Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Habitat Stronghold On The Precipice: A Call‐To‐Action For Supporting Lemur Conservation In Northeast Madagascar, Timothy M. Eppley, Cortni Borgerson, Natalie Vasey, Multiple Additional Authors

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The northeast of Madagascar is as diverse as it is threatened. The area bordering the Analanjirofo and SAVA regions contains six protected areas and at least 22 lemur species. Many applied research and conservation programs have been established in the region with the aim of ensuring both wildlife and people thrive in the long term. While most of the remaining humid evergreen forest of northeast Madagascar is formally protected, the local human population depends heavily on the land, and unsustainable natural resource use threatens this biodiversity hotspot. Drawing from our collective experiences managing conservation activities and research programs in northeast …

Evaluating Differences Between Ground-Based And Satellite-Derived Measurements Of Urban Heat: The Role Of Land Cover Classes In Portland, Oregon And Washington, D.C., Vivek Shandas, Yasuyo Makido, Aakash Nath Upraity

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The distinction between satellite-based land surface temperature (LST) and air temperature has become an increasingly important part of managing urban heat islands. While the preponderance of urban heat research relies on LST, the emergence of a growing infrastructure of publicly available consumer oriented, ground-based sensor networks has offered an alternative for characterizing microscale differences in temperatures. Recent evidence suggests large differences between LST and air temperatures, yet discerning the reason for these differences between satellite-derived measurements of urban heat islands (UHI) and ground-based measurements of air temperature remains largely unresolved. In this study, we draw on an unusually robust and …

Does Structural Racism Influence How Black/African Americans Define Memory Loss And Cognitive Impairment? An Africana Phenomenological Study, Andre Pruitt

Dissertations and Theses

With the variety of research about dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD), few studies have explored the effect of social structures, such as racism, on how Black/African Americans conceptualize memory loss, dementia, or AD. Furthermore, limited within the scholarship are the environmental factors and structural racism that are thought to influence cognitive impairments and meaning making about cognitive decline impacting Black/African Americans.

Most U.S. research centers on methodologies and epistemologies grounded in Eurocentric ways of knowing (objectivity, individuality, either/or logic). However, Eurocentric methodologies fail to acknowledge the cultural experiences with memory loss, cognitive impairment, dementia, and AD, as well as the …

Webinar: Improving Recreational Trail Accessibility With A Volcanic Ash Treatment, Charles Riley, Ashton Greer

TREC Webinar Series

Recreational trails serve as valuable transportation corridors and support the health of users. Wheelchair accessibility of recreational trails depends on a variety of conditions, including slope, cross-slope, and surface characteristics. This project focused on improving the firmness and stability of a 0.2-mile section of trail that was otherwise accessible. The existing trail surface consisted of loose ¼” off-specification aggregate on native soil. A volcanic ash-Portland cement binder, studied in prior research, was batched, distributed, mixed, wetted, and compacted on site to improve the firmness and stability of the surface resulting in a smoother surface with less rolling resistance. The webinar …

Legal Geographies, Caroline Griffith, Sarah Klosterkamp, Alida Cantor, Austin Kocher

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

This encyclopedia entry defines and discusses legal geography. Legal geography is an interdisciplinary area of scholarship that focuses on the intersections and co-constitution between law and space and place: that is, how law and legal processes produce space/place, and how particular places in turn influence law. Rather than thinking of law as an abstract, universal, a-spatial set of rules, legal geography examines the ways in which law is situated in place, and how places are shaped by legal practices and processes.

Transportation Safety Culture: Where We Are And What It Means, Tara Beth Goddard

PSU Transportation Seminars

Like any healthy professional community, the transportation safety community is not homogenous or without constructive conflict. The increased attention on systems thinking – most commonly known, if not necessarily well understood, under the “Vision Zero” approach – has sparked debate among engineers, planners, academics, public health professionals, advocates, and others about where our attention should be focused to reduce the epidemic of traffic violence. The built environment? Drivers? Engineers and planners? Car culture? What IS car culture? Dr. Goddard brings together her research conducted with colleagues on police crash reporting processes, NHTSA crash investigations, attitudes and effects of the language …

Defining Dementia-Friendly Communities From The Perspective Of Those Affected, Iris Alexandra Wernher

Dissertations and Theses

More and more communities across the globe are pledging to become more "dementia friendly," yet many initiatives lack direction as to what this pledge might entail. The intent of this qualitative study, conducted in the metropolitan area of Portland and several other cities in Oregon, was to better understand how communities can increase their dementia friendliness – from the perspective of people living with dementia and their care partners. The study further aimed to clarify if and how age- and dementia-friendly efforts can be integrated.

Twenty-five community-dwelling individuals living with dementia and their 25 informal carers participated separately in semi-structured …

Understanding Backlash To Women's Rights Campaigns In Malawian Society With Lindsay Benstead, Lindsay J. Benstead

PDXPLORES Podcast

In this episode of PDXPLORES, Lindsay J. Benstead, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Middle East Studies Center (MESC) at Portland State University discusses her recent publication, Explaining Backlash: Social Hierarchy and Men’s Rejection of Women’s Rights Reforms. Benstead draws on social position theory to explore the resistance of empowered groups to social reform and women’s empowerment, and how messaging campaigns intended to advance gender sensitive policies increase adverse reactions in society.

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Words And Diagrams About Rosenstock-Huessy’S Cross Of Reality, Martin Zwick

Systems Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper is a systems theoretic examination of Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy’s “cross of reality,” a structure that fuses a spatial dyad of inner-outer and a temporal dyad of past-future into a space-time tetrad. This structure is compatible not only with the "human-centered" point of view that Rosenstock-Huessy favours, but also with the "world-centered" point of view inherent in science. The structure, based in his analysis of speech, is applied by him to a wide variety of individual and collective human phenomena, including language, religion, and social critique. To appropriate terminology used by physicists, the cross of reality could be viewed as …

The China Balloon Incident: The Drama Within The Drama, Mel Gurtov

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The recent China Balloon Incident has all the appearance of high drama, though the heat is mainly provided by domestic politics rather than a strategic face-off of the U-2 or Cuba Missile Crisis variety. This is a drama in three acts. In Act 1, “Discovery”, the Biden administration went into action mode on finding that a Chinese “spy” balloon had crossed the US. An air force jet shot the balloon down, displaying Cold War-style toughness with China. In Act 2, “Evaluation”, new facts emerged that shed further light on the episode. Act 3, “Blaming”, involves mutual recriminations that obscure the …

Do Program Practices Matter For Mentors?: How Implementation Of Empirically Supported Program Practices Is Associated With Youth Mentoring Relationship Quality, Thomas E. Keller, Alison L. Drew, Carla Herrera, Hyuny Clark-Shim, Renée Spencer

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study investigates how the implementation of program-level practices by formal youth mentoring programs is associated with the quality of youth mentoring relationships as contexts for youth development and also examines whether this connection is mediated by the mentor-staff working alliance. Using data from mentors (n = 542) participating in multiple programs (n = 55), multilevel path models examined hypothesized direct and mediated effects. Parallel analyses were conducted with assessments of program practices from staff (n = 219). Greater exposure to program practices was associated with higher ratings of mentoring relationship satisfaction, commitment, and security and lower …

Wage And Cost Study Of Oregon Assisted Living And Residential Care Providers, 2022, Ozcan Tunalilar, Sarah Dys, Paula Carder, Diana Jacoby

Institute on Aging Publications

Senate Bill 703 directed Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) to conduct a study of licensed residential care (RCF) and assisted living (ALF) facilities, including those with a memory care (MC) endorsement, to evaluate: a) Total cost to provide care to residents, b) the sufficiency of the Medicaid reimbursement paid to facilities to meet the total cost of care, and c) the average compensation paid to direct care workers by the facilities by geographic region. ODHS contracted with the Institute on Aging (IOA) at Portland State University (PSU) to conduct a study to achieve these three objectives. In the fall …

Older Adults In Action: Using Action Research To Address Neighborhood Change, Amie Thurber

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Older adults face distinct challenges amidst changing neighborhood conditions, yet also bring distinct resources to aid their communities. After considering the literature related to well-being in older adulthood, the effects of neighborhood change on older adults, and older adults and social action, this paper explores the experiences of older adults in the Neighborhood Story Project. This action research project engages a group of neighbors to identify a set of research questions about their community, conduct place-based inquiry, and take action based on their learning. This study considers the degree to which the Neighborhood Story Project constitutes a macro therapeutic intervention. …

Racial Politics In The Contemporary Prison Society: The Importance Of Race And Ethnicity To Prison Social Organization, Arynn A. Infante, Stephanie J. Morse, Chantal Fahmy, Kevin A. Wright

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Prior research documents race and ethnicity as central to how individuals navigate the social and physical space of prisons. Racial segregation persists as a feature of prison life, and in navigating this racialized structure, racial groups construct and enforce a set of racialized norms to govern behavior (i.e., the “racial code”) that reinforce and reify prison racial politics. These processes, however, have remained largely descriptive in nature. Using data from a sample of incarcerated men in Arizona prisons (N = 251), this article extends prior work by operationalizing the concept of the racial code, assessing its dimensionality, distinguishing it from …

"The Call Is Coming From Inside The House": Tracing Experiences In The Institutionally-Centered Process Of Establishing Limited Conservatorships In California, Barbara Alison Imle

Dissertations and Theses

In this institutional ethnography, multiple methods are used to explore California’s process of establishing limited conservatorships, which are legal proceedings that limit or terminate civil rights of people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD). This research uses observations of 93 conservatorship hearings, 16 interviews with people involved in the conservatorship process, and an analysis of over 40 documents related to these legal proceedings. These data are used to answer two questions: 1) what is the process of establishing a limited conservatorship in California; and 2) how is this process experienced by those involved?

Findings break down a complex process and …

Factors Affecting Community Rating System Participation In The National Flood Insurance Program: A Case Study Of Texas, Ryan David Eddings

Dissertations and Theses

Since the 1960s, the frequency and cost of floods have, on average, increased in the United States. Concurrent with this increase in flood losses has been an increase in flood insurance claims paid out by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The existing literature shows that participation in the NFIP's Community Rating System (CRS) program successfully lowered flood losses and NFIP insurance claims in the participating communities. In spite of these successes, community participation in the CRS is low and the NFIP is currently more than $20 billion in debt. By identifying factors predicting participation and related barriers to entry …

Why So Serious? Using The Belongingness Need Tenet From The Self-Determination Theory To Examine Workplace Humor And Its Outcomes, Katharine Lucille Mcmahon

Dissertations and Theses

The small body of literature for workplace humor remains fragmented due to the lack of coherence in conceptualization and theory. Furthermore, the distinction between positive and negative humor adds complexity to predicting the outcomes of humor. Focusing on the foundation aspect of humor as a form of social play provides guidance on choosing a theory-informed integrative framework that could explain the implications of humor in the workplace. The belongingness need tenet of the self-determination theory offers a promising framework to synthesize existing research and to direct future studies. Paper 1 reviews the literature and concludes with an integrative framework suggesting …

Disability Severity, Professional Isolation Perceptions, And Career Outcomes: When Does Leader–Member Exchange Quality Matter?, Brent J. Lyons, David C. Baldridge, Liu-Qin Yang, Camellia Bryan

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Employees with disability-related communication impairment often experience isolation from professional connections that can negatively affect their careers. Management research suggests that having lower quality leader relationships can be an obstacle to the development of professional connections for employees with disabilities. However, in this paper we suggest that lower quality leader–member exchange (LMX) relationships may not be a uniform hurdle for the professional isolation of employees with disability-related communication impairment. Drawing on psychological disengagement theory, we predict that employees with more severe, rather than less severe, communication impairment develop resilience to challenges in lower quality LMX relationships by psychologically disengaging from …

Building A Humanities-Focused Creative Industries Minor At Portland State University, Kathi Inman Berens

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

"Building a Humanities-Centered Creative Industries Minor at Portland State University" is a presentation made by Kathi Inman Berens representing collective work by Berens, Dr. Rachel Noorda and Dr. Susan Kirtley (all of Portland State; see slide 2). Identifies opportunities for a humanities-focused minor in creative industries instruction in the U.S., using Ooligan Press of the PSU Book Publishing Master's program as a curricular model of experiential learning.

Risk Analysis For Asset Protection In Hoyt Arboretum, Portland, Or, Nathan Kossnar

Masters in GIS Practicum Reports

In order to fulfill Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ) certification obligations to the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), this project delineated areas within Hoyt Arboretum where tree hazards have the potential to fall on important infrastructure and areas of frequent use. The project utilized Metro’s RLIS lidar data to generate a canopy height model which was then applied to a variable window filter (vwf) algorithm to determine individual tree heights and locations throughout the park. Previously defined protection areas were used to determine which surrounding trees have the potential to damage structures or injure park visitors in the chance of …

Exploring Associations Between Military Identity And Well-Being Outcomes Among Post-9/11 Veterans After Separation, James David Lee

Dissertations and Theses

Approximately 200,000 service members exit the military each year; as of 2016, there were 19 million veterans in the U.S. As service members transition out of the military and acclimate to civilian life, they face a multitude of stressors. For example, estimates vary from 44 to 72% of veterans reportedly experience increased stress during their transition which often entails securing civilian employment, navigating interpersonal difficulties, and adapting to the challenges of civilian life. These stressors have harmful consequences and have been linked to physical and mental health, and suicide risk. Despite these findings, research examining the well-being of veterans following …

Community Gis Workshop Design & Delivery: Columbia County Geographic Workshop At Scappoose Public Library, Marty Marquis

Masters in GIS Practicum Reports

Geographic information systems (GIS) provide tools for industry, government, and the public to describe, visualize and organize space both conceptually and materially. Because the technology is complicated and potentially expensive, it is often out of the reach of those communities that might most benefit from its use, even as it’s routinely wielded by business interests, bureaucrats, and representative bodies to identify and legitimize administrative boundaries, potential areas for growth and profit, spatially oriented legislation (restricted areas, zoning), and so forth. Communities whose members know how to use a GIS gain potential advantages in deploying narratives that contest official plans for …

Developing A Standard Operating Procedure For Irrigated Agricultural Field Delineation And Irrigation Identification Using Examples From The Oregon-Idaho Border And Central California, Scott Milleson

Masters in GIS Practicum Reports

This practicum draws from experience working as an intern for The Freshwater Trust (an environmental nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon) from June to December of 2022. The work performed in this internship involved the delineation of agricultural fields using ArcGIS Online, an online collaborative mapping tool, as well as identifying and assigning irrigation type attributes on the Oregon-Idaho border along the Snake River, and the Deschutes Basin.

The purpose of this practicum project is to create a generalized guide for the delineation of agricultural fields and identification of irrigation type using a standard operating procedure for GIS interns, mapathon …

Picaresque Rogues And Early Soviet Society With Cassio De Oliveira, Cassio De Oliveira

PDXPLORES Podcast

In this episode of PDXPLORES, Assistant Professor of Russian in the Department of World Languages and Literatures, Cassio de Oliveira, discusses his latest book, Writing Rogues: The Soviet Picaresque and Identity Formation, 1921-1938. In Writing Rogues, Oliveira depicts the ways picaresque literature contributed to the development of Russian identity between the October Revolution and The Stalinists Great Terror. Oliveira sheds light on the heroes and anti-heroes that existed on the margins of societal transformation, and the authors who infused their fictional and non-fictional lives with far-flung adventures, scandals and travels through the criminal underworld.

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Network Effects Of Disruptive Traffic Events, Juan Medina, Xiaoyue Cathy Liu

TREC Final Reports

Current traffic management strategies are based on expected conditions caused by recurring congestion (e.g., by time of day, day of week), and can be very effective when provisions are also given for reasonable variations from such expectations. However, traffic variations due to non-recurrent events (e.g., crashes) can be much larger and difficult to predict, making also challenging efforts to identify, measure, and forecast their disruptive effects. This project explores a proactive approach to deploy a tool for managing non-recurrent congestion by identifying and quantifying the effects of disruptive traffic events at a microscopic level using a comprehensive set of data …

New Lidar System Pinpoints Pedestrian Behavior To Improve Eficiency And Safety At Intersections, Taylor Li, Sirisha M. Kothuri, Xianfeng Terry Yang

TREC Project Briefs

Pedestrian safety is critical to improving walkability in cities. To that end, NITC researchers have developed a system for collecting pedestrian behavior data using LiDAR sensors. Tested at two intersections in Texas and soon to be tested at another in Salt Lake City, Utah, the new software created by a multi-university research team is able to reliably observe pedestrian behavior and can help reduce conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles at signalized intersections. The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is already working on implementing this new LiDAR system to improve data collection at intersections.

Taking A Heavier Toll? Racial Differences In The Effects Of Workplace Mistreatment On Depression, Ji Woon Ryu, Erik Gonzalez-Mulé, Ernest H. O'Boyle

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Previous studies have found that workplace mistreatment positively relates to depression, a critical mental health disorder. However, it is unknown whether mistreatment affects all individuals’ depressive symptoms equally. Drawing from the hopelessness theory of depression and the stigma literature, we suggest that Blacks suffer from greater depression than Whites when they experience similar levels of workplace mistreatment because Blacks, as members of a racial minority group, are more likely to attribute workplace mistreatment to their race. This, in turn, causes them to make a pessimistic attribution (i.e., attributions that are internal, stable, and global) about themselves that, ultimately, leads to …

The Pacific Sentinel, January 2023, Portland State University. Student Publications Board

The Pacific Sentinel

Editor: Dan Chilton

Articles in this issue include:

• Letter From the Editor
• Jeffrey Gibson at the Portland Art Museum
• Dakota Modern Exhibit
• Defining Abolition With Walidah Imarisha
• We Keep Us Safe
• Psilocybin Solution
• The Case For ACAB
• Something Needs to Be Done
• Comic

The Pacific Sentinel, January 2023, Portland State University. Student Publications Board

The Pacific Sentinel

Editor: Dan Chilton

Articles in this issue include:

• Wednesday & the Challenges of Adaptation
• First Impressions: A Newcomer's Guide to Portland
• Ooligan Press's Comic Debut
• The Land, the Water, the Sky
• Notes From Behind the Bar
• A Chat with ChatGPT
• Measure 110 & the Roadblocks of Negative Perceptions
• Pre-Covid: It's a Jungle out there. Post-Covid: It's a Jungle in Here

Unexpected Wins: Curating Comics And Teaching Manga From The Dark Horse Comics Collection, Elsa Loftis, Jon Holt

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

A familiar staple of entertainment for a wide variety of readers, the comic book has not always held a regular place in the academic library. Concerning themselves with collecting more traditional expressions of scholarship, libraries have not historically dedicated much of their acquisitions budgets to this area. Therefore, the comic book or graphic novel was largely relegated to someone’s personal collection and would more likely be found on the shelves of a comic book store than the shelves of a university library.

Fast-forward to the present day, where library collections more commonly provide access to comic books, either in regular …