Politics and Social Change Commons^™

Islamophobia In U.S. Education, Shabana Mir, Loukia K. Sarroub

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Anti-Muslim sentiment has grown in scale and visibility far beyond its association with the horrific attacks of 2001. The US government’s “War on Terror,” which began after the attacks, often pervades the domestic landscape as a war on Islamic religious “extremism.” The definitions and content of such religious extremism are so extensive that they encompass large numbers of Muslims, and they highlight Muslims as being inherently problematic. For example, the success of the 2016 presidential campaign can be said to have relied significantly on a right-wing Islamophobic fear-mongering that shariah was set to take over the US. As we grappled …

How State-Level Dynamics Shape Individual-Level Welfare Payments, Jamy Rentschler

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis examines how welfare program implementation varies across states, and what those differences in implementation mean for welfare (TANF) recipients across the country. Specifically, I examine the extent to which state-level context related demographics and economics as well as political ideology, religious culture and race may contribute to contemporary disparate economic outcomes for low-income racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. This study relies on a sample of welfare recipients from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) during 1998-2013 to examine individual recipients’ average monthly TANF payments. Analyses combine SIPP data with state-level information drawn from …

Sexual Assault In The Political Sphere, Robert Larsen

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This project sought to analyze how sexual assault in the political sphere is perceived and treated in contemporary society in the United States of America. The thesis analyzed eight cases of sexual misconduct, including six from the past thirty years. In each case, the reaction of party and social leaders, of the politician’s constituents and of the politician himself were looked at, as well as the consequences the politician faced. The results were then analyzed side-by-side to discover similarities and differences between ho cases of sexual assault allegations were treated and in terms of what happened to the politician after …

What Is My Role In Changing The System? A New Model Of Responsibility For Structural Injustice, Robin Zheng

Women's and Gender Studies Program: Faculty Publications

What responsibility do individuals bear for structural injustice? Iris Marion Young has offered the most fully developed account to date, the Social Connections Model. She argues that we all bear responsibility because we each causally contribute to structural processes that produce injustice. My aim in this article is to motivate and defend an alternative account that improves on Young’s model by addressing five fundamental challenges faced by any such theory. The core idea of what I call the Role-Ideal Model is that we are each responsible for structural injustice through and in virtue of our social roles, i.e. our roles …

European Spaces And The Roma: Denaturalizing The Naturalized In Online Reader Comments, Theresa Catalano, Grace E. Fielder

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

With the entry of several Eastern European nations into the European Union (EU), a “third” space has developed in the discourse for nations perceived as not fully integrated “inside” the EU system. This article investigates the construction of this “third space” in the resultant “moral panic” about undesired immigration from other EU countries and its potential drain on the social services of the United Kingdom and links it to Euroskeptic discourse in British media. The article uses construal operations from cognitive linguistics combined with critical discourse studies as a way of denaturalizing the discourse in online comments that focus on …

The Political Implications Of Religious Non-Affiliation In Emerging Adulthood, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Religious non-affiliation has increased considerably in the U.S. over the last few decades. The contemporary generation of emerging adults is the first to have a sizable proportion raised with no religious affiliation. This article uses nationally representative, longitudinal survey data to examine how both non-affiliation in adolescence and switching to non-affiliation in emerging adulthood influence political interest, behaviors, orientation, and partisanship. The results show the following: 1) that unaffiliated emerging adults are less politically active than the religiously affiliated; 2) that the unaffiliated are relatively liberal and unlikely to be Republican; 3) that the unaffiliated are more likely than the …

“It Ruined My Life”: The Effects Of The War On Drugs On People Who Inject Drugs (Pwid) In Rural Puerto Rico, Roberto Abadie, C. Gelpi-Acosta, C. Davila, A. Rivera, Melissa Welch-Lazoritz, Kirk Dombrowski

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Background—The War on Drugs has raised the incarceration rates of racial minorities for non-violent drug-related crimes, profoundly stigmatized drug users, and redirected resources from drug prevention and treatment to militarizing federal and local law enforcement. Yet, while some states consider shifting their punitive approach to drug use, to one based on drug treatment and rehabilitation, nothing suggests that these policy shifts are being replicated in Puerto Rico.

Methods—This paper utilizes data from 360 PWID residing in four rural towns in the mountainous area of central Puerto Rico. We initially recruited 315 PWID using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) and collected data about …

The Diffusion Of Tolerance: Birth Cohort Changes In The Effects Of Education And Income On Political Tolerance, Philip Schwadel, Christopher R. H Garneau

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Political tolerance—the willingness to extend civil liberties to traditionally stigmatized groups—is pivotal to the functioning of democracy and the well-being of members of stigmatized groups. Although political tolerance has traditionally been more common among American elites, we argue that as tolerance has increased, it has also diffused to less educated and less affluent segments of the population. The relative stability of political attitudes over the life course and the socialization of more recent birth cohorts in contexts of increased tolerance suggest that this diffusion of tolerance occurs across birth cohorts rather than time periods. Using age-period-cohort models and more than …

Investigating Preferences For Patriarchal Values Among Muslim University Students In Southern Thailand, Mahsoom Sateemae, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Suhaimee Sateemae

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Recent research on Muslim populations has offered interesting but limited insights about values preferences. This mixed-methods study examines the prevalence of support for patriarchy among a sample of religious Muslim university students in Southern Thailand using items from the World Values Survey. It also investigates the durability of these preferences by examining correlations between support or opposition to patriarchal values with preferences towards courtship practices, and elements that influence respondents’ views on gender roles, particularly related to the contemporary socioeconomic and political situation facing the Muslim minority of Southern Thailand.

A Longitudinal And Experimental Study Of The Impact Of Knowledge On The Bases Of Institutional Trust, Lisa M. Pytlikzillig, Christopher D. Kimbrough, Ellie Shockley, Tess M. S. Neal, Mitchel Herian, Joseph A. Hamm, Brian H. Bornstein, Alan Tomkins

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

This study examined a knowledge-centered theory of institutional trust development. In the context of trust in water regulatory institutions, the moderating impact of knowledge was tested to determine if there were longitudinal changes in the bases of institutional trust as a function of increases in knowledge about a target institution. We hypothesized that as people learn about an institution with which they were previously unfamiliar, they begin to form more nuanced perceptions, distinguishing the new institution from other institutions and relying less upon their generalized trust to estimate their trust in that institution. Prior to having specific, differential information about …

The Division Of The Humanity, Bryan Chavez

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

Jane Austen's personal experiences can be seen through the influence presented in her novel Pride and Prejudice. Austen grew up in the Victorian Era, a time period where women were socially and economically immobile, with the exception of marriage. Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice suggests that society is separated into a diversity of unfair and unequal socio-economic classes which still persists today. This is most evident in the lack of access to quality education for many members of lower socio-economic groups in the United States.

The Victorian Era heavily relied on a social structure that created socio-economic diversity …

Gender Pay Gap In Athletics, George Siliman

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

The pay gap is a measure of what women are paid relative to men. It is important to to minimize the gender pay gap in athletics so it can successfully help society move in forward progression and not hinder on the past. The effects on women in professional sport setting, and the overall difference between males and females in athletics all play a significant role on the fluctuated pay gap.

Women play a prominent role in athletics but the lack of compensation devalues them as competitors and athletes. In sum, I learned about the fluctuation of the pay gap between …

The Republicanization Of Evangelical Protestants In The United States: An Examination Of The Sources Of Political Realignment, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Although the association between evangelical Protestant and Republican affiliations is now a fundamental aspect of American politics, this was not the case as recently as the early 1980s. Following work on secular political realignment and the issue evolution model of partisan change, I use four decades of repeated cross-sectional survey data to examine the dynamic correlates of evangelical Protestant and Republican affiliations, and how these factors promote changes in partisanship. Results show that evangelical Protestants have become relatively more likely to attend religious services and to oppose homosexuality, abortion, and welfare spending. Period-specific mediation models show that opposition to abortion, …

Period And Cohort Changes In Americans’ Support For Marijuana Legalization: Convergence And Divergence Across Social Groups, Philip Schwadel, Christopher G. Ellison

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

We cast fresh light on how and why Americans’ views on marijuana legalization shifted between 1973 and 2014. Results from age-period-cohort models show a strong negative effect of age and relatively high levels of support for legalization among baby boom cohorts. Despite the baby boom effect, the large increase in support for marijuana legalization is predominantly a broad, period-based change in the population. Additional analyses demonstrate that differences in support for legalization by education, region, and religion decline, that differences by political party increase, and that differences between whites and African Americans reverse direction. We conclude by discussing the implications …

Changing Public Opinion Towards Lgb Rights: An Analysis Of Data From The American National Election Studies, 1992–2012, Jacob Paul Absalon

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study uses data from several waves of the American National Election Studies (ANES, 1992-2012) to examine changing attitudes regarding civil rights for Lesbian Gay Bisexual (LGB) individuals. Analyses focus on differences in attitudes toward gays and lesbians generally, attitudes regarding non-discrimination protections, and views about integration into military service during this time frame. Generally, this thesis builds on previous research in Sociology and Political Science regarding the role of status attainment characteristics, demographic markers, and ideological preferences to explain long-term trends in public opinion. Specifically, this study extends prior research by analyzing how membership in particular occupational groups has …

Transgressing Gender Normativity Through Gender Identity Development: Exploring Transgender, Non-Conforming, And Non-Binary Identities Of College Students, Enrique Tejada Iii

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study situates current gender social constructions as harmful, inhibitive, and problematic, especially for those that transgress gender boundaries and do not align with their gender assigned at birth. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to critically challenge and deconstruct the social construct of gender and its norms both within and outside of a college campus. This study works to achieve this purpose and answer research questions through careful analysis of the different gender journeys of three separate gender-diverse individuals. These participants’ stories are shared in a case-study format to recognize how each individual uniquely and personally formed their …

The Human Black Market, Gaye Gwion

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

The human black market is the exportation of humans against their will for the purpose of forced labor. The number of people being trafficked is growing by the years and there are no laws to prevent human trafficking. Most of the servants come from third world countries and end up in the United States and Canada.

The United States is the top country of destination for human trafficking. The laws that are currently present are not aiding in the prevention of human trafficking, but instead they focus on specific parts of human trafficking that are not as extreme as the …

Take A Stand For Feminism, Michaella Deladia

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

The women’s movement is a new wave of feminisim that fights for the abolishment of the harassment and hyper-sexualization of women. It’s important because in today’s society, women are constantly getting degraded compared to men. It’s time to end the prejudice and see everybody as equals. I found that it’s a growing problem but anybody can become aware and realize the issues that surround us.

I do agree with with the information that I found saying that women really can’t be considered to have obtained these equality rights until people stop demeaning them in everyday life. The push for equality …

Male Breadwinner Ideology And The Inclination To Establish Market Relationships: Model Development Using Data From Germany And A Mixed-Methods Research Strategy, Michaela Haase, Ingrid Becker, Alexander Nill, Clifford J. Shultz Ii, James W. Gentry

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

A pattern found in many marketing systems, “male breadwinning,” is contingent upon overlapping and shared ideologies, which influence the economic organization and thus the type and number of relationships in those systems. Implementing a mixed-methods research methodology, this article continues and extends previous work in macromarketing on the interplay of markets, ideology, socio-economic organization, and family. A qualitative study illuminated the main ideologies behind male breadwinning and a model was developed to advance the theoretical analysis of the phenomenon of male breadwinning. An experiment in the form of a vignette study was subsequently designed and administered. The qualitative study and …

Threat Assessment And Management In Higher Education In The United States: A Review Of The 10 Years Since The Mass Casualty Incident At Virginia Tech, Eugene R.D. Deisinger, Mario Scalora

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Copyright © 2016 American Psychological Association. Used by permission.

Urban Congolese Refugees In Kenya: The Contingencies Of Coping And Resilience In A Context Marked By Structural Vulnerability, Julie A. Tippens

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The global increase in refugee migration to urban areas creates challenges pertaining to the promotion of refugee health, broadly conceived. Despite considerable attention to trauma and forced migration, there is relatively little focus on how refugees cope with stressful situations, and on the determinants that facilitate and undermine resilience. This article examines how urban Congolese refugees in Kenya promote psychosocial well-being in the context of structural vulnerability. This article is based on interviews (N = 55) and ethnographic participant observation with Congolese refugees over a period of 8 months in Nairobi in 2014. Primary stressors related to scarcity of material …

Challenging The Political Assumption That “Guns Don’T Kill People, Crazy People Kill People!”, Heath J. Hodges, Mario Scalora

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Every time an infamous mass shooting takes place, a storm of rhetoric sweeps across this country with the fury of a wild fire. “Why are we letting these people carry guns?” “Why were they not hospitalized?” “The government needs to crack down on this issue!” What is the government’s response to these cries of concern? Politicians and the media attempt to ease public fears by drawing tenuous connections among a handful of poorly understood tragedies. The salient commonality is that these high-profile shooters had some history of mental illness. A cursory review of the Internet will paint a troubling picture …

More Than, Joslyn Maenner, Katie Knobbe, Joel Girouard, Desiree Botica, Molly Deaver, Alex Vasey, Ramon Diaz De Leon, Lucy Grant, Kyle Thompson, Adam Weisenberger

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Advertising Projects

This project was developed in response to the following challenge: create messaging to promote a more welcoming and inclusive climate on campus while branding the Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center.

Predictors Of Police Reporting Among Hispanic Immigrant Victims Of Violence, Dane Hautala, Kirk Dombrowski, Anthony Marcus

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine predictors of police reporting among Hispanic immigrant victims of violence. A sample of 127 Hispanic immigrants was generated through a chain-referral procedure in the city of Hempstead, New York. Participants were asked about their most recent victimization experiences, and detailed information was collected on up to three incidents. The analyses were based on a total of 214 separate victimization incidents, one third of which were reported to the police. Logistic regression analyses indicated that serious injury, multiple-victim incidents, and perceptions of discrimination increase the odds of a police report. Moreover, incidents involving …

Examining The Nuance In Public Opinion Of Pro-Lgb Policies In A "Red State.", Mathew Stange, Emily Kazyak

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The red-blue state and urban–rural narratives— which depict that people living in red states and rural areas oppose pro-LGB policies—are popular frames for describing variation in public opinion of LGB policies by geographic re- gion. In a test case of a red state, we examine public opinion of pro-LGB policies to assess the accuracy of the red–blue and urban–rural narratives. Using data from a survey of Nebraskans (n = 1608), we found that public opinion was more nuanced than the red state narrative allows but that urban and rural respondents reported significantly different opinions of pro- LGB policies. Rural people, …

Creatures Of Incoherence: Dissecting The Drivers, History, And Cognition Of Attitudinal Incongruence In The American Body Politic, Timothy Collins

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Most American conservatives and liberals wield contradictory political attitudes. This dissertation explores what drives this “attitudinal incongruence.” First, I define and operationalize my terminology and situate the topic within social and political psychology to formulate my central model and theory of ideologically asymmetrical application of (1) individuals’ psychological and cognitive traits, and (2) individuals’ social identity and environmental traits. This leads to the overarching hypothesis that conservatives’ incongruities are more strongly driven by internal forces, and liberals’ by external forces. The central model is then demonstrated in a broad historical overview of attitudinal incongruence in America. The central tenets of …

An Examination Of University Speech Codes’ Constitutionality And Their Impact On High-Level Discourse, Benjamin Welch

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

The First Amendment – which guarantees the right to freedom of religion, of the press, to assemble, and petition to the government for redress of grievances – is under attack at institutions of higher learning in the United States of America. Beginning in the late 1980s, universities have crafted “speech codes” or “codes of conduct” that prohibit on campus certain forms of expression that would otherwise be constitutionally guaranteed. Examples of such polices could include prohibiting “telling a joke that conveys sexism,” or “content that may negatively affect an individual’s self-esteem.” Despite the alarming number of institutions that employ such …

Parenting Behaviors, Adolescent Depressive Symptoms, And Problem Behavior: The Role Of Self-Esteem And School Adjustment Difficulties Among Chinese Adolescents, Cixin Wang, Yan Ruth Xia, Wenzhen Li, Stephan M. Wilson, Kevin Bush, Gary Peterson

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Cross-sectional data from 589 Chinese adolescents were used to investigate whether parenting behaviors are directly or indirectly (through self-esteem and school adjustment difficulties) associated with adolescent depressive symptoms and problem behavior. Structural equation modeling results showed that school adjustment difficulties fully mediated the relations between two parenting behaviors (parental punitiveness and paternal monitoring) and adolescent problem behavior and partially mediated the relation between maternal monitoring and adolescent problem behavior. Adolescent self-esteem partially mediated the relations between maternal punitiveness and adolescent depressive symptoms and fully mediated the relations between parental support and adolescent depressive symptoms. Parental love withdrawal was not significantly …

Emerging From The Shadows: Civil War, Human Rights, And Peacebuilding Among Peasants And Indigenous Peoples In Colombia And Peru In The Late 20th And Early 21st Centuries, Charles A. Flowerday

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

Peacebuilding in Colombia and Peru following their late-20^th and early 21^st century civil wars is a challenging proposition. In this study, it becomes necessary as indigenous peoples and peasants resist domination by extractive industries and governments in their thrall. Whether they protest nonviolently or rebel in arms, they are targeted for human-rights violations, especially murder, disappearance and displacement. The armed actors, state, insurgency, paramilitaries or drug traffickers, destroy civic institutions (local or regional government) and the civil (nonprofit) sector and replace them with their own authoritarian versions. Therefore, peacebuilding has emphasized rebuilding civic institutions, civil society and local …

Black Radicals And Marxist Internationalism: From The Iwma To The Fourth International, 1864–1948, Charles R. Holm

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This project investigates historical relationships between Black Radicalism and Marxist internationalism from the mid-nineteenth through the first half of the twentieth century. It argues that contrary to scholarly accounts that emphasize Marxist Euro-centrism, or that theorize the incompatibility of “Black” and “Western” radical projects, Black Radicals helped shape and produce Marxist theory and political movements, developing theoretical and organizational innovations that drew on both Black Radical and Marxist traditions of internationalism. These innovations were produced through experiences of struggle within international political movements ranging from the abolition of slavery in the nineteenth century to the early Pan-African movements and struggles …