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- All Subjects: Sustainability
Description
The globalized food system has caused detriments to the environment, to economic justice, and to social and health rights within the food system. Due to an increasing concern over these problems, there has been a popular turn back to a localized food system. Localization's main principle is reconnecting the producer and consumer while advocating for healthy, local, environmentally friendly, and socially just food. I give utilitarian reasons within a Kantian ethical framework to argue that while partaking in a local food system may be morally good, we cannot advocate for localization as a moral obligation. It is true from empirical research that localizing food could solve many of the environmental, economic, social, and health problems that exist today due to the food system. However, many other countries depend upon the import/export system to keep their own poverty rates low and economies thriving. Utilitarian Peter Singer argues that it would be irresponsible to stop our business with those other countries because we would be causing more harm than good. There are reasons to support food localization, and reasons to reject food localization. Food localization is a moral good in respect to the many benefits that it has, yet it is not a moral obligation due to some of the detriments it may itself cause.
ContributorsGulinson, Chelsea Leah (Author) / McGregor, Joan (Thesis director) / Watson, Jeff (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This study examined whether changes in intervention related gains from the REACH for Personal and Academic Success program, an indicated anxiety prevention school-based protocol, vary as a function of participant youth's exposure to overprotective parenting. This study also examined if ethnicity/race (Caucasian vs. Hispanic/Latino) interacts with overprotective parenting to predict program response. A total of 98 children (M age = 9.70, SD = .07; 77.60% girls; 60.20% Hispanic/Latino) received 1 of 2 protocols (REACH or academic support) and responses were measured at post-treatment and 1-year follow-up. Findings showed that child self-regulation skills improved in the school program (REACH) for children of parents with low levels of overprotection, and child self-regulation skills improved in the control program (academic support) for children of parents with high levels of overprotection. These findings were significant in the Hispanic/Latino subsample, but not in Caucasian youth.
ContributorsBromich, Bobbi Lynn (Author) / Pina, Armando (Thesis director) / Presson, Clark (Committee member) / Hahs, Adam (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to study the issue of animal agriculture and why people chose to consume sentient beings such as pigs, chickens, and cows yet house equally as sentient and intelligent beings such as dogs and cats. I want to understand people’s reasoning and logic behind discriminating who they love versus who they eat. This thesis intends to help readers become more aware of the cognitive dissonance behind the food choices that most Americans make up to three times a day. Data was collected through Google Form surveys for freshman living in the dorms at Barrett, The Honors College. The results showed that animal intelligence did not factor in people’s decision to consume their parts. Additionally, this study concluded that participants are more likely to feel less guilty when they are under the false belief that the meat they purchased was mislabeled with terms such as ‘humane slaughter.’
ContributorsMcAuliff, Jake Thomas (Author) / Barca, Lisa (Thesis director) / Schmidt, Lisa (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This exploratory study focuses on answering the following research questions: How can college communities catalyze interventions in potential situations of sexual violence? What do bystander intervention behaviors and programs look like across diverse college communities? Data was collected through key informant interviews with professionals in the field of sexual violence prevention, preferably holding positions in universities of participating countries and through student focus groups. The following countries participated in this study: Ireland, Spain, Tanzania, Australia and New Zealand. The study requests for increased international collaboration between partners across the globe in order to improve bystander intervention programs within universities. In addition, the study provides guidance for future research surrounding bystander intervention.
ContributorsTapscott, Corina Rachel (Author) / Roe-Sepowitz, Dominique (Thesis director) / Frick, Kimberly (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Social Work (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
This project aimed to compile a comprehensive directory of faith congregations in the city of Tempe that would be willing to participate in the Interfaith Homeless Emergency Lodging Program (I-HELP). I-HELP is a non-profit sector of the Tempe Community Action Agency (TCAA) that successfully houses Tempe's homeless population by the generous participation of faith congregations. 5 participants out of the 75 contacted completed the survey. These congregations were found on Google Maps and were contacted through the means of telephone, email, and personal introductions.
ContributorsLam, Christina (Author) / Valiente, Carlos (Thesis director) / Brougham, Jennifer (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Background:
Pediatric obesity is associated with lower quality of life (QOL) and populations with high obesity rates, such as Latinos, are especially vulnerable. We examined the effects of a 12-week diabetes prevention program on changes in weight-specific QOL in Latino youth.
Method:
Fifteen obese Latino adolescents (BMI%=96.3±1.1;age=15.0±1.0) completed a 12-week intervention. Youth completed weight-specific QOL measures at baseline, post intervention, and 1-year follow-up. For comparison purposes, intervention youth were matched for age and gender with lean controls.
Results:
At baseline, obese youth exhibited significantly lower weight-specific QOL compared with lean youth (70.8±5.4 to 91.2±2.2, p<0.005). The intervention did not significantly impact weight (90.6±6.8 to 89.9±7.2kg, p=0.44). However, significant increases in weight-specific QOL were observed (70.8±20.9 to 86.2±16.9, p<0.001). Post-intervention QOL scores were no longer significantly different than lean controls (P=0.692). Data from nine youth who returned for follow-up indicated that increases in weight-specific QOL were maintained over time (90.5±4.5 to 85.8±5.9, p=0.74).
Conclusion:
These results indicate that a community-based diabetes prevention program can result in sustained improvements in weight-specific QOL among obese Latino youth. Lifestyle interventions that focus on social interaction and physical activity, rather than weight-loss per se, may help improve the psychosocial health of obese Latino youth.
Pediatric obesity is associated with lower quality of life (QOL) and populations with high obesity rates, such as Latinos, are especially vulnerable. We examined the effects of a 12-week diabetes prevention program on changes in weight-specific QOL in Latino youth.
Method:
Fifteen obese Latino adolescents (BMI%=96.3±1.1;age=15.0±1.0) completed a 12-week intervention. Youth completed weight-specific QOL measures at baseline, post intervention, and 1-year follow-up. For comparison purposes, intervention youth were matched for age and gender with lean controls.
Results:
At baseline, obese youth exhibited significantly lower weight-specific QOL compared with lean youth (70.8±5.4 to 91.2±2.2, p<0.005). The intervention did not significantly impact weight (90.6±6.8 to 89.9±7.2kg, p=0.44). However, significant increases in weight-specific QOL were observed (70.8±20.9 to 86.2±16.9, p<0.001). Post-intervention QOL scores were no longer significantly different than lean controls (P=0.692). Data from nine youth who returned for follow-up indicated that increases in weight-specific QOL were maintained over time (90.5±4.5 to 85.8±5.9, p=0.74).
Conclusion:
These results indicate that a community-based diabetes prevention program can result in sustained improvements in weight-specific QOL among obese Latino youth. Lifestyle interventions that focus on social interaction and physical activity, rather than weight-loss per se, may help improve the psychosocial health of obese Latino youth.
ContributorsBrito, Elizabeth (Author) / Shaibi, Gabriel (Thesis director) / Barroso, Cristina (Committee member) / Patrick, Donald (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
Social relationships are the single most factor that create joy in human lives. And yet, the ways we are building our cities and structuring our lives reduces our chances of interaction and increases isolation. Creating more public spaces may be a possible solution to this problem of declining social cohesion. Public spaces have been shown to improve rates of social cohesion and social interaction. They have also been show to have positive effects on physical health, local economies, the natural environment, reducing crime rates and psychological health. Creating public spaces in areas that are low-income or have limited amounts of space can be very challenging. This paper profiles options of community created spaces, space public spaces and temporary public spaces. All of which are options for low-income and limited space communities. The paper concludes with the summery of an active project to create a public space in such a community through a joint-use agreement.
ContributorsChampagne, Elizabeth Anne (Author) / Golub, Aaron (Thesis director) / Kelley, Jason (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a fascinating and complex topic. There is consensus that companies both make a large impact on the world and have a responsibility beyond profits. The challenge with this responsibility is that determining businesses' responsibility and measuring the impact remains unclear. Scholars most often point to the early to mid 1900s as its starting point and the increased economic growth and workers' unions occurring in the 1950s as one of the reasons for scholars paying more attention to the topic. This thesis project analyzes current examples of CSR from Starbucks and IBM. These companies have reputations for their positive CSR practices. Both companies' availability of information, the vast number of their CSR practices, and efforts to measure the impact set them apart. IBM and Starbucks stand out because of the sheer volume of CSR activities they have, and when examined closely, the mixed, primarily good, impact of these activities is revealed. Having a high number of CSR practices alone does not equate to doing CSR well. Instead, companies' CSR should be examined based on both the number of practices and their impact. Considering both of these metrics will help consumers, as well as other stakeholders, better evaluate the success or failure of CSR in a business.
ContributorsSullivan, Victoria Mary (Author) / Brian, Jennifer (Thesis director) / York, Abigail (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Chronic stress often leads to cognitive deficits, especially within the spatial memory domain mediated by the hippocampus. When chronic stress ends and a no-stress period ensues (i.e., washout, WO), spatial ability improves, which can be better than non-stressed controls (CON). The WO period is often the same duration as the chronic stress paradigm. Given the potential benefit of a post-stress WO period on cognition, it is important to investigate whether this potential benefit of a post-stress WO period has long-lasting effects. In this project, chronic restraint (6hr/d/21d) in Sprague-Dawley rats was used, as it is the minimum duration necessary to observe spatial memory deficits. Two durations of post-stress WO were used following the end of chronic restraint, 3 weeks (STR-WO3) and 6 weeks (STR-WO6). Immediately after chronic stress (STR-IMM) or the WO periods, rats were tested on various cognitive tests. We corroborated past studies that chronic stress impaired spatial memory (STR-IMM vs CON). Interestingly, STR-WO3 and STR-WO6 failed to demonstrate improved spatial memory on a radial arm water maze task, performing similarly as STR-IMM. Performance outcomes were unlikely from differences in anxiety or motivation because rats from all conditions performed similarly on an open field task and on a simple object recognition paradigm, respectively. However, performance on object placement was unusual in that very few rats explored, suggesting some degree of anxiety or fear in all groups. One possible interpretation of the unusual results of the 3 week washout group may be attributed to the different spatial memory tasks used across studies or external factors from the study. Further exploration of these other factors led to the conclusion that they did not play a role and the STR-WO3 RAWM data were anomalous to other studies. This suggests that a washout period following chronic stress may not be fully understood.
ContributorsFlegenheimer, Aaron Embden (Author) / Conrad, Cheryl (Thesis director) / Bimonte-Nelson, Heather (Committee member) / Ortiz, J. Bryce (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
As consumers shift their values toward sustainability, environmentalism, and social issues, industries face increased pressure to engage with sustainability and make their sustainable practices transparent to consumers. While luxury fashion has shifted toward sustainable practices, little conclusive research exists to understand how consumers respond to such practices. This research explores whether the use of recycled materials affects a luxury brand more than a mainstream brand. My results indicate that the use of recycled materials is harmful for a luxury brand but has no impact on the mainstream brand.
ContributorsSangha, Pooja B (Author) / Lisjak, Monika (Thesis director) / Eaton, Kathryn Karnos (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05