Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Barriers To The Use Of Palliative And Hospice Care Among The Latino Population, Diana Ramirez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Patients suffering from irreversible and terminal illnesses may benefit from the services provided by Palliative and Hospice Care to control any symptom burden and assist in navigating complex medical decisions. Many patients may express hesitation in accepting and enrolling to this service due to misconceptions. Language barriers may add an additional layer of complexity. This study explored the challenges Palliative Care providers encounter when introducing concept of hospice to Spanish-speaking patients their families for the first time. This study implemented qualitative research methods by using semi-structured one-on-one interviews. Ten members of an In-patient Palliative Care Team at a University Hospital …

Lessons Learned About Services Delivery To Victims Of Domestic Violence During Covid 19 Mandatory Physical Distancing Orders, Veronica Perez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting social distancing guidelines have dramatically limited or excluded in-person services to domestic violence (DV) victims. Service providers have shifted to providing services to DV victims through telehealth as part of the COVID-19 physical restriction orders. This shift in services from in-person to telehealth has impacted the DV victims accessing services and has impacted the service delivery by the service providers. This study aimed to understand the lessons learned about service delivery to victims of domestic violence during the COVID-19 mandatory physical distancing and stay-home orders. This qualitative study used interviews via Zoom to collect data. …

Which Generation Is Having Safe Sex? Millennial Or Gen-Z, Rachel Silver

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This research study aims to examine the sex practices of Millennials vs. Gen Z's. There are many concerns and questions about the long-term effects of hook-up culture for modern youth. In the last few years, there has been a rise in STDs and a decrease in teenage pregnancy. This quantitative research intends to find out where are education gaps are and the most significant motivators for young people to use protection and contraceptives through a list of questions in a survey. The goal is to understand better the similarities and differences between Millenials and Gen-Z's safe sex education and …

Social Workers’ Knowledge And Preparedness In Serving Clients With Experience Of Intergenerational Trauma, Geneva Gandelman

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This research study explored intergenerational trauma and self-assessed competency levels of social workers who serve clients experiencing possible intergenerational trauma. Intergenerational trauma is a wide-spread issue, as it affects over a quarter of children and over half of adults in the United States. Intergenerational trauma, though affecting many clients, is not often discussed, and many mental health professionals are either uninformed on this topic or not interested. This study explored social workers’ self-assessed general knowledge of intergenerational trauma, training on intergenerational trauma, and whether they have knowledge of interventions or techniques tailored to working with families and individuals with possible …

Participant Perceptions Of Project Rebound: A Qualitative Study, Martin Johnson

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Many formerly incarcerated (FI) individuals choose education to increase the chances of success and lower recidivism. Various interventions like mentoring and reentry programs help alleviate challenges and promote the success of FI students. One reentry program that offers educational and case management services to FI students is Project Rebound (PR). An initiative of the California State University system, PR seeks to enhance student success through support and connections with campus and community resources. However, there is a lack of research on PR's effectiveness. This study attempted to fill this literature gap by exploring the question: How do Project Rebound participants …

The Effect Of The Perception Of Mental Health Services On Asian Americans, Angela Dao

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Previous studies have examined mental health issues and barriers in minorities, such as Asian Americans. With a basic understanding of the differences in mental health perception, this study dove deeper into the effect of perception of mental health services has on Asian Americans. The knowledge and understanding that arose from this study will ideally contribute to increased acceptance and usage of mental health services. The study was conducted in an interview format with volunteers from the community. The data was analyzed through transcription and coding. The findings of the study included a difference in generational acceptance of mental health services …

Findings And Understandings Of 'Home': An Ethnographic Study Of How Homeless People And Displaced Persons Negotiate The Word 'Home'., Abby F Perez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an ethnographic study of various meanings of the word ‘home’ and how the word ‘home’ is used by homeless, evicted, and displaced persons, and by the researcher of the study, to negotiate boundaries and relations of power to achieve goals, both moral and material.Scholarly research on home in urban studies and sociology has produced many definitions and meanings of the word ‘home’ and concepts of home, but often neglects to consider the way the word itself is experienced, personally, by individuals and how to make sense of the way these personal experiences relate to official meanings of …

The Underbelly Of Residential Segregation, Bussing To Integrate And The Educational Ramifications: A Case Study Of Louisville Kentucky., Camara Douglas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Integration of the American public school system is often examined to figure out if integration worked. This dissertation examined busing to integrate into Louisville, Kentucky. Busing to integrate in Louisville, Kentucky, took place during that 1975-1976 school year. Louisville’s case is somewhat different. Not only did they finally follow federal mandates to integrate, they had to mix two totally separate school systems, one for the county (White) and one from the city (African American). The objectives are: (1) what were the experiences and perceptions of African American students in high school who lived in the West Louisville hyper-segregated neighborhoods and …

Early Intervention And Prediction Of Risk Management Issues In Law Enforcement: A Phenomenological Study, Pamela Lynn Smith

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to research the Early Intervention Systems (EIS) and prediction of risk management issues in law enforcement. The following questions guided the study:

1. How do law enforcement personnel describe their experience with EIS programs as an intervention for officers with behavioral or conduct issues?
2. How do EIS programs affect law enforcement agencies as a whole?
3. What indicators could law enforcement supervisors look for in officers to circumvent misconduct (on or off duty)?
4. What interventions have been observed personally or with other officers regarding discipline, counseling, additional training, etc.?

The setting for this study was …

Sense Of Purpose, Self-Efficacy And Problem-Focused Coping As Predictors Of Mental Health Clinician Burnout, Launa Ashley Duffy

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Burnout has been an area of interest in research since the 1970s. However, the World Health Organization (2019) only recently determined the state of being occupationally burned out was indeed worthy of differential criteria. Research on the impact a sense of purpose has on a mental health professionals’ experience of burnout promises to deliver a new understanding of this syndrome. Some studies have stressed that due to the many positive results observed when an individual has a sense of purpose, a sense of purpose can only reduce the presence of burnout. However, a sense of purpose can also influence factors …

Managing The Environmental Crisis Amidst A Health Crisis: An Exploratory Study Of Alternative Sustainable Strategies For Tourism Destinations, Lauren Townson

All Dissertations

The responsibility of protecting the natural environment, and limiting the negative environmental impacts, often falls on the local community (Streimikiene et al., 2021). The impact of communities relying more on the tourism industry as an economic driver for continued development (Streimikiene et al., 2021) is of special interest to this dissertation as the United States (U.S.) manages the COVID-19 global pandemic. Tourism can both locally benefit a community and its residents, while simultaneously contribute to global environmental impacts (Gössling & Hall, 2006). As destinations attract more visitors into a physical space, data continues to reveal the continued destruction of natural …

Oh, The Place You’Ll Go: The Effects Of Commuting Time On Work, Family, And Health Related Outcomes, Lauren Kistler

All Theses

People spend a majority of their lives working and commuting is an essential part of most workers’ daily schedule. According to the 2017 American Community Survey distributed by the U.S. Census Bureau, the average commute for Americans is approximately 27 minutes. Time spent commuting has increased in recent decades (Denstadli et al., 2017; Gimenez-Nadal & Molina, 2019; Hoehner et al., 2012; Künn‐Nelen, 2016). Commuting to work is often a source of stress for workers, and its detrimental impacts are a rising public health issue as well as an area of concern for occupational health psychologists. Commuting is not considered a …

The Employment Situation Of Veterans: April 2022, Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

Veteran employment trends and statistics among various demographics during April 2022

Racial And Ethnic Differences In Health Insurance Coverage Among Workers In Texas, Trenton P. Overstreet

<strong> Theses and Dissertations </strong>

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of race and ethnicity on health insurance coverage for working age (18-61) adults in Texas. I focus on Texas for three reasons. First, Texas is the second largest state in the United States. Second, Texas is a majority-minority state where Hispanics are the largest ethnic group. Finally, Texas has not yet expanded Medicaid eligibility to individuals with family incomes under 138% of the federal poverty threshold. In this analysis, I use data from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a …

Anticipatory Intelligence Resilience Modeling Evaluation Of Aspire Research Center, Madeleine Alder

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The analysis of threats and vulnerabilities in a system is essential in developing resilience strategies to strengthen the system’s ability to adapt and succeed. This report delivers a threat analysis of ASPIRE, a research organization centered on engineering solutions for promoting electric vehicle (EV) adoption. ASPIRE, which is an international network of university research partners and comprised primarily of engineering teams, is focused on developing technology that can be used by industry or governmental partners. The threat of low public buy-in for ASPIRE technology is one of the most significant concerns facing the system. Low adoption rates or public resistance …

Detecting Accurate Emotions In Faces, Emma Greenwood

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Anger race bias is the tendency to misidentify expressions of emotion, specifically anger, in Black or racially ambiguous faces that are fearful or neutral (Hutchings & Haddock, 2008). Anger is often associated with aggression (Murphy et al., 2005). Therefore, the inaccurate perception of anger and threat may lead to an inappropriate response and could increase the likelihood that a police officer will shoot at a suspect (Correll et al., 2007). From 2015 to 2020, police officers shot and killed over 100 unarmed Black males (Washington Post, 2020). This study examined if anger race bias could be reduced through emotion identification …

Competency-Based Personnel Selection Oklahoma - Needs Assessment Summary, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Other QIC-WD Products

Exploration of Needs

The Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) worked with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) to conduct a needs assessment. A variety of information was explored to learn about the current workforce and the agency’s child welfare workforce practices, including:

1. recruitment, hiring, and retention metrics and processes,
2. organizational culture and climate, and
3. other workforce processes and initiatives, such as onboarding, mentoring, supervision, performance management, training, and employee recognition.

More specifically, four major types of information were considered: 1) objective data from various agency databases and reports; 2) subjective perceptions of staff and supervisors, gathered …

Classroom Management Practices Appropriate To Children Of Military Families: A Case Study, Felicia Bucher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this sociocultural study was to analyze the lived experiences of exemplary teachers who teach on a military base school. By teaching a lesser-known diverse group of students who are children of military families, the teachers in this study shared the sociocultural perspective of Vygotsky’s perezhivanie of the adjustment to how they approach classroom management and facilitate student learning despite the differences in teaching children of military families. The dissertation employed qualitative methodology using in-depth interviews with six teacher participants and a triangulation interview with the school principal. The findings are discussed in relation to classroom management strategies …

The Experiences Of Pell Grant Students Who Lose Aid: A Mixed Methods Study, Jaime Carbajal, Jr.

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Understanding the link between financial aid and college attainment is particularly important for the Federal Pell Grant program, the nation’s largest financial aid program. Many studies have shown that the Pell Grant program increases retention, persistence, and graduation rates for undergraduate students (Castleman & Long, 2016; Evans & Nguyen, 2019). Nonetheless, 80% of Pell recipients do not go on to complete a college degree within four years (Goldrick-Rab et al., 2016). One possible reason for this outcome is the way the Pell Grant program is constructed and implemented. While the Pell grant starts out as a need-based aid, it becomes …

First-Day Expositional Interviews, Iterative Training, And Participant Skill In Descriptive Experience Sampling, Cody Michio Kaneshiro

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Descriptive experience sampling (DES) is a method of describing inner experience (i.e., directly apprehended thoughts, feelings, sensations, etc.). DES includes “iterative” sequences of random, natural-environment, beeper-driven sampling of inner experiences followed by an expositional interview that seeks to apprehend and describe those inner experiences in high-fidelity. DES investigators claim that these iterative sequences increase the participant’s DES skills. The present study tests that claim by investigating whether participants demonstrate higher skills in their very-last-sample interviews than they exhibited in their own very-first-sample interviews. The very-last-sample and very-first-sample interviews of six participants were quantitatively and qualitatively examined. We found that participants …

Encouraging Adolescents To Be Self-Directed Learners: Influences Of Classroom Motivation On Student Outcomes, Katherine Stearley

Senior Honors Projects

Teaching American adolescents in public schools presents a unique challenge: how to foster an instructional environment that simultaneously encourages intrinsic desires for lifelong learning, allows for the development of self-determination and autonomy, and teaches students appropriate academic skills. It was hypothesized that relying mainly on extrinsic motivations would be associated with more problematic outcomes for students while relying mainly on intrinsic motivations would be associated with more desirable outcomes. Additionally, it was hypothesized that schools organized around different educational philosophies would favor the use of different motivational strategies. A literature review was conducted that included a review of theories of …

Reducing Children's Exposure To Traffic-Related Pollution: Evaluating Policies And Strategies Used By Texas School Districts, Laura Schwanke

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Children are most vulnerable to the effects of traffic-related air pollution because of their developing respiratory systems, amount of time spent outdoors, and faster rates of breathing. As one of the largest states in the U.S. in terms of both total population and number of children, Texas is a particularly important place for studying policies and strategies used by school districts to reduce childrenâ??s exposure to vehicular pollution. No previous study had examined how public school districts in Texas are attempting to mitigate the effects of traffic-related air pollution on childrenâ??s health. This thesis sought to address this knowledge gap …

So I Was, 'Like', Totally Buggin’ – Evidence For The Role Of Attention On Entrainment From Discourse Particles, Rachel L. Williams

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In this study, we investigated the role of attention for entrainment during production and comprehension using the discourse particle like. We tested two main hypotheses – that entrainment to discourse particles, even if relatively implicit, requires some attentional resources, versus that it requires little (if any) attention. In two experiments, participants read a short story and retold it (baseline retelling phase), then read another short story and listened to a recording of it (priming phase), and then read and retold a third story (target retelling phase). In Experiment 1, half of the participants simultaneously navigated a busy pedestrian zone in …

The Perception Of Tap And Trill In Spanish-English Bilinguals, Lesley Vanessa Rodriguez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Spanish [ɾ] tap and [r] trill are two different phonemes that only contrast in the intervocalic position. In Spanish, the tap and trill contrast can only be found in thirty words, for example in (but) and (dog). Studies, such as Bradley and Willis (2012), demonstrate that, in production, taps and trills are variably neutralized among monolingual Spanish speakers. Neutralization of taps and trills creates an ambiguous signal that could be difficult to decode by heritage Spanish speakers. In fact, previous studies found that heritage speakers, such as monolingual Spanish speakers, neutralize these phonemes (Amengual, 2016). The purpose of this …

An Exploration Of Skills And Competencies To Develop Tiny Tasks For A Sustainability Mindset, Migielia Ga De Rooij

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

The Journal of Environmental Psychology and Human Ecology Review have produced various articles about the relationship between values, environmental attitudes, happiness, and sustainable lifestyles. Research shows that a change of individual behaviors and lifestyles is generally considered to be of vital importance for making the transition to a sustainable society. This project explored the individual skills and competencies that are needed to develop a Sustainability Mindset, also referred to as the 12 Sustainability Principles in the book The Sustainability Mindset Principles: A Guide to Developing a Mindset for a Better World written by Isabel Rimanoczy in 2021. The first result …

Developing A Prototype Of A Playfulness Toolkit, Hanneke Hovels

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Playfulness is the ability to reframe situations, seeing new possibilities. A playful mind-set increases our mental flexibility, resilience, empathy, and our overall well-being. Unfortunately, growing up most of us lose part of our playfulness. How can we facilitate adults to live a (more) playful life? To ignite playfulness in adults’ lives, we first have to raise awareness for the benefits of playfulness, and then help people to develop a playful mind-set and integrate playfulness into their lives. In this project I combine my knowledge of creativity and playfulness with my experience in service and behavior design. I developed a prototype …

My Journey To Create A Space For Young Adults To Grow In Community, Chelsea Simmeth

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project focuses on the development of a safe space for young adults to come together, create community and engage in activities. There is a gap in college-age students’ ability to find community outside the university. This project focuses on creating a place where they would be able to meet new people, play sports, and board games, and do arts and crafts. The development of marketing strategies, event planning checklists, and locations for holding events are outlined for the Young Adults (YA)- UNITE (Upbeat, New, and Inviting Transformational Environment) program.

Exploring The Intersection Between Psychedelics And The 4 P’S Of Creativity, Laura M. Dawn

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Psychedelics are extremely multifaceted and complex hallucinogenic compounds that induce an altered state of consciousness and can have a wide range of effects. The outcomes of one’s psychedelic experience are largely dependent on what’s known as “set and setting.” The purpose of this project is to make an argument that the lens through which we look at and explore psychedelics matters. Currently the primary lens through which Western culture is exploring exploring psychedelics is through the lens of reducing mental illness. When we look at the existing scientific research that focuses on psychedelics as a treatment for mental illness, and …

Tap Dance As A Nonverbal Language For Autism Spectrum Disorder, J Sydney Rhane Burtis

Honors College Theses

Through elements of sound and movement, tap dance employs rhythm as a universal language for nonverbal communication through the medium of music. Through three distinct but related elements, (a literature review, an artist’s statement, and a performance piece), this thesis will explore tap dance as a form of nonverbal language. For individuals with autism spectrum disorder, tap dance may help to achieve further attunement with themselves and the outside world. Due to autistic people’s impaired communicative, interactional, and skilled abilities, experiencing the relationships formed through tap dance may facilitate improvement. The literature review begins with a brief definition of nonverbal …

The Effect Of Female Representation On Revenue: A Study Of Gender Within The Film Industry, Riley Pranian

Honors College Theses

The art of film has captivated the world for generations — a central component of the captivation is the actors showcased on-screen. But unfortunately, the film industry is male-dominated. Since 1970, the consumption of media by adults and adolescents has increased (Vogel, 2020). This study will determine the relationship between a cast's female-to-male ratio and a film's revenue. The initial hypothesis is that the more women present in the cast, the higher the revenue - this relationship is assumed through increased demand for movies and the need for role models among women. This study’s foundation is the presence of a …