Digital Commons Network^™

Part 4: Is It Better To Give Than Receive? Exploring The Distributional Dimension Of Virginia's Budget, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

This chapter focuses on the distribution of intergovernmental finances in Virginia. Specifically, it analyzes the distribution of state-level public resources in the Commonwealth of Virginia that takes place as a result of state-to-local intergovernmental transfers. The analysis suggests that, as a result of the manner in which state revenues are collected and allocated back to localities, some Virginians contribute significantly more to the Commonwealth budget in taxes than they receive back in local benefits, while other state residents receive more in benefits than they pay in taxes.

Essays On The Effectiveness Of Diversion Programs In The United States Criminal Justice System, Tairy Ayon

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The United States criminal justice system is at a transformative time, with growing public support for reforms that prioritize rehabilitation over punishment. In response to this shift, prosecutor-led diversion programs are being introduced in areas where they were previously absent and expanded with increased resources in regions already established across the United States. This dissertation measures the effectiveness of these programs in three ways and uses data from six diverse U.S. jurisdictions. In the first chapter, I focus on how age-based eligibility criteria shape participation in diversion programs and its effectiveness in reducing recidivism. To do this, I examine data …

Why Community: The Potentials And Limitations Of Community Engagement In Restorative Justice, Emily P. Chauhan

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the role of community in restorative justice through both the criminologist and practitioner perspectives. Through investigating the limitations of the U.S. penal system, which ranks highest globally in incarceration rates yet fails to ensure public safety, the research investigates restorative justice as a victim-cantered, harm-driven alternative. It emphasizes how restorative justice redefines crime by focusing on healing and accountability rather than punishment of the criminals/harm-doers. This thesis examines how communities are essential to restorative processes and how restorative justice, in turn, helps to build communities. Drawing from case studies, models, and interviews this thesis questions the assumptions …

Are Cities Still Liberal? An Analysis Of Post-Pandemic Political Change In American Cities, Olivia Mundy

Honors Theses

This thesis investigates whether American cities are experiencing a political shift to the right in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as suggested by recent media narratives. Drawing on an original national survey of 2,385 respondents conducted in early 2025, the study examines attitudinal and demographic changes among urban residents, with a particular focus on ideology, trust in local government, economic perceptions, and views on race and immigration. Despite anecdotal evidence of conservative gains in urban elections, the findings show no significant trend toward conservatism among urban residents overall. In fact, urban respondents were slightly more likely than their non-urban …

Chicago Police Torture And The Limits Of Human Rights Enforcement In Liberal Democracies, Mark S. Berlin

Political Science Faculty Research and Publications

From 1972 to 1991, a network of Chicago Police detectives used torture to force confessions from over 100 criminal suspects. Almost all were Black men, and many were wrongly convicted, some for capital offenses. I synthesize insights from comparative research on human rights, state abuse, and police violence in democracies to explain why, for nearly two decades, liberal institutions in Chicago failed to stop the torture. I argue that the nature of state violence in this case—targeting marginalized individuals uninvolved in political activity—intensified the practical, affective, and informational obstacles that are inherent to activating liberal institutions—courts, elected officials, media, and …

Local Governments, Pandemic Aid, And Community Violence Intervention, Amanda Kass, Philip Rocco

Political Science Faculty Research and Publications

Expenditures on police departments account for significant portions of local government budgets in the United States. Yet activism on police reform and changing views on the causes of violence have called into question law enforcement’s role in public safety. While intergovernmental transfers have historically supported traditional policing, the American Rescue Plan Act’s Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (CSLFRF) affords cities the opportunity to disrupt the status quo by providing them with the federal funds and flexibility to reshape their public safety policies around Community Violence Interventions (CVIs). This article examines how 13 cities that participated in a White …

“You’Re Only As Good As Your Resources”: Exploring Virginia Police Chiefs’ And Sheriffs’ Decisions As Public Administrators To Engage In Community Collaborations With Domestic And Sexual Violence Agencies, Christine E. Wengloski

Theses and Dissertations

The collaborations between domestic and sexual violence victim-serving agencies (DSVAs) and law enforcement agencies help connect victims of crime to needed services. To maximize the benefits of these victim-serving initiatives in Virginia, it is imperative that victim-serving agencies understand the perceptions and factors that influence the decision-making of law enforcement administrators. In this study, I first present a theoretical framework of Herbert Simon’s Decision-Making Theory as a guide to understanding police chiefs and sheriffs as public administrators. A review of the literature demonstrates gaps in existing scholarship around chiefs’ and sheriffs’ decision-making about domestic and sexual violence victim-serving initiatives. Next, …

Victim-Offender Relationships And Their Influence On Crime Brutality And Sentencing Outcomes In Capital Homicide Cases, Samantha Jane Trowbridge

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This study examines capital murder cases in Missouri from 1976 to 2022 to explore how victim-offender relationships relate to both the brutality of homicides and sentencing outcomes. It addresses three main questions: What are the different types of victim-offender relationships in these cases, and how frequently does each type occur? How do these relationships influence sentencing outcomes, particularly the likelihood of receiving the death penalty versus life without parole? And which types of relationships are associated with the highest and lowest levels of brutality? The study uses official court records and applies a coding process to analyze relationship type, sentencing …

Urban Horizons: Navigating Sustainable Practices In 15-Minute Cities, Raul Allen Mejia

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

Climate change poses a pressing challenge of the modern age. With wide-ranging implications for society, many fields play a role in shaping public policy and fostering awareness about the environmental crisis. One approach, the 15-minute city, aims to ensure that all essential services and amenities are accessible within a 15-minute walk or bike ride. This vision reflects a shift toward more sustainable and resilient urban environments. Cities such as Amsterdam, Boston, and Oxford, in adopting key elements of this concept, present diverse case studies for understanding how 15- minute city frameworks can effectively maximize socioeconomic interests. The analysis of Amsterdam’s …

Neighborliness Vs. Car Culture: Traffic Violence, Pedestrian Deaths In Philadelphia, And Vision Zero's Concept Of Equity, Regina Austin

Journal of Law and Mobility

Vision Zero (VZ) is a transportation policy adopted by major cities like Philadelphia that aims to reduce or eliminate traffic violence, primarily through improvements in the transportation infrastructure. VZ prioritizes engineering (over enforcement), community engagement, and perhaps most importantly, equity. In the battle for superiority among users of land-based travel modes in America, automobile drivers have benefited from arterial highways that speed traffic flows around and through urban enclaves to reach center city business districts and from a car culture that encourages dominant behavior behind the wheel. Pedestrians have been among the losers.

In Philadelphia, as elsewhere, pedestrians who are …

Searching For The City - A Study Of Tourism And Urban Development, Ethan Miskelly Paul

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis uses an interdisciplinary study of urban tourism development to examine a number of points of interest with regard to urban tourism governance. It explores what motivates cities to plan development projects intended to attract tourism, what distinguishes the city as ‘place to visit’ from ‘place to live’ from the perspective of a resident, and if tourism is a viable strategy for promoting sustainable development and resident wellbeing in an urban environment.

These questions are ever more relevant as tourism itself comes to represent a major driver of the global economy. Beginning with a review of the relevant literature …

Career And Technical Education: Evaluating The Benefits Of Partnerships Among Schools And Organizations, Rosalynn Tennie

Doctor of Education Dissertations

Employers are experiencing skill gaps when hiring employees. Employability skills are taught in high school through Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses. High school students receive hands-on experience through work-based learning opportunities such as internships with the help of organizations in the community. The partnership between schools and organizations is vital to the success of internships. This study investigated the lived experiences of organizations that offered internships to high school students. The study focused on a school district in the northeastern central region of North Carolina. The primary method of data collection used in the study was interviews. The interviews …

Digital Community Policing: Using Social Media To Engage Students And Enhance Campus Safety, Dathan C. Jackson

Dissertations of Practice

Campus police increasingly rely on social media to reach students, yet little is known about how these efforts influence trust, collaboration, and perceptions of safety. This qualitative case study examined how one public research university’s police department uses social media to support community-policing goals. Data came from student interviews, departmental policy analysis, and a review of social media content.

Findings showed three central patterns. First, top-down, compliance-oriented messaging limited connection and failed to meet students’ expectations for open, two-way communication. Second, consistent and authentic engagement, online and in person, helped build shared responsibility and strengthened trust in campus safety efforts. …

Infant Health Equity In Oklahoma: A Mixed-Methods Exploration Of Personal, Organizational, Environmental, And Policy Factors Contributing To Black Infant Mortality, Ayesha M. Lampkins

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Black women experience higher rates of adverse birth outcomes, including infant mortality. There is a gap in the literature on multilevel strategies to achieve infant health equity and engage Black women. This study is unique in that no others have looked at the views of Oklahoma Black women to inform and address infant health equity strategies and utilize these views to provide context to existing infant mortality data. The study research questions are: 1) What views on infant health equity and infant mortality are held by Black women in Oklahoma? 2) What differences exist between Black and White mothers in …

Deportations And Debt: How The Trump Administration’S Immigration Policies Affect The United States’ National Debt Situation, James D. Webster

Honors Theses and Capstones

The value of the United States’ national debt measured as a share of its economic output, otherwise known as its debt-to-GDP ratio, is projected to reach an all-time high and continue to climb over the span of the next 30 years. This can be attributed to a combination of tax and spending policies which generate annual budget deficits as well as a projected slowdown of economic growth. A major factor contributing to this situation is the slowing growth of the labor force in the United States. As time goes on, the growth of the U.S. population slows, and immigration becomes …

Legislatures And Localized Resentencing, Ronald F. Wright, Kay L. Levine

Faculty Articles

Recent legislation, exemplified in statutes from California and Washington, creates new methods for resentencing defendants in old cases. These laws place controlling authority for resentencing in the hands of local officials, especially local prosecutors, and invite variation at the county level.

While some new procedural channels for reducing the sentences of people convicted of past crimes are mandatory, in that they entitle certain defendants to resentencing if they were convicted of certain crimes or were subject to certain penalty enhancements that are no longer valid, other statutes create discretionary resentencing channels. In the discretionary channels, the chief local prosecutor has …

Moral Panic Or Public Health Crisis? Lessons From Drugs And Gambling For “Addictive” Design, Matthew B. Lawrence, Haomin (Kevin) Yan

Faculty Articles

In her important book, Unwired: Gaining Control Over Addictive Technologies, Gaia Bernstein illustrates the value of a comparative approach, drawing lessons from fights around the regulation of tobacco and ultra-processed food for the regulation of social media. Building on Bernstein’s work, this symposium contribution aims to draw additional insight from experience with drug and gambling regulation for the regulation of social media, video games, AI, and other potentially-addictive technologies.

Specifically, after introducing Bernstein’s book and the foundation it lays, we draw six lessons from the study of psychoactive drugs and gambling. As we elaborate below: Lesson one is that …

การก่อแรงร่วมสร้างเมืองปลอดภัยเชิงรุกเพื่อป้องกันอาชญากรรม : กรณีศึกษา ต.บ้านโพธิ์ อ.เมือง จ.สุพรรณบุรี, กฤติ ม่วงศิริ

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

การสร้างเมืองปลอดภัยเพื่อป้องกันปัญหาอาญากรรม ยังประสบสภาพปัญหาช่องว่างเชิงนโยบาย (Gaps for Policy Formulation) การกำหนดตัวชี้วัดให้สอดคล้องในพื้นที่ (Contextual Index) และสภาพปัญหาด้านการคำนึงถึงผู้มีส่วนได้เสีย (Stakeholders Concern) ส่งผลให้การกำหนดนโยบายขาดความชัดเจนและอาจไม่สอดคล้องกับบริบทในพื้นที่ ผู้วิจัยจึงมุ่งศึกษาสภาพปัญหาและนำเสนอนโยบาย “เมืองปลอดภัยเชิงรุก (Pro-Active Safe City)” เพื่อแก้ไขปัญหาช่องโหว่ของการตีความและการกำหนดเป้าหมายผ่านตัวชี้วัด โดยนำร่องการศึกษาในพื้นที่ศึกษา ต.บ้านโพธิ์ อ.เมือง จ.สุพรรณบุรี โดยดำเนินการวิจัยแบบผสมผสานระหว่างการเก็บข้อมูลเชิงปริมาณ - เชิงคุณภาพ การออกแบบเชิงบูรณาการตามหลัก 4D Design Thinking และการวิเคราะห์เชิงพื้นที่ (Spatial Analysis) โดยริเริ่มสำรวจด้วยดัชนีตัวชี้วัดความปลอดภัยเชิงกายภาพรายพื้นที่ (Crime Vector Index: CVI) จากการสำรวจออนไลน์ ประชากรจำนวน 382 ราย เพื่อประเมินความเสี่ยงและความต้องการ และการเก็บข้อมูลเชิงคุณภาพผ่านการสัมภาษณ์เชิงลึกผู้บริหารและผู้แทนท้องถิ่นจำนวน 7 ราย และการจัดอภิปรายกลุ่มสำหรับภาครัฐ-ภาคประชาชนจำนวน 25 ราย ทั้งนี้ ผลการศึกษาวิจัย พบว่า ประชาชนในพื้นที่มีความต้องการให้เน้นย้ำกลไกการสร้างพื้นที่ส่วนกลางสำหรับการใช้ชีวิตร่วมกันและการพักผ่อน (ร้อยละ 25.13) การติดตั้งเสาไฟส่องสว่าง (ร้อยละ 21.20) และการสร้างอาสาสมัครชุมชนช่วยลาดตระเวนในพื้นที่ (ร้อยละ 14.66) และประชาชนในพื้นที่มีความกังวลต้องรับมือความเสี่ยงของอาชญากรรม โดยต้องการมุ่งเน้นการปกป้องความปลอดภัยในชีวิต การแก้ไขปัญหาพื้นที่เสี่ยง สกัดกั้นความเสี่ยงจากภัยภายนอก ในขณะที่ความเข้มแข็งทางสังคมและการสร้างแนวร่วมเฝ้าระวังภัยอาชญากรรมเป็นกลไกสำคัญ และการสร้างพื้นที่ส่วนกลาง ขยายโอกาสในการใช้พื้นที่ร่วมกันและเศรษฐกิจในพื้นที่ ฉะนั้น แนวทางการสร้างเมืองปลอดภัยสำหรับพื้นที่ จึงนำเสนอในรูปแบบเมืองปลอดภัยเชิงผสมผสาน โดยออกแบบมิติความปลอดภัยเชิงกายภาพผ่านการติดตั้งอุปกรณ์และเทคโนโลยีเฝ้าระวังจุดเสี่ยงบริเวณพื้นที่รอยต่อ และมิตินามธรรมผ่านกลไกสร้างชุมชนเข้มแข็งให้เป็น “หุ้นส่วนความปลอดภัยสาธารณะ (Strategic Partnership for Public Security)” และสร้างความสมดุลระหว่างสังคม - เทคโนโลยีโดยเน้นย้ำการมีส่วนร่วม (Engagement) จากผู้มีส่วนได้เสียทุกภาคส่วน (Stakeholders) สร้างความตระหนักการรู้สึกเป็นเจ้าของพื้นที่ (Sense of Belonging) เป็นพลเมืองตื่นรู้ (Active Citizen) เพื่อป้องกันอาชญากรรมพื้นฐาน (Street Crimes) และยาเสพติด และยกระดับสู่การสร้างข้อเสนอแนะเชิงปฏิบัติการ เพื่อแนะนำกระบวนการและขั้นตอนการปฏิบัติ และธรรมาภิบาลด้านเมืองปลอดภัย ด้านกฎ …

ข้อพิจารณาการปฏิบัติต่อผู้ต้องขังป่วยระยะสุดท้าย, สุชัญญา คันศร

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

การวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อ 1) ศึกษาระบบข้อพิจารณาในการปล่อยตัวผู้ต้องขังที่ป่วยในระยะสุดท้าย 2) ศึกษาระบบการดูแลผู้ต้องขังที่ป่วยในระยะสุดท้าย และ 3) เสนอแนะแนวทางระบบการปฏิบัติต่อผู้ต้องขังที่ป่วยในระยะสุดท้าย การวิจัยเป็นการวิจัยเชิงคุณภาพ โดยใช้การสัมภาษณ์แบบกึ่งโครงสร้าง (Semi-structured Interview) กับผู้ให้ข้อมูลสำคัญ จำนวน 6 คน ที่มีประสบการณ์เกี่ยวข้องกับระบบราชทัณฑ์และการดูแลผู้ป่วยระยะสุดท้าย ได้แก่ นักทัณฑวิทยา เจ้าหน้าที่ราชทัณฑ์ นักทัณฑปฏิบัติ นักสังคมสงเคราะห์ พยาบาลวิชาชีพ จากทัณฑสถานโรงพยาบาลราชทัณฑ์ และศูนย์มิตรอาทร โรงพยาบาลตำรวจ ข้อมูลที่ได้ถูกวิเคราะห์ด้วยวิธีการวิเคราะห์เชิงเนื้อหา (Content Analysis) ผลการวิจัยพบว่า 1) ระบบการพิจารณาการปล่อยตัวผู้ต้องขังที่ป่วยระยะสุดท้าย มีความสำคัญอย่างยิ่งต่อผู้ต้องขังที่ป่วยระยะสุดท้าย หลักเกณฑ์นี้ช่วยให้ผู้ต้องขังได้รับโอกาสกลับไปอยู่กับครอบครัวและชุมชน ขณะเดียวกันก็ยังคงรักษาเป้าหมายด้านความปลอดภัยของสังคมผ่านกระบวนการคัดกรองและประเมินความเสี่ยงอย่างเหมาะสม 2) ระบบการดูแลผู้ต้องขังที่ป่วยระยะสุดท้าย มีเป้าหมายหลักในการบรรเทาความทุกข์ทรมานของผู้ป่วยทั้งทางร่างกาย จิตใจ สังคม และจิตวิญญาณ การดูแลนี้ครอบคลุมตั้งแต่ผู้ป่วยได้รับการวินิจฉัยจนถึงวาระท้ายชีวิต และยังรวมถึงการดูแลครอบครัวในช่วงการสูญเสีย แต่ยังเผชิญกับข้อจำกัดในเชิงโครงสร้าง ทรัพยากรบุคคล 3) แนวทางระบบการปฏิบัติต่อผู้ต้องขังที่ป่วยในระยะสุดท้าย ในด้านกายภาพของสถานพยาบาลในเรือนจำ ออกแบบจัดสรรพื้นที่เฉพาะสำหรับผู้ป่วยระยะสุดท้าย (Palliative Care Zone) ปรับรูปแบบการเยี่ยมที่มีความยืดหยุ่นมากกว่าผู้ต้องขังทั่วไป และการสร้างทีม Palliative care ให้แข็งแรงในการดูแลแบบประคับประคอง (Palliative Care)

Healing Communities With Police Divestment: Seeking Abolition Through Transformative Reform And Community-Government Collaboration, Jessica E. Gillson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Concerns about the efficacy and sustainability of the U.S. carceral system have persisted throughout the country’s history, recently fueling renewed activism and bipartisan calls for reform. However, proposed solutions remain divisive. This thesis first defines the current status of our prison systems, then explores collaborative alternatives to incarceration and policing that support communities and break cycles of incarceration.

Focusing on partnerships among local governments, community organizations, justice-involved individuals, and law enforcement, this study examines holistic approaches to crime prevention, reentry, and reintegration. Using an interdisciplinary framework incorporating restorative justice, community resilience, and systems theory, it investigates how community-based strategies can …

Racial Disparities In Crime-Based Removal Proceedings, Emily Ryo, Ian Peacock, Weston Ley, Christopher Levesque

Faculty Scholarship

Whether and to what extent racial minorities experience harsher treatment or face worse outcomes in court are questions of fundamental importance for any justice system. Questions of racial inequality are especially salient in the context of removal proceedings that are triggered by immigrants’ criminal history. Many individuals in crime-based removal proceedings are immigrants of color who face a host of legal disadvantages that are tantamount to double penalties for the same crime for which they have already been punished through the criminal justice system. This Article offers, for the first time, systematic empirical analyses of crime-based removal proceedings decided between …

Fortifying Nuclear Security: Cultivating Vigilance Culture Among Personnel For Enhanced Prevention And Response, Sabariah Kader Ibrahim, Sonia Naz

International Journal of Nuclear Security

A vigorous nuclear security culture is crucial in preventing the theft and sabotage of nuclear material. It requires vigilance from all employees because relying solely on closed-circuit television systems and security personnel is insufficient to deter potential threats. Employee attentiveness plays a vital role in recognizing and preventing suspicious activities. However, achieving a strong security culture is challenging because of the lack of incidents in some facilities, leading to employee complacency.

This paper highlights the pivotal role of personnel in the success of nuclear security measures, emphasizing the need for a proactive and vigilant mindset among staff. Through the analysis …

Women In Nuclear Security: The United Arab Emirates Story, Mohamad Z. Zineddin

International Journal of Nuclear Security

Historically in the United Arab Emirates, security personnel stationed at nuclear sites were typically men with military or policing backgrounds. Although these groups bring important, transferrable skills and experience to the nuclear security mission, some Emirati stakeholders recognize the increased benefit of a greater diversity of voices and backgrounds within the nuclear security team hierarchy. By recruiting from a wider range of disciplines and encouraging gender diversity, the security team could develop broader insight into security challenges, and a greater variety of perspectives could bring forth more innovative solutions.

When aligning a diverse, multinational workforce with a common mission, all …

Declarative Design For Spatial Analysis Models, Yassine Elouri

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become indispensable tools in addressing complex spatial challenges across diverse domains, including urban planning, environmental conservation, and climate change. However, the technical expertise required to use GIS effectively, particularly proficiency in general-purpose programming languages (GPLs), remains a significant barrier to broader adoption. Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) have proven to lower this barrier by offering tailored abstractions that simplify problem-solving in specific domains. Despite their potential, the GIS domain lacks a formal DSL framework that bridges the gap between the design of spatial analysis models and their practical implementation. This research addresses this gap by proposing Gaia, …

Material, Health, And Social Vulnerability And Loneliness Among Older Adults: From The Welfare Regime Perspective, Ji Young Kang, Oejin Shin, Sojung Park, Jihye Baek, Minyoung Kwak

Faculty Publications - Social Work

Loneliness in later life is a significant global public health issue that negatively impacts well-being, life satisfaction, and mental health. This study investigates how material, health, and social vulnerabilities contribute to loneliness among older adults using a welfare regime framework. It examines the link between vulnerability and loneliness in the United States, Korea, Sweden, Spain, and Germany using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) alongside its international sister studies, encompassing both Western and East Asian welfare states. Findings indicate that older adults in less generous welfare regimes experience higher levels of loneliness and material vulnerability. A multidimensional approach reveals that …

Improving Understanding And Connections For Preparedness, Mitigation, Response, And Recovery For Tornado And Straight-Line Wind Events In Virginia: Summary Of The Inaugural Virginia Tornado And Straight-Line Wind Summit, Wie Yusuf, Monica Arul, Joshua Behr, Kaleen Lawsure, An Huy Pham, Henry Attivor

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Background

The Virginia Tornado and Straight-Line Wind Summit, the first of its kind in the Commonwealth, was held on October 15, 2025 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. The Summit had several goals, including:

• Understanding Virginia’s wind risk and learning the science behind it.
• Hearing lessons learned from emergency managers who have experienced extreme wind events.
• Learning about practical steps to prepare, mitigate, and respond to severe wind events.
• Learning best practices for timely and actionable communication with the public before and after events.
• Strengthening interagency coordination and connecting with others to share resources, align priorities, and coordinate resilience planning. …

Resilience And Stress: Trauma, Grit, Resilience And Perceived Organizational Support In First Responders, Paige Gallas Parker

Theses and Dissertations

First responders comprise an underserved and under-researched population, despite consensus that their work involves exposure to potentially traumatic events. Inconsistent definitions of “first responder” and unclear prevalence rates of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) limit efforts to assess and promote resilience. This study examined the relationships between grit, resilience, perceived organizational support, and trauma symptoms in a sample of 234 first responders (69% firefighters, 29% lifeguards) employed by a large West Coast fire department. Measures included a demographics questionnaire, the Professional Exposure to Traumatic Events (PETE), the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-5), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10), the Short Grit Scale …

Managing Kentucky's Coal Severance Tax Decline: Lessons From Other States, Ryan Reed

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Governments levy severance taxes on the extraction of natural resources such as coal, oil, and natural gas. This can be a substantial source of revenue for these entities, but overreliance on this has led to what is now known through extensive research as the so-called ‘resource curse’. This has been observed to create political instability, corruption, and repression within resource-rich areas. Additionally, it cripples the ability of the area to pursue future non-resource related economic development after the resource is depleted. A Sovereign Wealth Fund has been touted as one such solution to bridge this gap as an intergenerational wealth …

Integrating Spatial Statistics And Decision Analysis For Wildfire Risk Mapping: A Case Study Of The Kootenai National Forest, Elijah Kordieh Mensah

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Wildfire risk in the western United States has intensified in recent decades due to intersecting forces of climate change, systematic fire suppression, and expanding human settlement in fire-prone regions. This thesis presents a comprehensive spatial assessment of wildfire risk in the Kootenai National Forest (KNF) and its surrounding landscape in northwestern Montana, integrating wildfire likelihood, suppression difficulty, evacuation vulnerability, and building exposure into a unified spatial statistical framework. The research addresses a critical gap in spatial wildfire risk modeling by focusing on the need to assess fire threats in relation to local operational constraints and community vulnerabilities.
Drawing on geospatial …

The Silent Cycle Of Violence: The Consequences Of Forced Return Migration And Strategies For Sustainable Reintegration, Guadalupe Loza-Mendez

CMC Senior Theses

The consequences of weaponizing deportations reshape human security in countries receiving high levels of forcibly returned migrants. Through a comparative case study, this thesis examines how different forms of organized crime — cartels in México and gangs in El Salvador — interact with and capitalize on returnee populations. While the origins and manifestations of organized crime differ between México and El Salvador, both demonstrate clear linkages between forced return migration from destination countries and declining human security in countries of origin through three key mechanisms: imported criminal structures, targeted recruitment of vulnerable returnees, and trickle-down effects on local communities.

Many …