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Browsing by Author "Opsal, Tara, advisor"

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    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.
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    Hazed perceptions: a qualitative analysis of college students' definitions and perceptions of hazing in student organizations
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Alexander, Kellie D., author; Opsal, Tara, advisor; Unnithan, N. Prabha, committee member; Donovan, Jody, committee member
    While hazing gains media coverage when tragedy occurs or incidences of hazing activities are leaked to social media, this topic at universities receives little to moderate sociological attention. Many consider hazing a widespread problem given that some research estimates that as many as 55 percent of college or high school students have been involved in these activities. Notably, however, additional evidence indicates that students often resist understanding hazing activities as such. Clearly, these kinds of attitudes are important to consider when developing anti-hazing programming or campaigns, especially as colleges and universities in the United States have witnessed a steady rise in hazing-related deaths and injuries, which have produced complex legal issues and questions. This study uses data obtained through semi-structured qualitative interviews of college students to understand how members of sororities, fraternities, and sports club teams define and understand hazing. These conceptualizations are compared to their university's official policy around hazing, and the differences and similarities between the two are discussed. This research illuminates three primary themes in how students define hazing, as well as a disjuncture between how students define hazing and how they perceive their own experiences of hazing. Policy implications and broader recommendations around hazing prevention will be considered.
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    Individual and structural predictors of Human Papillomavirus: race as an interaction effect and the construction of racialized sexualities
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Satterfield, Leslie, author; Opsal, Tara, advisor; Lacy, Michael, committee member; Martinez, Doreen, committee member
    Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, and has different prevalence rates among different gender, racial, ethnic, and class groups. Many studies have identified number of sex partners as the most predictive variable for HPV status which implies individual behavior is responsible for differences in HPV rates between social groups. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the extent to which individual and structural factors correlate with HPV status, and whether those correlations vary by race. This study uses public-use data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from years 2011-2014. Logistic regression models which included individual risk behaviors, structural resources, and interactions with black and white race showed that number of sex partners has a different effect on HPV risk for black and white women. These findings suggest that citing number of sex partners as the primary predictor of HPV risk may falsely universalize whiteness, and pathologize black sexuality.
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    "It's my soul's responsibility": understanding activists' gendered experiences in anti-fracking grassroots organizations in northern Colorado
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Kizewski, Amber Lynn, author; Opsal, Tara, advisor; Shelley, Tara, committee member; Cespedes, Karina, committee member
    Previous research highlights the relationship between gender and activism in various environmental justice (EJ) grassroots oriented contexts, including but not limited to: the coalfields of Central Appalachia, Three Mile Island, and the Pittston Coal Strike movement. However, little research examining the relationship between gender and activist’s efforts in relation to hydraulic fracturing exists, primarily because this movement itself is relatively new. From 2012-2014, four communities and one county collectively organized in an effort to ban or enact a moratorium on the practice of hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as fracking. Anti-fracking activists in Northern Colorado deem this technological advancement as poorly controlled and dangerous to public health and the environment. On the other hand, pro-fracking activists argue that this process is highly engineered, adequately controlled, and necessary to boost and sustain local oil and gas development in Colorado and the United States. Historically, grassroots environmental justice organizations are often created and lead by poor and minority communities as these communities experience the brunt of problematic industry practices. The setting of Northern Colorado is unique in this sense because the communities trying to halt oil and gas development are opposite of what one might expect, as they are predominately white, middle class, and educated. Thus, my study fills current gaps that exist in the literature and adopts an intersectional approach to address the subsequent research question broadly: how do gender, race, and class intersect and impact the nature and extent of activist's efforts in Northern Colorado's Hydraulic Fracturing movement? Ultimately, I find that gendered and raced identities, such as "mother" or "steward to the earth" play an imperative role in explaining women's entry into the fracking movement, while men pull on a spectrum of identities. Furthermore, I find that traditional gendered divisions of labor help to elucidate the differing rates of participation among men and women in the movement, as well as the roles that activists fulfill in grassroots anti-fracking organizations. Ultimately, I argue that exploring gender, in conjunction with race and class on various analytical levels, contributes to a broader understanding of the nuances of activism in environmental justice movements.
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    Mississippi prisons as sites of environmental injustice: extreme heat, social death, and the state
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Luzbetak, Austin, author; Opsal, Tara, advisor; Mao, KuoRay, committee member; Malin, Stephanie, committee member; Jacobi, Tobi, committee member
    Expanding on existing literature which understands incarcerated people as victims of environmental injustice and states as complicit actors in the production or allowance of environmental harm, I explore how incarcerated people in Mississippi experience extreme heat and how the state of Mississippi manages heat in state carceral facilities. I answer these questions by drawing on data from letter correspondence with people in three state prisons in Mississippi, as well as conducting critical policy analysis on relevant Mississippi laws, policy documents, and Department of Corrections reports. My findings from correspondence show that extreme heat amplifies the experience of "social death" already endemic to incarceration. More specifically, extreme heat intensifies incarcerated peoples' experiences of social disconnection and isolation, humiliation, and loss of sense of self, all of which produce social death. Moreover, state law and Mississippi Department of Corrections policy do not adequately protect incarcerated people from extreme heat, which I characterize as a state-green crime of omission. Instead, my findings from critical policy analysis demonstrate how the state of Mississippi is centrally focused on turning people in prison into laborers to maintain the state's carceral arm and provide benefits to counties, municipalities, and state agencies. I argue that these data have profound implications not only for environmental justice researchers and green criminologists, but more broadly for all who are interested in the project of prison abolition.
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    Still standing strong: the pathways, self-reliance, and resiliency of independent status students at Colorado State University
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Eman, Rebecca, author; Opsal, Tara, advisor; Cross, Jennifer, committee member; Donovan, Jody, committee member
    This thesis seeks to understand the ways in which forms of adversity and resiliency operate in the lives of independent status students at Colorado State University (CSU). Specifically, this research investigates the ways in which these components have impacted students' educational experiences at CSU. Using a grounded theoretical approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with 19 students. Participants identified as having an independent status at CSU were contacted to participate in this research. The results from this thesis present several important findings. Such findings include the ways in which certain variables serve as pathways for participants to college, including: envisioning college as a reality, student's conceptualization of school, and financial assistance. Results also identify the ways in which forms of social and emotional support aid in the maintenance of participants' resiliency once they have made it college. Finally, participants' self-concept of their independent status through the idea of self-reliance is examined. In conclusion, this thesis points to three important recommendations: (1) the need for independent status students' increased access to mental health services during secondary education, and (2) continued research conducted on the impact of peer relationships for youth, especially utilizing the theoretical conceptualizations of resiliency, and (3) the need for more focus on how students' self-concept shapes their process of resiliency and the ways in which they draw on various forms of support while at college.
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    Understanding the role of probation: observing the effectiveness of probation as an alternative to incarceration in Larimer County, Colorado
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Hilgendorf, John, author; Opsal, Tara, advisor; Hogan, Michael, committee member; Moore, Scott, committee member
    Probation is the largest component of the United States criminal justice system, and its population has significantly grown over the past few decades. However, probation is an understudied area of criminal justice research, even though so many individuals fall under the supervision of probation. The purpose of this thesis is to observe if probation is serving its intended purpose as an alternative to incarceration, or if revocations from probation result in future jail sentences. The study uses data from Larimer County Criminal Justice Services in Larimer County, Colorado to understand how successful different probation sentences, with varying levels of surveillance and monitoring, serve as diversions from traditional forms of incarceration. The findings show that probation sentences with higher levels of supervision commonly result in probation revocations, and as a result, jail sentences due to revocations. Therefore, the findings suggest supervised probation sentences do not successfully divert offenders from incarceration, but rather contribute to jail populations in Larimer County.