1406 research outputs found
Sort by
Compost
No full textIn 2019, an estimated 35% of all food was lost or wasted in the U.S. In 2015, the EPA announced a goal to cut food waste in half by 2030. Organic waste in landfills generates methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than CO2 and one of the major contributors to global warming. Composting significantly cuts the amount of food that goes into our landfills, reducing the climate and environmental impacts associated with food waste.
Compost has many benefits. It enhances soil and reduces or eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers. Compost enhances water retention in soil, providing carbon sequestration. Composting locally conserves energy and reduces emissions from truck transport. As an active member of my local community garden, my hope is that we all do everything we can to work towards a more sustainable community and planet.https://digitalcommons.liu.edu/cusp_usquilt_2022/1011/thumbnail.jp
Green
Get PDFThe concept of my quilt square revolves around the power of technology in helping us achieve urban sustainability. Urban problems like pollution prevent us from enjoying everything a city has to offer. I believe technology can help save our environment and restore biodiversity through research and the development of new tools capable of detecting and reducing carbon emissions. In my quilt, the green fabric represents a “green” city which is something I hope to see one day. On top of the earth, you have different constituents of the built and natural city such as trees, flowers, buildings, cars, and a factory. I used bright colors to portray a dream city. The robotic hands represent an emerging technology called Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI has the potential to accelerate global efforts to protect the environment and conserve resources through the detection and reduction of energy emissions. I chose to place the hands at the center as a symbol of hope and potential change. The extension of the hands represents technology solving environment problems such as air pollution produced by cars and factories.https://digitalcommons.liu.edu/cusp_usquilt_2022/1010/thumbnail.jp
PSYCHOLOGISTS IN TRAINING: DEVELOPING LGBTQ+ CULTURAL COMPETENCE IN TRAINEES
Get PDFLesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) individuals search for counseling services at higher rates compared to their heterosexual peers. Unfortunately, LGBTQ+ people also report negative therapeutic experiences that are evident in higher dissatisfaction rates with counseling services. Perceived heterosexist bias, homophobia, and therapists’ general lack of understanding and/or adequate training of gender and sexual diversity are some of the reasons why LGBTQ+ individuals may be wary of seeking medical or mental health services or why they forgo accessing services altogether (Dillon et al., 2004). Even though there is an emerging body of research stating a clear need to provide tailored, culturally appropriate, and LGBTQ+ affirmative psychological interventions to LGBTQ+ individuals, few studies have investigated the impact of therapist training in LGBTQ+-affirmative psychotherapy (Pepping et al., 2018). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Pride Healing Center (PHC) training program (a trauma-informed specialty clinic for the LGBTQ+ community at Long Island University-Post). This study used a comparison group design to explore if therapists who have undergone more hours of training in LGBTQ+- affirmative psychotherapy and had more clinical hours with LGBTQ+ clients report higher self-efficacy and changes in self-reported counselor competency and self-efficacy pre- and post-training. The results revealed significant increases in self-reported skills and knowledge between pre-test and post-test as a result of the cultural competency training that includes information about minority stress, unique barriers, and mental health needs of the LGBTQ+ population. The finding did not reveal any significant changes in counselor’s perceived competency when assessing their clinical hours
Gender, Attachment Patterns, and Mental Representations of Parents and Self as Predictors of Early Adolescents’ Trauma Symptoms
Get PDFGender, attachment patterns and mental representations of close relationships have not previously been used to predict trauma symptomatology in early adolescents. In this study, 109 eighth grade students ages 12-13 (44% female) were recruited from a private Manhattan middle school for academically advantaged, ethnically diverse students. The study took place over the course of four years, with each new group of participants providing data in September of their eighth grade year. Participants reported on trauma symptoms and the affective valence of their mental representations of self and parents, and school staff reported on participants’ attachment patterns. While boys reported more positive affective valence of their parental and self mental representations and were reported to have less secure attachment, gender differences were not found regarding childhood trauma symptoms. There were significant negative correlations between preoccupied attachment and affective valence of parental and self mental representations as well as significant positive correlations between incoherent/disorganized and preoccupied attachment, respectively, and childhood trauma symptoms. Overall, incoherent/disorganized attachment predicted avoidance symptoms and hyperarousal, and preoccupied attachment predicted re-experiencing symptoms. Considering girls only, incoherent/disorganized attachment and affective valence of self mental representations were both predictive of childhood trauma symptoms, and preoccupied attachment predicted re-experiencing symptoms. These results indicate that therapists must take into account both attachment quality and mental representations for middle schoolers when treating childhood trauma symptoms. Considerations regarding gender, attachment, and mental representations when treating early adolescents experiencing trauma symptoms are discussed
The Raw Material of Beauty: A Qualitative Study of Actors\u27 Perceptions of Creativity and Mental Health
Get PDFThe following qualitative study aims to further the literature\u27s understanding of actors\u27 attitudes regarding the connection between mental health and creativity. Generally, there has been a one-way relationship between the field of psychology and acting, in that actors have utilized the field of psychology to inform character development, while scare psychological research has been completed with actors as a sample. For this study, 12 professional New York-based actors, ages 22-56, participated in individual interviews with the principal investigator via on-line video conferencing. Interviews were conducted in order to: (a) better understand actors\u27 beliefs about the relationship between creativity and mental health, (b) explore the ways in which mental health is discussed in the acting community, and (c) better understand actors\u27 attitudes towards the effects of psychotherapy on the creative process. Using the qualitative research methods of Auerbach and Silverstein (2003), the interviews were transcribed and analyzed in order to extrapolate themes and theoretical constructs, and to create a narrative. Based on the analysis, the actors\u27 narratives were notable for their paradoxes, which included their contradictory beliefs regarding the impact of acting on mental health, the relationship between mental suffering and creativity, and the value of psychotherapy. The study\u27s discussion contextualizes the data using role theory (Landy, 2009)
The conspiracy of silence: Family communication effects on interpersonal functioning and differentiation of self in children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors
Get PDFFindings have been inconsistent regarding the existence of intergenerational transmission of trauma in offspring of Holocaust survivors (OHS) and grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors (GHS). Some studies have indeed found that OHS have more psychosocial problems than their counterparts with no family members in the Holocaust (e.g., Scharf, 2007), while others have not found any differences (e.g., Sagi-Schwartz et al., 2003). One reason for these mixed findings is the quantity and quality of communication on the part of the Holocaust survivor within their families about their trauma (e.g., Danieli et al., 2017). Another reason for the inconsistent findings is that much of the research on OHS has focused on psychopathology instead of focusing on the vulnerabilities in the areas of interpersonal difficulties and problems with separation and individuation that have been more frequently observed by clinicians working with OHS patients (e.g., Solkoff, 1992). To address these limitations with past research, the present study predicted that a lack of explicit communication between Holocaust survivor parents and their children would detrimentally impact OHS in the areas of interpersonal functioning and ability to separate from others and regulate their emotions. The study also examined the relationship between these variables in a subset of the OHS participants and their GHS children. Self-report measures were completed and analyzed from 412 OHS and 71 of their GHS children. There were several important findings, including that OHS-rated parental numbness predicted both greater OHS interpersonal problems and lower OHS differentiation of self. Additionally, OHS differentiation of self mediated the relationship between OHS-rated parental numbness and OHS interpersonal problems. Interestingly, none of these effects carried over to the GHS generation
We take back the moon
Get PDFMy creative manuscript, tentatively known as We Take Back the Moon, is an in-progress fantasy novel in verse. Set in a world not like our own where the only bipedal inhabitants are elves, it is a tale of two best friends contending with a society where those who lack the ability to use magic are sentenced to the Colony—essentially a prison camp. Chkal, one of the protagonists, was a child prodigy in magic and still lives in the Capital, while her best friend, Esari, was sent away at age thirteen to the Colony. The story follows Chkal’s struggle with her apprentice, Lananook, whose deadline for his magic Trials grows closer and closer with no progress, and Esari’s desire to plan a mass escape. Eventually, they are able to reconnect, but the manuscript thus far ends with a clear plan for Chkal to head for the colony.
Directly following is my critical essay, “Novels in Verse: An Investigation of Pacing from Form.” I discuss the forms used by five writers (Toby Barlow, Jacqueline Woodson, Anne Carson, Vikram Seth, and Maryse Meijer) to direct and complement their narrative in one of their verse novels. The main argument I pose is that novels in verse are largely unique in that pacing can tightly controlled in a way that still creates an effective book-length work. At the end of my thesis, there is a bibliography of readings both for the critical essay’s citations, as well as texts I read as research and inspiration to produce the manuscript
Racial differences in stranger harassment coping strategies
Get PDFStranger harassment is a pervasive, recurrent and, potentially damaging problem that requires women to cope with harmful effects. Stranger harassment is also a field that lacks in satisfactory research. With the aim of helping female victims and due to previous studies primarily focused on how White women in particular cope the present work will examine the racial differences in stranger harassment coping strategies. Additionally, understanding whether ideologies like system justification are associated with why women cope through certain methods is equally as important and will also be examined in the present work. The present study used a questionnaire method at a Northeastern, multicultural, and urban university with 143 females participating, representing a range of ages and races. Numerous predictions about the data were tested. The non-White identifying racial group will demonstrate significantly higher levels of active coping. The White- identifying racial group will demonstrate significantly higher levels of passive coping. Finally, passive coping will be dependent on system justifying ideologies among both racial-ethnic groups. Analysis of the data found that White-identifying participants significantly cope through passive methods more than non-White identifying participants. Furthermore, a trend in the data highlighting the potential for non- White identifying participants to cope through active methods more than White-identifying participants was found. Lastly, no relation was found between passive coping and system justification beliefs. The results establish a relationship between coping mechanisms and race, calling for further research in the subject area
The Nature of the City
No full textAs an academic, I believe it is my responsibility to incorporate political economic and ecological concepts and histories into my research, teaching, and community involvement. To avert a worstcase scenario already unfolding, we collectively need to understand and overcome the pressing, interrelated crises of our time of climate change, loss of biodiversity, and obscene levels of social and economic inequality worldwide.
I aim broadly in this quilt square to express “the nature of the city,” playing on the double entendre of “nature” as character or quality of urban spaces and “nature” as all the life and elements surrounding human beings and the built environment. However, I also want to represent the problem of centuries of humanity’s attempts to conquer, master, and control nature, which has catapulted us into a new epoch of the Anthropocene. The large hawk and small city skyline represent what Marx called an “irreparable rift” in the social metabolism between nature and society. The challenge for humanity in the 21st century is to mend the rift by ceasing to extract fossil fuels and other natural resources from the earth and building egalitarian societies based on human need for the many rather than exorbitant profits for a very few.https://digitalcommons.liu.edu/cusp_usquilt_2022/1000/thumbnail.jp
Capturing interpersonal and momentary dynamics of codependency
Get PDFCodependency has been a relevant psychological construct since the 1980s that has been mostly understood in terms of personality characteristics. However, there is a dearth of research that critically examines the interpersonal constructs that comprise the experience of codependency, particularly in applying well-established statistical procedures and experimental designs. The current study sought to bridge this gap by mapping codependency on the interpersonal circumplex (IPC) and measuring how codependency moderated momentary changes in interpersonal perceptions. A sample of undergraduates and adults from the community (N = 178) were recruited as dyads and asked to complete self-report measures on interpersonal difficulties and participate in pairs to play Cyberball, a virtual ball-toss simulating ostracism. Findings showed that high codependency was generally associated with problems related to unassuredness and exploitability on the IPC. Men high in codependency reported greater interpersonal distress around coldness/aloofness while women high in codependency reported greater interpersonal distress around having their nurturance exploited. After playing Cyberball, participants perceived themselves as more dominant when they also perceived their partner as more dominant. Codependency was found to significantly increase this relationship; participants higher in codependency were even more likely to perceive themselves as more dominant than usual as they perceived their partner as more dominant than usual. Taken together, these findings offer a more nuanced picture of codependency in terms of general perceptions of interpersonal difficulties and momentary perceptions of self and other. Limitations and future directions are further discussed