Digital Commons Network^™

Emergency Managers Perceived Effectiveness Of Disaster Mitigation Plans And Training Focused On The Special Needs Population, Jessica Windsor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The special needs population faces increased vulnerability during disasters, yet disaster planning often overlooks their unique requirements. This study focuses on the experiences and perceptions of emergency managers in the Southeastern United States. The purpose of the study was to examine the extent to which emergency management plans recognize and address the needs of special populations and identify training gaps. The research questions aimed to uncover the factors that influence inclusive planning, training effectiveness, and resource allocation. Grounded in the Disaster Health Framework, the study utilized a qualitative research design involving surveys with 14 emergency managers, followed by thematic analysis …

Kevin Johnson V. Superintendent Mahanoy Sci

2025 Decisions

USDC for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Board Of Directors Meeting Minutes (July 14, 2025), Dmacc

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

This file contains the minutes from the Des Moines Area Community College Board meeting held on July 14, 2025.

Characterization Of Dna Background On Duct Tape Stored In Domestic Environments, Elaan A. Lukasiewicz

Student Theses

With lower detection limits for forensic DNA analysis, it is important to have a better understanding of background DNA levels unrelated to the crime to facilitate accurate data interpretation. Duct tape is used in crimes, e.g. to bind victims and seal drug packaging, and may be tested for DNA. To determine DNA background levels, twelve volunteers were recruited to donate a used roll of duct tape from their home. The duct tape was divided into three areas: inside, outside, and sides of the roll, and swabbed for DNA. The average concentration of DNA was determined for the inside (0.0723 ng/µL …

Unfinished Business: An Analysis Of The Permanent Forum On People Of African Descent, Satang Nabaneh

Journal of African Policy Studies

Communities of African descent worldwide experience persistent structural discrimination, manifested in poverty, underdevelopment, marginalization, social exclusion, and economic disparities. The historical crimes of enslavement, the transatlantic trade of enslaved Africans, apartheid, and colonialism, recognized as crimes against humanity and potentially constituting genocide, have left enduring trauma and systemic repercussions. These atrocities are demonstrably linked to current disparities in health, welfare, and the fulfillment of human rights for people of African descent. The International Decade for People of African Descent (2015 to 2024), proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 under the theme “People of African Descent: Recognition, Justice …

The Criminal Record As A Death Sentence: Unmasking The Ignored Realities Of Formerly Incarcerated University Graduates On Professional Licencing Challenges, Mbongiseni Mdakane, Bongani Innocent Nkambule, Sindile Amina Ngubane

Journal of Prison Education Research

Recently it is increasingly common practice for universities and professional registration councils to probe into applicants’ criminal records as a precondition for admission. Using social constructionism, this qualitative study explored the experiences of six formerly incarcerated individuals previously sentenced to life imprisonment, who hold professional university degrees in Law, Education, Psychology and Social Work and investigated whether having a criminal record had any bearing when applying for professional registration. The results indicate that due to the perceived stigma of, and discrimination against a criminal record, there exist varying degrees of criminal record disclosure ranging from partial, to full and non-disclosure. …

Reducing Use Of Force In Law Enforcement Through Higher Education, Joseph J. Davern

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This quantitative research study examined whether earning a college degree reduced police officers’ use of force in Massachusetts during 2023. Reducing force incidents is a concern for both citizens and law enforcement due to increasing public scrutiny and a need to improve community-police relations. The purpose of this study was to determine whether police officers with college degrees are less likely to use force during citizen encounters compared to those with only a high school diploma. The first research question explored the difference in the amount of force used by municipal police officers with college degrees versus those with high …

Constructing Victims And Perpetrators: A Textual Analysis Of Media Discourses On Sexual Violence, Farah Ali

Global Language Studies Faculty publications

Sexual violence has become increasingly visible in the public eye, which has in turn prompted scholarly research across disciplines to critically examine how such cases are handled, ranging from the investigation processes to how the accused and accusing parties are impacted. Linguistic research in particular has made an important contribution to our understanding of the role of language in interpreting and evaluating sexual violence by focusing on the narrations of specific cases. Yet linguistic perspectives are somewhat sparse with regard to mass media discourse, which can play an influential role in shaping discussions on sexual violence. This study examines discourse …

The Last Human Job: The Work Of Connecting In A Disconnected World By Allison J. Pugh, Princeton University Press, 2024, Karen Levy

Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal

“I FEEL SO SEEN!” has become a Gen-Z catchphrase for the sense of personal validation when something you experience resonates with your own way of being in the world — say, when you learn that a lyric you’ve always misheard is also misunderstood by someone else, or that a guilty pleasure in which you indulge isn’t unique to you. These days, the phrase is often thrown around light-heartedly online in response to memes or TikTok videos. But the experience of really “being seen” is far from trivial; it’s a form of recognition essential to human functioning and community. Seeing another …

Experiences And Meaning Of Seeking Help And Resources For Male Victims Of Intimate Partner Violence, Dr. Cierra A. Ozolin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Experiences and Meaning of Seeking Help and Resources for Male Victims of Intimate Partner Violence by Cierra Ozolin MSW, Walden University, 2022 BA, BS, Central Washington University 2019 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Human Services Walden University August 2025

Six Steps To A Successful Study Abroad Program: Case Study In Stockholm, Sweden, Bryan R. Burton

csuglobalaction

This article is meant to serve as a guide for developing a short-term (typically 2 to 3 weeks long) faculty-led study abroad program. I will focus solely on my work in Stockholm, Sweden during summer 2023. This article will be particularly helpful to faculty members who are new to developing their own study abroad programs. I have six suggested steps for developing a successful faculty-led program. These six steps include:

1. thinking about what you want for students and your own career;

2. building on-campus partnerships;

3. Recruiting and supporting students as early as possible;

4. making the program itinerary interactive and rewarding for …

   ---

   Go to article

On Bodies In The Middle: Black Women, Sexual Violence, And Complex Imaginings Of Justice By Maya Hislop, Domale Dube

Criticism

Review of Bodies in the Middle: Black Women, Sexual Violence, and Complex Imaginings of Justice by Maya Hislop. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2024. Pp. 184. $29.99 paperback.

Artificial Intelligence, Special Education, And The Law: Risks, Rewards, And Opportunities For Leadership, Thomas A. Mayes

Journal of Business & Technology Law

No abstract provided.

Robocops To The Rescue? Addressing Police Misconduct, Clovia Hamilton, Scott J. Shackelford

Journal of Business & Technology Law

No abstract provided.

Understanding Youth Violence Through A Socio-Ecological Lens, Yok-Fong Paat, Kristopher Hawk Yeager, Erik M. Cruz, Rebecca Cole, Luis R. Torres-Hostos

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

Youth violence—the deliberate use of physical force or harm by young people between the ages of 10 and 24 to intimidate or cause harm to others, both online and offline—is a critical public health issue in the United States. Yet, successfully predicting future violent offenders is a complex and challenging task, as the question of why some youths resort to extreme violence while others refrain from it—despite facing similar risk factors—remains widely debated. This article highlights both risk and protective factors of youth violence through a socio-ecological lens to offer a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted factors driving youth violence …

He’S The Kid That No One Wanted: An Autoethnographic Examination Of Preschool Suspensions And Expulsions From A Mother’S Lens, Lisa M. Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This autoethnographic research examines the personal and professional journey of advocating against preschool suspensions and expulsions through the lens of a Black mother. Titled He’s The Kid That No One Wanted: An Autoethnographic Examination of Preschool Suspensions and Expulsions from a Mother’s Lens, " it dives into the complicated challenges faced while confronting exclusionary disciplinary practices in early childhood education. This research aims to illuminate the societal and institutional roadblocks encountered when navigating systems of power and to explore the impact of these challenges on both personal identity and professional advocacy. Using a blend of social media artifacts and memory …

Full Issue - Excelsior 17/2, Excelsior Journal

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Critical Literacy Approaches To Teaching Canonical Texts: Analyzing Race In To Kill A Mockingbird In Rural, Predominately White Classrooms, Ashley Graegin, Margery Gardner

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

In the 21st century, U.S. legislation continues to push for teacher censorship and seemingly depoliticized curriculums that ignore systemic issues regarding race, gender, sexuality, and other social justice topics. With the understanding that texts can never be politically neutral, English language arts (ELA) teachers must adopt critical approaches to teach required, and often hegemonic texts, and help students cultivate criticality and critical race consciousness. In this study, we aim to explore strategies that can be used to promote critical readings of canonical texts and how the topic of racial oppression can be broached in rural, predominantly White secondary English classrooms. …

Drug Recognition Experts’ Perspectives On The State Of Maryland’S Legalization Of Cannabis And Its Impact On Impaired Driving, Raymond D. Brooks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Motor vehicles have become both affordable and practical to own. As a result, law enforcement has been tasked with enforcing laws related to safe vehicular operation on the roadways nationwide. Further, much like alcohol, drug influence causes concern for motorists, and with the introduction of cannabis legalization, there is a clash between use, public interaction and vehicle operation. Cannabis consumption in public, the perception that use is allowed anywhere, and the impact that impairment has while driving can be a concern for those tasked with enforcing laws that some perceive to be allowed. This study introduces cannabis legalization within the …

Violence Towards Ems, Briana Moffat

AJiC Fact Sheets

This factsheet examines violence towards Emergency Medical Services (EMS) responders as documented in existing research literature, tying into Alaska's Crisis Response Team models.

Making Sense Of Modernity, Donald Roth

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"We don’t like the ambivalence of being both grateful for what God has given us and yet sorrowful over the human sin or suffering that came along the way. We are prone to distortion and idolatry when we embrace either of these one-sided narratives."

Posting about the allure of our modern world from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Making Sense of Modernity

Str Analysis Performance Comparison For Two Capillary Electrophoresis Instruments: The Seqstudio And The 3500 Genetic Analyzers, Yana Leichyk

Student Theses

This study compares the performance of two capillary electrophoresis instruments—the SeqStudio™ Genetic Analyzer and the 3500™ Genetic Analyzer—for forensic short tandem repeat (STR) analysis. Using the GlobalFiler STR kit and certified reference material (SRM 2391d), five key performance metrics were evaluated: sizing precision, signal reproducibility, detection sensitivity, mixture resolution, and overload tolerance. STR profiles were generated from single-source and mixture samples with DNA inputs ranging from 500 pg to 15.6 pg. Both instruments met the < 0.15 bp sizing precision requirement for forensic casework. Signal reproducibility tests showed that the SeqStudio often produced higher average RFU values, but with greater variability, while the 3500 demonstrated more stable signal performance across days and samples. Mixture detection was effective on both platforms up to 1:10 ratios. Dropout of minor alleles began to appear at 1:20 ratios, especially in green and yellow dye channels, on both instruments. Sensitivity studies confirmed full profile recovery down to 62.5 pg, with increasing allelic and locus dropout at lower inputs. Enhanced injection voltage (1.5 kV) did not improve low-template performance. In overload testing (1–5 ng input), the 3500 maintained a consistent signal output, while the SeqStudio exhibited signal suppression at 5 ng, likely due to internal normalization. The SeqStudio exhibited better spectral overlap compensation, with fewer occurrences of spectral bleed-through artifacts. These findings support the use of both platforms in forensic casework, while emphasizing the importance of platform-specific calibration and analytical threshold settings for optimal performance.

Perceived Experiences Of Native American Men During Incarceration In Tribal Jail, Stacy Marie Becker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The subject of this dissertation is the Perceived Experiences of Native American Men during Incarceration in Tribal Jail. The reason for this research is to determine what practices are rehabilitative and what practices are detrimental to this population. This is important to learn so that criminal justice professionals will be able to consider possible changes that can be made to make recidivism less likely among this population while increasing practices that are conducive to rehabilitation. This work was researched using the Indigenous Standpoint Theory which is meant to reflect the experiences and views of the research participants without analysis through …

Prosecuting Attorneys’ Experiences And Perceptions Of Evidence That Most Often Leads To Wrongful Convictions At The Pretrial Stage, Shari Lee Barton Harrell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Before trial, prosecuting attorneys obtain and review evidence, including the types of evidence (i.e., perjury/false accusations, official misconduct, mistaken eyewitness testimony, false/misleading forensic evidence, false confessions, and inadequate defense counsel) that most often lead to wrongful convictions. The role of the prosector after conviction has been explored. The scholarly community needed to understand how prosecuting attorneys view this evidence at the pretrial stage so some wrongful convictions may be prevented. The purpose of this study was to explore prosecuting attorneys’ experience and perceptions regarding the evidence that most often leads to wrongful convictions at the pretrial stage. As part of …

The Association Between Callous-Unemotional (Cu) Traits And Suicidal Behavior In A Psychiatric Inpatient Adolescent Sample, Emily C. Kemp Phd, Paige Picou Phd, Erin P. Vaughan Ma, Emily L. Robertson Phd, Toni M. Walker Phd, Paul J. Frick Phd, Ryan M. Hill Phd, John De Back Md

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Introduction: Suicide in adolescents poses a major public health crisis as the second leading cause of death in youth. Suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) are a principal reason for psychiatric hospitalization among adolescents. Numerous studies across development have identified risk factors (e.g., depression, borderline personality (BPD) features, family history of suicide) associated with STBs, while research in adults largely reports that the affective component of psychopathy, captured by callous-unemotional (CU) traits, is negatively associated with STBs. However, the relationship between CU traits and STB risk among adolescents remains unclear.

Methods: The present study tested associations between self-reported CU …

Introduction To Sociology: Deviance And Crime, Dr. Marcia Morrison Ph.D.

Open Educational Resources

Abstract

This paper explores the multifaceted concepts of deviance and crime by synthesizing major theoretical perspectives and contemporary research findings. Beginning with the fluid and culturally contingent nature of deviance, the discussion highlights how social norms, historical context, and power structures define what is considered deviant behavior. It examines the influence of economic elites on moral and legal standards, drawing on Marxist analyses, and considers the impact of societal labeling on personal identity through Lemert’s labeling theory.

The paper then delves into biological foundations of criminality, reviewing Lombroso’s atavism theory and modern research on genetic predispositions, including twin, adoption, and …

Don’T Throw The Book: Customary Tribal Laws Can Heal Rather Than Punish Addiction, Coleman Griffith

Tribal Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Brief Of Law Professors As Amici Curiae In Support Of Plaintiff-Appellees, Ira P. Robbins

Amicus Briefs & Court Filings

INTRODUCTION: The Executive Order at issue in these appeals targets a small and uniquely vulnerable minority of transgender women—those currently housed in federal women’s prisons—by commanding the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to transfer them immediately to men’s facilities. Amici file in support of Plaintiffs-Appellees (hereinafter “Plaintiffs”), to address two procedural arguments made by Defendants-Appellants (“the government”). First, Congress has not eliminated federal court jurisdiction to decide Plaintiffs’ challenge to the transfer provisions of the Executive Order. Second, the government overreads the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA); Plaintiffs’ lawsuit is not improper or premature under that statute’s exhaustion requirement because …

Perceptions To Care, (Education) And Treatment Reviews (C(E)Trs) Of Mental Health Clinicians Working With Adults With Intellectual Disability In England: A Cross-Sectional Study, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

Introduction: Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews (C(E)TR)are meetings to review individualized needs of people withintellectual disabilities (PwID) at risk of or currently undergoingpsychiatric hospitalization. We aimed to understand C(E)TRimpact and effectiveness from professionals working with PwID.Methods: An online mixed-methodology survey whichincluded 34 questions (either Likert or free text) was sharedwith networks including relevant professionals. Quantitativedata are presented descriptively. Thematic analysis was conducted on free-text responses.Results: Of 66 people representing multiple intellectual disability teams across the UK, 67% found the C(E)TR process useful,35% felt C(E)TRs made a difference to their clinical care, while36% felt it did not. Thematic analysis showed four …

Latine Students’ Stem Identity Development: Reflecting On Implicit Biases, Imposter Syndrome, Self-Efficacy, And Support Systems, Alyssa G. Cavazos, Valerie Leija, Javier Cavazos Vela

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

This study used an equity ethic framework and a STEM identity model to contextualize and understand Latine students’ perceptions of STEM identity development. The purpose of this study was to investigate how Latine undergraduate students who engaged in STEM coursework perceived their learning experiences and stories of resilience through an equity ethic framework. Data were collected through interviews with 19 Latine college students attending a Hispanic-Serving Institution. Findings revealed the following themes related to Latine students’ STEM identity development and lived experiences in STEM coursework: implicit biases, imposter syndrome, self-efficacy, and support system and resources. Findings highlight the need for …