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Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

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Elder Abuse In Illinois: A Two–Pronged Approach To Assessing The State's Response, Angelique Marie Pass Jan 2019

Elder Abuse In Illinois: A Two–Pronged Approach To Assessing The State's Response, Angelique Marie Pass

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Adult Protective Services Program is tasked with enforcing the standards and policies created at the federal level relating to how provider agencies should respond to elder abuse. What has yet to be explored is whether the Adult Protective Services Program is efficiently responding to the issue of elder abuse through its monitoring and evaluation protocols, which are based on the current policies. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of the 13 planning and service areas in their response to elder abuse. The response to elder abuse is guided by the current policies and funding strategies …


Student Retention At Online Learning Institutions, Johnetta P. Banks Jan 2019

Student Retention At Online Learning Institutions, Johnetta P. Banks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

At a local community college in Texas, student retention remained a concern as enrollment was increasing while online student retention was decreasing. The purpose of this study was to examine student retention in online courses at the college. The conceptual framework that guided the project study was Tinto’s integration model, which provided insight as to why students choose to leave or continue their educational journey. The overarching question that guided the study queried the factors influencing students’ decisions to take online courses at the higher education level. A qualitative case study was used to capture information on 10 students regarding …


Influence Of Trial By Media On The Criminal Justice System In India, V.V.L.N. Sastry Jan 2019

Influence Of Trial By Media On The Criminal Justice System In India, V.V.L.N. Sastry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Media exercises incredible influence on the public; in India media appears to interfere with court proceedings. The purpose of this mixed-methods quasi-experimental study was to explore the effect of media trials on the Indian criminal justice system and to examine the relationship between court verdicts and media trials in India. The narrative policy framework was used to guide the study. Qualitative data were gathered from a variety of sources, including the court cases and the related verdicts reported by the media as media trials from 2005 to 2015. Subsequently, interviews were also conducted to collect qualitative data. Quantitative data were …


Counter-Ideology As A Wider Strategy For Defeating The Boko Haram Terrorist Group, Kwesi Ayima Jan 2019

Counter-Ideology As A Wider Strategy For Defeating The Boko Haram Terrorist Group, Kwesi Ayima

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is a need to address current military strategies to defeat the resilience of the Boko Haram Terrorist (BHT) group. The purpose of this qualitative study was to provide a counter-ideology framework as an alternative strategy to defeat the group. The relational/vengeance and relative deprivation theories provided the theoretical foundation for the study, and the research question addressed the extent to which counter-ideology strategies can be instituted to defeat the BHT group. Data were collected through semi structured interviews from 20 participants who were Muslim clerics, community leaders, and military personnel, and data were analyzed using Nvivo software. The themes …


Between-Group Differences Among Victim Age-Based Typologies Of Juvenile Sexual Offenders, Jennifer Short Jan 2018

Between-Group Differences Among Victim Age-Based Typologies Of Juvenile Sexual Offenders, Jennifer Short

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Juveniles adjudicated for sexual offenses are often described as homogenous, collectively viewed as inherently dangerous, and subject to specialized legal and clinical interventions. However, empirical studies have identified several typologies suggesting that juveniles adjudicated for sexual offenses are a heterogeneous group with varying degrees of risk and treatment needs. The purpose of this non-experimental between-groups study was to compare family composition, abuse histories, mental health diagnosis, and offense type among a victim age-based typology of juvenile sexual offenders. The theoretical framework that guided this study was developmental-contextual theory. Archival data (N = 105) were collected from Alberta Health Services in …


Differential Treatment Outcome Factors For Custodial And Noncustodial Mental Health Care Programs, Sheila Fay Waters Jan 2018

Differential Treatment Outcome Factors For Custodial And Noncustodial Mental Health Care Programs, Sheila Fay Waters

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have suggested that jails and prisons in the United States are becoming the new mental health clinics, contributing to the phenomenon of mass incarceration and costing upwards of $15 billion per year in public revenue. The problem is no conclusive evidence exists that treatment in these custodial environments is more effective than that provided by noncustodial programs; especially for substance users. Additionally, the continuing incarceration of people with mental health problems by the hundreds of thousands poses a difficult ethical dilemma regarding why this population does not receive noncustodial or hospital treatment instead. The study addressed the research question …


Crisis Intervention Team Training Among Cit-Trained Police Officers, Monique Allen Jan 2018

Crisis Intervention Team Training Among Cit-Trained Police Officers, Monique Allen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this phenomenological study was the lack of documentation that supported the lived experiences of crisis intervention team (CIT) trained police officers related to their encounters with persons with mental illnesses (PwMI). The purpose of the study was to explore the lived experiences of officers among CIT-trained police officers to address the problem. Using the Giles's communication accommodation theory and Rogers's protection motivation theory (PMT), the purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of CIT-trained police officers of PwMI during CIT encounters. Rogers's PMT was aligned closest with the teachings of CIT training as described …


Long-Term Survivors' Coping And Resiliency Strategies After Leaving An Abusive Relationship: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Denise Monet White Jan 2018

Long-Term Survivors' Coping And Resiliency Strategies After Leaving An Abusive Relationship: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Denise Monet White

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious social problem and a noteworthy health issue internationally. In the United States, approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men experience a combination of cruel and violent treatment by an intimate partner. This phenomenological study used lived experiences from both men and women ranging in various ages from 40-70 years to understand their coping and resiliency strategies post-separation from an abusive relationship for 10 or more years. The conceptual framework was guided by Lazarus' transactional theory of coping and psychological stress and the theory of psychological resiliency, which is linked to understanding the ways …


Screening And Educating Military Veterans About Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Jane Egbufoama Jan 2018

Screening And Educating Military Veterans About Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Jane Egbufoama

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Veterans are at increased risk for developing mental illnesses because of separation from families, distressing experiences in the military, and previous injury to the brain. Approximately 30% of U.S. veterans returning from war suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The incidence of acute PTSD is reduced when victims are aware of the condition and its associated factors. Through education and screening, the project bridged the gap between deployment of military veterans and treatment of PTSD in this population by addressing whether screening veterans and providing an educational process affected veterans' early PTSD recognition and treatment. The project study addressed the …


Stress And Job Satisfaction In Career College Criminal Justice Department Heads, Sherria Nicole King Jan 2018

Stress And Job Satisfaction In Career College Criminal Justice Department Heads, Sherria Nicole King

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There has been a significant amount of research on the impact of stress and job satisfaction amongst employees in a multitude of professional settings, including the criminal justice and higher education field. Yet, information on criminal justice professionals who work in more untraditional types of higher education institutions, such as career colleges, was lacking. The purpose of this quantitative research study was to examine whether there is a significant relationship between stress, job satisfaction, and being employed as a criminal justice department head within a career college institution and compare whether heads of other departments within career college institutions differ …


Second Grade Teachers' Perspectives On Differentiated Instruction, Alyssa Simmons Jan 2018

Second Grade Teachers' Perspectives On Differentiated Instruction, Alyssa Simmons

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite various instructional efforts, the second grade students in a mid-sized Southwestern school district failed to progress in reading. Although differentiated instruction has been shown to improve literacy skills for young readers, many teachers at the study site did not differentiate instruction for all students. Grounded in theories of social constructivism and differentiated instruction, the purpose of this study was to investigate second grade teachers' perspectives about using differentiated literacy instruction and the effect of their teaching experience and participation in professional development on those perspectives. Data for this nonexperimental, causal-comparative study were collected from 93 second grade teachers via …


Government And Nongovernmental Collaboration To Build Community Resiliency Against Terrorism In Oklahoma City, Kimberly K. Heltz Jan 2018

Government And Nongovernmental Collaboration To Build Community Resiliency Against Terrorism In Oklahoma City, Kimberly K. Heltz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The way communities build resiliency and prepare for acts of terrorism is ambiguous in the United States; best practices remain unclear. Due to mobility and advancements in communication technologies, individuals and organizations share information, incite anger, recruit, and act on ideological grievances with ease. Such grievances are bolstered by the political and social exclusion of disparate groups through poorly designed policies and ineffective government structures. Using a combination of social constructivism and systems thinking theories, this case study explored collaboration efforts between government agencies and nongovernment experts in Oklahoma City, OK, identifying best practices as a result of lessons learned …


An Evaluation Of Juvenile Lifers In Pennsylvania Pre And Post Act 33 Of 1995, Kieshia Martin Jan 2018

An Evaluation Of Juvenile Lifers In Pennsylvania Pre And Post Act 33 Of 1995, Kieshia Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Act 33 of 1995 is an amendment to Pennsylvania's Juvenile Act (2008). This amendment changed jurisdictional boundaries for juvenile offenders who committed violent crimes with weapons. As a result, youth who committed violent crimes with weapons were automatically transferred to the adult criminal justice system. Using punctuated equilibrium as the theoretical foundation, the purpose of this study was to determine if Act 33, as a punctuating event, resulted in an increase in the number of youth transferred to the adult criminal justice system and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in an urban county in Pennsylvania. Secondary data …


Length Of Pretrial Detainment For Inmates With Mental Illness, Maria Pereira-Sosa Jan 2018

Length Of Pretrial Detainment For Inmates With Mental Illness, Maria Pereira-Sosa

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There has been an increase in the number of individuals with mental illness being housed in correctional facilities over the last 50 years. In this study, the length of pretrial detention was compared for inmates who have a mental illness and are compliant with psychiatric medications, inmates who have a mental illness and are noncompliant or not prescribed psychiatric medication, and inmates with no mental illness. I also examined if inmates who have a mental illness have less severe charges and if there was a difference in the classification of mental health diagnoses for inmates who are and are not …


A Comparison Of Restorative Justice Ideology Between Administrators, Teachers, And Parents, Renée J. Alger Jan 2018

A Comparison Of Restorative Justice Ideology Between Administrators, Teachers, And Parents, Renée J. Alger

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers suggest that restorative justice processes in schools are a successful alternative to traditional punishments for school discipline, and are used for both reactive and proactive responses to behavior issues. However, the processes are not sustainable if the administration implementing restorative justice do not promote a restorative justice ideology (RJI), and if all systems that impact the student are not aligned. Therefore, study was conducted to compare the level of restorative justice ideology between groups of administrators, teachers, and parents with a validated restorative justice ideology survey instrument that includes cooperation, restoration, and healing, and an accumulative score for RJI …


Stress Management Treatments Among Police Departments, Cedrick D. Crockett Jan 2018

Stress Management Treatments Among Police Departments, Cedrick D. Crockett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The police profession is viewed as one of the most stressful occupations in the world. Police officers are responsible for handling calls for service, serving and protecting the community, enforcing laws, and preventing and solving crimes. These responsibilities along with many others can become overwhelming and lead to police stress and trauma. Police stress has been linked to adverse effects on the performances and health of police officers. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to describe the internal and external factors of police stress through their lived experiences as police officers, and the stress management techniques used by …


Media Exposure And Social Response As Predictors Of Citizen's Attitudes Toward Police, Tara A. Garrison Jan 2018

Media Exposure And Social Response As Predictors Of Citizen's Attitudes Toward Police, Tara A. Garrison

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Police-involved deaths of African Americans have increased over the past two decades, with continued high-profile media exposure. The problem is that extant research provided only a partial understanding and disparate focus about how media exposure, social responses, social media use, and attitudes towards police were possibly related to citizens witnessing acts of police-initiated actions against African Americans in the United States. The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess the predictive nature of media exposure, social response, and social media use concerning citizens' attitudes towards police. The two theories supporting this study and shaped this hypothetical system are media …


Juvenile Correctional Officers' Experience Using De-Escalation Strategies, Tania Yvette Appling Jan 2018

Juvenile Correctional Officers' Experience Using De-Escalation Strategies, Tania Yvette Appling

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Juvenile direct-care officers working in juvenile correctional facilities historically responded to critical and potentially aggressive incidents using nontherapeutic strategies. The purpose of this study was to examine and to understand the lived experiences of direct-care officers' use of de-escalation skills for managing violent and disruptive behaviors in juvenile correctional facilities. The findings from this study may add to the existing literature by describing juvenile correctional officers' experiences as well as to better understand their perceptions and attitude using de-escalation strategies in correctional environments. The social learning and self-efficacy theories provided the conceptual framework to examine and understand their experiences. The …


Causes Of Recidivism Among Mentally Ill Prerelease Offenders From The Perspective Of Former Correctional Mental Health Professionals, Rina Desiree Deneice Bradley Brown Jan 2018

Causes Of Recidivism Among Mentally Ill Prerelease Offenders From The Perspective Of Former Correctional Mental Health Professionals, Rina Desiree Deneice Bradley Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The move toward reducing the prison population was driven by an increase in the number of reentry programs that focused on the needs of the offender, such as the provision of stable housing, employment, education, and sustaining strong familial bonds. While the literature supported these areas as being effective in reducing recidivism, there was no consensus that they were effective for offenders with mental illness (OMI). The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze the impact of prerelease services for the OMI population from the perspective of former correctional mental health professionals who provided these services. The research questions …


Advocating Ideal Type Policy For Police Officer Wellness Based On Body Mass Index As A Predictor Of Self-Reported Occupational Stress, Louis Chiappetta Jan 2018

Advocating Ideal Type Policy For Police Officer Wellness Based On Body Mass Index As A Predictor Of Self-Reported Occupational Stress, Louis Chiappetta

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Scholars have validated both the damaging presence of police officer stress and separately, their increasing obese condition in the United States. Previous studies of police officers focus on stress or body weight, but not these variables conjointly. The purpose of this study was to inform policy creation by examining the problem of officer stress in relation to the calculated body mass index (BMI) values and to gain insight into stress outcomes. Lazarus and Folkman's stress-coping theory served as the research lens to examine if BMI would significantly contribute to the percent change of R2 variance accounted for in the predictive …


Adolescent Engagement In Home-Based Treatment: An Action Research Study, Krystal Finch Jan 2018

Adolescent Engagement In Home-Based Treatment: An Action Research Study, Krystal Finch

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Adolescent engagement in home-based treatment is a challenge within the social work field. Studies have suggested that the foundation of clinical practice relies on the clinician's ability to understand the process of engaging adolescents in treatment, which may also include a period of adaptability, relatability, and connectedness within the treatment setting. The purpose of this study is to explore the clinical practice approaches, roles, and experiences utilized in home-based treatment to adolescents residing in a large city in northeastern United States. This study was grounded in the ecological systems theory which provides social workers with an opportunity to assess the …


Low-Income Households' Perceived Obstacles And Reactions In Obtaining Affordable Housing, K Mark Leonard Jan 2018

Low-Income Households' Perceived Obstacles And Reactions In Obtaining Affordable Housing, K Mark Leonard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Low-income affordable housing remains an issue for the town on Martha's Vineyard where this study was conducted, in which an estimated 54% of low-/moderate-income households spend more than 50% of monthly income on housing. Using Schneider and Ingram's work regarding the social construction of target populations as the foundation, the purpose of this qualitative research was to assess how the perceived social standing and political power contributed to determining the benefits and burdens allocated to the town's low-income households. Data for this study consisted of 14 individual semistructured interviews with members of low-income households who were seeking or in affordable …


Managerial Strategies Small Businesses Use To Prevent Cybercrime, Doreen Lynn Maahs Jan 2018

Managerial Strategies Small Businesses Use To Prevent Cybercrime, Doreen Lynn Maahs

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Estimated worldwide losses due to cybercrime are approximately $375-575 billion annually, affecting governments, business organizations, economies, and society. With globalization on the rise, even small businesses conduct transactions worldwide through the use of information technology (IT), leaving these small businesses vulnerable to the intrusion of their networks. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the managerial strategies of small manufacturing business owners to protect their financial assets, data, and intellectual property from cybercrime. The conceptual framework was systems thinking and action theory. Participants included 4 small manufacturing business owners in the midwestern region of the United States. …


Dispositional Optimism Effects On Stress And Police Task Performance, Roland Art Perez Jan 2018

Dispositional Optimism Effects On Stress And Police Task Performance, Roland Art Perez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The study of stress on police task performance is important as this relationship can positively or negatively impact encounters with the public. This study focused on protective factors of positive psychology within the measured construct of dispositional optimism as a possible mediator of stress effects on physical task performance. The cognitive processing models used were the performance efficiency theory and attentional control theory as they apply in perceptual motor skill. Using a mediation model, the research question asked whether dispositional optimism mediated the relationship between stress and a pistol performance accuracy task. This study used a limited data set collected …


Medication-Assisted Therapy Interventions And Prescription Opioid Misuse, Stella Kiah Jefferies Jan 2018

Medication-Assisted Therapy Interventions And Prescription Opioid Misuse, Stella Kiah Jefferies

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Opioid drug misuse and dependence are a social and public health problem in the United States. Prescription opioid abuse and misuse have been associated with substantial morbidity and mortality rates as well as social and economic costs. The purpose of this project was to provide a systematic review of literature on the effectiveness of medication-assisted therapy interventions in addressing the problem of prescription opioid misuse in health care settings. The systematic review was completed through a literature search conducted across five electronic databases. The review was guided by the health belief model and eligible studies were rated using Johns Hopkins …


Reentry Practitioners' Perceptions Of Constraints During Ex-Offenders' Job Search Process, Crystal Raquel Francis Jan 2018

Reentry Practitioners' Perceptions Of Constraints During Ex-Offenders' Job Search Process, Crystal Raquel Francis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Unemployment among formerly incarcerated citizens is a complex problem that continues to grow. Previous reentry studies describe the collateral effects of incarceration on employment from the perspective of formerly incarcerated individuals, yet little academic research exists regarding reentry practitioners' perceptions of constraints during the job search process. Using Goldratt's theory of constraints as the foundation, the purpose of this case study of reentry and employment in a mid-Atlantic state was to explore from the perspective of practitioners, the types of constraints individuals with criminal records face during the job search process, the most difficult phase of the job search process, …


The Need For De-Escalation Techniques In Civil Disturbances, George Raymond Mccord Jr Jan 2018

The Need For De-Escalation Techniques In Civil Disturbances, George Raymond Mccord Jr

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The response to civil disturbances has historically been the aggressive use of force or escalation with tactics such as the use of police dogs, armed federal troops during war protests, and police field forces. These types of tactics can escalate tensions between protestors and police and only add to the violence and destruction of the incident. To reduce the violence between protestors and the police and the destruction often associated with civil disturbances, it is necessary to examine the need to include de-escalation techniques in the responses. This study utilized 3 theoretical frameworks, the chaos theory, the behavioral decision theory …


Law Enforcement Formal Academic Educational Hiring Requirements And Deputy Sheriff Disciplinary Issues, Chase Dennis Wetherington Jan 2018

Law Enforcement Formal Academic Educational Hiring Requirements And Deputy Sheriff Disciplinary Issues, Chase Dennis Wetherington

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is a lack of research as to what impacts law enforcement disciplinary issues. This is important due to the recent emphasis of officer performance and accountability. In 2008, the Southeast Sheriff's Office (SSO) increased their formal academic educational hiring requirement from a high school diploma to 60 college credits. The impact of this increase has never been analyzed. The purpose of this study was to determine through the theoretical lens of Kohlberg's 6 stages of moral development if an increase in the formal academic educational requirement influenced the number of deputy sheriff disciplinary issues. A quantitative nonexperimental study was …


A Phenomenological Examination Of Prisonization And The Psychological Effects Of Incarceration, Wanda Lynn Bates Jan 2018

A Phenomenological Examination Of Prisonization And The Psychological Effects Of Incarceration, Wanda Lynn Bates

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Adjustment to prison culture may influence the development of psychological issues for some individuals and may contribute to the difficulties of reentry to society, potentially contributing to the high rates of recidivism. The purpose of this study was to explore prisonization and its potential psychological effects from the perspective of individuals who experienced it. The theoretical foundation used to guide this study was the constructivist self-development theory, which can be used to explain how individuals may or may not have been affected by their traumatic experience. The participants for this phenomenological study included 10 individuals who experienced incarceration to fulfill …


Campus Behavior Coordinators' Perspectives Of Student Discipline Among Females In Middle School, Tamara Jordan Jan 2018

Campus Behavior Coordinators' Perspectives Of Student Discipline Among Females In Middle School, Tamara Jordan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Student discipline issues can impact student achievement and disrupt the learning process in the school setting. Behavioral issues among female students have become prevalent in public schools, and disciplinary rates of African American female students are disproportionately high. School administrators have the responsibility to manage student discipline on their school campuses while ensuring a positive and safe learning environment for all students. Previous researchers have focused on student discipline of male students; there have been limited studies on the perspectives of school administrators on disciplinary practices for female students. The purpose of this study was to gain the perspectives of …