Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Invited Introduction, Amy W. Ando

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

No abstract provided.

Introduction By The Editor-In-Chief, Sahan T. M. Dissanayake

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

No abstract provided.

The Rise And Rise Of The One Percent: Getting To Thomas Piketty's Wealth Dystopia, Shi-Ling Hsu

Shi-Ling Hsu

Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-first Century, which is surely one of the very few economics treatises ever to be a best-seller, has parachuted into an intensely emotional and deeply divisive American debate: the problem of inequality in the United States. Piketty's core argument is that throughout history, the rate of return on private capital has usually exceeded the rate of economic growth, expressed by Piketty as the relation r > g. If true, this relation means that the wealthy class – who are the predominant owners of capital – will grow their wealth faster than economies grow, which …

El Estadio Atahualpa, Fernando Carrión Mena Arq.

Fernando Carrión Mena

El Ministerio de Deportes ha levantado la discusión sobre la remodelación del Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, que debería ir más allá de responder una pregunta colgada en la web oficial del Ministerio. ¿Por qué se pregunta ahora y no a principios de año cuando se presentó la maqueta del supuesto proyecto de restauración?

Beating Down The Fear: The Civil Sphere And Political Change In South Carolina, 1940-1962, Sid Bedingfield

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation contends that print culture – newspapers in particular – played a decisive role in launching the black civil rights movement and shaping the white response to it during the middle of the twentieth century. Focusing on South Carolina, this study is the first to use civil sphere theory and frame analysis to explore the role of cultural expression in the political struggle over black equality in the years immediately before and after World War II. It shows how African-American editors and other activists made strategic use of the society’s symbolic codes concerning justice, freedom, and liberty to elicit …

Engagement In Technical Assistance And Its Impact On Prevention Capacity, Jennifer L. Duffy

Theses and Dissertations

Lack of widespread implementation of evidence-based prevention programs has been identified as a major challenge in the field of teen pregnancy prevention. Technical assistance (TA) has been proposed as an important strategy for building capacity of the community organizations to implement evidence-based strategies. This study uses data from an evaluation of Promoting Science-Based Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention, a five-year project conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to build the capacity of organizations to implement teen pregnancy prevention programs using science-based approaches. Data from 104 organizations nested within 12 TA providing organizations were analyzed using OLS regression …

How Much Do Groups Still Matter To Politics? An Examination Of Group Influences On Public Opinion, Lauren E. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Public opinion plays an important role in democracy. A system of government designed specifically to be by the people, for the people and of the people must by necessity listen to the opinions of the people. Accordingly, an important research agenda is determining conditions under which public opinion is listened to and translated into government responsiveness. Most of the public opinion literature answering this question focuses specifically on individual opinion. I argue that this is problematic because politics is ultimately carried out in terms of the collective. Further, I argue that collective opinion is often voiced through groups in society …

Adultification In Juvenile Corrections: A Comparison Of Juvenile And Adult Officers, Riane Miller Bolin

Theses and Dissertations

The growing recognition throughout the nineteenth century that juveniles were different than adults culminated in the establishment of the first juvenile court in Cook County, Illinois in 1899. By 1945, every state had developed its own juvenile justice system separate and distinct from the criminal justice system. Since its inception, the juvenile justice system has experienced two waves of adultification in which the lines between the juvenile and criminal justice systems were blurred. While a number of studies have focused on the adultification of juvenile courts, no study has examined the adultification of juvenile corrections. Thus, the present study aims …

The Emergence Of U.S. Hospital-Based Doula Programs, Violet Dawn Beets

Theses and Dissertations

Labor and birth related health outcomes remain suboptimal in the US. New initiatives and improvement efforts include peer and social support. Doula support is built on the concept of social support, including emotional support, comfort measures, information, and advocacy. Benefits of doula support include increases in women’s satisfaction with their childbirth experiences, postpartum interaction with infant, breastfeeding initiation, and APGAR scores, and reductions in cesarean deliveries, length of labor, use of analgesia, and healthcare costs to healthcare systems. Doula services based within the hospital are a relatively new phenomenon. How and why hospitals are incorporating doula services has not been …

A Bioecological Approach To Understanding The Interaction Of Environmental Stress And Genetic Susceptibility In Influencing Cortisol And Blood Pressure In African American Adults, Sandra Marie Coulon

Theses and Dissertations

African Americans are disproportionately affected by high blood pressure, a precursor to cardiovascular disease. Bioecological, biomedical, and gene-environment interaction theories were integrated to test the impact of environmental stress and genetic susceptibility on stress-related outcomes, including waking cortisol, perceived stress, and blood pressure in African-American adults. The primary aim of the study was to investigate the effects of neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES), neighborhood satisfaction, and neighborhood collective efficacy on waking cortisol, perceived stress, and blood pressure and to determine whether genetic risk for increased glucocorticoid receptor sensitivity moderated those relations in a gene-by-environment (GxE) interaction. A secondary aim was to …

Tradition Or Technology?: The Impact Of Paper Versus Digital Map Technology On Students’ Spatial Thinking Skill Acquisition, Larianne Collins

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates whether spatial learning outcomes differ with respect to different instructional media. Specifically, it examines traditional, paper aerial imagery as compared to digital imagery visualized with 3D globes. Two research questions provided the focus: 1) Does spatial thinking skill development differ between analog (paper) and digital map media; 2) Does spatial thinking skill development differ based on attitudes toward geography, past travel experience, or demographic variables such as gender, and are there interaction effects among them related to the different media?

Spatial thinking skill development was measured as students received instruction using either paper or digital maps. Spatial …

Towards Common European Energy Policy, Mariam Dekanozishvili

Theses and Dissertations

A common European energy policy is emerging. That poses a puzzling instance of European integration and policy‐making. Despite the origins of the European integration project rooted in the coal and nuclear sectors, integration in the energy domain largely failed until the 1990s. The last two decades, however, witnessed an increasing number of energy policy initiatives at the European Union (EU) level and culminated in the inclusion of the energy article in the 2009 Lisbon Treaty.

The dissertation aims to explain under what conditions, and how, European integration succeeds in the domain of energy policy, based on a novel fuzzy‐set qualitative …

The Impact Of Race On Strickland Claims In Federal Courts In The South, Wyatt Gibson

Theses and Dissertations

The primary goal of this study was to examine the legal and extralegal factors that lead to positive outcome Strickland claims. Specifically, the initial purpose of the research was to test whether a defendant’s race affects his/her likelihood of receiving a positive outcome Strickland claim in the South. Prior literature has indicated that black defendants are more likely to receive the death penalty than white defendants, but this study did not find that race is a significant factor in determining the likelihood of a positive outcome Strickland claim in Southern circuits. Of the 207 Strickland claims studied across the Fourth, …

(Mascot) Nation: Examining University Engagement On College Football Teams’ Facebook Pages, Matthew J. Haught

Theses and Dissertations

In the sport of college football, engagement with fans drives revenue for the sports teams and the athletic department; the more fans buy, the more money the school gets. This study examines the ways college football teams use Facebook to engage their publics, and how that engagement builds a sense of community. Specifically, it explores six teams that represent new college football teams, midmajor teams, and state flagship institution teams. Ultimately, it seeks to explain how social media can be a force in establishing and maintaining an online community.

Examining Correlates Of Correctional Officer Risk Perceptions And Decision-Making, Frank Valentino Ferdik

Theses and Dissertations

Developing a more complete understanding of the dangers and risks present within correctional environments can enhance prison safety. Research has revealed, however, that existing prison-based risk assessment and management instruments suffer considerable deficiencies, including failing to account for contextual factors that influence inmate misconduct, and basing generalizations off small sample sizes. Several studies have shown that correctional officers are often very accurate when it comes to the risk assessment and management of prison-based dangers. To expand this literature, the current study collected survey data from a statewide sample of maximum security correctional officers. Ultimately the objectives of this dissertation were …

Embodying Ritual Performance: An Iconographic Analysis Of Burial 38 At The Etowah Site, Amy M. Goldstein

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an iconographic study of Burial 38 from Mound C at the Etowah, a Mississippian mound site in present-day Northwest Georgia. The goal of this study was to gain an understanding of the iconographic meaning of the artifacts in Burial 38 as well as the significance of the arrangement of individuals within the burial and its relationship with Mound C more broadly. Applying theories of relational ontology, performance, and gender, I build on King’s (2010) interpretation of Mound C’s final construction phases as a ritual event that transformed the mound into a sacred center, melded foreign and local …

The Prevalence Rate And Neurocognitive Morbidity Associated With Obstructive Sleep Apnea In Children With Sickle Cell Disease, Tal Katz

Theses and Dissertations

Sickle-cell disease (SCD) refers to a group of genetic blood disorders resulting from the inheritance of genes for S-type hemoglobin. The disease is life-long and is associated with multiple complications including pain episodes, organ damage, and neurological morbidities such as stroke, and silent cerebral infarcts which often lead to cognitive dysfunction. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a serious medical condition characterized by intermittent hypoxemia (reduction in blood oxygen levels), hypoxia, and fragmented sleep that can lead patients to suffer from daytime behavioral and cognitive dysfunction and reduced quality of life. Children with SCD are at high risk for developing OSA, …

Getting Away With Murder: Hazing, Hegemonic Masculinity, And Victimization, Toniqua Charee Mikell

Theses and Dissertations

Robert Champion, a drum major in the Florida A&M University marching band was beaten to death on, November 19, 2011. He was 26 years old. Champion is the latest victim of a FAMU band hazing incident known infamously as “Crossing Bus C.” The incident at FAMU represents one of the countless hazing rituals that occur each year. On college campuses, it is believed that as many as 55% of students on various teams or members of student organizations experience some form of hazing. This study highlights the complexity of hazing as it relates to its operationalization, its history, and its …

Social Movements, Media, And Democratization In Georgia, Maia Mikashavidze

Theses and Dissertations

A purpose of the study was to analyze the construction of reality around the Georgian media democratization movement in 2010-12. The qualitative analysis of movement statements (n=17) and in-depth interviews with movement activists (n=12) found that the movement relied on mobilizing master frames linked to the concept of democracy: free speech, access to information, fair elections, transparency, plurality, and devised an innovative frame, it concerns you. The movement pursued two goals with its framing efforts: improvements in the media environment and mobilization of citizen participation.

The quantitative analysis of news stories about the movement (n=552) by six pro-opposition, pro-government, and …

Handcuffing Speech: Federal Fraud Statutes And The Criminalization Of Advertising, Carmen Maye

Theses and Dissertations

The potential criminalization of deceptive advertising implicates the adequacy of regulatory oversight by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the proper balance between the free flow of information and the Government’s role in consumer protection. Is there a need for, and room for, both FTC and Department of Justice (DOJ) oversight on the deceptive advertising front? These issues have ramifications for the courts, who bear the burden of adjudicating challenged applications of that policy, and also for the orderly functioning of government, which must accommodate the convergence of competing interests and divisions of authority.

Many fraudulent schemes are perpetuated without …

Substance Use And Risky Sex: A Longitudinal Investigation, Darren Todd Woodlief

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to prospectively examine the relationship between substance use and risky among a nationally representative sample of adolescents longitudinally from the ages of 16 to 29. Using data collected for the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (N=8,984), we found the use of marijuana, alcohol, and cigarettes to be consistently associated, across these ages, with an increased probability of having engaged in sexual intercourse with a stranger. Marijuana was found to have the strongest association with risky sex across the years of the study, followed by cigarettes, then alcohol. The current study improves on previous …

A Multi-Sited Examination Of Pregnancy, Birth And Women’S Perceptions Of Care In Ghana, Jessica M. Posega

Theses and Dissertations

In Ghana, both governmental and non-governmental agencies have been working to reach the 2015 United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The fourth and fifth goals are related to reproductive health, reducing infant and maternal mortality respectively. Through a combination of increasing midwifery and nursing training programs, public awareness programs, and programs designed to retain skilled birth attendants. This paper explores how the policies and practices intended to create better birth outcomes in Ghana are perceived by those targeted for intervention, and by the reproductive health workers. Drawing from in-depth interviews with pregnant women, mothers with children under one year, and …

Am I In Danger? : Predictors And Behavioral Outcomes Of Public Perception Of Risk Associated With Food Hazards, Sang-Hwa Oh

Theses and Dissertations

Using secondary data collected in South Korea, this study explores possible factors that may affect the way the public perceives risks of food hazards. The present study incorporates scientific knowledge, socio-demographic factors, trust in information sources, news media use, and engaging in interpersonal communication as the possible factors. This study also examines how two levels of risk perception–personal and societal – are related with preventive behaviors concerning food safety. More specifically, the current study examines whether personal-level risk perception correlates more closely than societal-level risk perception with one’s intention to engage in preventive behaviors.

Findings show that personal-level risk perception …

A Comprehensive Disaster Risk Index For The United States, Michael E. Senn

Theses and Dissertations

Risks to life, property, infrastructure and even environmental security emanate from a variety of hazard sources. Key to reducing this risk is the ability to measure it and present it decision-makers and stakeholders in a meaningful and understandable way. Currently, there exist no comprehensive hazard risk indices for the United States that have the ability to capture and convey a contemporary conceptualization of risk to hazards. Such an index, the World Risk Index, exists at the global level. The World Risk Index serves as an analog for further research on risk at various scales.

The purpose of this dissertation is …

Integrating Biomedical And Psychosocial Approaches To Study Pain In Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease, Alyssa M. Schlenz

Theses and Dissertations

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of inherited blood disorders characterized by recurrent pain. A distinctive obstacle to managing pain in this condition is the substantial heterogeneity of outcomes observed in children, including the rate, intensity, duration, and extent of disability from pain. Previous studies have largely examined this heterogeneity by focusing on either biomedical or psychosocial approaches to this condition rather than pursuing an integrated approach that is consistent with modern conceptualizations of pain. In addition, few studies have examining genetic heterogeneity in pediatric SCD, which remains one of the only strategies for establishing a preventative approach to …

Do Americans’ Perceptions Of The Prevalence Of Prejudice Impact Their Racial Policy Preferences? Investigating Meta-Stereotypes As A Potential Causal Mechanism, Alexandra Reckendorf

Theses and Dissertations

Racial discrimination, though more subtle than in the past, is still an enduring presence in 21st century America. Whether looking at education, health care, the workforce, housing/lending practices, or the criminal justice system, studies routinely confirm that racial prejudice and discrimination persist despite claims of a “post-racial” America. Yet, despite the perseverance of racial prejudice and discrimination, policies correcting racial injustice remain contentious, either failing to receive the requisite support to pass reforms or receiving backlash from the public. This project explores meta-stereotypes in the Black and white communities, and highlights meta-stereotypes’ potential impact when determining why some individuals support …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Esri Story Maps As Effective Teaching Tools, Caitlin Strachan

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore teachers’ perceptions of Esri Story Maps as effective teaching tools. Story Maps are a relatively new web application within Esri’s web-based GIS platform, ArcGIS Online. They combine digitized, dynamic maps with other story elements (i.e., title, text, legend, popups, and other visuals) to help the creator effectively convey a message. The relative ease associated with using and creating a Story Map as well as the simple, non-technical interface makes them ideal for use as an educational technology. Survey data were collected at several professional development events in the spring of 2014 in …

Why Open Access?, Allegra Swift

Library Staff Publications and Research

Panel presentation slides and notes for the library perspective on, “Open Access Publishing in Mathematics: Who? What? Where? Why? And How?” Math Fest, Mathematical Association of America, in Portland, Oregon - August 9, 2014.

Speakers:

• Gizem Karaali, Pomona College
• Jacqueline Jensen-Vallin, Lamar University
• Allegra Swift, Claremont Colleges Library

Organizer: Linda McGuire, Muhlenberg College

Sponsor: MAA Committee on Professional Development

Psychometric Evaluation Of An Executive Function Battery For Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease, Melita T. Stancil

Theses and Dissertations

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a genetic disorder which affects hemoglobin and is associated with high rates of neurologic and neurocognitive deficits. Recent studies have indicated executive functioning (EF) as a common area of impairment for children diagnosed with SCD; however, there is no consensus about which measures of executive function are best to use in clinical practice or research. The purpose of the present research is to assess the properties of a new executive function measure, the “EXAMINER” to determine its utility with the SCD population. Thirty-two children with SCD and 86 demographically-matched controls completed established cognitive measures known …

Israel, You Rascals, Mark Steel

Class, Race and Corporate Power

Mark Steel started doing stand-up in 1982 in England, around the circuit of bizarre gigs, going on after jugglers and escapologists and people that banged nails into their ear. Then came the Comedy Store and Jongleurs and getting bottled off at The Tunnel, and then a regular slot on Radio 4′s Loose Ends, where he met Joseph Heller, Christopher Lee and Gary Glitter.

He did 4 series of ‘The Mark Steel Solution’, one for Radio 5 and the others on Radio 4, and a radio series about cricket, which provoked a whole page of fury in the Daily Express. …