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Examining Shifts in Group-Based Motivations for Civil Conflicts in Libya
Full text linkThis study examines shifting group alignments in Libya from 2011 to 2019, exploring their impact on continued conflict. Following up on our original research into group bonding among insurgents during the 2011 revolution, we conducted two surveys in Benghazi: first in 2015, during the aftermath of Operation Dignity, and again in 2019, as General Khalifa Haftar’s forces waged war against Tripoli. Our results show that the previously very strong group bonds with 2011 revolutionary fighters had dissipated by 2015, replaced by allegiance to Haftar’s militias. By 2019, this alignment extended to Haftar himself, reinforcing an “us versus them” mentality that fueled intra-state violence. Our findings highlight how shifts in strong forms of group alignment can both reflect and drive political fragmentation, with profound implications for Libya’s governance and peace prospects. More broadly, our findings contribute to the study of how group loyalties shape and sustain civil conflicts, offering insight into the psychological mechanisms underlying failed state dynamics
Preventing War as Ending War: the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity on Channeling Potential Conflict through Dialogue on History
Full text linkDialogue about history is an important element in the processes of ordering social and international reality. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Europe alone, we have experienced so many dramas that virtually every country and its citizens have issues in their history that call for prolonged and consistent dialogue, often in an international setting. Colonialism, wars, totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, genocide, forced displacement—we have a lot to talk about in Europe when it comes to history. The establishment and activities of the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity provide an example of how international discourse on history can be conducted and how it can be used to educate and defuse conflicts which, if left unaddressed, could develop into real threats
Enhancing Transportation Options for Older Adults: Served by Councils on Aging with Support from the Montachusett Area Regional Transit Authority (MART): A Program Validation Study
Full text linkThis study follows a 2022 evaluation report UMass Boston researchers conducted for MART of a pilot program whose measurable aims were to demonstrate (pre/post) an increase in ridership, destinations, trips provided, and shared rides coordinated across the participating COAs. The pilot with four participating COAs was ambitious and while the results indicated some early successes (rider satisfaction), more areas for improvement were noted (software and transition to the use of digital technology). (Silverstein et. al., 2022) Since then, MART has adopted a new software program and collaboration with My Senior Center, a senior 4 center management and reporting system. MART approached CDSRA at UMass to assess the new system across a broader range of participating COAs
Assessing the Need for Supportive Day Programming in Andover
Full text linkSupportive and social day programs (SSDPs) provide opportunities for socialization and engagement in physical activity, cognitive exercises and emotional support in small group settings, These programs are beneficial for older adults who may experience physical or cognitive heath changes that make it difficult to participate independently. As well, those who do not drive or who are socially isolated may also benefit from participation in an SSDP. These programs also help families who may need breaks from caregiving tasks and to connect families to vital resources and support networks. An SSDP is designed to promote and enhance the social, physical, and cognitive skills of participants. However, as a non-medical model, supportive day programs are designed for participants with sufficient functional independence to engage without being provided physical assistance or delivered medical intervention on site. Interactive activities offered include games, chair exercise, arts and crafts, music therapy, and social programming. Participants have the opportunity to explore new interests and socialize in a safe and supportive atmosphere. It is also an opportunity for caregivers to have a well-deserved respite with the assurance that their loved ones are in a safe and stimulating environment. Such programming is typically offered in half or full-day increments and is designed to alleviate stress and provide support for caregivers and their families
Living in Essex: A Community Needs Assessment
Full text linkThis report describes research undertaken by the Center for Social & Demographic Research on Aging (CSDRA) within the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, on behalf of the Town of Essex. The goals of this project were to investigate the needs, interests, preferences, and opinions of Essex residents age 18 or older by engaging the community regarding their experiences and needs relevant to the Council on Aging’s (COA’s) objective to identify and serve the needs of all Essex citizens 60 and older
Beyond Adversity: Exploring the Role of Positive Childhood Experiences in Mental Health, Wellbeing, and Cognitive Functioning
No full textMany diathesis-stress models have long emphasized interactions between childhood adversity and genetic vulnerability in the development of adult mental illness but rarely have positive childhood experiences been formally incorporated in models of both psychiatric risk and resilience. Similarly, the mental health literature has long emphasized the role of adversity and has defined mental health solely in relation to the absence of psychopathology. However, more recent efforts have called for a broader conceptualization of mental health that captures aspects of wellness in addition to the absence of psychopathology or mental illness. In this thesis, we build on the Mental Health Continuum (MHC) model by Keyes (2005), which offers an expanded framework that defines health beyond the absence of mental illness by adding wellbeing as an important, independent, but correlated dimension to mental health. Building on Keyes\u27 model, this master thesis aims to enhance understanding of the role of positive childhood experiences (PCEs) and their impact on mental health and wellbeing by (1) testing the reliability validity of the newly developed PCE scale; (2) exploring the role of PCEs and their association with key mental health outcomes such as psychological wellbeing, psychiatric risk, and cognitive functioning; and (3) exploring whether PCEs can play a protective factors in reducing the risk of adverse mental health outcomes. The sample consisted of 100 participants (70 females; 40% Non-Hispanic White), with a mean age of 21.22 years (SD=1.99). A subsample of 49 healthy participants with a mean age of 21.41 years (SD=1.90) also completed the PCE measure along with the, MHC, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) scale, Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), and a battery of neuropsychological assessment. The results provided evidence of high internal reliability for the PCE (Cronbach alpha=.949), which in turn correlated in the predicted direction with reduced psychiatric risk but heightened wellbeing, as assessed by the BSI and MHC, respectively. Higher PCEs also correlated with better neuropsychological performance across tests of working memory, oral reading, executive functioning as well as a measure of social cognition, The Reading the Mind’s Eye Test. While ACEs were found to be associated with higher psychiatric risk and negatively impact other aspects of mental health, PCEs demonstrated a stronger association with improved mental health overall, accounting for a greater portion of the variance in psychiatric risk and wellbeing than ACEs. Results support the potentialrole of PCEs in mental health and provide preliminary evidence supporting the reliability and validity of the PCE scale. Future research should explore the moderating effects of PCEs using larger samples in mitigating risk and investigate culturally specific PCEs to enhance ecological validity across diverse populations
Organizational Health Literacy in Pediatric Cardiovascular Programs
Full text linkHealth literacy refers to a person’s ability to access, understand and use health-related information in order to effectively manage one\u27s health and navigate healthcare experiences. This responsibility does not rest solely upon the individual; healthcare organizations also have a vital role in assisting individuals in accessing, understanding and using health information through their interactions with the healthcare system. Organizational health literacy (OHL) can serve as a strategy to ensure that all individuals have equitable access to health information and services. The Ten Attributes of a Health Literate Healthcare Organization established the foundational principles of organizational health literacy. The present study aimed to describe pediatric cardiovascular programs belonging to a consortium dedicated to the care of children with congenital heart disease in the U.S and the extent of organizational health literacy practices aligning with the Ten Attributes. The study also examined nurse leaders\u27 and designees\u27 views on implementing these practices in their program or unit. Study findings indicate that practices aligned with the Ten Attributes are present in these programs to varying degrees. Communication standards were the highest-ranked attribute. Workforce education and the communication of costs to patients ranked the lowest. Nurses often use health literacy practices to ensure and confirm that patients understand information. However, many are unaware of this term, likely due to limited education in this area. These findings align with existing research. Future recommendations include ongoing exploration of health literacy practices from an objective perspective, as well as investigating innovative methods for interprofessional education and leveraging advanced technologies to enhance health literacy strategies for the future
Narratives and Negotiations: Insights from the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee Process for Plastic Using the Narrative Policy Framework
No full textThe global plastic pollution crisis has intensified calls for coordinated action and new approaches to environmental governance. This dissertation explores how narrative strategies function as tools of influence, legitimacy, and coalition-building in international treaty negotiations, focusing on the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) process for a global plastics treaty. Using the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF), the study analyzes how state and nonstate actors construct strategic narratives to define the plastic problem, assert justice claims, and shape treaty ambition.
Drawing from content analysis of 686 negotiation documents and elite interviews, the research reveals that narrative operates as a distinct form of soft power. State actors employed the Solidarity Shift to frame themselves as moral leaders, either by advocating on behalf of vulnerable groups or by invoking their own experience of harm to justify leadership. Nonstate actors used the Angel Shift to position themselves as collaborative experts, visionary guides, or frontline defenders, expanding the treaty discourse to include labor, health, gender, and systemic transformation.
The findings demonstrate how narrative strategy enables both state and nonstate actors to shape legitimacy, advance procedural justice, and influence treaty design, even without formal authority. The research extends the NPF to multilateral negotiations and introduces the concept of a Life Cycle Just Transition, linking downstream harms with upstream economic vulnerabilities. Narrative strategy emerges as a powerful global governance tool, capable of revealing political dynamics and supporting more inclusive, just, and effective environmental agreements
From Local Roots and Institutional Heights: Organizational Empowerment in Community Contexts
No full textThis dissertation examines the role of organizations in structuring and sustaining community empowerment. Empowerment has been studied across disciplines, but little attention has been given to the intersection of the organization and community levels. This research reconceptualizes organizational empowerment to include empowerment enacted through organizations, not only within or around them, expanding the term beyond its traditional association with individual autonomy and workplace practices. Drawing on a multi-year ethnographic case study of the Metropolitan Organization for Racial Equity (MORE, a pseudonym), the study investigates how community empowerment is mediated through organizational identity, structure, and practice. Data were gathered over a forty-month period through participant observation. Content analysis relied on iterative coding and was validated through triangulation, member checking, and reflexive methods. Findings reveal that MORE maintains a dual organizational identity: it operates as both a grassroots community organization and an established legacy institution. This dual positionality enables what the findings show to be ‘bidirectional empowerment,’ a process by which empowerment flows upward through embedded, community-based engagement, and downward through institutional legitimacy, history, and influence. These dynamics are both material and symbolic. This work contributes to empowerment scholarship by foregrounding organizations as active vehicles for empowerment. It advances organization studies by conceptualizing outward-facing empowerment at the community level and by characterizing legacy organizations as a distinct organizational form. This study also offers practical insights for mission-driven organizations seeking to amplify collective action through strategic positioning
Multilingual English Teaching: Challenges and Possibilities in the Secondary Mainstream Classroom
Full text linkThis dissertation examines how multilingual English language teachers (MLETs) reshape mainstream secondary education through asset-based, linguistically inclusive pedagogies. Using an ethnographic, participatory design grounded in second-generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), the study investigates a Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) program at East Summer High (ESH), a public, four-year high school located northwest of Boston, Massachusetts. ESH serves approximately 1,394 students and offers a range of academic and vocational programs, including structured SEI pathways that support English Learners (ELs) at various proficiency levels, such as SEI-1, SEI-General Education, and SEI-Special Education. Over three years of immersive fieldwork, data sources include in-depth interviews, classroom observations, professional development workshops, and staff meeting analyses.
Findings reveal that while English-centric policies and accountability measures constrain classroom practices, MLETs strategically leverage their linguistic repertoires to challenge monolingual norms. By centering translanguaging, relational and intellectual care, and critical consciousness, they create learning environments where students’ home languages are valued as academic resources. Additionally, teachers’ reflections highlight the transformative potential of liberatory cariño—a decolonial extension of critical care that encourages students to interrogate systemic inequities and question the interests embedded in language policies. The study further explores how MLETs navigate and renegotiate their linguistic identities, moving beyond native/non-native binaries to reclaim professional legitimacy and embrace multicompetence. Professional Learning Communities and participatory workshops emerge as catalysts for collective problem-solving, fostering more equitable, community-driven approaches to language education. By integrating CHAT with teacher identity scholarship and translanguaging theory, this research demonstrates how policy constraints can become opportunities for pedagogical innovation.
The dissertation concludes with implications for theory, policy, and practice, advocating for explicit translanguaging support, reflective professional development, and decolonial critiques of English-only mandates. Ultimately, it argues that MLETs—through relational, critical, and liberatory practices—can transform SEI classrooms into sites of linguistic justice and social change