Digital Commons Network^™

Mass Incarceration In America: Where's The Church?, Michael J. Wing

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Due to mass incarceration, correctional facilities in America are dealing with unprecedented levels of overcrowding, staff shortages, violence, suicide, and widespread mental illness among inmates. Budget cuts and the corresponding loss of vocational, educational, and treatment programs have exacerbated such problems. Mass incarceration and its deleterious consequences are challenging the very soul of America, and the church has largely stood by and watched this tragic situation unfold over the last fifty years. This research project has explored some of the barriers that have precluded churches from taking a more intentional, active, and impactful role in doing something about the national …

Sex And Violence: An Exploratory Study Of Changes In Male And Female Violent Offenders' Choices Of Weapon And Victim Over Time, Lindsey Hutton Nagle

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Violent offenses are part of the history of humankind, and as such, both male and female violent offenders have perpetrated these acts, often with gender differences between male and female offenders present. As more women leave the home and enter the workplace, the gap in gender roles has narrowed, so it follows that this narrowing may also be reflected in the actions of violent offenders. Although there are various explanations for the narrowing of the gender gap in crime, understanding the differences between male and female offenders can help inform gender-based interventions. To address this idea, the type of weapon …

The Perspectives Of Ghanaian Political Leaders And Citizens Concerning The Development And Implementation Of The Ghana Vision 2020 Development Plan, Kwame Aduhene-Kwarteng

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative research case study is to collect, investigate, and assess Ghanaian citizens’ and political leaders’ perspectives and viewpoints regarding the success or failure of Ghana Vision 2020 and the challenges facing developing nations. The study used a descriptive approach to examine Ghana’s Vision 2020 and the country’s development challenges using a descriptive methodology and primary and secondary sources. The 105 participants for the study included 65 males and 40 females living in Ghana. The theoretical framework of this study are modernization, globalization, and dependency theories. To that end, the study set out to investigate the question: …

Facebook Usage By Small-Town Governments: A Multi-Case Study In Southwestern Virginia, Adam Luke Tolbert

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this mixed methods multi-case study is to analyze (1) how small-town governments are using the Facebook social media platform to serve residents; (2) the results that are experienced by the small-town governments and residents in the town’s use of Facebook; and (3) the factors that influence the small-town governments to use Facebook to serve residents. The setting for the study is three small-town governments (Abingdon, Lebanon, and Marion) located in Southwestern Virginia. The theoretical framework guiding this study is the T3 Framework for Innovation by Dr. Sonny Magana. This theoretical framework, originally created to assess the use …

A Descriptive, Multi-Site Case Study To Discover The Inclusion Of Disability Competencies In Undergraduate Public Health Program Curricula In California-Based Public Universities, Jacqueline Suzanne Siukola Tompkins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Nearly one in four adults and one in six children in the United States (U.S.) have a disability. Despite the evidence documenting health differences, public health professionals receive inconsistent or little-to-no disability education in graduate public health curricula. Undergraduate public health (UGPH) programs have an expanding role in building the future public health workforce, including the U.S. governmental public health workforce. However, the inclusion of disability-related content within UGPH program curricula is currently unknown. The purpose of this multi-site case study was to conduct preliminary research to describe how disability-related curricula are or can be included in UGPH program curricula …

Recidivism Among Rehabilitated Offenders With Mental Illness: A Quantitative Study, Robert Olando Walker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Offenders with severe mental illness (SMI) found a place within the criminal justice system (CJS) with its most crucial objectives including the reduction of recidivism among discharged offenders and their safe reintegration into a free community as rehabilitated offenders. Beyond the monetary costs of recidivism, the continued potential for criminality among offenders with mental illness (OMI) added enormous costs to all law-abiding citizens and their respective communities. However, no study was found in the literature that attempted to investigate the relationship between recidivism and the successful rehabilitation of patients with mental illness. Those found involved offenders without mental illness and …

The Relationship Between Leadership Transparency And Accountability On Public Rural Basic Education In Amenfi Central District, Western Region Of Ghana, Emmanuel Osei-Kissi

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation assessed the relationship between leadership, accountability, and transparency in basic public rural schools in the Amenfi Central district of Ghana. Over the past decade, leadership, transparency, and accountability measures have addressed developmental failures in the educational sector. However, most of these studies are done in isolation. The problem is that studying the concepts (leadership, accountability, and transparency) in an isolated manner does not provide a holistic examination of the effect of these concepts in the educational sector, especially in basic rural schools. The dissertation sought answers to whether the leadership style, accountability, and transparency techniques affect school management …

Vested Interest And Preparedness Policy: Increasing Preparedness Behaviors Among American Individuals And Families, Nicholas Evan Winters

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Natural disasters take place throughout the United States many times annually, from localized storms to hurricanes or earthquakes affecting many states. The federal government develops and implements preparedness policies, which are then translated into state, county, and municipality preparedness policies. Individual and family preparedness is a component of these preparedness policies; however, existing federal preparedness policies fail to prompt American individuals and families to prepare for natural disasters. The purpose of this study is to understand how the failures of the current preparedness policies contribute to the lack of individual and family preparedness and the political, social, and psychological factors …

A Quantitative Study Exploring The Perceptions Of Body-Worn Camera Use In The Texas Department Of Juvenile Justice, David Dean Stender

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Social justice issues led to the implementation of body-worn cameras (BWC) in police departments throughout the United States. This widespread implementation provided research results to assist other police agencies in considering implementation; however, no similar criminal justice solution for adult and juvenile corrections has been implemented with the same level of practicality. BWCs have the potential to protect inmates according to the Prison Rape Elimination Act’s (PREA) requirements and represent the most critical social justice issue in corrections: advocating civil rights. The former Texas Youth Commission (TYC) was re-branded as the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) due to a history …

Creating A New Sports Division The Importance Of Protecting Women’S Sports While Encouraging Sportsmanlike Competition, Taylor Nilson

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

Creating a new sports division: The importance of protecting women’s sports while encouraging sportsmanlike competition

The foundation of sports is to encourage respectful and fair competition between two or more individuals. For those who choose to participate, they are pursuing the happiness they find in competition, others have found their livelihood in sports, and most find liberty in their carefree activities.

Given the recent rise in the popularity of the transgender community, it is natural for members that want to compete in sports, specifically women’s sports. However, with that there are also those who would abuse this popularity to support …

Law Enforcement Cardiovascular Health: A Qualitative Study On Law Enforcement Officers' Risk Awareness And The Targeted Mitigation Of Cardiovascular Disease, Gretchen Sue Harvey Lapp

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Cardiovascular disease-related deaths and injuries are prevalent among law enforcement officers (Han et al., 2017; Keeler et al., 2021), with attribution pointing to the strong associations between the inherent stressors of police work directly impacting the psychological and physical health of police officers (Santa Maria et al., 2018; Violanti et al., 2017). As such, several researchers have studied the associations between police officers' perceptions of stress and the presence of cardiovascular disease risk factors. However, there is a current gap in the literature on information examining the relationship between law enforcement officers' cardiovascular disease risk perceptions and their utilized health …