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
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item A Healthy Relationship? The Entanglement of State, Corporate, and Labor Interests in Gender-based Violence Sport Policies(2023) Drafts-Johnson, Lilah; Jette, Shannon; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Gender-based violence (GBV) within professional sports made headlines in 2014 following the Ray Rice domestic violence incident, prompting a Congressional hearing with the four major men’s sports leagues in the United States. This hearing resulted in the implementation of several sport industry-wide policies addressing off-field conduct for players and employees, including ones specifically focused on interpersonal relationships. Despite the cultural prominence of corporate sport entities such as the National Football League, National Basketball Association, and Major League Baseball, in addition to the fervor for institutional accountability in the wake of the #MeToo movement, there has been limited academic scholarship examining the scope and efficacy of these policies (see Brown, 2016; Augelli & Kuennen, 2018) Drawing upon the findings of a thematic analysis of Senate Hearing 113-725: Addressing Domestic Violence in Professional Sports, this thesis utilized a governmentality analytic to critically analyze the motivations, assumptions, and tensions which underpinned the institutionalization of GBV policies in corporate sport. The findings demonstrate that while the parties present at the hearing problematized sport culture at large as a producer of GBV, their remarks characterized professional male athletes as perpetrators, reifying the idea of the “violent (Black) male athlete” and violence as an inherent trait in professional sport more generally. Instead of critically interrogating the structure of professional sport, legislators instead focused on expanding the governing capacity of sport leagues, and effectively the state, to discipline and punish perpetrators of GBV by encouraging the implementation of new extra-legal policies. I argue that this hearing reinforced the neoliberal entanglement of state, corporate, and non-profit actors in the movement to reduce GBV in society, strengthening the dependency that the state has on corporate social responsibility to solve leading public health issues, and compelling GBV advocates, activists, and scholars to engage with corporations in order to receive critical funding and legitimacy in their work. Meanwhile, suggested legislation to improve economic and workplace conditions for survivors was ignored as labor issues were positioned as oppositional to GBV accountability efforts. Through articulation and radical contextualism, this thesis sheds new insight into the origins and methods of corporate GBV policies in sport as well as the intricacies of contemporary neoliberal governance, and ultimately argues that the state response to GBV must shift from one of punishment and surveillance to one of preventative care through improved economic and labor conditions for all workers.Item PREDICTING POLICY: EXAMINING PERCEPTIONS OF ECONOMIC INEQUALITY, COLOR-EVASIVE RACIAL ATTITUDES, AND BELIEFS ABOUT CAPITALISM(2022) Sharma, Rajni; Kivlighan, Dennis; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examines how beliefs about capitalism, color-evasive racial attitudes, and perceptions about wealth distribution predict redistributive economic policy preferences. I hypothesized that beliefs about capitalism, perceptions of wealth distribution, and color-evasiveness predict policy preferences when controlling for Satisfaction With Life (SWLS) and that critical consciousness action (CA) will moderate this relationship. Approximately 510 individuals completed the Costs of United States Corporate Capitalism (CCC) scale, Colorblind Racial Attitudes Scale (COBRAS), the Critical Action subscale of the Critical Consciousness Scale, ratings of wealth distribution, and questions about their policy preferences through an online survey distributed through MTurk. Results indicated that the CCC and COBRAS subscales predicted policy preferences, over and above demographic variables. Findings from this project may inform how individuals make decisions about policy preferences and on a broader scale, inform solutions for decreasing inequity in the U.S. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed.Item Acknowledging Survival: Political Recognition and Indigenous Climate Adaptation in the United States(2021) Cottrell, Clifton; Bierbaum, Rosina; Sprinkle, Robert; Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Indigenous peoples in the United States are already disproportionately experiencing the impacts of climate change. Closely related to tribal efforts to manage climate effects are historical endeavors to assert indigenous sovereignty and govern tribal lands, but deficiencies in the process used by the U.S. government to acknowledge tribal sovereignty have left hundreds of indigenous communities unrecognized and especially vulnerable to climate harm. My dissertation aims to determine whether a tribe’s recognition status affects its capacity for climate adaptation. To make this determination, I utilize a case study methodology wherein I analyze the circumstances of one non-federally recognized tribe, the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, in three critical areas related to adaptation and tribal recognition — access to key species and cultural resources, utilization of federal funding opportunities, and participation in climate decision-making. Tribal access to resources is often predicated by historical treaty rights, so I applied a theme identification technique to extrapolate important strategies on easing barriers to resource access and regulatory authority. I then used the themes to compare the likelihood of the Burt Lake Band and nearby federally recognized tribes to maintain connections to key species in the future. I next employed a comparative statutory analysis methodology to differentiate eligibility for non-federally recognized tribes accessing federal funding. I also assessed tribal climate adaptation plans and interviewed tribal climate plan managers on the barriers to successful implementation of adaptation actions. Finally, I developed criteria from a review of global literature on the inclusion of indigenous peoples in adaptation projects to assess participatory opportunities for the Burt Lake Band in state and regional climate governance. My findings show that the Band’s lack of federal recognition inhibits its adaptive capacity to access key cultural resources, federal funding, and climate governance opportunities. However, I also conclude that state and local perceptions of tribal identity could have a greater influence on the adaptation of non-federally recognized tribes, so I recommend that a more inclusive federal recognition system be implemented to avoid the unequal development of indigenous adaptive capacity based on disparate approaches to indigenous affairs by state and local jurisdictions.Item Developing effective communication for climate change adaptation and disaster risk mitigation(2021) Lim, JungKyu Rhys; Liu, Brooke Fisher; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Preparing for natural disasters and adapting to climate change can save lives. However, little research has examined how organizations can effectively communicate climate change adaptation and disaster risk mitigation behaviors. This dissertation employs two studies to examine how to effectively communicate disaster mitigation and preparedness to help at-risk publics better prepare for natural disasters. Fragmented studies so far have not provided an integrated model to identify the most effective factors for explaining and predicting disaster preparedness behaviors and policy support. Moreover, studies have not yet developed and tested communication messages that can motivate publics’ disaster risk mitigation through experiments. Thus, in Study 1, this dissertation attempts to build an integrated model and identify the key factors that motivate disaster preparedness behaviors and policy support through three large-scale online surveys (N = 3,468). Two of the most common federally declared disasters in large disaster-prone states are studied: wildfires and hurricanes with floods. Study 1 finds that social norms and self-efficacy strongly motivate disaster preparedness behaviors, while response efficacy strongly motivates policy support behaviors. Then, based on Study 1 and consultation with eight communication experts, Study 2 develops messages using social norms and efficacy. Study 2 tests the social norms and coping appraisal messages through four between-subject online experiments (2 X 2 X 2 X 2) with an additional vicarious experience condition in flood- and hurricane-prone states (N = 5,027). Injunctive norms and disapproval rationale strongly encourage at-risk publics to take mitigation behaviors, and vicarious experience seems promising for message design. Additionally, this dissertation reveals at-risk publics’ awareness, behavioral engagement, preferred communication channels, and information sources for preparing for hurricanes and wildfire risks. Weather forecasters and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including the National Weather Service (NWS), were the preferred information sources for preparing for hurricane risks. Conversely, local and state fire departments were the preferred information sources for preparing for wildfire risks. By developing and testing messages on the strongest factors using preferred information sources, the dissertation provides guidance for risk communication researchers and professionals.Item Violence against Women Policy and Practice in Uganda - Promoting Justice within the Context of Patriarchy(2016) Gardsbane, Diane; Freidenberg, Judith N.; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The goal of this study was to understand how and whether policy and practice relating to violence against women in Uganda, especially Uganda’s Domestic Violence Act of 2010, have had an effect on women’s beliefs and practices, as well as on support and justice for women who experience abuse by their male partners. Research used multi-sited ethnography at transnational, national, and local levels to understand the context that affects what policies are developed, how they are implemented, and how, and whether, women benefit from these. Ethnography within a local community situated global and national dynamics within the lives of women. Women who experience VAW within their intimate partnerships in Uganda confront a political economy that undermines their access to justice, even as a women’s rights agenda is working to develop and implement laws, policies, and interventions that promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. This dissertation provides insights into the daily struggles of women who try to utilize policy that challenges duty bearers, in part because it is a new law, but also because it conflicts with the structural patriarchy that is engrained in Ugandan society. Two explanatory models were developed. One explains factors relating to a woman’s decision to seek support or to report domestic violence. The second explains why women do and do not report DV. Among the findings is that a woman is most likely to report abuse under the following circumstances: 1) her own, or her children’s survival (physical or economic) is severely threatened; 2) she experiences severe physical abuse; or, 3) she needs financial support for her children. Research highlights three supportive factors for women who persist in reporting DV. These are: 1) the presence of an “advocate” or support 2) belief that reporting will be helpful; and, 3) lack of interest in returning to the relationship. This dissertation speaks to the role that anthropologists can play in a multi-disciplinary approach to a complex issue. This role is understanding – deeply and holistically; and, articulating knowledge generated locally that provides connections between what happens at global, national and local levels.Item Youth Engaging in Prostitution: An examination of race, gender, and their intersections(2013) SHANAHAN, RYAN; Thornton Dill, Bonnie; Women's Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Between 2008 and 2012, 10 states took steps to decriminalize young people arrested for prostitution while providing them with court-mandated services to help them recover from their experiences with prostitution. In 2006, the National Institute of Justice funded a study to estimate the population of youth engaging in prostitution in the New York City area. As a part of the study, 249 young people engaging in prostitution (YEP) were interviewed about their experiences. This dissertation explores the legislation created to address YEP and the incorporation of ideas in public discourse into legislative policy, as well as how these policies reflect the experiences and needs of YEP as they articulate them. This interdisciplinary, feminist study explores how these differing constructions and the relationships between them are built within raced, gendered, and classed power relations. To answer these questions, the dissertation uses quantitative and qualitative methods and draws from theories of feminism, intersectionality, harm reduction, and strength-based social work.Item Once Upon a Teacher: A Phenomenological Investigation of Teachers Who Begin to Use Storytelling in Their Classrooms(2012) DOUGHERTY, MOIRA; Hultgren, Francine; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)It is through our stories that we come to know ourselves, and the world in which we live. For millennia people with no written language have used storytelling to transmit their culture, and to pass on their values, beliefs, and laws to the next generation, in short, to educate. Through recent research we have come to understand that our brains are designed to make meaning through narrative. It is through stories that we shape our personalities and our lives. This is a phenomenological investigation into the lived experiences of teachers who begin to use storytelling in their classrooms. I draw on the works of numerous storytellers, educators and phenomenologists to provide a ground for this study. The narrative that forms the framework of this quest is the phenomenological methodology of Max van Manen. I traveled the path of this phenomenon through conversations with five elementary school teachers who began to use storytelling in their classrooms, and I used thematic analysis to transform the themes and insights that came from those conversations into a textual understanding. The performance nature of storytelling revealed the care that lies at the heart of pedagogy, and the ways in which that care is expressed. By telling stories to their classes, my participants came to understand the richness of their pedagogical knowledge, renewed their confidence in their professional competence and returned them to their authentic teaching selves. Through storytelling my participants expanded their pedagogical horizons. By challenging themselves, they gained a greater awareness of their pedagogical practice, helping them create higher expectations for their teaching. Telling stories creates an understanding of the roles students play in the life of the classroom and an appreciation of the reciprocal nature of teaching. Teaching as storytelling has possibilities for pedagogical benefits for teachers and students. This study explores the insights this pedagogy might have for teacher retention, connections to diversity, and teacher education. The nature of storytelling fosters care, creates community and nurtures more meaningful relationships. It might open opportunities for teachers and students to allow themselves to see and be seen, hear and be heard in mindful and authentic relationships.Item Stated Preference Methods and Models: Analyzing Recreational Angling in New England Groundfisheries(2011) Jarvis, Sonia; McConnell, Kenneth E; Agricultural and Resource Economics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Policy analysis of nonmarket goods requires accurate knowledge about the behavior of economic agents. This dissertation explores several facets of behavior models in recreational angling for three New England groundfish species. Stated preference methods are used frequently for nonmarket applications because data are scarce, but survey design can affect the results of behavior models via changes in respondents' cognitive processes. Methodological biases due to task complexity, measured by survey length, number of alternatives, and the degree of information overlap are observed in discrete choice experiment questionnaires, evidenced by differences in estimated model parameters and error variances. Additionally, ignoring task complexity increases mean marginal willingness-to-pay estimates. Information processing and decision heuristics should be considered in survey design and accounted for in estimated models. Empirical specifications for utility models of recreational angling are also explored because numerous variants are employed in analyzing stated preference data. Inclusion of responses from different survey subpopulations affect estimated utility function parameters and mean marginal willingness-to-pay values. Utility models that are nonlinear in catch are as statistically robust as their linear counterparts but allow for diminishing marginal utility in fish, which is more consistent with recreational angling behavior. Failure to account for sources of heterogeneity such as angler avidity, species familiarity, and demographic information affect behavioral interpretations considerably. Recreational fisheries are commonly managed using bag (creel) and minimum size restrictions. Many surveys include regulations as attributes in choice experiments, but models of angler behavior should not contain regulatory variables explicitly because they rarely factor into angler participation decisions directly. Because catch is random, regulations affect angler decisions indirectly by changing the underlying distributions for keep and release. A framework for understanding the effect of regulations on angler behavior given the stochastic nature of catch is developed. Short-run and long-run fishery implications are evaluated using a bioeconomic simulation.Item Investigating the Global Productivity Effects of Highly Skilled Labor Migration: How Immigrant Athletes Impact Olympic Medal Counts(2011) Horowitz, Jonathan Joseph; McDaniel, Stephen R; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Labor migration is a defining attribute of today's global economy, as more people live outside their country of birth than ever before and workers have more opportunities beyond their local borders (GCIM, 2005). This has motivated scholars to better understand the mobility of human capital and its various effects. While data are available to track aggregate migration patterns between countries, it is much more difficult to determine its association with such metrics as gains or losses in productivity for specific sectors of industry (Asis & Piper, 2008). Athletes are among the few groups of workers (along with information technology specialists, senior academics, health professionals and teachers) who can seek employment on a global market level while most people have fewer opportunities based on national markets (GCIM, 2005). Moreover, given the availability of records and clear metrics of productivity, the sports entertainment industry provides a unique opportunity to investigate the movement of a highly skilled labor force (Kahn, 2000). Therefore, the current study will investigate 21st century labor migration patterns and their relationship to productivity in the context of arguably the largest, oldest and most global example of sports business, the Summer Olympics. The scholarly and practical implications and future directions for research will be discussed.Item Embassy of Cuba in Washington, DC: Image, Site, Program(2008-08-11) Fishman, Ian C; Williams, Isaac; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis postulates the design of an official Embassy of Cuba in Washington, DC, following the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries. An embassy serves as its state's proxy image and public interface within the host country. The research and analysis in this thesis explores how the image, program, and site of an embassy can be used as instruments of policy to promote the representing nation's political and social agenda. The program of the Embassy of Cuba is modeled after existing embassies. Many such buildings succeed in generating social capital by encouraging public activity within and around their sites as well as fostering both local and global connections. In addition to accommodating the administrative functions of diplomacy, great embassies encourage cultural exchange. A major goal of this thesis is to adapt the embassy program to a uniquely Cuban arrangement and use of space.