Tag: Sociology

Examining Evangelicalism in Faith-Based and Secular Anti-Human Trafficking NGOs

Presenter: Courtney Bourn − Sociology

Faculty Mentor(s): CJ Pascoe

(In-Person) Oral Panel—Rights of Humans

This research focuses on the sociopolitical role of Evangelical ideology in anti-human trafficking organizations through stigmatizing and criminalizing sex work in the United States. How do antihuman trafficking organizations utilize Evangelical beliefs about sex to control the moral narrative of sex work and influence policy? In order to address this question, I researched the websites of 8 antihuman trafficking NGOs, ranging from secular to explicitly faith-based, as well as interviewed 3 sex workers. My findings concluded that negative attitudes about sex work were pertinent amongst all of these NGOs, sharing almost-identical ideas regardless of religious affiliation, in contrast to more positive viewpoints expressed by the sex workers I interviewed. Consequently, Evangelical-oriented beliefs about gender and sexuality permeated arguments against sex work, framing it as a gendered act in which deviant, heterosexual males are the perpetrators of exploiting innocent, heterosexual females and children. This led me to infer that anti-human trafficking organizations base their solutions on reinforcing sexual standards rather than empowering sex workers. As sexual culture is changing and people are discussing the importance of sex workers’ rights, it is vital that NGOs are held accountable for the messages they convey and that organizations that empower sex workers are prioritized, not those who have an insidious mission to enforce their personal sexual standards and beliefs.

Perceptions of Risky Sexual Behavior

Presenter: Serena Agterberg − Psychology, Sociology  

Faculty Mentor(s): Sanjay Srivastava, Bradley Hughes

(In-Person) Poster Presentation 

College is a time when many young adults engage in sexual behavior that may involve physical, psychological, and/or emotional risk. Accurately assessing the ways in which college students are perceiving and engaging in sexual risk taking is an important step in understanding what information needs to be distributed on campuses to eliminate consequences of risk taking. The purpose of this study is to examine college students’ perception of sexual risk taking in their own and others’ behavior. This study will seek to answer the following research questions:

1. What sexual behaviors do college students consider to be “risky”?

2. How do individual differences affect views of and participation in sexual risk taking?

300 participants from the University of Oregon human subjects pool were recruited for this study. Participants were asked to write two narratives describing times in which they, someone close to them, or someone they know participated in sexual behavior that they would consider to be “risky.” Participants then answered questions about personality and were asked for demographic information. The narratives were analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis to identify patterns in the responses. Identifying which behaviors are of concern to college students as well as examining which individual differences relate to attitudes about sexual risk taking will help in the creation and execution of sexual risk reduction strategies.

Using Personality to Predict Risky Sexual Behavior

Presenter: Serena Agterberg − Psychology, Sociology

Faculty Mentor(s): Sanjay Srivastava, Bradley Hughes

(In-Person) Oral Panel—Healthy Considerations, Poster Presentation 

To investigate the relationship between personality traits and risky sexual behavior (RSB) with the goal of understanding if students with different levels of stable individual differences may be more or less likely to engage in RSB, we collected data from N= 605 college students. Participants completed the Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2) and the Sexual Risk Survey (SRS). We estimated correlations of each Big Five domain and facet with overall sexual risk, and four subscales of risk: Sexual Risk Taking, Risky Sex Acts, Impulsive Sexual Behavior, and Intent to Engage in Risky Sexual Behaviors. The results suggest that students with high Extraversion, low Conscientiousness, and low Agreeableness are most likely to engage in overall RSB. Low Agreeableness is the strongest indicator of likelihood of participating in overall RSB, as well as all four subscales of risk. Several BFI-2 facets were significantly related to RSB including high sociability, high assertiveness, low respect, and low compassion. These results indicate that personality may be a valuable asset in identifying students who are more or less likely to engage in RSB.

An Electronic Art Installation

Presenter : Athan Spathas

Major : Sociology

Poster 44

This is an electronic art installation: using the Arduino (an open-source microprocessor), an accelerometer (which measures tilt and acceleration), an electronic drum-pad (midi-controller), and the computer program ‘Max’ to design a multi-person instrument. The accerometer is on a cord which can be swung like a pendulum (hence that part is an electronic pendulum), and its lengths can be adjusted to demonstrate how it swings faster or slower (educational for explaining the functions of a pendulum). As it swings, the accelerometer measures the velocity at which it’s moving, and controls the amplitude of the tones which are controlled by the drum-pad. To summarize, I made an instrument that you can swing in a variety of ways to manipulate sound, and can be used in conjunction with other instruments to create an interdependent sound (this primarily came from 2 classes I took this year which are brand new, with Chet Udell in the Music (Technology) Department, Sensormusik & Computer Net- work Music).

Senior Honors Thesis on Attitudes Toward Gay Marriage

Presenter : Daniel Schwartz

Mentor : Patricia Gwartney

Major : Sociology

Poster 41

A majority of Americans have been opposed to same-sex marriage since public opinion polls first began asking about it in 1988. However, beginning in 2010, attitudes in support of same-sex marriage began to outweigh opposition. This senior honors thesis helps explain why and how Americans’ attitudes have shifted toward greater support for same-sex marriage. I also thoroughly examine the homophile movement, and propose that without it being so robust, Americans’ attitudes would remain largely opposed today. I relied on existing data from the General Social Survey. My hypothesis was that age cohort would be the strongest determinant of one’s attitude toward same-sex marriage, and my findings supported my hypothesis. While previous literature has examined the strong impacts the homophile movement has had on the public, it has not empirically examined the correlates of the shift in attitudes. Additionally, my research contributes to the dialogue on same-sex marriage as a currently contentious civil rights issue. Homosexuals are the only minority groups that do not enjoy the same marital rights as non-homosexual minority groups. But considering the recent legislative attention same-sex marriage has received, it is likely that homosexuals will soon be granted the right to wed.

The Environmental Beliefs of American College Students

Presenter: Xiaorui Huang

Mentor: James Elliott

Oral Presentation

Major: Sociology 

Since the 1960s, public environmental beliefs have been measured primarily on a continuum between two opposing ecological paradigms, the Human Exemptionalism Paradigm (HEP) and the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP). HEP denies human-caused environmental destruction and believes in a scenario of unlimited development. In contrast, NEP rejects the notion of unlimited development and acknowledges anthropogenic environmental degradation. What is missing in the existing literature, however, is a measure of the public endorsement of the Second Exemptionalism paradigm (SEP). SEP acknowledges human-caused environmental destruction but believes that unlimited human development can be achieved through a moderate environmental reform within the existing economic system instead of a fundamental change of the system itself, which has significant implications on environmental politics and movements. College students’ environmental beliefs are likely to substantially shape environmental politics and movements in the coming decades. Through a questionnaire survey, this study measures the University of Oregon undergraduates’ endorsements of NEP, SEP and HEP, and what factors predict such endorsements, in order to gain insights of prospective environmental politics and movements. Drawn from 111 completed questionnaires, the data show that NEP, followed by SEP and HEP, is the most prevalent ecological paradigm among the U of O undergraduates. Also, the debate between NEP and SEP has replaced the one between NEP and HEP, which suggests that the focus of prospective debate in environmental politics will shift from the existence of anthropogenic environmental issues to the approach to address these issues.

Coercion of Seventeenth Century Laity Under the Guise of Religion

Presenter(s): Sydney O’Neil—History Sociology

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

In early 1692, an episode of witchcraft occurred that was different from any other outbreak in New England . The series of accusations, trials, and executions lasted longer, jailed and executed more suspects, and rippled the social, political, and religious norms within Salem, Massachusetts, more than any other incidence of suspected witchcraft . In the end there were some 1,600 accusations, 162 arrests, 54 confessions, 20 executions, and, shortly after its end, a government repudiation as a colossal mistake . This episode was caused by something deeper than petty squabbles between neighbors which seem to have been at the root of earlier and less extreme episodes of witchcraft . The goal of this research was to offer a more fully encompassing explanation of how the Salem Witch Trials became a moral panic . In accordance with a seventeenth-century Puritan worldview, in which religion played a central role, the rhetoric of sermons was analyzed to determine causation between sermons and trial accusations . The style, tone, and substance of the ministers sermons are examined before and during the trials . The persuasive sermons and everyday rhetoric by Puritan ministers acted as a call to action for Salem citizens, and were key in promoting the ministers’ personal agendas . Similarly, through these sermons ministers provided an explanation for the disproportionate prosecution of women, as well as the unjustly extracted confessions of satanic collusion from accusers, leading to extreme numbers of accusations, trials, and executions, and perpetuating the duration and extremity of the Salem Witch Trials .

Race and Space: Gentrification in Tacoma/Eviction Crisis

Presenter(s): Joseph Moore—Sociology

Faculty Mentor(s): Raoul Lievanos

Session 5.5: McNair Scholars Presentations

Gentrification is a process in which middle class homebuyers, landlords and developers build new structures on previously developed land once occupied by working class populations . This practice has displaced low-income and African-American residents from their homes with little to no time to come up with the type of capital needed to relocate . This research was focused on the gentrification taking place in the Hilltop neighborhood in Tacoma, Washington, which has been a historically African- American area since the early 20th century . The purpose of this study was to use data in the form of firsthand accounts from the residents of Tacoma, narratives from past case studies, city of Tacoma documents, and historical analysis to demonstrate the use of discriminatory real estate/housing practices that have dictated the use of space within Tacoma . This study also used data in the form of eviction rates, percentages, number of evictions, and the number of eviction notices from the Hilltop neighborhood in comparison to the data from the city, state, regional, and national levels . Further data was used in the form of the rising rent costs and property values that have contributed to the displacement of low-income and African-American populations from the Hilltop neighborhood . This study will culminate in a well-researched article that will contribute to existing knowledge and provide further evidence for the occurrence of gentrification in Tacoma .

Intersectional Analysis of Heroin Use

Presenter(s): Joseph Moore—Sociology

Faculty Mentor(s): Clare Evans

Session 5.5: McNair Scholars Presentations

The current opioid epidemic has produced long-lasting consequences for a large population of people in the United States . One of these consequences is addiction, leading to the transition from the often expensive prescription opioids that are prescribed by doctors to the use of less expensive and easily accessible heroin . This research answers the question of how does heroin use differ by race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status and what is the predicted probability of future use among these strata? To accomplish this task I will perform statistical analysis using the most recent survey data sets ranging from 2015-2018 as they were made available by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) . These public use data sets contain 226,632 non-institutionalized US participants aged 12 or older combined . I will use these public data sets to run regression models and calculate probability . My findings thus far demonstrate a higher usage pattern among males living in poverty of all race/ethnicities, with white males using at the highest rate . Furthermore, the least amount of usage rests with African-American females living at more than 2 times the federal poverty threshold level . The results of this study will demonstrate the extent at which heroin is used among different social strata contributing to the existing knowledge .

Migrant Farmworkers’ Exposure to Pesticides and What Is Being Done Legally

Presenter(s): Brooke Machi—Sociology

Session 2: Common Reading

This project is inspired by the common reading book Under the Feet of Jesus by Helena Maria Viramontes . I explore the effects of pesticide exposure on migrant farmworkers in California and the legal actions being taken . Pesticide exposure has caused a variety of health problems for those working on farms that use them and legal actions are important in order to protect the lives of these individuals and their families . The purpose of my research is to dig deeper into this issue and discover what is currently being done to protect these individuals and inform them of the risks . I am gathering my information through a culmination of article reviews and legal investigation . From this research, I will find out if there is any successful legal action being taken to protect migrant farmworkers from harmful exposure to pesticides . I hope to learn more about this issue and bring more attention to the importance of this situation and the rights of this group of people .