Browsing by Author "Nowacki, Jeffrey, committee member"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Open Access
A qualitative case study of community corrections case managers' experiences with TGNC clients
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Ellis, Taylor, author; Opsal, Tara, advisor; Nowacki, Jeffrey, committee member; Jacobi, Tobi, committee member
This thesis seeks to understand how community corrections case managers work with transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) clients within the context of a facility that relies on the gender binary in its physical structure and institutional practices. Using case study and feminist methodologies, as well as semi-structured interview techniques, I interviewed 11 case managers from this facility. Participants identified as having worked with a TGNC client in the past (either directly through case management or indirectly in a managerial or security position), having worked with women in some capacity, or having received gender-responsive training. The results from this thesis present several important findings. Such findings include that because of sex-segregated housing requirements, case managers must rely on programming opportunities for their TGNC clients to receive gender-affirming care, which creates uncertainty as these opportunities vary across clientele. Additionally, while case managers disagree on the fairness of housing TGNC clients with cisgender men, they fear that housing TGNC clients with women would be dangerous; simultaneously, case managers grapple with the fear that their TGNC clients might be sexually assaulted while living on the men's side. Underlying these first two findings, case managers report a pervasive lack of institutional training to help them navigate working with this specialized population, causing them to rely on alternative knowledge sources, such as their own identities, other case managers, and clients themselves. This thesis concludes with recommendations to the facility pertaining to training and institutional practices that could be modified to better serve their TGNC clients.
Embargo
A Spanish language needs analysis for the DUI attorney-client interaction
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Ponce Cortez, Elisa Gabriela, author; Miller de Rutté, Alyssia, advisor; Velázquez Castillo, Maura, committee member; Nowacki, Jeffrey, committee member
The present study addresses the need in the U.S. for attorneys to communicate effectively with their Spanish-dominant clients. The U.S. is home to more than 42 million people who speak Spanish, and all speakers of languages other than English have the right to legal representation in their preferred language. However, there are currently a few obstacles to language access. First, there is a lack of available interpreters outside of the courtroom, which leads clients and attorneys to lean on family members and friends to interpret important and confidential legal information. Second, there are only a few studies that have attempted to develop Legal Spanish curriculum to train professionals on the necessary language and real-world tasks that they use with Spanish-dominant clients. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the language tasks and functions that attorneys need to master to communicate effectively with clients with Driving Under the Influence (DUI) charges. To do so, a Language Needs Analysis was conducted to systematically determine the required language tasks, language functions, and grammatical forms and structures that attorneys need to perform in attorney-client meetings with Spanish-dominant clients. A multitude of language tasks and functions were found as a result of this study. The language functions were compared to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language's (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines (2024), and it was determined that attorneys in the U.S. who work with Spanish-dominant clients must reach an Advanced High proficiency level. Results of this study have pedagogical implications as the language tasks and their respective linguistic features can inform curriculum design for Legal Spanish courses.
Open Access
An assessment of previously unresolved homicide cases in Colorado to investigate patterned outcomes leading to resolution
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Reese, Amber, author; Unnithan, Prabha, advisor; Nowacki, Jeffrey, committee member; Hughes, Shannon, committee member
The purpose of this research is to consider whether specific characteristics of an unresolved homicide impact whether it is likely to be solved and what the implications of the findings mean for the future. First, a review of the literature proposes that urbanization and other factors have resulted in the dramatic decline of homicide cold case clearance rates and examines the factors associated with case clearance, including case-specific as well as departmental responses. To assess relationships across previously unresolved homicide cases, data were collected and coded from a list of solved Colorado cold case homicides from 1970 to 2017. An initial qualitative analysis of the data (N=111) was completed, and exploratory correlative tests were implemented to investigate patterned outcomes moving from the cause of death towards factors that assist in cold case homicide resolution. The analysis suggests, among others, that access to resources, specifically a Cold Case Unit, leads to greater likelihood of case resolution in certain causes of death, not including death by firearm. There is support for findings from prior literature on the topic which argue that level of funding is crucial to cold case investigation. Given the implications of this important topic, more research is needed to better understand the relationship between cold case homicides, factors involved in the solvability of various cause of death, and for the use of specialized Cold Case Units.
Open Access
One country, two perspectives: social control through news media framing during the 2014 Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Potter, Chelsey, author; Mao, KuoRay, advisor; Nowacki, Jeffrey, committee member; Long, Ziyu, committee member
In 2014, Chinese citizens living in mainland China and Hong Kong received different narratives and interpretations of the Umbrella Movement's events based on the administrative regions they lived in and the news sources they had access to. State-controlled and market-based media outlets purposively manipulated frames of both ongoing and historical events of civil unrest in Hong Kong and China to shape citizens' perceptions of political events and the formation of particular identities and political behaviors. It is critical to understand the news frames employed by the media outlets with different political orientations in mainland China and Hong Kong to create an analytical framework that may contribute to the study of social control in post-colonial and authoritarian political settings, which may be applied to future civil unrest events across the world, such as the 2019 Hong Kong and the 2021 U.S. Capitol unrests. Using NVivo, a qualitative content analysis of 499 articles was conducted to identify common frames employed by ideologically different news media outlets in Hong Kong and China. The findings of this study revealed three unique narrative frames expressed to the public regarding the same event. This broadly resulted in Pro-Establishment, Pro-Status-Quo, and Pro-Universal Suffrage perspectives. The Pro-Establishment perspective is non-sympathetic to Hong Kong's sovereignty or dissent and movements against the Chinese Communist Party. The Pro-Universal Suffrage perspective is sympathetic to protesters, supports the movement against mainland China's authority over suffrage, and reports cases of unjust persecution of activists. The Pro-Status-Quo perspective is concerned with the economic and social stability of Hong Kong during the movement, wanting to maintain the homeostasis of economic growth. The selective framing of protest movements represents the state's attempt to impose social control through criminal selectivity, which fits the protest paradigm and moral entrepreneur perspectives in cultural criminology and frame analysis. A framework to analyze media coverage of social unrest in different political and social contexts is included in the appendix.
Open Access
The social process of knowledge creation in science
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Love, Hannah Beth, author; Cross, Jennifer E., advisor; Fosdick, Bailey K., committee member; Nowacki, Jeffrey, committee member; Carolan, Michael, committee member
The Science of Team Science (SciTS) emerged as a field of study because 21st Century scientists are increasingly charged with solving complex societal and environmental challenges. This shift in the complexity of questions requires a shift in how knowledge is created. To solve the complex societal health and environmental challenges, scientific disciplines will have to work together, innovate new knowledge, and create new solutions. It is impossible for one person or one discipline to have the quantity of knowledge needed to solve these types of problems. Tackling these problems requires a team. My dissertation articles report on how knowledge is built and created on a spectrum of scientific teams from university students to long-standing teams. Collectively they answer: how is knowledge creation a social process? To answer this question, my dissertation used a mixed-methods approach that included: social network analysis, social surveys, participant observation, interviews, document analysis, and student reflections. The most important finding from my dissertation was that social relations and processes are key to knowledge creation. Historically, knowledge acquisition and creation have been thought of as individual tasks, but a growing body of literature has framed knowledge creation as a social product. This is a fundamental shift in how knowledge is created to solve complex problems. To work with scientists from other disciplines, individuals must develop personal mastery and build the necessary capacities for collaboration, collective cognitive responsibility, and knowledge building. Complex problems are solved when scientists co-evolve with teams, and individual knowledge and capacity grows alongside the ability for "team learning" Knowledge, then, is a collective product; it is not isolated or individual, but constructed and co-constructed through patterns of interactions.