Social and Behavioral Sciences

Austin LaBau, Utah State University History and Sociology At the beginning of the 19th century, there was only one public insane asylum in the United States. Together, this facility and a handful of private hospitals housed only a few hundred patients. By 1890, more than 74,000 Americans lived in mental institutions. A wealth of literature exists on the rise of the American insane asylum during this period; the evolution of modern psychiatry; and the philosophical, political, social, and ethical implications of the two. But what the literature lacks is a perspective on the rise of the asylum that recognizes its place in the developing urban environment. This project addresses that shortcoming by exploring a small group of institutions within the context of a single urban center; New York. In 1890, one-in-twenty-five Americans lived in what would soon become New York City’s five boroughs, alongside nearly one-in-ten of the country’s institutionalized insane. Upon opening, NYC’s massive insane asylums became a source of pride for city’s elites. Far from being hidden away, most of the asylums were built on islands in the East River—at the time, one of the busiest waterways in the world. Nestled between Brooklyn and Manhattan, the imposing structures and their residents lived in clear view of thousands of daily commuters, and inspired numerous poems, novels, and songs. However, it was not their largess that attracted international visitors like Charles Dickens and Alexis de Tocqueville, but the unique circumstances in which they operated. Throughout the 19th century, the intimate nature of NYC, where masses of impoverished immigrants lived only blocks from some of the richest and most powerful men in the world, helped make the city the site of violent class warfare, as well as a testing ground for social reform. Insane asylums were only a portion of NYC’s sprawling public welfare system, consisting of nearly a hundred public and private charitable institutions inn Manhattan alone. To explain how the insane asylum affected New York City, I examine essays, and photographs written and taken by doctors, patients, reporters, and reformers illustrate the significance of the insane asylum on New York City life.

Kevin Korous, University of Utah Psychology The goal of this study was to explore if participation in different types of activities was related to the development of an internal locus of control in middle childhood. It was hypothesized that children who participated in more activities would have more of an internal locus of control than children who participated in fewer activities. Participants consisted of 45 adolescent boys and 99 adolescent girls (M = 10, SD = 1.34). Parents were asked to tell us about the activities their child participated in. The listed activities were grouped into four categories based on prior research: 1) sports based activities; 2) school based activities; 3) arts based activities; and community based activities (Barber, Abbott, Blomfield, & Eccles, 2009). To measure locus of control, participants were asked to tell us why a situation involving conflict with a peer occurred and what he/she would do. Then the narratives were coded for locus of control using a five-point scale. There was a significant difference in locus of control by story, Wilk’s A = .348, F(2, 143) = 37.64, p < .01, partial eta2 =.348. Participants were significantly more likely to report that the act of overt aggression was an event s/he had control over and could resolve independently whereas participants reported that the act of relational aggression was more externally driven resulting in less control over the situation, t(141) = -4.59, p < .01, mean difference = .123. Additionally, the participants reported a lower sense of control over the breaking of a social norm by a peer than they did in response to the acts of overt and relational aggression, t(141) = -4.093, p < .01, mean difference = .108 and t(141) = -8.672, p < .01, mean difference = .115, respectively. There was only one significant correlation among the different types of activities and the participants’ scores on locus of control. Children who participated in more arts based activities demonstrated more of an internal locus of control in response to a peer violating a social norm than children who participated in fewer arts based activities, r(142) = -.234, p < .01.

Ryan Woodbury, Brigham Young University Psychology Ample evidence suggests that religiousness can serve as a protective factor against risk behaviors (Regnerus, 2007), and can be an important context for positive youth development (Lerner, Roeser, Phelps, & Benson, 2008). Many correlates of religiousness have been identified, but our understanding of underlying mechanism is still nascent (Regnerus, 2007). Building on the notion of religion as a source of social control, one potential mediator may be religious norms (Cochran, Chamlin, Beeghley, & Fenwick, 2004), or perceptions of the behaviors proscribed and prescribed by religions. Unfortunately, research on religious norms is scarce. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to identify adolescent and parent perceptions of religious norms, examine individual differences in these perceived religious norms, and assess links between perceived norms and adolescent behaviors. Adolescents (N = 419; age range 15-18) and one of their parents (N = 313) completed online surveys. Qualitative questions asked participants to name three behaviors their religion most encouraged adolescents to do and three behaviors their religion most discouraged adolescents to not do. Quantitative measures consisted of ratings of 18 perceived religious norms and frequency of 18 adolescent behaviors. We investigated the following research questions (RQ):RQ 1: What religious norms do adolescents and their parents perceive? Three coders, using grounded theory, placed qualitative responses into themes. Seven themes emerged from adolescents’ and eight themes emerged for parents (see Table 1).RQs 2 and 3: To what extent and in what ways do these religious norms differ by adolescent and parent gender? And, how do these religious norms differ by adolescent and parent religious affiliation? Two MANOVAs (one comparing gender, the other comparing religious affiliation) were run to indicate respective differences. Both qualitative and quantitative religious norms differed between certain religions (not between adolescent gender; see Table 1).RQ 4: To what extent and in what ways do adolescent and parent perceived religious norms correlate? Bivariate correlations between adolescent and parent perceptions of religious norms for negative behaviors ranged from .07 – .51 (M = .26, SD = .09), and for positive behaviors they ranged from -.01 – .53 (M = .31, SD = .10).

Bret Wayman, University of Utah Sociology The purpose of this study is to examine the motivations that drive non-traditional students to return to complete a degree and the challenges that returning students face while attempting to earn that degree that might be different than those of a traditional student. The study assumes that there are differences between non-traditional and traditional students in regards to motivation and challenges faced along the path to earning a degree. By examining these differences, the study aims to see if there are ways to better serve a non-traditional student’s needs in order to increase graduation rates among the non-traditional student group. The primary data for this study consists of essays written by the attendants of a seminar, “Life after the NFL (and other life-changing experiences): A discussion of the challenges and rewards of returning to college,” presented by Dr. Julie Stewart which was sponsored by the University of Utah Department of Sociology and the Sociology Student Advisory Committee and interviews with selected non-traditional students, faculty, and staff. The essays were originally intended for curriculum rather than research purposes and consist of the thoughts of students who attended the seminars about the challenges faced by returning students and the motivations that drive non-traditional students to return to the complete a degree. The seminar attendees consisted of both traditional and non-traditional students. Interviews will be conducted with students who qualify as non-traditional students due to several demographic qualities, and with faculty/staff that are familiar with the challenges that non-traditional students face in returning to school. The students selected will be picked using the strategic method snowball sampling to ensure that those sampled are in the desired demographic. As more non-traditional students enter academia areas of concern need to be identified to help those students to better function and achieve similar results to more traditional students. The proposed study intends to find those areas of concern.

Madeleine Oritt, University of Utah International Studies This research examines the impact of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) on accessibility to HIV/AIDS medications for populations in resource-limited countries. This World Trade Organization agreement created provisions by which these countries can obtain or manufacture HIV/AIDS drugs at reduced prices, but also affirmed the intellectual property rights of pharmaceutical companies over their drugs. To achieve a thorough understanding of its impact, several other factors that affect accessibility to HIV/AIDS medications, beneficially or detrimentally, were analyzed and compared to the TRIPS agreement; these factors include foreign aid, drug pricing inequality, patent pools, independent actions of drug companies, and political pressure. Research was conducted through literary review, using primary sources including academic articles, news and magazine articles and information from governmental organizations like the World Trade Organization and the World Health Organization. This research recognizes the detrimental effect of the TRIPS agreement on accessibility of HIV/AIDS medications globally. However, the analysis of the aforementioned factors illuminates the positive effects of multiple other actors and organizations, which may negate, partially or fully, the ramifications of the TRIPS agreement. Thus, this research concludes fundamental factors, including physical obstacles like a lack of infrastructure and dispersal of HIV/AIDS-affected populations in rural areas, social obstacles like ethnic fractionalization and stigma, and political obstacles like government corruption, inefficiency and lack of economic prosperity, have the most deleterious effect upon HIV/AIDS drug accessibility. Instead of focusing on the TRIPS agreement as a singular determinant, these deep-rooted issues must take precedence and will require more time, cooperation and political will to change on a national and global level. Until the affected countries are willing to assume responsibility for drug accessibility and the fundamental issues that affect it, it will be impossible to realize widespread progress toward treating HIV/AIDS in resource-limited populations.