Community-Based Research Commons^™

Donne, Emigrazione E Prostituzione In Europa: Non Si Tratta Di “Sex Work”, Anna Zobnina, Chiara Carpita

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Voluntary Engagement And College Retention: Does The Type Of Engagement Predict Retention For Different Types Of Students?, Sarah Louise Coley

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The current study examined whether voluntary engagement activities are associated with increased student retention rates at college to a subsequent semester. It was theorized that this association would owe to engagement enhancing the ostensible value of students’ college experience. Additionally, another theoretical idea was examined: Specific activities may be particularly beneficial for specific types of students. For example, students may have certain motivational needs, such as those identified by self-determination theory (SDT; i.e., competency and belongingness). Fulfilling those needs through engagement may promote retention. For the current study, student record data and student self-report data were sampled from a Midwestern …

Opioid Use Disorder: The Ugly Return And Treatment Effectiveness Of Heroin Use, Antwana L. Drayton

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Relationships among demographic, socioeconomic and person factors and Opioid Use Disorder diagnosis, treatment, and recidivism were explored. Data from a sample of 4,860 adults with substance use difficulties were analyzed. A program evaluation was conducted on Gateway Community Services to explore the use of Medication Assisted Treatments (MATs) and Psychosocial (PS) treatments to address Opioid Use Disorder. Using archival data, a chi-square analysis and independent sample t-test was performed. The results expressed that a relationship among race, type of substance use diagnosis, and treatment type and recidivism rate was found. While White/Non-Hispanics adults were more likely to use heroin than …

Book Review: The Pimping Of Prostitution: Abolishing The Sex Work Myth By Julie Bindel, Roger Matthews

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Neighborhood Cohesion, Neighborhood Disorder, And Cardiometabolic Risk, Jennifer N. Robinette, Susan T. Charles, Tara Gruenewald

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Perceptions of neighborhood disorder (trash, vandalism) and cohesion (neighbors trust one another) are related to residents’ health. Affective and behavioral factors have been identified, but often in studies using geographically select samples. We use a nationally representative sample (n = 9032) of United States older adults from the Health and Retirement Study to examine cardiometabolic risk in relation to perceptions of neighborhood cohesion and disorder. Lower cohesion is significantly related to greater cardiometabolic risk in 2006/2008 and predicts greater risk four years later (2010/2012). The longitudinal relation is partially accounted for by anxiety and physical activity.

Pursuing A Common Goal: Measuring The Comfort Level Of Educational Diagnosticians To Manage A Caseload Of Students With Visual Impairments, Jerry Mullins M.Ed., Michael P. Munro M.Ed.

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

This study was conducted to measure the level of comfort and knowledge that educational diagnosticians possess regarding the unique learning needs, assistive technology, special accommodations, agencies, required visual impairment related Individual Educational Plan documents, and special evaluation considerations appropriate for students with a vision loss. Teachers of students with visual impairments were surveyed to gauge their perception of educational diagnosticians’ knowledge of the field of visual impairment and diagnosticians were also surveyed to determine their comfort level in the management of a caseload of students with visual impairments. Research question were based on how TVIs rated the comfort level and …

At The Pillar Of The Proverbial Golden Calf: Sacrificing The Need For ‘Responsible Knowing’ On The Altar Of A Compliance-Based Ethic, Izaak L. Williams

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Evidence-based practice (EBP) has been promoted and adopted broadly and has led to advances in health and human services. Notwithstanding the underlying rationale of EBP philosophy to diversify the current body of information concerning evidence-based practices, this paper draws attention to critical thinking fallacies that confound non-evidence-based “treatment as usual” practice with actual EBP philosophy. Flawed belief systems about EBP, in tandem with a compliance-based culture, fail to provide structure to the possibility of evidence-based practice philosophy and proper use of EB treatment modalities. Impediments to EBP implementation are created by lack of “responsible knowing” and this results in practitioner …

Housing Diversity In Children’S Literature, Carla Earhart

Charleston Library Conference

Previous studies have examined diversity in children’s literature: Gender diversity, racial diversity, religious diversity, and diversity in family composition. This project examines an often overlooked diversity issue in children’s literature: Housing diversity. In the stories they read and the accompanying images, children need to see a variety of housing environments and need to see the settings and the people portrayed in a positive manner.

Renting an apartment is an increasingly popular housing option for many families. However, many children’s books glamorize living in a traditional house. Using a rubric designed by the course instructor, students in a university immersive learning …

Adversity And Academic Performance Among Adolescent Youth: A Community-Based Participatory Research Study, Sukhdip Purewal Boparai, Tiffani Marie, Eduardo Aguayo, Jordan Brooks, Estefany Juarez, Sheana Soriano, Alasia Waters, Jaquez Donaldson, Joseph Reagans, Gracee Anguiano, Allison Ipsen

Journal of Adolescent and Family Health

Researchers and youth stakeholders devised a survey on 27 adversities based on youth expertise, clinical practice, and adversity literature. The aim of the study was to understand the prevalence of individual and cumulative adversities, and association of adversities to age, gender, race/ethnicity and academic performance among a community sample of urban high school students. All participants experienced two or more adversities and experienced greater overall adversity than youth in population-based studies. Youth-proposed stressors were among the most prevalent, and females, older youth, and African American youth reported disproportionately greater number of adversities. Specific types of adversities were endorsed differentially based …

Grandmothers As Child Caregivers: A Unique Child Care Arrangement, Kathy L. Reschke, Susan K. Walker

Occasional Paper Series

This paper draws attention to grandmothers who provide child care and the parents and children they serve, by sharing the results of a study of a group of employed mothers from rural, low-income families who used grandmother care on a regular basis. Although their experiences cannot represent those of all mothers who use grandmother care, they are valuable in understanding the perspective of many women with few feasible options who depend on this type of care.

Child And Adolescent Commercial Sexual Exploitation In Mexico: The Exploiters And The State, Sonia M. Frias, Mariajosé Gómez-Zaldívar

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a form of violence in which children, mainly girls and female adolescents, are reduced to sexual objects for rent. In this study, we argue that the concept of who is an exploiter must be broadened to include everyone who directly or indirectly benefits from CSEC. This paper is based on life stories of 10 female residents from a shelter, which we call Casa Libertad (a fictitious name) in Mexico City, for female victims of violence. Researchers also used semi-structured interviews with experts on CSEC to examine the exploiters' profiles. The research challenges the …

Walking As Ontological Shifter: Thoughts In The Key Of Life, Bibi (Silvina) Calderaro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

With walking as ontological shifter I pursue an alternative to the dominant modernist episteme that offers either/or onto-epistemologies of opposition and their reifying engagements. I propose this type of walking is an intentional turning towards a set of radical positions that, as integrative aesthetic and therapeutic practice, brings multiplicity and synchronicity to experience and being in an expanded sociality. This practice facilitates the conditions of possibility for recurring points of contact between the interiority perceived as ‘body’ and the exteriority perceived as ‘world.’ While making evident the self’s at once incoherence with it-self, it opens to a space beyond the …

The Imagine Project: Inspiring Vulnerable Adults Through Art And Mindfulness, Janelle Defiesta

Master's Projects and Capstones

The IMAGINE Project tackles the issue of stress reduction for a population that faces high stress levels due to environmental instability with co-morbidities of prior physical, cognitive, and social issues. Despite the need of stress reduction approaches in a population under these circumstances, external factors make it difficult to reduce the problem. Consequently, the lack of stress reduction skills can lead to the exacerbation of existing problems and the onset of many others. However, until basic needs such as housing and sustenance are met, stress reduction cannot be attempted effectively. Thus, the target population for this project focused on people …

Exploring The Caregiver-Child Relationship In Institutional Care Facilities In South Sudan, Jennifer Joy Telfer

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Institutional care for children separated from parents is expanding in Africa, but little research exists on caregiving at these institutions. This study explores the caregiver-child relationship in two residential institutions in South Sudan by investigating how caregivers experience their role and how children experience their lives in the institution. Semi- structured interviews assessed 14 caregivers’ backgrounds, parenting experience, attitudes, education, and motivations. The Orphans and Vulnerable Children Wellbeing Tool (OWT) assessed 98 adolescent residents, who also gave feedback about their answers. Caregivers employ parenting styles used by their parents and report treating non-relative children the same as biological children. Children …

Growing Up With Porn: The Developmental And Societal Impact Of Pornography On Children, Gail Dines

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

The Global Supply Chain Of Sexual Exploitation And The Necessity Of Combating The Demand For Commercial Sex, Lisa L. Thompson

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Twisting Masculinity: Harms Of Pornography To Young Boys And Men, Gabe Deem

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Two Questions, The Same Answer: The Role Of Demand In Prostitution And Sex Trafficking, Shamere Mckenzie

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Introduction To Dignity Special Issue: Freedom From Sexploitation, Lisa L. Thompson, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Introducing Critical Pedagogies, Deepening Service-Learning Practices, Kathryn J. Kozak

Pedagogy and the Human Sciences

Book review of Critical Perspectives on Service-Learning in Higher Education by Susan J. Deeley. (2015). London, England: Palgrave Macmillan.

Embodying Rhythm Nation: Multimodal Hip Hop Dance As A Site For Adolescent Social-Emotional And Political Development, Lauren M. Roygardner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This exploratory study employed qualitative methodology, specifically values analysis, to learn more about how being involved within Hip hop dance communities positively relates to adolescent development. Adolescence was defined herein as ages 13-23. The study investigated Hip hop dance communities in terms of cultural expertise (i.e. novice, intermediate and advanced/expert) to look specifically at dance narratives (i.e. peak experience narratives and “I dance because” essays) and hip hop dance performances. The primary purpose of this dissertation was to (1) explore how adolescents use multimodal Hip hop dance discourse for social-emotional development and critical consciousness, and to (2) understand how values …

The Undergraduate In The “New Urban University”: Recognizing The Role Of Agency And Its Correlates In The Student’S Academic Life Story, Karen Galea

Dissertations

According to the U.S. Department of Education (2016), only 36% of first time college students enrolled at broad-access institutions graduate within six years, compared to 60% at all universities. The vital role of academic agency is universally accepted; however, debate remains over a shared definition. The purpose of this study is to determine which combination of non-academic attributes generate, grow, and support academic agency for undergraduate students at a broad-access, minority-serving “New Urban University.” Three questions are examined:

1. Which attributes define academic agency, and how do they relate to conceptually similar variables?
2. Assuming academic agency exists along a continuum over …

Unreplicable: The Unscientific Nature Of Science Journals, Ernest M. Oleksy

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

Academia shapes the way our species looks at veracity and defines what is deemed as well-founded science. The platform for researchers to make their work known is academic journals. The prerogative of these journals is to disseminate technically sound work so that the public may be informed of up-to-date advances in scientific fields. However, these journals are products on the market whose ultimate purpose is to garner a following that will make the producers money. This results in research that does not have statistically significant findings, or replications of past experiments which are integral to supporting the findings of the …

Engaging In Effective Behavioral Health Treatment Methods: The Importance Of Building Trust And Relationships With High And Proven Risk Men With A History Of Childhood Trauma(S), Tracie Sullivan

Sustainability and Social Justice

Nearly 60% of youth involved in the juvenile justice system in the United States have a diagnosable mental illness (Buffington, 2010; SAMHSA, 2012). These high and proven risk youth have fallen through the cracks in the behavioral health system, with a lack of prevention, intervention, and effective treatment methods being provided to them prior to incarceration. This paper presents connections between childhood trauma, undiagnosed and untreated mental illnesses, and delinquency in adulthood for high and proven-risk young men. It also investigates barriers to engaging high and proven risk young men in treatment with the concepts of stigma, and hyper-masculinity introduced. …

Resiliency And Well-Being As Moderators Of Stress, Alexis Pietruszka

Senior Honors Theses

College students experience a great deal of stress as they prepare for the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Furthermore, the ability to navigate stress and anxiety is challenged due to underdeveloped resiliency skills. Resiliency and well-being can act as a coping technique in building hope, commitment, accountability, and passion. The measurement of these factors can be an indication of how a person responds to stressful events or feelings. The study expected to see an interaction of resiliency as an overall moderator in the perception of stress based on actual stress level. The High Capacity Model of Resiliency Scale (H-CAP) was …

Twenty Reasons To Publish In Dignity, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Worcester's Youth Employment Sector, Laurie Ross Phd, Ramon Borges-Mendez Phd, Alex Rothfelder

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

Overall, the employment rate for Worcester youth has improved since 2000; yet mirroring the nation, Worcester continues to have a smaller share of youth 16-24 employed. This situation is intensified for youth of color and young people facing barriers such as homelessness, exiting foster care, juvenile justice involvement, and limited English proficiency. Mass, Inc. estimates that in Worcester there are 3400 disconnected youth—756 are between 16-19 and 2644 are between 20-24. From the youth employment program inventory, we learned that the city’s programs offer many opportunities for “first job” experiences; has some exemplary programs that integrate youth development and workforce …

The Color Ceiling: African Americans Still Fighting For Equity And Equality, Osaro Airen Ph.D, Lpc, Ncc

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

There currently exists a unique ceiling-effect that has plagued the African American community for a number of years but due to the group being placed under the Glass Ceiling umbrella, the true nature of their issues have been vastly overlooked. To bring to light the true nature of these issues, the author created the term, Color Ceiling. The Color Ceiling refers to the invisible barriers that impede financial equity, employment equity, and promotional advancement for African Americans in the workplace specifically higher education.

Happiness In Communities: How Neighborhoods, Cities And States Use Subjective Well-Being Metrics, Laura Musikanski, Carl Polley, Scott Cloutier, Erica Berejnoi, Julia Colbert

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

This essay, the fourth and last of a series published by the Journal of Social Change, is intended as a tool for community organizers, local policy makers, researchers, students and others to incorporate subjective well-being indicators into their measurements and management of happiness and well-being in their communities, for policy purposes, for research and for other purposes. It provides case studies of community-based efforts in five different regions (São Paulo, Brazil; Bristol, United Kingdom; Melbourne, Australia; Creston, British Columbia, Canada; and Vermont, United States) that either developed their own subjective well-being index or used the Happiness Alliance’s survey instrument …

Effects Of Participant Controlled Video Prompting On Novel Tasks In A Vocational Setting For Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Amanda M. Hogue

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching self-instructional skills to navigate to a mobile device to access video prompts to teach novel behaviors to two adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in a vocational setting. This study used a multiple probe across conditions design to evaluate effectiveness. In baseline, the researcher directed the participants to complete a novel task and collected data on correct steps completed. In technology training the researcher used a system of least prompts procedure to teach participants to initiate the use of the mobile device, navigate to an app, navigate to …