Family, Life Course, and Society Commons^™

You Are Your Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams: A Journey Beyond The Lens Blueprinting The Influence And Impact Of Media And Podcast Pedagogy On Black And Brown Creatives In Higher Education And Beyond, Diamond N. Morgan Dr.

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

Explores the influence and impact of media and podcast pedagogy on Black and Brown creatives (BBC) in higher education. Grounded in Critical Race Theory (CRT), the Black Creative Educational Experience (BCEEs) framework, and the conceptual lenses of sociological and public podcasting, this study examines how podcasting functions as a transformative pedagogical and sociocultural tool for storytelling, identity development, creative expression, and community building within collegiate environments. Utilizing a convergent parallel mixed methods design, the study integrates quantitative survey data from 65 participants with qualitative focus group discussions to provide a holistic understanding of participant experiences across personal, professional, academic, social, …

We’Re The Aunties Now: Intersections Of Mourning Practices, Intergenerational Trauma, And Matrilineal Responsibility In Oneida Life, Marena Bridges

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation examines how Oneida and broader Haudenosaunee mourning practices, as I have lived and understood them, shape grief, healing, and matrilineal responsibility in my family. Using Indigenous autoethnography and storywork, I first present a crafted narrative, then return to that narrative through reflexive thematic analysis. The analysis identifies patterned meanings in how grief is structured, shared, and carried across closely stacked deaths in the maternal line. Mourning practices function as community infrastructure that organizes time, redistributes labor, transmits knowledge, and sustains continuing bonds with the dead. At the same time, repeated loss produces a form of matriarchal ascension, concentrating …

The Phenomenon Of Church Growth Through Authenticity: How African American Gen Z Christians Are Sharing The Gospel Of Jesus Christ Without The Program Structure Of The Black Baptist Church, Devin E. West

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation examines the perspectives of Black Generation Z Christians regarding factors within the Black Baptist church that may limit their full engagement. In this study, the Black Baptist church refers to congregations with predominantly Black membership led by Black pastors. Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012, is forming its religious identity within a rapidly changing cultural and institutional environment. Historically, the Black Church has served as a central institution in African American communities, functioning as a place of worship as well as a source of social support, leadership development, identity formation, and justice advocacy (Lincoln & Mamiya, 1990). …

Between Self, Family, And Becoming: Mindfulness And The Transition Experiences Of Latinx Clinical Counseling Graduate Students, Orlando R. Alvarez

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Latinx graduate students transitioning into their first semester of clinical counseling master’s programs often navigate substantial challenges as they embark on their academic journeys. While transitions into any new role can be difficult, the changes that accompany the beginning of a graduate program have been associated with increased role and identity strain, anxiety, depression, and feelings of fraudulence and imposterism, negatively impacting student success, performance, and attrition rates (Halladay et al., 2019; Murphy, 2021; Vidic & Cherup, 2019). Although mindfulness practices provide benefits for graduate student wellbeing, there is no current scholarship that has examined how mindfulness practices support Latinx …

Generation Z: Black Male Constructions Of Masculinity And Provider Roles In Heterosexual Marriages, Bentley Stafford Hylton

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study explores how expectations associated with the male provider role identity impact the psychological well-being of Black American Generation Z (“Gen Z”) men. Using a qualitative design, approximately 20 participants were surveyed to examine how efforts to meet provider role expectations influence well-being, as well as how Gen Z Black men construct and define masculinity within contemporary sociocultural contexts. While prior research has examined Black masculinity, limited attention has been given to its intersection with provider role expectations, particularly among emerging adults. Historically, messages about masculinity and marital roles have been transmitted through community institutions, leadership, and cultural narratives; …

More Than Surviving: Brazilian Immigrants' Stories Of Growth And Wellbeing In The United States, Virginia Veronica Lemos

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Immigration in the United States is often conceptualized within clinical psychology through deficit-oriented frameworks that emphasize risk, trauma, and psychological distress. While this work is essential for documenting vulnerability and inequity, it offers limited guidance for understanding how immigrants sustain wellbeing and meaning amid ongoing sociopolitical and institutional constraints. Brazilian immigrants represent a large and growing population in the US whose experiences remain comparatively understudied, particularly from strengths-based and interpretive perspectives. To address this gap, this qualitative study explores how Brazilian immigrants make sense of immigration and wellbeing through the narratives they construct about their lives in the US. Grounded …

Adverse Childhood Experiences Of Individuals Charged Or Convicted Of Homicide In Their Youth, Marcus Krodel

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) represent a collection of distressful events occurring during childhood and have been shown to have a negative impact on future functioning. ACEs were utilized in the current study to increase our understanding of a unique population among court-involved individuals: juveniles charged or convicted of homicide. Court decisions have established that juveniles convicted of homicide are both distinct from their adult counterparts and present with dissimilar risk and protective factors. The current study explored a sample of 66 individuals who were charged or convicted of homicide while in their youth. Each participant was retroactively assigned an ACEs …

Beauty Isn't Always Better: How Salesperson Attractiveness Affects Consumers' Approach Behaviors, Veronica L. Thomas, Stephanie M. Mangus, Dora E. Bock

Marketing Faculty Publications

This research examines how a consumer's committed romantic relationship influences their decision to approach an attractive salesperson in a retail environment. To date, the majority of research espouses the benefits of salesperson attractiveness in enhancing consumers' perceptions of the salesperson and the represented retailer. This is problematic because it creates a managerial bias toward attractive salespeople and, as we propose, provides an incomplete view of the effect of salesperson attractiveness on consumers' behavior. Drawing on the interpersonal relationship literature on commitment, we propose that consumers in committed relationships activate relationship-maintenance motives that override the beauty bias when a salesperson's attractiveness …

Out-Group And In-Group Relational Trust In Group Coaching With First-Grade Teachers: A Single Case Study, Jentry S. Barrett, Rachel E. Schachter, Jungwon Eum, Gwen Nugent, Kathleen M. Rudasill

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

Coaching has become a prominent professional learning tool for helping early childhood teachers (birth–8) implement curriculum and research-based practices in their classrooms. One coaching strategy that supports positive changes in teacher practice and child outcomes is building trust between the coach and teacher(s). However, there is limited understanding of the nature of trust-building in coaching, particularly in group coaching configurations. There are two types of trust to consider in the context of group coaching: out-group trust between an outside coach and the teachers, and in-group trust between the teachers experiencing coaching who already have a relationship. This case study aimed …

Intergroup Relationship Attitudes Among Multicultural Adolescents In South Korea: Friendship, Dating, And Marriage, Jeewoo Shin

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This dissertation asks how multicultural adolescents in South Korea develop their attitudes toward crossing group boundaries in social and intimate life—whom they would accept as a close friend, a romantic partner, and a spouse—and what factors shape these attitudes. Korea’s immigrant population has grown more than seventyfold since 1990, largely through marriage migration, and the children of those unions are now reaching adulthood. Research on these adolescents has focused on how well they adjust, leaving open how they themselves come to view relationships across group lines.

Using eight annual waves of the Multicultural Adolescent Panel Study (N = 1,112), which …

Fishing For Father Relationships: Motivations, Successes, And Barriers To Participating In A Community-Based Program, Jordan A. Arellanes, Kyle Miller, Travis Hicks, Ryan J.S. Liew, Earl Kloppmann

Faculty Publications – Psychology

Fathers who participate in community programs experience a range of positive outcomes, including improved relationships with their children. However, many community programs struggle to gain fathers’ attendance at local events. To counteract this, we utilized Community-Based Action Research in collaboration with local and state agencies to develop a father-specific community program that capitalized on the traditionally masculine parenting activity of fishing. The program educated families on the basics of fishing and then provided them with all the necessary materials. Over the course of three years of data collection, 48 fathers participated in interviews, designed to gain a deeper understanding of …

“I Know How To Identify And Communicate My Needs”: A Qualitative Study Of The Self-Perceived Strengths Of People In Polyamorous Relationships, Alexander K. Tatum, Sharon M. Flicker, Nawar Albarak, Jessi M. Schroeder, Ash Moomaw, Idil Ugurluoglu, Alex Whitman, Alysse Wiggins, Danielle Davis, Robyn Fisher

Faculty Publications – Psychology

Little empirical research has adopted a strength-based approach to examine strategies that help offset challenges (e.g., discrimination, internalized stigma) faced by people in polyamorous relationships. The current qualitative study assessed the self-perceived strengths of 63 US-based, adult participants who reported present or former engagement in at least one polyamorous relationship. Participants' responded to the open-ended question, “What particular characteristics do you have that help you navigate the challenges of polyamory?” A thematic analysis identified strengths across eight broad themes: personality traits, a willingness to challenge mononormative socialization, ability to manage difficult emotions, experiencing compersion and/or low levels of/well-managed jealousy, strong …

Science Sojourners: The (Un)Making Of Women Scientists From China To America, Jane Jia-Yin Wang

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Science is often imagined as a borderless profession in which knowledge, careers, and talent circulate freely across national boundaries. Yet scientific careers remain embedded within institutions that correspond to immigration regimes, geopolitical tensions, and unequal social structures. Drawing on 32 in-depth interviews with early-career Chinese women scientists trained in the U.S., this dissertation examines how globally mobile scientists navigate decisions about careers, migration, and everyday life between China and the U.S.

Rather than treating migration as a series of discrete decisions driven by labor markets or state policies, this dissertation argues that career and life orientations are fundamentally intertwined through …

The Effect Of Paternal Engagement On The Sexual Self-Concept Of Black Female Adolescents, Amelia Flynn

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Black women in the U.S. continue to experience disproportionately high rates of unintended pregnancies, with a 64% rate reported in 2011 (Finer & Zolna, 2016). Positive sexual self-concept (SSC) is linked to healthier sexual behaviors, yet research on SSC development has largely overlooked the role of fathers and systemic influences, particularly within Black families. Grounded in an ecological framework, this study examines the impact of father-daughter engagement on SSC among Black female adolescents, considering paternal residential status and socioeconomic class as key contextual factors. The study revealed that when middle class father-daughter engagement is high, daughters’ sexual self-esteem is lower. …

"If I Knew Then What I Know Now": Analyzing Online Narratives Of Regretful Parents, Marina Binti Mohd Hamdan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This exploratory study seeks to understand the extent to which parenthood affects individual self-actualization by identifying the trade-offs, compromises, and sacrifices that parents make within the context of family life. Using a thematic analysis of 221 archived posts from the Reddit community r/regretfulparents, this study examines how social pressures surrounding parenthood may be related to experiences of parental regret. Specifically, it identifies two domains: pressures to be parents, including social norms, familial coercion, and interpersonal conflict, and pressures of parenting, including issues of labor, number of children, and challenging children. Across these domains, this study explores how tensions between personal …

Accessing Campus Mental Health Services In A Nigerian Southwestern University: Barriers To Academic Success, Caroline Dada

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mental health disorders are a significant health concern among higher education institutions in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria. A substantial treatment gap exists in the Nigerian healthcare system, and this gap is further worsened by cultural and religious barriers, which reinforce stigma that discourages students from seeking professional help. This qualitative narrative inquiry explored the barriers students encountered when accessing mental health services at a university in Southwestern Nigeria, to increase service access. Qualitative semistructured interviews were conducted with seven professional mental health providers at a university counseling center between March and April 2025. Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify …

“Do We Play By The Same Rules?”: Exploring The Involvement Of The Magic Circle In Navigating Relationships In Popular Multiplayer Video Games, Nathan Toshihiro A. Villanueva, Julianne Margaret M. Lao, Thea Juliana Alvarez Jocom, Liezl R. Astudillo

Sinaya: A Philippine Journal for Senior High School Teachers and Students

Just like leveling up in a game, dating has transcended the physical world into the realm of multiplayer games where individuals are able to communicate and interact with one another within the virtual third space, the magic circle–the boundary that separates life from play. Within these immersive environments, players create shared experiences that often extend beyond the screen, blurring the line between in-game interactions and real-life emotions. This blurring can lead to emotional spillovers and identity challenges as players navigate the complexities of digital intimacy in world and relationship formation. To define the fluidity of the magic circle, the study …

“Blessings Or Burdens”: Perceived Values And Disvalues Of Children Among Married Filipino Millennials, Althea Jeanne S. Asuncion, Martin Oliver G. Cabalona, Elijah De Guzman, Randelle Kirsten Hipolito, Stella P. Go

Sinaya: A Philippine Journal for Senior High School Teachers and Students

Children are perceived to carry meanings that either enrich or burden the lives of their parents, but limited studies have examined the perceived values and disvalues of children in the contemporary Filipino context. To address this gap, a survey was conducted among a hundred married Filipino millennials recruited through various social media platforms. The study investigated whether there were significant differences in child-related values and disvalues based on marital role (husbands or wives), parental status (with or without children), and parenting efficacy (moderate or high). Hotelling’s T2 results revealed no significant differences between husbands and wives in their combined scores …

Student Loan Debt And Higher Education Disruptions During Covid-19, Arielle Kuperberg, Danny Turkson, Joan Maya Mazelis, Katherine Fredricks, Anurag Pant

Journal of Student Financial Aid

We collected and analyzed a survey of 1,018 undergraduate students enrolled at a public regional university in Spring 2021, examining pandemic disruptions to education, living situations, and finances in the first year of the pandemic, and their relationship to loan presence and reports of taking out more loans as a result of the pandemic. Over half of students had student loans, and over one-third of them reported that they increased loan debt due to the pandemic. Results revealed pandemic-related academic and financial disruptions increased student debt for some. Students with loans were also more likely to have moved out of …

Flowers Of Petra: The Identification Of Floral Motifs On Nabataean Painted Fine Wares, Jacob Samuel Blood

Theses and Dissertations

The Nabataeans are notable for their eggshell-thin fine ware pottery on which they often painted plant motifs. Since the discovery of these painted fine wares, several archaeologists have attempted to identify some of the plants depicted on the vessels. However, these attempts have often been incidental and not explicitly systematic. The purpose of this study is to apply the principles of plant taxonomy to identify eleven flower motifs that are depicted on Nabataean fine wares and to then determine what significance these flowers held for the Nabataeans. By using the principles of plant taxonomy, this thesis was able to confidently …