Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Tactics, Strategies, Spaces, And Places: The Spatial Constructions Of Race And Class On Virginia Plantations, Andrew Philip Wilkins

Doctoral Dissertations

This research incorporates overseers into the discussion of how constructed space and social relations informed and shaped one another on colonial and antebellum Virginia plantations. Studies of plantation space and landscape often contrast slave owners and slaves in dualistic views of plantation societies. My question is how the organization, use, and meaning of spaces at multiple scales intersected with the historical constructions of race and class. I address this question through a detailed examination of plantation layouts, quarter arrangements, outdoor spaces, and architectural spaces to identify meaningful distinctions or similarities between the spaces created for and by slaves and overseers. …

Beyond The City-County Divide: Race, Referenda, And Representation In Consolidated Governments, Christopher Johnson Acuff

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite an abundance of research on the impacts of city-county consolidation, the majority of studies to date have focused on outcomes related to efficiency, effectiveness, and economic development. However, two areas which have gone relatively unexplored, particularly from a quantitative perspective, relate to the impact of consolidation on minority representation, as well as the determinants of successful referenda often required in establishing these forms of government. The existing literature on representation is sparse, and often relies on anecdotes or a small number of individual examples. Further, while several in-depth studies have attempted to assess the factors which contribute to successful …

A Household Approach To Reconstructing The Townsend Sites In East Tennessee, U.S.A.: Foodways And Daily Practice Within A Mississippian Settlement, Jessie Luella Johanson

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines how foodways differences between the multiple Mississippian settlements that were occupied circa 900 to 1300 CE at the Townsend sites (40BT89, 40BT90, and 40BT91) in East Tennessee, U.S.A., reflect the distinct choices people made in response to variation in the social conditions they faced in a boundary location. Located in a narrow valley cove at the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, these sites lie between two physiographic provinces, the Ridge and Valley Province to the west and the Blue Ridge Mountains Province to the east, as well as between two cultural traditions, the Hiwassee Island to the …

Experiences Of Professional School Counselors With Children Of Incarcerated Parents: A Case Study, Emily Courtney Brown

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to describe the experiences of professional school counselors (PSCs) with children of incarcerated parents (CIP). The study addressed three research questions: In what ways do PSCs conceptualize the needs of CIP? In what ways do PSCs work with CIP? and How do PSCs experience barriers in their work with CIP?

An instrumental case study design (Stake, 1995) was used to consider the experiences of PSCs in a single school district in a Southeastern state. Data sources included interviews with fifteen PSCs, observation of PSC professional development, and document review of policies and …

Persistence Of Traditionally Marginalized Doctoral Students In Counselor Education: A Grounded Theory Study, Sharon Leah Bruner

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative constructivist grounded theory study was to develop a theory regarding persistence of traditionally marginalized doctoral students in CACREP accredited counselor education programs. This study addressed two research questions: How do marginalized students persist through doctoral counselor education programs? and What factors influence persistence of marginalized students in doctoral counselor education programs?

This study included participants that identified as women, people of color, or LGBTQ who had successfully defended a dissertation proposal or were less than one year post graduation. Data was collected via three focus groups and two individual interviews with 10 participants. The researcher …

Laying Groundwork For The Use Of Acceptance And Commitment Therapy Constructs To Enhance The Identity Development Of Counselors-In-Training: An Exploratory Quantitative Analysis, Emma Christine Burgin

Doctoral Dissertations

Counselor educators aid counselors-in-training (CITs) in the process of professional identity development, which has its own challenges, such as managing anxiety and increasing self-awareness. One way proposed to enhance these therapeutic challenges is mindfulness. However, most research examining mindfulness in counselor education to-date lacks a standard theoretical framework, which may cause counselors to diminish the value of mindfulness in counselor training. One theory-driven concept of mindfulness comes from ACT, an empirically validated approach to counseling. It is possible that ACT could serve as a common language for educators to use when implementing mindfulness into counselor training, and thus, there is …

Change In “Everyday Multicultural Competencies” As A Response To Resident Advisors Multicultural Training: Association With Five-Factor Personality Traits, Nicole Crystal Chery

Doctoral Dissertations

Residence Life “Resident Advisors/Assistants” (RAs) are an essential component of student affairs staff on many college campuses. They live in residence halls and share important responsibility for the emotional health, physical safety, and student development of the undergraduates living in their residence hall. Because they provide such an important function, RAs often receive extensive training, however, the emphasis on multicultural training varies from university to university. Surprisingly, there is little research to show whether the training makes a difference. This study utilizes the 29-item Brief Everyday Multicultural Competencies Scale (BEMCS) as a tool for measuring the effects of multicultural programming …

The Longitudinal Relationship Between Power Processes And Intimate Partner Violence In Dating College Students, Heather Christine Zapor

Doctoral Dissertations

Power and the abuse of such power is an important mechanism through which intimate partner violence (IPV) occurs and a major tenant of many theories that purport to explain IPV. While some research has examined the links between aspects of relational power and IPV, the examination of power processes has been limited to mostly self-report measures. The current study assesses power processes through observational interactions of direct communication between (n = 150) college student dating partners. In general, the hypotheses that observed power processes would be related to IPV over time were only partially supported, suggesting that although relationships between …

Hostility After Social Rejection And Borderline Features: The Influence Of Rejection Sensitivity In Parents And Their Young Adult Offspring, Jennifer Marie Strimpfel

Doctoral Dissertations

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe psychological disorder marked by emotional dysregulation, unstable relationships, impulsivity, and anger/hostility. Rejection sensitivity is a schema that affects how a person perceives and responds to potential social rejection. Highly rejection sensitive individuals tend to respond to perceived rejection with hostility. Individuals with BPD are more rejection sensitive than healthy comparisons, and both BPD and the schema of rejection sensitivity are thought to develop in the context of early invalidating and rejecting environments. Additionally, parental borderline features and BPD diagnosis are predictive of borderline symptoms in their offspring. We measured rejection sensitivity, borderline features, …

The Impact Of Rewards On The Effectiveness Of Performance Feedback In Improving Writing Production In Elementary School Students, Leslie Allison Hart

Doctoral Dissertations

Approximately a quarter of students in classrooms across the United States meet minimum grade-level expectations in writing in national assessments (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012). The purpose of the present study is to elaborate on the role performance feedback can play in increasing student writing production through novel additions to established methodology. Specifically, an alternating treatments design was used to evaluate the impact of two iterations of a performance feedback intervention. The first evaluated how performance feedback (with two representations of total words written and a velocity indicator) impacts student writing production across production-dependent and production-independent variables. The second …

Imagining A Gold Open Access Future: Attitudes, Behaviors, And Funding Scenarios Among Authors Of Academic Scholarship., Carol Tenopir, Elizabeth D. Dalton, Lisa Christian, Misty K. Jones, Mark Mccabe

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

The viability of gold open access publishing models into the future will depend, in part, on the attitudes of authors toward open access (OA). In a survey of academics at four major research universities in North America, we examine academic authors’ opinions and behaviors toward gold OA. The study allows us to see what academics know and perceive about open access models, their current behavior in regard to publishing in OA, and possible future behavior. In particular, we gauge current attitudes to examine the perceived likelihood of various outcomes in an all-open access publishing scenario. We also survey how much …

The Value Of An Object's Social Connection, Seong-Jae Yoo

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

International Service Learning: Cultural Engagement And Archaeological Field Schools, Sara Bridget Poarch

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Women’S Help-Seeking Behavior For Intimate Partner Violence In Sub-Saharan Africa, Ahmet Fidan

Doctoral Dissertations

Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a social and public health problem worldwide, particularly in developing countries. However, help-seeking for IPV among women is quite low in Sub-Saharan African countries. The present dissertation examines help-seeking behavior reported by women in five Sub-Saharan African countries: Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, to explore factors associated with the issue. Based on Resources (economic dependence), gender/feminist, and survivor perspectives several hypotheses were developed and tested. Findings from analysis indicate that from resource factors household wealth and educational level were negatively, employment status was partially associated with women’s help-seeking behavior. Justification of wife-beating …

Oil And Water: Corporate Interest And Risk Communication Preceding The Deepwater Horizon Disaster, Joshua Seth Cunningham

Masters Theses

Palenchar and Heath (2006) claim that, “organizations find reason to implement programs whereby they increase the public’s understanding of technical processes as a means for lessening the fear of the threatening unknown and of increasing trust.” The research being proposed will hold the British Petroleum Company (BP) to these standards as they relate to communicating emanating from BP before, during, and after the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010.

Effects Of Attachment And Self-Esteem On Perceptions Of Infidelity In Gay Men., Shannon R. Bierma

Masters Theses

Research indicates that infidelity is one of the primary reasons for relationship dissolution. There are several theories surrounding cheating behavior, but none around how one perceives these acts. Attachment theory and self-esteem have previously been used to explore infidelity in straight populations, but minimally in gay populations. Additionally, cheating behavior and perceptions of cheating have been extensively investigated in straight relationships, but have not been explored in gay relationships. The current study looked to develop a measure to assess perceptions of cheating in gay males, and examined how attachment and self-esteem impacted these perceptions. Participants were 150 males with a …

Estimating Postmortem Intervals Of Human Remains Recovered In Mid-Western Waterways: A Test Of Terrestrial And Aquatic Body Scoring Methods, Amanda Rose Fink

Masters Theses

In attempt to determine postmortem intervals (PMI), forensic investigators often rely on observed amounts of postmortem taphonomic alterations of the human body. Research has been conducted in an attempt to understand and predict the sequence and rate of human decomposition using total body scoring methods as well as accumulated degree days (ADD) (Megyesi et al. 2005). While most research focuses on methods of decomposition scoring in terrestrial environments, Heaton et al. (2010) devised a method to aid in the prediction of PMI and postmortem submersion intervals (PMSI) in an aqueous environment. Using 73 forensic cases collected from the Hennepin County, …

The Roles Of Attention, Awareness, And Memory In Evaluative Conditioning, Katherine Anne Fritzlen

Masters Theses

Evaluative conditioning (EC) is learning that occurs when a neutral conditioned stimulus (CS) is repeatedly paired with a valenced unconditioned stimulus (US) such that the CS takes on the valence of the US. In the current investigation we were interested in investigating the combined and individual effects of attentional resources and contingency awareness on implicit and explicit EC using a disguised conditioning paradigm. We orthogonally manipulate participants’ awareness of the contingencies and attentional resources in an EC paradigm. We found mixed evidence for the necessity of higher order resources for EC. Neither orthogonally manipulated awareness nor attention had an effect …

Understanding Social Identity Through Children’S Drawings: Where Is Your Happy Place?, Elizabeth Hampton Hurst

Masters Theses

Civil war and instability in Syria has resulted in mass casualties and the largest migration of peoples since WWII (International Organization for Migration, 2015). The year 2015 witnessed a refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe, a crisis that continues today. Fleeing danger undoubtedly shapes the identities of refugees, and the identities of refugee children are indeed the most vulnerable. This study examines ways in which Syrian refugee orphans communicate elements of social identity. Utilizing social identity theory (SIT) as a lens to analyze children’s drawings, this study not only reveals which social groups are most salient amongst children’s …

Hiwassee Island: The Research Value And Limitations Of Legacy Collections, Erika Leigh Lyle

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the research value and limitations of WPA-era archaeological collections at the University of Tennessee’s McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture from the Hiwassee Island site (40MG31) in east Tennessee. Excavations on Hiwassee Island were conducted from 1937–1939 and uncovered a multicomponent site with Woodland, Mississippian, and historic Native American occupations. The most common artifact from all time periods was pottery, numbering more than 80,000 sherds and 70 whole vessels (Lewis and Kneberg 1946:80). This ceramic assemblage was used to determine the research significance of the Hiwassee Island legacy collection by comparing it to modern excavation samples …

Rigs Of Refuge: Spatial Agency And Its Role In Conflict, Brittany Lauren Mcgraw

Masters Theses

Architecture is an inherently political endeavor. As such, designers should carefully consider the spatial dialogue that the built environment creates between those who control spaces and those who use them. In times of crisis, this dialogue often ceases to be an equal exchange, pushing users’ needs aside and exerting authority in the most expedient way possible.

This thesis proposes that amidst settings of conflict, hyper-responsive architectural systems can counteract landscapes of authority by returning spatial agency to users. As the means of providing such a system, oil rigs should be repurposed as a network of deployable crisis response hubs.

A Case Study Of A Mature Appalachian Hiv Negative Homosexual Man On Hiv Positive Homosexual Men, Jacob Lee Nelson

Masters Theses

Because of the lack of study, little is known about how members of the gay community immersed in rural areas relate to one another especially relative to the AIDS Crisis and those gay men living with HIV (Eldridge, Mack, & Swank, 2008). The purpose of this study was to investigate features of attitude (fears, threats, preconceived notions, and convictions) of a mature HIV negative homosexual man from rural Appalachia on HIV positive homosexual men (Thurstone, 1928). The central research question asked was, “How do you relate to HIV positive gay men as a HIV negative gay man having been raised …

In Pursuit Of A Good Glass And Good Company, Esther Louise Rimer

Masters Theses

While glass appears rather homogeneous compared to ceramics and pipes, these small bits of amorphous solid silica can still reveal hidden information when aspects of their chemical composition are tested using a means as simple as short-wave UV light or as complex as X-Ray Fluorescence. Using short-wave UV light and a comparative approach, this thesis reevaluates archaeological table glass collections from Southern Maryland and the Northern Neck of Virginia dating from the mid-17th century to the early 18th century to find evidence for the presence and absence of English lead glass (flint glass). Using these data, the patterns in access, …

Infant Object Recognition: Two- And Three-Dimensional Visual Processing, Alexandra Chelsea Romano

Masters Theses

Visual attention and recognition memory in infancy are highly dependent on the type of stimulus the infant is familiarized to and the conditions of familiarization. For example, in studies that initially exposed infants to test stimuli in laboratory settings (e.g., Courchesne, Ganz, & Norcia, 1981; Reynolds & Richards, 2005), the Negative Central (Nc) event-related potential (ERP) component associated with infant visual attention has shown greater amplitude for novel compared to familiar stimuli. Conversely, when initial stimulus exposure occured outside of the laboratory and the stimulus was highly familiar, studies have shown greater amplitude Nc to familiar compared to novel stimuli …

The Mediating Role Of Social Preference In The Relationship Between Teacher-Student Relationship Quality And Peer Victimization, Kathryn Francis Smeraglia

Masters Theses

Teachers are integral to cultivating healthy relationships among students (Cortes & Kochenderfer-Ladd, 2014) and are uniquely positioned to affect change in social processes that maintain victimization (Newman-Carlson & Horne, 2004; Rodkin & Hodges, 2003). Evidence suggests that children with supportive teacher-student relationships have more positive social and behavioral outcomes (Thijs & Verkuyten, 2008;), whereas teacher-student conflict may place children at risk for victimization (Reavis et al., 2010). In this study, we examine the relation between teacher-student relationship quality (TSRQ) and peer victimization (PV), TSRQ and social preference (SP), and whether SP is one mechanism that explains the link between TSRQ …

Examining The Effects Of Frustration On Working Memory Capacity In An Emerging Adult Sample, Jonathan Parks Fillauer

Masters Theses

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with numerous pejorative outcomes in adults such as low frustration tolerance and deficits in central executive functioning. The present study aims to examine (1) the effect of induced frustration on working memory capacity (WMC) and (2) the unique contribution of ADHD symptoms and other commonly comorbid disorders (i.e., anxiety/depression and alcohol use) to frustration. Participants (N=66) were randomly assigned to either the control group (n=32) or the experimental group (n=34). The Frustration Induction Procedure (FIP) was administered to participants in the experimental group and a neutral, non-frustrating task was administered to a control group. A …

Estimating Water Footprint And Water Economic Values In The Southeastern U.S., Di Sheng

Masters Theses

Population growth and climate change have brought water disputes to the southeastern United States. To achieve sustainable water use of the region’s water resources and to alleviate future water stress, it is important to determine 1) current water quantity used to support regional economic activities, and 2) the economic value of water in the southeastern U.S. This thesis has three objectives: 1) build a Multi-Regional Input-Output (MRIO) model to describe multiregional transactions for the following analyses; 2) conduct a water footprint analysis to evaluate how much water use is required for meeting changes in final demand of specific region and …

Geographic Information Systems (Gis) And Predictive Modeling Of Body Disposal Sites, Annemarie Catherine Gundel

Masters Theses

Homicide victims are often discovered by accident or located through witness testimony, both of which are unreliable methods. Moving a victim’s body from the scene of the crime to a secondary disposal site may further complicate their discovery, delaying recovery, identification, and evidence collection. Homicides are exponentially more difficult to investigate, solve, and prosecute without a body. In the medicolegal context, a body disposal site prediction model is an alternative to relying on luck or witness testimony. Predictive models were created using body disposal data collected from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), Connecticut, to explore the feasibility …

Summary Of 2017 Public Acts, Elisha Hodge

MTAS Publications: Full Publications

This report summarizes the year's public acts that have the most significant impact on municipal operations in Tennessee. Users of this report are cautioned that much judgement is involved in determining which Public Acts to summarize and how to summarize them. Before taking action or giving advice based upon any Public Act summarized here, one should consult the act itself and not rely on the summary.

Municipal E-News: Issue 84: July 2017, Mtas

Municipal E-News

The "Municipal E-News" was created by MTAS in 2009 as part of our continuing efforts to meet our mission of providing timely, valuable information and assistance to Tennessee cities.