Digital Commons Network^™

The Effect Of Biculturalism On Self-Esteem In Northern Plains Native American College Students, Mary J. Wilkie

Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this study was to examine the effect of biculturalism on self esteem in a sample of 51 Northern Plains Native American college students (29 females, 22 males). Subjects completed the Northern Plains Biculturalism Inventory (NPB1; Allen & French, 1994) and the Index of Self-Esteem (ISE; Hudson, 1982). Pearson Product- Moment correlations, independent t-tests, a multiple regression analysis, and an one-way analysis-of-variance was performed using the SPSS statistical package to examine, if any, the relationships between the NPBI subscales and the ISE total scores. This design tested the applicability of the Orthogonal Theory of Biculturalism (Oetting & …

The Effects Of Elementary Peer Mediation Program On Disciplinary Action In The Schools, Elizabeth Anne Haws

Theses and Dissertations

Peer mediation programs offer students options. Students can choose mediation instead of name-calling, yelling, or letting conflicts grow until they explode into violence. Little is known about the effectiveness or manner of implementing these programs. This study examines 62 black male students in grades 4, 5, and 6 from a Burlington County, New Jersey, suburban, public K-6 elementary school. Some data suggest disciplinary action is decreased with a cadre approach to peer mediation established in the school. More attention should be paid to evaluating peer mediation and conflict resolution programs. Under peer mediation programs, students in conflict and peer mediators …

Women, Sex And Dating: A Qualitative Study Of College Men's Perceptions, Rosemary E. Barke

Theses and Dissertations

A two-hour focus group of ten, 19, 20, and 21-year-old male college studnets who expressed an interest in dataing women was undertaken to gain a deeper understanding of men's perceptions of women, sex, and dating. Data analysis of verbatim transripts was conducted by three female qualitative researchers. Findings suggest that young men experience confusion, frustration, and lack of trust of young women, at the same time that they experience pressure to be sexually active, perceive women as potential status enhancers and objects, and fear contracting sexually transmitted diseases and impregnating young women. Reported readiness for intimate relationships varied within the …

An Internship Experience In Educational Administration At Haddon Heights Junior-Senior High School, 1997-1998, Ruthmarie Schopfer Weinberg

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this internship was to provide the candidate with an opportunity to acquire competencies and skills which are essential to an effective administrator of a secondary school.

The internship focused on the project: Alternate Methods for At-Risk Students Who Disrupt the Educational Environment. The areas addressed in this study were: (1) The purpose and setting of the study, (2) Review of the literature, (3) The design of the study, (4) Presentation of the research findings, (5) Conclusions, implications, and further study, and (6) The need for alternative methods re: Scared Straight – Haddon Heights Style, In-School Suspension, Out-of-School …

Treating Individuals With The Dual Diagnosis Of Mental Retardation And Mental Illness, Carol M. Weiler

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Nonprofit Management : A Proposal For A Nonprofit Management Concentration In University Of North Dakota Master Of Public Administration Graduate Program, Shari Doe

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Gangs : Myth Or Reality : An Examination Of The Gang Phenomenon In A Metropolitan City In A Rural State As Presented By The Regional News Print Media, Gerard Kottenbrock

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Expert Statement Validity Assessment Testimony On Lay Evaluations Of Children's Statements, Marcus Choi Tye

Theses and Dissertations

Research on memory and suggestibility in children continues to demonstrate circumstances under which children may not give accurate accounts of important events. In investigating and treating child sexual abuse, it is important to determine what has happened. Statement Validity Assessment is a witness credibility assessment technique developed by Udo Undeutsch which focuses on the reality of individual statements. It involves a special open-ended investigative interview, Criteria-Based Content Analysis, which searches for the presence of characteristics which indicate that a statement is based on an experienced event, and a Validity Checklist which examines alternate hypotheses. This technique has been widely used …

Sexual Coercion: Factors Associated With Women's Reported Experience Of Verbal Coercion, Sandra Jean Caraway

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Anatomy Of A Gang Suppression Unit: The Social Construction Of An Organizational Response To Gang Problems, Carol A. Erickson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the institutional response of a mid-sized, Midwestern police department, to a perceived growing problem with youth gang activity. More specifically, this thesis analyzes both individual and organizational level variables which provide justification for the creation and existence of a Gang Suppression Unit. The evolution of the Gang Suppression Unit is traced from both formal and informal constructions of a gang problem, from the perspective of the police.

Data collection consisted of 250 hours of participant observation with both uniformed patrol officers and members of the Gang Suppression Unit, from the Cedar Springs Police Department, as well as …

Robust Parameter Estimation For The Mixed Weibull (Seven Parameter) Including The Method Of Minimum Likelihood And The Method Of Minimum Distance, Donald A. Mumford

Theses and Dissertations

Robust parameter estimation is successfully applied to the Mixed Weibull (seven parameter) using the Method of Minimum Distance and the Method of Maximum Likelihood. That is, parameters can now be estimated for a mixture of two Weibull distributions where the true populations are co-located, partially co-located or highly separated. Both techniques provided very robust estimates that were far superior to current parameter estimation techniques. Sample sizes as low as ten with mixing proportions down to 0.1 were investigated. For the MLEs, innovative bounding techniques are presented to allow consistent and correct convergence using any reasonable point estimate. The likelihood function …

Cultural Identity Of Native American Students At The University Of North Dakota, Ella M. Bruce

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Model Of Delinquency Among Lds Adolescents: The Effect Of Peer Influences, Religiosity, Personality Traits, School Experiences, And Family Characteristics, Janice Garrett

Theses and Dissertations

This study tested a multivariate model, which included peer influences, religiosity, personality traits, school experiences, and family characteristics, in predicting juvenile delinquency. The model compared two samples of youth belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (L.D.S.). A mail questionnaire and three follow-up mailings were sent to 1,078 youth living in the Pacific Northwest and 1,849 youth living in Utah county. The overall response rate for the sample was 63 percent. Extensive measures were used in assessing the variables included in the model. Structural equation modeling (LISREL) was used in the analysis because of its capacity to …

The Relaxing Of Virginia's Concealed Weapon Law: Its Relationship To The Crime Rates For Murder, Aggravated Assault And Robbery, Jerry S. Conner

Theses and Dissertations

The primary objective of this research is to examine the relationship between the relaxation of Virginia's concealed weapon law, which became effective July 1, 1995, and three crime-related variables. Although there have been two major studies conducted in this area on a national basis, this research represents the first time a study has been conducted in Virginia. A secondary objective of this research is to examine relevant data to determine if this change in the law influenced the purchasing behavior of citizens regarding handguns and the issuance rate for concealed weapon permits.

An interrupted time-series design is employed in examining …

Expectation States Theory And The Principle Of Judicial Neutrality : The Impact Of Judicial Communication On Juror Verdicts, Paul E. Vanyo

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Identifying Indicators Of Program Quality In U.S. Baccalaureate Aviation Programs, Paul Douglas Lindseth

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Runaways In Young Adult Fiction – A Survey And Annotated Bibliography, Anna E. Edwards

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to compare causes and consequences for runaways in real life with those in young adult fiction, in order to ascertain whether any similarity exists between the two. The thesis also provides an annotated bibliography of young adult books about runaways.

Research was carried out to obtain information about what real runaways must face, and various guides to young adult literature were consulted in order to evaluate fictional runaway lifestyles.

With few exceptions, real lives of runaway children bear very little resemblance to those of their fictional counterparts. In fiction, happy endings (or at least …

Effects Of Misinformation As Revealed Through The Concealed Knowledge Test, Susan L. Amato-Henderson

Theses and Dissertations

Misinformation effects occur reliably in laboratory settings despite disagreement over the mechanism(s) responsible for such effects. Both memory impairment hypotheses (e.g.f Lindsay & Johnson, 1987; Loftus 1975, 1977, 1979; Loftus & Hoffman, 1989; Tversky & Tuchin, 1989) and non-impairment hypotheses (e.g., McCloskey & Zaragoza, 1985; Zaragoza, McCloskey, & Jamis, 1987) have been used to explain the phenomenon of misinformation. The present study examined the effects of misinformation on the Concealed Knowledge Test (CKT), a psychophysiological detection of deception technique. Furthermore, the psychophysiological measurements were used to elucidate the controversy surrounding the misinformation effect. Ninety-six subjects watched a videotaped crime used …

Aftercare Compliance And Addiction Recovery In A Rural Setting, Linda Fjeld Nygaard

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

When Is It Date Rape? : Young Female And Male College Students' Perspectives On Dating And Sexual Behavior, Shannan J. Mckenzie

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The North Dakota Crime Victims Compensation Program : Trends & Characteristics, Marianne Layman Brachman

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Outcome Assessment Of Social Work Students From The University Of North Dakota, Jodi Lynn Kisch

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

"Cold Case" Investigations Within Fairfax County: Turning The Liability Of Time Into An Asset, Rodney L. Gohn

Theses and Dissertations

No department or individual involved in the investigation of homicides is ever going to have a 100% closure rate. Therefore, many departments will be faced with a situation where another homicide happens before they are finished handling the previous one.

How does one manage these open cases; how often are they reviewed; and who is responsible once the assigned detective is either transferred or leaves the unit or department? Someone has to be able to answer questions from the family, media and anyone else who might inquire about the case.

Based on the number of unsolved homicide cases within Fairfax …

Observations On The Serial Killer Phenomenon: An Examination Of Selected Behaviors Of The Interstate Offender Contrasted With The Intrastate Offender, Eric W. Witzig

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this work was to compare serial homicides committed by interstate and intrastate offenders and to determine differences in behavior between them. Knowledge of such differences would enable the trained homicide detective to structure his investigation according to the killer's inferred range of action.

This study used homicide data collected by the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (VICAP), of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC). VICAP's data was voluntarily submitted by investigators working at the state, local, and federal levels. The VICAP database had information on more than 804 cases of homicides committed by 241 …

United States Immigration Policy : The Policy Dilemma For The 1990'S, Patricia A. Brynjolfson

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Judicial Sentencing: An Analysis, Scott K. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Stress And Its Correlates: An Empirical Investigation Among North Dakota Peace Officers, Eric Mark Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

The mission of the present investigation was to expand the limited body of knowledge regarding stress among rural peace officers. While a number of studies have focused on large, easily sampled departments, the empirical literature evidences neglect toward officers serving rural populations. The present study seeks to ascertain how North Dakota officers compare with other, more urban populations, and what differences may exist between a stratified sample of North Dakota police, sheriffs and Highway Patrol officers.

A randomized sample of 311 North Dakota officers were selected to receive a 300 question anonymous survey questionnaire which assessed personal demographic information in …

Validation Of A Virginia Work Release Risk Prediction Model: A Methodology For The Improvement Of The Reliability Of Correctional Decision Makers, William Nathan Osborne Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

This study identifies and validates variables which are significant predictors of work release success on 439 Virginia work release participants. The variables were selected on the basis of whether they would exert internal or external control over the inmate, with a view toward offering empirical support to control theory. A retrospective longitudinal research design was employed by randomly selecting inmates who had participated in either of three work release centers from 1987 to 1991. Two of the programs housed male inmates while the other housed female inmates. Data were collected from inmate files on thirty-one variables over a six month …

Validation Of The Victim Empathy Scale: A Measure Of Emotional Empathy For Victims Of Violent Crime, Martine M. Mizwa

Theses and Dissertations

Much effort on the part of researchers from all social science disciplines has gone into studying the effect of crime on its victims, their treatment by the criminal justice system, and others who routinely come into contact with them. This research has shown a need for improved treatment of crime victims by service providers and other helpers. Because empathy plays such an important role in mediating an individual's response to another's victimization, reliable methods to evaluate and foster empathy are needed. Increased empathy for victims on the part of police officers, prosecutors, health care providers, friends and family, could help …

Floyd B. Olson : His Social Philosophy, Douglas H. Holden

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.