Ph.D., Antioch University, 2022, Leadership and Change

The purpose of this qualitative participatory action research was to explore how complexity is engaged and experienced in complex regulatory systems, and to understand how cannabis might be regulated in ways that lead to socially equitable conditions. This was accomplished by studying the lived experiences of governmental leaders charged with the responsibility of establishing regulatory frameworks for legalized cannabis where none previously existed. Using the learning history methodology, the study deeply explores the ways that complex systems coexist by capturing the lived experiences of research participants and enhance theoretical understanding of complex regulatory systems. Data collection occurred through reflective interviews, followed by distillation and thematic analysis. This resulted in the creation of a data table and a learning history artifact that were validated by distribution to research participants and used as both an actionable tool for participants and an analytical tool to distill and categorize research findings. The data table and the artifact established three main findings: complexity is both a property and characteristic of systems; complexity is not a behavior, characteristic or action of “leadership” or “leaders” in complex regulatory systems; and the interplay between social justice and social equity is complex and often oversimplified. Rather than directing, participants brought about change by building interactive trust through dialogue and relationship-building in interactive spaces across and between macro, meso, and micro systems levels. Complexity arose from these participatory human relationships when both the properties and characteristics of these systems were engaged, but the theoretical construct of complexity does not explain the presence of agency within this dynamic. By recognizing agency across all systems, structural barriers may be reduced, resulting in regulatory frameworks that may lead to more socially equitable con (open full item for complete abstract)

Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Ohio University, 2020, Business Administration

Civil asset forfeiture is a controversial legal process that allows law enforcement agencies to seize property suspected of having been involved in criminal activity. Although it has been utilized throughout United States history, civil asset forfeiture only began to appear as a major topic within academic literature during the 1990s, and the vast majority of this literature has not addressed its evolution as a social problem. Therefore, based on Spector's and Kitsuse' (1987) and Harris' (2013) framework for analyzing social problems from a strict social constructionist perspective, this study examines the claimsmaking activities within the public discourse surrounding civil asset forfeiture throughout United States history to better understand the factors that have influenced the public perception of civil asset forfeiture in the United States. The findings of this study indicate that public opposition to civil asset forfeiture has developed as a reaction to the government's increased use and defense of civil asset forfeiture following its reform within United States common and statutory law. Furthermore, this study reveals that supporters of civil asset forfeiture advocate for its practice primarily because it is used to deprive criminals of their illegally obtained assets and benefit victims of crime, while opponents of civil asset forfeiture criticize its practice primarily because it incentivizes property seizure, hurts innocent property owners, and reduces the standard of proof required for property seizure, placing the burden of proof on those defending their property from forfeiture.

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2018, Communication

Guided by co-cultural theory and the theory of social construction of reality, this research aims to understand how Muslim women living in the West, specifically as a culturally underrepresented group in the United States, use and engage social media in order to shape, form, and negotiate their identities with others, online and in the real world. As the theory of social construction of reality suggests, individuals go through various stages of socialization, having parents and family mainly shaping their primary internalizations and externalizations of the world, and as they mature and form their personalities and identities, going through the secondary internalization and externalization processes. In doing so, co-cultural theory suggests that as members of a cultural group, Muslim women living in a secular Western society, have three communication strategies that they can use to communicate with those outside the co-cultural group. The findings of this study suggest that Muslim women only use two of the three communication strategies, nonassertive and assertive, in order to reach one of three preferred outcomes: separate, accommodate, and assimilate. The data show the ways that Muslim women enact the two communication strategies and their reasoning for doing so. In order to understand the women's identities and their formations, using the qualitative method of research, the study thoroughly interviewed 10 Muslim women who frequently use social media while living in the United States. The participants were a diverse group of Muslim women who come from an array of backgrounds in order to obtain answers from all different groups of Muslims. Subsequent to the coding and analysis for the interviews, six major themes emerged about the women's co-culturally socialized realities: (1) modesty and Hijab in context: when, where, who, (2) uniting with other Muslims globally, (3) complex identities: proud unique, and sometimes insecure, (4) racism, colorism, and prejudice a (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2017, Communication Studies

In literature related to new social movements, little has been presented about movements focusing on issues and concerns pertaining to men as a group. The reason for this may have to do with the “dominant” position all men are believed to hold in most societies. Despite this view, movement organizations have been established to challenge social constructs of masculinity and expose how such constructs act as barriers to forming a dialogue that fully include men into discussions regarding gender politics. This analysis seeks to address these discussions among men's movement organizations by providing a way of conceptualizing network formation of men's movement organizations online. Using Connell's concept of hegemonic masculinity as a theoretical base, a qualitative content analysis of fifteen men's movement organization websites between April and June of 2012 is carried out to understand how network formation can take place among these organizations despite different perspectives to the degree in which men are benefactors of current social conditions. The analysis shows that two major factions exist in categorizing men's movement organizations: Pro-feminist men who primarily focus on how men can change to benefit women, and anti-feminist men who suggest that men are harmed as much as women due to socio-economic structures. Regardless of this chasm, thematic intersections do exist between organizations in both factions that rhetorically connect them to each other in such a way that suggest a unifying desire to challenge hegemonic masculine norms and promote a progressive form of masculinity. This potential conciliation of movement organizations is complicated by the way pro-feminist and anti-feminist groups challenge ideographs. The tactics utilized in online forums where ideographs are challenged reveal a different type of social movement strategy, negotiated mobilization, that suggests organization leaders and members act in such a way that indicates awareness of ho (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2014, Sociology

Both rates of school suspension and expulsion and the use of therapy or stimulant drugs as treatment for a growing number of behavioral problems among children have increased steadily over the past twenty-five years. Using two different nationally representative data sources, this dissertation examines how behavior problems in African American and White children, particularly young males, are differentially socially constructed along racial lines. Findings from the first paper suggest that over the previous two decades, White boys are being medicalized through the use of therapy or medication, while African-American boys are being criminalized through school suspensions and expulsions. More importantly, this disparity cannot be explained by differences in the frequency of observed misbehavior or other socioeconomic characteristics. Results from the second paper reveal that racial disparities in the labeling of childhood misbehavior significantly contribute to racial disparities in trajectories of social control throughout adolescence and young adulthood. White males use medicalization to avoid long-term involvement with the criminal justice system, while their African Americans counterparts are unable to do so. In the third paper, I find that the school-level association between racial composition and criminalized or medicalized school discipline is highly dependent on the proportion of African American students in the surrounding school district. Moreover, the moderating influence of district level racial concentration appears to work in opposite directions for punishment as opposed to medical approaches.

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2008, Arts and Sciences : Sociology

This historical-comparative story regarding idiocy and mental retardation in the United States is not about the underlying condition suggested by these terms, but rather the process of raising subjective concerns about that condition. The social presence of what today is called developmental disabilities was twice transformed into an urgent social problem and solved in opposite ways. Mid-19th-century physicians and their contemporaries claimed the problem was idiots themselves who were either the cause or consequence of immorality. Unless reformed in institutions, they inflicted moral harm on the community and future generations of Americans. The solution was temporary removal from the community to institutions for training by the “claimsmaking” physicians. Mid-20th-century parents and their supporters morally absolved the mentally retarded and located moral responsibility with everyone but them. “Claimsmaking” parents said that denying the mentally retarded the opportunity to better themselves was both paramount to denying their birthright and a betrayal of Americans' trust in their own nation. To solve (and define) this problem, white, middleclass parents emerged from decades of hiding and mobilized nationally. They created community schools and clinics and educated the public that, contrary to professional and popular claims, retarded children could be helped. This was the precursor to deinstitutionalization. The emergence of the problem and its solution is traced in the professional and popular press in the middle decade of each century. Dominating the 19th- and 20th-century primary data are, respectively, annual reports issued by institutions for the feebleminded and records preserved by the Hamilton County, Ohio parents' group which played a strong leadership role in the formation of the national Parents' Movement. The subjective concerns raised in each mid-century period emerged from a particular symbolic, material, and power-structured context. To effectiv (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2006, Physical Activity and Educational Services

As the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) is fast approaching the 25th anniversary of its inception, the intent of this study was to critically review and empirically explore the social scientific structure of the field of sport management in North America. Integrating a network perspective, the ideas presented offer a unique and compelling approach toward identifying the underlying social structure and potential socio-structural barriers to the diffusion of innovation throughout the network of scholars. A network model of coauthorship patterns was generated using several rounds of sampling and archival data collection. The observed network structure was explored both quantitatively and qualitatively for meaningful patterns. The results of the study were intended to essentially tell a story of the evolution and current state of the field of sport management's coauthorship structure and identify potential socio-structural barriers present in the network. Among the themes that emerged included the structural dominance of one particular institution and the presence of a structural gap between researchers in the United States and Canada. As this study was exploratory in nature, the themes developed were not meant to be conclusive but rather lay the foundation for future research directions. The findings of the study were tied to theoretical, methodological, and practical implications for the diffusion of ideas and practices throughout the network structure. In addition, the secondary thrust of this study was to fundamentally introduce social network analysis as an alternative methodological approach to scholars in the field of sport management. By incorporating some of the techniques of social network analysis into the process of a critical investigation of the social construction of knowledge in the field, it is the authors' hope to insightfully delineate how network analytic techniques can provide an opportunity to explore more diverse and robust rese (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2009, Sociology (Arts and Sciences)

This study involves a sociological analysis of complex group behavior within an emergent computer-mediated community. This examination focuses on interpersonal relations and interactions within the context of a message board forum devoted to the television program Lost. Implementing qualitative methods including an extended case approach, netnography, as well as a grounded-based coding scheme, the findings of this study indicate that interpersonal relationships in online communities are structured by several characteristics. More specifically, behavior within this community is shaped by the norms, barriers, and conflicts that are distinct to this environment. Outcomes of this study include the identification of a clear link between the process of knowledge construction and the development of social ties in relation to a popular culturally-shared text.

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2009, Leadership and Change

Healthcare is a complex and dynamic environment containing a plurality of social forces and perspectives that shape the organizational culture and the nature of the leadership. As leadership is a social phenomenon, it is important to understand the complex social processes that mediate our perceptions and that in turn influence processes of leader attribution. The central purpose of this study has been to illuminate the nature of culturally specific processes that emerge within a specific organizational setting and that fuel leader attribution and the social construction of leadership. Accordingly, this qualitative study has developed a Grounded Theory utilizing Situational Analysis to study leadership in a comprehensive healthcare organization. The electronic version of this dissertation is at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, East Asian Languages and Literatures

Previous pedagogical research and field work demonstrate that neither academic programs nor employee training programs provides speakers of Japanese as a second/foreign language with adequate toolkit to meet the practical needs of potential employers and participate fully in the Japanese workplace. Even with advanced linguistic skills, non-Japanese professionals face a daunting cultural barrier that inhibits effective communication at work: their understanding and beliefs of “what it means to be a professional” are often incongruent with the intentions and expectations of their Japanese interlocutors. The pedagogical challenge lies in identifying and fostering employability skills that match up to the expectations for professionalism, building a professional persona, in Japanese business settings. This dissertation takes its inspiration from a sociolinguistic view of seeing language acquisition and socialization as an integrated process (Ochs 1996). Having a grasp of the essential sociopragmatic toolkits to engage in joint activities in a collaborative manner empowers non-native speakers to construct a viable persona in the target culture/language (C2L2), where they learn to become successful players thriving in the surrounding environment. In actuality, workplace communication is enormously facilitated by effective relationship management strategies. Under these circumstances, my goal is to reify the innerworkings of conversation through the lens of indexicality (or social deixis) and interpret their constitutive roles in facilitating a professional to convey a desirable impression, or persona of herself in others. This effort is spurred, in part, from the numerous questions about being recognized as a fully functioning professional for which I wish I knew the answers when I was a company employee in Japan in my early 20s. My central claim in this dissertation is that to achieve a general understanding of how we can construct a viable persona in the natural envir (open full item for complete abstract)

MA, Kent State University, 2022, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of History

The goal of this thesis is to understand shifts in United States history curriculum over time by examining the Advanced Placement US History curriculum. Despite large changes in historical scholarship between 1958 and 2015, the American historical narrative represented in AP US History only changed gradually. This thesis uses yearly AP US History Course Guides from 1958 to 2015 and oral histories of committee members in charge of test development to illuminate the structural limitations that preserve the status quo in American history. The narrative presented through the Course Guides is evaluated through the metrics of type of history (political, social/cultural, economic, religious), gender, and race. The story of the narrative of United States history over these years is one of minor revisions in a field that needs major transformation. By improving our understanding of curriculum construction, not only will historical scholarship integrate more effectively into classrooms, but the American historical narrative will change from a focus on political players to a focus on all types of people who form and shape America.

Doctor of Professional Studies (D.P.S.) in Instructional Design Leadership, Franklin University, 2021, International Institute for Innovative Instruction

Discussion board forums have become commonplace within online learning environments (OLEs). With student enrollment in online classes continuing to rise and the emergence of COVID-19, more students will be utilizing discussion forums within OLEs than ever before. Positive pedagogical support for the use of discussion forums abounds, but studies on the efficacy of discussions in online forums show mixed results. This study seeks to compare two types of discussion forums. One type, instructor-led scaffolding, was designed with pedagogy such as feedback, discussion prompts, and scaffolding implemented by the instructor. The second type, technology-enhanced scaffolding, was designed to foster autonomous motivation in students, while some feedback and scaffolding were implemented automatically by the technology-enhanced platform and offloaded onto discussion TAs provided for instructors by the platform. The study used the Interaction Analysis Model (IAM) to measure student knowledge construction levels and interpreted results to determine the impact of pedagogical design implementation on student knowledge construction in undergraduate online learning environments.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2021, Sociology

Nonwhite individuals in the United States face many pressures which contribute to substantively poorer health compared to their white peers. The experiences of nonwhite people, however, are not monolithic. Many nonwhite individuals experience social proximity to whiteness which can directly shape their lived experiences in a racialized society. Where previous work has examined the effects of specific proximities within racial groups, the present study synthesizes literature regarding white familial ties, white racial presentation, and school and neighborhood segregation to propose a concentric model of social proximity to whiteness. Using data from five waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, I examine the effects of social proximity to whiteness on health. I find that proximity to whiteness does affect health. Specifically, white racial presentation and white familial ties have a significant, negative association with self-rated health. I also find that the effects of social proximity to whiteness are not uniform across the lifecourse. Embodied proximities (e. g. white presentation and white ancestry) have a pronounced effect on health at all ages whereas distal proximities (e. g. social and neighborhood segregation) lose influence as respondents age. These findings underscore the role of socially constructed race in health outcomes for nonwhite people and highlight the complexity of racialized experiences for nonwhite people.

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2020, Antioch New England: Environmental Studies

Researchers, policy makers, and development partners are increasingly concerned about the challenges of climate change and lack of energy access facing countries in sub-Saharan Africa. While the majority of people in sub-Saharan African countries lack livelihood diversification skills and are vulnerable to climate change, energy poverty is also widespread, particularly in the rural areas where it is difficult and expensive to extend grid electricity. In the face of these two challenges, it has been envisaged that since sub-Saharan Africa is endowed with variety of renewable energy resources such as solar, wind, and biomass, their deployment could help address both climate change and energy access in the region. While the deployment of renewable energy could offer benefits for rural populations in the region, barriers to their deployment are inevitable. There has been limited research on co-benefits and barriers to renewable energy deployment in sub-Saharan Africa. This dissertation combines climate compatible development and social construction of technology theoretical frameworks as the analytical framework alongside mixed methods including surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and direct observations to identify the benefits and barriers to the deployment of solar mini grids in Ghanaian rural island communities. The island communities were created in 1965 as a result of the construction of Ghana's largest hydro-electric dam and they have remained so until 2015 when the World Bank Group funded the provision of solar mini grids in five communities. Major benefits that emerged include adaptation benefits such as creation of jobs and business opportunities; mitigation benefits such as replacement of kerosene use and reduction in deforestation; and development benefits such as improvement in healthcare delivery and school performance. Key barriers identified include infrastructural, socio-cultural, and technical barriers. Based on the findings, (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2019, Leadership Studies

Educators are important in the academic and social development of students. Educator perceptions carry significant weight when interpreting behaviors, skills, and abilities of students (Beckford, 2016; Simson, 2013). Research that investigates the possible consequences of educator perceptions of African American males and the relationship of those perceptions to student outcomes is scant. This exploratory sequential research study reported psychometric properties of an instrument developed to examine educator perceptions of African American males held by public educators in PreK12. Extant research suggests that educator perceptions of Black males are more negative than those of noneducators (see Foster, 1995; Quinn, 2017). Specifically, overall perceptions of educators regarding African American males are negative (Fitzgerald, 2009; Foster, 1995; Jackson & Crawley, 2003). The instrument created for the present study will guide future research that will enable researchers to examine the relationships between educator perceptions and outcomes for African American male students (e.g., eligibility in special education for EBDs). Examining validity evidence for the public educator perceptions of African American males survey (PEPAAMS) PreK12 revealed significant relationships between educators (1) answering on behalf of the average person and (2) self-reporting personal perceptions. This study also found that the adapted brief social desirability scale did not function as intended. The ABSDS was not a reliable measure to differentiate which dependent variable is best to use when there were different scores for personal and average perceptions of public educators using a paired samples t-Test and MANOVA. Due to the inadequacy of the ABSDS, findings revealed that personal value statements were a better indicator for determining which perceptions scores were more reliable to use. Finally, this study concluded that educators who were truly low prej (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2019, Sociology

Though the literature surrounding antisocial personality disorder (and the associated label, psychopathy) is vast, there remains an almost total absence of the voices of people who have been assigned this label from the discussion. ASPD differs from the majority of medicalized diagnostic labels, in that patients who have been given this label are frequently framed as untreatable. The clinical pessimism surrounding this label has led some researchers to argue that the purpose of the ASPD label is not to provide patients with access to appropriate care, but rather to exclude them from treatment by flagging them as lost causes in their medical records. Utilizing a qualitative analysis of online posts written by individuals diagnosed with ASPD, this project seeks to provide a new perspective on the debate surrounding ASPD and medicalization - that of the patient diagnosed as antisocial. I explore how these patients engage with the medicalization of their social and emotional problems, their experiences with mental health service providers, and their critiques of how ASPD is viewed by those who have not been labeled with this disorder. I seek to understand if these individuals accept the clinical pessimism associated with the medicalization of their problems, if they desire changes to how ASPD is viewed clinically, or if they reject ASPD as a flawed construct.

Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, 2019, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

PreK-12 technology leaders are the men and women in senior-level school technology leadership positions. The role of the PreK-12 education technology leader is complex and serves as the centerpiece of school technology leadership. The purpose of this Q methodology study was to examine and emphasize the importance of PreK-12 technology leader perspectives of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs. The unique mix of data gathered in this study provides the information needed to answer the research questions posed; What are the benefits of BYOD from the PreK-12 technology leaders perspective and what are the drawbacks? The findings conclude that BYOD is seen as less of a pedagogical approach and more as a technical one that grants access to the school network and online resources. Technology's role in pedagogy is reflected in the benefits identified by participant viewpoints. The current study found that technology is viewed as improving collaboration, differentiation, and assessment methods. BYOD is seen as having many drawbacks like creating problems when students forget to charge their device, providing increased opportunities for hacking, creating excessive bandwidth usage, not providing a cost savings, exacerbating equitable access concerns, and not improving school-to-home communications. The current study indicates that some participants do not see BYOD itself providing benefits to teaching; they view technology in all its forms as being beneficial to instruction. This distinction is important because it provides evidence of a tarnished view of BYOD. Globally, participant views indicate that 1-to-1 technology programs are the preferred method of getting technology into the hands of students.

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD), Wright State University, 2019, School of Professional Psychology

Previous research on gender conflict and strain quantitatively measured traditional masculinity ideology from western societal norms. The current study added to the previous research and qualitatively studied masculinity performance in men from different cultures: Black, Asian, Latino. Results from this study added to masculinity research due to the mixed method approach of both quantitative and qualitative research in males from diverse groups. Information gained from this study enabled masculinity to be operationally defined by different cultural focus groups and compared in order to explore distinct masculinity expression. Information was gained by measuring traditional masculinity ideology quantitatively on the Male Role Norms Inventory-Short Form (MRNI-SF). In addition, the males participated in separate focus groups to provide narratives of their masculinity performance beyond their traditional masculine ideology measured on the MRNI-SF. The current study showed that traditional masculine gender ideology was similar within all males, but how they expressed their masculine ideology appeared different in the Black, Asian, and Latino focus groups. Information from the current study will add to the masculinity research and increase understanding on the complexity of masculinity expression due to the integration of multiple cultural variables. Such knowledge will also enhance the cultural competence of providers and improve mental health resources for diverse men.

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2018, Foundations of Education

Peace education is an emerging and growing field of study that holds promise for the future survival of our species. This reconstructive project involves a process of comparative philosophical analyses between approaches to peace education, as well as between the approaches and the social context of Kuwait. It concerns the research question: what philosophical conception and approach to peace education is potentially most compatible with Kuwaiti culture? In this dissertation, I place particular focus on the following approaches to peace education: integrative, critical, Islamic, gender, and comprehensive. Using a relational hermeneutics method, I analyze the relative compatibility of these approaches to Kuwaiti culture. Based on a fusion of peace education horizons and Kuwait's cultural horizon, the following compatible elements emerge: reflection, dialogue, creative learning, and action. These elements form the framework to guide a potential Kuwaiti Approach to Peace Education (KAPE) proposed at the end of the dissertation. While I argue these elements must exist in a successful KAPE, I also contend that they only provide guidelines and a basic structure while the people of Kuwait have to actually complete and fulfill the framework through their own reflection, dialogue, creative learning, and action.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, EDU Teaching and Learning

The field of English Language Arts has a long history of valuing students' experience and placing it at the center of curriculum and instruction. However, the means of making experience educative for students has proved to be a challenging conceptualization, especially within the realities of classroom life. This dissertation addresses this issue by exploring how a particular school used an 18-week experiential program called “Walkabout” to create opportunities for students' experiences to become educative individually and collectively through narrative performance. In Walkabout, students reflect upon the educative value of their experiences through multiple oral and written narrativizations of experiences over time. I frame the practice of making experience educative in two ways. First, I build upon Dewey's (1938) notions of continuity and interaction. Second, I rely upon sociolinguistic scholars who conceptualize narrative according to its situated function as manifested by language-in-use. The larger ethnographic research project from which this study is taken was a two-year study tracing the writing experiences of two senior classes involving 18 case study students. This study was the focus of the second year of the larger study. I use the methods of case study and interactional ethnography to trace students' participation with narrativizations of experience according to Rogoff's (1995) three planes of activity—apprenticeship, guided practice, and participatory appropriation—to structure my discussion of students' sociocultural participation with narrativizations of experience over time on institutional, interactional, and individual levels. Students were apprenticed into making experience educative over time through three primary moves: (1) making immediate evaluations tellable (2) constructing identities through narrativizations and (3) engaging in reflective meaning making on previous and ongoing narrativizations. These moves were evident in the students' ev (open full item for complete abstract)