Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Voiceless, Maria Sanchez Diez

Capstones

In 2013, Deisy García, a young immigrant from Guatemala filed two domestic violence complaints against her husband. In one of them she said she was scared he would killed her. The New York City Police Department never translated it and eight months later, Garcia's husband ended up killing her, along with their two daughters. Exploring García's case, this story explores how the access to interpretation services can mean a matter of life or death for Spanish-speaking victims of domestic violence.

Explaining The Persistence Of Female Genital Mutilation In Egypt, Kristen R. Darling

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This project examines the persistence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Egypt, despite a legislative ban on the practice in 2008. Between 100 and 140 million girls and women worldwide have undergone FGM, with 27.2 million women cut in Egypt alone. The procedure involves the alteration of aspects of the female genitalia, including removal of the clitoris or narrowing of the vaginal opening. While many contend that the practice continues because of traditional, cultural, or even religious norms, I argue that FGM remains prevalent in Egypt because of a widespread lack of education on the subject, exacerbated by the educational …

Diffusion Of Locally Developed Applications Across The United States Judiciary, Edmund Warren Dieth

Public Affairs Dissertations

Current literature suggests that networks impact the diffusion of innovations. This dissertation seeks to uncover the reasons behind diffusion patterns of locally developed applications (LDAs) across the United States judiciary. Due to a lacuna in the relevant diffusion literature, the effects of professional networks on diffusion patterns are of particular interest in this study. Professional networks include inter-agency networks, national organizational networks, or external personal-professional networks. LDAs are products, mostly software, created within a judicial district to enhance its effectiveness or efficiency. Often these applications are developed to address an internal issue in a district. However, the issue is not …

Representative Bureaucracy And The Indirect Effects Of Substantive Co-Worker Representation, Nita Clark

Public Affairs Dissertations

The theory of representative bureaucracy has been suggested as an equity oriented tool that could work to alter the negative aspects of majority rule. Ongoing debates over the best way to ensure and enhance equity for underrepresented groups continue to question the value of representative bureaucracy as it has concentrated on passive (descriptive) and active representation. Such representation where administrators look like the clientele they are serving and subsequently work to generate outcomes for those clients certainly has value. However it is not a certainty that a bureaucrat sharing a similar traits as the group being served (passive representation) will …

Diffusion Of Locally Developed Applications Across The United States Judiciary, Edmund Warren Dieth

Public Affairs Dissertations

Current literature suggests that networks impact the diffusion of innovations. This dissertation seeks to uncover the reasons behind diffusion patterns of locally developed applications (LDAs) across the United States judiciary. Due to a lacuna in the relevant diffusion literature, the effects of professional networks on diffusion patterns are of particular interest in this study. Professional networks include inter-agency networks, national organizational networks, or external personal-professional networks. LDAs are products, mostly software, created within a judicial district to enhance its effectiveness or efficiency. Often these applications are developed to address an internal issue in a district. However, the issue is not …

Elite Deviance, Organized Crime, And Homicide: A Cross-National Quantitative Analysis, Carol L.S. Trent

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Both elite deviance, committed by the upper echelons of society, and organized crime threaten development and the rights and security of people across and within nations; however empirical research on these topics is limited, especially in the field of criminology. This study addresses this gap in the literature by testing hypotheses derived from Simon’s symbiotic theory of elite deviance, which posits that direct and indirect relationships exist between elite deviance, organized crime, and conventional crimes exist (2008). The intervening effects of national culture and political economic ideology are also considered.

To test the research hypotheses, this study uses homicide rates, …

Individual Differences In The Dopaminergic Reward System: The Effect Of Genetic Risk On Neural Reward Sensitivity And Risky Choice, Heather E. Soder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When making decisions, individuals evaluate several possible outcomes of their choice; however, some display heightened reward sensitivity, despite the potential for future negative consequences, which can lead one to make risky choices. Rewards are processed in the mesolimbic dopamine reward system, and this system is in part modulated by genetic polymorphisms that are associated with dopamine transmission. The current study tested if genetic polymorphisms that are associated with enhanced dopamine neurotransmission will be more neurally reward sensitive, score higher on self-reported impulsivity, and make riskier choices. In a sample of 85 participants, five genetic polymorphisms were genotyped and used to …