Research on public perceptions of the police has identified various individual characteristics that have been found to influence police legitimacy. These individual characteristics often reflect demographic factors such as race/ethnicity, age and socioeconomic status. In addition to demographic factors, process-based factors such as procedural justice and fairness have also been found to influence individual perceptions of legitimacy. What has not been fully established within the literature on public perceptions of police is the extent to which neighborhood characteristics and context shape neighborhood assessments of police legitimacy. This thesis seeks to fill in the gap on public perceptions of police by examining whether expressive concerns and accumulated experiences with police at the neighborhood-level influence legitimacy judgments across high-crime areas. Using baseline survey data collected for the St. Louis County Hot Spots in Residential Areas (SCHIRA) project between March and May of 2012, residents in St. Louis County, Missouri are aggregated to 71 crime hot spots. Findings suggest that neighborhood-level expressive concerns and accumulated experiences do not influence legitimacy judgments across the high-crime areas. However, low neighborhood cohesion predicts the percentage of residents in the area having a recent negative experience with police. Implications for future research and police practice are discussed.

Forgiveness is an important characteristic of a healthy relationship. Several factors have been shown to be connected to forgiveness, but other factors may play a significant role in the forgiveness process. Little is known about how humility affects forgiveness in the context of an interpersonal conflict. Expressive writing, when combined with humility, may help counselors and other mental health providers in understanding how to better foster forgiveness among individuals and help them cope with stressful events and relational problems. The primary purpose of this study was to examine whether expressive writing involving humility regarding a minor offense leads to increased forgiveness compared to expressive writing that does not involve humility. The theoretical framework was based on the REACH model of forgiveness and Pennebaker's writing paradigm. The focus of the primary research question was on what role, if any, humility plays in forgiveness-based expressive writing. A randomized experimental design involving 4 groups was used. Each group received slightly different instructions, with 1 group having a humility (self-criticism) aspect. Forgiveness was measured using the TRIM-12 item questionnaire. Planned contrasts within a 1-way ANOVA were conducted along with a t test for analysis. The results of this research study were non-significant regarding the role of humility in increasing forgiveness in expressive writing. Regarding positive social change, this study adds to the literature by providing knowledge concerning what factors do not affect forgiveness in expressive writing and supports the need for future research on humility and forgiveness.

Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

To date, no studies have established the relationship between early communication characteristics for young children with significant disabilities and later language development. This study characterized communication for toddlers (n = 60) fitting this profile and their parents prior to a language intervention utilizing an observational coding scheme and tested whether child and parent communication characteristics were predictive of performance on oral language measures. Language transcripts were coded for child mode and pragmatic function and parent response to the utterance child utterances. Results indicated that children used contact gestures, answering and commenting at the highest rates relative to other communication characteristics. Parents utilized a related response type for 52% of child utterances. Hierarchical regressions revealed that sophisticated gesture usage, word usage, and sophisticated function rate were predictive of expressive oral language performance. Sophisticated gesture usage, sophisticated function rate, and parent MLU were predictive of receptive oral language performance.

Acquired brain injury (ABI) during adolescence presents even greater challenges to youth already facing complex issues in this transitory period. Studies have demonstrated that youth with ABI suffer from social and community withdrawal as a result of their injuries. However, a lack of research focusing on interventions designed to promote community integration has left the effectiveness of these programs difficult to assess. The current study aimed to collect pilot data about the effectiveness of an expressive arts-based therapeutic program in helping to improve community integration of these youth, as these therapies have been shown to be useful for individuals with similar cognitive and behavioural issues. Results over 2 stages of testing suggest that expressive arts therapy is a promising intervention strategy to help promote social and community integration skills. The findings also suggest that more research is needed to develop improved measures of community integration for adolescents with ABI.

Acquired brain injury (ABI) during adolescence presents even greater challenges to youth already facing complex issues in this transitory period. Studies have demonstrated that youth with ABI suffer from social and community withdrawal as a result of their injuries. However, a lack of research focusing on interventions designed to promote community integration has left the effectiveness of these programs difficult to assess. The current study aimed to collect pilot data about the effectiveness of an expressive arts-based therapeutic program in helping to improve community integration of these youth, as these therapies have been shown to be useful for individuals with similar cognitive and behavioural issues. Results over 2 stages of testing suggest that expressive arts therapy is a promising intervention strategy to help promote social and community integration skills. The findings also suggest that more research is needed to develop improved measures of community integration for adolescents with ABI.

Expressive input is the culmination of 18 weeks of prototyping, ideation and research conducted as my degree project at Umeå Institute of Design. The project presents three design provocations which aim to raise questions about the potential opportunity to create a dialogue with the physical controls we interact with.  While words like “smart” or “connected” get thrown around quite often, this work aims to show that there is a role for expression within the relationship we have with our devices.  Expression within this context is defined as how we can make user interfaces that leverage the advances in sensors and feedback in order to feel more human.  The work presents three scenarios that might exist within an Automotive context, and demonstrates solutions that encourage users to maintain visual attention on the task of driving.  The project was conducted by running a series of short sprints that were focused on specific problems, the intention of this approach was to identify unique opportunities for future design work to explore.

This project examined the imp act of an expressive writing intervention as compared to a general health in formation control on breast cancer patients' postradiation treatment. It further examined the content of the expressive writing narratives. The sample included women who were completing radiation treatment for breast cancer at the Huntsman Cancer Institute and City of Hope hospital. The measures utilized in this study were self-report instruments targeting psychological distress (PANAS, JES) and general functioning (SIP), as well as demographic questionnaires. Results revealed the expressive writing intervention significantly impacted positive affect over time. Furthermore, participants from both the treatment and control groups evidenced improvements in psychological distress and general functioning over time. Linguistic analyses revealed participants' use of positive affect words increased across writing sessions, whereas the use of negative affect words and cognitive words did not change. Additionally, the use of past tense words decreased across writing sessions, whereas the use of present tense words increased and the use of future tense remained constant. The findings revealed from this study indicate that an expressive writing intervention can positively impact breast cancer patients up to 1 year postradiation treatment. Furthermore, the analysis of writing trends suggests that the use of positive affect words, the decrease in use of past tense words, along with the increase of present tense words across writing sessions, may be important linguistic components in positive outcomes.