Social Justice Commons^™

Factors Contributing To Recurrent Homelessness Among Single Mothers Using Shelters, Favour O. Akhidenor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Building on the long-term benefits of early homelessness prevention and intervention. And scaling up support for single parents with children is essential to improving economic status, good health, human capital, and well-being across all areas of life expectancy. Chronically homeless people, homeless veterans, and homeless families have all been the subject of specific studies. Yet only a few studies have investigated single mothers' return to homelessness (Anderson, 2021). Studies suggest that between 4 and 25 percent of women, who were previously homeless, end up using shelter services again, despite being provided with "permanent" housing (Johnson, 2016). This indicates that, as …

Examining The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Violent Crime In The City Of Pittsburgh, Brittany Urban

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research is to examine patterns of Part I crimes [including Part I Person/Violent: Homicide, Rape, Aggravated Assault, and Robbery, and Part I Property: Burglary, Larceny-Theft, Motor Vehicle Theft, and Arson, as defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Standards] in The City of Pittsburgh, framing the COVID-19 pandemic as a major stressor that Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory suggests may lead to increased opportunity for crime, due to the perceived unjustness of the associated lockdown orders and potential incentive for criminal coping (Agnew 1992). This descriptive analysis is based primarily upon …

La Casita Center: An Accompaniment Based Approach To Social Justice And Social Service., Ben Harlan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

La Casita Center is a Louisville based nonprofit organization that accompanies Latinx immigrants in the Louisville Metro area. and that is led and staffed by Latina immigrants. In this thesis, I investigate how employees of this Latinx-immigrant led nonprofit organization, navigate challenges to both administer service and build community using the model of accompaniment. Organizations like La Casita are critically important for Latinx newcomer communities in the United States and as neoliberal and nativist-inspired policiescontinue to oppress and marginalize, La Casita provides a model for what it means to center inclusion, belonging, community, and solidarity. In a global landscape of …

The Purple Heart And Suicidal Behaviors In Post-9/11 U.S. Army Combat Veterans With A Traumatic Brain Injury: A Mixed Methods Study, Jayna Moceri-Brooks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Military suicide rates remain high, despite years of targeted efforts to prevent suicide. Specifically, Army Combat Veterans who sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) while deployed in support of the Global War on Terrorism are at the highest risk for suicide. This dissertation highlights possible causes for suicidal behaviors within this unique group and provides specific military suicide prevention recommendations. The dissertation is organized into three publishable manuscripts: The first manuscript (Chapter 1) is a mixed-methods dissertation research proposal written according to the National Institute of Health proposal guidelines. The second manuscript (Chapter 2) is an integrative review of the …

Weathering The Storm: Navigating Urban Ecologies Of Communication In Times Of Crisis, Austin Hestdalen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project explores cities as urban ecologies of communication in which crises emerge and are given significance within the dialogic relations cultivated among public actors attempting to make a living, together, within the shared historical-cultural contexts of everyday life. To describe cities as urban ecologies of communication is to describe them in terms of urban communication and its interdisciplinary foundations in the study of rhetoric, philosophy, planning, policy, architecture, sociology, geography, and media. The first chapter introduces the challenges of urban risk and crisis management within the complex ecologies of communication constituted by cities and reviews how ‘risk’ and ‘crisis’ …

Emergency Care For Youth Who Experience Suicidality And Identify As Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer/Questioning (Lgbtq+): An Interpretive Phenomenology, Theresa Schultz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Suicide is a leading cause of death in children; youth who identify as LGBTQ+ are at an exponentially higher risk of suicide. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of young adults who identify as LGBTQ+ and sought emergency care for suicidality when they were adolescents.

Methods: Heideggerian hermeneutics phenomenology is the research method used in this study. Youth, ages 18-25 years, who identify as LGBTQ+ and sought emergency treatment for suicidality when they were adolescents (13-17 years) were recruited to participate;fifteen youth enrolled. Individuals ranged in age from 20 to 25 years. Participants described …

Disparate Sense Of Exclusion Between Young People Of Color Living Within Variable Social Infrastructures., James M. Joyce

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I analyzed transcripts of listening sessions with youth/young adults of color in 2021-2022 for the purpose of addressing local racial inequity during COVID-19. I used inductive coding methods and found three themes on sense of exclusion to be most salient. These themes related to racial exclusion, exclusion of social infrastructures in the community, exclusion of young people of color by people working in schools and other public settings, and exclusion or disconnection of young people of color from opportunities for building community. I show how these themes vary across some dimensions of the local social infrastructure, and I discuss implications …

Divided We Fall: Gender-Based Occupational Segregation In Kentucky’S Executive Branch 2012-2020., Hillary Mcgoodwin Abbott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fifty-eight years have passed since the Title VII of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 was signed into law, yet discrimination in employment still occurs; the Kentucky Executive Branch is no exception. This paper will use Theodore Lowi’s agency typology and EEOC categorical data from the 2012 and 2020 Kentucky Office of Diversity and Employment Training Semi-Annual Report on Female and Minority Employment (SAR) to identify gendered occupational segregation in three distinct Executive Branch agencies, address potential contributing factors and areas of change (Alkadry & Tower, 2006; Lowi, 1985; Newman, 1994; Escriche, 2007). Addressing any underlying discriminatory practices that may …