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Well-Being Indicators, Social Globalization, And Unaccompanied Child Migration From Central America, Lucia Farriss

Dissertations

This research investigates the effect of well-being indictors and social globalization on the migration of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) from Central America. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the surge in UAC that began in 2014 at the United States southern border is driven primarily by violence, or whether other factors are at play. Using data for the period 2008-2018, the apprehension of UAC serves as a proxy for measuring unaccompanied child migration to the United States. The four countries of focus are El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico as they contribute the largest numbers of child …

Victims Of Child Sex Trafficking: Are U.S. Pediatricians Ready To Identify, Assess, Treat And Protect Them?, Bidisha Sinha

Dissertations

The trafficking of children for commercial sexual exploitation is a gross violation of human rights and a global, public health issue that is rapidly growing and prevalent. Due to the clandestine nature of this crime and the general lack of public knowledge about it, identifying and protecting victims of child sex trafficking (CST) is fraught with challenges. Therefore, it is imperative that healthcare professionals - often the only professionals with whom CST victims come in contact while in captivity - are properly educated and trained on this topic. A literature review reveals there is little knowledge about pediatricians' education and …

Cruzando Fronteras: The Immigration Experiences Of Central American Women, Cecelia Quinn

Dissertations

The present study explores the immigration experiences of Central American women. As violence and poverty mounts in the Northern Triangle; Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, immigrants continue to migrate north. Immigrant women risk their lives seeking safety, opportunity, and reunions with loved ones. Central American women's immigration journeys are unique and they face the added dangers of gender-based violence. This exploratory, qualitative study guided by feminist standpoint theory allowed the women to tell their stories in their own language, as they saw fit. Twelve Central American Latinas shared their immigration experiences, responding to semi-structured interviews. Through interpretive phenomenological analysis and …

Theoretical And Conceptual Lacunae In Sociological Theories Of Development: The Puerto Rican Anomaly, Dennis Malaret

Dissertations

Puerto Rico is presently facing serious economic and social problems which are characteristic of a neocolony. Many of these problems are associated with Puerto Rico's historical path of industrial development adopted in 1940s. This study, therefore, focuses on economic and development policies implemented in Puerto Rico since the early 1900s and the political and economic role the U.S. has played in such policies.

To understand Puerto Rico's structural problems, a theoretical framework has been developed. This framework combines developmentalist theories such as modernization, dependency, capitalist world economy and indigenous Puerto Rican theorizing. These theories have been critically assessed for their …

Sisters In The Hood, Deborah Burris-Kitchen

Dissertations

This research assembles and organizes the literature in the areas of African-American women, the political economy of racism, the Black feminization of poverty, drug use and distribution, and gang violence. This dissertation explores extant theoretical approaches with a special emphasis on their relationship to the underground economy. The researcher uses ethnographic methods to examine the role that female gang members play in the underclass drug infested community of south central Fort Wayne, Indiana. Of the Black females interviewed, some were drug dealers, others were using illegal drugs, and still others were females who just found themselves in the inner-city, in …