Digital Commons Network^™

Advocates Of The Peace, A Qualitative Study Of Former Politically Motivated Female Prisoners And Conflict Resolution In Northern Ireland, Mary Mccourt

Dissertations

The Good Friday Agreement is extensively recognised and acknowledged as a successful model of conflict resolution. Prior to its implementation and in the aftermath of the agreement, former politically motivated female prisoners have been instrumental in securing support for the agreement and also sustaining the agreement in the grassroots communities in Northern Ireland. This study explores the roles in which former politically motivated female prisoners have undertaken in micro levels of conflict resolution and presents a gendered perspective of conflict resolution. Findings within this study reveal the grassroots activities of participants, which is aligned with preventing violence within interface communities …

What Is The Transformational Learning Experience Of Secondary Teachers Who Have Dealt With Burnout?, Julius Sims

Dissertations

Abstract Burnout is a syndrome consisting of emotional exhaustion (EE) and depersonalization (DPZ) (Yong & Yue, 2007). Teachers who fall victim to burnout are likely to be less sympathetic toward students, have a lower tolerance for classroom disruption, be less apt to prepare adequately for class, and feel less committed and dedicated to their work (Betoret, 2006; Byrne, 1991; Fisher, 2011). The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the burnout experiences among secondary teachers and the ways they cope with the adverse conditions. The participants were eight school high teachers from a large metropolitan area school district. Using …

How Do Specialized Units Affect The Outputs Of Police Organizations?: Investigating The Effect Of Community Policing Units On Community Policing Activities In Local Police Departments, Hyon Namgung

Dissertations

A review of modern police history shows the trend of increased division of labor within police agencies. However, police organizations are often criticized for creating specialized police units when they are faced with specific problems or are not effectively tackling local problems. Other challenges from within the profession include potential inter-unit conflicts or indifference of officers from other units that may hinder program implementation by specialized units. The present study looked into the changing characteristics of specialized units within police departments between 2000 and 2007. This research also examined whether creation of specialized community policing units (CP Units) influences the …

Lightning Strikes Twice: An Examination Of The Political Factors Associated With State-Level Death Sentences And Executions In The United States, 1930-2012, Ethan Christopher Amidon

Dissertations

Over the course of the last 50 years, scholars have emphasized the role that political processes play in shaping the nature of capital punishment practices. Empirical studies that have examined the relationship between political factors and capital punishment have attributed variation in the imposition of death sentences and the execution of offenders across jurisdictions in the United States to the politicization of criminal justice policies and practices and the shift in public sentiment towards more punitive ideologies that began in the 1970s. Even though historians have argued that capital punishment practices have always been shaped by political considerations, empirical research …

The Effect Of The Missouri Safe School Act Of 1997 On Alternative Education Students: A Qualitative Analysis, Randall Gene Rhodes

Dissertations

Because of a perceived increase in school related violence, a political reaction occurred in Missouri that led in 1997 to the Missouri Safe Schools Act. This new law significantly changed school disciplinary policy and allowed administrators to move large groups of students to alternative education programs, or expel them to the streets. The purpose of this qualitative study was to learn from students who attended at least one year in an alternative education program about their experiences. I interviewed 26 former students and another 14 former students entered into the conversation by posting their thoughts on a Facebook site for …

Plural Policing: The Multifaceted World Of Irish State “Policing” Authorities, Thomas Talbot

Dissertations

aim of this research was to explore the rather undocumented world of the wider policing community acting in an official capacity on behalf of the Irish state in 2013 and to produce a comprehensive empirical mapping of these governance entities. This group was defined as those operating in a coercive manner at the most extreme end of the social control spectrum and the research therefore focused on those organisations actively prosecuting cases in the Irish courts.

A mixed method design was used to maximise both quantitative and qualitative information. As this mapping exercise was the first of its kind, a …

The Great Epoch: An Exploration Of The Psychology Of Desistance From Offending., Triona O'Sullivan

Dissertations

This research is an exploratory study aimed at examining the psychological processes underlying desistance from offending based on the lived experience of seven ex-offenders. A phenomenological approach was chosen and the research used qualitative semi-structured interviewing in order to collect rich data regarding the self-narratives of participants. Research findings confirmed several themes already prominent in the desistance literature including the importance of psychological maturation, the role of choice, the importance of the individuals’ self concept, the role of ‘making good’ and cognitive change in the area of thought processes and attitudes to offending. In addition several themes emerged which are …

A Pilot Project To Develop A Tool To Assess Gain In Knowledge In Third Graders Participating In A Science Based Drug Prevention Education Curriculum, Miriam Dawn Butler

Dissertations

Drug use and abuse presents a significant problem to individuals, families, and law enforcement in communities across the United States. Methamphetamine is a particular concern in one rural eastern Missouri county. Much work is being done in this county by multiple agencies to decrease methamphetamine production and use. Little attention, however, has been focused on prevention in the elementary schools. Substance use and experimentation may begin as early as 12 years old or even earlier. By initiating a proven drug prevention education curriculum before children begin to experiment with tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs, drug use may be delayed or …

In Our Own Backyard: A Qualitative Investigation Of Marginalized And Dominant Perspectives On White Privilege In Counseling Psychology Training Programs, Steven Matthew Andrews

Dissertations

Systemic racism endures in the United States (Feagin, 2010). The race-related barriers experienced by trainees of color in counseling, clinical, and school psychology programs (Clark et al., 2012; Maton et al., 2011) reflect this reality. Focusing exclusively on the barriers confronting people of color, though, can distract from the benefits and power that Whites accrue to maintain a system of privilege and oppression. Recently, counseling psychologists have recognized the critical importance of understanding social privilege (Israel, 2012) and its unique features based on context (Ancis & Szymanski, 2001). However, the study of White privilege within counseling psychology training is an …

Coveting The Backstage: A College Student Audience Study Regarding Authenticity Construction In The Reality Television Viewing Process, Lisa Marie Kruse

Dissertations

Television is a major staple of daily life for those who live in the United States and reality television has persisted as a primary genre of television programming. While it is unclear just how much reality television (RTV) viewers are watching, the genre’s dominance in primetime lineups suggests that RTV is a main type of programming viewed by television audiences.

Many audience studies have focused on the primary motivations for viewing the genre of reality television converging on four: to satisfy psychological desires (voyeurism, vengeance, and status); to connect with others; to socially learn; and the “quest for authenticity.” The …

Trayvon Martin And Election 2012 Social Media Messaging: An Analysis Of Framing, Rhetoric, And Media Types In Online Messages By Civil Rights Organizations, Riva Renee Brown

Dissertations

This content analysis study explored framing, rhetoric, and media types used by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, National Urban League, National Action Network, and ColorOfChange.org in website and social media messages posted during the Trayvon Martin case and Election 2012. It also examined the mainstream print news media coverage these civil rights organizations generated.

On February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman, a 28 year old White and Hispanic male, fatally shot Martin, a 17 year old Black male, in Florida. After authorities did not charge Zimmerman with the teenager’s murder, these organizations drafted petitions and staged rallies …

An Examination Of Cities' Resilence To Violent Crime: A Contextual Analysis Of Victim-Offender Convergence, Vanessa Hatch Woodward

Dissertations

In his 2012 Presidential Address to the American Society of Criminology, Robert Sampson purported that causality can only be reached when social science researchers accept that individual actions are dependent on social context. He referred to this as contextual causality and argued that future research needed to focus on how to measure and/or reoperationalize community measures of crime.

There were three primary goals of this study. First was to provide a better understanding of victim-offender convergence in time and space (Cohen & Felson, 1979) within incidents of violent crime. In order to meet this goal, 90 city agencies’ incident and …

Community Composition, Demographic Change, And The Impact Of Spatial Proximity To Disadvantage On Violence And Gang Presence In New Jersey Municipalities, Brian Engelmann

Dissertations

Neighborhood composition, change, and disadvantage have been shown to influence crime and gang presence in communities. There is a dearth of research, however, that explores whether spatial proximity to disadvantaged areas affects crime and gang presence in nearby locations. Through maps and spatial analysis, this study investigates how neighborhood demographics may vary and may have changed by community type in New Jersey municipalities. Through quantitative analysis and interviews with school and law enforcement officials, the study then analyzes how such community-based phenomena, coupled with proximity to disadvantaged areas, may affect crime, violence, and gang presence in towns and schools.

Findings …

Transforming Hierarchical Relationships In Student Conduct Administration, Kelly A. Jacobson

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Implementation Evaluation Of An Actuarial Risk Assessment Instrument, James Robert Johnson

Dissertations

As a result of years of legislation aimed at getting tough on crime, the United States now boasts some remarkable and unenviable statistics. Today, one in every 45 adults in the United States is under some form of community supervision (Pew Center, 2009). At a time when states are facing budget crises that have not been seen in decades, state leaders have an opportunity to both cut costs and improve public safety by focusing community supervision resources on higher-risk offenders through evidence-based practices (Austin, 2007; Latessa, 2003; MacKenzie, 2000; Pew Center, 2009).

Risk assessment is the critical first step …

"This Is Not Just My Story; It's Part Of Who I Am": A Symbolic Interactionist Perspective Of Battered Women's Identity Negotiations, Jessica Edel Harrelson

Dissertations

Over the past several decades, domestic violence has increasingly received more attention from both academic and local communities. Despite this attention, it persists as a significant social problem, suggesting that a full understanding of battering is still lacking. This dissertation examines women’s lived experiences with battering, what effect abuse has on how they come to define and interact with themselves, and subsequent negotiations of identity that occur within their relationships. To accomplish this, I conducted multiple in-depth qualitative interviews with fourteen women that were being served by a domestic violence agency in a rural part of the Midwest.

Within a …

Voices From Behind Bars: A Working Alliance?, Mariaimee Gonzalez

Dissertations

Prisons have become a primary location for mental health services, yet little research has been done to investigate the clinical relationships experienced by a growing population of female inmates. This qualitative study was based upon intersectional theory and explored the experiences of 12 female inmates through in-depth interviews about receiving mental health services in prison and the quality of the working alliance with mental health professionals. Additionally, suggestions for improving mental health services in the prison system are documented. Through 12 semi-structured interviews the researcher listened to narratives of these participants and their mental health journeys. Using open and axial …

Interventions That Help The Helpers: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Of Interventions Targeting Compassion Fatigue, Secondary Traumatic Stress And Vicarious Traumatization In Mental Health Workers, Melissa Lynn Bercier

Dissertations

Compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress and vicarious traumatization have received widespread attention in the literature due to an increased awareness of negative effects mental health workers experience when working with people who have been traumatized. Mental health workers become more vulnerable to significant stress when they work with trauma victims, which can lead to many negative consequences that can affect their own health as well as their treatment of their clients. While there is much that we are learning about the causes and outcomes of mental health workers' exposure to their clients' trauma, there has been less focus on effectiveness …

Remembering The Cultural Trauma Legacies Of Slavery: African American Young Adult Perceptions On Racism, Ethnic Identity, And Racial Socialization, Kimya Pearl Barden

Dissertations

The purpose of this research investigation is to explore cultural trauma theory on African American young adult development. Cultural trauma theory asserts the adverse cross-cultural encounter, North American slavery, reproduces intergenerational psychosocial legacies for contemporary African Americans. Accordingly, cultural trauma theory is used to explore with African American young adults three "slave" legacies: ethnic identity formation, perceptions of racism, and racial socialization experiences. A qualitative case study approach is used for (N=26) participants enrolled in either college or a GED program. Each young adult participates in either an individual or focus group interview. To aid in data triangulation, older African …

Second-Class Families: The Challenges And Strategies Of Mixed-Status Immigrant Families, Diana Maritza Guelespe

Dissertations

The most recent peak in migration has involved large numbers of undocumented people and much of the sociological scholarship on immigration explores their lives as individuals and how they stay connected to their family across borders, but there is little research about the new phenomenon of mixed-status immigrant families-- families with at least one unauthorized immigrant and one U.S. citizen--or how their families face the looming risk of separation. The purpose of this dissertation is to describe the experiences and challenges these families confront. Why has there been a rise in mixed-status immigrant families? How does the relative permanence of …

The Politics And Practicalities Of Reentry: A Case Study Of The Reentry Environment In A Suburban Community, Carlene Sipma-Dysico

Dissertations

Although inquiry into reentry has grown significantly in the past decade, studies concerning formerly incarcerated persons entrance back into society tend to look at the outcomes and consequences of reentry, not the process. This "what works and what doesn't work" research approach (Seiter and Kadela 2003) leaves some very important aspects of reentry unexamined. While determining the efficacy of programs designed to reduce recidivism is important for public safety, social policy creation, and budgetary considerations, the role of the community in reentry remains largely unexplored.

This dissertation examines how reentry is done at the community level; by practitioners of reentry, …

Cheerleaders And Performers: Mental Health Courts In A Midwestern State, Monte Staton

Dissertations

"Cheerleaders and Performers: Mental Health Courts in a Midwestern State" by Monte D. Staton

This dissertation presents a statewide study focusing on a recently developed technique for dealing with persons with mental illness in the criminal justice system: mental health court (MHC). This study of nine MHC programs utilized surveys, interviews, and ethnographic observations to examine the work activities and understandings of the criminal justice and mental health professionals who administer and operate the programs in a Midwestern state. Data were analyzed by combining Goffman's dramaturgical analysis with Dorothy E. Smith's institutional ethnography. Findings reveal that MHC professionals engage in …

Risk Perception In Cardiovascular Disease, Michelle Ellen Block

Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains among the leading causes of death in the United States despite widespread knowledge about risk factors as well as effective primary prevention strategies. Risk perception is a complex phenomenon that plays an important role in how persons view disease and ultimately how they make health behavior choices. This study is supported by the knowledge that few studies have examined how persons perceive cardiovascular risk or the variables thought to contribute to the formation of risk perception.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how accurately persons perceive personal risk for cardiovascular disease and identify …

Policing And Social Influence: Procedural Justice And Compliance Dynamics In The Work Of Garda Juvenile Liaison Officers, Eoin Morrison

Dissertations

This study investigates the role of social influence, in the context of the professional relations between Garda Juvenile Liaison Officers (JLOs), and the young people they work with. Of specific importance is the concept of procedural justice, and its relation to perceptions of legitimacy and compliance dynamics. The aim of the research was to investigate whether the particular interaction patterns, enabled in the context of the JLOs professional role, could be found to have a positive impact upon young people’s levels of compliance with legal authority, in and of themselves. In order to examine this element of lived experience, five …

Booklet Of Selected Theses From The Ma In Criminology, Ma In Law, Ma In Child, Family And Community Studies, And The International Masters In Early Childhood Education, 2010-2012, Matt Bowden, Carmel Gallagher, Kevin Lalor

Dissertations

This booklet highlights and celebrates the research work of graduates from taught Masters programmes in the School of Social Sciences and Law:

• the MA in Criminology

• the MA in Law

• the MA in Child, Family and Community Studies

• the International Masters in Early Childhood Education, co-delivered with Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences (Norway) and the University of Malta (Malta).

The MA in Criminology and the MA in Law commenced in 2006 and the MA in Child, Family and Community Studies commenced in 2007. Each has quickly become established in its field as a …

Creating Political Leaders: Lawyer Stories About Transitioning Into Political Office In Canada, Ralph A. Chatoor

Dissertations

Problem. Sustaining healthy democracies requires citizens to successfully transition from civilian life into political leadership positions. Despite the need for this transition to take place, little is known about the transition. Globally, lawyers are the most represented professional group inpolitics, therefore, a study of their transition acts as a good starting point in understanding the process. This study used the Nicholson Transition Cycle (NTC) to explore the transition of 65 lawyers into Canadian politics.

Method. An exploratory multiple case study approach was used to gather data from face-to-face interviews, phone interviews, public archives, email, and websites. Interviews were transcribed, coded, …

Inter-Agency Coordination: The Key To Successfully Transition Juvenile Offenders Back Into The Educational Mainstream, Robyn Beth Gordon

Dissertations

The focus of this study was to determine the characteristics of successful re-entry programs for youth as they transition back into the educational mainstream. The study was also used to determine the implementation needed for effective inter-agency coordination of social service systems for students to successfully transition into the educational setting. The NCLB accountability measures were reviewed to discover how the measures influenced educators and created a reluctance to accept delinquent youth when they re-enter public school. The three overarching questions addressed in this study were: What inter-agency involvement is necessary in implementing a successful re-entry program? What are the …