Tag: Matthew Norton

Detaining Democracy: Totalitarian Implications of United States Immigrant Detention Centers

Presenter: Lauren Monkewicz – Sociology

Faculty Mentor(s): Matthew Norton

Session: (In-Person) Poster Presentation

This study examines healthcare violations in ICE detention centers through the critical sociological lens of statemaking. It aims to answer: do the violations that occur within these centers have an effect on the United States’ state making process? Are there any intersects between the way ICE treats detainees and the actions of a totalitarian government? To assess the nature of the state through this lens, this paper examines government reports, third party investigations, and various accounts of life as a detainee, relying on previous scholarship on typologies of the state to guide its definitions. Ultimately, this research suggests that there are totalitarian implications behind the egregious healthcare transgressions that occur in ICE detention centers. The nature of the abuse towards detainees has inherent connections to fundamental totalitarian traits, demonstrating that these actions leave a stain on the United States’ democracy.

Keywords: Totalitarianism, democratic regime, detention centers, state, healthcare

Reforming the Self and Re-Forming the Other: Revisiting the Political Potential of Baldwin’s Fiction

Presenter: Kyra Lauersdorf – English, Sociology

Faculty Mentor(s): Katherine Kelp-Stebbins, Matthew Norton

Session: (Virtual) Oral Panel—Read, Speak and Act

The existing scholarship pertaining to James Baldwin tends to examine either his nonfiction essays or his fiction novels, but it rarely places the two alongside each other. This project aims to bridge the schism between the two bodies of work, using the political theory that Baldwin outlines in his nonfiction as a lens through which to analyze his literary fiction. Such an analysis reveals how, in many ways, Baldwin utilized his fiction as a space in which to engage and examine his own political theory. As such, the fiction that Baldwin produced during his lifetime contains as much if not more political ideation than his nonfiction –– and warrants just as much consideration from scholars for its political potential. This project seeks to contribute to existing scholarship on James Baldwin through its interdisciplinary analysis of the author’s works. Ultimately, it argues that Baldwin’s literary fiction possesses significant potential to effect political belief changes among its readers and ought to be valued accordingly.

A is for Adderall: Moralizations of Illicit Prescription Stimulant use in College

Presenter: Katherine Clarke − Sociology

Faculty Mentor(s): Matthew Norton, Jessica Vasquez-Tokos

(In-Person) Oral Panel—Sex, Drugs, & Music

With some brands receiving FDA approval starting in 2002, prescription stimulants, commonly referred to as Adderall, have been considered by the many they’ve been prescribed to as a life- changing drug that has supported individuals in better managing their everyday lives through addressing the chemical implications of ADHD. Soon after they became widely prescribed, stimulant prescriptions continued to not only gain popularity within the medical field but also recreationally. Colloquially known as “the study drug,” throughout the 21st century illicit prescription stimulant use has become increasingly popular amongst university students. However, unlike other substances seen on college campuses, Adderall is one of the only drugs associated with productivity when taken recreationally. In examining how various social groups and processes determine the cultural boundaries of acceptable versus unacceptable illicit prescription stimulant use, I argue that Adderall’s position on the moral spectrum of drug use is much more liminal than it is commonly understood to be. This paper then explores how social understandings of pleasure and productivity function to determine the acceptability of Adderall use, leading to new conceptualizations of how recreational use is culturally defined. To understand this I observe the influences to use, methods of obtaining and distributing, and contexts of taking stimulant prescriptions at the University of Oregon.

 

Taxes in Oregon: How a Liberal State Gets a (Somewhat) Conservative Tax Code

Presenter(s): Kevin Lance − Political Science, Sociology

Faculty Mentor(s): Matthew Norton, C.J. Pascoe

Poster 125

Research Area: Social Sciences

Funding: Apex, Wayne Morse

This paper researches the history of Oregon’s tax code and examines the reasons why the tax code remains relatively conservative in comparison to most other liberal states. In order to do this, I have examined the roots of Oregon’s current income and property taxes, as well as its historic resistance to a sales tax. I have paired this research with qualitative interviews with taxpayers who work full time and own property, as well as a few business owners to see the influence of small business and corporate taxes. I have interviewed an even spread of liberals, moderates, and conservatives to get a wide range of perspectives that better represents Oregon politics. My preliminary findings have shown two major themes. The first is an intense distrust of government amongst all sides of the political spectrum and the second is a “Robin Hood” style of discourse between liberals and conservatives that permeates discussions across all areas of taxation, as both seem to contribute to Oregon’s tax code being lower in comparison to other states. I believe these two factors combined makes it easier for certain taxes, like income, to be relatively high and other taxes, like the sales and business taxes, to be very low or nonexistent. I argue that Oregon’s current tax code is bound to its history and the emotions of its voters, as these two factors contribute to a culture clash, creating a tax code that is very quirky in nature.

Problematic Policing? A Comprehensive Study of Police Training Methods Within the State of Oregon

Presenter(s): Emma Adams

Faculty Mentor(s): Matthew Norton

Poster: 137

Session: Social Sciences & Humanities

As the issue of police violence has evolved to become a mainstream topic of concern for the American people with the rise of technology and social media, there is a consistent gap between leading causes of the use of excessive force employed by American police officers, and effects seen and felt by the general public. Existing research fails to explore how this problem has festered into an increasingly relevant social issue, through a lack of exploration in police training methods. Using qualitative methods, this research explores the relationship between police training methods within the state of Oregon, at both the state and local level, and police to community relations within multiple cities. Through an interview process, this research suggests progressive practices employed by Oregon police departments, including additional training methods surrounding implicit bias, create an alternative and idealistic platform to base American policing training procedures around across the United States. As individual interviews suggest, police officers within the state of Oregon believe inclusive and modernized training procedures are necessary to combat the negative image of the police as an institution within the United States, in both opening conversation around community diversity, and in turn fostering improved community relationships between the police and the cities they serve. Taking into consideration the implementation of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing Report within Oregon police departments, this research is significant as it provides a comprehensive study of multiple police departments as individual and autonomous units within the institution of the American police, and suggests a sense of accountability and advancement felt within an institution that has notoriously lacked both in current research.