The purpose of this study was to investigate how the human-animal relationship affects one's willingness to seek veterinary care for a pet. It is important to understand this topic because past research has shown that companion animals play a very large role in the lives of many people. However, there has been a decline in the frequency of veterinary visits despite an increase in the number of pets. The variables of the human-animal relationship that were tested were one's views on the intelligence of a pet and its ability to feel emotions, and the closeness one feels to a pet. Demographic factors were also considered. The dependent variable of one's willingness to seek veterinary care was measured by the amount one would spend on veterinary treatment for a healthy pet, the amount one would spend on an older pet, and the responsibility one feels for the health and well-being of one's pet. The study revealed that the closeness one feels to a pet and one's views on a pet's ability to feel emotion both have a positive correlation with one's willingness to seek veterinary care for a pet. However, there was no correlation between one's views on the intelligence of a pet and one's willingness to seek veterinary care, and there was only a very slight correlation between income and one's willingness to seek veterinary care. Understanding these factors could be important in ensuring that companion animals receive the necessary care to promote their health and well-being.

This study is an exploratory phenomenological study regarding experiences of bullying among African American male adolescents (AAMAs) and their parents/guardians. Given the population of interest, a critical framework was used. The critical framework included critical race theory (CRT), Black feminist thought (BFT), and altruism born of suffering (ABS). According to the 2015 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, AAMAs in high school reported lower levels of bullying victimization at school and online compared to all other student groups in their data. This study was designed as a mixed-methods study with a strong qualitative component and a supplementary quantitative portion. The sample included 16 AAMAs and one parent/guardian per youth (N = 32).

The findings were organized into themes for the three areas of study: perceptions of bullying (i.e., emotion, entertainment, fighting, structure, and home life), responses to bullying (i.e., self-preservation, suffering, passivity, and standing up for other people), and barriers/supports of prosocial active bystandership of bullying (i.e., barriers, education, and taking action). The quantitative results indicated that all of the participants observed bullying (N = 32), almost all of the participants had been bullied (n = 29) and a strong majority (n = 25) experienced racialized suffering. The results of a matched pairs t-test of factor one of the Colorblind Racial Attitudes Scale (CoBRAS) and factor five the Bystander Intervention of Bullying and Racial Harassment Scale (BIBRS) indicated these measures may not be a good fit for this population.

Male victims of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking have been neglected in research literature, and little is known about the experiences of male victims of sex trafficking and sex trading. This research study aims to explore the experiences of male sex trafficking and sex trading in a large urban southwestern city to identify incidences, available resources, and needed services for male sex traders. Research was conducted at a drop-in center for homeless youth ages 18-24 in a large urban city in the southwest. A total of 13 males between the ages of 18 and 24 were interviewed. The results of this study revealed that male sex trafficking does exist among the homeless youth population, that childhood sexual victimization appears to be a precursor to sex trading later in life, that there are limited resources for males that participate in sex trading, and that more research needs to be done within this population.

ABSTRACT Many foster children experience numerous placements while in out-of-home care; some up to fifteen in an 18 month period (Newton, Litrownik, & Landsverk, 2000). Placement stability is important for children to find permanent families, and for social, emotional and educational development of children. This study used the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW) data set to examine foster child and caregiver characteristics, and the caregiver-child relationship as a predictor of placement stability in the long term foster care general sample. Logistic regression was performed with the Complex Samples add-on to appropriately weight the NSCAW sampling. Children who were placed in foster homes or kinship homes and who had not been returned home at the Wave 3 interview were included in the study. The sample consisting of 562 children was divided into three groups based on age: Early Group 1, childhood ages 1to 5, group 1;Group 2, Middle childhood ages 6 to 10, group 2; Group 3, Adolescence ages 11 to 18, group 3. Results are consistent with previous studies in that children in early childhood and middle childhood who were placed in foster homes were 83% and 87% less likely to achieve placement stability than children in kinship homes, respectively. In early childhood, each additional household member reduced the odds of achieving placement stability by 35%.The caregiver-child relationship did not predict placement stability.