Digital Commons Network^™

Emergency Management Single Points Of Failure, Todd Alan Smith

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Disaster management begins and ends at the local level and encompasses every aspect of public administration. Emergency management practices using jurisdictional authority are central to protecting communities during incidents and events. Although contemporary emergency management plans, procedures, and policies are methodically developed over time, a single point of failure may cause preventable issues that result in a measurable loss of time, funding, or opportunity. A single point of failure can be any moment where a process, action, or detail was either overlooked or executed incorrectly and caused emergency management challenges. Fred Fiedler and William Scott’s descriptions of Contingency Theory, a …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Perspectives And Experiences Of Male Military Spouses, Shannon Rene Goodwin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Although there has been a significant decline in the armed services’ overall enlisted forces, the number of women enlisting has tripled over the last forty-plus years, with many women joining the reserved forces. In particular, the ratio of women in the United States National Guard is higher than that of men, 52.9% compared to 47.1%. With this large increase comes an increase in military family members, particularly children and male civilian spouses, in need of assistance, especially during deployments. This phenomenological study examines the male spouses’ lived experiences within the District of Columbia National Guard military community, identifying the needs …

Unveiling The Detrimental Effects Of Racial Profiling On Hispanics In The Rgv By Dps Under Operation Lone Star, Veronica G. Salinas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this applied study was to solve the problem of whether racial profiling by DPS on the Hispanic community in the RGV was indeed an ongoing issue that was causing adverse impacts. Moreover, to design better training for DPS troopers to address the problem of racial profiling against Hispanics. The setting of this study was based on Hispanics born or raised in the RGV. Interviews and focused groups were used to collect data. The MAXQDA was used to help analyze and identify common themes. The two main common themes were positive and negative experiences, with 11 out of …

Enhancing Animal Shelter Operations With Time Series And Machine Learning, Sakava L. Kiv, Donald L. Anderson, Shivam Negi, Jacquelyn Cheun

SMU Data Science Review

Enhancing animal shelter operations through machine learning involves employing a variety of advanced techniques aimed at increasing efficiency, promoting animal welfare, and optimizing resource allocation. This paper explores predictive analytics for adoption rates using regression models to estimate the likelihood of adoption based on historical data, encompassing variables such as breed, health status, and previous adoption trends. Additionally, classification algorithms are utilized to categorize animals by adoption probability, facilitating better resources and marketing prioritization. Clustering algorithms are employed to group animals according to behavior patterns and/or physical health, enabling tailored medical care and enrichment activities that improve their mental and …

Vigilante Justice Violence In Ghana: Does A Visible Police Force Reduce Support For Instant Justice?, John Ampomah

Theses

Vigilante justice remains a persistent issue in Ghana, with a significant portion of Ghanaians subscribing to it to address their grievances. While existing research has examined the social and cultural drivers of vigilante justice in Ghana, the role of visible police presence (i.e., police station and police patrol) on vigilante justice has received limited attention. This study seeks to add to the literature by exploring the relationship between visible police presence and support for vigilante justice by drawing on Black’s (1983) Self-Help Theory. First, I argue that a visible police force directly reduces public support for vigilante justice and indirectly …

The Impact Of Race On Sentencing Outcomes In The United States, Tijana Krivokapic

Honors Theses

The United States, with just 5% of the world’s population, houses nearly a quarter of the world’s prisoners. Moreover, the racial composition of the United States prison population is 56.8% White, 38.0% Black, 2.9% Native American, and 1.5% Asian (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2023). This highlights the disproportionate presence of minority offenders in the prison system, prompting concerns about racial disparities in sentencing. While research on sentencing is robust, much of the research relies on outdated data sources. This study adopts a contemporary approach by utilizing current data to examine whether the race of an offender affects two essential sentencing …

Investigating Cold Homicide Cases In Michigan: Combining Systematic Research With Experiential Insight, Jaqueline Chavarria

Honors Theses

According to the Michigan State Police (2023), murder/non-negligent manslaughter, commonly known as homicide, is the “willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another.” The Murder Accountability Project suggests there could be over 20,000 unsolved homicide cases in Michigan between 1965 and 2023 (2024). Despite the prevalence of unsolved cases, scholarly analysis on the topic is limited. This study examines solvability factors, also known as clearance factors, for cold homicide cases in Michigan by conducting a systematic literature review with news publications. Additionally, this study incorporates experiential insight, offering a holistic exploration of solvability factors. Using a systematic approach, 15 …

Building Wealth One Sentence At A Time: A Capitalist’S Guide To Criminal Justice, Alexandra J. Lindell

Masters Projects

This project explores the underutilized profit potential of criminal justice in the United States. Its systemic design and aggressive market positioning have made long-term success possible. Nevertheless, this is just the beginning; there are new revenue streams to unlock and untapped markets to capture. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research identifies key historical policies, how collateral consequences contribute to customer retention and acquisition, and current barriers to profit maximization. The findings emphasize the importance of a coordinated, multi-level strategy involving lawmakers, media, corporations, and private stakeholders to protect and expand revenue streams, manipulate public perception, and disrupt reform efforts. By …

Lanthorn, Vol. 59, No. 15, April 14, 2025, Grand Valley State University

Volume 59, August 5, 2024 – April 14, 2025

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

Hindsight Is 20/20: Epilepsy Is Not One-Size-Fits-All, Raika Kim

Northwestern University Law Review

For many, epilepsy is one of the first conditions that come to mind when thinking of a disability, and for good reason: over 50 million people in the world live with epilepsy. Yet misunderstandings about epilepsy have perpetuated social stigma surrounding the disability for centuries. Ableist beliefs led to the passage of laws in the 1900s condoning—and in some cases, requiring—sterilization of individuals with epilepsy and restriction of their right to marry. Even today, state driving laws, justified as promoting public safety, categorically prevent anyone diagnosed with epilepsy from driving unless they are seizure free for an arbitrary, nonuniform period …

An Investigative Analysis Into The Correlation Between Police Department Budgets And Violent Crime Rates., Julie Schwartz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Criminal justice reform and calls to defund the police have become more prevalent since the unrest that occurred in 2020. Research to date has looked at criminal justice reform, crime causation, and discussions surrounding defunding the police. Previous research has looked at police funding conceptually but not from a quantitative lens. The purpose of this quantitative nonexperimental study was to provide an investigative analysis into police department funding and the effect of the funding on violent crime rates using strain theory as its foundation. The research question addressed the relationship between police department budgets, specifically the criminal investigations unit, and …

Fourth Industrial Revolution And The Future Of Nigeria Academic Libraries In The 21st Century: Review Of Literature, Esther Motunrayo Ekeh

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

As the world is experiencing technological development, the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is taking prominence in the provision of information to library users. This study covers the prospects and complications facing the academic libraries in Nigeria and the future of Libraries professionals. Reconnoitering this matter is crucial since 4IR has essentially altered how information is received and used by personages. Library professional is described as having knowledge of resources in all of their forms as well as the ability to acquire, organize, and disseminate these materials. The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is characterized by a greater degree of interconnection …

The Impact Of Human Trafficking, Jenna Diprima, Eboni Patterson, Gabriela Meza

INSPIRE Student Research and Engagement Conference

Human trafficking is a crime that has been documented since the 1500s and continues to be a significant issue, reaching unprecedented levels today. Human trafficking is an act in which an individual coerces/compels another and forces them to provide services for financial gain. Victims often come from connections with people they trust. In 2023, it was monitored that 348 people in the US were victims of human trafficking, 316 of 348 victims were children. Worldwide, however, this number is much higher standing at 49.6 million with Guatemala taking up a significant chunk as it has been estimated that 24.9 million …

Violent Infrastructure: Natural And Unnatural Barriers To Climate Migration, Walden Hicks

Global Tides

This paper attempts to compare and contrast the impact of immigration policy on climate migrants in three Global North countries, Italy, the United States, and New Zealand. Climate migration will continue to be one of the most significant international concerns as global temperatures increase and previously habitable areas of the globe become uninhabitable. Climate migrants are forced to migrate for a variety of reasons due to climate change, including sea level rise, famine, rising temperatures, drought, and natural disaster. Global North countries must begin to transform their immigration systems towards climate justice and acceptance for climate migrants or communities will …

Emergency Operations Plan To Sufficiently Support Prison Disaster Preparedness, Nyhrie Love Chapman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Emergency management in correctional facilities is a critical aspect of institutional safety and security. Natural disasters and public health crises have exposed significant gaps in preparedness, leaving incarcerated individuals and staff vulnerable during emergencies. This qualitative study was conducted to examine prison staff members’ perspectives on the effectiveness of emergency operations plans (EOPs) in responding to natural and human-made disasters. Guided by social vulnerability theory and policy implementation and effectiveness theory, this study employed a phenomenological approach to explore staff experiences. Through 12 in-depth interviews, participants described challenges related to resource limitations, training deficiencies, and breakdowns in communication between agencies. …

It’S Time For A Change: A Proposal To Abolish Solitary Confinement From Canadian Prisons, Amy Rico

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

Despite Canada’s reputation for being a leader in human rights, its treatment of prisoners requires a closer examination. In particular, prisoner and human rights advocates have widely criticized the use of solitary confinement in Canadian federal and provincial prisons as a form of torture. Solitary confinement imposes excruciating and demeaning conditions on prisoners, jeopardizing their mental and physical welfare. Following court decisions deeming solitary confinement unconstitutional, the federal government replaced the formal use of solitary confinement with structured intervention units. However, these units continue to be a reformulated version of the original practice, sustaining the torturous conditions subjected to inmates. …

The Scowl - V. 88 N. 18 - April 3, 2025

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol. 88 No. 18 - April 3, 2025. 20 pages.

When Business Meets Badge: Corporate America's Hand In The Crackdown Against Dissent In Cop City, Ariana Crepeau

Expo Student Presentations

2025 Spring Expo Poster Presentation

• Social & Behavioral Sciences

Prison Privatization And Its Impacts On Inmate Quality Of Life: An Analysis Through Logan's Eight Dimensions Model, Hafsa Ahmed

Master in Public Administration Theses

This capstone paper delves deeply into the ramifications of prison privatization on inmates' quality of life in contracted immigration detention facilities. With the increasing inclination towards privatizing correctional institutions, especially immigration detention centers, a rigorous evaluation is indispensable to ascertain the ramifications of such privatizations on the welfare of incarcerated individuals. In this exploration, Logan's quality of confinement model is meticulously applied to selected immigration detention centers to scrutinize the living conditions and reveal profound insights into the quality of life experienced by inmates. This model allows a structured assessment of various dimensions such as safety, order, care, activity, management, …

A Theoretical Defense Of Police Recalibration In Columbia, South Carolina, Sanya Singh

Senior Theses

This paper defends police recalibrationism as the best means of reforming law enforcement. Columbia, South Carolina, will serve as a case study to demonstrate the philosophical and practical justifications of recalibrationism. Police recalibration, which aims to reconceptualize the role of police by reallocating extraneous responsibilities to other entities, offers a more comprehensive and viable solution than abolition, fiscal restraint, and managerialism. The paper further examines proposals that align with police recalibrationism through the lens of the philosophical frameworks of social contract theory and utilitarianism to demonstrate how the reform would fulfill the proposed goals of the American criminal justice system. …

The Digitization Of Asylum: The Legal And Ethical Implications Of Ai Use Within Migration Governance, Myla Somersall

Switzerland: International Studies and Multilateral Diplomacy

This paper critically examines the blossoming integration of artificial intelligence (AI) within European asylum systems, demonstrating the interplay between operational efficiency and state obligations for human oversight. Case studies from Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy, where AI software, including DIAS (language recognition), Casematcher (filtered case comparisons), and S.I.N.D.A.C.A (speech-to-text transcription) reveals technology’s ability to streamline and enhance asylum processing. Imbalanced success in facilitating similar technologies across Europe questions the maturity and accuracy of existing AI implementation. Moreover, AI-guided surveillance and identification methods, including mobile phone data analysis, reflect privacy, legal, and proportionality concerns of AI deployment. Through discussion of refugee-centered …

Switzerland’S Approach To Combating Addiction To Opiates, And Its Application To The United States Framework, Vittoria Volpi

Switzerland: Global Health and Development Policy

The opioid epidemic remains a pressing global public health challenge, with a hypothesized 1.2 million opioid-related fatalities in the United States alone, by 2029 (Rao et al., 2021). In the United States, the epidemic was driven by the overprescription of opioid pain medications in the 1990s. In contrast, in Switzerland, the opioid crisis stemmed from heroin imports and open-air drug scenes in the late 20th century. This research project analyzes Switzerland's national response to opioid abuse—specifically its Four Pillar Approach—and evaluates its potential applicability within the context of the United States. Using a qualitative research design, the study draws on …

Stars, Stripes, And Pills: The Stock Narratives That Blind, Michelle Wilde Anderson

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Patricia A. Tomson Center For Violence Prevention Spring 2025 Newsletter, University Of Northern Iowa. Patricia A. Tomson Center For Violence Prevention.

Patricia A. Tomson Center for Violence Prevention Newsletter

Contents:

--- Central College Train the Trainers
--- Spring 2025 MVP Train the Trainers
--- MVP Student Leadership Summit
--- Dan Marburger MVP Advocacy Award Ceremony
--- Iowa High School Athletic Association's Conference Connections
--- Oelwein Hearts Diversity Night
--- UNI College of Education's 2025 Social and Emotional Learning Conference
--- Iowa Healthiest State Initiative Conference
--- SAAM Panel Event
--- Tomson Scholars

Policing Borders, Abandoning Rights: The Human Cost Of Eu Frontier Policy And Civil Society’S Response, Abena Afriyie

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research examines the human rights consequences of recent shifts in the European Union and Spain’s immigration policies, which increasingly prioritize deterrence, externalization, and securitization over the protection of migrants’ rights. These policies, often framed as measures to combat irregular migration, have included the outsourcing of border control to third countries, such as Libya and Morocco, as well as the criminalization of humanitarian organizations engaged in search and rescue operations. By outsourcing border control to third countries, these policies exacerbate misinformation and anti-immigration sentiment while pushing asylum seekers into perilous transit routes fraught with abuse. Such strategies push migrants into …

How Seeing Rural America As A Commons Can (Re)Build Mutual Respect Across The Rural-Urban Divide, Lisa R. Pruitt

West Virginia Law Review

This Essay, written for a symposium that honors and amplifies Ann Eisenberg’s 2024 book, Reviving Rural America: Toward Policies for Resilience, contemplates benefits that could flow from taking seriously Eisenberg’s conceptualization of rural America as a commons. In particular, I argue that the mutual respect and collaboration necessary for a successful commons could help heal the rural-urban rift, which has widened dramatically in the last few decades. Recent studies suggest that rural residents have what scholars call a rural consciousnesses, which means that living in a rural place is a key aspect of their identity. One feature of this identity …

Holding Ground In The Cerulean Tide: Minority Party Legislators' Strategies For Advancing Climate Policies In Landslide States, Sukjae Lee

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation addresses a key puzzle: Why do states sometimes adopt nationally polarized policies, such as climate change legislation, even when doing so does not align with strict partisan interests? The analysis focuses on “landslide states,” where a single party overwhelmingly dominates, and the minority party cannot realistically expect to gain a majority. In these environments, reduced partisan conflict allows minority party legislators to break from traditional partisan paths. As a result, I argue that electoral motivations drive them to signal moderation by advancing liberal policy agendas or incorporating provisions that minimize backlash from their core constituents in landslide states. …

From Victimization To Offense: A Scoping Review Of Attachment Theory And Social Learning Theory In Explaining Hypersexual Behaviors In Male Sexual Offenders With Histories Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Madison R. Rivers

Senior Theses

The association between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and hypersexual behaviors in both juvenile and adult male sexual offenders has been investigated; however, a clear theoretical framework explaining this connection remains debated. This review aims to evaluate which theoretical frameworks—such as Social Learning Theory and Attachment Theory—best explain the link between CSA and hypersexuality in male sexual offenders. A systematic search and analysis of existing literature was conducted, including studies on the psychological, behavioral, and developmental impacts of CSA on hypersexual behaviors. Both Social Learning Theory and Attachment Theory were critically assessed, particularly focusing on the pathways from victimization to offending …

Socioeconomic Factors Affecting Gendered Happiness: A Cross-Sectional Study Of Oecd Countries, Anusha Khan

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper explores how socioeconomic factors influence life satisfaction across OECD countries and how these effects vary by gender. Using a cross-sectional dataset, the study runs three separate regressions, total, men’s, and women’s happiness to test whether factors like health, education, safety, and support networks impact life satisfaction differently for men and women. A Random Forest model is also used to validate the robustness of selected predictors. Findings show that health and support matter universally, but men’s well-being is more closely tied to educational attainment, while women’s happiness is more sensitive to feelings of safety.

Understanding The Experiences Of Nonprofit Leaders In Psychotherapy, Anna Bramlett

Dissertations (1934 -)

Nonprofit leaders are at the helm of organizations that contribute significantly and meaningfully to society. Nonprofit organizations provide a range of services across sectors that include healthcare, education, mental health, civic engagement, and many others. Existing literature attends to the challenges nonprofit leaders face in their work roles, with managing boards and fundraising frequently cited as stressors. Little is known about the mental health experiences of nonprofit leaders, including common mental health diagnoses they experience, prevalence of mental health symptoms, or effective interventions for mental health concerns. The present study sought to explore the experiences of nonprofit leaders who attend …