The purpose of this project was to discuss the physiological effects of isolation on the human body and how the body adapts. Through reviewing stories and studies of social and perceptual isolation, the adaptations of the human mind are detailed. This project explores the experiences of prisoners, sensory deprivation tanks, cave explorations, as well as studies involving monkeys and carpenter ants. The adaptations witnessed include hallucinations, increased mortality, anxiety, agitation, altered sense of time, delayed response, and lowered blood pressure. Knowing the factors surrounding the isolation experience is crucial to understand the presenting adaptation methods. These factors include duration, voluntary or involuntary participation, mental strength, and the restriction level of the isolation.

DISCLAIMER: Due to the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic, the attached podcast is a draft recording in lieu of the final recording

The way the public perceives law enforcement influences how communities function. Identifying how individuals develop their perceptions of law enforcement is critically important. Mainly, their experiences with officers determine how perceptions of law enforcement are developed. Analyzing perceptions of law enforcement can help people understand relationships that officers have with community members and determine the type of impact that officers have on certain populations such as the youth. This study examines youth perceptions of law enforcement. The youths’ perception of police is an important perception to analyze. It is important because their perceptions have the power to create change or influence other people their age. It has been seen that the youth “create meaningful institutional change in their communities”. The research and findings on perceptions of law enforcement are important because they could help explain whether there is a correlation between crime rates in the community and perceptions of law enforcement from community members. It can also help identify how much the youth population is willing to rely on law enforcement and whether they trust and respect them. The youth are exposed to factors in their community that can influence certain attitudes and perspectives. In this research, a study from Elementary schools in Compton, CA is analyzed to identify youth perceptions of law enforcement. The research questions addressed are: Is there any correlation between crime rates in the community and perceptions of law enforcement? Can a program implemented into schools improve youth perceptions of law enforcement? How much are the youth willing to rely on law enforcement?

This study analyzes teenage suicides and their prevalence within the State of New Mexico, with an eye toward explaining why teenagers between the ages of 13 and 19 are committing suicide at such an alarming rate. Due to the prevalent amount of teenage suicides seen within New Mexico, it can be assumed that the state does not have the resources needed in order to successfully prevent teenagers from committing suicide. This study examines how demographics, the cause and manner of death, risk factors and medical history affects a teenager’s suicidal tenancies. In addition, this study also looks at the practice of death investigations and the investigative techniques used to thoroughly assess a teenage suicide. Death investigations is an important practice that collects important information that pertains to teenage deaths. This study examines the importance of death investigations in regard to teenage suicides and looks at the common discrepancies found within the practice of death investigations, and how they can negatively impact the course of a suicide investigation. Lastly, this study attempts to provide strategies that aim to bring awareness to the issue of teenage suicides, as well as suggest ways in which death investigations and public recognition can prevent teenage suicides and decrease their prevalence within the community.

Prison dog training programs, which emerged in the 1980s, have been gaining popularity at both a national and international level. The programs allow inmates to train dogs as service animals for veterans and first responders. After reading several different research projects that examined the impact of dog training programs in prison, the majority of them show that there are a lot of benefits and a few challenges. The beneficial impact was examined both with an in-person walkthrough of a prison with the program and through a series of interviews conducted for the purposes of this study. Interviews were conducted with Sister Pauline Quinn, the founder of prison dog training programs; Patricia Barnhart, who previously managed a dog training program at a Florida prison; the director at New Life K9s, Nicole Hern, and all the inmates in the New Life K9s prison program at the Men’s Colony prison in California. Bringing dogs into prisons has created a change in inmate behavior, staff behavior, and a safer, calmer environment for those within the prison. Calming the prison environment allows inmates to develop skills they can take with them when they leave prison, which in turn will help reduce recidivism. The research suggests that starting a dog training program in the state of Arizona could significantly benefit the state prison system, community and everyone involved.

Sex trafficking of minors is a rapidly growing issue. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 criminalizes trafficking in persons and defines human trafficking as “sex trafficking in which commercial sex acts are induced by force, fraud, coercion, or in which the person induced is younger than the age of 18”. This is a very complex crime and includes everything from recruitment, harboring, transporting, and the selling of minor victims for the purpose of sexual acts and gratification. Sex trafficking of minors can happen anywhere in the Unites States from rural areas to busy cities and according to research done by Parker & Skrmetti (2013) the majority of victims are U.S. citizens. This honors thesis explores various elements and pertinent information about sex traffickers of minors. The purpose of this paper is to describe the literature on sex traffickers who solely traffick juveniles and compare it to a study done in 2017 by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) Vice & Sex Trafficking Investigations Unit and the Arizona State University Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research (STIR). This study focuses on sex trafficking cases across the whole 2014 year in Las Vegas, Nevada. The literature review in this thesis focuses on victim typology, an overview of traffickers and the techniques traffickers use. The overview includes trafficker demographics, manipulations used, the use of violence, and previous criminal histories. The techniques traffickers use covered in the literature review are: love, money, drugs, abduction, authority figures/gangs, and violence. All of this information was compiled and then compared to the study done by LVMPD & ASU STIR. Within the Las Vegas study, this thesis compared the trafficker demographics, trafficker techniques, and victim typology. There were a lot of similarities between the literature review and the Las Vegas study and minimal differences. To conclude, there were three suggestions found to combat the issue of sex trafficking of minors. The first is to provide education to at risk youth on the dangers of sex traffickers and the techniques they use. The second is to better train first responders such as law enforcement, firefighters, social workers, and EMT’s on identifying victims of sex trafficking and using a victim centered approach. The last suggestion is to enforce harsher penalties and punishments for sex traffickers of minors, making it a high risk/low reward crime.

Human trafficking is the focus of this study and explaining the ways different communities in the world handle their specific concerns of human trafficking, with a focus on a nonprofit in each community. Human trafficking is a global issue and different communities address it in different ways. Human trafficking is the focus of this study and explaining the ways different communities in the world handle their specific concerns of human trafficking, with a focus on a nonprofit in each community. This thesis will focus on how three communities- Ghana, France and Spain, in the world are working with human trafficking victims. Field research at each site was conducted including meetings with service providers to explore the issue of human trafficking in the region including the laws, victimization patterns, and how the community was responding to the problem. A set of questions was asked at each site and this thesis is the summation of the findings from the field research. This study was approved by the Arizona State University Institution Review Board, (see Appendix A). The overall findings of this study found that each community need is very different, so each community response has been tailored to the victims of trafficking and what they require and must include the victim in the solution. Each location has different victims, locations and responses.
Keywords: sex trafficking, France, Ghana, human trafficking, NGO, research, Spain

This project examines biophilic design principles to demonstrate the impact it can have on the well-being of college students at Arizona State University. This paper details our collaboration with Hayden Library, and design elements proposed using biophilic design for the new Prayer and Meditation room as part of the 2019 renovations of the library. We will explore and explain what biophilia/biophilic design is and the specific impacts it can have on humans by including a literature review of previous studies and some in-person research experiences. The literature examined includes how biophilic design has specific positive effects on humans and how we can apply this to students visiting the newly renovated Hayden Library. This project also contains data and information from a workshop (November 1, 2018) organized to gather input from professionals at Shepley Bulfinch for the design of the Prayer and Meditation room. The input from the designers is combined with the body of research on biophilic design to present
to the Hayden Library 2020 renovations team.

Dating violence is a significant social issue among U.S. teens. As digital media (social media and mobile phone) use increases, scholars and practitioners become more concerned about these media being used for abuse in dating relationships. A pattern of abusive digital media behaviors meant to pressure, coerce, threaten or harass a dating partner, termed "digital dating abuse" (DDA), is a common form of dating violence and the subject of an emerging literature on how teens use digital media in their relationships. The current study sought to understand how teens conceptualize their worst experiences of DDA and how they respond to these experiences. A sample of 262 high school students completed an online survey including open-ended questions about their "worst digital dating abuse" experiences. Content analyses of these open-ended responses found that Public Insults, General Insults, Violations of Privacy, Rumors, Break-Ups, and Pressure for Sex/Sexual Photos were the most common form of Worst DDA reported. Girls were more likely than boys to cry or be upset in response to these experiences. Teens were more likely to tell their peers than trusted adults about their Worst DDA experiences. These results can inform prevention and intervention of youth experiences of DDA.

The purpose of this research project was to implement a staff development program that would assess and strengthen the level of emotional intelligence of the teachers at a local low-income middle school. A goal of the project was to increase a teacher's level of emotional intelligence such that they could strengthen effective relationships and better ground them in trust with their students. Teachers participated in a 9 week program. Pre- and post emotional intelligence scores were reported.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to draw attention to problematic peer behaviors experienced among older adults in low income housing. Antagonistic behaviors including peer bullying are commonly associated with youth yet they also occur among older adults. This study shares findings from a recent study of negative social interactions among older adults in independent low-income housing. Using a sample size of 11 tenants, and semi-structured interviews, this author used thematic analysis to code and categorize themes. This author found that common themes included types of behaviors experienced, contributing factors, interventions and perceived barriers to interventions. Results indicated that tenants experienced a variety of antagonistic behaviors including verbal, physical and relational aggression. The most common behaviors reported were verbal threatening (36.4%) and being gossiped about (54.4%). The least common reported were physical behaviors (27.3%). Tenants reported the most common contributing factor for the aggressor's actions as having mental health or emotional issues (45.5%), whereas they reported physical disability as the most common contributing factor in those who were victimized (54.5%). Individuals reported responding to these behaviors most commonly through isolation, withdrawal, and avoidance. Findings suggest the need for interventions to minimize bullying and other antagonistic behaviors in low-income housing. Additionally, findings suggest the need to help those who are mistreated to find ways to address the bullying in more positive ways. Keywords: themes, behaviors, factors, interventions, barriers