2019 Honors Theses (Spring)

Since the inception of syndicated courtroom television shows, the public's perception of the justice system and how the courts operate has been altered to follow the imagery found in these shows, which include Judge Judy, The People's Court, and Judge Mathis. The common themes and actions found in syndi-court shows have begun to overshadow the proper behaviors and procedures used in the courtroom. This is becoming a problem as people of all ages are under the assumption that the court system operates the same way as it does on Judge Judy. Although there have been few studies of this critical issue, they all concur that syndi-court negatively affects people's perception of the courts. In order to determine how college students' perspectives correlate to past research, a survey, based on the questions produced in an original study of syndi-court effects on jurors, was developed for students at the California University of Pennsylvania to determine how syndi-court affects their perceptions of the court system. A total of 80 students completed the online survey within a two week period. The results of the responses revealed a mix of students who watch syndi-court several times a month and those who rarely watch it. The end results were similar to past research - syndi-court plays a role in what people perceive as correct judicial behaviors. As seen on TV is now turning into the normal view perception of the legal system.,Honors Thesis Advisor, Dr. Craig Smith.

Poetry is one of our oldest and most powerful art forms. As long as there has been poetry, people have been looking to the healing power in poems to help them. Poetry therapy as we know it today has been growing from centuries of practice and its benefits continue to help with patients suffering not only from psychological trauma but also those dealing with chronic pain as a result of cancer or other diseases. It is widely used on a national and global scale as attested to by the growing National Association for Poetry Therapy and the International Federation for Biblio/Poetry Therapy. Practitioners of poetry therapy believe that the act of writing and reading poetry helps people in coping with trauma and subsequently healing. Previous studies have shown that poets as people have a higher degree of pathology than the general population, one possible reason for this statistic might be that poetry has healing benefits for the poet and the reader (Alvarez, 2014). This thesis examines poetry therapy as a tool for coping with trauma not only in a clinical setting but also in a personal, poetic environment.,Honors Thesis Advisor, Dr. Ryan Sittler.