Digital Commons Network^™

Pathways To Offending: Domestic Sex Trafficking, Julie Williams

Dissertations

Multidisciplinary professionals across criminal justice, public policy, education, and health and

human services have all attempted to understand the complex phenomenon of sex trafficking to assist victims, correct offenders, and prevent future abuse. However, current research has struggled to agree on terms, definitions of terms, best measures of prevalence, and recommendations to address sex trafficking in the United States. This review of current literature aims to offer a synthesized framework to conceptualize domestic sex trafficking perpetrator behaviors (what they do), their uses of force, fraud, and coercion (how they do it), and their motivations and justifications/rationalizations for those behaviors (why …

Diabetes-Related Distress Experienced By Saudi Adults With Type Two Diabetes Mellitus, Ibtesam Alqahtani

Dissertations

Living with a chronic condition such as diabetes mellitus (DM) and adhering to its complex treatment regimen strongly affect patients' psychological well-being as well as their physical health. Diabetes-related distress (DRD) is a common issue, affecting 40% of DM cases, but it often goes unnoticed and untreated. Despite the high prevalence of DM in the Saudi population, DRD has received little research attention.

This study explored the lived experience of DRD among Saudi adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Safeguarding From Scrutiny: Toward A Critical Consciousness Of Organizational Culture In Humanitarian Ngos, Andrew Henck

Dissertations

Humanitarian nongovernmental organizations (HNGOs) face a moment of reckoning brought on by decades of operational complexity and conceptual tensions between self-espoused values and external pressures as social change movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter demand organizational accountability. Humanitarian aid is being questioned systematically as most HNGOs continue reconciling with their colonialist origin stories from the Global North. Alongside a shrinking British foreign aid budget, and mounting pressures for proving value for money, HNGOs face a record number of natural disasters, energy crises, armed conflicts, and other major emergencies to respond to across the globe.

As the British aid sector …

An Exploration Of Faculty-To-Faculty Bullying In Nursing Education: The Prevalence, Who Is Bullying Whom, And Intent To Leave, Pamela Kemp

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This study, drawn from a nationwide sample with 1,407 responses, examines faculty-to-faculty bullying and incivility in nursing education. It assesses the prevalence of bullying and incivility within the organization, identifies the most commonly occurring bullying behaviors, and identifies and ranks the most frequently occurring uncivil workplace behaviors. The study also examines the relationship between bullying, incivility, and intent to leave the organization.

Research tools include the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R), the Workplace Incivility/Civility Scale (WICS), and the Turnover Intention Scale-6 (TIS 6). The analysis includes an evaluation of significant differences in which faculty members are targets of bullying or …

"Can These Bones Live?": The Relationship Between Transformational Leadership And Church Revitalization, Gerald Gifford

Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between Transformational Leadership Theory and church revitalization. The researcher attempted to answer two questions. (1) To what extent do pastors who led Kentucky Baptist Convention churches through a successful revitalization exhibit the characteristics of Transformational Leadership? (2) What, according to the pastors, were the primary causes of the revitalization? The MLQ survey by Mind Garden, Inc. was used to investigate the first question by comparing a target sample with a comparative group who did not lead a revitalization. Scoring on the MLQ confirmed that those in the target sample were transformational leaders. The comparative group, …

Cultivating Community: Investigating Performances Of Community In Ecovillage Settlements, Alex Lockwood

Dissertations

This dissertation considers the subject of ecovillages, intentional ecologically-oriented sustainable communities developed in the U.S., and the different understandings of community involvement, structure, and challenges that members of these communities confront in their efforts at managing these time and labor-intensive settlements. Informed by the work of performance ethnographers and critical phenomenologists, I consider twelve interviews I conducted on-site and electronically with people living in ecovillage settlements. Taking these interviews and my own observations from on-site visits to two ecovillages as entry points, I conducted a phenomenological analysis informed by a critical phenomenological ethos of these accounts, highlighting five motifs that …

Decoding The Public Service Announcements (Psas) Of Hiv/Aids: Evaluating Botswana's Aids Messages And Their Impact On 15 - 24 Ages, Enole Ditsheko

Dissertations

The study is grounded in the concept of “Start where the people are” (Nyswander, 1956) which suggests that effective health campaigns that promote prevention strategies to enhance the quality of life for those targeted must be rooted in the prevalent cultural practices and religious values of the receivers of the slogans, themes, and taglines. Health campaigns that superimpose the values of the outsiders promoted as universalized solutions have limited effectiveness.

Sub-Saharan Africa has only 1.3 billion people out of an estimated eight billion of which China and India each recording above two billion, cumulatively accounting for more than half of …

Interruptions And The Novice Emergency Nurse: A Focused Ethnography, Lisa Ann Winchester

Dissertations

The emergency department is a unique, unstudied, chaotic environment where novice emergency nurses are frequently interrupted. Novice emergency nurses’ impressions, values, beliefs, and attitudes attributed to interruptions were unknown. No prior research has explored the phenomenon of interruptions for the novice emergency nurse. A qualitative, focused ethnographic study was undertaken to understand novice emergency nurses’ impressions, values, beliefs, and attitudes about interruptions within the emergency department. Eleven nurses participated in semi-structured interviews via Zoom. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six phases of thematic analysis revealed three main themes (Values, Beliefs, and Attitudes) and 11 subthemes. Novice emergency nurses learn within a …

Jardín De Anjelita: Utilizing Arts-Based Methods To Inform Interculturalization In The Third Space, Amanda Jeanne Bucher

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to clarify characteristics of the intercultural classroom across three K-12 public-school sites. The relationship between intracultural conscientização and intercultural curriculum among multiracial educators was of particular interest to this study. Auto criticism methodology that housed arts-based methods was utilized in order to address the theoretical tension between multicultural absorption and post-colonial discourse of hybridity as it manifests in curriculum and ensuing classroom interaction operating as the third space. In this arts-based auto criticism, I explored the relationship between intracultural conscientização among four multiracial educators having one white parent and one parent of color and …

Women In Educational Leadership: An Embodied Narrative Inquiry, Pauline Avis

Dissertations

To meaningfully capture the lived experiences of women educational leaders working in American public schools, this study utilized the qualitative traditional research design and employed an embodied narrative inquiry to explore the primary research question: How do women educational leaders story their gendered experience of employment in the workplace? The purpose of this study was to describe and explore how female educational leaders in American public schools perceive the impact that gender identity construction has had on their ability to pursue successfully, attain, and retain educational leadership roles. Through a feminist semiotics theoretical lens, this study offers an examination of …

Dan Forrest’S The Breath Of Life: A Podium Guide With A Study Of The Compositional Techniques And The Integration Of Texts Used To Mirror The Emotional Arc Of The Human Life Cycle, Brian Keith Dukeshier

Dissertations

Dan Forrest’s the breath of life is a contemporary composition the author believes will be performed numerous times in future years after the extensive physical and emotional effect the pandemic had on the world. Although composed prior to the pandemic, the breath of life could bring comfort and a salve to the hurt and pain of humankind caused by the pandemic but will also affect the emotional state of loss for years to come for all humanity. This work exhibits Forrest’s use of acousmatic electronics with choir and orchestra. Biblical texts as well as poetry written by three poets from …

Testing And Refining An Integrated Ethically-Driven Environmental Model Of Clinical Decision-Making In Emergency Settings, Lisa Adams Wolf

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between multiple variables within a model of critical thinking and moral reasoning that support and refine the elements that significantly correlate with accuracy and clinical decision-making.

Felicidad Aplataná: How Dominican Migrants Living In The Nordic Countries Make Sense Of Their Happiness, Ivanna Lajara

Dissertations

As globalization evolves and the number of migrants and cross-cultural interactions among world citizens increases, understanding various aspects of immigrants’ experiences, including their happiness and subjective well-being will become fundamental to organizations, governments, and societies. However, there are substantial cross-cultural differences in how people understand their happiness, make sense of experiences that influence happiness, and how large-scale social trends, such as globalization, relate to the individual migration perspectives (Uchida and Ogihara, 2012). Research affirms culture as a key factor influencing happiness (Ye et al., 2015) and living in a foreign country may not only impact one’s perspective on life, but …

Medical Floor Confusion Assessment Method: Implementation And Assessment Of Risk Factors, Michaelynn R. Paul

Dissertations

An estimated 50% of older hospitalized patients experience delirium. This has created significant complications costing an estimated $164 billion or more per year worldwide. The ability to identify patients developing delirium would allow the implementation of specific interventions to decrease or eliminate the adverse effects of delirium. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to provide high quality delirium education to determine if medical unit nursing staff could successful implement the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) screening tool to identify patients experiencing delirium as the first phase of an overall plan. Implementation of the project followed Roger's diffusion of innovations …

Women's Lives After An Induced Abortion: A Phenomenological Study Of The Long-Term Post Abortion Experience, Rosanna Formanek Hess

Dissertations

Most previous research investigations on the post abortion experience studied women up to two years post abortion. The findings of many of these short-term studies indicate that 5-20% of women have severe psychiatric distress two years after the abortion. Little is known about the long-term effects of an abortion in women who experienced the event.

The purpose of this study was to explore the abortion experience in women who had a legal, elective, first trimester, induced abortion > 5 years before the interview. The main objective of the study was to learn how each woman was affected by the abortion and …

Living As A Dying Child: A Gadamerian Analysis Of The Poetry Of Mattie J. T. Stepanek, Corinne A. Settecase-Wu

Dissertations

Yearly, approximately 500,000 children live with life-limiting conditions in the United States; 50,000 die. Yet, details regarding children's days of living as dying are unknown. The aim of this qualitative hermeneutic study is to gain understanding of the phenomenon of living as a dying child. A Gadamerian-inspired approach was implemented to underpin the study, and to analyze poetic text to address the research question: What is it to be living as a dying child? The text sample included 499 poems written by Mattie J. T. Stepanek, a dying child. The Settecase-Wu Conceptual Guide was developed and implemented to ensure …

Gardening And Watering 21st Century Soil: Culturally Responsive And Technology Enhanced Instructional Design In K12 Schools, Elissa W. Frazier

Dissertations

Decades of research have documented the positive impact of culturally responsive teaching on academic outcomes for African American and LatinX students. However, as the field of education has become increasingly embedded with technology as a powerful tool of instruction, more attention is needed to understand how culturally responsive teachers use technology to close achievement gaps. Although national public policy over the last twenty-years has documented the negative impact of the digital divide on low SES, African American and LatinX students, large-scale efforts to close the divide have focused primarily on access to devices only. More recently, the second digital “use” …

The Body Of Christ And The Law: A Comparative Study Of Romans 7:4 And Galatians 2:19, Dominic Bornand

Dissertations

In Romans and Galatians, Paul refers to a spiritual death to sin (Rom 6:2) and to the law (Rom 7:4; Gal 2:19). As the means of the believer's death to the law, Paul mentions the "body of Christ" in Rom 7:4 and the "law" in Gal 2:19. These verses seem to suggest some sort of relationship between the body of Christ and the law, as well as between the law and sin. The purpose of this study is to determine the type of relationship between the body of Christ and the law, as well as between law and sin. The …

Ethnic Studies Implementation In A K-8 District: Culture, Critical Consciousness And Collective Efficacy, Genvieve Dorsey

Dissertations

This research was a descriptive study in which the researcher explored the beginning phases of Ethnic Studies implementation in a Kindergarten through Eighth grade (K-8) school district in Northern California. Using a social justice lens, and through a review of Ethnic Studies, Collective Efficacy, Critical Consciousness, and School Culture constructs, the researcher attempted to capture and articulate a cultural profile of the school district and the degree to which it aligned to the cultural typologies articulated among Ethnic Studies scholars.The study included the collection of several types of data, including: (1) archival documents; (2) teacher focus groups; and (3) administrator …

Teaching Shante Curtelia Dominique Ophelia Brown Johnson : An Autoethnography Of A Black Male, Seventh-Day Adventist, Jazz Avant-Garde Artist, Michael Gayle

Dissertations

Leadership is part and parcel of societies and cultures. Leadership research can provide understanding that in turn provides knowledge, resources and growth opportunities for leaders. Leadership may be understood from a personal perspective as being bound up with identity. As I examine myself as a person and as a leader, I realize that several identities are prominent: Black male identity, Christian identity, jazz avant-garde artistic identity. Each of those identities have features that contribute to leadership.

The purpose of this study is to describe and explore leadership experiences of a Black male, from the Seventh-day Adventist Christian tradition who is …

Dungeons & Dragons & Dewey: Toward A Ludic Pedagogy Of Democratic Civic Life Through The Philosophy Of John Dewey And Tabletop Role-Playing Games, Susan Haarman

Dissertations

In this dissertation, which uses philosophical inquiry, I posit that tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) can provide an educative experience for democratic civic life in the Deweyan tradition. Tabletop RPGs present an invaluable resource for ongoing civic formation by encouraging deliberation and consensus building across shared goals and circumstances. Philosopher John Dewey emphasized that democracy is defined by the civic habits and collective action, not formal governance structures. The experience of playing tabletop RPGs can cultivate habitus and space for future and current citizens to practice democratic skills and commitments. Therefore, these games are a means that align with the ends …

A Portrait Of The Leadership Of Women In Early Christianity: An Archaeological Study In Light Of The Historical And Socio-Cultural Contexts, Carina Prestes

Dissertations

Problem

The participation of women in the Early Christian communities is widely accepted. Nevertheless, there is no consensus on what was their role in these communities. Until now the study of women in the Early Christian communities has focused mostly in the writings of some ancient authors and a few biblical texts. These studies have been done mostly by theologians and historians. Such studies rarely take a deep look at the Greco-Roman background and at the historical, socio-cultural contexts. This contextualization can be quite fruitful and should be informed by recent archaeological discoveries of the first centuries of Christianity. Thus, …

The Future Of The Urban Street In The United States: Visions Of Alternative Mobilities In The Twenty-First Century, Esther Zipori

Dissertations

This dissertation is concerned with the present and future of urban streets in the United States. The goal is to document and analyze current visions, policies, and strategies related to the form and use of American urban streets. The dissertation examines current mobility trends and offers a framework for organizing visions of the future of urban streets, evaluating them through three lenses: safety, comfort, and delight: assessing physical conditions in accordance with livability standards toward sustainable development. At the same time, it demonstrates the way 12 scenarios (NACTO Blueprint for Autonomous Urbanism, Sidewalk Labs: Quayside Project, Public Square by FXCollaborative, …

An Asset Model: Identifying Institutional Characteristics And Behaviors That Close Community College Completion Gaps Between Black And White Students, Courtney Lange

Dissertations

The United States fails to meet its own workforce needs, and estimates show that by the year 2025, almost two out of three jobs in the nation will require at least some postsecondary education or training (Carnevale et al., 2019b). Jobs with the fastest growth rate will require an associate degree (Carnevale et al., 2019b). According to the most recent national data from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) Research Center, one in three students begin their college journey at a community college (NCES, 2019). Only 40% finish a degree or credential within six years (NCES, 2019). The proportion of those …

Effects Of Resilience Coaching On Behavioral Health Nurse Burnout, Dalila Franklin

Dissertations

Abstract

Background: Inpatient, staff nurse burnout negatively impacts nurses’ mental and physical health, hospital nurse retention and turnover, and patient care. The Stress First Aid for Health Workers program attempts to bolster resilience and subsequently reduce burnout among mental health nurses in this project.

Method: This quality improvement (QI) project was an observational pre-post survey design and was conducted on a cohort sample of inpatient, behavioral health nurses at an urban, mid-sized, Midwestern hospital psychiatric unit to assess personal, work-related, client-related, and overall burnout utilizing the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) tool to quantitatively measure burnout pre- and three months post-implementation …

Algebraic Reasoning And Conceptual Understanding: A Mixed Methods Comparison Of In-Person And Virtual Classroom Strategies, Erneice J. Jackson

Dissertations

Algebraic reasoning is the beginning school of thought to critical thinking. Employers are looking for this 21st century skill. The purpose of this research was to investigate equity in mathematics education using the NCTM Teaching and Learnings Beliefs Survey. Four area were studied: the number of years in education, the degree earned, the grade level taught in education, and the number of years in an educator’s teaching position. A mixed methods inventory was used. Most results were not rejected in this study. Two statements in the survey warranted a discussion. Recommendations were made for further research.

Intersectional Identities Of Race And Religion Of African American Muslims And Their Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services, Cheruba A. Dhanaraj

Dissertations

African American Muslims have overlapping and interconnected identities of race and religion that can be conceptualized by the intersectionality framework to understand the complexities of barriers they face when seeking mental health services. African American Muslims have a higher risk of mental health issues due to systemic racism, racial discrimination, racial trauma, and Islamophobic discrimination. Yet, there is a lack of scholarly research or studies that focus explicitly on African American Muslims' specific mental health needs, barriers, and attitudes related to seeking mental health treatment.

This study sought to fill the gap in knowledge about attitudes toward seeking mental health …

An Exploration Of Stressors And Perceptions Of Wellness Among Christian Church Ministry Wives, Laura Ann Kellicut

Dissertations

Ministerial families are in the unique situation of a two-person career, where although the husband is the only one employed by the church, the wife is also expected to perform church specific demands and responsibilities (Frame & Shehan, 1994; Lifeway, 2017). Unique variables and factors of stress among ministry wives have been identified along with how their role affects certain domains of life (Douglas, 1961; Frame & Shehan, 1994; Lee, 2007; Zoba, 1997; Luedtke & Sneed, 2018). Lifeway Research (2017) found that 78% of ministers' spouses experienced some level of burnout with 22% at the highest levels. In the literature, …

College Students’ Perceptions Of The Desert Canyons Of The Colorado Plateau, Jeremy Roger Deem

Dissertations

This study investigates eight college students’ perceptions of their experiences during an accredited outdoor education course entitled Technical Canyoneering. The course took place in four separate desert canyons of the Colorado Plateau, two in Arches National Park, and two on nearby Bureau of Land Management public space. Utilizing the data collection process of photo-elicitation, the participants’ time spent in the canyon settings was described in order to gain an understanding of their experiences, with particular attention paid to analyzing what perceptions those students ascribed to those experiences. The intent was threefold. First, the study makes understanding at how college students …

“I Don’T Believe The World Is Tilted”: Emotion, Struggle, And Relationship In Making Meaning With Texts, Alison Faye Oddie

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand how the social and cultural practices of classroom literacy instruction afforded students opportunities to make meaning with texts. Research was conducted from a sociocultural perspective that focused on students as participants in social learning, in a context of interactive relations. This study was responsive to contemporary developments of the sociocultural tradition, recognizing the importance of emotion and other subjective means for constructing understanding. Two classes of a turnaround school, 18 Second-Grade students and 20 Third-Grade students, were observed as they participated in Interactive Read Aloud and Guided Reading over a period of …