Poster 97 – Undergraduate Research Symposium Abstracts

Presenter(s): Scout Galash − Biology, Human Physiology

Co Presenter(s): Fountane Chan

Faculty Mentor(s): Robert Chavez

Poster 97

Research Area: Social Science

One in sixty-eight U.S. children is diagnosed with autism. The latest version of the DSM, updated in 2013, provides diagnostic criteria for an all-inclusive autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These criteria include mild to severe social and developmental delays among a variety of other symptoms. In recent years, a surge in diagnoses due to increased awareness of autism and its symptoms has resulted in what appears to be an autism epidemic. The broadened definition of autism has ultimately placed a broad range of etiologies under the same diagnosis. Research has indicated that the causes of autism spectrum disorders could range from a point mutation in a variety of seemingly nonspecific genes to insufficient synaptic pruning.

The heterogeneity of individuals with a professional diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and the discrepancies in what researchers have attributed to be the cause of ASD pose the question of whether autism is a spectrum of disorders or distinct, non-overlapping conditions. If the latter is true, research seeking to determine the causes of ASD must create more specific and discrete criteria for their subjects rather than studying all who fall under an umbrella diagnosis. Our research aims to investigate the potential for an array of disorders that, up to this point, have been diagnosed as an all-encompassing ASD. To do so, we will conduct a systematic review of autism research with ambiguous or inconclusive results. By analyzing the subject criteria of these studies, we hope to identify possible factors contributing to ambiguous results within autism research.

Presenter(s): Joy Wilcox

Faculty Mentor(s): Debra Thompson

Poster 97

Session: Social Sciences & Humanities

Criminal courts facilitate mass incarceration and the disproportionate incarceration of people of color, especially Black people, and Black men in particular. While other research has been done around this topic, this study offers insight into how exactly this is produced in the courtroom specifically. This study sought to observe (1) the potential use of coded language in the courtroom as a proponent of mass incarceration, (2) the reproduction of race and gender-based biases in the criminal justice system, and (3) the role of the courts in both mass incarceration, and the disproportionate representation within the incarcerated population. This study employed an observational research approach which included the accumulation of both quantitative and qualitative data by recording the race and gender of main courtroom actors, every reference to race, gender, and/or class made in the courtroom, and a brief overview of each case in order to contextualize this information. The types of cases observed during this project include: Attempted Robbery, Burglary, Child Endangerment, Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Sell, Robbery, and Theft (including Vehicle Theft). This study found that defendants for these cases were disproportionately Black and Latinx men, while the other main courtroom actors were disproportionately White, with all categories other than prosecutors also being disproportionately men. The structural dependency on police within the courtroom resulted in the court legitimizing all police discretion with no interrogation of bias. When defendants and their legal representation attempted to discuss any identity-based bias of the criminal justice system before a jury trial, this attempt was stopped by the judge. This study concluded that in order to produce justice, anti-racism must be made a genuine priority of the criminal justice system.

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