Sociology Commons^™

Engaging Australian Aboriginal Narratives To Challenge Attitudes And Create Empathy In Health Care: A Methodological Perspective, Toni D. Wain, Moira Sim, Dawn Bessarab, Donna Mak, Colleen Hayward, Cobie Rudd

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background:

Unconscious bias and negative attitudes towards minority groups have detrimental effects on the way health care is, or is not, provided to these groups. Recognition of racist attitudes and behaviours as well as understanding clients' experiences of health and health care are pivotal to developing better health care strategies to positively impact on the quality and safety of care provided to Indigenous people. Indigenous research demands inclusive research processes and the use of culturally appropriate methodologies. This paper presents a methodological account of collecting narratives which accurately and respectfully reflect Aboriginal Australians' experiences with health care in Western Australia. …

Aboriginal Health Worker Perceptions Of Oral Health: A Qualitative Study In Perth, Western Australia, Angela Durey, Dan Mcaullay, Barry Gibson, Linda Slack-Smith

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background:

Improving oral health for Aboriginal Australians has been slow. Despite dental disease being largely preventable, Aboriginal Australians have worse periodontal disease, more decayed teeth and untreated dental caries than other Australians. Reasons for this are complex and risk factors include broader social and historic determinants such as marginalisation and discrimination that impact on Aboriginal people making optimum choices about oral health. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study conducted in the Perth metropolitan area investigating Aboriginal Health Workers’ (AHWs) perceptions of barriers and enablers to oral health for Aboriginal people.

Methods:

Following extensive consultation with Aboriginal stakeholders, …

Health-Related Quality Of Life, Psychological Distress, And Sexual Changes Following Prostate Cancer: A Comparison Of Gay And Bisexual Men With Heterosexual Men, Jane M. Ussher, Janette M. Perz, Andrew Kellett, Suzanne K. Chambers, David Latini, Ian D. Davis, Duncan Rose, Gary Dowsett, Scott G. Williams

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Introduction:

Decrements in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and sexual difficulties are a recognized consequence of prostate cancer (PCa) treatment. However little is known about the experience of gay and bisexual (GB) men.

Aim:

HRQOL and psychosexual predictors of HRQOL were examined in GB and heterosexual men with PCa to inform targeted health information and support.

Method:

One hundred twenty-four GB and 225 heterosexual men with PCa completed a range of validated psychosexual instruments.

Main outcome measure:

Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Prostate (FACT-P) was used to measure HRQOL, with validated psychosexual measures, and demographic and treatment variables used …

Technology Distractions On Patrol: Giving Police Officers A Voice, Andrew David Dasher

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Distraction while using mobile technology devices such as a cell phone or tablet computer is a common occurrence within the civilian population of the United States. U.S. police officers are increasingly utilizing these types of devices within the patrol environment. However, little is known as to how distraction affects police officers while they interact with these devices in the course of their daily duties. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how officers process potential officer safety issues on patrol, while interacting with mobile technology, by questioning participants' perception of distraction. This was accomplished through a phenomenological paradigm …

Law Enforcement Leadership Training Strategies, Will O'Neill

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Senior law enforcement leaders are looking for leadership training strategies to develop future law enforcement leaders. The purpose of this single case study was to explore U.S. law enforcement leaders' training strategies to develop future leaders. The sample was comprised of 18 senior Northern Virginia executive law enforcement leaders who have leadership development strategies currently in use. The conceptual framework for this study was human capital theory. The data collection process included semistructured interviews, a review of training documentation, and direct observation related to leadership development. Based on methodological triangulation of the data sources and analysis of the data, 3 …

Web 2.0 Tools And Communities Of Practice: Bridging Gaps In Novice Teacher Training, Stacey Donaldson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Novice teachers do not have sufficient opportunities to troubleshoot real-world teaching situations prior to having their own classrooms. Antiquated professional development (PD) models lack the collaboration element that provides authentic application of concepts. This qualitative case study was conducted to fill a gap in research on novice teachers' voluntary participation in an online community of practice. The study explored how the situated learning in this virtual community addressed the cognitive and social needs of early career teachers as they made the theory to practice connections. The community of practice framework and the social learning theories supported socialization as essential in …

Comparative Memory/Behavioral Symptoms Of Alzheimer's Disease: Eoad Vs. Load, Marcia Gale Roberson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a fatal disorder with no apparent cure. Early-onset AD (EOAD) occurs in individuals before the age of 65, and late-onset AD (LOAD) occurs in individuals age 65 and older. Past studies have proven that AD is fatal among Americans age 65 and older. The disease is characterized by impairments in memory and executive function as well as other cognitive and behavioral problems. The research questions addressed by this sequential, mixed-method study compared EOAD and LOAD by exploring common behavioral/cognitive symptoms and stage levels of AD. Research participants were recruited from the Alzheimer's Association who were members …

Best Practices For Controlling Tuberculosis - Training In Correctional Facilities: A Mixed Methods Evaluation, Ellen Reynolds Murray

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to the literature, identifying and treating tuberculosis (TB) in correctional facilities have been problematic for the inmates and also for the communities into which inmates are released. The importance of training those who can identify this disease early into incarceration is vital to halt the transmission. Although some training has been done by public health authorities for corrections, there is little to no evaluation of such training. The aim of this mixed methods retrospective study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a training to control TB in correctional facilities. The Southeastern National Tuberculosis Center (SNTC) conducted 12 trainings between …

Emergency Room Utilization Of Participants With Mental Health Conditions Enrolled In Health Home Services, Amanda Duff

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Large numbers of individuals utilize the ER each year for mental health reasons. The health home agency in this study was designed under the Affordable Care Act with the intention of increasing patient self-management thus decreasing high-cost service utilization. The effectiveness of health homes in reducing mental health-related ER visits has remained unexplored. In this study, the relationship between participation in this program and ER utilization was examined, using the theoretical framework of the Health Belief Model. The sample of 128 health home participants with documented mental health conditions was selected using systematic random sampling. A one-way, repeated-measures t-test and …

The Persistent Fear Of Crime In A Safe Metropolitan Area: The Continual Impact Of Social Disorganization, Guillermo Rivas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

While the association between physical and social disorder on crime have been established (Skogan, 1990), it is less clear how they influence fear of crime. Fear of crime is important to consider given that is can decrease both physical and mental health (Gee & Payne-Sturges, 2004). Utilizing data based on a randomly selected household survey in El Paso County, Texas (N= 1,070) I seek to examine the influence of physical and social disorders and social cohesion on fear of crime. OLS linear regression results illustrate the persistent impact of physical and social disorders regardless of neighborhood characteristics of poverty and …

Construcción De Subjetividades Identitarias Y Su Relación Espacial: Tres Representaciones Teatrales Del Feminicidio En Ciudad Juárez, Nidia Mariana Reyes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Ciudad Juárez, una de las fronteras más importantes de México debido a su producción industrial, adquirió renombre ya que a partir del año de 1993 se dio a conocer un alarmante aumento de violencia ejercida contra la mujer en la ciudad (misma que culminó con una ola de feminicidios). De esta manera se convirtió en un lugar de estudio y de inspiración para artistas que buscaban visibilizar dicha situación. Un ejemplo de lo anterior es el aumento en la producción literaria que hace del feminicidio en Ciudad Juárez su temática principal ha tenido un gran auge en el panorama artístico. …

Direct Potable Reuse In El Paso, Texas: Pioneering Water Resource Sustainability In A Large Urban Utility, Paul Brian Guerrero

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

El Paso Water is progressing on possible plans for large-scale advanced water purification, a form of direct potable reuse. Public knowledge, attitudes, and commitments are important to success in this technology. New information on attitudes in El Paso, Texas, regarding direct potable reuse implementation is measured and examined.

Echoes, Sarah Abigail Adleman

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

When I was sixteen, my mother was killed one evening while running on the bayou behind our house in Houston. The man, who is now on Death Row in Texas, beat, raped, and then strangled her to death. Writer Mary Cappello says of Creative Nonfiction, to compose discursively requires that we turn in the direction of the discourses that have made us who we are rather than start from a place of what we think happened to us in the course of our lives. She goes on further to say, Creative nonfiction appreciates the power of prepositions. Instead of writing …

Gender And Professionalization: Experiences Of Veterinary Practice In Ciudad Juárez, México, Daniela Garcia Del Rivero

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

As more women enter science-based professions, barriers faced by women in terms of full participation in professional activities become useful to examine. This Thesis focuses on veterinary practice in Ciudad Juárez, México, to understand gender differences in professional work. Women's enrollment in veterinary schools has increased substantially over time, and this Thesis seeks to provide a case study of how this feminization is reflected in gendered experiences of education and professional practice. Based on semi-structured interviews conducted with women and men, the findings reveal how veterinarians negotiate gendered stereotypes in their field. This research argues that veterinary identity is performed …

The Effects Of Learning About Black History On Racial Identity, Self-Efficacy, Self-Esteem, And Depression Among Low-Income African American Male Youth, Quentin L. Stubbins

Dissertations

Problem

The literature is clear that African American youth receive a shallow account from parents and schools about Black history. More importantly, African American male youth from low-income families rarely receive information about Black history. Youth today watch television for entertainment and through watching television learn about new facts and information. African American youth watch more television than any other ethnic group. The media has a long history of portraying African Americans in a negative light. The negative media portrayals of African Americans have impacted their racial identity, self-esteem, self-efficacy and their mental health. No research has been done on …

"We Are Not The Same"-An Examination Of The Relationships Between Mexican Americans And Mexican National On The Us-Mexico Border, Angela Jacqueline Silva

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, as of 2013, there are an estimated 33.7 million persons of Mexican-origin (native and foreign-bon) currently residing in the United States. Mexican-origin persons currently occupy 17% of the total population of the country (Stepler and Brown 2015). While Mexican-origin persons occupy the largest ethnic group within the Latino/a pan-ethnic group research on intra-ethnic group relations (Mexicans and Mexican-Americans) is limited (for exceptions see Gutierrez 2000; Ochoa 2004; Knoll 2012; Morales, Murga, and Sanchez 2013; Dowling 2014; Alba et al. 2014). This research has examined the relationships and perceptions that Mexican-Americans have towards Mexican immigrants …

Medication Assisted Treatment And The Three Legged Stool: Medical Providers, Chemical Dependency Professionals, And Clients, Steven Matt Magrath

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Opioid dependence has reached epidemic levels in the United States and around the world. With the increased prescribing of opioid pharmaceuticals and the influx of inexpensive heroin, the health care cost to society has topped $72.5 billion annually (Murphy et al., 2016). Opioid overdose deaths have now surpassed motor vehicle deaths and have tripled since 1990. In some age groups opioid overdose is the leading cause of death. This study seeks to analyze the only field that directly treats this primary brain disease: medication assisted treatment for opioid dependence. The three primary participants in this partnership include: (a) doctors and …

Embera Drua: The Impact Of Tourism On Indigenous Village Life In Panama, Amy Lethbridge

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This case study examines the experience of residents of the Indigenous village of Embera Drua, Panama with 20 years of tourism. It addresses the lack of Indigenous voices in tourism literature by telling the story of Embera Drua through the lens of the villagers themselves. The study uses a mix of ethnographic observation and narrative inquiry and finds that the experience of Embera Drua mirrors the experience of other Indigenous villages offering tourism around the globe, particularly the impact of lack of community capacity on management and growth of such tourism initiatives. Findings of this study are relevant to the …

An Exploration Of The Experience Of Female Same-Sex Marriage, Melissa Rose Mulick

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

In June 2015 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in favor of nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage. While same-sex marriage had previously been legalized in individual states, this ruling effectively increased the population of women legally married to other women. A review of research historically conducted on female same-sex relationships indicated that they were often fraught with heteronormative assumptions and biases, leaving the conclusions questionable at best. This dissertation used Amedeo Giorgi’s (2009) qualitative methodology of Descriptive Phenomenology in order to explore the essence of the experience of female same-sex marriage. Ten cisgender women who were legally married …

Esta Con La Partera: A Qualitative Feminist Perspective Of Women's Birthing Experiences In El Paso Texas, Anessa Anchondo-Rivera

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The state of pregnancy is a political one, where women act within and from the social structures that can influence life choices. Through in-depth interviews, this qualitative study examines the choices of six women who birthed at the only birthing center in El Paso County, El Paso Texas. This research uses feminist standpoint theory and life course approach theory to examine how these six women interviewed negotiated their decision-making processes during their pregnancy and birth. Through the use of visual sociology, the research also uses the documentary Catching Babies as a secondary source to examine the services of Maternidad La …

Configuración Y Reconfiguración De La Masculinidad En El Espacio Público. El Caso De Ciudad Juárez, Javier M. Delgado

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Este trabajo de investigación surge como resultado de Tesis para obtener el grado de Master en Sociología, el cual resulta a manera de contra-narrativa al discurso social y académico acerca de la supuesta intrepidez e invulnerabilidad del hombre ante actos delictivos y violentos en el espacio público. Se demuestra lo contrario, así como también se expone la presión social que este sufre por todos los miembros de la sociedad a construir su identidad desde temprana edad, precisamente basados en los estereotipos hegemónicos de masculinidad. Se concluye en este sentido que la violencia es cosa de hombres jóvenes, siendo estos los …

Life Adversity, Social Support, Resilience, And College Student Mental Health, Joshua Mello

All Master's Theses

This study investigated how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), current college student hassles, and perceived social support relate to college student resilience. This study also explored how ACEs, current college student hassles, perceived social support, and resilience relate to college student mental health. A sample of 507 students from a public university in Washington State completed an online study which consisted of surveys operationalizing each variable. The results showed that current college student hassles and perceived social support significantly predicted resilience. Current college student hassles, resilience, and perceived social support also significantly predicted mental health. The study revealed that ACEs had …

Pulling The Trigger On Disarming Domestic Violence Abusers: Implementing Gun Confiscation Policy In Urban And Appalachian Kentucky, Kellie R. Lynch

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

The present study investigated why communities differing in culture and resources are willing and able to implement gun confiscation as part of a protective order. Specifically, this study explored whether the perceived risk of intimate partner homicide and gun violence, benefits to engaging in gun confiscation, barriers to gun confiscation, community norms about guns, and community readiness to implement gun confiscation: (a) differ in urban and rural communities, (b) are perceived differently by victim service and justice system key professionals within urban and rural communities, and (c) are related to if a community is able and willing to consistently implement …

Waiting On You: A Study Of Tipped Minimum Wages' Effects On Job Tenure Among White Restaurant Servers, John Henry Sienkiewicz

Master's Theses

Many restaurant servers do not make adequate earnings under the current tipped wage system in America. On top of this, restaurant servers largely lack benefits such as paid sick days and health insurance. Unsurprisingly, those in the food and accommodation industry exhibit among the highest rates of voluntary turnover. As research has shown that raising the non-tipped, standard minimum wage decreases employee turnover and increases overall job tenure, it follows that increases in the tipped minimum wage may increase job tenure for restaurant servers. Using survey data from nearly 1700 white restaurant servers from 2006, this multiple regression analysis shows …

Emature: Intergenerational Networks In Digital Media Spaces, Andras Lukacs

Dissertations

While the literature on adolescent usage of the Internet and mobile communication technology is burgeoning, the technological affordance of increased intergenerational contacts and intergenerational friendships received less attention. This project documents how intergenerational virtual networks operate in one particular massively multiplayer online game (World of Warcraft) from the standpoint of adolescent players. Online social worlds are similar to offline settings in a lot of ways. Users must obey certain behavioral standards and follow established rules and moral codes to participate. Despite accounts of online democracy and networked individualism, control and authority is central to the functioning of these environments. Power-relationships …

Changing Medical Education: Early Efforts To Integrate Women's Health Into Education And Training, Mary Katherine Rojek

Dissertations

This is an historical study about the development of women’s health curricula in medical education across the U.S. between 1983 and 2004, a period of a great deal of innovation. At that time, some physicians, medical educators, policy makers, and government officials became aware that most U.S. medical school curricula did not address women’s health in a comprehensive manner and did not attend to many problems that were the primary causes of mortality and morbidity in women. In addition, medical research and medical education were based on a normative male model. Studies of medical education indicate that medical schools are …

Marital Investments And Community Involvement: A Test Of Coser’S Greedy Marriage Thesis, Young-Il Kim, Jeffrey Dew

Faculty Publications - Department of Sociology

It is customary to test Coser’s greedy marriage thesis by comparing marital status groups. We propose a new approach that uses the marital dyad as the unit of analysis and examine whether investments in the marital relationship discourage community involvement through formal volunteering. Data from a U.S. national sample of 1,368 married couples revealed mixed support for the proposed relationship. Consistent with the greedy marriage thesis, wives’ soulmate view of marriage was negatively associated with their own and their husbands’ reports of volunteering. Although these associations were attenuated by religious service attendance, wives’ soulmate view had a more dampening effect …

Examining Urban African American Adolescent Perceptions Of Neighborhood And Time Spent In Risky Contexts: Cross-Sectionally And Longitudinally, Kevin Michael Miller

Master's Theses

The purpose of the current study was to cross-sectionally and longitudinally examine the relationship between adolescent perceptions of their neighborhood and time spent in “risky contexts.” Specifically, the relationship between adolescent perceptions of neighborhood danger and the percent of time spent with older peers or outside was examined. In addition, this study analyzed the relationship between youth perceptions of neighborhood support and the percent time they spent with older peers or outside. All these relationships were also explored in regard to the moderating impact of gender and parental monitoring. An Experience Time Sampling technique (ESM) was utilized to determine how …

In Plain Sight: How Social Images In Education Shape The Social Identity Of Black Students, Kandyce Cabacar

Master's Theses

This thesis will postulate social identity development in Black students is shaped by their school experience. Reviewing how racial grouping is a critical factor in how we engage with others socially, this study will curate the variables of society that assembles the Black image. Social construction influenced by media messages and the neighborhoods that determine our respective schools will also be analyzed. By borrowing from the research of social psychology and contributions of sociologists on race relations, this thesis will demonstrate how expectations influenced by racial stereotypes of Black students create a correlation to social identity. These findings are discussed …

Haitian Representation In The Media: A Comparative Analysis Between An African American Owned Newspaper And A Mainstream Newspaper, Stephanie Jean-Baptiste

Master's Theses

Are the portrayals of Haitian immigrants in an African-American owned newspaper, different from their portrayal in a white owned newspaper? In this paper I examine newspaper articles covering Haitian immigrants and refugees. The articles selected were published in 2004 and sampled from the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Defender. Although the journals have distinctive goals and market reach, there were similarities in their portrayal of Haitian immigrants. Both journals referred to Haitian immigrants as victims of Haiti’s failed democracy. However, each journal advertised the reception of this migrant group differently. The African American owned newspaper advertised inclusion, while the white-owned …