Individual Funding: A Policy Solution to Family Abuse in Rural Areas Impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic

Intimate partner violence is an issue in the United States experienced by more than one in three women. This article addresses the topic of intimate partner violence and the factors contributing to the perpetuation of abuse. It focuses on how these factors manifest in rural areas and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which increased isolation and economic abuse. This article explores policies currently used to combat intimate partner violence in these contexts. The current acts, including the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA), and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), expressly prohibit the allotment of monetary entities directly, requiring victims to connect with government- funded programs to receive aid in the form of funding. This article proposes distributing individual, unrestricted funding to the victim rather than through an agency receiving funding from other government sources

Convenient fictions: the disciplining mechanisms of screenplay structure

This thesis takes the recent increase in on-screen and behind-the-scenes representation in Hollywood film and televison as a launching point for a critique of the manner in which contemporary screenwriting paradigms discipline and control progressive representation. It is my contention that narrative and (most) generic conventions operate as straightening, whitening, and masculinizing devices, so that, even when female/of color/queer characters are plugged into traditional narratives, they become normalized, disciplined, and more in line with cis, white, heterosexist patriarchal logics. For the purposes of this study, because I am a screenwriter thinking within the discipline of media and communication studies, my methodology crosses disciplinary boundaries from media studies to queer-feminist theory to the fundamentals of screenwriting. Towards this end, this project will analyze two contemporary television series that have been praised for progressive representation and storytelling, particularly at the intersections of gender and sexuality: Killing Eve (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) and Sense8 (The Wachowskis). Through an analysis of each texts’ signifying practices—as influenced by contemporary screenwriting paradigms—I will demonstrate how Killing Eve’s adherence to traditional storytelling standards around character-building, narrative structure, and genre inhibit the liberatory potential of placing two female characters (an Asian-American, straight woman and a white, queer woman) at the center of the typically masculine spy thriller. In contrast, I will show how Sense8 moves beyond progressive representation by not only centering the series around eight protagonists of varying genders, sexualities, and racial identities, but also expanding its emancipatory potential by subverting and reimagining the rules of character, narrative structure, and genre

Individual Funding: A Policy Solution to Family Abuse in Rural Areas Impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic

Intimate partner violence is an issue in the United States experienced bymore than one in three women. This article addresses the topic of intimatepartner violence and the factors contributing to the perpetuation of abuse. Itfocuses on how these factors manifest in rural areas and in the context of theCOVID-19 pandemic, which increased isolation and economic abuse. Thisarticle explores policies currently used to combat intimate partner violencein these contexts. The current acts, including the Victims of Crime Act(VOCA), the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA), and theViolence Against Women Act (VAWA), expressly prohibit the allotment ofmonetary entities directly, requiring victims to connect with government-funded programs to receive aid in the form of funding. This article proposesdistributing individual, unrestricted funding to the victim rather than throughan agency receiving funding from other government sources

Ecologically Friendly Food Buying and Recycling: Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors in a Tennessee Survey.

This thesis focuses on pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors and the interactions between recycling behavior, food buying attitudes, food buying behaviors, and ecological beliefs. Following an introductory chapter, I present an article-length paper on recycling behavior to be submitted to Environment and Behavior. Data for this study came from a telephone survey of Tennessee residents (N=270). Using OLS regression analysis, I find that recycling behavior is significantly related to access to recycling facilities. I do not find a significant interaction effect between access to recycling facilities and willingness to recycle. I conclude by suggesting that pro-environmental policies need to make structural resources more available to all in order to promote recycling (and protect the environment in general). Positive attitudes alone do not get us very far. My additional thesis research goal of developing an accurate measure of ecological food buying attitudes and behaviors needs further work

How Therapists Use and Choose Mindfulness to Treat Trauma

This qualitative study used the phenomenological method to examine how therapists use mindfulness therapies and interventions to address trauma-salient issues with their clients. Specifically, it explored therapists’ use of and choices about mindfulness-based treatments when addressing post-traumatic stress symptoms, and trauma-relevant emotion dysregulation and attachment injury. Informants were associate and fully-licensed local therapists, recruited using convenience sampling and snowball sampling by word-of-mouth referrals. Data was collected by semi-structured interviewing. Interview data was analyzed with Moustakas’ (1994) recommended procedures for analysis of phenomenological data. Results, Discussion, Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research are described at the end

Intersections Between the Life Stories of Internationally-Trained Immigrant Women and Institutional Narratives of Immigrant Success in Ontario

The following dissertation compares the life stories (Linde, 1993) of six internationally trained immigrant women, successful in finding employment in their fields of post-secondary teaching, with video success stories available on a government webpage for bridge training in Ontario and with national and provincial immigration and integration policy. Using Lindes (2009) institutional narrative to conceptualize how these video stories of successful bridge training graduates can serve as templates and tools of socialization for skilled immigrants who are seeking to re-enter their fields in Ontario, the analysis focusses on the representations of the integration process, the role of language learning and teaching in these narratives, and the ways that the six participants life stories (Linde, 1993) may take up the same discourses circulated in the institutional narrative. In order to understand the impact these institutional narratives of integration have on the life stories of individual immigrant women, the analysis makes use of Foucaults (1991; 1994) theoretical frameworks of technology of the self and governmentality. Seen through this lens, narrative becomes a tool for the construction of a self that is both in line with dominant discourses of self-responsibility and a self that is morally acceptable to the individual. The analysis finds that both the video success stories and the life stories of the six participants incorporate neoliberal discourses of self-sufficiency and lifelong learning that emphasize economic over social integration and allow for acceptance of the need for further training, in this case bridge training. Both the participants and the video success story protagonists accept the need to learn higher level professional communication skills and behaviour that places the burden for successful communication solely on the immigrant. In addition, both institutional and personal narratives make use of discourses of diversity and multiculturalism, accomplishing an alignment with established Canadian values on one hand, but also a separation of immigrant groups from the dominant white settler class (Bannerji, 2000; Thobani, 2007), relegating them to a peripheral position long after they have attained citizenship. Recommendations are made to include critical multicultural education (Kubota 2004a, 2004b) into the bridge training classroom

Talking in Math Class? Encouraging Engagement and Achievement Through the Use of Talk Moves

Purpose of the Study: Investigate the variations in three second-grade teachers\u27 implementation of a number sense curriculum, in particular the variations in the ways they used Talk Moves to encourage students\u27 engagement in classroom discussions. Long Term Goal: To improve number sense instruction in early elementary grades.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/fsrs2018/1003/thumbnail.jp

Before and After Avatar Exposure: The Impact of Body Scanning Technology on Body Satisfaction, Mood, and Appearance Management

Research published in Clothing and Textiles Research Journal (CTRJ) initiated a call for research investigating how the third dimension affects one\u27s perception of their body. Specifically, Loker, Ashdown, and Carnrite (2008) raised the following questions: Will the ability to see ourselves in three dimensions (3D) increase body acceptance of normal variations and counteract the popular media images of what constitutes a beautiful body? Or will three-dimensional views increase dissatisfaction with our real bodies? (p. 175). In response to this call, this study investigated the unique experience of viewing one\u27s body in 3D on participants\u27 self-reported levels of body satisfaction, mood, and appearance management. The current study tested Self Discrepancy Theory (SDT; Higgins, 1987) by examining whether participants\u27 (N = 101) Actual-Ideal (AI) discrepancy (a discrepancy construed based on their own mental representation of their body) increases after viewing their 3D avatar (a discrepancy construed based on their actual body size measurements). It was predicted that participants would report an increase in their AI discrepancy after viewing their 3D avatar, as the scan confronts the participant with their actual body size (H1). SDT predicts that an increased AI discrepancy (e.g., post avatar scan) would result in fewer reports of body satisfaction (H2), decreased mood (H3), and increased likelihood to manage one\u27s appearance (H4) compared to participants\u27 baseline reports. All hypotheses were supported. Results and implications are discussed