Social and Behavioral Sciences

Sayro Paw, University of Utah

Elizabeth Wood; Nathaniel Landis; Stephen Day; S.U. Suomi, Brigham Young University

Kimberly Jones, Utah State University The purpose of my research project is to analyze the ethics of what prevents assistive technology from being used for children and adults with multiple disabilities. A person with multiple disabilities by definition cannot perform a number of everyday functions on their own, leaving them to rely entirely on others. The parents of these individuals, as well as their lawmakers, have historically been opposed to new assistive technologies for these individuals for a variety of reasons. I am going to examine why parents and lawmakers may be opposed and how different ethical frameworks can suggest solutions to these problems. In particular, I will use two ethical frameworks to look at this issue. The first is the ethics of care as described by Joan Tronto. This ethical framework is especially fitting because individuals with multiple disabilities by definition cannot care for themselves; they rely entirely on care from others. I will research how care, which is framed as trying to better the world around you, is being used for them already and see where it might be lacking. Care is all about community and recognizing as well as fulfilling the needs of others. The second framework I will use is virtue ethics as described by Shannon Vallor. Virtue ethics is all about self-cultivating certain virtues in order to live a good life. I am going to examine how assistive technology may allow individuals with multiple disabilities to cultivate virtues for themselves in ways they never could before, as well as how other people involved in making decisions for them (such as parents and lawmakers) may feel compelled to allow assistive technology or may feel compelled to ban it based on their virtues. This framework helps expand the research into a place it’s never gone before by asking certain questions that have never been asked. Such questions would be: what is different about cultivating virtues in oneself compared to in a person with multiple disabilities? How does care ethics suggest the community look at the situation and handle these individuals who rely so wholly on others? Where does this assistive technology fit into these frameworks and how does it change the way we have done things for these individuals in the past? I do not want to look at this issue in a binary way; rather, I want to ask questions that have not been asked before and see where they lead.

Sidney Cushing, University of Utah

Jane Etherington, University of Utah

Logan Ashworth, Southern Utah University

Erin Kaseda, Brigham Young University

Sophie A. George; Christena Jensen; Sarah Janson; Miguel Diaz; Chantel Sloan, Dixie State University

Carly Jensen; Christian Hildebrandt; Dillon Jones, Dixie State University

Summer Perez, Brigham Young University

Hailey Boggess, Utah Valley University

Morgan Millar; Kyl Myers; David Turok; Zoe Kozlowski; Jessica Sanders; Matt Pierce, University of Utah

Hannah Grow, Jamie Easler, Nora Evans, Brigham Young University Background: Numerous stressors are associated with parenting, and many of these stressors are intensified when the mother is the sole caregiver and provider of her family. Further stressors are experienced when children have disabilities. Single mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and single mothers of children with Down Syndrome (DS) may experience parenting differently than couples of children with ASD or DS. Aims: The present study examined differences between single mothers of children with ASD and single mothers of children with DS in the following areas: (a) socio-economic status, (b) maternal adaptation as measured by hassles, uplifts, caregiver burden, and depression, and (c) respite care. Methods: Participants were 330 non-cohabitating mothers with at least one child with ASD or DS (ASD n = 201; DS n = 129). The mothers completed a survey that asked questions pertaining to their daily lives. Results: More families with children with ASD qualified for free/reduced lunch than families with children with DS. In the areas of hassles, caregiver burden, and depression, single mothers of children with DS had lower scores, suggesting that they have an easier time caring for their children than mothers of children with ASD. In the category of uplifts, there were no significant differences between mothers of children of ASD and mothers of children with DS. Also, no significant differences existed between mothers in the survey who received respite care and mothers who did not. Conclusions: These findings suggest that although both mothers of children with DS or ASD need additional emotional support, even more support is needed for mothers of children with ASD.

Melissa Swedin, University of Utah

Sam Cook, Southern Utah University

Shay Bauman, Southern Utah University

Rachel Stoddard, Brigham Young University

Brian Allen, Brigham Young University

Sarai Holbrook; Sierra Browning; Amanda Miller; Cortney Hoffman; Natalie Johnson; Sierra Southwick, Utah State University

Diehl Mutamba, Brigham Young University

Juan Valladares; Hanna Prieto; Niyeli Herrera; Yerenia Flores, Brigham Young University

Luke Ekstrom, Brigham Young University

Madeline Peterson; Alison Barlow; Natalie Green; Madison Horrocks, Utah State University

Austin Weenig, Brigham Young University

Alexander Cipro, University of Utah

Jake Rowley, Dixie State University

Mikala Lowrance, Southern Utah University

Madelaine Campbell, Brigham Young University This research looks at Britain’s release of her former colonies during the 20th century, and the motivations behind their actions. South Africa moved towards unification in 1908 with Britain’s support in the drafting of the South Africa Act and Lord Selbourne’s involvement in the National Convention. By examining original communications within the British government regarding South Africa and the parliamentary papers surrounding the South Africa Act the British motivation towards its former colonies becomes apparent. In this case study of South Africa’s movement towards independence, we see that Britain wanted to give as much control to the South African delegates as possible without relinquishing their hold on the natural resources and strong leadership that South Africa provided. In their quest to maintain a good relationship with South Africa, Britain overlooked some of the damaging decisions made by the South African leaders which led to racial and class conflict in South Africa later, during the rest of the 20th century.

Steiner Houston; Carrie Stone; Eric Young, Weber State University

Paul Consalvo; Amy Carmellini; Nikki Quinney; Travis Whitfield; Caleb Buahin, Utah State University

Logan Winder; Reggie Gates; Jessica Cerchiari; Katie Erbe; Sophie A. George, Dixie State University

Stephanie Parsons, Brigham Young University

Christopher Neu, Trevor Alder, Brigham Young University Nonverbal communication or body language is a large part of how humans interact, especially in relationships. However, prior research has reported varying conclusions about if there is a relationship between nonverbal communication decoding(NCD) and marital satisfaction, and if there is, the strength of that relationship. We believe this is because of underlying moderators. Therefore, we hypothesized that empathy, self-worth, and sexual satisfaction would moderate the aforementioned relationship. We believe that empathy moderates this relationship because it provides incentive to decode and pay attention to a spouse’s body language. Similarly, sexual satisfaction and self worth would increase attention to body language both of one’s self as well as that of the partner and therefore moderate the relationship between NCD and marital satisfaction. We gathered responses from 500 participants through Amazon’s Mturk. We found that NCD was significantly related to marital abuse when sexual satisfaction was low, and additionally that NCD was related to marital interaction when empathy was low. All other relationships between NCD and marital satisfaction measures were insignificant.

Kevin Toney, Brigham Young University

James Keyes, Utah Valley University

Aubrey Passey; Kennedi Eggertsen; Becca Polson, Utah State University

Caroline Palmer, Brigham Young University

Emily Demke, Utah Valley University

Venice Jardine, Brigham Young University

Aubrey Keeler, Brigham Young University

Daniel Allred, Utah Valley University

Jayce Davis, Southern Utah University

Kalli Abbott, Brigham Young University

Sarai Holbrook; Kate Scott; Tristin Hampshire; Hailey Ashcroft; Megan Israelsen, Utah State University

Xela Armstrong, Dixie State University

Mandy Parsons, Brigham Young University

Luke Tuttle, University of Utah

Kelsie Orton, Dixie State University

Trevor Tonks, Utah Valley University

Jodi Shegrud, Weber State University