Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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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 give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
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Item Understand You Are Going To Deal With Hardships That Women Deal With In The Civilian World, Kind Of Like On Steroids”: Air Force And Army Women Veterans’ Perceptions Of The United States Military(2023) McDermott, Victoria Marie; Anderson, Lindsey B; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The United States military (USM) is a totalistic and hegemonically masculine institution that leaves lasting effects on former members sense of self and identity. The performance of gender by individual members, and the gendered nature of the institution itself make it a challenging profession for those categorized into the subordinate gender to navigate and succeed. Using feminist standpoint theory, this dissertation explores women’s perspectives of their experiences during and after military service to better under the role of gender on institution-public relational meaning making. Findings demonstrate that gender performed, on individual and institutional levels forms gendered relationships to the institution that have long term effects on individuals willingness to engage with the institution. From the findings identified, theoretical extensions and practice implications, as well as recommendations for the USM to improve its relationships with women veterans are suggested.Item Picturing Island Bodies Under US Imperialism(2022) Robinson-Tillenburg, Gabrielle; McEwen, Abigail; Art History and Archaeology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Since the end of World War II, the US has maintained the naval occupation of Okinawa,a small island off the coast of Japan. Across the globe in Puerto Rico the US operated what was at one point the largest naval station in the world during World War II and through the Cold War until ceasing operations in 2001. Islanders in Vieques, Puerto Rico face alarming cancer rates, speculated as due to pollution from offshore explosives. Women of Okinawa experience recurrent acts of sexual violence at the hands of US servicemen. In both archipelagos, public protests against US occupation have disputed land ownership and environmental damages. Taking a transnational approach to the survival of US imperial violence, this paper examines how contemporary video artists, Okinawan Chikako Yamashiro, Puerto Rico-based duo Allora & Calzadilla, and Puerto Rican Beatriz Santiago Muñoz picture island bodies both human and geographic. In Seaweed Woman (2008) by Yamashiro, Under Discussion (2005) by Allora & Calzadilla, and Post-Military Cinema (2014) by Santiago Muñoz, liminality, as a space between life and death—a condition particular to colonized bodies, is pictured as an aesthetic and durational refusal of death and destruction to the island body. The condition of liminality is portrayed through visual and sonic engagements of hyperrealism, that is the confusion between the artists’ reproduced images/sounds with the real experiences of island bodies. In Post-Military Cinema, liminality is used by the artist to produce a repossession of the island body, and in all artworks, to picture resistance. Broadly, this comparative study challenges notions of “American Art” and reflects on how US imperial ideology enacts violence, but via the creation of binary oppositions creates liminal spaces from which the island body resists and survives.Item Between Nation and State: Albanian Associations from Ottoman Origins to a Communist Party, 1880 - 1945(2016) Mitrojorgji, Lejnar; Lampe, John R; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation addresses the broader antecedents of the Communist Party of Albania (CPA) as one of a number of associations whose experience was central to Albanian political history. This long experience dates back to the informal national associations formed in the Ottoman Empire of the late nineteenth century. The dissertation examines the role of these associations which, pursuing language rights and political representation through imperial state reforms, set a pattern that struggled to connect nation and state, rather than asserting the territorial demands for a nation-state familiar across the region. Starting out in the Ottoman Empire, but then maturing in the Albanian diaspora in Romania, Bulgaria, Egypt and the United States, this dissertation shows politically significant processes of longer-term adaptation that created informal associations as institutional structures able to channel collective action. It then traces the reframing of these patterns through their destruction in the Balkan Wars and the First World War to the emergence of communist associations in the interwar period and beyond. This dissertation is a sustained study that traces long-term Ottoman imperial political legacies in the Albanian successor state. The story of the associations, based on hitherto unexamined archival documents, shows that the Albanians possessed a far greater capacity for political mobilization that previously acknowledged by historians. Moreover, the dissertation successfully challenges the conventional wisdom that portrays the Albanians as irreparably divided along sectarian and regional faultlines. It finds that Albanian national activism was civic in character rather than ethnic as elsewhere in the Balkans. The Albanians fought to remain within a multinational framework because this afforded them political security, social advancement and potential economic growth. In the late Ottoman period, this political objective was manifested in the acceptance of the supranational imperial order whereas during the Second World War, in the aspiration to become members of the Comintern internationalist movement. Another important find, is the newly-discovered evidence concerning the founding of the CPA and its wartime conduct as an organization created and led by the Albanians themselves, albeit with Yugoslav ideological assistance under the transnational umbrella of the Comintern.Item The Determinants of Court-Martial Decisions: An Empirical Investigation into the Air Force's Criminal Court Process(2015) Breen, Patricia D.; Johnson, Brian D; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In spite of many similarities with civilian criminal courts, public debate continues about further "civilianizing" the modern court-martial process to enhance legitimacy and reduce unwarranted disparities. Unfortunately, researchers and policymakers know very little about the determinants of court-martial decisions and the influence of military culture in the process. The current study begins to address this void in the empirical literature and informs contemporary reform discussions with its examination of the legal and extra-legal factors for court-martial decision outcomes at different stages of the process. With an extension of modern courts and sentencing theoretical perspectives, this study utilized multi-level modeling techniques with Air Force court-martial data from 2005-2008 to investigate the effects of individual-level factors as well as inter-court community and inter-judge disparities. The results revealed a number of findings that were contrary to civilian court research and theoretical expectations particularly for military-specific outcomes. Additionally, the analysis detected some evidence of disparities consistent with the influence of traditional military culture for decisions earlier in the court-martial process. The implications for the current public policy debate, courts and sentencing theoretical development, and future research are discussed.Item Service, Sacrifice, and Citizenship: The Experiences of Muslims Serving in the U.S. Military(2013) Sandhoff, Michelle; Segal, David R; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The events of 9/11 and the subsequent "War on Terror" activated long standing stereotypes in the United States that portrayed Muslims as fundamentally different from other Americans. In this project, I interview 15 Muslims who have served in the U.S. military since 9/11 to determine if and how the activation of this us/them boundary shaped their military experiences. I find that the us/them atmosphere that characterizes civilian discourse about Muslims is present in the military. However, most of my respondents felt that it had little practical effect on them. I discuss this in terms of the presence but irrelevance of this boundary. I connect this finding to the history of racial integration in the U.S. military, arguing that characteristics of the military, including an emphasis on policies of equal opportunity, the ability to compel certain behaviors, and the nature of military service, which promotes close contact among diverse individuals, can mitigate some of the negatives effects of being othered. While most of my respondents had positive experiences, in some units the us/them discourse was exacerbated, creating atmospheres of distrust and suspicion which led to negative outcomes including harassment, accusations, and decisions by Muslim service members to leave the military. A theme that emerged in exploring this dichotomy of experience among my respondents was the role of leadership. Leadership that saw value in diversity and was invested in supporting it, mitigated negative effects of othering, making this an irrelevant frame. However, leadership that repeated stereotypes or fears reinforced this tension, creating toxic environments in which Muslim service members felt excluded. I began this project with the expectation that citizenship would be a central narrative for Muslim service members, as it was for Japanese Americans in World War II. However, the respondents in my sample rarely use their military service to directly make claims on citizenship. They do however express institutional motivations to serve and engage in dialogue, bridge building, and other aspects of everyday citizenship.Item Conscripting the State: Military and Society in Iran, 1921-1941(2011) Bingaman, Lyndon; Zilfi, Madeline C; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Reza Shah Pahlavi came to power in an Iranian state on the verge of disintegration and dominated by foreign powers. In order to reverse this decline and protect national sovereignty, Reza sought to build a centralized state and strong national military modeled after those of Europe. The military came to dominate affairs within the country by consuming a large percentage of the national budget and by the favoritism given to its officers. The government also attempted to impose martial order on society by implementing conscription, requiring military instruction for students, and imposing national dress codes for citizens. Reza's elevation of the military, heavy-handed style of governance, and the systemic corruption of his regime made it unpopular with much of Iran's population. This thesis argues that Reza's reforms did much to alter the appearance of Iran and its military but failed to make critical institutional changes.Item Ideologues and Pragmatists: World War II, New Communists, and Persistent Dilemmas of the Soviet Party-State, 1941-1953(2010) Stotland, Daniel; David-Fox, Michael; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The decision-making paradigm of the Soviet party-state was defined by the persistent shortage of qualified manpower that afflicted the Russian elite. The traditional Russian problems of under administration, combined with the unique features of the Soviet political system, resulted in a dichotomy between practical and ideological demands. The era of WWII provides a microcosm of pressures facing the Kremlin and illustrates the cyclical nature of policy formation forced on it by the paradoxes of the system. As the party's responsibilities expanded into specialized economic and military areas, political experts increasingly depended on the specialized professionals. These trends grew increased drastically during the war. An unexpected consequence of the party's expansion into economic or military professions was the discovery that co-optation worked both ways and many party members become managers rather than ideological overseers. Throughout the existential crisis of the system - the war and its aftermath - the party would find itself in a fundamental conflict over its identity, challenged over its role both vis-a-vis the state and its own priorities. After an abortive attempt by Zhdanov to reverse the wartime trends, a new paradigm was articulated by the party during the last five years of Stalin's reign. This resulted in the emergence of a new elite consensus which envisioned the party as intergral and invasive economic actor. This shift in the party's identity was the price of maintaining centralized political power and came at the expense of the focus on ideological purity. In the long term, however, the diminished role of ideology robbed the party of its core value system and steadily eroded its legitimizing and self-energizing power. Over time, the new consensus would undermine the very foundations of the party-state construct. Yet if the USSR was to survive as a modern, industrialized state, the accommodation with the technocrats was necessary. The contradiction between ideological and pragmatic aims was inherent to the system, and demanded an eventual choice between the long-term health of the state and that of the party.Item Advanced Training for the Advancing Soldier(2009) Sanz, Robert; Kelly, Brian; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The United States is and will likely continue to be in a constant state of military engagement. Our soldiers are deployed to the most dangerous war zones in the world, and they selflessly perform their duties. Despite a dramatic decrease in battlefield deaths, the number of wounded soldiers remains very high. Many soldiers that would have died in previous wars are now saved as a result of our improved war theater medical interventions, but many are left scarred physically, emotionally, and socially. This is especially true for amputees who face a unique challenge in reengaging in civilian life. Based on the writings on the topic of Social Capital, this thesis proposes a facility that works toward reintegrating amputees into civilian life with the their typical physical rehabilitation activities. The facility will provide opportunities for the effects social capital to sustain the morale and progress of patients both physically and mentally.Item Leadership and Safety Climate in High-Risk Military Organizations(2007-04-25) Adamshick, Mark Henry; Gansler, Jacques S; Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Preventable accidents and mishaps continue to degrade the readiness of U.S. military forces. In 2006, the National Safety Council reported an annual rate of over 30 accidental fatalities per 100,000 Department of Defense members and estimated that preventable injuries and illnesses cost the department approximately $21 billion per year. Reducing these occurrences was the policy mandate of the Secretary of Defense in 2003. He challenged the military service secretaries to reduce their mishap rates by 50 percent over a two-year period ending September 30, 2005. While each of the military services formulated its own compliance strategy, none of them met the reduction goal. In some cases, the mishap rate actually increased. The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate the Department of the Navy's (DON) policy compliance strategy and to assess its shortcomings and areas for future improvements. The Navy focused their efforts on leadership-intervention best practices designed to elevate the safety climate in their high-risk units, primarily their aviation components. These units contribute almost 90 percent of the annual mishap cost due to preventable accidents. DON policy-makers theorized that certain leadership interventions would improve safety climate thereby reducing the likelihood that unit members would engage in unsafe behavior both on and off the job. This dissertation evaluates the validity of that general theory, and the appropriateness of the specific leadership interventions chosen, in two distinct data collection and analysis phases. In the first phase, statistical analysis is conducted on a safety-climate survey database maintained by the Naval Post-Graduate School containing 20,000 Navy and Marine Corps military survey respondents assigned to F/A-18 aircraft squadrons completed over the past 5 years. In Phase 2, Commander, Naval Air Forces Atlantic Fleet authorized climate research in four Navy F/A-18 squadrons located at Oceana Naval Air Station. Upon analysis, the intervention methods implemented in the Navy's mishap reduction strategy showed little correlation with safety climate improvement. Phase 2 analysis identified several organizational programs and specific leadership qualities that correlate with elevated safety climate and revealed a preliminary causal relationship between safety climate and safety performance.Item The Relationship of Self-Perceived Leadership Style and Acculturation of Latinas in the U.S. Army(2004-11-04) Zoppi, Irene M.; Kivlighan, Dennis M.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT Title of dissertation: THE RELATIONSHIP OF SELF-PERCEIVED LEADERSHIP STYLE AND ACCULTURATION OF LATINAS IN THE U.S. ARMY. Irene M. Zoppi, Doctor of Philosophy, 2004 Dissertation directed by: Professor Dennis M. Kivlighan, Jr. Department of Counseling and Personnel Services The purpose of this research study was to examine the relationship of self-perceived leadership, acculturation and individualistic/collectivistic behaviors in Latino women leaders. Using a canonical correlational design, the study aimed at investigating how acculturation and individualistic/collectivistic behaviors relate to leadership of 524 Latina U.S. Army active duty officers with a participation rate of 72%. The study used a quantitative, descriptive, and exploratory research approach to answer the following research questions: What are Latino women's self-perceptions of their leadership style? How does acculturation relate to leadership? What is the relationship between acculturation and Latino women's self-perceptions of their leadership style? What is the relationship of individualism/collectivism on the relationship between leadership and acculturation? How does individualism and collectivism relate to Latino women's self-perceptions of their leadership style? Correlational and t-test analyses were performed to compare the study's findings with those reported in previous research based on samples drawn from the MLQ. Correlation coefficients were computed to examine the relationship among demographic, leadership, acculturation, and individualism/collectivism variables. A canonical correlation was used to investigate the relationship between the set of variables of leadership and acculturation, acculturation and individualism/collectivism. Results indicated that the factor structure of the scales previously reported from Anglo cultures did fit the data from the Latina sample. These Latina officers, however, reported higher levels of transformational and lower levels of transactional leadership than normative samples. Significant canonical correlations were found among the variables under investigation that showed two types of canonical roots: Latina Collectivist and Active Transformational Leadership and Marginalized Individualistic and Passive Transactional Leadership. The Latina Collectivist and Active Transformational Leadership root was composed of the following variables: Latino Orientation, Horizontal and Vertical Collectivism, Idealized Influence (Behavior), Inspirational Motivation, Contingent Reward, Idealized Consideration, Intellectual Stimulation, Idealized Influence (Attributed), Laissez-Faire Leadership, and Management-by-Exception (Active). The Marginalized Individualistic and Passive Transactional Leadership root was composed of the following variables: Anglo Marginality, Latino Marginality, Latino/Hispanic Marginality, Horizontal and Vertical Individualism, Laissez-Faire Leadership, Intellectual Stimulation, Management-by-Exception (Active) and Management-by-Exception (Passive). Findings confirm Bass and Avolio (2004) contention that collectivist cultures nurture transformational leadership. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research were discussed.