Digital Commons Network^™

Financialism In Pretrial Release And Criminal Case Outcomes: A Relative Comparison Of Finances, Ethnicity And Sex, Daniel White

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of financial resources upon pretrial release and criminal case outcomes. Data related to the pretrial and criminal case outcomes was analyzed to determine the effect that financial ability has on being released prior to trial and the subsequent adjudication outcome rendered. Other relationships included were ethnicity and sex based on the literature in this area.

The data that were chosen for this study included individual and county-level data compiled by the State Court Processing Statistics (SCPS) program of the Bureau of Justice Statistics on the processing of a sample of …

Post-Disaster Effects Of Hurricane Katrina On Significantly Affected College Students Compared To Moderately Affected College Students, Charles Thomas Coleman

Dissertations

This quantitative study used independent t tests to explore the level of significance with four dependent variables of educational effects (grades), financial impact (monetary hardship), physiological effects (aches, pains, or injury), and psychological effects (mental stability or illness) related to significantly affected students and moderately affected students of post- Hurricane Katrina. To determine if there was a significant difference between moderately affected students compared to significantly affected students, a questionnaire specific to the dependent variables was administered to The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) students.

Data gathered in this study suggested the greatest significant difference among significantly affected students and …

Predicting Counseling Psychologists' Attitudes And Clinical Judgments With Respect To Older Adults, Jody K. Tomko

Dissertations

With an emphasis on developmental, strengths-based approaches, as well as a commitment to training multiculturally competent practitioners, the profession of counseling psychology and counseling psychologists are potentially equipped to help address the mental health needs of older adults. Amid projections that Baby Boomers will utilize mental health services at a higher rate than previous cohorts (Rosowsky, 2005), understanding the factors involved in preparing counseling psychologists to provide services to older adults is critical. Older adults, however, have not traditionally been a population served by psychologists (Laganà & Shanks, 2002). Further, possible factors involved in the training and experience of counseling …

Unwanted Sexual Experiences: Preliminary Development And Validation Of A Behavioral Analog Measure For Risk Perception, Response Appraisal, And Response, Robin M. Carter-Visscher

Dissertations

Based on research findings indicating that sexual victimization is a prevalent problem on college campuses and has significant consequences for victims, researchers have examined the effectiveness of sexual assault education programs on reducing incidents of sexual victimization and have found programs to be unsuccessful. Other researchers have begun to investigate behavioral factors associated with risk for sexual victimization in order to better understand mechanisms of sexual victimization and revictimization before developing and implementing interventions. One hypothesis that has received increased attention in recent years is that women with a sexual victimization history may have deficient risk perception and effective responding …

The Theory And Practice Of Drug Courts: Wolves In Sheep Clothing?, Kristen E. Devall

Dissertations

This dissertation is a case study of an adult drug court in a medium-size Midwestern city. The primary impetus behind the creation of the drug court model was the partial recognition that the "get tough" approach to crime and the "war on drugs" was ineffective in "solving the United States' drug problem. Drug courts represent an integration of a public-health approach and a public-safety strategy of fighting crime and administering "justice." The bulk of the extant research regarding drug courts addresses one central question: "Do drug courts work?" Researchers and evaluators alike have attempted to answer this question over the …

Emotion Recognition And The Propensity To Engage In Sexually Coercive Behaviors: A Study With College Males, Beth J. Dietzel

Dissertations

Several variables have been investigated over the past years as risk factors for sexual aggression. Among them, substance use/abuse, family environment, attitudes towards women, and lack of empathy. Although researchers have identified several risk factors, predicting aggressive behaviors continues to be a difficult task. One variable that has received less attention in the literature is men's emotion recognition skills. Do men's emotion recognition skills affect their propensity to aggress?

The purpose of this study was to investigate emotion recognition skills/deficits and how such skills predict propensity to engage in sexually coercive behavior. There were two main goals of this study. …

The Effects Of Defendant Race, Psychological Expert Witness Race, And Racially Salient Psychological Expert Testimony On Juror Decision Making, Lily Cheyanne (Manick) Munavu

Dissertations

The present study examined the effects of defendant race, psychological expert witness race, the racial salience of a psychological expert witness's testimony, and modern racism on juror decisions. Participants were randomly assigned to one of eight conditions that varied the race of the defendant (Black or White), the race of the psychological expert witness (Black or White), and the racial salience of the expert witness testimony (racially relevant or not racially relevant). Participants were asked to review the case documents of a criminal case in which the defendant was charged with battery and robbery. Participants rendered verdicts for both charges, …

Differences In Learning Motivations Of Professionals And Nonprofessionals Participating In Two South Mississippi Institutes For Learning In Retirement, Constance Marie Farmer

Dissertations

This study investigated the differences in learning motivations of (a) professional and nonprofessional, and (b) urban and rural members of two south Mississippi Institutes for Learning in Retirement (ILR) programs in an attempt to expand C. O. Houle's conceptual model of continuing professional education into the retirement years and to determine if the life transitions of the older adult unite the learning orientations of these subpopulations into self-actualizing (growth) motives as part of the maturation process identified y Abraham Maslow.

Ninety urban ILR and 60 rural ILR members were recruited. Professional was defined as having completed a bachelor's degree or …

A History Of The Tara Winds Community Band, Jonesboro, Georgia, 1988-2008, Myra King Rhoden

Dissertations

The Tara Winds Community Band is an all-adult symphonic band based in Jonesboro, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. In its short twenty-year history, the ensemble has gained national recognition and has performed for a variety of audiences at regional and national conventions. Over seventy percent of the members are active or retired band directors from the metropolitan Atlanta area or are in the music profession as an elementary music teacher or private instructor. The ensemble contributes to the wind band repertoire through its commissioning project, and supports the community through its scholarship foundation. The information provided about this ensemble may …

This Journey Is Not For The Faint Of Heart: An Investigation Of Challenges Facing Transgender Individuals And Their Significant Others, Emily Lenning

Dissertations

This study investigates the challenges imposed on transgender individuals and their significant others as a result of the deviant labels that have been used to stigmatize non-traditional expressions of gender. Using webbased surveys and an on-line focus group, the themes of language and its limitations, psychological trauma, and social challenges are explored and analyzed using discourse analysis. With a total of 311 subjects, 254 transgender individuals and 57 significant others, this research challenges the utility of gendered language as it is currently constituted, addresses the importance of significant others in understanding the transgender experience, and identifies the various social, psychological …

A Critical Analysis Of The Relationship Between Salvation And Social Justice In The Minjung Theology, Ilmok Kim

Dissertations

The intent of this study is to investigate the relationship between salvation and social justice in minjung theology. Minjung theology grew out of social awareness in the 1970s that created adesire to fight oppression and misery in Korea.

The introductory chapter defines the problem, which is to critically evaluate minjung theology's attempts to reconstruct the traditional Korean Christian notions of salvation. This study is primarily limited to the works of two representative minjung theologians: Nam Dong Suh and Byung Mu Ahn.

Chapter 2 traces the historical context of Korea from which minjung theology emerged. The chapter particularly notes the religious …