Tammi Walker

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Scholarly Contributions

Journals/Publications

• Leighton, S. C., Hofer, M. E., Miller, C. A., Mehl, M. R., Walker, T. D., MacLean, E. L., & O'Haire, M. E. (2025). Obstacles to inclusion and threats to civil rights: An integrative review of the social experiences of service dog partners in the United States. PLoS ONE, 20(Issue 3). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0313864
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  Service dogs, trained to assist people with disabilities, are known to impact their human partners' social experiences. While service dogs can act as a “social bridge, ” facilitating greater social connection under certain circumstances, many service dog partners also encounter challenges in social settings because of the presence of their service dog - despite legal protections. Among the most common challenges reported are experiences of stigma, discrimination, and access or service denials. This preregistered integrative review sought to synthesize empirical, theoretical, and legal literature to understand better the social experiences reported by service dog partners in the United States, including (1) civil rights experiences; (2) experiences of stigma and discrimination; and (3) broader social experiences. Following database searches and article screening, a total of N = 43 articles met the eligibility criteria for inclusion. Analyses were conducted in two stages: first, synthesizing quantitative and qualitative findings to explore the magnitude of social experiences reported by empirical articles and second, narrative synthesis to integrate findings across all article types. Analyses identified three themes: Adverse Social Experiences, Contributing Factors, and Proposed Solutions. Overall, we found consistent reports of stigma, discrimination, and access denials for service dog handlers. Additionally, these adverse experiences may be more common for service dog partners with disabilities not externally visible (i.e., invisible disabilities such as diabetes or substantially limiting mental health conditions). This integrative review highlights a pattern of social marginalization and stigmatization for some service dog partners, exacerbated by inadequate legal protection and widespread service dog fraud. These findings have implications for the individual well-being of people with disabilities partnered with service dogs and highlight a need for collective efforts to increase inclusion and access. Effective solutions likely require a multi-component approach operating at various socio-ecological levels.
• Nguyen, F., Carroll, E. M., Atkinson, C., Walker, T. D., & Croft, A. (2024). Race matters more than racial identity disclosure when evaluating applicant diversity statements. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 54, 291 - 313. doi:10.1111/jasp.13030
• Carroll, E. M., Walker, T. D., & Croft, A. (2022). White Americans Report More Positive Than Negative Affect After Writing a Personal Diversity Statement. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 17(Issue 4). doi:10.1037/dhe0000437
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  An increasing number of colleges and universities now require graduate student and faculty applicants to submit personal diversity statements for evaluation. Despite their rising use, little is known about how the personal diversity statement writing process is experienced by applicants. For White individuals in particular, their sources of egalitarian motivation may influence affective responses to writing a diversity statement given the content that is typical of these application components and the unease demonstrated in response to diversity-related contexts that is characteristic of White people with a strong external motivation to respond without prejudice. In the present study, White students at an American university participated in a personal diversity statement writing task and self-reported their motivation to respond without prejudice (in advance of the session) and affect (following the writing task). Despite prior research suggesting that they would feel otherwise, participants reported more positive affect compared to negative affect in relation to writing the diversity statement. When considering their sources of motivation, however, White individuals who were more externally motivated to respond without prejudice reported slightly more negative affect in reaction to the diversity statement writing task when compared to those low in external motivation. These findings have implications for the inclusion of personal diversity statements in candidate application materials at various levels of higher education.
• Carroll, E., Walker, T. D., & Croft, A. S. (2020). Diversifying the bench: Applying social cognition theories to increase judicial diversity.. Social and Personality Psychology Compass..
• Carroll, E. M., Croft, A., & Walker, T. D. (2020).

  Diversifying the bench: Applying social cognitive theories to enhance judicial diversity

  . Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 15(2). doi:10.1111/spc3.12580
• Tolan, P. H., Walker, T., & Reppucci, N. D. (2012). Applying Developmental Criminology to Law: Reconsidering Juvenile Sex Offenses:. Justice Research and Policy, 14(1), 117-146. doi:10.3818/jrp.14.1.2012.117
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  In this article we apply a developmental psychology analysis to sex offender laws and policies for adolescents to examine how such laws and policies, derived primarily from downward extension of ad...

Proceedings Publications

• Oudekerk, B. A., Reppucci, N. D., & Walker, T. D. (2013). Influence of Exposure to Parental Violence on Link between Peer Delinquency and Teen Dating Violence: (571212013-104). In American Psychology-Law Society.
• Oudekerk, B. A., Reppucci, N. D., & Walker, T. D. (2012). Family Influences on High Risk Teens Dating Older Partners: (669802012-013). In American Psychology-Law Society.

Presentations

• Walker, T. D. (2018, October). Process and/or Outcome: Improving How Universities Address Sexual Misconduct. Rocky Mountain Junior Scholars Forum. Salt Lake City.