Digital Commons Network^™

The Implementation Of The Family Chaos Diversion Pilot In Worcester, Massachusetts, Nina Thacker

Sustainability and Social Justice

In October 2017, the city of Worcester began a three-month pilot program that worked to divert youth charged with domestic assault and battery crimes away from the criminal justice system and towards restorative services. Studies show that incapacitation, especially of low level offenders, does not reduce crime or produce better outcomes for individuals, families, or communities. Thus, it is essential to explore alternatives, such as diversion programs, that work to downsize the prison population, target the factors contributing to delinquency, and rehabilitate rather than purely punish offenders. For this study, I interviewed personnel involved in the implementation of the Family …

Barriers To Local Food Producers In Arkansas, Courtney Cooper, Zola Moon

Horticulture Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to identify and describe the barriers that prevent local food producers from selling their food in a mainstream market. This study utilized both qualitative and quantitative analysis through a mixed-methods survey. Information collected through the study had a two-fold focus: barriers that producers face (or that they are providing assistance for) and what are consumers looking for in products that these producers are supplying. The major barriers found for local food producers in Arkansas were lack of capital and obtaining infrastructure for packaging, processing, and storing products. Qualitative analysis of textual interviews was done …

Epoca House: The Implementation Strategy, Courtney Thomas, Yaffa Fain, Shuxiao Teng, Mingjun Xie

School of Professional Studies

This capstone report provides a written strategic implementation plan for EPOCA House. EPOCA, Ex-Prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement, is a non-profit dedicated to creating better resources and opportunities for prisoners and ex-prisoners in Worcester. The organization’s most recent initiative, EPOCA House, is a transitional facility that will provide reentry services and temporary housing to ex-offenders in and around the Worcester area. Recently, Massachusetts passed a comprehensive criminal justice reform bill that will dramatically reduce the number of people being incarcerated; however, little attention is focused on what will happen to individuals after they leave prison. At the same …

Clear The Air: Moving Towards A More Supportive, Welcoming, Tobacco-Free Clark University, Edward Aroko, Simon Elliot, Jackson Espe, Donovan Smith, Michael Spanos

School of Professional Studies

The deleterious health effects of the consumption of tobacco products, especially for youth, have been documented thoroughly and are nearly universally recognized. Numerous federal, state, and local regulations, coupled with health education and tobacco cessation initiatives have been launched to address these effects. Although these pushes have done much to reduce the rates of preventable health conditions and death due to the usage of tobacco, there remains much work to be done at the local level to discourage and disrupt patterns of substance use and abuse. The mission of Clark Clear the Air is to propose various and creative ways …

Life Can Change In The Blink Of An Eye Capstone, Christopher Rutigliano, Jillian Elalaoui, Kristin Humphrey, Phillip Gates, Mohamed Ndjikam, Highness Meena, Adam Menard, Spencer Pickney

School of Professional Studies

Texting and driving is one of the most widespread and uncontrollable of epidemics that have arose to prominence in the 21st century. Texting and driving is now a global issue, that has left nations across the road scrambling to implement new laws and preventative measures to stunt the increasing rates of accidents and fatalities caused by texting and driving. The severity of the issue has lead to a multitude of different entities ranging from domestic and foreign governments, cell phone and car manufacturers, cell phone carriers, and insurance agencies to seek new methods to prevent texting and driving. Determining the …

The Effects Of Community Policing Practices And Related Social Demographic Variables On City Crime Rates, Keighan Richardson

Honors Projects in History and Social Sciences

Selected studies show that community policing practices help deter crime, meaning that an inverse relationship exists between the two of them. This project does an in-depth analysis of this relationship using a variety of control variables, all of which have been shown to be predictive of crime. Crime is measured as the total crime rate (violent crimes + property crimes per 100,000 population). The data are city level, and my key control variables include city size, economic inequality, race, educational level, and strength of gun laws. There are eight variables that define community policing practices; they correlate strongly in a …

Electric Light: Automating The Carceral State During The Quantification Of Everything, R. Joshua Scannell

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation traces the rise of digitally-driven policing technologies in order to make sense of how prevailing logics of governance are transformed by ubiquitous computing technology. Beginning in the early 1990s, police departments and theorists began to rely on increasingly detailed sets of metrics to evaluate performance. The adoption of digital technology to streamline quantitative evaluation coincided with a steep decline in measured crime that served as a proof-of-concept for the effectivity of digital police surveillance and analytics systems. During the turbulent first two decades of the 21^st century, such digital technologies were increasingly associated with reform projects designed …

Aging In Beverly, Massachusetts: A Community Needs Assessment, Caitlin Coyle, Claire Wickersham, Jan Mutchler

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

This report describes research undertaken by the Center for Social & Demographic Research on Aging within the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, on behalf of the Beverly Council on Aging and Senior Community Center (hereto referred to as the Beverly Senior Center), to investigate the needs, interests, preferences, and opinions of Beverly’s population of residents who are age 60 and older. The contents of this report are meant to inform the Beverly Senior Center, and organizations that work with and on behalf of older residents of Beverly, for the purposes of planning and coordination of services, but …

Domestic Violence And Women: A Critical Analysis Of Us Help & Support Websites And Traditional News Media Representation, Jessica Lammon Oswald

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper critically examines the ways in which US government organizations that provide help for domestic violence victims and traditional news media, specifically The New York Times, communicate the various factors of domestic violence and its victims. The author provides a focused literature review of gender, sexism, race, power, and voice, related to the idea of domestic violence in the US society and culture today. The literature review also demonstrates the need to investigate this issue as represented through mediated forums in the backdrop of the 2016 Trump Presidential campaign. The analysis reveals that communication about domestic violence encompasses …

Weaponization Of Data For Governmentality, Juliana Son

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Who is a citizen? Who is a threat to public safety? Who is worthy of protection? What it means to be a valued body in the United States has been written into code, where the state and corporations have embraced an algorithmic approach to national security. Algorithms, previously praised for their neutrality, have been taking a neoliberal turn.

This thesis will examine how data is used by the state as a governance practice, specifically looking at how such practices have left certain communities more precarious and vulnerable than others. My aim is to show how the weaponization of data is …

Do Students Feel Safe On Campus? A Policy Evaluation Of The Clery Act, Amanda Sidwell

Honors Theses

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (the Clery Act) is federal policy aimed at creating safer college campuses. It attempts to provide students with statistics on crimes that occur on campus and inform them of the security policies and various resources available to them. The Clery Act also mandates that institutions of higher education (IHE) send out alerts of emergencies that occur on campus.

So how safe do Western Michigan University (WMU or “Western”) students feel on campus? This study attempted to answer this question by asking students through a survey. The students’ …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 93, No. 36 [37], Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. This issue contains articles:

• Deletter, Emily. Cuts Leave Honors College without Two Employees
• Harsh, Spencer. Fight for Food – Food Pantry
• Stahl, Matt. Kentucky Street Apartments Set Rent to Increase
• Stahl, Matt. Parking Permit Prices Could Increase Due to Budget Cuts
• Fight Night: Tensions Loom Over Upcoming Student Government Association Election
• Vogler, Emily. Editorial Cartoon re: Student Government Association
• Harsh, Spencer. Rock Climbing: A Quest Toward a Healthier Lifestyle
• Walker, Silas. Throwing Punches: Sigma Chi Fight Night
• Chisenhall, Jeremy. Football Team Dismisses Quinton Baker
• Jessie, Alec. Up to Speed …

Understanding The Experiences And Perceptions Of Specialty Mental Health Probation Officers, Brice Terpstra

Theses and Dissertations

Over the last two decades, specialty mental health probation caseloads have become increasingly common – focusing on offenders with serious mental illness (SMI). Scholars have examined overall effectiveness, the organization and design of these programs, and the differences between standard probation and specialty probation. Less attention, however, has been placed on examining how the officers supervising these SMI caseloads perceive their roles as specialty mental health probation officers and how discretion impacts their caseload management. In the current study semi-structured interviews were conducted with a complete census of 24 SMI caseload probation officers and supervisors in Maricopa County, Arizona over …

Riseing Issues In Iowa, April 2018, Uni Rise

RISEing Issues Newsletter

Covers topics related to the lives of refugees and immigrants of interest to UNI RISE (Refugee & Immigrant Support and Empowerment)

Sociology 101 Introduction To Sociology Syllabus Spring 2018, Evelyn Reynolds

Sociology Courses

No abstract provided.

The Sociological Eye 2018, Loyola Marymount University, Sociology Department

The Sociological Eye Student Journal

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Rebecca Sager & Dr. Stacy Burns

Co-Editors: Jonathan Santos, Alex Meek, & Kees Wilcox

How Do Native American Women Win Elections In Non-Native Districts?, Opalina Peralta

Political Science Theses and Capstones

In light of the recent tensions between Native American tribes and non-tribal elected leaders over such issues as environmental protection and treaty violations, caused in part by the United States' disproportionately Caucasian electoral representation, I aim to bring light the obstacles that Native Americans face in electoral politics. I analyze state legislative elections in which Native American candidates win. Using the data from the 2016 National Census and from University of North Dakota, Professor Mark Trahant. I hypothesize that the reason many Native American candidates win is because they are tied to non-native elements of the community. The two candidates …

Examining The Impact Of A Criminal Background In Social Work Education, Amy S. Vliek

Dissertations

Many returning citizens want to access higher educational institutions (HEIs) to access desired professions and increase employability. However, many HEIs and profession education programs have restrictions in place for returning citizens. An MSW is the most sought-after degree for returning citizens. However, social work education has restrictions in place for returning citizens. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the lived experiences of MSW returning citizen students considering these restrictions. The dissertation attempts to answer the following research questions: How did applicants who disclosed a criminal background at the time of application experience the MSW application process? Did the …

Path2 Services Court: A Process Evaluation, Octavio Jimenez

Master's Projects

In 2014, the Santa Clara County Superior Court received a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant to improve the efficacy of the Juvenile Treatment Court (JTC) and Court for the Individualized Treatment of Adolescents (CITA) programs by streamlining the referral, screening, and court hearing processes. Receipt of the grant allowed the Superior Court to integrate JTC and CITA to establish the Progress Achieved Through Hope and Holistic Services (PATH2 Services) Court.

This research analyzed whether the Santa Clara County Superior Court successfully integrated the JTC and CITA programs when it established PATH2 Services. In addition it determined …

The Santa Clara County Reentry Resource Center: Reentry Service Linkage And The One-Stop Shop Model, Rose Redlich

Master's Projects

AB 109 has resulted in a significantly greater need for reentry programs and services across California. Many county law enforcement officials now view reentry programs and services as a promising approach for keeping recidivism rates low.

Santa Clara County has recognized the value of well-coordinated, quick, and efficient reentry service delivery. In response to AB 109, the Office of the Sheriff and Department of Correction partnered with the Probation Department, Office of the County Executive, Behavioral Health Services Department, Custody Health Department, Ambulatory Care, and the Social Services Agency to establish the Santa Clara County Reentry Resource Center (SCCRC) in …

Social Banishment And The Us “Criminal Alien”: Norms Of Violence And Repression In The Deportation Regime, David C. Brotherton

Publications and Research

I interpret data from an ongoing participant observation study of deportation hearings in the North-East United States using two analytical themes: (i) the emergence of the deportation regime and its mechanisms of structural violence, and (ii) the norms of violence in the spaces of the deportation regime. By deportation regime I am referring to the institutional systems and practices created under the emergence of an exceptional security state and the discrete and not so discrete apparatuses and rituals employed to discipline the minds and bodies of documented and undocumented immigrant labor and the collateral consequences that result. Whereas structural violence …

Family Impact Seminar 2018: The Kids Are Not All Right: Policy Options To Address Youth Trauma In Massachusetts, Denise Hines, Laurie Ross Ph.D, Marianne Sarkis Ph.D

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

Family Impact Seminars are a series of annual seminars, briefing reports, and discussion sessions that provide up-to-date, solution-oriented research on current issues for state legislators and their aides. The seminars provide objective, nonpartisan research on current issues and do not lobby for particular policies. Seminar participants discuss policy options and identify common ground where it exists.

The Kids are NOT All Right: Policy Options to Address Youth Trauma in Massachusetts is the ninth Massachusetts Family Impact Seminar. Today’s seminar is designed to emphasize a family perspective in policymaking on issues related to early intervention in childhood trauma, sex trafficking and …

Undimmed By Human Tears: American Cities, Philanthropy, And The Civic Ideal (1992), Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

Commissioned by the Council on Foundations in 1992 at a time when urban concerns had fallen off the national agenda, this article contains summary recommendations of an investigation into the response of grantmakers and urban policy experts after the deadly violence that occurred in Los Angeles that spring. An April 29 state-court acquittal of police officers accused of using excessive force against Rodney King had sparked two days of burning and looting throughout South Central Los Angeles, an area hard-hit by job loss and plant closings that over the previous twenty years had become demographically and economically transformed. Once an …

Rise To The Challenge & Reach New Heights!, Jennifer Hyman, Jody Urquhart, Nely Galan, Brigid Schulte

Women's Summit Presented by Bryant University

It has been quite a year since our last Women’s Summit – one filled with accomplishments, changes, and challenges.

In the Fortune 500 annual list of top CEOs, women claimed 32 spots – a record number that included the first Latina. The reality, however, is that they make up just 6.2 percent of those listed, and U.S. women earn 20 percent less than men, on average.

The painful experiences that many people encounter in their careers became public through revelations about misconduct that surfaced in entertainment, business, sports, the news media, and in politics. These events – which continue to …

State Immigration Policies: The Role Of State Compacts And Interest Groups On Immigration Legislation, Erin Trouth Hofmann, Paul D. Jacobs, Peggy Petrzelka

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

US states are active in enacting immigration policies, which vary widely and have substantial impact on the lives of immigrants. Our understanding of what produces these divergent state laws remains limited. Qualitative research demonstrates the importance of a 2010 immigration compact, supported by a powerful religious organization, in shaping immigration policies in Utah, and the Utah Compact was held up as a model for other states. But is the experience of Utah applicable across other states? We test the effects of compacts and interest groups on immigration policy adoption across all 50 states between 2005 and 2013. Our findings suggest …

The Deweyan Approach To Learning Victim Advocacy: Seeing Beyond Stigmas And Facilitating Second Chances, Ashley Peake Wellman, Sherri Dioguardi

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Fundamentally, criminal justice practitioners are public safety promoters, yet safety can be compromised if a divide exists between them and the communities they serve. The best way to train future criminal justice practitioners may be found in the progressive education proposed by John Dewey in the early 20th-century. Dewey’s experiential approach, specifically service-learning, has gained traction as an effective teaching tool for broadening perspectives, deepening understanding of diverse populations, and fostering higher order reasoning, all of which are critical characteristics for criminal justice professionals as well as for all American citizens. Undergraduate students participated in service-learning during a semester-long honors …

Embracing The Transitioning Workforce Into The Civilian Work Force, Eric Pethtel

Purdue Road School

The City of Fishers created a program (RISE: Reentry Initiative through Structured Employment) to recruit motivated employees into public works positions and aid rehabilitation of citizens who are faced with finding meaningful employment after paying their debt to society. After completing a training regimen developed by the city, they’re offered an opportunity to apply for full-time employment. Join us to learn about this innovative program.

Approaches To Communicating Flooding Information In Hampton Roads: Results From Surveys Of Local Government Staff, Ashley M. Gordon, Michelle Covi

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

The objectives of this report are to identify current communication strategies regarding coastal flooding and present opportunities for improvement and collaboration within the Hampton Roads region. The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission partnered with Old Dominion University to design two surveys of local government staff, the first regarding flooding outreach and the second regarding flooding notification methods. This report summarizes the results of each survey and synthesizes challenges described by respondents. Opportunities and resources, including local initiatives and guides developed by federal agencies and emergency notification providers, are highlighted to assist local government staff in addressing challenges related to flooding …

Planning For An Age-Friendly Belmont, Jan Mutchler

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

Belmont is a primarily residential community of around 25,000 residents with a small commercial district. Public transit access to downtown Boston and neighboring Cambridge offers Belmont residents access to services, employment, and recreational activities outside of the town’s boundaries. With 22% of its population age 60 and older, Belmont is expecting to see an increase in the number of older residents in the coming years. Commissioned by the Belmont Council on Aging (COA), this report will serve to help the COA and Town to better understand Belmont’s current assets, potentials, and challenges and to plan for changing community needs.

Female Law Enforcement Officer's Experiences Of Workplace Harassment, Vanessa Brodeur

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Prior research shows that female police officers experience more incidents of harassment than male police officers, and these experiences of harassment have been shown to have negative effects on their mental and physical health, retention, and job satisfaction. The current study examined the experiences of harassment of 20 female police officers from agencies around Southern California. A survey interview was used, and it was found that none of the women had experienced quid pro quo harassment, but every woman recalled experiencing environmental harassment at some point throughout their career. Hostility towards women was more commonly experienced than harassment which was …