Place and Environment Commons^™

Tennessee Promise And Two-Year Community College Retention And Graduation In Rural Appalachia, Tammy Dycus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental study was to explore the relationship between the implementation of the Tennessee Promise scholarship program and the two-year Tennessee community college retention rates and graduation rates of first-time, full-time Tennessee students from rural Appalachian counties. Results from this study may help higher education stake-holders better understand the features of Tennessee Promise that are influencing an increase in community college retention and graduation rates for Tennessee students from rural Appalachian counties. The theoretical framework that guided this research was the social capital framework. Data including use of Tennessee Promise, county of origin, retention, and graduation …

It’S Not All Aces: The Role Of Negative Parental Influences And Criminal Thinking In Juvenile Offending Behaviors, Branna Humphrey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The role of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and criminal thinking in causing criminal behavior has been explored extensively in criminal justice research. Based on the concepts of ACEs and the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Scale, the negative parental influences and criminal thinking styles of 1,354 juvenile offenders were examined to establish that negative parental influences and criminal thinking are separately associated with juvenile problem and offending behavior, and that criminal thinking mediates the relationship between negative parental influences and juvenile problem and offending behavior. Analyses showed support for criminal thinking as a pathway from negative parental influences to juvenile …

“You Can’T Put A Price On Something That’S Not For Sale”: Eminent Domain In St. Paul, Virginia (1970 - 1985), Evan Couch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The St. Paul Redevelopment Project was unique and touted as the first-of-its-kind to feature cooperation from all three levels of government. Several government agencies helped St. Paul accomplish an “impossible dream,” spending an estimated thirty million dollars to rechannel the Clinch River in the 1970s and 1980s. The small town of 1,000 residentsrelocated 100 families from South St. Paul to carry out the project, much to the dismay of many of the residents. A primary factor in enforcing the power of eminent domain in the St. Paul Redevelopment Project was the idea of “progress,” a commonality of many redevelopment projects. …

Social Identities And Meanings In Correctional Work, Caitlin C. Botelho

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on correctional officers’ values and perceptions of their workplace, the people they work with and for, and members of the general public. Although prior research has investigated correctional staff members’ feelings about their occupation, far fewer studies have implemented a comprehensive qualitative, microsociological approach. The author conducted 20 in-depth interviews with current and former correctional officers (COs) in public-supported facilities. Additional data were collected through two public Facebook pages designated for COs and citizens interested in the criminal justice system. The study offers insights about the significance of COs’ feelings about their work and how the correctional …

Heritage Tourism In Washington County, Tennessee: Linking Place, Placelessness, And Preservation, Chad F. Bailey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the formation of spatial theory and the linkage between space and place and their relationship with historic preservation and heritage tourism. First, this thesis analyzes the terms space and place, and how scholars define each term. Second, this thesis focuses on the concept of placelessness. Third, this thesis examines historic preservation as a strategy to help alleviate placelessness and as a crucial link to heritage tourism. This thesis also will use regional examples of preservation and tourism as exemplified by the preservation efforts of private organizations, citizens, and government officials in Jonesborough,Johnson City, and Washington County,Tennessee. This …

End Use Packaging: A Survey Of Customer Perception Of Recycling And Environmental Impact Of Packaging Materials, Whitney Chelsea Lamb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Studies have shown that traditional food packaging for the fast food industry leach toxic chemicals into the food products. Some of these toxins are known endocrine disruptors, which results in reproductive issues as well as hormone imbalances. Alternatives to traditional food packaging have been addressed with special attention to bioactive, biopolymers, and biodegradable packaging in addition to active and intelligent packaging. The hypothesis states that customers will have high demand for more environmentally sustainable fast food packaging, while the alternative hypothesis states that demand will not be high enough to financially support the costly introduction of more environmental packaging products. …

The Acculturation Of Sudanese Refugees In Maryville Tennessee: Has Self-Sufficiency Been Achieved?., Caitlin Ts Teaster

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2000, a small group of refugees from Sudan were sponsored by three local churches in Maryville, Tennessee. The churches worked with the Bridge Organization in order to orchestrate the refugees' departure from Africa to Maryville. At the time of their sponsorship, it was believed that the Sudanese population in Maryville would be self-sufficient within two years of arrival. This study uses one-on-one, open-ended interviews and a paper-pencil questionnaire with the Sudanese population and a focus group with the American sponsors to assess the extent that the Sudanese refugee population in Maryville has become self-sufficient. While individual success depends on …

Environmental Determinism: Broken Paradigm Or Viable Perspective?., Gerald L. Hardin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The research was to examine the issue of environmental determinism. It was an ideology that was prevalent throughout the early decades of the 20^th century that held that the natural environment was responsible for virtually all human development. It helped bring the study of geography into the venue of postsecondary education, where it was viewed as a tool for study of human activities. It was a new science inspired by Darwinism that viewed human adaptation to the natural environment as critical to socialization.

Relying on historical sources, the purpose of the study was to reveal how environmental determinism became …

Life And Debt For Etsu Graduate Students., Laura Nelson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through in-depth interviews with 21 participants, this thesis investigates how graduate students at East Tennessee State University feel about their finances. Although all adults, by necessity, have everyday money concerns, this study explores the unique experiences that post-baccalaureate students have with debt, how they talk about it, and what meanings they attach to student loans in their daily lives. This study is novel in that little research to date has examined how graduate students' perceptions of adulthood are connected to their financial situations and their stage in life. For example, saving money is important to this population mainly because it …

An Examination Of The Prison Environment: An Analysis Of Inmate Concerns Across Eight Environmental Dimensions., Andrew Ryan Bradford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was undertaken to better understand inmate concerns of the prison environment across 8 dimensions. The 8 dimensions examined in this study were activity, emotional feedback, freedom, privacy, safety, social, structure, and support. To determine the importance of these dimensions among inmates, secondary data were used in an attempt to replicate and validate the findings from Wright's (1985) study which used a prison environment inventory instrument to assess inmate concerns. The secondary data consisted of an inmate sample of 1,054 taken from 30 prisons of minimum, medium, maximum and close security across the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio. …