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Children‘S Protagonism At The Centro Cultural Da Criança: A Case Study, Claudia Protasio Ceccon

Dissertations

This dissertation provides a thick description and discussion of how child protagonism, participation and autonomy were implemented in an out of school center – The Children‘s Cultural Center – in a favela, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The researcher visited the center for more than two years, twice a week from February 2008 to June 2009, and once a week from June 2009 to July 2010. She conducted in-depth interviews with educators and children, recorded observation sessions in the activity rooms, and observed actualization sessions for educators and family days. This study describes the perspectives and expectations of the Center‘s …

Direct Care Workers Perceptions And Practices Related To Quality Of Life In Long Term Care, Karen M. Kinyon

Dissertations

The focus of this case study was to discover how DCWs define success in their practice and what institutional and individual factors contribute to their successful practices. It describes how DCWs perceive quality of life for NH residents and how their practices reflect quality of life indicators. The conceptual model for which this research is based on was developed around the concepts that individual and institutional factors contribute to the successful practices of direct care workers; and, how these DCWs perceive quality of life influences how they practice to promote quality of life for nursing home residents. Using a case …

Mainstreaming Evaluation: Four Case Studies Of Systematic Evaluation Integrated Into Organizational Culture And Practices, Amy M. Gullickson

Dissertations

Following a literature review, a researcher generated a descriptive theory of evaluation mainstreaming, the integration of systematic evaluation into the culture, systems, and job responsibilities of organizations. She then explored the validity and generalizability of the theory in the National Science Foundation’s grant-funded Advanced Technological Education Program using mixed methods research. Four centers were chosen based on quantitative survey responses which suggested that the organizations were likely to be mainstreaming evaluation. For each center, the researcher conducted a site visit, interviews, and document review to understand (i) the processes by and extent to which evaluation became part of everyday operations; …

Development Of The Trauma Informed System Change Instrument: Evaluation Of Factorial Validity And Implications For Use, Margaret M. Richardson

Dissertations

This paper outlines the process of developing and evaluating an instrument measuring the extent to which a complex community system has changed as a result of a community initiative, and for purposes of this research, doing this within the content area of developing local trauma informed child welfare systems in specific communities in Michigan. The instrument was designed for the Southwest Michigan Children's Trauma Assessment Center's (CTAC) SAMHSA-funded initiative to bring a trauma informed perspective to professionals working with children in child welfare. Because there is not a standard set to define what constitutes trauma informed treatment of children in …

Paths To Upper Level Positions In Public Relations, Patrick J. Bishop

Dissertations

Preparation for a career in the field of public relations (PR) is based on a set of unique core competencies typically found in liberal arts. Though PR professionals rarely gain business degrees, they acquire knowledge, skills, perspectives, and strategies wellsuited to executive-level positions in business. Additionally, managerial positions in PR offer greater potential for influence than task-oriented roles with limited strategic opportunity.

This study examines the advancement of PR practitioners into upper-level management positions in business. The purpose of this research is to identify factors and behaviors that contribute to, or hinder, PR professional’s attainment of top-management positions. This study …

African American Student Retention: A Study Of The Effects Of An Intrusive Advising Intervention At A Career College, Deanna R. Burt

Dissertations

This casestudy integrates mixed methodologies to examine the retention effects of an "intrusive advising" intervention using two groups of at-risk, first-time, first-year, African American students enrolled in a predominantly-White, career ("proprietary") college. By design, the study uses data from mixed sources to respond to the overarching research question, "How does intrusive advising influence the retention of African American students who are at risk of attrition?"

Quantitative data was collected and analyzed using a quasi-experimental research design methodology. Qualitative data was collected and analyzed from focus groups, personal interviews, and field notes as a means to provide deeper understanding of the …

Making Sense Of Roles And Responsibilities: A Socialization Study Of College And University Music Department Chairs, Jason Robert Werkema

Dissertations

Department chairs have received considerable attention in higher education literature due to the many challenges associated with their mid-level administrative position. Those who accept the department chair position report limited preparation, little or no formal training, increased stress, and overall difficulty functioning in their numerous roles. The troubled experience of many who have served as department chairs was the central problem driving this research.

The music discipline is particularly complex when compared to other academic disciplines because of its unique characteristics and challenges. The purpose of the current study was to understand and describe the process by which music department …

Rethinking Social Work's Role In Public Assistance, Julie Cooper Altman, Gertrude Schaffner Goldberg

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article presents an argument for revisiting social work's relationship to public assistance in the wake of 10 years of welfare reform. Three case studies drawn from a mixed-method study of the quality of life of former TANF recipients illustrate the range, depth and complexity of the needs of persons while they are on the welfare rolls, transitioning off and living without cash relief. The article briefly traces the history of social work's commitment to and provision of social services for this population and argues that it may be time to revisit the profession's role in public assistance. In light …

Organizational Culture And Change: Understanding The Western Herald's Newsroom Culture, Sarah Ling Wei Lee

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore organizational culture and change in a college newspaper's newsroom. Student journalists often use college newspapers as a means to get editorial experience and also to get published. Even so, the college newspaper newsroom is unlike a typical metropolitan or local community newspaper's newsroom in the way that it experiences change. College newspapers encounter organizational change as part of the newsroom's inner workings constantly because of frequent turnover and other factors. As a result, they are suitable for understanding how staff members make sense of newsroom culture in a dynamic, changing environment. Two …

Social Work In The Workfare Regime: A Comparison Of The U.S. And Australia, Catherine Mcdonald, Michael Reisch

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Australia and the U.S. are both liberal welfare states. During the past quarter century, they have begun the transition from a welfare to a workfare state, albeit at different rates and through different paths. Social work developed in each country in ways congruent with the local liberal welfare state, and as such, has been destabilized by the transition to the workfare regime. Drawing on neo-institutional theory and extant empirical research in other professionalized fields, the paper suggests that this transition can be understood as an aspect of institutional change. By comparing the developments in two similar, yet difterent nations, this …

Early Childhood Program Director Leadership Characteristics And Program Quality, Barbara J. June

Dissertations

This phenomenological research study was conducted to explore and describe how the characteristics, traits, and styles of directors, as described and perceived by the teachers, reflect the factors that are currently addressed in the indicators forming the basis for evaluating program quality. Teacher participants from six sites participated in a survey, questionnaire, and interview to determine director and program profiles. The Program Quality Assessment score was used as a standardized data source.

The data were collected, coded, and analyzed to determine the director and program profiles for each of the sites. The director and program data for each site were …

Moment Of Encounter: A Critical Exploration Of Parent-School Communication, Gary Samuel Marx

Masters Theses

Relationships among parents and schools are situated in a complex hegemony. Communication is central to the identification and construction of power in schools. Schools employ a model of communication that locates power predominately with their representatives and values parents for conformity to organizational expectations. Shared power relationships challenge actors to encounter one another and co-contribute to the development of children. The goal of this study is to uncover various meanings and understandings from what parents recall from Moments of Encounter with school personnel. Such an examination is designed to reveal power at the microlevel, in the encounter itself, as well …

Community College Partnerships With Business And Industry, Maryann Sharpley Lavender

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe, analyze and interpret the expectations and outcomes of industry partnerships with community colleges to determine their value, emerging themes that have contributed to their success or demise, and whether the goals initially set forth in establishing these partnerships was achieved. This study is based upon resource dependency theory, which proposed that if government and state funding given in support of community college education was diminishing, then the need is to better understand the value of and how community college and industry partnerships are working toward continuation. Resource dependency theory revolves around the …

An Evaluative Model For Incorporating Diversity Training Into Teacher Preparation, Amy Sue Desonia

Dissertations

In 1949, W.E.B. DuBois noted, "Of all the rights for which the world has struggled and fought for 5,000 years, the right to learn is undoubtedly the most fundamental (Foner, 1970, pp. 230-231)." Yet, inequity, so deeply embedded in the United States public education system, severely inhibits the free exercise of this right by many. Teachers struggle to teach, and students struggle to learn. Preparing pre-service teachers for diversity in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade (PK-12) classrooms throughout the United States is becoming increasingly urgent based on demographic trends--students will progressively become more diverse as they represent different races, ethnicities, cultures, …

An Analysis Of The Woodland Ceramics From Galum Crossing (Site 21c4-29): An Early Late Woodland Occupation In The Southern Illinois Interior, Gabrielle Aberle

Masters Theses

Situated on upper Galum Creek at the northwest margin of the Big Muddy River drainage basin, the primary occupation at Gal um Crossing consisted of an early Late Woodland habitation dating from approximately A.D. 450 to the early A.D. 700s. The cultural-historical affiliation of the Woodland occupation and the relationship of Galum Crossing to local and regional contemporaneous sites were assessed using radiocarbon dating and an attribute-based analysis of the Woodland ceramic assemblage. This provided data for examining the designation of the proposed Jamestown phase (Moffat 1991, 1992) as a transitional unit between the Middle Woodland Crab Orchard Tradition and …

The Use Of Critical Ethnography In Managed Mental Health Care Settings, Cassandra L. Bransford

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

How social workers in managed mental health care settings exercise their professional authority may have profound consequences for the provision of ethical and value-based services to vulnerable populations. Building upon Gidden's theory of structuration, this article describes the use of critical ethnography as a specific research methodology that may support social workers in the exercise of their authority. This article examines the historical roots of critical ethnography and provides a detailed examination of its underlying assumptions and research procedures. The article concludes with a case example of a critical ethnography conducted within a managed mental health care setting.

Harnessing The Power Of Story: Using Narrative Reading And Writing Across Content Areas, Steven Nathanson

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This article reviews research to examine how teaching and learning are improved with the use of narrative story materials. Stories help to focus the reader's attention and build personal connection, resulting in better retention and deeper subject-matter understanding. Four key advantages of narratives cited by D. T Willingham are discussed. The effectiveness of stories is further supported by a review of research from diverse fields, including cognitive psychology, social and physical sciences, education, and communication. Suggestions and strategies for the use of narrative materials in content area settings beyond the elementary classroom are also provided.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 33, No. 3 (September 2006)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• THE EFFECTS OF PROLONGED JOB INSECURITY ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING OF WORKERS - Cynthia Rocha, Jennifer Hause Crowell, and Andrea K. McCarter
• THE POET/PRACTITIONER: A PARADIGM FOR THE PROFESSION - Rich Furman, Carol L. Langer, and Debra K. Anderson
• "PUT UP" ON PLATFORMS: A HISTORY OF TWENTIETH CENTURY ADOPTION POLICY IN THE UNITED STATES - Michelle Kahan
• ALTRUISM OR SELF-INTEREST? SOCIAL SPENDING AND THE LIFE COURSE - Debra Street and Jeralynn Sittig Cossman
• ECONOMIC WELL-BEING AND INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE: NEW FINDINGS ABOUT THE INFORMAL ECONOMY - Loretta Pyles
• JOB SATISFACTION AMONG TANF LEAVERS - Jeff Scott
• SEARCHING …

The Effects Of Prolonged Job Insecurity On The Psychological Well-Being Of Workers, Cynthia Rocha, Jennifer Hause Crowell, Andrea K. Mccarter

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Job insecurity has been increasing since the 1980s. While researchers have found job insecurity to be negatively associated with multiple indicators of well-being for workers and their families in cross sectional studies, less is known about the long term effects of prolonged job insecurity. Specifically, there is a need to collect measures of both insecurity and its consequences at multiple time periods. The current study followed workers for 3 1/2 years to assess the effects of chronic job insecurity on psychological distress. Results indicate that while workers reported increased feelings of security over time, there were longer term negative effects …

Leadership Styles Inventory Of Michigan Career And Technical Education Area Center Principals, Alan D. Papendick

Dissertations

This study was conducted to determine the leadership styles of the career and technical education (CTE) area center principals in Michigan and how effective they are perceived by their subordinates. The concept of leadership traits or styles has been studied extensively within the K--12 general education setting, but lacks sufficient empirical evidence within the CTE community. The population for this study included all the CTE area center principals in Michigan and their determined subordinates: lead administrative assistant, counselor, paraprofessional, and four faculty members. This study analyzed data collected from 19 CTEarea center principals and 70 subordinates. The instrument used for …

Impact Of Enrollment Management, Marketing And Strategic Planning On Adult Higher Education Enrollment Patterns, Kinfu Adisu

Dissertations

This qualitative study examined the impact of enrollment management, marketing and strategic planning practices (or lack thereof) on enrollment trends in two graduate programs across five Grand Rapids, Michigan-based institutions of higher education. Deans, department heads or program directors associated with the Master's of Business and Master's of Education degrees in each institution were interviewed, as were regional administrators and marketing personnel for a total of 15 participants. In addition, the challenges faced by these graduate programs and how such challenges impacted enrollment patterns were analyzed.

Findings indicate that to a large degree the concepts of enrollment management, marketing and …

Western News, June 22, 2006, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story highlights: Johnson is new EUP dean; Merrion leads search committee for provost; Undergraduate program review details explained; Obituaries for Audrey Davidson, Amy Kizziee, Max McKitrick; On Campus with Elena Wood.

Implementing Community Policing Successfully: An Analysis Of The Degree Of Police Engagement With The Philosophy And Practice Of Community Policing, Robert G. Muladore

Dissertations

The police community in the United States began to adopt the philosophy of community policing in the early 1970s as a solution to rising crime rates. Since that time a great many police departments have officially stated that they have embraced and practice this concept. When later studies began to question theeffectiveness of community policing in reducing crime rates, measures such as reduction of citizens' fear of crime and citizen's attitudes toward policebecame the secondary measures of success of this philosophy. Few comprehensive studies have specifically looked at the degree of congruence betweenpolice agency adoption of the community policing philosophy …

Comparative Genomic Analyses And Expression Of A Set Of Overlapping Open Reading Frames Of Frog Virus 3, Type Species Of Ranavirus (Family Iridoviridae), Wendy Guat Hoon Tan

Dissertations

Frog virus 3 (FV3) is the type species member of the genus Ranavirus (family Iridoviridae ). To better understand the molecular mechanisms involved in the replication of FV3, including transcription of its highly methylated DNA genome, the complete nucleotide sequence of the FV3 genome has been determined. The FV3 genome is 105, 903 base pairs long excluding the terminal redundancy. The G+C content of FV3 genome is 55% and it encodes 98 non-overlappingpotential open reading frames (ORFs) containing 50 to 1293 amino acids. Eighty-four ORFs have significant homology to known proteins of other iridoviruses, whereas 14 are unique FV3 ORFs. …

Performance Evaluation Models For Strategic Decision-Making: Towards A Hybrid Model, Geraldina Villalobos Quezada

Dissertations

Performance management systems serve strategic, administrative, and developmental purposes; therefore, their role in an organization cannot be overestimated. As a function of this strategic role, different evaluation models have been developed and implemented by organizations: BSC, CIPP, TQM, Six Sigma, and AOP.

Following a review of current evaluation theory and practice models that focus on improving strategic decision-making in organizations, four research questions were developed that sought to identify the interrelationships, evaluation components, evaluation indicators, data collected to support the evaluation,evaluation implementation protocols, quantitative and qualitative analyses, outcomes, and critical factors of the BSC and CIPP models.

A multiple case …

Review Of Changing Welfare Services: Case Studies Of Local Welfare Reform Programs. Michael J. Austin (Ed.) And Welfare Reform In West Virginia. Robert Jay Dilger (Ed.). Reviewed By James Midgley., James Midgley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Michael J. Austin (Ed.), Changing Welfare Services: Case Studies of Local Welfare Reform Programs. New York: Haworth Press, 2004. $69.95 hardcover, $39.95 papercover Robert Jay Dilger et al, Welfare Reform in West Virginia. Mogantown, WV: University of West Virginia Press, 2004. $30.00 papercover.

Western News, June 16, 2005, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story highlights: Federal funding puts focus on South Asia; Andreadis named dean of EUP; Aviators compete in all-women's national air race; Glista is MSHA president-elect; On Campus with Cam Vossen.

The One-Stop Permit And Plan Review Center: Three Case Studies, Kenneth John Schilling

Dissertations

This study provides a detailed description of the one-stop permit and plan review center, an organizational innovation that is being introduced in numerous U.S. cities to improve governmental performance. The change represents a streamlining of local development review and code compliance functions.

Utilizing a qualitative methodology, the research records this one-stop application's diversity of form, contrasts it with the system it replaces, explores therationale and process that led to its adoption, and enumerates its useful features. The research is based on case studies of three Midwestern cities of comparable size: Grand Rapids, Michigan; Dayton, Ohio; and Des Moines, Iowa.

On …

Management Style, Organizational Climate, And Organizational Performance In A Public Mental Health Agency: An Integral Model, Pamela Sue Meserve Erbisch

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Losing The "Eyes In The Back Of Our Heads": Social Service Skills, Lean Caring, And Violence, Donna Baines

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Violence in the social services work place in general, and the developmental services in particular,h as increased in the last several years. Findingsf rom an ethnographic study suggests that new, lean forms of work organization remove opportunities to use or learn many of the tacit or practice skills workers previously used to keep themselves and their clients safer in the work place. This article describes many of these skills and the new management schemes that remove the possibility to develop or transmit these praxis skills. The article concludes by analyzing the convergence between the new labour processes and the competency …