UMD Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.
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Item WHAT'S RACE GOT TO DO WITH IT?: EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF RACE ON THE IMMIGRATION-CRIME RELATIONSHIP(2024) Henry, Diomand; Vélez, Maria B; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Existing literature on immigration and crime suggests a negative correlation betweenimmigration and neighborhood crime rates. However, the influence of race on this relationship has been understudied. This thesis addresses this gap by examining the immigration-crime relationship at the neighborhood level with a focus on the racial background of the foreign born population and the dominant racial composition of the community. Utilizing data from the National Neighborhood Crime Study II (NNCS2) and the 2008-2012 American Community Survey, this study incorporates race in three ways: categorizing immigrants by racial group (Black, White, Latino, and Asian), analyzing the impact of immigration across distinct racial neighborhoods (Black, White, Latino, and Multi-Ethnic), and examining the interaction between the racial groups of immigrants and neighborhood types on crime rates. The findings reveal that: (1) consistent with prior literature, immigration is associated with lower neighborhood crime rates; (2) the strength of this relationship varies across different racial backgrounds of immigrants and (3) the relationship differs across varying levels of racial composition at the neighborhood level, indicating that race significantly influences the immigration-crime dynamic. Overall, the results underscore the critical importance of incorporating race into discussions about immigration and crime.Item Relationships of social and physical environmental factors with cardiometabolic outcomes(2019) Huang, Dina; Puett, Robin; Nguyen, Quynh C; Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The social and physical environmental factors impact health in general and have been linked with increased risks of cardiometabolic outcomes including obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiometabolic biomarkers. The dissertation added to important knowledge on this topic in two ways: 1) by leveraging innovative Twitter-derived characteristics to study the potential influence of social environment on cardiometabolic outcomes, 2) investigating the effects of air pollution exposures on cardiometabolic outcomes in youth living with type I diabetes. The first study investigated the associations between Twitter-derived area-level predictors (happiness, diet, physical activity) with cardiometabolic outcomes (obesity, diabetes, hypertension) using a nationally representative sample from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). People living in neighborhoods with higher happiness, healthier diet and more physical activity had lower prevalence of obesity and hypertension but not diabetes. Twitter-derived social neighborhood characteristics can be used to identify communities with higher risk of cardiometabolic outcomes. We obtained data from SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth (SEARCH) study for the second and the third study. The second study examined the associations between chronic exposure to air pollution and glucose hemostasis (HbA1c) in youth living with type I diabetes. Particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 (PM2.5), proximity to heavily trafficked roads and annual average daily traffic count were associated with higher HbA1c in study site South Carolina, Colorado and Washington, but not in study site Ohio and California. Differences in particulate matter compositions may explain the inconsistent results. The third study assessed the effect of acute exposure to air pollution on subclinical CVD markers including pulse wave velocity (PWV), augmentation index (AIx) and brachial distensibility (BrachD) using a repeated measures design. Reduction in PM2.5 on the day prior to assessment was associated with lower AIx, but not associated with either PWV or BrachD. In summary, exposure to air pollution may be associated with cardiometabolic outcomes and reducing air pollution may have implications in early prevention of cardiovascular complications for youth living with type I diabetes. Overall, reducing social stressors and reducing hazardous physical environmental factors may decrease the risk of cardiometabolic outcomes, providing possible directions for CVD prevention for public health practitioners.Item A TALE OF TWO CITIES: A CASE STUDY OF PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL DISORDER IN TWO BALTIMORE CITY NEIGHBORHOODS, USING GIS AND SPATIAL METHODS(2014) Timleck, Andrew; Falk, William; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study is to explore how urban residents respond to their social and physical environments--what they define as problems and how they respond to them. I focus on one large, city--Baltimore, Maryland--and then compare two very different neighborhoods within it: Federal Hill, a well-off, and fashionable, area with mostly white residents, contrasted with Sandtown-Winchester, a neighborhood plagued by urban blight and crime, and where the majority of residents are black. I use a geographic information system (GIS) and spatial analyses to explore neighborhood call rates regarding physical and social incivilities, using the traditional sociological framework of "social disorder" as a theoretical lens for exploring similarities and differences in what disorders increase or decrease call rates. I use more commonly applied stochastic methods for much of the analysis (statistical means and ordinary least squares statistics), but I also explore, in a tentative way, the potential power of spatial methods, which are not widely used or known in sociology, to reveal more about what makes these spaces similar and different and how they affect call rate patterns. The predictive models demonstrate mixed results when predicting variation in the call rate patterns of the two neighborhoods. Income, education, and population-density effects are consistent, yet weak, positive predictors in both areas, while other indicators (home ownership, number of vacant houses, etc.) exhibit substantive positive effects in the wealthier neighborhood but none in the poorer. Neighborhood homogeneity and stability show negative impacts on rates, but depending on the neighborhood. I focus on how local variations in action, even under similar circumstances, may depend not only on residents' aggregate capacity to commit to change, but also on how neighborhood space is internalized as a "neighborhood generalized other" as a "community," according to George Herbert Mead, either constraining or enhancing engagement. This within- and between-neighborhood variance in the strength and direction of predictor variables, and in their capacity to predict residents' calling patterns, underscores issues of validity and operationalization regarding indicators traditionally used to measure social disorganization, and how spatial methods can be valuable corrective tools.Item IMPACT OF CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENT CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS ON EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT(2013) Champaloux, Steven; Young, Deborah R; Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)BACKGROUND: Youth with chronic health conditions face challenges that may prevent them from achieving their educational goals. PURPOSE: This dissertation examined whether children and adolescents with chronic health conditions were more likely to have poor educational attainment compared to youth without chronic health conditions. It examined the impact of type and onset of chronic health conditions as well as youth limited by chronic health conditions on educational attainment. The potential influences of mediating and moderating factors were also investigated. METHODS: Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth - Cohort 1997, multivariate logistic regression models were fit to examine the associations between type, onset of chronic health conditions, as well as youth limited by chronic health conditions and their impact on educational attainment. The cohort's sample size was 8,984 and participants were followed up through 2009. Chronic health conditions were defined by the 1997 parent questionnaire and the 2002 youth questionnaire. Educational attainment was defined by completion of high school by 21 years of age. Academic, psychosocial, neighborhood and school factors were examined and potential mediators and effect modifiers were identified. RESULTS: The odds of poor educational attainment for youth who reported ever having a chronic health condition were significantly higher compared to youth who never reported a chronic health conditions, OR: 1.47 (95% CI: 1.22 - 1.76). Specifically youth with cancer, diabetes or epilepsy had the highest odds of poor educational attainment, OR: 1.96 (95% CI: 1.13 - 3.37). There were similar associations for youth limited by a chronic health condition, OR: 1.76 (95% CI: 1.33 - 2.34) and for youth with early onset of a condition, OR: 1.61 (95% CI: 1.29 - 1.99). Academic and psychosocial variables attenuated these associations and mediators were present. Interactions with school-level factors and chronic health conditions were also found. CONCLUSIONS: Youth with chronic health conditions, specifically those with cancer, diabetes or epilepsy, youth limited by or have early onset of a chronic health condition are at particular risk of poor educational attainment. There are strategies that may mitigate these associations such as depressive symptoms screenings and support services in school.Item A Multilevel Exploration of Neighborhood Disorder, Family Management and Antisocial Behavior(2012) Lobo Antunes, Maria; Simpson, Sally S; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Tremendous research has been dedicated to unpacking the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and youth development. Despite these efforts conclusions have been generally mixed and it is the lack of consensus regarding the importance of community that has in part fueled this dissertation. Much of the research dedicated to examining community and neighborhood effects on parenting and child behavior have been focused on community structural characteristics. Even though there is much evidence to suggest that disorder can affect both individuals and communities alike there is a paucity of literature on how neighborhood disorder may simultaneously influence family practices and child problem behavior. Using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) and borrowing from the conceptual framework developed by Furstenberg, Cook, Eccles, Elder and Sameroff (1999), the current investigation explores the relationship between disorder, family management and youth antisocial behavior by posing four research questions. First, what are the effects of neighborhood disorder on family management practices? Second, how do family management strategies influence youth involvement in antisocial behavior? Third, how does neighborhood disorder affect youth antisocial behavior? Fourth, what is the multilevel relationship between disorder, family management and antisocial behavior? A series of models analyzed using Hierarchical Linear Model indicate that although disorder significantly influences several parenting strategies, in the end, family management practices tend to have a greater impact on youth involvement in antisocial behavior. Parents living in disordered neighborhood are more likely to limit their child's access to the surrounding neighborhood which in turn is shown to reduce antisocial behavior. These findings suggest that protective family management practices can be effective in curbing youth deviant behavior. Moreover, the analyses also revealed a significant relationship between proximal mechanisms of antisocial behavior (exposure to violence and peer deviance), family management and antisocial behavior. In essence, parental efforts in reducing exposure to violence and peer deviance have a protective effect in reducing antisocial behavior, especially in highly disordered neighborhoods. In keeping with these findings, several avenues for future research are discussed, as are theoretical and policy implications.Item Community Redevelopment in Greenmount West(2009) Bryson, Matthew Wells; Wortham, Brooke D; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis explores strategies of community revitalization through means of developing public zones in the highly vacated Baltimore neighborhood of Greenmount West. The building of community facilities including an after-school recreation center, public market and community café will bring various groups of people together at street corners once ruled by drug trafficking. At the corner, residents will participate together in everyday activities and be watchful over these public zones. In addition to creating casual forums for community discourse and strengthening bonds between disenfranchised neighbors, a sense of regional and local identity is created through references to local folk art traditions and provisions for neighborly sidewalk loitering through repeated use of certain street furniture and canopy systems. Greenmount West will gain a recognizable identity within the local arts district as a sustainable mixed-income community with an encouraged spirit and cooperative attitude toward defending public spaces.