Digital Commons Network^™

Women's Work Attitudes, Aspirations, And Workforce Participation Before And After Relocation From Public Housing, Edith J. Barrett

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

For the past decade or so, public housing policies have focused on moving residents from concentrated housing developments into newly designed mixed-income developments or, through housing choice vouchers, into neighborhoods with lower concentrations of poor. These newer programs are driven by research that suggests public housing residents will have greater opportunity for financial self-sufficiency and, although not openly discussed, will better appreciate the importance of work when they live among higher income working residents. Using panel data collected from public housing residents relocated following the closure of a public housing development, this study explores the relationship between individual characteristics, neighborhood …

Ready For Success: A Profile Of Youthbuild Mentoring Participants, Kathleen A. Tomberg

Publications and Research

The YouthBuild USA National Mentoring Alliance program (“YouthBuild Mentoring”) seeks to engage students with responsible, supportive, committed adult volunteers to help young people achieve success in education, employment, and social relationships. By matching students with adult mentors for a minimum of 15 months, YouthBuild Mentoring helps these youth form strong emotional bonds and continuing relationships that will ideally last for years beyond the end of the program. YouthBuild USA partnered with the Research and Evaluation Center of John Jay College of Criminal Justice to assess the attitudes of YouthBuild Mentoring participants on a variety of topics, including self-image, self-efficacy, perceptions …

Testing Orthodox Utilitarian And Extrajudical Determinants Of Incarceration In The U.S. At The State-Level, 1980-2005, Pavel V. Vasiliev

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This project is a theory-driven secondary data analysis of state-level incarceration trends in the U.S. between 1980 and 2005. I replicate and advance Smith's (2004) study of the relationship between the socioeconomic, demographic, political, electoral, and criminal justice factors and incarceration rates at the state level. The purpose of this project is to determine the empirical validity of the major explanations of the incarceration trends in the U.S. I advance Smith's (2004) study using important novel elements. First, I extend the scrutinized historic period by a decade by compiling time-series data for 1980-2005. Second, I employ a more sophisticated analytic …

Examining The Csi Effect And The Influence Of Forensic Crime Television On Future Jurors, Christopher Kopacki

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the relationship exposure to forensic crime television has on a potential juror’s willingness to find a suspect guilty when presented with a case involving only circumstantial and eyewitness evidence. This study also looks at a potential juror’s expectation of forensic evidence being presented at trial based upon this exposure. To better understand these relationships, the study utilized social constructionism as the theoretical framework. To collect data, an original survey instrument that included either a violent or non-violent crime scenario was developed. Reponses from 1572 undergraduate students were analyzed to better understand what might influence their willingness to …

The Impact Of Substance Abuse In High Risk, Rural Virginia Counties, Charlette T. Woolridge

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between drug-related crimes in high-risk, rural Virginia counties (Brunswick County and Grayson County) and efforts to reduce them with a particular focus on a cost-benefit analysis of expenditures. Four independent variables were assessed in relation to drug-related crime: expenditures associated with (1) drug abuse prevention and (2) drug abuse treatment, (3) economic development, and (4) education. Drug abuse prevention and drug abuse treatment are traditional approaches to address the drug use and crime relationship, while economic development and education represent social determinants of health (economic and social factors that impact …

Focal Point, Volume 27, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

This special issue of Focal Point focuses on best practices for helping youth and young adults with mental health challenges reach their educational and employment goals, by highlighting preliminary results from some of our research at Pathways to Positive Futures as well as some of the work being done at the Transitions RTC at the University of Massachusetts.

To Catch A Pirate: Analyzing Processes Of Policy Making On Maritime Piracy, Victoria E. Collins

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

There has been a resurgence of political and media interest in maritime piracy, specifically in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia. This is credited to a rise in the number of piracy attacks that have been committed in Somalia's coastal waters. In response to this rise in attacks there has been an increased deployment of military warships from as many as 30 different countries to the region in efforts to combat piracy. Although the problem of piracy has received much attention there has been little attention paid to the structural conditions within Somalia itself, such as the …

Relocation Of Homeless People From Odot Rights-Of-Way, Ellen M. Bassett, Andrée Tremoulet, Allison Moe

TREC Final Reports

This research project consists of an investigation of responses to homeless encampments on rights-of-way owned by Departments of Transportation (DOTs). While DOTs are not housing or social service agencies, their role as major public landowners involves them in dealing with the consequences of homelessness. The research goals included analyzing the prevalence of the problem, documenting how DOTs are responding, and culling from this data information that could be used as a basis for creating a best practices guide. The research included a single mixed-methods, in-depth case study, electronic surveys of practitioners and follow-up interviews. Products consist of two reports (included …

Nebraska Urban Indian Health Coalition Alcohol, Tobacco And Other Drugs Prevention Program (Atod-Year 2) Evaluation Report: Final Report, R. K. Piper, Jodee Friedly, Taylor Flairty

Past Publications

This final report documents the major findings of an evaluation of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Prevention Program (ATOD-Year 2) conducted by the Consortium for Organizational Research and Evaluation (CORE) of the University of Nebraska at Omaha for the Nebraska Urban Indian Health Coalition (NUIHC). The purpose of the study is to provide an analysis of several key NUIHC substance-abuse prevention initiatives.

The study consists of three parts: 1) an analysis of the Teen Maze project implemented in Omaha by NUIHC and community partners, 2) an analysis of the results obtained from NUIHC’s administration of a Risk/Need Outreach Form …

Religion And Intimate Partner Violence: A Double-Edge Sword?, Lee E. Ross

Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum

This article examined hypothesized relations between Judeo-Christian religion and intimate partner violence. Given its complex and controversial nature, the following two questions were explored: (1) whether batterers selectively misinterpret scripture to justify or rationalize violence toward women, and (2) whether certain religious tenets around faith, the nature of marriage, the role of women and men, obedience, forgiveness, and salvation constrict and inevitably bind women to abusive relationships? An integrative literature review was employed to draw inferences among male patriarchy, religious scripture, and intimate partner violence. Overall, the findings are twofold: (1) elements of male patriarchy are included in much of …

Law Enforcement And The Mentally Ill: Thirty Years Of Police Literature, Jennifer Noe

Publications and Research

This study applies the methodology of content analysis to 30 years of law-enforcement literature to determine whether online access to scholarly research in social work and mental health made a difference in police policy toward the mentally ill. Keywords from the controlled vocabulary of these fields were found in the body of content analyzed prior to easily accessible online resources in 1997 , yet the number of articles on the subject grew from approximately one per year prior to 1998 to nearly five per year by 2011. The imprint of these two fields from outside of law enforcement was discernible …

Civically Engaged Mothers Of Color And The Challenges Of Political Leadership, Sheneal Parker

Civically Engaged Mothers of Color and the Challenges of Political Leadership

While the ranks of women serving in public office and other political leadership positions are growing, women of color continue to represent a relatively small proportion of elected and other public officials in the United States. Sheneal centered her study on civically engaged mothers of color given that there is limited scholarship available on women of color who are mothers and politically active in their communities. Sheneal wanted to deepen our understanding of the barriers mothers of color face in entering and sustaining a political career.

Her study sought to better understand and analyze:

• How civically engaged mothers of color …

Crime Drop Ii – Young People Are Leading The Newest Violent Crime Decline, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

FBI crime data show that young people contributed a large share to the declining rate of violent crime in the United States. By 2011, the youth violent crime rate had dropped 60 percent since its peak in 1994. The databit shows the rate of violent crime between 1994-2004 and 2006-2011 for youth under age 18, 18-24, and 25 and older.

The Metropolitan Dimensions Of United States Immigration Policy: A Theoretical And Comparative Analysis, Nicole G. Toussaint

Dissertations and Theses

Municipal unauthorized immigration policy, as an area of study, is underexplored. The literature is in the early stages of development, and little specific theory to guide research exists. To advance this emerging field, my study addresses two questions. First, what unauthorized immigration policies do local governments pursue, under what circumstances, and for what reasons? Second, what explains city-to-city variation in municipal responsiveness to the policy preferences and interests of residents without legal status?

The dissertation also presents a typology of municipal responsiveness to unauthorized immigrants, based on my exploratory research. To explain intercity differences in the policy processes and choices …

Research Brief: "Partnering With Communities To Address The Mental Health Needs Of Rural Veterans", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This research focuses on veterans in rural communities who have less access to mental health providers. The Yellow Ribbon Task Force program promoted and encouraged engagement in mental health care for veterans in rural communities, although future policies should enhance already existing clinical practices to increase standards for care. For further study, researchers should focus on evaluating initial program implementation and pilot testing in a variety of states and rural populations.

Driving Forces: Factors Affecting Police Officer Injuries In Motor Vehicle Incidents In The United States, Carol Servino

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Traffic-related incidents were the leading cause of fatal injuries to officers in 14 of 15 years between 1997 and 2012. Vehicle crashes occur at the individual officer level, but chiefs are responsible for agency performance, creating and implementing police policy, and developing organizational culture. This quantitative survey research study draws from organizational culture theory and asks chiefs in state, county, and city police organizations what they believe are salient factors in crashes causing injuries and death to police officers in the United States. Independent variables include safety belt laws, written driving policies (including communication technology commonly used in police vehicles), …

Perceptions Of Police Responses To Domestic Violence, Kelly Rae Stout

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Domestic violence, also known as, intimate partner violence (IPV), has become an epidemic in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control and prevention (CDC), about 24 women and men are victimized by an intimate partner each minute, equaling about 12 million victims every year (2012b). In recent years, the public has become more aware of IPV situations. An increase in public service announcements has helped to inform the public and has brought these dangerous situations out from behind closed doors. In the age of technology, information is more easily distributed and exchanged which has also increased public …

Development Of A Smart Application For Police Crash Reports, Sebastien Bonnet, Victor Molano, Alexander Paz

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

• Gaining a significant amount of time to help police work
• Developing a User Friendly Interface
• Optimizing the GPS Gaining a significant amount of time to help police work
• Developing a User Friendly Interface
• Optimizing the bar code scan technology
• Application for MC 75 mobile technology

Police Injury Crashes And The Intersections Of Policy, Technology, And Culture, Carol Servino

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

Motor vehicle crashes caused the majority fatalities to police officers in the U. S. for more than a decade, yet little is known about factors contributing to injury crashes. This research project required original data collection. A national survey of police chiefs in state, county, and local agencies of all sizes was conducted online in June and July, 2012. Questions focused on various driving policies and practices, including those related to communication technology commonly used in police patrol vehicles. Other questions included hypothetical situations to explore the culture of driving safety in individual police organizations. The majority of chiefs clearly …

Obstacles To Developing And Implementing Problem-Oriented Policing Projects In Police Agencies, Kristine-Gem D. Estrella, Victoria Luong, Tamara D. Madensen

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

This research examines impediments to problem-solving initiatives within police organizations. A systematic evaluation of a complex problem-oriented policing project in Las Vegas, Nevada, is used to identify obstacles to developing effective crime reduction interventions. This evaluation focuses on the first three steps of the SARA problem-solving process: scanning, analysis, and response. At each stage of the project, interviews are conducted with key project personnel (e.g., area command captains, supervising sergeants, community-oriented policing officers, community partners, residents). Data is also collected through observations at community meetings and ride-alongs with officers assigned to the project. These data are analyzed and common themes …

Evaluating The Impact Of Team Policing In Las Vegas, Nevada, Natalie N. Martinez

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

Team policing involves the continuous geographical assignment of both patrol officers and investigators to the same, defined area, which allows them to become familiar with area residents and knowledgeable about community concerns and thus, enables them to develop individualized strategies to resolve the neighborhood problems that can lead to crime and disorder. This study evaluates the impact of a team policing intervention in Las Vegas, Nevada that combines an emphasis on community outreach with problem-focused policing strategies to determine the effectiveness of team policing as a crime control strategy. The results indicate that the team policing did not result in …

Issue 17.1 Endnotes, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Issue 17.1 Endnotes

Women After The Rwandan Genocide: Making The Most Of Survival, Cameron Macauley

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Since 2009, IBUKA’s peer-support program for genocide survivors in Rwanda has given observers a unique opportunity to work with women who experienced the violence of 1994. In 2010 James Madison University’s Center for International Stabilization and Recovery began providing technical assistance for this program. This article describes some of the particular characteristics of women survivors in the 19 years since the genocide.

Process Evaluation: Suffolk County House Of Correction’S Reentry Programs, Paige Ransford, Center For Women In Politics And Public Policy, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Effective reentry is an important component of the mission of the Suffolk County House of Correction and of its reentry programing. The maintenance of public safety depends largely on the institution’s ability to help offenders successfully reintegrate back into their communities. Connecting inmates to community-based programs, services, and support before they leave prison can help ensure that they will become productive members of their community.

Sam Gen Ms 01 Jean Byers Sampson Papers Finding Aid, John D. Knowlton, Susannah Clark

Search the Manuscript Collection (Finding Aids)

Description:

Jean Byers Sampson was a 1944 graduate of Smith College. Early in her post-Smith career, she conducted and wrote the 1947, “A Study of the Negro in Military Service,” which contributed to President Harry Truman’s decision to desegregate the armed forces. Sampson moved to Maine in the early 1950s with her husband, Richard Sampson, a Bates College mathematics professor, and she played a unique and critical role in the state until her death in 1996. Over the course of her life in Maine, she served as the founder of the first chapter of the NAACP in Maine, local and …

Serving Those Who Serve: Outreach And Instruction For Student Cadets And Veterans, Nancy E. Fawley, Nikki Kyrsak

Library Faculty Research

Student cadets and veterans new to college have unique academic needs, and the abrupt switch from civilian to Corps life for new students at a military university can be challenging. Likewise, transitioning from military life to civilian life as a veteran student can be overwhelming. The libraries at Norwich University and The University of Alabama are supporting programs to assist new students in the transition from civilian to Corps life and from military to civilian life, respectively. While these students are at different stages of their military careers, cadets and veterans have common attributes that inform library support and instruction, …

Analysis Of The Effects Of Georgia House Bill 1113 (2008): A Case Study Of The Georgia Institute Of Technology’S Department Of Internal Auditing, Patrick A. Jenkins

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

Ethical behavior on the part of public administrators has been understood to be one of the guiding principles of public service. When public administrators decide to cross the line into behavior that is not only considered to be unethical but unlawful, they have not only put their own careers and livelihood in jeopardy, they have betrayed the public’s trust. Betrayal of the public trust by state and public university employees was one of the motivating forces behind Georgia House Bill 1113 (2008). This legislation which subsequently resulted in significant changes to the University System of Georgia’s policy regarding the reporting …

California Prison Realignment: The First Six Month’S Of Assembly Bill (Ab) 109’S Implementation, Matthew J. Caffiero

Master's Projects

No abstract provided.

Transitional Justice And Its Role In Development In Post-Conflict Northern Uganda, Jessica Chirichetti

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study was completed during a 6-week period in Gulu District, Northern Uganda. The main objective of this study was to understand and analyze the various transitional justice mechanisms currently being used in post-conflict Northern Uganda. The researcher set out to hear the population’s general attitudes on justice and understand the challenges that hinder the justice process through the perspective of government officials (including opposition party members), NGO workers, lawyers, academics, and religious leaders. A specific focus was point on the compensation aspect of transitional justice since the region is suffering from severe under-development and poverty issues. This led to …

Rediscovering The Core Of Public Health, Steven Teutsch, Jonathan E. Fielding

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

The success of public health has been its ability to understand contemporary health problems, to communicate the needs successfully, to identify solutions, and to implement them through programs and policies. In the past 50 years, those successes can be attributed largely to control of infectious disease, improved maternal and child health, delivery of other personal health care services, and changes in behaviors, particularly smoking. Yet health is primarily a product of our social, cultural, and physical environments. To continue to improve the nation’s health and reduce disparities, public health needs to return to its historical roots and engage with other …