Digital Commons Network^™

The Job Of Human Capital: What Occupational Data Reveal About Skill Sets, Economic Growth And Regional Competitiveness, Lillian Frances Stewart

ETD Archive

A region's workforce has been described as its greatest asset. Guided by human capital theory and new growth theory, regions have pursued economic development policies to increase the number of college-educated workers and expand the pool of STEM -- science, technology, engineering, and math -- talent. Academic literature and policy interventions have focused on a region's human capital in terms of educational attainment instead of a more fine-grained definition of human capital based on skills and competencies. This dissertation integrates economic and business theory and combines three federal databases to explore regional human capital assets. Findings suggest that policymakers may …

Culturally Affirmative & Mobile Psychological Assessment Program For Children With Hearing Loss Or Combined Hearing And Vision Loss In Rural Areas, Nanette Mcdevitt Psy.D, Michael John Gournaris Ph.D

JADARA

Parents of children with hearing loss often struggle to obtain appropriate psychological evaluations due to a shortage of psychologists with appropriate training and experience. In an effort to fill this void, the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Division (DHHSD) has been awarding a state grant since 1998 (except 2010-2012 due to budget constraints) to support programs that provide culturally affirmative psychological assessments to this population. This article provides a summary of the history of the programs supported by this state grant, the current program model and recommendations to other parties that may be considering …

Rhetorical Lessons In Advocacy And Shared Responsibility: Family Metaphors And Definitions Of Crisis And Care In Unpaid Family Caregiving Advocacy Rhetoric, Rachel Diana Davidson

Theses and Dissertations

In this rhetorical analysis, I analyze pro-caregiving advocates, individuals and organizations who are attempting to energize policy change for unpaid family caregiving. I piece together an expansive text that includes online advocacy discourse, public policy statements, and hard copies of organizational promotional materials. Pro-caregiving advocates are attempting to expand shared responsibility for an issue that is traditionally assumed to be private--unpaid family caregiving.

Throughout this dissertation, I argue that pro-caregiving advocates are standing in the way of their own goals by rhetorically constructing inherent barriers to policy change. Each analysis chapter analyzes a dominant frame that is commonplace in pro-caregiving …

A New Approach To Measuring Poverty In The United States: A Household's Ability To Consume, David Ashelman

Applied Economics Theses

The definition of poverty is a social construct. As such, quantitatively measuring poverty is problematic, and creates ineffective poverty-alleviation policy. This thesis examines the historical measure of poverty in the United States, compares U.S. poverty measurements to Great Britain and Canada, and then proposes a new way to measure poverty. Instead of measuring income as the defining factor of poverty, the new poverty measurement suggested eliminates income factors and focuses on a household’s ability to consume in a non-comparative manner. When quantifying a household’s ability to consume, implications arise in economic policy for anti-poverty programs, defining the middle class, minimum …

Waste Management In California Jails And Prisons, Antoinette D. Bland

Dissertations

The focus of this mixed-methods study was to identify waste reduction strategies that reduced the impact of California jails and prisons on the environment through waste diversion and reduction. This study also sought to identify barriers that hindered jail and prison personnel from developing such strategies, and pursued recommendations on how those barriers could be overcome. This study provides examples of organizations currently reducing waste through strategic initiatives and highlighted areas where jails and prisons could begin or further improve waste diversion practices. The study utilized archival data, a web-based survey, and interviews for data collection and analysis. The findings …

Courtroom To Classroom: Judicial Policymaking And Affirmative Action, Dylan Britton Saul

Political Science Honors Projects

The judicial branch, by exercising judicial review, can replace public policies with ones of their own creation. To test the hypothesis that judicial policymaking is desirable only when courts possess high capacity and necessity, I propose an original model incorporating six variables: generalism, bi-polarity, minimalism, legitimization, structural impediments, and public support. Applying the model to a comparative case study of court-sanctioned affirmative action policies in higher education and K-12 public schools, I find that a lack of structural impediments and bi-polarity limits the desirability of judicial race-based remedies in education. Courts must restrain themselves when engaging in such policymaking.

Behavioral Economics Y Políticas Públicas: Algunos Problemas Y Sus Soluciones / Behavioral Economics And Public Policies: Some Problems And Their Solutions [En Español], Daniel A. Monroy

Daniel A Monroy C

Abstract

The main target of this paper is to show a behavioral economics approach to –some– public policies from a descriptive and a normative point of view. To meet the target, (i) the paper summarizes two cognitive biases: the status quo bias and the endowment effect, and then shows how these biases could affect the effectiveness of public policies in some relevant contexts: the availability of human organs for transplantation; people's bad eating habits; and environmental resources management. In addition, (ii) the paper suggests some strategies (nudges) about how behavioral economics could inform policy maker to design or to improve …

Domestic Violence Services For The Deaf Community, Teresa Crowe Ph.D

JADARA

Domestic violence is a pervasive and destructive phenomenon that occurs frequently, especially among people of color and individuals with disabilities. This study surveyed 195 Deaf and hard of hearing college students about their knowledge of domestic violence services, their concerns for agency staff characteristics, and service delivery, and the impact of additional disabilities. Results indicate that 74.8% of the sample knew someone who had experienced violence within the past year. Most respondents knew where to go for help, yet none or few of the individuals who experienced violence sought help. Respondents ranked services they felt most comfortable asking and which …

Sign Language Interpreters And Burnout: Exploring Perfectionism And Coping, Tomina J. Schwenke Ph.D

JADARA

Maslach (1982) conceptualizes burnout as emotional exhaustion and cynicism, which erodes an individual’s ability to effectively engage in work. A known antecedent to burnout across a variety of occupations, including interpreting, is chronic job stress (Delisle, Lariviere, Imbeau, & Durand, 2005; Swartz, 1999). The multidimensional construct of perfectionism is one personality trait noted in the literature (Flett & Hewitt, 2002) that affects how an individual perceives and manages stressors and it is consistently associated with burnout. Perfectionism is characterized by a tendency to set and strive for high personal standards and has both detrimental and beneficial potential (Stoeber & Otto, …

Applying For A Student Writing Award

JADARA

Interested in applying for a Student Writing Award from ADARA?

From The Editor: Caroline M. Kobek Pezzarossi, Ph.D., Caroline Kobek Pezzarossi Ph.D

JADARA

A note from your new Senior Editor, Caroline M. Kobek Pezzarossi, Ph.D. This letter from the editor also includes a short biography of Dr. Kobek Pezzarossi.

How Do Gamblers Maintain And Illusion Of Control?, Elizabeth Cowley, Donnel A. Briley, Colin Farrell

Donnel A Briley

Gamblers' enduring illusions of control (IOC) may be one reason why they continue to gamble in the face of sustained losses. If gamblers persist in the belief that they have special skills, knowledge and other advantages when gambling, they may be able to convince themselves it is worth doing again. Maintaining an IOC requires selective attention of the illusion supporting moments during the construction of an evaluation of a gambling session.Objective: Test the hypothesis that selected moments, specifically the moment of the highest win and the last moment of the gaming session, explain the retrospective evaluation of the session for …

River By Design: Essays On The Boise River, 1915-2015, Todd Shallat (Editor), Colleen Brennan (Editor), Mike Medberry (Editor), Roy V. Cuellar, Richard Martinez, Erin Nelson, Travis Armstrong, Doug Copsey, Sheila Spangler, Emily Berg, Dean Gunderson, Michael Gosney

Faculty & Staff Authored Books

River by Design marks 100 years since the Boise River emerged as an engineering sensation with the dedication of Arrowrock Dam. Sequenced like a tour with stops in Boise, Garden City, Eagle, Caldwell, and Parma, these essays collectively search for the politics and cultural values that drive engineering design.

Improving The Experiences Of Informal And Formal Alzheimer's Disease And Dementias Caregivers, Roxroy Anthony Reid

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Informal and formal caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) encounter a more difficult and unique set of challenges than do caregivers of individuals with general disabilities. If adequate caregiver supports are not provided, caregivers may experience increased strain as the disease progresses, increasing the likelihood of unnecessary institutionalization of their care recipients and increasing the cost to the public. Using rational choice theory and political systems theory, the purpose of this study was to differentiate between the phenomenological experiences of formal and informal caregivers of ADRD patients. The overall research was a qualitative design that used …

The Burqa Ban In France And Its Potential Implications On Islamic Terrorism, Ifeanyi Valentine Madu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Islamic terrorism has become a global problem which has resulted in human, social, political, and economic costs. Many Islamic terrorist organizations have focused their attacks on the West and its interests. They justify these acts by making reference to policies of the West, which they believe are inimical to Islam. France, a Western country, recently introduced a law which bans the Islamic face veil (the burqa) in public places in the country. This study examined the implications of this law. The research question focused on the perceived relationship between this law and increased acts of Islamic terrorism. The theoretical construct …

Stakeholder Perceptions Of Sustainable Value And Water Conservation: A Case Study Of Social, Environmental, And Economic Concerns In The Rookery Bay Estuary, Bruce Victor Lilyea

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Stakeholders’ perceptions of social, environmental, and economic concerns in the Rookery Bay Estuary were examined through this research. The purpose of this study was to discover the shared value and common resolution responses for the people of the Rookery Bay area that can extend to other local environmental management scenarios. Using Stakeholder Theory, Rational Choice Theory, Symbolic Interactionism, and Systems Theory as theoretical foundation, the following research questions were considered: RQ1) What are the points of shared value of community stakeholders facing environmental management issues? RQ2) How do the perspectives of the community stakeholders toward the social, environmental, and economic …

The Influence Of A Juvenile's Abuse History On Support For Sex Offender Registration, Cynthia J. Najdowski, M. C. Stevenson, J. M. Salerno, T. R. A. Wiley, B. L. Bottoms, K. M. Farnum

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

We investigated whether and how a juvenile’s history of experiencing sexual abuse affects public perceptions of juvenile sex offenders in a series of 5 studies. When asked about juvenile sex offenders in an abstract manner (Studies 1 and 2), the more participants (community members and undergraduates) believed that a history of being sexually abused as a child causes later sexually abusive behavior, the less likely they were to support sex offender registration for juveniles. Yet when participants considered specific sexual offenses, a juvenile’s history of sexual abuse was not considered to be a mitigating factor. This was true when participants …

La Defensa De Lo Público A Partir De La Lucha De Las Trabajadoras Del Hospital San Juan De Dios, Michelle Ambrosio Galindo, Paola Andrea Ceballos Quiroga, Stephanie Hernández Ariza, Laura Daniela Pérez Guevara

Trabajo Social

La presente investigación tuvo como propósito describir las acciones que han realizado las trabajadoras del Hospital San Juan de Dios hacia la defensa de lo público durante el periodo 1999-2015, mediante el análisis de las implicaciones de la Ley 100 de 1993 en la mercantilización de la atención en salud, la generación de la crisis hospitalaria nacional y el posterior abandono del Hospital San Juan de Dios; el cual, se convierte en el contexto y escenario donde se desenvuelven las acciones lucha y resistencia de sus trabajadoras. Además de ello, identifica la intencionalidad de estas acciones y la forma en …

California's Foreign Relations, Christopher Gaarder

CMC Senior Theses

Globalization has significantly increased the number of stakeholders in transnational issues in recent decades. The typical list of the new players in global affairs often includes non-state actors like non-governmental organizations, multinational corporations, and international organizations. Sub-national governments, however, have been given relatively little attention even though they, too, have a significant interest and ability to shape the increasing flow of capital, goods, services, people, and ideas that has so profoundly influenced the global political economy in recent decades. California, arguably the most significant among sub-national governments – its economy would be seventh or eighth in the world at $2.2 …

A Phenomenological Study Of Leaders' Perceptions And Experiences In Local Government, Janet Elerene Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An emerging crisis in the public sector of the United States is that local government organizations are unable to recruit and retain leaders. A large proportion of high-level and mid-management public administrators leave the profession within a 5-year period. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore, identify, and describe patterns in the experiences and perceptions of local government administrators to promote career longevity. The central research questions were designed to determine whether work adjustment theory accurately described the lived experiences and perceptions of the subjects' career success in local government. Data collection included in-depth interviews with 10 current …

Engaging The Nonprofits In Louisville Housing Market For Low-Income Households, Joshua Omoniyi Odetunde

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nonprofit organizations often work in partnership with government agencies to empower low income people in the housing market through government subsidized mortgage loans. In spite of this assistance, homelessness and substandard housing is pervasive among low income households because this population primarily relies on the rental housing market, leaving a gap in practice and knowledge related to how nonprofits provide assistance to the overwhelming majority of low income consumers in need of housing. The purpose of this case study was to use social justice theory to explore how the nonprofit sector, as an economic force, provides assistance to and empowers …