Relationships in the expected direction were evident between the public regard and centrality dimensions of ethnic-racial identity and social relationships as well as with academic outcomes. Further, path analyses revealed that the relationship between the public regard and cognitive engagement was mediated by student-teacher closeness. Gender …

Community Gardens: Exploring Race, Racial Diversity And Social Capital In Urban Food Deserts, Jennifer F. Jettner

Theses and Dissertations

Study purpose. The study examined race and racial diversity in community gardens located in Southern urban food deserts, as well as the capacity of community gardens to generate social capital and promote social justice. Methods. A mixed-methods approach was used to describe characteristics of gardeners and community gardens located in urban food deserts, and test Social Capital Theory hypotheses. A convenience sample of 60 gardeners from 10 community gardens was obtained. Data was collected using surveys and semi-structured interviews. Analyses. Univariate and bivariate statistics were used to describe gardeners and gardens. Leader rationales for garden characteristics were analyzed using thematic …

What's Haunting Jackson Ward? Race, Space, And Environmental Violence, Rachel Spraker

Theses and Dissertations

This research is about examining the way in which racialized environmental violence contributes to exploitative social relations becoming embedded in the everyday world. I argue that the space of the everyday has been produced through cycles of social relations proceeding from and/or tied to racialized environmental violence. I continue the work of critical scholars in asserting that social and environmental violence is linked in the same ideological impulse which seeks to hide itself behind a variety of alienating processes. The slow way in which environmental violence works is particularly impactful in these processes because of its attritional lethality, contributing to …

Chinese International Students In A Northwest University: Investigating Cultural Academic Learning And Teaching Preferences, Michael L. Bevis

Theses and Dissertations

As Chinese international students on American university campuses continue to rise, the importance of these institutions to accommodate the students in adapting to a different academic culture has become more critical. On a public, coeducational research university located in the Pacific Northwest, a concurrent triangulated mixed method research design was implemented to investigate cultural factors with preferred learning and teaching styles of Chinese international students along with what corroborative descriptions these students provide as effective learning experiences in American college classrooms.

The study brought attention to Chinese international students’ differing cultural values from the previous literature understanding, it supported previous …

The Impact Of Perceived Mental Illness Stigma On Caregivers’ Desire To Relinquish Care, Tyler R. Corson

Theses and Dissertations

Caregiving can be stressful, and older adults’ health and well-being may be impacted by the roles and responsibilities they assume as caregivers for persons with serious mental illness (SMI). This study is the first to apply the Stress Process Model of Caregiving (SPM) in an attempt to understand how mental illness stigma influences caregiver outcomes, specifically their desire to relinquish care. The intent of this study was to call attention to care relinquishment as an under-studied stress process outcome and to explore stress factors, with a focus on mental illness stigma, that contribute to SMI caregivers’ desire to relinquish care. …

The Effects Of Power On The Processing Of Identity Threat, Matthew Facciani

Theses and Dissertations

Identity theory provides a useful foundation for understanding how social factors influence the acceptance of evidence. This is because identity theory provides a framework of how we process information from other people depending on what social positions we occupy. The current study explored how the perception of power impacts the processing of an identity threat with college student participants (N=217). High power was predicted to decrease acceptance of identity-threatening information, and low power was predicted to increase acceptance of identity-threatening information. However, the study yielded non-significant effects of power on the acceptance of identity-threatening information. Results did show that individuals …

An Empirical Analysis Of The Relationship Among Social Institutions And Juvenile Arrests In Virginia, Linh Thi T. Nguyen

Theses and Dissertations

The United States has unusually high rates of violence among developed nations, including the victimization of and perpetration by youth. Using Institutional Anomie Theory (IAT) as the theoretical framework, this study analyzes the relationships between social institutions and crime and the interactive relationships among the institutions in a sample of Virginia localities. Multivariate analyses are conducted to produce additive and multiplicative models, and simple slope analyses are conducted to clarify interaction/moderation effects. Findings yield mixed support for IAT. Localities with higher levels of monthly welfare per recipient (a measure of polity) have lower juvenile violent crime arrest rates, and welfare …

Evaluating The Attitudes Of Preservice Teachers Toward Multicultural Competence, Angela D. Marshall

Theses and Dissertations

Changes in the ethnicity of the student population across the nation necessitated a change in teacher education curricula. This explanatory, sequential, mixed-method study examined how a group of preservice teachers viewed the importance of multicultural competence before and after student teaching. Specifically, an evaluation of preservice teachers’ attitudes about their own multicultural preparedness was made prior to and after being given full responsibility for an ethnically diverse classroom.

The study employed quantitative and qualitative measures to assess preservice teachers’ levels of multicultural competence as well as their awareness of self-perceptions of multicultural competence that contribute to attitudes toward teaching an …

Desire And Fantasy Between Commercialism And Personal Room, Yukimi Otagiri

Theses and Dissertations

I apply two aspects of my life history to my art; my childhood experiences and my advanced studies in sociology. My work therefore combines a highly personal reading of my experiences of social interactions and my ongoing analysis of the nature of capitalism and socialism, commodification and media, especially in regard to the experiences of women in particular and consumers in general.

Parental Experience-Based Change: Positive And Negative Changes In Monitoring, Expectations, Nurturing, And Discipline, Joseph S. Rand

Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to create a measure of parent's perceptions of parental experience-based change (PEBC), or parents' perceptions of the changes they make to their parenting of secondborn children as a result of experiences with firstborn children. The measure assessed PEBC in the domains of monitoring, expectations, nurturing and discipline. Participants were 401 mothers or fathers of 2 or 3 adolescent children. Factor analyses revealed an 8 factor solution that assessed increasing and decreasing in each of the 4 domains. Criterion validity was evaluated using regression analyses to examine the relationships between each factor and parenting outcomes thought to be …

Optimizing Border Security With Stochastic And Deterministic Strategies, Gabriel A. Rueda

Theses and Dissertations

International trade and border security have always been linked together, and so has the need to find ways to improve security decisions. The United States and bordering countries benefit from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but amongst the positive effects of NAFTA there is a looming drug threat that effects the bi-national supply chains. In 2015 Customs and Border Protections (CBP) processed over 72,000 trucks, rail, and sea containers a day. CBP also seized 3.4 million pounds of narcotics, the majority of them at the ports of entry. With unknown threats using commercial vehicles to transport their illicit …

Ethnicity And Poetry: A Systems Theory Approach To Contemporary African American And Mexican American Poetry, Antonio Paniagua Guzman

Theses and Dissertations

Given the ongoing ethnic transformation of the current society of the United States, contemporary sociologists have extensively studied ethnic relations from diverse theoretical and methodological approaches. Despite the vast sociological research recently developed, the literary-based methodological approach remains partially uncultivated. This study explores motivations and patterns of minority groups’ ethnic performance in contemporary poetry by analyzing inter and intra-group similarities and differences of diverse linguistic and cultural traits. From secondary data analysis, this study examines four hundred poems authored by forty contemporary African American and Mexican American writers experientially connected to the state of Texas. Grounded in systems theory, this …

Transition Services For Parolees With Co-Occurring Substance Use And Mental Health Disorders, Michaela Elizabeth Huber

Theses and Dissertations

A large portion of U.S. inmates and parolees experience co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders (COD). Offenders with COD exhibit significantly poorer outcomes than offenders who do not have COD, including less time to rearrest and reincarceration. Research shows that transition services for substance use and mental health disorders improve parolee outcomes, yet a majority of offenders with COD do not receive transition services prior to discharge or upon release from correctional facilities. Using a nationally representative sample of offenders with COD (secondary data from the CJ-DATS; N=811), this study analyzes the treatment effects of Transition Case Management (TCM) …

Can Noncompliant Behavior Explain Racial/Ethnic Disparities In The Use Of Force By The Nypd? An Econometric Analysis Of New York's Stop-And-Frisk, Omari-Khalid Rahman

Theses and Dissertations

This paper seeks to analyze spatiotemporal variations in NYPD policing patterns in an attempt to identify the causal mechanism(s) driving the observed racial/ethnic disparities; specifically, it addresses questions of how changing neighborhood demographics influence the decision-making of NYPD officers/precincts as it relates to their controversial Stop-and-Frisk policy.

The Father Motive: Predicting The Impact Of Father Attitudes On Involvement, Nathan Lovell Robbins

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects that a man's attitudes towards fathering have on the level of involvement with his children. Of particular interest was whether fathering attitudes moderated some of the more consistent predictors of involvement, such as relationship quality, maternal gatekeeping, mother's and father's employment hours, a man's history with his own father, family structure, and child characteristics. A sample of 2300 men was used to evaluate the effects of fathering attitudes on engagement and warmth among children ages 2 to 8 and 9 to 11. Results indicate an inconsistent main effect between fathering …

Disentangling The Effects Of Violent Subculture And Structure: A Multi-Level Analysis Of Race-Specific Gun Violence In Urban U.S. Counties, Rick Dierenfeldt

Theses and Dissertations

A large number of studies have examined the contextual level influence of firearm availability on firearm-related violence, yet extant literature has failed to simultaneously consider the effects of structure, culture, and firearm availability on the likelihood of firearm violence. The current study adds to the literature by engaging the use of race- and offense-specific non-linear multi-level analyses to examine the relative influence of structure, violent subculture, firearm availability, and incident characteristics on the likelihood of firearm use during aggravated assaults and robberies. Drawing upon data contained in the National Incident Based Reporting System, American Community Survey, and Wide-Ranging Online Data …

An Application Of General Strain Theory To Recidivism In Arkansas: A Multilevel Study, Brittani Mcneal

Theses and Dissertations

Prior research has focused on individual- and community-level factors in examining recidivism. Additionally, recidivism research has not applied criminological theory to explain recidivism, however, community-level measures have been constructed from social disorganization theory on recidivism. With a spotlight on individual characteristics and the community, potential factors from the institutional environment are limited in research, in addition to, the application of theory. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the effects strain on recidivism and time to recidivism across prison in Arkansas by applying general strain theory. Specifically, the current study used male offenders released in 2011 who were housed …

Does Gender Still Matter? Child Custody Bias In The Illinois Family Court System, Derek K. Ronnfeldt

Theses and Dissertations

Over the last several decades, nearly all of the states have formed task forces to look at the perception of a gender bias within the family court systems as they pertain to child custody. This self-scrutiny has included the attitudes of judges and attorneys within the system and the need of reform of our family courts. This research focused on replicating a study conducted by Dotterweich and McKinney that was completed in 2000 that compiled statistics from four different state task forces in Maryland, Missouri, Texas, and Washington. This research focused on Illinois judges and attorneys, using the same questions …

Sticking With It: Psychotherapy Outcomes For Adults With Asd In A College Counseling Center Setting, Emily Irene Anderberg

Theses and Dissertations

Young adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience high rates of comorbid mental health concerns in addition to distress arising from the core symptoms of autism. Many adults with ASD seek psychological treatment in outpatient facilities in their communities that are not specifically geared towards individuals with ASD. However, few studies have looked at the effectiveness of standard psychotherapeutic care in adults with ASD. This study aims to discover how individuals with autism spectrum disorders fare in psychotherapy within a college counseling setting compared to their neuro-typical peers. Clients with ASD (n = 94) or possible ASD (n = 109) …

The Influence Of Client General Anxiety And Attachment Anxiety Onalliance Development In Couple Therapy, Erica Leigh Delgado

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the intake levels of client general anxiety and attachment anxiety andthe relationship of these levels to changes in therapy alliance across the first four couple therapysessions. Participants were 165 couples in a treatment-as-usual setting. Dyadic growth curvemodeling was used to determine whether couple ratings of therapeutic alliance changed overtime and explored the influence of general anxiety and attachment anxiety on therapeutic alliancedevelopment. Results showed that the alliance increased over the first four therapy sessions.Additionally, female alliance ratings across time were positively associated with female generalanxiety and negatively associated with male attachment anxiety. Results also showed that maleattachment …

“No Good Deed Goes Unpunished”: The Costs Of Helping Others, Michael Nolen Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Although prosocial behavior has been moving in directions that highlight complexity over the past few years, little research has assessed the cost of this behavior. This study created a scale assessing the tendency to perceive costs of prosocial behavior. This was validated via focus groups, content and discriminant validity. In six focus groups, 29 13- to 25-year olds described specific prosocial acts and the costs that they experienced from the act. A questionnaire was then given to 391 emerging adults. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. Results suggest a four-factor solution with adequate model fit, suggesting cognitive, behavioral, emotional, …

Secondary Mathematics Teachers' Learning Through Practice: The Case Of Rudy, Theodore John Rupnow

Theses and Dissertations

In this study I investigated teachers’ learning through practice. Teachers learn in teacher preparation programs and in professional development, but the most personal learning occurs in practice. Teachers spend much of their time isolated from colleagues, participating in classroom communities instead of professional communities. If teacher educators want to understand the potential for learning in the space where teachers spend much of their time it is necessary to investigate the learning that is occurring in classroom practice. To pursue this end, I explored one secondary mathematics teacher’s learning in practice. I observed and video-recorded this teacher’s classroom practice for one …

A Quantitative Analysis Of Sex Trafficking Law On The Decriminalization Of Youth Involved In Commercialized Sex, Nay Petrucelli

Theses and Dissertations

Legislators have been responding to the growing push to treat youth in the sex industry as victims of a crime instead of perpetrators. Recent legislative changes have occurred in every state and nationally as part of anti-trafficking legislation, not prostitution law directly. While the content of these laws has been studied, its outcomes for youth have not. This study uses a cross-sectional time-series model to test the impact that changes to state trafficking law has had on juvenile prostitution arrest rates. Findings support the hypothesis that legislation passed with a juvenile protection component decreases the juvenile prostitution arrest rate. It …

Parental Involvement And Child Achievement In School Among Interracial Marriage And Same-Race Marriage: Comparison Of White-White, Asian-Asian, And White-Asian Families, Can Cheng

Theses and Dissertations

Does the parental involvement of interracial families have different effects on children's academic achievement compared to same-race families? This study compares parental involvement in children's education and the academic outcomes of White-Asian families and White and Asian families. Five dimensions of parental involvement are examined: educational expectations, school involvement, home involvement, parental control and parental social networks. Based on data from The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, generalized estimating equations (GEEs) are used to analyze the variability of academic achievement produced by the interaction of involvement dimensions and family types. Asian mother-White father families rank the highest in most forms of …

Pornography Use And Loneliness: Assessing Correlations Using Three Associative Models, Samuel Alejandro Pereyra

Theses and Dissertations

Given the current debate on the discrepancies of pornography research and the inconclusiveness of addiction to pornography, this study examines the associative nature between pornography use and loneliness using a measurement model and two structural equation models where pornography use and loneliness are regressed on each other, respectively. Survey data was collected from a sample of 1,247 participants, who completed an online questionnaire containing questions on pornography use, the University of Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (UCLALS), and other demographic variables. Results from our analyses revealed significant and positive associations between pornography use and loneliness for all three models. Findings provide …