ScholarWorks (California State University)
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Hustlin' & Pushin' to Heal: The Recovery Story
No full textThis qualitative research investigates the efficacy of rehabilitation programs within San Francisco prisons on the rehabilitation of formerly incarcerated individuals with substance use disorders. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with five participants, the study explores the impact of access to CBT, MAT, employment opportunities, and peer support programs on relapse, recidivism, and reintegration outcomes. Inspired by Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory, the study highlights that individual recovery is molded by more than just program engagement; systemic barriers such as housing insecurity, rigors in post-release care, and societal stigma can dictate an individual's recovery options and trajectory. Those who completed rehabilitation programs cited improvements in mental health and self-awareness, whereas the ones without access reported difficulty in coping, with a pattern of re-incarceration. The findings highlight that rehabilitation success is contingent on holistic, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive care throughout and beyond the period of incarceration. Policy recommendations include expanding access to reentry services, peer-led interventions, and structural changes to the system that center on human dignity. The study adds to the growing body of literature on the need for compassion and equity-seeking in rehabilitation by elevating the voices of those with justice involvement.https://doi.org/10.46569/zc77t083
Temporal and Spatial Presence of Endangered Whales Near California's Major Ports: Acoustic Insights
No full textVessel strikes pose a threat to whales throughout their range, particularly in regions where shipping lanes overlap with areas of high whale habitat use, including but not limited to biologically important foraging habitats and migratory corridors. On the U.S. West Coast, voluntary Vessel Speed Reduction (VSR) programs are implemented seasonally to mitigate this risk, yet recent research suggests whale presence may extend beyond these designated periods. This study used passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) and visual survey data from the Whale Safe tool to assess year-round presence of endangered blue (Balaenoptera musculus) and fin whales (Baleanoptera physalus), as well as endangered and threatened humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), in California's Santa Barbara Channel and the Gulf of the Farallones. Results showed consistently high acoustic detection rates throughout the year, with monthly whale presence often exceeding 80%. Visual detections were more variable but confirmed year-round whale presence for all three species. A Wilcoxon rank-sum test revealed significantly higher detection rates using PAM compared to visual surveys. These findings highlight the advantages of multi-method approaches in informing critical management strategies. Collaboration with the maritime industry is essential to implementing effective, data-driven solutions to reduce the risk of vessel strikes, including year-round VSR.https://doi.org/10.46569/f4752s51
Semiotics and Panel Editing: Typeface and Diegetic Interlocution
No full textSequential narratives are created as a linguistic landscape which is constituted of linguistic elements that all work in tandem to create a cohesive narrative. Signs that are used to inform the greater narrative are composed of indexical information which every reader evaluates according to their own bias and world knowledge as Jurgen Spitzmüller shows in his metapragmatic model constructed using Agha's Register Triangle and Du Bois' Stance Triangle. Typography, being a sign which informs other signs through its indicative properties, is then perceived differently according to every individual's accumulated understanding of visual language. Manipulating signs by altering the typography which describes it will then cause the evaluator of the typography to have their understanding of the signs changed with the potential for the narrative meaning to be affected as well. This is also true with intertextual dialogue in sequential narratives as the editing of a character's action or speech will alter the meaning of another character or subject's response when the type of their response remains unchanged. This occurs because the reader's evaluation will determine the extent of the responding character's biases and intrinsic world knowledge of the linguistic landscape the character operates in. If their response is no longer aligned with what is originally performed, the reader may deem the character's evaluation to be skewed, or even the narrative itself, showing how editing font has metanarrative effects. This essay seeks to contribute to the discourse of sequential narrative studies by focusing on semiotic typography analysis on panels and frameworks. I argue that the congruence of a narrative is affected through edits in font and may alter or transform the reader's evaluation of the narrative.https://doi.org/10.46569/7w62fj86
All's Well That Ends Well: The Comic Ambivalence of Death in Samuel Beckett
No full textThis project began with a simple question: Why do I find Beckett's Trilogy funny? The attempt to answer this question results in a Freudian driven analysis of comedy, synthesized and applied to the death-and-suffering bent of Beckett's novels. The resultant analysis finds that the prevalence of ambivalence within Beckett's morbidity allows for it to pass through the critical or rational aspect of consciousness, similarly to how dreams function as outlined in Freud's Interpretation of Dreams. In this passing state, otherwise emotionally painful or traumatic topics may be engaged in a disarmed, non-defensive manner. This ultimately leads to a question of productivity concerning Beckett's engagement in the inherently contradictory state of ambivalence. This project asserts that the Trilogy's undermining of traditional narrative style and content creates a nothingness through contradiction, but ironically out of this nothingness comes a double value—like a double entendre—that creates a double-picture of life and death. To answer my initial question, Beckett is funny to be sad, and sad, to be funny, because the tally of their negation is not null.https://doi.org/10.46569/j3860h38
BEYOND MACHISMO: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY EXPLORING HOW MEXICAN AMERICAN MALES NAVIGATE HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTIONS
No full textThe purpose of this qualitative study is to explore how Mexican American male college students' machismo identities influence their post-secondary educational experiences at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI). Post-secondary enrollment has been growing in the United States; however, men of color are falling behind in comparison with other racial groups. The context of the study included one HSI that was located in California. There has been minimal research within four-year HSIs as it pertains to exploring Latino males' masculinities and post-secondary experiences. Also, few studies have explored how social institutions such as the criminal justice system, K–12 public schools, and employers contribute to the formation of hypermasculinity for Latino males. This phenomenological study provided Mexican American males a platform by conducting one on-one interviews with them to express their lived experiences as they navigate their post secondary educational journey. A total of eight Mexican American males were interviewed who were enrolled at a university that is considered a HSI in California
Emotional Inertia
No full textAt any moment, we experience one or more emotions based on the situations we are in. However, at certain times we stay with a particular emotion for a long time and these also affects the other emotion we experience at those times. This concept is emotional inertia. The present study investigates the trajectory that our emotions take. Specifially this study aims to explore if there is an influence of the past emotion of how we experience the present emotion. We hypothesize that the previously experienced emotion has an effect on how we feel our present emotion. To test this, we selected pictures belonging to four emotion categories, namely, happiness, sadness, disgust, and neutral. We selected pictures from the International Affective Picture System and designed an interleaved survey on Qualtrics. Participants were asked to rate these picture on a slider scale of extremely negative to extremely positive. As a result, we found that the ratings of the present emotion picture is significantly influenced by the emotion that was shown in the picture preceding it.https://doi.org/10.46569/gh93h758
Childhood Sibling Bereavement and Grief in the African American Community
No full textThe loss of a sibling in childhood is a topic that is overlooked due to lack of education around a child's awareness of death. Research has slowly begun to emerge focusing on the manifestation of grief within siblings as the need for support and care for these individuals is growing within communities. The African American community is disproportionately affected by death at earlier rates, which can begin to affect the way that grief is processed and even expressed. The purpose of this study is to conduct a qualitative research study that focuses on the way that grief manifests for those within the African American community honing in on children 13 and younger and their families who have lost a sibling/child. Through this study interventions will be explored and addressed within the educational system on ways to support and aid African American youth 13 and younger with such a loss.https://doi.org/10.46569/sq87c434
Inequities in Childhood Obesity and the Effects of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act
No full textThis study investigates the inequities in childhood obesity and evaluates the impact of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) on obesity, particularly within socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. The research design employed a synthetic literature review, including an analysis of peer-reviewed journal articles, legislative documents, and statistical data centered around the disparities of childhood obesity, the policies geared toward solving the issue, and the progress achieved. The researcher aims to find tangible evidence of how policies, such as HHFKA, have positively impacted the childhood obesity prevalence in low-income, predominantly minority communities. The researcher suggests future policies that include increasing physical activity and evaluating communities that may need additional funding and resources to implement these policies without adversely affecting finances earmarked for academics
Everyday Palestinian Resistance, Resilience, and Recovery to Violent Israeli Occupation: An Interview Study
No full textPalestinians living under Israeli occupation experience significant political violence, resulting in high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic stress. To effectively support Palestinians affected by trauma, it is essential to understand the culturally specific ways in which they interpret and cope with political violence. This study employs interviews conducted in 2022-23 with 20 Palestinian participants (mean age = 34.4 years, SD = 15.65, range = 19–73) who have lived under occupation. The research explores how Palestinians conceptualize trauma and the coping mechanisms they employ. A phenomenological analysis of interview transcripts, emphasizing participants' subjective experiences, reveals four central themes: (1) narratives of trauma were not centered on individual suffering but rather on bearing witness to the suffering of others; (2) the establishment of trust and interpersonal relationships was critical to coping with traumatic stress; (3) participants reframed their trauma within the broader collective Palestinian narrative, often by contextualizing their experiences in relation to those who had suffered more severely; and (4) participants found agency through acts of resistance, particularly by educating others about Palestinian experiences under occupation. These findings are interpreted through a comparative lens, contrasting the individualistic medical model of PTSD and trauma recovery with culturally sensitive approaches to trauma and resilience. The study underscores the significance of social support, sumud (steadfastness), and collective resistance in aiding in the management of traumatic stress. These insights have practical implications for therapists working with Palestinian populations and individuals from collectivist cultures, highlighting the importance of culturally informed coping mechanisms in such contexts.Ayesh, A., & Ben Hagai, E.(2025). Everyday Palestinian resistance, resilience, and recovery to violent Israeli occupation”: An interview study. Journal of Health Psychology, online first. Copyright © 2025. DOI: 10.1177/13591053251332705https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105325133270
Evaluating the drivers of demersal fish population dynamics and recruitment variability on an artificial reef complex in the Southern California Bight
No full textArtificial reefs have increasingly been used as tools for fishery enhancement and for creating habitat. After construction, artificial reefs are often rapidly colonized and increase local biomass. However, whether artificial reefs actually increase regional biomass (production) is often questioned, with the concern being that artificial reefs may just rearrange biomass without enhancing it (attraction), or may even be detrimental to existing fish population by concentrating fish, leading to increased harvest. Regional population abundance is often strongly influenced by recruitment of young, however recruitment can be highly variable. The variability in recruitment can be caused by variables that act across a range of spatial and temporal scales during the periods prior to settlement of larvae (pre-settlement) or after settlement (post-settlement). The goals of this research were to 1) quantify the drivers of demersal marine fish population dynamics on an artificial reef complex: annual recruitment, annual immigration, and fishing mortality; and identify whether the observed fish population on an artificial reef complex in the Southern California Bight is most likely formed by attraction or production; and 2) compare the importance of various predictors acting during pre-settlement and post-settlement periods in driving the variability in recruitment. I used a long-term (23 years) data set on fish size and abundance from diver surveys of fishes on the Wheeler J. North Reef (a large, artificial reef) and two nearby natural reefs (San Mateo Kelp and Barn Kelp Reef). I used a model selection approach with a size-based population model and a Bayesian step to investigate the drivers of population dynamics on the artificial reef, and found that populations of three demersal fish species (California Sheephead, Bodianus pulcher; Kelp Bass, Paralabrax clathratus; and Barred Sand Bass, Paralabrax nebulifer) were driven by a combination of attraction and production, but the magnitude of attraction (immigration) was 3 - 10 times larger than recruitment, indicating that attraction was more prominent in driving population dynamics. Fishing mortality was found to be greater than or equal to previous estimates. However, further investigation into the relative fishing mortality on the neighboring natural reefs would be needed to assess the regional benefits of the artificial reef. I used a generalized linear model to assess the combination of predictors during pre-settlement and post-settlement periods that best predicted variability in recruitment of four fish species: California Sheephead (Bodianus pulcher); Blacksmith (Chromis punctipinnis); señorita (Oxyjulis californica); and Black Perch (Embiotoca jacksoni). The best fitting combination of variables was determined by a model selection approach. The most parsimonious model for each species consisted of just post-settlement predictors (for California Sheephead and Blacksmith) or a combination of pre-settlement/birth and post-settlement/birth predictors (for Señorita and Black Perch), although the best predictors were not the same for all species. This finding suggests that post-settlement/birth predictors are more prevalent across species in determining recruitment variability. However, this investigation also revealed that the key drivers of variability in recruitment may be different in years with extreme conditions, as shown by some in years with very high recruitment when environmental conditions were opposite from the conditions predicted by the model-selection approach to drive high recruitment, suggesting that the mechanism driving recruitment variability can itself be variable. Overall, this study could have management implications for assessing the effectiveness of artificial reefs contributing to regional fish abundance, and predicting future recruitment variability