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Essays on the Effectiveness of Diversion Programs in the United States Criminal Justice System
No full textThe United States criminal justice system is at a transformative time, with growing public support for reforms that prioritize rehabilitation over punishment. In response to this shift, prosecutor-led diversion programs are being introduced in areas where they were previously absent and expanded with increased resources in regions already established across the United States. This dissertation measures the effectiveness of these programs in three ways and uses data from six diverse U.S. jurisdictions. In the first chapter, I focus on how age-based eligibility criteria shape participation in diversion programs and its effectiveness in reducing recidivism. To do this, I examine data from two jurisdictions, where age cutoffs create natural points of comparison. I use a Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity design to explore whether defendants near these age thresholds are more likely to participate in diversion programs and whether eligibility criteria reduces the likelihood of reoffending. This analysis reveals that defendants below the age threshold (under 25) are substantially more likely to participate in diversion programs than those above the threshold. However, there is no significant impact of diversion program eligibility on recidivism rates at the age cutoff. These results suggest that the increased probability of diversion participation for younger individuals does not translate into significant reductions in recidivism. In the second chapter, I explore how early assessments and improved resource allocation impact the effectiveness of pre-trial diversion programs in a big Texas county. In 2021, a policy reform moved assessments to an earlier stage of the court process, allowing prosecutors and defense attorneys to make more informed decisions about program placement. I use a Difference-in-Differences approach to evaluate how this policy change affected recidivism rates within one year. The findings show that the policy significantly reduced participant recidivism rates, with treatment effects ranging from 6.9 to 13.8 percentage points, depending on the model specification. These reductions are substantial when compared to the mean recidivism rate of 24% among individuals who went through traditional court proceedings. These findings highlight the importance of timely and targeted assessments in ensuring that defendants are matched with programs that best suit their needs. The third chapter expands the focus to evaluate the financial implications of diversion programs in six jurisdictions across three states. I conducted a benefit-cost analysis to measure how these programs reduce incarceration costs and generate broader societal benefits. To estimate causal effects, I apply Nearest Neighbor Matching, enabling me to compare similar defendants who did and did not participate in diversion programs. The general trend observed across the jurisdictions suggests that diversion interventions at different stages—consideration, participation, and completion—consistently reduce recidivism rates within one year. This chapter provides a deeper understanding of the economic trade-offs associated with diversion program initiatives and offers actionable recommendations for policymakers within the six participating jurisdictions
Siguiendo El Camino/Following the Path: Exploring the Experiences of Latin* Second-Generation College Students
Get PDFWith degrees linked to upward mobility and, thus, a robust economy, college completion has become a central focus of the national higher education agenda. As the largest ethnic population in the United States, Latin* college students are at the center of the completion conversation. While enrolling in more significant numbers, they also have some of the lowest degree attainment rates. Most of these students also enter and exit higher education at the community college level. With research and policy focused on low-income first-generation college students in conversations about completion and upward mobility, second-generation college Latin* students and their first-generation parents who may not experience the upward mobility gains of past generations get left behind. Having a college-graduate parent or guardian does not necessarily equate to having adequate resources or support to compete. This study featured interviews with twenty-three participants from seven California Community Colleges spanning Northern and Southern California. Utilizing Bourdieu’s (1986, 1987) theoretical concepts of Habitus, Capital , and Field , and Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth Model , this phenomenological qualitative study found three major themes emerged. First, participants expressed mixed clarity about first and second-generation college identity. Second, parents, siblings, and peers played pivotal roles in participants’ ability to persist. Finally, participants reported overwhelmingly positive community college experiences, especially related to academic support, student services/resources, and counseling. Moreover, pressure to pursue higher education was exacerbated for second-generation college students. Findings revealed the need to expand the federal definition of what it means to be a first-generation college student by adding eligibility tiers (single parent, Pell-eligible, parent who graduated from college in another country). Recommendations also include clarifying communication about college generation status and existing criteria for support program eligibility, and ways institutions can better support both first and second-generation college students. The results of this study can aid policymakers and practitioners in their efforts to improve Latin* college completion
¡Adelante Mujer!: Testimonios of Chicana and Latina High School Principals
No full textAs the Latinx student population in U.S. public schools grows incrementally, equitable representation in school leadership remains disproportionately limited. Despite accounting for over 25% of high school enrollments nationwide, Latinas hold only around 4-6% of public high school principal positions (NCES 2022). This lack of proportional leadership representation restricts a school system’s capacity to provide optimized culturally responsive environments, benefiting Latinx youth. Furthermore, it limits advancement opportunities for aspiring Chicana and Latina leaders despite research confirming their effectiveness in spearheading academic improvements. While past scholarship has broadly explored facilitators and barriers for women educational leaders, few studies specifically document the trajectories of Latinas into secondary principal roles using in-depth phenomenological approaches. This qualitative study helps fill that gap by investigating the essence of participants’ shared experiences navigating the high school principalship within one large urban district in Southern California. Data collection involves semi-structured interviews with 16 Chicana and Latina high school principals regarding key obstacles faced, sources of support and empowerment accessed, and impacts of their leadership journey. From these interviews, key themes emerged emphasizing the role of mentorship, cultural identity as an asset, and the practice of transformational leadership. These findings aim to inform specialized mentoring programs, talent development policies, and practices that proactively recruit more Chicana and Latina leadership to meet our growing representation gap. Ultimately, the dissertation uplifts Latina leaders’ voices to advance cultural responsiveness and equity across an increasingly diverse public-school landscape nationwide
Igbobuagu: An Exploration of Performance Practices, Aesthetics, and Symbolism in Igbo Traditional Instrumental Music
No full textThis dissertation investigates Igbobuagu , a traditional instrumental music genre from Affa, Enugu State, Nigeria. Through a variety of methods–including analyses of existing recordings and musical transcription, personal communication, informal interviews, and verification with local experts–it examines the genre’s performance practices, aesthetic values, and symbolic elements, revealing Igbobuagu as a living archive that encodes communal values and historical memory. Drawing on the communal philosophies articulated by J.H. Kwabena Nketia, Meki Nzewi, and John Miller Chernoff et al., the study highlights Igbobuagu as a participatory tradition where collective performance reinforces community identity and social cohesion. Using a semiotic perspective that treats musical elements as cultural texts, the research demonstrates how Igbobuagu ’s rhythms, instrumentation, and symbolic layers function as dynamic cultural texts that balance formal structure with lived experience. Practical implications include strategies for cultural preservation and education, while broader discussions situate Igbobuagu within global conversations on African musical resilience amid globalization. This study not only calls for greater scholarly focus on grassroots music traditions but also underscores the critical role of indigenous art forms as repositories of identity and collective memory, advocating for sustained efforts to ensure their survival in the modern era
Aesthetics of Diagrammatic Contemplation: Abhinavagupta\u27s and Martin Heidegger\u27s Views on Being as Such and How It Can Be Disclosed Through Aesthetic Contemplation
No full textCertain fundamental onto-epistemological dimensions can be disclosed by surpassing the duality of subject/object perception through aesthetic contemplation. Heidegger\u27s post-aesthetic approach aims to overcome the subject-object duality to uncover two hidden onto-epistemological dimensions: the mode of practical engagement and Being as such, also referred to by other terms including ‘the clearing,’ ‘the nothing,’ and ‘appropriation.’ He identifies Van Gogh\u27s still-life painting of shoes as one of the exceptional works of art that can facilitate a resistance to and transcendence of the subject/object dichotomy that underpins modern aesthetics. He argues that the indeterminateness or “no-thingness” of the painting’s background can resist the attempts of the reflective subject to conceptually master it. This sort of encounter, he says, with the painting\u27s background can shift our attention away from specific entities and can lead to the disclosure of Being as such. Heidegger further asserts that to fully comprehend the significance of art, one must begin from the practical level of self/world unity rather than the standpoint of subject/object dualism. To undermine that duality, Heidegger introduces the phenomenological concept of ‘ek-sistence,’ denoting that human existence fundamentally stands outside of subjectivity. That notion adheres to the core phenomenological principle. It says that one should refrain from attempting to fit objects of perception into preconceived notions and instead be receptive to the meaning that the artwork conveys. By exercising such restraint, one allows the work to be as it is. Abhinavagupta states that the perceptive spectator is evoked into a state of aesthetic relishing, which is a modification of latent impressions and common emotions, by their identification with the represented content and/or by their apprehension of the suggested meaning in poetry or drama. Such experience may be accompanied by other senses, including tranquility, harmony, wonder, and elevated delight. The activities of identification and universalization lead to an augmented experience of Being, although a temporary one. When the perceptive spectator identifies with and is absorbed in the represented content in either poetry or drama, they have an experience of elevated delight in an impersonal state of being and momentarily feel as though they are transcending the sense of self/other duality. This heightened state of being is referred to as ‘generalization’ or ‘universalization’ for the reason that awareness rises above the finite self’s mundane preoccupations and spatiotemporal limitations. In like manner, this aesthetic approach can give rise to a less delimited state of knowing awareness. In poetry, Abhinava makes a strong case for the use of language for ‘suggestion.’ It is a form of revelation beyond primary denotation, secondary denotation, and extra-denotation. ‘Suggestion’ supersedes primary and secondary denotations, even though it arises from them. It is the element of meaning that enables aesthetic relishing and is primarily expressed in poetry. When the learned reader intuitively apprehends the suggested meaning in a poem, a resonance is evoked that heightens and intensifies their consciousness. That state is coupled with a sense of wonder as the mind is lifted above the constraints of explicit or conventional meaning. Abhinavagupta and Heidegger have shown that aesthetic contemplation has the capacity to bring to light facets of knowing and being that would otherwise be concealed from the minds of those consumed by mundane concerns or discursive thought. However, their aesthetic approaches fall short of fully realizing the most fundamental onto-epistemological dimension, namely the self-reflective light of nondual consciousness as the innermost Self of Shiva, due to the limitations of conceptuality, emotive states, and temporality. In Kashmir Shaivism, the three means, namely anavopaya , shaktopaya , and shambavopaya , are ways for the realization of the fundamental dimensions of being and knowing. My approach to aesthetic contemplation proposes that these means can be visually expressed in artwork, specifically in drawing and painting, for the purposes of providing insights into the nature of subject/object dualism and nondual awareness as well as guidance for contemplative practice. The means, particularly shaktopaya and shambavopaya , involve awakening and harnessing the power of consciousness itself rather than individual effort. Specifically, instead of exerting force to control and pacify the mind and body, the higher forms of meditation in the Kashmir Shaiva tradition entail repose, release, and absorption, which allows the subtle currents of consciousness to self-clarify and spontaneously flow inward toward self-illumination and self-recognition. What I have proposed here points to the possibility that the purview of aesthetics can be extended past subjectivity. That is, I maintain that aesthetics has the capacity to shift the gaze of consciousness from being exclusively on the particularity of beings to the universal field of Being itself. That can be realized by accessing nondual, nonconceptual awareness by means of the aesthetic contemplation that I have outlined above. That state of awareness illuminates itself, as opposed to some particular form or content, as the innermost Being that underlies every being
“Most of All, I Wanted My Life to Count for Something:” Toward Black Feminist Theorization in Histories of California Medicine and Medical Education, 1858 to 1942
No full textThis dissertation explores the histories of California’s earliest Black women physicians, Ruth J. Temple (1892–1984) and Edna L. Griffin (1905–1992), within the broader landscape of medicine and medical education in the United States from 1858 to 1942. By foregrounding the intellectual contributions, medical practices, and social activism of Black medical women, this study interrogates systemic oppression in medical education and professional practice, employing Patricia Hill Collins’ Black Feminist Thought (BFT) as a critical historical methodology. While scholarship on Black women physicians has largely focused on figures in the South, Midwest, and East, this research addresses a critical gap by situating Ruth J. Temple (1892-1984) and Edna L. Griffin (1905-1992) in the American Far West, a region often overlooked in discussions of Black medical history. Their lives and careers illustrate the interplay between race, gender, and medical education in early twentieth-century California, challenging dominant historical narratives that have erased or marginalized Black women’s epistemologies. The dissertation’s methodology integrates archival research, oral history, and Black feminist epistemology to reconstruct the lived experiences of Temple and Griffin. Traditional archival sources, including newspapers, census records, and institutional reports, reveal significant gaps in documentation due to the systemic neglect of Black women’s histories. However, oral histories such as Temple’s interview in the Black Women Oral History Project (1977–1981) and Griffin’s oral history with the Pasadena Historical Society offer rich, firsthand accounts that mitigate archival silences. These oral narratives, alongside family archives and Griffin’s 1947 biography Let There Be Life , provide critical insight into their professional philosophies, challenges, and strategies of resistance. This study makes several key interventions. First, it reframes the historiography of medicine and medical education in the United States by positioning Black women as knowledge producers rather than subjects of medical exploitation. Second, it challenges the archival silences that have obscured the contributions of Black medical women in the American West, demonstrating how oral history can serve as a corrective to incomplete records. Third, it advances a Black feminist analysis of medicine, arguing that Black women physicians like Temple and Griffin not only practiced medicine but also theorized healthcare through the lens of racial uplift, community empowerment, and social justice. Their work refutes the white, male-dominated historiography that has traditionally framed medical education reform as a linear progression toward inclusivity. Ultimately, this study argues that Black women physicians in early twentieth-century California were central to the evolution of medical education and health care reform, yet their contributions remain marginalized in historical discourse. By centering their voices and intellectual labor, this dissertation disrupts monolithic narratives in the history of medicine and reclaims Black women’s place in the field’s development. It calls for a historiographical shift that acknowledges not only the presence of Black women in medicine but also their roles as innovators, educators, and theorists who challenged systemic barriers and redefined the practice of healing. The findings of this dissertation have implications for multiple disciplines, including history of medicine, women’s history, and Black studies. Future research should expand beyond California to explore the experiences of Black women physicians across the American West, interrogating the ways in which migration, professional networks, and activism intersected with medical practice. Additionally, continued efforts to recover and analyze oral histories can provide deeper insight into how Black women navigated exclusionary structures in higher education and the medical profession. By historicizing the knowledge production of early Black women physicians, this dissertation contributes to a growing body of scholarship that recognizes the epistemological contributions of Black women in medicine. Their work, often dismissed or overlooked, remains integral to understanding both the past and present struggles for health equity. As the field of medical history continues to evolve, centering Black women’s narratives offers a more inclusive and accurate account of the complexities of race, gender, and professionalization in American medicine and medical education
“Sé Exactamente de Donde Vine”: The Rivera Sisters and the Development of a Lamanite Religio-Racial Identity in Salt Lake City’s Rama Mexicana
No full textThis thesis examines the religious participation of three immigrant sisters, Agustina Rivera de Torres, Dolores Rivera de Torres, and Domitila Rivera de Martínez, who were long-term members of Rama Mexicana, the first known Spanish-speaking congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah. During Rama Mexicana’s existence from the 1920s through 1960 (when it was converted from a branch into a ward), many of its members believed themselves to be descendants of Book of Mormon Lamanites through their indigenous heritage. This belief in a sacred Lamanite lineage, in part, allowed Rama Mexicana to become a place of racial and religious meaning and practice.Incorporating evidence from oral histories, church minute books, newspaper articles, and other materials, this study seeks to highlight the Rivera sisters’ influence in the development of a Lamanite religio-racial identity within Rama Mexicana. Through missionary work, temple and family history work, cultural celebrations, food, performances, and an investment in language and cultural preservation, the Rivera sisters’ devotion was an integral part of Rama Mexicana. Such practices and beliefs assisted in helping Rama Mexicana to retain a Latin American distinctiveness within broader Mormon and American culture in Salt Lake City
Art as Witness: Carrying Christian Iconographies in the works of Henry Ossawa Tanner during the Gilded Age to Contemporary Autobiographical Testimonial Art
Get PDFCulminated in a solo exhibition of three works titled the prodigal daughter and The Great High Priest, Baptism, and The Lord of Hosts, this research explores the implications of the Christian methodologies and iconographies in the works of Henry Ossawa Tanner to influence testimonial artwork containing personal Christian iconographies of water baptism, spiritual encounter in everyday life, the lion of Judah, bowls, and more interpretive motifs
Memes as an Effective Approach to Increase Public Engagement with Mathematical Concepts
Get PDFA meme is a graphical concept or cultural item that is disseminated via the Internet, often through social media platforms. Memes serve as a mechanism for replicating cultural traits by incorporating aspects of cultural mutation and evolution. The potential of memes in learning and education has been emphasized in several recent studies. The present article examines the impact of memes in increasing public engagement with mathematics and mathematical concepts. By focusing on memes that exhibit specific attributes—such as emotional facial expressions of recognizable human characters and dialogues emphasizing the usefulness or beauty of a mathematical concept—we observe a significant increase in the number of views received by both memes and their associated videos that introduce mathematical concepts. We conclude that memes are indeed an effective approach to increase public engagement with mathematics and mathematical concepts
Compare Problems: Complexity in Content and Language
Get PDFWhen learning to teach mathematics in elementary school, pre-service teachers (PSTs) spend considerable time studying word problems. Here I present a resource I have created for my mathematics methods course in order to engage PSTs in learning about these problems and to support them in identifying these problem types