Digital Commons Network^™

African-American Trailblazers: The Sociopolitical Factors Of Success, Tyler B.K. Myers

Honors Thesis and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Mass Atrocity Response Operations: Doctrine In Search Of Strategy, Alan J. Kuperman

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Most literature produced in the past two decades on the prospects of intervention to prevent genocide can be summed up by a cliche ́: ‘‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way.’’1 In that context, a vital if imperfect corrective is provided by MARO: Mass Atrocity Response Operations; A Military Planning Handbook (henceforth, MARO), produced jointly by Harvard University and the US Army. Contrary to the na ̈ıve optimism of many past analyses, this report starts with the fact that, without feasible options, effective humanitarian military intervention is unlikely, if not impossible.

Author Biographies

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Florida Sentinel Bulletin, March 25, 2011, Gwen Hayes

Florida Sentinel Bulletin Collection

The March 25, 2011, issue of the Florida Sentinel Bulletin.

Florida Sentinel Bulletin, March 8, 2011, Gwen Hayes

Florida Sentinel Bulletin Collection

The March 8, 2011, issue of the Florida Sentinel Bulletin.

Book Reviews

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

American Muslim Identities: A Qualitative Study Of Two Mosques In South Florida, Azka Mahmood Mahmood

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Most existing research on Muslims and transnational Islam originates from Europe. However, the Muslim population in Europe differs from American Muslims in a number of important ways. In this research I aim to address the general paucity in sociological literature that originates from the U.S. and focus on the mosque as a space where American Muslim identity forms and evolves for both first- and second-generation American Muslims. I examine two American mosques in South Florida as the sites of the development of American Muslim identities based on ethnographic data and participant interviews. I find that the research sites perform functions …

Florida Sentinel Bulletin, January 14, 2011, Gwen Hayes

Florida Sentinel Bulletin Collection

The January 14, 2011, issue of the Florida Sentinel Bulletin.

Betwixt Safety And Shielding In The Academy: Confronting Institutional Gendered Racism—Again, Deirdre Cobb-Roberts

Educational and Psychological Studies Faculty Publications

This article represents a critical reflection of a Black African American female associate professor who, while teaching a diversity course, unknowingly enabled systems of power and privilege to undermine her faculty role in the course and in the academy. The author revisits a story of this experience and its vestiges using Critical Race Theory (CRT) and an autoethnographic approach. In doing so, she comes to terms with her complicity in supporting White supremacy and patriarchy and reclaims a voice previously suppressed yet still vulnerable in the matrix of institutional power. Two significant shifts are captured in this account--a narrative shift …

Transformative Professional Development In Unlikely Places: Twitter As A Virtual Learning Community, Kathleen P. King

Department of Leadership, Policy, and Lifelong Learning

This case study reveals new dimensions of transformative learning occurring through informal learning opportunities. The research results demonstrate that the individual’s learning spans understanding, networking, professional identity development, and transformative learning. Specifically, virtual online communities facilitated through social media provide professional networks and social relationships beyond the scope of the individual’s usual interactions and experience. Discussion and recommendations include using social media and virtual communities as instructional strategies for graduate studies and continued learning beyond formal education. The educational significance includes facilitating transformative learning in informal learning contexts, and using social media and online communities for professional learning.

An Architecture For Global Ubiquitous Sensing, Alfredo Jose Perez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A new class of wireless sensor networks has recently appeared due to the pervasiness of cellular phones with embedded sensors, mobile Internet connectivity, and location technologies. This mobile wireless sensor network has the potential to address large-scale societal problems and improve the people's quality of life in a better, faster and less expensive fashion than current solutions based on static wireless sensor networks. Ubiquitous Sensing is the umbrella term used in this dissertation that encompasses location-based services, human-centric, and participatory sensing applications. At the same time, ubiquitous sensing applications are bringing a new series of challenging problems.

This dissertation proposes …

Bagels, Beaches, & Bombers: Florida’S Jewish Community From 1929 – 1945, Jason Ashley Memmer

USF St. Petersburg campus Master's Theses (Graduate)

The purpose of this thesis is to recount the history and discover the beginning of modern Florida’s impressive Jewish community. While it is believed that Jews have lived in the state under Spanish, British, Confederate, and American flags, the Hebrew population did not see rapid expansion until the mid-twentieth century. Therefore, I will seek to examine the various events and people who influenced the massive waves of migrations, and show how World War II is responsible for creating the lasting affinity between Jews and the Sunshine State. This study will also provide insight into today’s population distribution, voting trends, and …

The Ethics Of Shaping Perceptions Of Reality: What Journalists Can Learn From Cartographers And Shamans, Christopher J. Dorsey

USF St. Petersburg campus Master's Theses (Graduate)

Journalism has the unique ability to shape the public’s perception of reality. Because humans are limited in experience and knowledge, an understanding of the world is shaped by what information is available to each individual. As a major societal institution, journalism has a public forum with which to release relevant, timely and useful information that can influence these perceptions. When it comes to building perceptions of reality, there are potential harms that can arise such as enhancing fear, confusion, stress, and building a worldview that can lead to uninformed or destructive decisions. Essentially, a journalist has as much ability to …

The Quarterly Interview: Tony Stamatoplos, Anthony Stamatoplos

USF St. Petersburg Campus Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Maladjustment And Power Conceptualisation Of Diversity In Organisations: Implications For Cultural Stigmatisation And Expatriate Effectiveness, Arthur D. Martinez, Gerald R. Ferris, Sharon Segrest, Ronald M. Buckley

USF St. Petersburg Campus Faculty Publications

Belonging to a group that is in the minority in an organization (e.g., racial, cultural) inherently puts individuals at a social disadvantage among the majority group, which can position them in ways so as not to be able to build political skill and acquire power and influence in organizations. Those in the minority must feel genuinely committed to their groups while simultaneously leveraging opportunities outside their groups, if they are to secure and maintain personal power. The propositions provided in this conceptualization argue that individuals who are less committed to their group tend to be significantly more personally maladjusted, which, …

Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 2011-2012, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg

Academic Learning Compacts

The Academic Learning Compact for 2011-2012 for Interdisciplinary Social Sciences.

Four Popular Books On Consumer Debt: A Context For Quantitative Literacy, Andrew J. Miller

Numeracy

The topics of credit cards, mortgages, subprime lending, and fringe banking are rich sources of problems and discussions for classes focused on quantitative literacy. In this theme book review, we look at four recent books on the consumer debt industry: Credit Card Nation, by Robert Manning; Maxed Out, by James Scurlock; Collateral Damaged, by Charles Geisst; and Broke, USA, by Gary Rivlin. Credit Card Nation takes a scholarly look at the history of credit in America with a focus on the genesis and growth of the credit card industry up to the turn of the 20th century. Maxed Out also …

Cybercrime Victimization: An Examination Of Individual And Situational Level Factors, Fawn T. Ngo, Raymond Paternoster

Criminology Sarasota Manatee Campus Faculty Publications

Using a sample of college students, we apply the general theory of crime and the lifestyle/routine activities framework to assess the effects of individual and situational factors on seven types of cybercrime victimization. The results indicate that neither individual nor situational characteristics consistently impacted the likelihood of being victimized in cyberspace. Self-control was significantly related to only two of the seven types of cybercrime victimizations and although five of the coefficients in the routine activity models were significant, all but one of these significant effects were in the opposite direction to that expected from the theory. At the very least, …

General Strain Theory And Juvenile Delinquency: A Cross-Cultural Study, Wen-Hsu Lin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

General strain theory (GST) (Agnew, 1992, 2001, 2006a) is an established criminological theory. Although the theory has been examined by many and enjoys empirical support, some limitations of previous studies need to be addressed. First, previous studies have not incorporated all major types of strain in their models; hence, the effects of these strains on delinquency are unclear. Second, many previous studies did not include negative emotions and even negative emotions other than anger. Finally, and the most serious limitation, many previous studies rely heavily on samples from Western countries, mostly the U.S.; thus, possible cultural influences are ignored. Although …

Thinking About Peace, Conflict, And War: An Introduction To The Special Issue, Sondra J. Fogel, Daniel Liechty

Social Work Faculty Publications

This special issue had humble beginnings. As a matter of fact, odds were stacked against it, especially given that the original plan for this topic was for a panel discussion based on submitted work to the 2009 Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) Conference. However, not one abstract was received for this topic. I found this quite curious and alarming since at that time this country was engaged in two wars, there was continuous media coverage around "terrorist" activities, and we were experiencing frequent changes to our daily routines based on new security measures. Anti-war protestors were growing …

Mixed-Species Foraging Aggregation Of Kites In The Nesting Season, Bradley J. Bergstrom, Marvin T. Smith

Oriole

No abstract provided.

Design Of A Rainwater Catchment System, Neil Cammardella

Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two

Certain dimensions of a rainwater catchment and storage system were optimized using climatological and sociological data. Using only daily demand and average daily rain fall data, the following dimensions were optimized: 1) The horizontal roof area needed to collect the daily demand of water, 2) The tank size needed to store all the water collected during a heavy rain event, 3) When full, how long the tank will be able to provide water without rain, and 4) The diameter of the outlet flow orifice. With these calculations, we can design a rainwater catchment system that can capture the daily demand …

Undergraduate Catalog, 2011-2012, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg.

Undergraduate Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Disarming Youth Combatants: Mitigating Youth Radicalization And Violent Extremism, Alpaslan Özerdem, Sukanya Podder

Journal of Strategic Security

In the complex of motivating variables that define the push and pull factors behind recruitment and participation in civil conflict, "radicalization"—or "violent extremism"—is not conceived as a very strong motive, as is the case with studies on terrorism. As part of disarming youth combatants,the linkages between reintegration outcomes and possible rerecruitment into radical and extremist violence must be better understood to mitigate such risks. In our analysis, the policies guiding reintegration of child soldiers and youth should be better attuned to the relationship between recruitment motivations and reintegration outcomes, and must be approached from a political lens rather than a …

Radicalism Within The Context Of Social Movements: Processes And Types, Remy Cross, David A. Snow

Journal of Strategic Security

Drawing on work within the study of social movements and on conversion processes that is relevant to understanding radicalization, as well as on our own relevant research experiences and findings, especially on radicalism in right-wing and left-wing movements, we focus attention on the elements and dynamics of social movements, both intra-movement and extra-movement, that facilitate the grassroots development and maintenance of radical identities and enhance or diminish the prospect of engagement in radical action. In particular, we note the importance of free spaces to associate apart from the reach of control agents and adversaries,the development of affinity groups and a …

Children Who Die Of Abuse: An Examination Of The Effects Of Perpetrator Characteristics On Fatal Versus Non-Fatal Child Abuse, Donald L. Dixon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Approximately 2000 children die annually in the United States from abuse and neglect, but the interplay of factors such as perpetrator characteristics and family composition which place these children at risk have not been wellestablished. The review of the literature focuses on the correlation between child deaths resulting from abuse and perpetrator characteristics most associated with these deaths. Characteristics such as the perpetrator’s age, race/ethnicity, gender, alcohol and substance use/abuse and/or sale, and prior history of abuse are among those examined. Additionally, these factors are examined within ecological and risk and protective factor theoretical frameworks. It is argued that further …

Making Meaning With "Readers" And "Texts": A Narrative Inquiry Into Two Beginning English Teachers' Meaning Making From Classroom Events, Christi Underwood Edge

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Situated in a transactional paradigm, connections between the constructs of meaning and experience in both teacher education and reading in English education guided my construction of a theoretical framework called Classroom Literacy. This framework extends Rosenblatt's Transactional Theory of Reading (1978, 1994, 2005), broadens the concept of text to include the verbal and non-verbal communicative signs related to the context of the classroom, and positions teachers as "readers" of their classrooms as texts. The Classroom Literacy theoretical framework guided my thinking as I re-conceptualized three persistent problems in learning to teach (Hammerness, Darling-Hammond, Bransford, Berliner, Cochran-Smith, McDonald, & Zeichner, 2005)--an …

Mentoring Experiences Among Female Public Relations Entrepreneurs: A Qualitative Investigation, Sabina Gaggioli

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study expands from current mentoring literature within the mass communication field in understanding how mentoring can contribute to the successful careers of public relations entrepreneurial women. While many scholars indicate that mentoring is effective for women, the present study describes how mentoring has affected the women participants' public relations careers and personal lives. In-depth interviews focused on following five research questions: What have been the key contributing factors in the success of public relations women entrepreneurs? How has mentoring helped the women participants achieve their goals in a public relations career and in starting their own company? Which …

A Meta-Analysis Of Cultural Competence Education In Professional Nurses And Nursing Students, Ruth Wilmer Gallagher

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cultural competence learning interventions have been suggested to positively improve knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in both professional nurses and nursing students. A meta-analysis was used to examine the effectiveness of learning interventions designed to increase the cultural competence in professional nurses and nursing students. This is the first known meta-analysis of studies on cultural competence learning interventions in professional nurses and nursing students.

The meta-analysis was done using 13 research studies on cultural competence educational interventions from 1999 to 2010 that were published peer-reviewed literature found in electronic databases. Analyses were computed using a fixed-effect model and effect size data …

Hiv Education For Youth In Transition To Adulthood, Peter Eugene Gamache

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigated the role of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) stigma in program implementation. A case study design comprising qualitative methods provided in-depth, context-sensitive comparisons of adult educator (n = 8) and youth (n = 67) perspectives among programs that provide HIV services and those that provide risk reduction services. Nearly half of the youth participants were male, 42% were female, and 6% identified as transgender. Two thirds of participants were Black or African American, one quarter of participants were Hispanic or Latino, and the average participant age was 19. Although program personnel from all youth service programs in this …