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The Strong Black Woman Schema: How It Informs the Gendered Racial Identity Development of Black College Women/Non-Binary Students and Their Navigation of PWIs
No full textThe strong Black woman schema (SBW) is known to be a salient aspect of Black womanhood. This culturally specific schema can be understood as a protective factor against the social inequities that Black women are subjected to. However, not much is known on how the SBW schema informs Black college women’s gendered racial identity development and how it informs their navigation of PWIs. The purpose of this study is to explore the strong Black woman schema and how it informs the gendered racial identity development of Black college women/non-binary students and their navigation of PWIs. This study will also address the SBW schema and its implications on the mental health. This study consists of fifteen participants between the ages of 19-22. Their experiences were examined in regard to their gendered racial identity development, navigation of PWIs, and mental health as it pertained to the SBW schema. The results revealed (1) participants are redefining the SBW schema to better fit their gendered racial identities (2) participants are seeking out community and mentors to build upon their notions of strength while navigating PWIs (3) participants are navigating PWIs with their redefinitions of strength (4) participants are developing adaptive coping mechanisms to fight against the SBW schema
In Between Lines: An Investigation of the Ghanaian Migration Experience
No full textAs my socio-cultural experiences continue to evolve, so does my interest in contemporary border discourses. The question of \u27\u27who qualifies to be where and how,\u27\u27 lingers in my mind daily as I reflect on my migration experience as a Ghanaian living in the United States of America. Another area of interest is the social and physical challenges endured by individuals transitioning from one geographic location to another.In replicating these experiences, I make ceramic sculptural vessels associated with sojourning. In my ceramic sculptures, I use specific elements, such as ropes and Ghana must-go bags, which honor Africa\u27s past and its people in an attempt to recognize its migration history. The rope also serves as a metaphor that reflects the interconnectedness of our collective history, while its strong materiality speaks to the resilience of African people. These elements represent the displacement of Africans from their homeland and their journey to different parts of the world. By incorporating these elements into my sculptures, I bring attention to the history of African migration and the struggles of African people throughout history. Furthermore, through the lens of geocultural perspectives, I explore how these forms can speak to impermanence and migration\u27s cyclical nature. In addition, I am particularly interested in expressing the experience of being between two cultures, a world that is both familiar and foreign to me. Throughout my work, I explore the complex relationship between people and their environment, the impact of cultural diversity, and the challenges of living in a multicultural society. I also utilize my work to convey all these experiences and help others reflect on these issues through the lens of my work
From Assessment to Treatment: Evaluating the LIFE Skills Emergence System Functional Module
No full textThe need for evidence based technologies supporting the development of behavioral repertoires essential for daily living is increasing, and while empirical research is valued among behavior analysts, limited psychometric research exists in behavior. Assessing and promoting daily living skills (DLS) requires empirical assessments and training technologies to enhance independence and autonomy, consistent with applied behavior analysis principles. The LIFE Skill Emergence System: Functional Module contains both a 250-item behavioral assessment evaluating DLS as well as a curriculum that integrates behavior analytic procedures such as chaining, task analyses, direct training, generalization, and relational framing to support DLS in behavior programming. The thesis combines and discusses 2, multi-authored manuscripts centered around the examination of the LIFE Skills Emergence System: Functional Module. The first chapter establishes the convergent validity and reliability of the LIFE Skills Functional Module Assessment, supporting the validity across established measures of adaptive behavior, derived verbal relations, and autism symptom severity. The second chapter consists of a single-subject experimental design to evaluate an adapted program from the LIFE Curriculum to teach a series of flexible dance skills to promote independent leisure skills. Findings in the two present studies demonstrate the utility of LIFE from accurately assessing essential daily living skills and adaptive behaviors, to apply the key elements in programming to promote autonomy in independent daily living skills
Small Mammal Community Structure and Bait Preference in Missouri Prairie Patches
No full textEcological community studies provide insights on how species interact with biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem. Community assembly is dynamic and often mediated by stochastic processes or deterministic properties. Establishing patterns in community composition could help to predict the suitability of a patch, which is crucial in endangered ecosystems. Small mammals are a model indicator for community change as their populations experience perplexing fluctuations. Many mechanisms have been proposed to drive small mammal species composition, but inconsistencies in past studies warrant further investigation. A previous study on prairie patches in Missouri revealed that there was an unknown catalyst for species composition. Following this study, small mammal sampling was completed across 15 prairie patches. Additionally, vegetation characteristics and other environmental data were collected to evaluate patch dynamics. Analysis of these variables, in combination with mammal data, may provide a more robust understanding of community responses to prairie attributes. Sherman live traps were used to capture 217 individuals that consisted of 7 species, with Peromyscus maniculatus and Microtus ochrogaster facilitating a two-species system. Two distinct community types were found across sites and were determined by the dominant species. Ordination plots and variation algorithms were used to quantify community structure. Heterogeneity in environmental predictors did not drive community assembly, but some patch attributes were found to explain some of the variability. Outcomes suggest that small mammal communities are forming stochastically, and this stochasticity could be driven by unknown deterministic conditions. To uncover the possible mechanism behind community makeup, a larger sample size and annual sampling must be complete. Estimates can then be made on whether deterministic variables, stochasticity, or a combination of the two are influencing community composition. Further offering applicable practices that would benefit biodiversity maintenance in one of the most imperiled ecosystems in the country
Engineering and Characterizing Proteins: A Dual Study on Canine p53 Protein and Cyan Thermal Protein
No full textThis research aims to explore protein development and characterization, focusing on a dual study of canine p53 protein and cyan thermal protein. For the canine p53 protein, the goal is to comprehend its structure to better understand a key component of canine cancers. This multi-step process involved expressing the canine p53 DNA-binding domain in E. coli and purifying it through affinity and ion-exchange chromatography. The purified protein was studied to test the binding of canine p53 protein to human DNA sequences using Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) experiments and an Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay (EMSA), visualized with a SYBR-safe stain. The protein\u27s three-dimensional structure is obtained via X-ray diffraction following the formation of protein crystals. Simultaneously, the study investigates the modification of the thermal green protein (TGP) into a cyan version by introducing a mutation at residue 67 that alters a tyrosine (Y) residue into a tryptophan (W) residue (Y67W) in the protein\u27s chromophore. Successful mutation led to the chromophore fluorescing in the cyan region. The mutant protein was expressed in E. coli and purified using affinity and ion-exchange chromatography. The mutant\u27s stability was determined through chemical, thermal, and pH stability assays. Secondary mutants were constructed, including a Q66E mutation or the I199 residue exchanged for either a serine (I199S) or a threonine (I199T) to stabilize the chromophore. Protein crystals were grown in the first step towards determining a crystal structure for CTP which may aid future efforts in optimizing the protein
The Impact of Profession on Depression
No full textDepression has long been a focused topic in the world of clinical psychology. While the exact nature of what drives an individual into depression has been difficult to determine, new at-risk populations are emerging every day, giving clinicians and businesses alike the opportunity to monitor their clients/workers health and stability more closely. The current study aims to examine the connections between individuals born into low resource environments and the likelihood of them taking on high-risk professions later in life. These high-risk professions are thought to be nurturing grounds for depressive symptoms when compared to lower risk professions. The current study’s theory is that individuals who are born into low resource environments are more likely to develop risky behaviors. The presence of these risky behaviors is accounted for by an increase in the personality trait of impulsivity, which can then be further divided into functional and dysfunctional impulsivity. The facets of functional vs dysfunctional impulsivity are theorized to be the dividing factor of whether these individuals develop more severe depressive symptoms or have an increased capacity to cope with and overcome depressive symptoms. The aim of this study is to determine the importance of functional and dysfunctional impulsivity for the purpose of proactive clinical treatment
A Kansas City Founder Proud of His Position: Race, Exploitation, and the Rise of William Gilliss
No full textAmericans are largely accustomed to the history of western expansion and enslavement by slaveholders. Questionable government policies led to the removal of Native American tribes further west. In Missouri, French Canadian traders moved to continue their business with them, and eventually, white settlement along the invisible border between Indian Territory and Missouri replaced indigenous peoples. William Gilliss, born in Maryland about 1797, is a prime example of an enterprising trader who, because of his reliance upon Native American tribes, followed his source of income west. His relationships with multiple Native American women resulted in at least three children. His relocation to Jackson County, Missouri and involvement in the Town Company which established Kansas City made him one of the most important and one of the area’s richest early settlers. This, however, along with his Southern sympathies, made him a target of the Union and antislavery settlers. By the time he died in 1869, his work as a trader, relationships with Native American tribes, and role as a town builder were soon overshadowed by headlines over the contestation of his will by his Native American children and grandchildren. Through depositions in these cases from Native Americans, former traders, one of his children, the formerly enslaved, and prominent residents of Kansas City, an analysis of a Kansas City businessman and the community in which he lived can be assessed with great detail
The Development and Validation of Implicit Measures for Black Women Stereotypes
No full textThe struggles that Black women face in everyday life are underrepresented in the research literature. Part of these hardships involve negative stereotypes that are associated with Black women. The purpose of this project was to create measures to assess the implicit association between stereotypic attributes and Black women. This study used Implicit Association Test (IAT) procedures to develop implicit measures of Black women stereotypes and investigate relationships with theoretically related explicit (self-report) measures in a sample of university students. Results indicated the implicit measures have acceptable psychometric properties (low stimuli misclassification error rates and adequate internal consistency) and sufficient variability to be potentially useful to assess individual difference. In addition, confirmatory factor analyses of nested latent trait models provided mixed evidence supporting the construct validity of the measures
Nuclear Weapons in Japanese Strategic Culture
No full textAcquiring nuclear weapons of its own has been inconsistent with Japan’s post-Cold War strategic culture, which is heavily based on an identity and associated norms grounded in nuclear pacifism. However, Japan’s strategic culture has been evolving with changing threat perceptions, eroding international nuclear nonproliferation norms, and declining confidence in US security guarantees. As Japan’s strategic culture shifts towards a more pragmatic interpretation of its national interests, acquiring nuclear weapons may become a more easily legitimized option, one that would be entirely consistent with a remilitarized strategic culture. Scholarship on Japanese strategic culture is vast but lacks a strategic culture explanation for why contemporary Japan would pursue nuclear weapons. Pre-1945, Japan was an inward-oriented militaristic state. Post-1945, Japan became an outward-oriented pacifist state following its defeat in the Second World War. Japan rejected having its own nuclear weapons in congruence with pacifism and improving international relations to aid in the survival of the Japanese state. Japan relies on US extended nuclear deterrence for protection, but Japan’s confidence in US security guarantees is decaying. As the US perceivably declines, Japan’s security environment is becoming more hostile. If Japan decides to pursue developing nuclear weapons for domestic security, strategic culture can explain Japan’s decision due to the factors of nuclear latency, interpretation of article 9 in Japan’s constitution, Japan’s adherence to the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (PNWT), and Japan’s confidence in US security guarantees. The previously mentioned factors may force Japan to adapt its pre-1945 strategic culture for the pursuit and development of nuclear weapons to ensure the survival of Japan
How a Professional Describes Reasons for Working in and Ultimately Leaving the Foster Care Field in the State of Missouri: A Case Study
No full textThe foster care field continues to have a high turnover rate of the professionals working in the field. While support and work balance are available for some professionals, many face the challenges of heavy workloads, unrealistic expectations, and health sacrifices that lead to many professionals leaving the field. This case study of one former foster care professional’s description of reasons they worked in the field, and reasons they ultimately left the field provides insight of the challenges and support as a foster care professional. The findings of this study are organized into three major themes including “Challenges for Foster Care Professionals and Reasons for Leaving the Field,” “Supports for Foster Care Professionals and Reasons for Staying in the Field,” and “Changes and Actions Needed to Promote Retention and Returning for Foster Care Professionals.” Each major theme has three to five subthemes with thirteen between them. These subthemes include: No Additional Funds and Contracts, Workload, Unrealistic Expectations, Poor Work-Family Balance, Personal Health Sacrifices Due to Work Demands, More Positive Experience Working for Private Agency Versus State Agency, Coworkers and Supervisor Support, Job Flexibility, Adequate Workload and Pay, Communication Among All Relevant and Responsible Parties/Groups, Improve Efficiency, Facilitation, and Flexibility, Additional Education and Awareness for All Parties, and Structural Changes Are Needed. The study provides policymakers, practitioners, and foster care personnel the framework for the actions needed to retain and recruit foster care professionals