Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

There Goes My Antihero: How Wendy Byrde Broke Bad, Melissa Vosen Callens

Heroism Science

Despite the increase of male antiheroes in popular culture, the number of female antiheroes is sparse, particularly when female characters are romantically involved with male antiheroes. There are several reasons for this disparity, partially which can be explained by affective disposition theory. First, female characters are rarely given agency and adequate backstories. Second, in order for female characters to be antiheroes, they typically must challenge gender role stereotypes, especially as they pertain to motherhood. Finally, they are often treated poorly by other characters in the series. All of these reasons have a profound effect on how audiences perceive female characters …

Using Conference Sessions As Research Settings: A Field Note, Micah Saviet, Elizabeth Ahmann

The Qualitative Report

Recruiting subjects for research studies can be challenging. Respondent time and burden may pose challenges when trying to recruit busy professionals as participants. Holding a focus group during a research-oriented conference session is a novel way to address recruitment barriers for such subjects. In this field note, we address recruiting participants by word of mouth and snowball sampling for a focus group study held during a research session about Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) coaching at a professional conference. We found that this novel approach yielded experienced participants, with a depth of perspective, who were already primed to think about important issues …

Feeling Socially Anxious At University: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Jennifer Lee, Daniel Waldeck, Andrew Holliman, Moitree Banerjee, Ian Tyndall

The Qualitative Report

For those with feelings of social anxiety, university can present unique challenges. Socially anxious students can face functional impairments such as interpersonal and academic deficits, as well as social maladjustment due to a shift in their social networks. Despite this, there is surprisingly little research exploring their experiences at university using qualitative designs. The present study set out to explore how a small sample of undergraduate students experienced feeling socially anxious at university. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight psychology undergraduates and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to explore their experiences and interpret deeper meaning. Five main themes emerged, …

Can Funded Development Projects Be Sustainable? The Case Of Limpopo Idc Nguni Cattle Development Project, Limpopo Province, South Africa, Godswill Makombe Prof

The Qualitative Report

The typical cases of funded development projects are donor-funded. One of the major problems faced by donor-funded projects is that after the withdrawal of donor funding, the projects are not sustainable. Literature has identified some of the factors that cause lack of sustainability including low stakeholder ownership and commitment, lack of understanding of community context, lack of community empowerment, leadership, technology choice, and over-ambitious objectives. I use the social constructivist approach to study the Limpopo IDC Nguni Cattle Development Project in Limpopo Province of South Africa which I got in contact with through student supervision. The project is based on …

Song Tutorial: Deep River, H.T. Burleigh, Shelby Vannordstrand

Curriculum

Instructions and an example of an assignment for Voice Pedagogy (MUS 4610 and MUS 8616).

The Relationship Between Social Media And Political Polarization Among Members Of Generation Z, Hanna Getreu

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

ABSTRACT With this study, I analyze the social media behaviors of ninety-four Generation Z Otterbein Students to evaluate the relationship between social media and political polarization. I distributed an online survey to ask about their social media practices, social media networks, and political identification to best identify aspects of political polarization present through how they used social media. Using Social Learning Theory, Social Identity Theory and Limited Effects Theory as theoretical bases for this work, I identified political polarization using three categories: hostility towards others because of politics, reinforcement of political ideology, and political identification. I find that the majority …

How To Navigate Parkinson's Disease As A Couple, Lauren Garcia, Evie Telfer

Human Development and Family Science Student Work

On the wedding day, two partners lovingly say "I do" to being a faithful spouse "in sickness and in health." As you know, fulfilling those vows is easier said than done. Navigating Parkinson's Disease (PD) as a couple will engage all of those coping skills, lessons, and more learned from challenges you've faced already. If you or your spouse has been diagnosed with PD, consider these tips for maintaining a healthy and thriving marriage.

Hdfs Spring 2022 Newsletter, Raeann Hamon

Human Development and Family Science Student Work

Annual spring newsletter created by the Human Development and Family Science Department. Student, faculty, and alumni updates.

Young Black Poets Of Baton Rouge An Ethnographic Study On The Black Poetic Perspectives, Influences, And Community Ties In Baton Rouge., Kaya Lewis

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

The Social Boot: Recollections From Another Side A Study On The Health And Belongingness Experiences Of Louisiana Residents That Have Either Served In The Us Military Or Been In The Us Prison System In Some Capacity., Ugonna Njoku

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Post-Ferguson Black Law Enforcement Work Experiences, Abigail Bowers

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Radical Listening, Action, And Reflection At The Boundaries Of Youth Violence Prevention, Laurie Ross, Roberto Diaz, Daniel Ford, Frankie Franco, Angel Guzman, Olivia Knightly, Maggie Macdonald, Eduardo Pagan, Jorge Ramos, Gabriel Rodriguez, Stacie Scott, Samuel Segal, Elizabeth Spivak, Laura V. Betts, Hank Von Hellion, Ronald Waddell

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

The purpose of this article is to make visible collaborative pedagogical and research practices that opened space for community members to be co-educators and researchers with students and a professor on a youth violence assessment. We use Third Generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as a conceptual framework to examine the learning that occurred in the boundary zone of our eight differently situated organizations. As we demonstrate through the inclusion of boundary dialogue excerpts, this process generated more authentic understandings of why racial inequity has persisted in youth violence outcomes. The assessment questions we asked, the key informants we engaged, …

Exploring The Educational Impact Of Academic Field Trips Over Time, Tara Parrello, Colby L. Valentine

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

Experiential learning can be in the form of internships, field trips, service learning, and research projects. The practical nature of criminal justice is a logical fit for experience-based learning. Specifically, academic field trips may be viewed as examples of short-term experiential education. However, do experiential learning trips have an academic impact over time? Using survey data, the current study examines if students acquire and retain knowledge after a prison tour of Eastern State Penitentiary. Pre- and post-tour surveys of student learning outcomes showed a statistically significant gain between the pre- and post-tour survey results. A follow-up survey explored if students …

Response To A Shooting: Supporting A Community’S Steps Forward, Ady Dewey

Strategic Public Relations Projects

On February 1, 2022, two security officers were killed by a gunman on the Bridgewater College campus. Our peaceful community was rocked by heartbreak. The fear, trauma, and grief of that day and the days—and months—to follow were uncharted and challenging in as many different ways as there were individuals impacted.

When the Strategic Public Relations (COMM 347) met for the first time when classes resumed a week later, after processing together their feelings and reactions to the day, they determined that they wanted to do something to help in the healing. They identified two needs: encouraging self-care and promoting …

Making Forests, Making Communities: An Ethnography Of Reforestation In Monteverde, Costa Rica, Megan Brown

Anthropology Theses and Dissertations

Reforestation is not just planting trees in the ground. More than net increase in forest cover, reforestation is a complex political endeavor undertaken by both humans and non-humans and a popular climate change mitigation tactic. However, little research has examined the dynamics between selection of specific reforestation strategies, health, and community resilience, particularly with attention to entanglements between the lives of both human and non-human forest dwellers. This ethnographic work, based on six months of in-person fieldwork and six months of digital ethnography, examines reforestation and forest relations in Costa Rica’s Monte Verde zone, a region which experienced widespread deforestation, …

Does Diversity Matter? Police Violence, Minority Representation, And Urban Policing, Maddy Mcvaugh

PPPA Paper Prize

This paper argues that, while increasing officer diversity may prove beneficial to some urban departments, for the majority, increased diversity within law enforcement does not substantially decrease the amount of violence towards racial minorities due to police culture and institutional practices. Specifically, I examine how structural policing methods target and excessively monitor Black and Hispanic communities, which leads to increased police encounters. Through police culture, these increased encounters then create further opportunities for acts of violence to be used against these minority communities. I begin by discussing several claims regarding the value of increased officer diversity. I then discuss why …

An Exploration Of Online Sex Work, Olivia Haffey, Carolyn Miller, Emily Isbell

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Sex work is deemed one of the world’s most ancient professions, but it has undergone substantial changes within even the last 20 years (Kipling 1888; Jones 2015; Sanders, Connelly and King 2016). The emergence of the Internet has shifted the work locations of sex work from saunas, brothels, and street work to online platforms as well as the use of the Internet as a mediator for in-person sex work (Jones 2015; Jonsson, Sveden and Hyden 2014). This migration in the nature of sex work has changed its delivery and interaction for both workers and clients. The appeals of online sex …

Two Mothers, One Grandmother: Intergenerational Ambivalence In Heterosexual Mother‑Lbq Daughter Relationships, Emily Kazyak, Rosalind D. Kichler, Jess Morrow, Eliza Thor

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Using the theoretical framing of structural ambivalence, which points to how competing cultural norms can cause conflict in family relationships, this paper asks: how does the transition to parenthood affect the intergenerational family relationship between LBQ adult women and their heterosexual mothers? Analyzing qualitative data from interviews with three adult child-parent dyads, we discuss how two cultural norms manifest in these relationships: pronatalism, or the privileging of procreation and heteronormativity, or the privileging of heterosexuality. In some ways, the intergenerational family relationship is strengthened as both LGB daughters and their heterosexual mothers express that the grandchild resulted in their becoming …

Interrogating Race And Place-Based Inequities In Hiv And Covid-19, Rohan Khazanchi

EMET Projects

Over the last four years, I have developed a research focus examining the intersections of race, place, and health. My M.D. Honors Thesis reflects a snapshot of these efforts. In this collection of brief research reports, I leverage area-based measures to investigate structural inequities in three contexts: the HIV epidemic in our hyperlocal community, the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, and clinical trials for novel COVID-19 therapeutics. I apply novel social epidemiologic tools to measure and explore disparate outcomes. And, in reflecting upon my findings, I discuss concrete implications for clinicians, researchers, and policymakers alike.

Chapter 1: Neighborhood-Level Deprivation …

Tacoma And Health? An Honors Capstone Project Exploring The Social Stratification Impacts On The Health And Well-Being Of Tacoma Communities, Natalie Miller

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Social stratification, with its impacts on people and society, isn’t a new concept for me. But due to the extractive methods of the higher education system, it has been a struggle in most of my classes to do Tacoma-based research rather than focusing on Bellingham. So throughout this quarter, I have been working to connect the broader themes I’ve learned about social stratification with Tacoma-specific research. This project is in the form of an illustrated book which explores the various effects of social stratification on the health and well-being of Tacoma communities. Throughout this paper, I will show some of …

“Yo También Puedo” - Una Investigación De Pensamientos Y Opiniones Sobre Redes De Apoyo Y Historia De Violencia Intrafamiliar Contra Mujeres Mapuches Rurales, Shira A. Lyss-Loren

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper is an exploration of the rural Mapuche women’s opinions and history of intrafamilial violence. Through small group personal interviews this study seeks to consider the multiple lived experiences and opinions of rural Mapuche women as it relates to intrafamilial violence against women and the social and government support systems available to both prevent it and support victims. Intention of this investigation was not to seek out personal stories of violence, instead focusing on community-wide held perceptions, opinions, and beliefs about where violence in their community comes from, how its perpetrated, and how it is responded to or prevented. …

The Battle For The Sea: Tourism Development And Public Ocean Access In Jambiani, Zanzibar, Sophie Beauchesne

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The battle for coastal access is a prevalent and controversial issue in both the Global North and the Global South (Mongeau, 2001; Ojo, 2013). Due to investment in coastal land, vulnerable communities around the world are losing their access to the sea (Ojo, 2013; Bennett, Govan & Satterfield, 2015). Battles for ocean access in the Global North tend to focus on recreational activities, but what is to be said about ocean access in the Global South, where access to the sea is needed for the survival of entire communities? (Mongeau, 2001;). Using geographical mapping, environmental condition assessments and open-ended interviews …

Denmark And Sweden: The Collision Between Welfare State Politics And Immigration, Amy Elizabeth Cantrell

Student Publications

The Scandinavian welfare states of Denmark and Sweden have famously similar socio-political and cultural systems, ones which have advanced the common perception of these nations as united in a common humanitarian and progressive global position. However there exists a significant divergence within either nation’s approach to immigration, asylum and integration policy, one indicative of the deeply ingrained deviations in popular understandings of national belonging and perspectives on greater European and global integration. By contextualizing the historical progressions of either nation and juxtaposing their individual responses to both the 2015 European refugee crisis and the contemporary Ukrainian conflict and resulting refugee …

Occurrence And Ecosystem Effects Of Hiking Off-Trail In Michaux State Forest, Diana Biesecker, Quinn Doherty, Kevin S. Ganjon

Student Publications

American public lands provide significant outdoor recreational opportunities that enhance an individual's physical and mental well-being. Hiking is an example of a highly accessible and affordable recreational activity that is popular and easy for people to engage in no matter how experienced they are. While hiking has improved the well-being of many individuals, its impacts on local ecosystems are often disregarded. For our research, we focused on the impacts that hikers deviating off-trail may have on a local ecosystem in Michaux State Forest in Southern Pennsylvania. Through partnering with the foresters at Michaux State Forest and using AllTrails data, we …

The Religious Lexicon Embedded In Public American Curricula, Daniel R. Jones

Student Publications

What is the relationship between one's own religious beliefs and their everyday colloquial diction choices? Moreover, why is the subfield that encompasses the intersection of sociolinguistics, education, and religious studies one that has gained little scholarly interest in recent years, where one could argue the importance of religious belief, and other socio-political beliefs in education have come center stage in the heart of American political debate? This article will tackle this broad range of topics through a case study focusing on my primary research question: How does a teacher’s own religious identity affect the religious language utilized in their classroom …

Plague! Public Health, Community Memory, And Hiv/Aids, Aidan M. Williams

Sociology Honors Projects

How does individual trauma influence collective memory? Within queer communities, key social institutions are responsible for communalizing experiences of suffering, forming group narratives of trauma that are shared across vast spatial and generational gaps. These narratives continue to influence individual behavior years after the initial trauma, informing ideas of collective identity within the queer community. In my analysis of 10 interviews, I examined how experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic were influenced by understandings of HIV/AIDS. My interviewees were self-identified members of the queer community spanning many age groups; some of my participants were old enough to remember the height of …

College Students’ Opinions On Climate Change: Do Political Views Matter?, Aileen Hull

Honors Theses

Climate change is an ever-impending crisis and the politics surrounding the issue are as contentious as ever, especially in the United States where the political culture is extremely polarized. The polarization of the political parties in the United States makes any environmental policy extremely difficult to pass. Meanwhile, the new generation of young people entering the workforce, voting scene, and public eye are bringing new demands to current climate debates. Youth make up a large share of environmental activism participants and opinion polls show climate change is on the minds of many young people. However, there is a lack of …

College Student Empowerment And Impact Through Community Mentoring: An Evaluation Of Strong Women, Strong Girls, Amanda Moser-Shick

Community Engagement Student Work

The contributions made by college students as volunteer mentors are incredibly valuable in building our communities; and it is equally valuable to recognize the outcomes experienced by college students through such experiences. This experience positions college student mentors as learners and leaders, and examination of such roles must consider such complexity. This paper examines the outcomes experienced by college student mentors through the nonprofit organization Strong Women, Strong Girls (SWSG). A mixed methods program evaluation was completed that utilized secondary data from SWSG to examine outcomes experienced by the college student program participants. The three key evaluation questions were: (1) …

Exploring Masculinity And Self-Compassion, Sarelle Creesy

Community Engagement Student Work

This workshop taught self-compassion as a tool to mitigate effects of toxic masculinity on male youth. Males ages 16-26 were given a definition of toxic masculinity and reviewed how expectations of it are taught and reinforced through Harro’s Cycle of Socialization (2010). They then learned about Kristin Neff’s theory of self-compassion. Participants then reflected on one instance of toxic masculinity that they had faced before, either as a perpetrator or a victim of it, using one chosen element of self-compassion. One key finding included 100% of participants agreeing they could see themselves using self-compassion when facing pressures of masculinity. In …

Mapping The Road Ahead - Charting A Passion Filled Next Chapter, Jennifer Cordes

Community Engagement Student Work

Mature adults are reimagining retirement, seeking encore careers filled with passion and mission. Simultaneously, nonprofits are struggling to attract and retain talent while battling large scale social issues. Our country faces a social justice opportunity to make positive change in our communities by guiding encore career individuals into the social sector. This capstone project creates a toolkit filled with skills and assessments to uncover transferable skills individuals can utilize in their next career. The toolkit was created on a Google Me platform and reviewed by five human resource professionals to assess its utility when mapping an individual's next chapter. The …