The aviation industry is predicted to grow exponentially within the next few decades. With this growth in the industry comes a significant growth in carbon emissions; this increase will occur despite strides forward in jet engine and airline administration efficiency. With international concerns about environmental issues, it is critical that the impacts and detrimental effects of aviation usage are analyzed and mitigated. Although it is known to be environmentally damaging, many University of Washington faculty members are pressured to fly in order to develop and further their careers. Very little data has been gathered surrounding faculty members, particularly in environmental programs, and the correlation between their personal values and concrete actions. In attempts to quantify viewpoints, recent literature analyzes environmental beliefs and corresponding behavior within regular consumer populations. A majority of these studies observed and divided participants into categories depending on their behaviors. For those faculty members working in environmental and climate science fields, the question presents itself: How closely correlated are faculties flying habits and environmental beliefs? Through twenty open-ended interviews, this study will attempt to evaluate UW faculty members and their self proclaimed environmental beliefs and actions. I suspect that tensions will exist between faculty’s values and necessary career related travel. Analyzing these tensions, especially amongst those most educated in these topics, can aid in finding pathways to mitigate actions that are environmentally damaging

Within the past decade, scholarly and media attention regarding the “homelessness crisis” across the country has increased. However, recent developments in the field have problematized much of the previous research done on homeless identity, due to the fact that “homelessness” has been treated as an unambiguous defining characteristic of the individual. Past research relied on the assumption that these individuals saw themselves as homeless upon entering a state wherein they were without stable housing. Contemporary research seeks to revisit the conceptualizations of homeless identity, and this project will investigate how individuals without shelter, or at risk of being without shelter, come to define their situation and identify themselves -- as “homeless” or otherwise -- in relation to that status. This study focuses primarily on homeless identity as self-acquired, rather than ascribed, by researching an understudied group: homeless young adults. Studying identity within the dynamic frame of emerging adulthood provides a suitable environment for understanding identity development and adoption. This project utilizes ethnographic interview techniques conducted with individuals aged 18-25 with a range of time spent homeless. Analysis of these interviews seeks to examine key mechanisms in negotiation between socially-ascribed identity and self-acquired identity among homeless individuals, and to shed light on the mental reasoning that informs such a process. By determining how and why people come to see themselves as homeless, this research project will inform modes of early-intervention social service outreach while simultaneously complicating traditional lenses of viewing and researching homelessness.

 Individuals who have experienced armed conflict at some time in their life span up to the millions. Whether its domestic violence, PTSD or war. A small body of research has been conducted to understand self-image and the well-being of survivors of armed conflict. However little is known about the effects of armed conflict on social behaviors and the perception of social relationships. This research is based on interviews and ethnographic data from forty South Sudanese refugees living in Rhino camp, Uganda. Using interviews and qualitative methods this research addresses how armed conflict affects trust of others and social relationships. Key insights from this research will allow us to understand how armed conflict experiences impact one’s perception of social relations and how different genders view this same idea. This research addresses social behaviors and perceptions of social relationship which is an important aspect of health, well-being and survival.

Individuals with ambivalent and avoidant adult attachment styles are more likely to use negative coping strategies such as denial and disengagement, while individuals with a secure adult attachment style are more likely to use positive coping strategies such as reappraisal and support seeking. Certain negative coping strategies are linked with mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Most research regarding the relationship between coping strategies and adult attachment style has been done on undergraduates and veterans. No research to date has examined gender as a moderator of the relationship between adult attachment style and coping strategies. However, research suggests that both coping strategies and adult attachment styles vary by gender. In the present study, a series of multivariate regression analyses were conducted to determine whether gender moderated the relationship between close, and anxious adult attachment styles and emotional support seeking, and substance abuse coping mechanisms. Participants (N=385) completed self-report measures of coping strategies and adult attachment styles online. This project may reveal that gender changes the relationship between adult attachment style and coping strategies. This information may help inform psychological interventions for individuals with maladaptive coping strategies and improve our ability to predict who might engage in maladaptive coping strategies.

Overdoses induced by fentanyl-laced cocaine are skyrocketing today. Meanwhile, in 2017, cocaine was reported as the fourth most prevalent substance used on college campuses. Even more alarming, research shows a modest decline in young people’s disapproval and perceived harmfulness of experimental cocaine use. Favorable depictions of cocaine use in the media contributes to these trends today: the entertainment industry continues to advertise cocaine as a drug of privilege, partying, and success. Conversely, studies investigating Adderall use found college students view cocaine use negatively. Students harshly judged their peers who exposed themselves to cocaine’s hazardous nature and high risks. This contradictory evidence makes it difficult to judge how problematic college students’ views on experimental cocaine use may be. This study aims at sorting this puzzle. The project tests the hypotheses that students think one-time use results in more benefits than risks to the individual. To assess this hypothesis, I use a web-based survey adapted from the so-called “prototype-willingness model” (PWM). The PWM is built on the idea that young people share very clear social images of risky behaviors. The favorability of these images is positively correlated with willingness to engage in risky behavior. Willingness, rather than planned intent, is the primary factor responsible for engaging in risky behaviors if presented with the opportunity. I examine the social image of experimental cocaine use and its favorability in order to predict willingness to use. Predicting how a college student may react when given the opportunity to use is crucial for future prevention planning, as cocaine use is a more pressing issue than ever.

With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, United Nations Member States committed to ensure international development that “leaves no one behind,” and pledged to reach “the furthest behind first.” Recognizing that globally persons with disabilities as a group are often among those left furthest behind, the Executive Office of the UN Secretary General and the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities are reviewing how UN operations can better integrate and promote the rights of persons with disabilities. To support that review, a study was commissioned to assess the current state of disability inclusion within UN operations at the headquarters and country levels. In December 2018, a research team led by the School for Global Inclusion and Social Development at the University of Massachusetts and supported by undergraduate students at the University of Washington completed a baseline assessment of disability inclusion within the 40 UN agencies, funds and programs which are members of the UN Sustainable Development Group, and 40 UN Country Teams. Although the assessment is not currently public, this presentation discusses the results of our research which focused primarily on evaluating UN entity disability inclusion through public sources alongside staff survey responses.

Pollution caused by large corporations is the primary reason for environmental degradation and the prison industrial complex is no exception. The purpose of this study is to contextualize the carceral system and its relationship to climate change from a critical ecofeminist perspective. Critical ecofeminism contends that the patriarchal nature of capitalism forces women to generate forms of resistance against essentialist systems--which attributes to their broader understanding of environmental degradation and the oppression of marginalized identities. Using the Fact Sheet Archive on Women in State Legislatures (1997-2016) which reports the percentage of women-identified legislators and governors in the US, this study will explore whether or not the independent effect of mass incarceration emissions decreases when more women are represented in legislative bodies. This work is meant to contribute to growing bodies of knowledge concerning critical environment justice studies, racial capitalism, and other intersectional frameworks.

The focus of this study is to examine the motivation behind organizing conservative and counter-conservative events and the meaning students attribute to their involvement. Furthermore, the study also addresses the extent to which such coordination is related to group influence. In other words, how do participant relations within and outside of their organization shape their decision to organize political events on campus? This study explores how students understand and interpret their actions. Data for this study will be collected by conducting structured interviews with 10 participants (n = 10). The intended population is college students from a Southern California college campus. Half the participants will identify or have identified with a conservative campus organization while the other half with a counter-conservative organization at the time of a campus political event. Convenience and snowball sampling will be used to recruit participants. This methodology follows what sociologist Max Weber (1914) referred to as,“Sociology is a science concerning itself with the interpretive understanding of social action and thereby with a causal explanation of its course and consequences.” An interpretive understanding of the meaning and drive behind the formation of these political events is crucial to developing an explanation for what triggers social action. By studying the dynamics by which the group members interact and interpret one another, we can understand the role of in-group cohesion and out-group bias in politically-related communication. My study aims to contribute to the following 1) increase our knowledge of the motivations and meanings college students place on organizing events with controversial speakers, as well as protesting them, 2) how students weigh the consequences of their actions, especially as it relates to social relations (stigma or approval), campus climate, safety and property damage, and economic costs (e.g. security, police, taxes).

The most recent National Vital Statistics Report reports that approximately 9.85% of babies in the United States are born preterm, with 72% of those born late-preterm (at 34-36 weeks of gestation). Using neonatal ferrets at age 17 days old, the Juul lab in the Division of Neonatology at the University of Washington Medical Center has developed a preliminary model of brain injury to mimic late-preterm neonatal injuries. In this species-specific adaptation of the Vannucci Model, the left carotid artery is permanently ligated, along with a temporary (4h) occlusion of the right carotid artery. Ferrets are then exposed to periods of hypoxia and hyperoxia. By looking at data and outcomes from our surgeries, I aim to examine the effects of certain surgical parameters on ferret mortality. These parameters include: time the animal is exposed to isoflurane, the length of surgery, and the amount of time the animal is given to recover between surgery and hypoxia. Aside from mortality, I will also analyze the effects of these parameters on respiratory rate after surgery as well as gross brain injury and data from behavioral testing in an attempt to discern the level of injury in living animals and the most common predictors of death in those that died prior to their determined endpoint.

Emerging adulthood is a significant developmental period where individuals aged 18-25 years do not feel that they are adults, but on the path to becoming so. Individuals may describe their experiences within this life stage differently based on their racial identity. This research project asks: “How do young people of color in college describe their experiences of emerging adulthood compared to their white peers, and is this related to their mental health in different ways?” Within this study, I compare how students of color and white students view, experience, and navigate emerging adulthood and how this affects their mental health. Through interviews with young college students across racial groups at University of Washington (UW), I examine how they make sense of the stressors in their lives. Interview questions discuss significant areas of emerging adulthood, various social forces that could affect mental health, racial issues and socialization, and access to social support. I test the hypothesis that students of color describe their sources of stress as being more impacted by structural and institutional reasons, such as racism and xenophobia, while white students focus more on social and interpersonal reasons, such as families, relationships, and work. Emerging adulthood is a relatively new field of research and it is critical to understand how people of color experience this life stage. This research will contribute to current understandings and research of racial health disparities. It will also highlight areas for additional work addressing the significance and complexity of intersectionality within the emerging adulthood developmental period.

 In higher education, diversity has become a widespread initiative; taking the form of diversity councils, required diversity courses and campus-wide diversity statements. The aim is to be more than a physical grouping of all people, but have an inclusion of all perspectives. However, who bears the burden of these diversity initiatives? Instructors and professional staff provide resources and serve as outlets to students who are in need of space to share personal experience and themselves go through additional emotional labor. Emotional labor is the process of managing feelings/emotions to fulfill the emotional requirements of a job and often is not talked about. Research has shown that instructors teaching diversity courses experience a large amount of emotional labor, and a high demand for support from students. This project complements the existing research by understanding the emotional labor of non-teaching professionals who work directly in diversity offices, serving underrepresented groups of students. The primary research question is: how do non-teaching professionals working with underrepresented populations experience and understand emotional labor in higher education? Through interviews with non-teaching professionals working with underrepresented groups of students, this research sheds light on the behind-the-scenes work they do to support students and the personal costs and benefits of the emotional labor they provide. These findings help us more accurately assess the necessary investment institutions of higher education need to make in order to foster a truly diverse environment. This study will open up the conversation around diversity initiatives by examining how exclusionary institutions of higher education achieve inclusivity and show who is bearing the additional work to create an equitable, inclusive community for all.

This study addresses the perspective and experiences of parents who are undocumented and who have undocumented children. Research suggests that parents are often left out of studies that are about undocumented students and their education. However, when parents are mentioned, they are portrayed as either being the inspiration for educational ambitions (“doing this for my parents’) or curtailing them (“my mom does not want me to leave for university”). Parents are also included in research in terms of their deportability and the impact on youth. I want to center the voices of undocumented parents. I will be conducting participant observation of a parent group that will consist of immigrant parents. Preliminary findings will be shared based on the analysis of the experiences and roles that parents play in their children’s educational trajectory, especially as it pertains to pursuing higher education.

This paper will describe the results of a qualitative study that explores the following research question: how does pleasure function for Black women in college? A growing body of scholarship has discussed Black women’s pleasure in the context of sexuality, personhood, and agency. These scholars have done close readings of the performances of Black women in Hip-Hop and R&B as well as photography, pornography, and have resisted narratives that center oppression and exploitation. These readings move beyond controlling images and respectability politics and make room for the varied and nuanced ways Black women enact agency through a politics of pleasure. However, less research has been done regarding how a politics of pleasure looks in the lived experiences of Black women in college. I aim to address this gap by conducting 5-10 qualitative interviews that include photovoice with current students at Portland State University who identify as Black women and/or Black femmes. I will then transcribe and code each interview. Using a general inductive approach, I will analyze results and show emerging themes within the narratives of respondents. I assume the interviews will uncover diverse definitions of pleasure as well as the many ways these experiences provide a sense of agency and personhood. I ultimately aim to understand the function of pleasure in the lived experiences of these women as they navigate college life. I also aim to contribute new perspectives to the existing literature in Black Feminist Pleasure Politics.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the ways an individual resists dehumanization and/or disempowerment in the face of marginalizing societal forces, and it theorizes about the relationship among vulnerability, shame, and resiliency for women and queer-identified persons resisting dehumanization/disempowerment. Using autoethnography and other qualitative research methods (i.e., surveys and interviews), the author explores the lived experiences of shame and vulnerability in herself and others. The author applies resiliency theory and an intersectional lens to illuminate vulnerability, shame, and the ways they play themselves out in individual lives and in institutional systems. The author offers the reader insights for how individuals might positively address shame in their own lives and how doing so creates possibilities for future thriving. Shame gives rise to a wide array of disorders, including depression, addictions, and eating and sexual disorders, as well as emotional problems linked to trauma, gender, race, illness, old age, infertility, and gender. In our society, shame manifests itself through alienation, lack of motivation, and feelings of meaninglessness. While guilty people feel they have done something bad or wrong, shame-filled people feel that who they are is bad and wrong. Not only does shame trigger depression, it can also cause domestic violence along with self-esteem issues. Finding out if clients suffer from depression, anxiety other mental illness is beneficial in finding out how those cognitive deficits are looked at in order to seek help and seek recovery.  This population of people have undergone tremendous obstacles in their lives and by using a resilience theoretical lens and a qualitative personage to demonstrate the similarities and differences in how shame affects this group of people.

Court fines and fees, previously an overlooked part of the justice system, are much more impactful than once thought. Recent research has traced the rise of court mandated fines and fees, or legal financial obligations (LFOs), and detailed their various effects. LFOs have been shown to have significant, detrimental effects on poor and minority groups in relation to other parts of the population. The disparity of effects from LFOs exacerbates the already prevalent issue of wealth inequality within the United States. This study evaluates whether LFOs are higher in low tax counties than in high tax counties. This is accomplished by gathering county level tax and LFO data for four states: Florida, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin. I perform linear regression analysis of the data and performed t-tests on all variables included in the equation. Regression shows whether lower taxes are correlated with an increase of LFO severity. I anticipate that LFOs will be more severe in areas with lower taxes due to the increased financial strain on the county government. A correlation between revenues and LFOs could indicate that counties are essentially using LFOs as secondary to make up for lower tax revenues, rather than their intended purpose of disincentivizing criminal activity. With better information on potential consequences of lowering taxes, we will be able to draft smarter fiscal policies rather than arbitrarily increasing the financial burden on the poor.

An increasing number of American adults are participating in consensual non-monogamous practices. Within the umbrella term of consensual non-monogamy lies polyamory. Researchers in fields spanning from Sociology to Neuroscience have researched jealousy, emotional territoriality, and whether or not a person can love more than one person at the same time. Scholars have explored how jealousy and expectations are managed within polyamorous relationships and research has found that polyamorous partners use particularly constructive and honest methods of communication. Polyamorous communities contain diverse populations varying by social class, sexual identities, race, ethnicity, education level and socio-economic status. While some research has been focused on how humans manage jealousy, there is presently no research on jealousy management in people who have various socio-economic backgrounds and diverse sexual and gender identities. The literature, as it presently exists, states that all you have to do to have a 'healthy' (polyamorous) relationship is to communicate your feelings well. My study fills this gap with the following research question. In a romantic polyamorous relationship, how do participants' social experiences and backgrounds influence their expressions of jealousy and expectations in a fulfilling relationship? Through interviews, lasting one hour each, with over ten adult polyamorous individuals, answers to this research question yields a more complete understanding of polyamory. This contributes to our understanding of how intersectional identities matter in intimate relationships. 

Self-disclosing personal stress is an effective way of managing stress. Previous research has shown that high school students disclose more when prompted by robot that discloses vulnerability. Thus, disclosure reciprocity in human-robot interaction (HRI) provides a promising way of offering stress intervention. The current study examines how different types of disclosure from a social robot affect reciprocal human disclosure and other user outcomes through a stress-disclosing activity. Using a between-subject design, 36 young adults were randomly assigned to converse and engage in a stress-disclosing activity with a robot that shared technical facts (technical condition), feelings from other users (by-proxy condition), or feelings from itself (emotional condition). We hypothesize that emotional robot disclosure will elicit longer and deeper participant disclosure, and higher robot attributional ratings (such as likeability, perceived safety, user satisfaction, and intention for future use) than technical disclosure or by-proxy disclosure. Participant self-disclosure was measured by word count and depth of response during the robot interaction. User satisfaction, intention for future use, robot likeability, and perceived safety were captured using 5-point Likert scales. Our multivariate generalized linear model revealed that participants who experienced the technical robot disclosure condition gave the robot significantly higher rating for perceived safety, but no significant differences in other variables, such as length and depth of participant disclosure among robot disclosure conditions. Surprisingly, we found that people with higher perceived stress significantly disclosed less in both breadth and depth, and rated the robot as less likeable, had lower future intention to use and user satisfaction. This study demonstrates the complexity of designing robot for stress-intervention and the importance of capturing perceived stress as a predictor for stress intervention in HRI. Future research will examine how high stress and low stress group might perceive and interact with a social robot differently in long-term repeated interactions.

The #MeToo movement has sparked a national conversation about what constitutes sexual consent, and a series of debates have erupted over the actions of famous men like Brett Kavanaugh, Louis C.K., and Aziz Ansari. Popular hits like Robin Thicke’s song “Blurred Lines” have also come under fire for promoting sexual violence by celebrating confusion around sexual consent. At this moment, when norms and expectations around sexual interactions seem to be changing quickly, it is especially important that we have comprehensive and systematic data on how people define sexual consent and interpret ambiguous sexual experiences. Existing studies have shown characteristics of an individual matter when it comes how they conceptualize appropriateness. However, we still do not know to what extent these characteristics matter. This study addresses this gap by answering the question: How do people of varying groups define appropriate sexual behaviors and boundaries? A Q-Method study of over 200 people will reveal how individuals of different characteristics sort scenarios of various sexual interactions into categories ranging from “most appropriate” to “most inappropriate.” Q method is similar to a rank-order techinque and allows for representation or reconstruction of perspectives concerning any given topic of interest. In addition to providing insight about how different people make sense of sexual behaviors, this study shows how Q-sorts can provide a more detailed look at sexual norms than the survey and vignette studies currently used in the field.