Digital Commons Network^™

Altruism In Psychotherapy: Altruistic Acts As An Adjunct To Psychotherapy, Erin Santos

Theses and Dissertations

This study will explore the impact of altruism on the mind, brain, and body in order to investigate the potential value of using guided altruistic behavior as an adjunct to attaining the goals of psychotherapy. there is considerable evidence from religious and social practices across cultures, groups like Alcoholics Anonymous, and epidemiological research that point to the positive physical and psychological effects of helping others. This idea was initially stimulated by findings that demonstrated that altruism stimulates brain regions also important to the processes and goals of successful psychotherapy. It is hypothesized that engaging in altruistic behaviors will stimulate emotions, …

A Qualitative Study Measuring The Success Rates Of African American Males At Passages: An Academic And Support Services Program At Los Angeles Area Community College, Nyree Berry

Theses and Dissertations

According to national statistics, the number of Black women college graduates is 44.8% while for Black men, the national college graduate rate stand on 33.1%. The overall graduation rate of the Black population remains 57.3%. Further as the per statistics, out of 7.9% of the total Black male population in America in the age group of 18 to 24 years, only 2.8% of Black men were undergraduates at public flagship colleges and universities (NCES, 2012). It is argued that while this troubling trend is most prevalent in all groups among Black men, young Black men are generally the most vulnerable …

Developmental Patterns Of Religiosity In Relation To Criminal Trajectories Among Serious Offenders Across Adolescence And Young Adulthood, Siying Guo

Theses and Dissertations

The knowledge about the relationship between changes in both religiosity and crime over time remains limited. This dissertation aims to add to the existing body of literature and fill the gaps in prior studies by examining the religiosity-crime relationship in a sample of adjudicated adolescents studied in the Pathways to Desistance Study, a seven-year longitudinal dataset. Using Group-Based Trajectory Models and Growth Curve Models, this dissertation identifies distinctive trajectories of religious attendance, religious importance, and spirituality and their dynamic relationships with changes in different types of substance use and criminal behavior. Given the initial level of substance use and criminal …

The Importance Of Outcome Fairness: Revisiting The Role Of Distributive Justice, Kyle Mclean

Theses and Dissertations

Distributive justice, or the perceived fairness of outcomes, has played a minimal role in research into procedural justice and legitimacy in policing. However, allegations of racial bias that have contributed to the present legitimacy crisis in policing are more consistent with the concept of distributive justice than procedural justice. As such, the present study attempts to re-orient distributive justice within policing research. This study proposes that individuals infer the fairness of outcomes from the treatment that they receive from police officers. These judgments about outcome and treatment then combine to influence individuals’ perceptions of the legitimacy of police. In addition …

Forensic Patient Flow: An Imbalance Between Capacity And Demand, Versie J. Bellamy

Theses and Dissertations

Background: The United States (U.S.) has an ever-growing incarcerated population. The sheer volume of this population coupled with inefficient patient flow through the judicial and health care systems, create a large imbalance between the high demand for services and the capacity to deliver them. The delay in criminal defendants accessing mental health services is impacted by the lack of patient flow, which creates barriers to entering and exiting the forensic hospital system. The increasing demand for inpatient forensic services, coupled with a static supply of resources, warrants further intervention by treatment and service providers. Identifying and removing barriers to patient …

Deepening Democracy: Inclusion, Deliberation, And Voice In The Grassroots South, Annie L. Boiter-Jolley

Theses and Dissertations

Through an exploration of grassroots challenges to shallow democracy in South Carolina, this dissertation offers a model of democratization based on inclusion, deliberation, and empowerment as a remedy for democratic insufficiency. I posit that greater emphasis on inclusive democratic deliberation, both inside and outside formal political structures, will help deepen the South’s shallow democracy, and that inclusive deliberation fostered through grassroots organizing that priorities consciousness raising, empowerment, and activism training will positively affect participants, deliberation, and policy outcomes. Taking a grounded theory approach, I consider case studies of three organizations based in Columbia, South Carolina, and their attending theories of …

Becoming A Sailor: A (Critical) Analytic Autoethnographic Account Of Navigating Tensions As A ‘Woke’ White Woman Working For Racial Justice, Jennifer Lynn Doyle

Theses and Dissertations

This critical, analytic autoethnographic (Boylorn & Orbe, 2014; Anderson, 2006) dissertation details the journey of a young white woman practicing “woke whiteness work” in the pursuit of racial justice. The autoethnography illustrates the many complexities, layers, and tensions of racial justice work as a white woman, centering on the initial tension stemming from the spring 2014 semester where she was involved in a literary research project facilitating book clubs at a juvenile detention center with students who were incarcerated as part of an adolescent literacy course, while simultaneously enrolled in a Critical Race Theory (CRT) course. In an attempt to …

Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs And Opioid Poisoning: Evaluating The Impact Of Prescriber Use Mandates On Prescription Opioid Poisoning Emergency Department Visits, Sarah Almanie

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are one strategy established to curb the prescription opioid abuse epidemic. Prescriber use mandates has emerged as a promising practice to increase PDMPs impact on prescription opioid abuse; however, evidence of its effectiveness has not yet been established. Kentucky was the first state to implement comprehensive prescriber use mandates in July 2012.

Objective: To assess the relationship between prescriber use mandates policy and emergency department (ED) visits related to prescription opioid poisoning among adults in Kentucky and

North Carolina. Secondary aim: to evaluate the economic impact of prescriber use mandates in Kentucky.

Methods: A …

Prosecution As The "Soul Crushing Job:" Complexities Of Campus Sexual Assault Cases, Tammi L. Slovinsky

Theses and Dissertations

On April 4, 2011, the U.S. Department of Education issued a Dear Colleague Letter on campus sexual assault reaffirming the intent of Title IX, the 1972 law that prohibits discrimination sex-based under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. In response to growing concern over due process rights for defendants, in September 2017 the guidance was rescinded. Public policy continues to evolve, leading to potentially lasting institutional changes on many college campuses. These developments include the formalization of campus investigations and adjudications, the development of campus coordinating committees and expanded support mechanisms for victims. In Virginia, laws passed …

Validation Of Virginia's Juvenile Risk Assessment Instrument, Jessica P. Schneider

Theses and Dissertations

Utilizing a validated risk assessment tool to predict future offending is recommended as best practices in corrections by a number of professional organizations (Latessa & Lovins, 2010). Guided by the risk-needs-responsivity model, risk assessment tools have evolved to help inform criminal justice practitioners by identifying offenders most in need of intervention or supervision, guiding the case plan to optimize outcomes (Bonta & Andrews, 2007). The Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) utilizes the Youth Assessment and Screening Instrument (YASI) at all stages of contact with youthful offenders, including intake, probation, commitment, and parole (DJJ, 2016). However, risk assessment instruments do …

Police Officer Perceptions Of Organizational Justice And Body-Worn Cameras: A Civilizing Effect?, Carolyn Naoroz Ph.D.

Theses and Dissertations

This research sought to understand the potential association between officer perceptions of organizational justiceand officer perceptions of body-worn cameras (BWCs). A questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample of 362 officersfrom the 750 sworn personnel from the Richmond Police Department in Richmond, VA, yielding a response rate of 91% and representing 44% of the Richmond Police Department’s sworn employees. This study extends prior work by partially replicating a previous BWC survey conducted by leading body-worn camera scholars, utilizing a large sample from an urban mid-Atlantic police department. This study also extends prior work on officer perceptions of organizational justice …

Mental Health Difficulties And Service Use Of Incarcerated Women: The Influence Of Violence Perpetration And Victimization, Rachel C. Casey

Theses and Dissertations

The present study aimed to expand the knowledge base regarding incarcerated women’s experiences with violence and their mental health with the goal of identifying avenues for more tailored, compassionate responses to their mental health difficulties in both macro and direct practice contexts. To achieve this aim, a secondary data analysis was performed using data from the Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities (SISCF) completed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in 2004. Six research questions pertaining to women’s experiences with violence and their mental health difficulties and service utilization guided the inquiry, which involved univariate, bivariate, and multivariate …

Strengthening Social Networks Of Youth Aging Out Of Foster Care: Promoting Positive Adult Outcomes, Rachel D. Rosenberg

Theses and Dissertations

During the transition to adulthood, youth often rely on the people in their life for support. However, for transition-aged foster youth, these supports may not be available or may look different than supports available to youth in the general population. Relationships with supportive adults have been found to help former foster youth transition to adulthood, but little is known about the adults youth have in their network. Foster youth who report increased levels of social capital have been shown to experience higher levels of success in young adulthood. However, as former foster youth transition to adulthood, a lack of in-depth …

Predictors Of Resilient Outcomes Among Juvenile Offenders, Kristina A. Mcguire

Theses and Dissertations

Research on resilience has almost completely bypassed the juvenile justice literature. Using data on 1,354 youth from the Pathways to Desistance study, the present study examined associations between individual, community, and familial risk and promotive factors and resilient outcomes, specifically gainful activity, in juvenile offenders. Results of both logistic and hierarchical regression models indicated significant associations between resilient outcomes in each domain: specifically individual (age at first arrest, motivation to succeed), community (geographic location, exposure to violence), and family (socioeconomic status, parental monitoring) predictors. Finally, this paper discusses reasons for non-significant findings and directions for future research on resilience among …

On Being A Good Neighbor, Kathren M. Cutshall

Theses and Dissertations

This research supports the design of a museum dedicated to reconciliation on the issue of human slavery. Throughout the museum guests will be ushered through contemplation to prepare for the context of the museum, gallery exhibitions chronicling the slavery and corporate apologia. The aim of the museum is to aid guests toward taking ownership of the history of slavery while simultaneously offering up forgiveness for it. Platforms for spoken word art, lecture halls and spaces dedicated to dialogue will be included. The chronological progression through the museum will move guests from introspection to education, personal acceptance to forgiveness. Guests will …

Investigating Drug-Related Violence In Indian Country: The Lumbee Tribe Of North Carolina, Asa Alena Revels

Theses and Dissertations

Drug-related violence (DRV) impacts the over-all wellbeing of communities, with disparate health outcomes observable in many poor, minority communities. The purpose of this study was to better understand the multi-level social and environmental factors influencing elevated rates and prevention of DRV within the Lumbee, a southeastern American Indian Tribe. This was accomplished via in-depth, one-on-one interviews with 37 Lumbee Tribal Members and Key Leaders. The findings align with existing research, revealing the influence of such factors as poor socioeconomic conditions, coping strategies, broken family structures, and the influence of federal policy. Of interest was the substantial influence of the local …

Local Incarceration As Social Control: A National Analysis Of Social, Economic, And Political Determinants Of Jail Use In The United States, Heather M. Ouellette

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research indicates that community context impacts social control. Several scholars have identified social, economic and political factors to be important predictors of police force size, arrests rates and incarceration rates. Few studies, however, have examined jail use as an indicator of formal social control. Millions of individuals pass through jails every year, and these local facilities are at the center of the criminal justice system, reflecting mobilization of social control by law enforcement, courts and corrections. Drawing from a social threat perspective and political framework, this study seeks to understand how community context affects local incarceration. Specifically, this study …

Action Research: Implementing Restorative Practices To Improve Classroom Climate, Kyle Meetze

Theses and Dissertations

This paper describes action research focusing on implementing restorative practices (RP) to improve the climate in an eighth grade science classroom. This study utilized a concurrent mixed-methods design to determine if the use of RP, specifically affective statements and affective questions, had an impact on classroom climate. Quantitative data consisted administering the Classroom Life Inventory (CLI) to students prior to and following the implementation of RP in the classroom. In addition, a student focus group interview and a teacher interview were conducted following the implementation of RP. The quantitative data were analyzed via descriptive statistics and independent samples t-tests. The …

The Short-Term Self-Control Stability Of College Students, Nicholas James Blasco

Theses and Dissertations

Since the stability problem was first outlined by Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) in their influential work A General Theory of Crime it has received a steady stream of attention from the academic community. Researchers have studied juveniles and adults and have implemented a variety of methodological and statistical approaches. Many of these studies do not show support for the theoretical concept outlined by Gottfredson and Hirschi; yet, there were exceptions. The current study used a slightly different theoretical approach accompanied with research methodology that is still in its infancy. While most studies testing the relative stability of self-control use longitudinal …

A Quasi-Experimental Analysis Of School-Based Situational Crime Prevention Measures, Gary Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, there has been an expansion of situational crime prevention (SCP) measures in K-12 schools, including physical controls, law enforcement personnel, and security policies that are designed to prevent crime by modifying the situational features of school environments. Although SCP measures are now increasingly commonplace in schools, there is inadequate research demonstrating the need for SCP measures and their impacts on school crime. In particular, there is contradictory and inconclusive evidence of their effectiveness and research has largely been limited to examining aggregate outcomes through the use non-experimental, correlational designs. This dissertation aims to address these gaps in …

Black Power And Neighborhood Organizing In Minneapolis, Minnesota: The Way Community Center, 1966-1971, Sarah Jayne Paulsen

Theses and Dissertations

The Way Opportunities Unlimited, Inc. was a non-­‐profit community center that operated from 1966—1984 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Inspired by the national black power movement that arose in the 1960s, this community center led a local movement for African American equality. This thesis investigates The Way as a unique example of how black power ideology was implemented at the local level, in a city with a statistically small black population, presenting a northern urban context often overlooked by historians. The Way offered a space where aspiring young black musicians could perform, including Prince.

Association Between Perception Of Police Prejudice Against Minorities And Juvenile Delinquency, Kwang Hyun Ra

Theses and Dissertations

Criminologists have long studied police prejudice with the assumption that it is a fundamental problem resulting in discrimination against certain racial and ethnic groups. However, little research has examined how individuals’ perceptions of police prejudice (PPP) influences compliance or delinquency behavior among the public. To fill this gap, in this paper, I reviewed relations between police and racial/ethnic groups, theorized an association between PPP and juvenile delinquency, and empirically examined the association.

The long history of racial/ethnic prejudice and discrimination predisposes racial/ethnic minorities to consider themselves targets of discrimination and to feel powerless. Moreover, some minorities justify the current system …

A Qualitative Study Of The Philanthropic Behavior Of Generation X And Crowdfunding, Donna R. Lowe

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to explore the connection between social triggers, virtual validation, and philanthropic behaviours of the Generation X population. Current literature largely ignores the Generation X population and no research has yet been conducted that directly links the successful funding of crowdfunding campaigns to both virtual validation and social triggers in the Generation X population.

To explore the connection between social triggers, virtual validation, and philanthropic behaviours of the Generation X population, the writer reviewed the application of retrieving psychological motivations based on non-conscious responses by way of belongingness theory, social comparison theory, and Maslow’s Hierarchy of …

A Case Study Of Teachers’ Experiences Integrating Visual Literacy To Improve Middle School Struggling Readers’ Comprehension, Dianne Tetreault

Theses and Dissertations

Because the meaning of literacy is changing, teachers lack understanding of how to teach older students the skills they need to read and be proficient in an ever-changing digital world. Moreover, only 34% of U.S. 8th graders read at the proficient level, according to the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate the process of how middle school teachers in a large urban district in Florida understand and integrate visual literacy for teaching comprehension in their lesson plans and class instruction after completing professional development and subsequent curricular support on …

The Effects Of An Afrocentric Curriculum On Reading Scores Of African American Third, Fourth, And Fifth Graders, Trisha J. Baker

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this applied research study was to determine the extent to which reading scores on the Diagnostic Reading Assessment (DRA-2) and Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) were impacted across the school years for students enrolled in Afrocentric curriculum (ACC) and non-ACC classrooms, excluding students enrolled in the two-way immersion classrooms, controlling for the test scores from the previous school year, during the 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015, and 2015-2016 school years.

The research study followed a correlational research design to determine whether the size of the two reading-assessment scores varied across school years in efforts to determine whether the ACC …

Prevention Strategies To Reduce Multifactorial Risk Factors Associated With The Onset Of Coronary Artery Disease: A Systematic Review, Jacqueline A. Burnes

Theses and Dissertations

Noncommunicable diseases such as coronary artery disease continue to remain the principal cause of mortality in the United States, claiming nearly 800,000 lives in 2016. Reducing the onset of chronic diseases, specifically coronary artery disease, requires a fundamental approach to health care, involving patient access to high-quality primary care and accessibility to disease prevention programs. This study examined multifactorial risk factors and prevention mechanisms associated with coronary artery disease.

The applied dissertation is a systematic review of the literature designed to answer the question: What prevention strategies reduce multifactorial risk factors associated with the onset of coronary artery disease? The …

Factors Contributing To Juvenile Crime Leading To The Disparity Of The Risk Levels For Secure Detainment, Dawn Prystajko

Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this research was to explore the factors that contributed to juvenile crime which in turn caused disparity in secure detainment among juveniles. This was based upon the alternate hypothesis that there is a noticeable disparity with minority youths being more securely detained opposed to majority youths. Therefore, the research was designed to examine raw data obtained from the Juvenile Justice Services Planner/JDAI Coordinator of the excel database of juvenile arrests/detainment.

The findings revealed several key points. The finding revealed that useable data extracted from the excel database was not able to neither agree with nor support …

Effective Leadership In Schools Leads To Positive Student Achievement A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Bruce Alan Kolsun

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the existing literature regarding the leadership of the principals leading to student learning and to identify its influence on overall achievement. The aim was to help teachers use best practices in the classroom, to identify staff development topics, and to assist principals in choosing the correct professional development strategies. The research method used in this study was a systematic review based on the protocol outlined by the Cochrane Collaboration and guidance from the Preferred Reporting Items from Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Checklist (PRISMA). Findings from data abstraction and analysis revealed five leadership …

A Study Of A High School Intervention Program To Increase Access To Higher Education, Erin Nicole Davis

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to determine the effectiveness of a college access program created to improve college application and acceptance rates for underserved students. The program is targeted toward low-income, first-generation students, many of whom are minorities and reside in a rural area. The schools that the students attended have school counselors, but due to limited resources and other challenges, students often did not receive significant information about access to higher education. Since many students were the first in their family to attend college, they relied on information from the school to help them navigate the process.

This study …

Job Satisfaction, Organizational Stress And Use Of Force Attitudes Among Patrol Officers In North Carolina, Zachary James Lechette

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to examine whether relationships existed between self-reported job satisfaction, organizational police stress and attitudes toward the use of force among urban non-supervisory local law enforcement patrol officers in North Carolina. A quantitative study of patrol officers (N = 137) from across North Carolina was conducted over a one-month period in the summer of 2018.

The researcher administered a combined survey instrument measuring job satisfaction, organizational police stress and use of force attitudes to local law enforcement patrol officers in North Carolina. The researcher administered the survey to participants at six different local law enforcement agencies …