Presentation Abstracts
Thursday, May 14
Session A, Thursday 9:20-10:35 am
Chair: Joel Raveloharimisy, Assistant Professor of Behavioral Sciences, Andrews University
A-1 A case study of gender advocacy in humanitarian faith-based organizations
9:20 Erenly Agosto (Community & International Development, Andrews University)
This paper analyzes how gender advocacy is approached by humanitarian faith-based organizations (FBOs). We use the following humanitarian FBOs as a case study: Tearfund, World Vision International, Muslim Aid and Islamic Relief Worldwide. Using Kappaz (2001) comparative approach to advocacy we look different activities of each organization in relation to gender advocacy. The comparative approach includes the following activities: (1) consultative status at the UN, (2) research and policy papers, (3) education and public awareness campaigns, (4) lobbying for global policy legislation, (5) lobbying on domestic policies in developing and developed countries, and (6) advocacy department or staff. We conclude that the differences in approaching gender advocacy of the organization listed above are based on the values they uphold based on their religious affiliation.
A-2 Using iterative research interviews with Malagasy parents and teachers to improve educational opportunities for girls in rural Madagascar
9:45 Karena Griffiths (Social Work, Andrews University)
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that “Everyone has the right to education”; however, in many developing countries children, especially girls are discouraged, denied, and even threatened if they attend school. Research shows that education for girls breaks the cycle of poverty, promotes economic growth, and reduces genital mutilation/cutting, spousal abuse and mortality (WHO, 2015; United Nations Children Fund, 2015). These challenges can continue into adulthood and across generations (WHO, 2015).
The importance of education varies by culture; this presentation will describe an iterative research project that included the analysis of interview data gathered during the May, 2014 Madagascar study tour. Using a semi-structured interview format, Andrews University students first conducted interviews with a small number of parents and teachers to better understand parents’ wishes for improving their children’s education. Following these interviews, students developed initial suggestions for improving rural Malagasy educational opportunities. They then presented these ideas to the parents and teachers, who informally critiqued the suggestions. Students then wrote a final report that analyzed the structures and social attitudes surrounding girls’ education. The report included recommendations for changes in Malagasy educational and social systems to create opportunities for girls to help them reach their full potential.
A-3 The Perception of Government Legitimacy and Willingness to Seek Help
10:10 Ezra M. Kenyanya and Joel L. Raveloharimisy (Community & International Development, Andrews University)
Factors that cause people to seek help from alternative institutions might vary from one country to another. This paper gives an overview of the government role and the factors that affect its quality of services, and its relationship with the citizens. It also discusses advocacy organizations as alternative service providers to the citizen. In the implication section the paper discusses measures, which have to be implemented by both the state and advocacy institutions in order to improve their services, thereby making the lives of the citizens better. The paper uses the context to discuss the effects of legitimacy perceptions on Madagascar’s public institutions and HAFARI, an advocacy organization in Madagascar.
Session B, Thursday 10:50 am-12:30 pm
Chair: Duane McBride, Professor of Sociology, Andrews University
B-1 Quantifying Sight: Methods for Studying Eye Movement Patterns While Viewing Paintings
10:50 Karl G. D. Bailey and Herbert W. Helm, Jr. (Psychology, Andrews University)
Artists report making intentional decisions about composition in order to guide viewers’ eyes through a painting. In order to examine the degree to which artists’ intuitions about composition are accurate, we tracked the eye movements of individuals viewing watercolor paintings for the first time, and compared their eye movement patterns to the predictions of the artists. We report on the efficacy of adopting methods from other disciplines for analyzing sequential eye movement data relative to a two-dimensional images, focusing especially on the use of sequence analysis and circular statistics.
B-2 The Role of Sabbath-Keeping, Christian Internalization, Need Satisfaction, and Parental Environment in Well-Being
11:15 Paola S. Caceres (Psychology, Andrews University)
Identifying which specific religious practices promote religious internalization is crucial in understanding the relationship between religious practice and well-being. The current study employs surveys along with an episodic memory recall task to examine whether the relationship between Sabbath-keeping internalization and well-being is mediated by Christian religious internalization, parental environment, and basic need satisfaction as outlined in Self-Determination Theory. Our mediation analysis results demonstrate a large mediation effect size for daily basic needs satisfaction (autonomy, competence, and autonomy) on the relationship between internalization of Sabbath keeping and well-being. Small to medium effect sizes were found for a general measure of Christian internalization and parental environment.
B-3 Explaining religiosity: Personality, Post-Critical Belief Scale, or Doctrine?
11:40 Jurriën den Hollander (Psychology, Netherlands Union Conference)
Religiosity is a complex construct that is associated with personality, with the way of approaching religion, and with doctrines. Research has suggested weak to moderate relations between personality and religiosity. Recently two new models have been proposed, a six-factor personality model, the HEXACO, and a two-dimension model to measure religiosity, the Post-Critical Belief Scale. In three studies the relation of the HEXACO, the PCBS and doctrines in relation to religiosity is studied. In the first at random study within the Dutch population (N = 987; Mage = 48.5), (a) the PCBS facets Orthodoxy (r = .43, p < .01) and Symbolic Belief (r = .51, p < .01) related moderately strong to religiosity compared to the HEXACO-PI of which only Honesty-Humility, Agreeableness, and Openness related weakly to religiosity, (b) the difference between PCBS Symbolic Belief and PCBS Orthodoxy was significant, (c) applying the PCBS to compare denominations, Protestantism related significantly stronger to both Orthodoxy and Symbolic Belief than Roman Catholicism did. In the second study (N = 312) among church-going adults, the Doctrinal Scales were developed consisting of five factors, i.e., Fundamentals, Rituals, Eschatology, Worldview, and Values, with the Cronbach’s alpha’s ranging from .74 to .89. In the third study (Study 3) among young religious adults (N = 109, Mage = 21.8) the Doctrinal Scales (r’s ranging from .54 to .66, p < .01) related significantly stronger to religiosity than the PCBS Orthodoxy (r = .34, p < .01) and PCBS Symbolic Belief (r = .45, p < .01) did.
B-4 Religiosity & Perceived Stress Among Conservative Christian College Students
12:05 Cooper Hodges and Duane C. McBride (Psychology, Andrews University)
What is the relationship between religiosity and perceived stress among college students? Previous research has suggested that religiosity is a buffer against outside stressors. Our study specifically focused on two forms of religiosity internalization: identified regulation (i.e., following a faith because one wishes to) and introjected regulation (i.e., following faith due to external pressure). Additionally, we investigated how this relationship may vary by ethnicity and gender. Seventy-nine undergraduate students, in attendance at an American university affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, self-reported their perceived stress and religiosity levels as participants in a subject pool. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that identified regulation was a significant predictor of stress perception levels compared to introjected regulation. Bivariate correlations indicated Whites were significantly more distressed by introjected religiosity, and that there were no significant variations between these variables by gender. We conclude that students who have a more internalized religious belief system are more likely to exhibit lower stress levels.
Session C, Thursday 2:00-3:40 pm
Chair: René Drumm, Associate Dean, College of Health Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi
C-1 Involvement and Conflict with Parents Relationship with Seventh-day Adventist College Student Alcohol Consumption
2:00 Alina Baltazar (Social Work, Andrews University)
This study will examine the role of parent/child relationships in college student alcohol use in a population of Seventh-day Adventist college students. Secondary analysis of a health-risk behaviors survey collected March 2012 at Andrews University will be analyzed. This will be done using partial correlation, with the effect of age, gender, ethnicity, religious belief and participation as controlling variables. Selection criteria will narrow down the participants to those who self-identify as Seventh-day Adventist, single, age 18-25, and not living at home. It is hypothesized that involvement with parent will have weak, but statistically significant, relationship with less likelihood to consume alcohol in the past week and conflict with parent will have weak, but statistically significant, relationship with more likelihood to consume alcohol in the past week. Initial data analysis has confirmed the hypothesis. Involvement and conflict with mother had a stronger relationship with alcohol use than with father. It is hypothesized the relationship will be stronger for females and those who are younger.
C-2 Cultural Perception of Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Beliefs through Big Data Analysis
2:25 Germán Harvey Alférez (Computer Science, Universidad de Montemorelos)
Big data opens new opportunities for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. With the great amount of internal and external data, it is possible to look for hidden patterns that can help us to understand ourselves and how the world behaves. After analyzing big data, this presentation shows interesting results about how culture perceives our fundamental beliefs. In this study, the computational data analysis was based on culturomics, which is the application of high-throughput data collection and analysis to the study of human culture. The full data set used in the experiments is available for download at https://books.google.com/ngrams. This data set is composed of digitized texts containing about 4% of all books ever printed between 1800 and 2008. The Google Ngram Viewer was used to visualize the results. This quantitative research focused on books written in English. However, books written in Spanish were analyzed in one of the experiments.
C-3 Values of Seventh-day Adventist Philosophy of Education and Graduate Social Science Programs in Seventh-day Adventist Universities
2:50 Injae P. Son and Joel L. Raveloharimisy (Community & International Development, Andrews University)
This paper analyzes the relationship between the values found in religion and social science programs using the Seventh-day Adventist graduate programs as a case study. By using qualitative research, the study identifies the values of Seventh-day Adventist education philosophy, and analyzes the characteristics found from various graduate social science programs in the Seventh-day Adventist higher education system. We argue that the Seventh-day Adventist philosophy of education puts greater emphasis on relationship values, which have three interconnected dimensions (God, self, and others), and are unified by three virtues (love, hope, and service). Applying the dimensions of Seventh-day Adventist philosophy of education to the social science programs currently offered in the Seventh-day Adventist graduate institutions, we found that the values in Seventh-day Adventist beliefs are well-integrated in the social science programs in Adventist universities. The conclusion of this paper discusses the relationship between these values of Seventh-day Adventist philosophy of education and social science programs, and its implication to Adventist education and community development.
C-4 Beyond Beliefs 3: Our dataset - what is in it, how we got it cheaply, how we’re taking it global, how you may be able to use it, or use our strategies to obtain your own dataset quickly and cheaply
3:15 Leanne M. Sigvartsen1, Jan A. Sigvartsen2, Paul B. Petersen2 (1Education, ClergyEd.com,2Religion, Andrews University)
One of the major obstacles to doing research on human subjects is undertaking data collection on a large number of people and producing a dataset. This can be very time consuming and costly. This presentation overviews how, on a very tight budget, the Beyond Beliefs study developed their instrument, how it was administered, and produced an enormous quantitative dataset investigating over 90 religious, sociocultural, and behavioral topics with over 700 participants, as well as over 4,000 pages of qualitative data with 160 participants. Cost effective strategies to replicate the study globally will also be discussed. The Beyond Beliefs dataset content will also be overviewed, as using existing datasets is one of the most cost effective ways of producing research quickly. Procedures, etiquette, and limitations of using the Beyond Beliefs dataset and datasets of others in your own research will also be discussed.
Friday, May 15
Session D, Friday 9:20-10:35 am
Chair: Rachel Williams-Smith, Associate Professor of Communication, Andrews University
D-1 Protecting Women and Children from Violence and Insecurity in Nigeria: The Role of the Media
9:20 Ifeoma Ayeni (Mass Communication, Babcock University)
A lot of women and children in Nigeria have experienced one form of abuse at one point or the other in their lives. On daily basis, some women are beaten, raped, kidnapped or murdered by family members and other members of the society, for instance, Boko Haram the Islamic terrorist insurgents in Nigeria. Girls and young women are forced into early marriage by parents and relatives. In some communities, the traditional practice of female genital mutilation continues to traumatize young girls and leave women with lifelong pain and damage to their health. Again, the dismissive attitudes experienced from the police, and an inaccessible justice system compound the failure of the country to protect women and children. Children are the greatest victims of insecurity in most African countries like Nigeria as they fall within the vulnerable group who require help from the government in the country. Unsuspecting children have been kidnapped, for instance the 219 Chibok girls who were abducted by members of Boko Haram sect. Some are used for rituals, and others sent to other countries as sex slaves. The media is to rise up and create awareness and ensure the protection of women and children.
D-2 Cultural Considerations in Understanding Domestic Violence Beliefs
9:45 Melissa Ponce-Rodas (Psychology, Andrews University)
Culture, while hard to define, permeates every aspect of our lives and colors all of our interactions. Unfortunately, scant attention has been given to Hispanic or religious cultural groups in the extant domestic violence literature. Exploring the impact of variables related to religion and ethnicity among a group of Hispanic, Christian women with regards to their definitions of domestic violence (DV) and their perceived acceptability of secular and religious helping resources for religious survivors, was the purpose of the current study. Results indicate that both religious and ethnic variables independently predict women’s definitions and perceptions towards helping agencies. These findings highlight the need for cultural awareness and considerations in the creation and implementation of prevention and intervention programs. These and other findings, in addition to future directions for culturally based research, will be discussed.
D-3 Coping Strategies of Nontraditional Female Students
10:10 Desiree Davis (Educational Psychology/Social Work, Andrews University)
The fact that more women are in the workforce and going to college has helped in the advancement of women. However, the ever demanding lifestyle of juggling family, work, and school has elicited many challenges to women who are already overworked and stressed due to the multiple demands made upon them. Nontraditional female students characterize the leading emergent set beginning college, with a variety of stressors (Carney-Compton & Tan, 2002). Numerous nontraditional students have delayed their education until they have married and had children (Newbold, Mehta, & Forbus, 2010 and Leonard, 2002). Therefore, nontraditional female students tend to be older than traditional students (Evelyn, 2002). Nontraditional female students are not only present in the classroom but may present for direct service as they struggle to balance their life challenges. Nontraditional female students are in need of effective coping strategies to assist them as they work to manage their complicated lives.
Session E, Friday 10:50-11:40 am
Chair: John Gavin, Professor of Social Work, Center for Metropolitan Ministry at Washington Adventist University
E-1 The Macedonian Call: Regional, Religious, and Political Identities and the Austin School of Theology (1882-1895)
10:50 Michel Sunhae Lee (Religious Studies/History, University of Texas at Austin)
The trajectory of religion and morality in American higher education has been widely studied and narrated among historians of education such as Julie Reuben and George Marsden. However, neither the history of graduate theological education nor Southern higher education in the wake of the Civil War have received adequate attention in the historiography. My paper addresses this lacuna through a study of the history of the short-lived Austin School of Theology, founded by Southern apologist theologians in 1882 near the University of Texas in the state’s capital. Drawing from archival materials at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas and the Stitt Library at the Austin Presbyterian School of Theology, I argue that historians of education must more fully address regional variances as well as the impact of the Civil War on American higher education. In so doing, I hope to challenge existent narratives of the evolving relationship between religion and American education.
E-2 Leadership and Management: Implications For Faith-Based Medical Institutions In Global Setting
11:15 Danjuma Daniel (Health Policy and Leadership, Loma Linda University)
Historically, faith-based medical institutions have been major conduit in the provision of healthcare services in many developing countries. Research suggests a link between governance and organizational performance and sustainability. A self-administered survey was distributed among a purposeful sample (n=335) comprised of different professional occupations, including clergy, administrators, academia, and healthcare professionals, at a faith-based global healthcare conference in Geneva, Switzerland. The data were collected and analyzed using SPSS statistical software. The results show 79.5% of respondents were non-clergy and 72.3% had at least a post-graduate degree. On whether governing board of a faith-based institution should have more clergy and less of non-clergy professionals, 45% agreed or completely agreed, 41.3% disagreed or completely disagreed, and 13.7% remained neutral. There was no significant relationship between occupation and opinion on board composition. However, the negative correlation between education and opinion on board structure suggests that the more educated the individual the less likely they were to endorse increased proportion of clergy on the board, r (335) = -.12, p < .05. As best practices in governance suggest the need for professional diversity on the board, the preliminary findings suggest the need for ongoing education on the impact of governance structures on organizational sustainability.
Session F, Friday 2:00-3:40 pm
Chair: Curtis VanderWaal, Professor of Social Work, Andrews University
F-1 Risk and resilience among pre-teen girls: Examining the relationships between body image, self-esteem, and bullying
2:00 Tatiana Romelus, Dana Willis, Jaqueline Torres (Social Work, Andrews University)
Bullying is recognized as a serious growing public health concern and much is being done to find solutions (Jansson & Fraser, 2011). According to the Department of Health and Human Services (2015) 28% of 6th through 12th graders have been bullied and 30% admit to bullying others. Youth who are victims or perpetrators of bullying experience a number of negative outcomes including anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, hopelessness, decreased academic achievement, and even suicide (Wang, Lannotti, Nasel, 2009). Recent studies suggest that self-esteem and body image are associated with one’s involvement in bullying (Fox & Farrow, 2008; Lenhart, Daly, & Eichen, 2011). Using the risk and resiliency framework to guide our research, our secondary analysis will use the 2014 data from 426 girls in grades 3 to 8 who participated in an afterschool program designed to promote healthy self-esteem and positive body image, and increased physical activity. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize demographic data and describe the variables. Correlational tests will be conducted to assess the significance and degree of relationships between variables. Lastly, analyses of difference will be conducted across variables. Implications for girls who are victims and perpetrators of bullying behaviors and for practitioners will be discussed.
F-2 A Qualitative Study of Long-Term Retention of Midwestern Child Welfare Workers
2:25 Andrea Vajdic-Pena (Social Work, Walden University)
Child welfare organizations across the United States suffer from high turnover rates with the average staff turnover being two years (U.S. General Accounting Office, 2003). The factors that contribute to long-term retention of child welfare workers are not well understood. In this presentation, I apply an organizational climate and culture theoretical framework to explain this phenomenon. I then propose a phenomenological study to more clearly understand the factors that support retention of child welfare workers for five years or more. In phenomenological research, a smaller sample size of 5 to 25 cases is considered acceptable to obtain adequate data to describe the shared experience (Moustakas, 1994; Polkinghorne, as cited in Creswell, 2013). The sampling strategy used in this study will be purposive snowball sampling to locate 10 Midwestern child welfare workers who have a minimum of five years of experience. To address validity, researcher bias will be described. In-person interviews will be conducted using a phenomenological approach. Data will be transcribed and analyzed using QSR NVivo. A codebook will be developed and content analysis will be used to discover major and minor themes. In conclusion, I discuss how the findings of this study will be used to improve the retention of child welfare workers.
F-3 Exploration of relationships between the physical home environment, personal competencies, and psychological well-being of older adults: Construction of a structural model
2:50 Shannon M. Trecartin (Social Work, Andrews University)
In the United States, the population of community-dwelling adults who have physical disabilities is approximately 16% for those ages 65 to 74 and 33.3% for those 75 and older (Erickson et al., 2012). Older adults with physical disabilities represent a marginalized population and the physical home environment (PHE) can contribute to this marginalized status if the fit between individual competencies (IC) and environmental demands is not optimal (Berrahau, 1993). As advances in healthcare continue to lengthen the average lifespan and the number of aging adults continues to grow, physical barriers in the home are likely to become more pronounced. Research has established a link between PHE, IC, and physical health, but little research exists on their relationship to psychological well-being (Garin et al., 2014). This critical literature review addresses the following research question; “Do the PHE and IC contribute uniquely to the psychological well-being of older adults with physical disability?”The Ecological Theory of Aging and the Social Relational Model of Disability will guide the construction of a conceptual model to explicitly test these relationships. The presentation will conclude with a proposal for model testing using secondary data from the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study.
F-4 Animal Assisted Therapy: A Study To Understand The Impact Further for Children with Developmental Disabilities
3:15 Rachel Young (Social Work, Walden University)
Children diagnosed with a developmental disability often exhibit symptoms that impact their functioning in social settings (DeVeney, Hoffman, & Cress, 2012; Reed, Ferrer, & Villegas, 2012). One possible intervention is animal assisted therapy (Reed, Ferrer, & Villegas, 2012). Preliminary research on children has indicated that there is the potential for animal assisted therapy to improve socio-cognitive functioning and diminish irritability in social settings (Kogan, Granger, Fitchett, Helmer, & Young, 1999). However, analyses of previous research studies have raised methodological concerns regarding the validity and reliability of the research frameworks and results (Fiksdal, Houlihan, & Barnes, 2012). This dissertation study will review the literature on animal assisted therapy and then propose a research methodology using a pre-post test study design involving purposive sampling with in-person interviews of children with developmental disabilities. All clients who are included in the study will have been diagnosed with a developmental disability and will have a documented impact on socio-cognitive functioning. The use of animal assisted therapy in this population has the potential to support positive social interactions for children. The implications for this form of therapeutic intervention will be discussed.