Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2020, International and Comparative Politics

This research develops a novel theory for domestic diversionary violence, contending that the main drivers for this type of conflict are the specific characteristics of state-targeted domestic minority groups. Seven new variables measuring minority group characteristics are identified through a case study of the Kurdish minority in the Turkish Republic, then applied to a quantitative analysis of domestic diversionary violence in a dataset of 284 observations across 117 countries during the years 2004-2005, utilizing data from the University of Maryland's Minorities at Risk Project, the University of Illinois Cline Center SPEED Database, and World Bank. A proportional odds logistic regression model shows that the minority group's recent grievances with the base population and its geographic concentration have statistically significant positive correlations to the likelihood of targeting for diversionary violence, while the protest level of the minority group achieves a statistically significant negative correlation.

Committee: Liam Anderson Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Vaughn Shannon Ph.D. (Committee Member); Carlos Costa Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: International Relations; Political Science

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2010, Nursing

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the associations between social determinants of health (mother's education, socioeconomic status, levels of poverty, academic performance, and perceived racism), and reports of depressive symptoms, sexual risk, substance use, and suicide risk behaviors. Numerous studies have documented the increasing prevalence of mental health, sexual risk, and substance use behaviors in adolescents nationwide. These behaviors usually are established in adolescence, persist into adulthood, are inter-related, and preventable. In addition to causing adverse health effects, these behaviors contribute to many of the educational and social concerns within the United States, including failure to complete high school, unemployment, and poverty. The relationships among socioenvironmental factors (e.g., SES) were examined as determinants of individual risk behaviors (e.g., substance use) by utilizing an adaptation of the Conceptual Model of Race (LaVeist, 1994) and the Social Determinants of Health (LaVeist, 2005b) models, called the Social Determinants of Adolescent Risk Behaviors. Cross sectional data obtained from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health (Add Health Study) Wave II Public Use Data were used for this secondary analysis. The sample consisted of high school students (n = 3,599) surveyed during the 1995-1996 academic year. Majority of the participants identified themselves as White (81.3%), were female (52.0%), and the average age was 16 years. The findings suggest significant differences among the racial groups across all socioenvironmental factors including grade point averages and perceived racism scores. Additionally, socioenvironmental predictors of risk behaviors also varied across racial groups. Poverty and income were indicators for pregnancy in White and Other high school female adolescents; but not African American females. Poverty and mother's educational attainment were indicators for suicide att (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Diana Morris PhD (Committee Chair); Faye Gary EdD (Committee Member); Linda Lewin PhD (Committee Member); Shelley Francis DrPH (Committee Member) Subjects: Health; Mental Health; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Nursing; Public Health