Digital Commons Network^™

Examining The Challenges Of Providing Mental Health Treatment In Female Correctional Facilities From The Perspective Of Mental Health Professionals, Lacretia Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Women in correctional settings frequently experience significant mental health issues that are linked to histories of trauma, abuse, and victimization. Despite increased attention to trauma-informed and gender-responsive approaches, numerous obstacles continue to affect the delivery of mental health treatment within female correctional facilities. Existing literature focuses on systemic and policy concerns, overlooking mental health professionals' experiences. Guided by general systems theory, this qualitative study examined the challenges encountered by providers, including how organizational, environmental, and institutional factors influence treatment implementation. Data collected through semistructured interviews with 10 mental health professionals revealed multiple barriers to effective service delivery, including the complex …

Project Management Frameworks For The Responsible Integration Of Ai In Luxury Interior Design And Ff&E Practice, Jade Alfstad Hachem

Harrisburg University Dissertations and Theses

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into luxury interior design and furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E) practice has outpaced the governance structures needed to protect creative authorship, craft traditions, and cultural intelligence. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine how project management frameworks could govern the responsible integration of AI in luxury interior design and FF&E specification. The study was grounded in the Adopt a Holistic View principle of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide, Eighth Edition, and addressed three research questions on governance frameworks, tensions between technology and handcraft, and art historical literacy. …

Implementation Of A Standardized Protocol To Improve Provider Documentation And Initiation Of Guideline-Concordant Hypertension Follow-Up Within 14 Days In Primary Care, Stella Williams

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Hypertension is a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, yet timely follow-up after elevated blood pressure (BP) readings is not consistently documented in primary care. This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) quality improvement project evaluated whether a standardized hypertension screening follow-up protocol improved provider initiation or documentation of guideline-concordant follow-up within 14 days. The faculty-approved PICOT population was primary care providers in a primary care clinic; we used eligible electronic health record (EHR) encounters as the analytic records to observe provider performance. We used a quantitative pre/post design and retrospectively reviewed 30 eligible EHR encounters: 15 pre-implementation …

Impact Of Employment Status And Housing Stability On Tuberculosis Treatment Adherence In Virginia, Samuel Deapeh Worgee

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Tuberculosis (TB) cases have resurged in Virginia, yet the structural determinants shaping treatment completion among socioeconomically marginalized populations remain unquantified locally, leaving public health programs without state-specific predictive evidence. Grounded in the World Health Organization's social determinants of health framework, this quantitative, ex post facto study examined how employment status, housing stability, and social risk factors predicted TB treatment completion. De-identified surveillance records for N = 898 adult TB cases reported from 2020 through 2024 were extracted from the Virginia Electronic Disease Surveillance System and analyzed using a multivariable binary logistic regression, controlling for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and radiographic severity …

Access And Utilization Of Counseling For People With Sexual Offense Histories, Darrell Antonio Jones Jr.

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is a gap in understanding the low rate of utilization of mental health support services among adult men and women with criminal sex offense histories, which worsened mental health challenges for this population. The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to explore human services professionals’ perceptions and recommendations about access and utilization of mental health counseling for formerly incarcerated adults with sexual offense histories. Grounded in the good lives model of offender rehabilitation, the research question was: How do human services professionals perceive access to and utilization of mental health, holistic, and wellness counseling for formerly incarcerated …

Educators’ Perceptions Of The Challenges Of Reintegrating High School Students Returning From Suspension In A Western Suburban School District In Chicago, Rebecca Moss

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem that was addressed through this study was that Grade 9–12 educators face challenges in implementing effective behavioral support systems for students returning to school after a suspension. Grounded in Bandura’s social cognitive theory, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to investigate Grade 9–12 educators’ perceptions of the challenges they face and their recommendations when supporting students who return to school after a suspension in a western suburban Chicago district. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 11 purposely sampled Grade 9–12 educators including administrators, teachers, social workers, school counselors, and school psychologists. Through thematic analysis, four themes emerged. …

Tech Oligarchs And Corporate Vigilantism, Joao Marinotti, Asaf Lubin

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Big Tech’s unchecked power has evolved from a regulatory crisis into one concerning the rule of law itself. Shielded by the First Amendment, Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, corporate law, and contract law, technology giants have circumvented traditional government oversight, amassing a level of power that eclipses even that of some sovereign states. No longer guided by cautious boards of directors, today’s tech empires are often ruled by impulsive billionaire CEOs, who, through a single policy change or algorithmic tweak, can upend individual rights, destabilize global markets, and erode democratic governance itself.

The scale of such dangers …

Nature Or Nurture? A Study Of Stem Identity In Rural Middle Schools, Elizabeth Earle Browne

College of Education

Underrepresentation of historically marginalized students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) continues to be an issue, particularly in under-resourced, rural communities such as Alabama’s Black Belt. This mixed-methods study examined factors influencing STEM identity among rural middle school students and the relationship between STEM identity and interest in participating in future STEM electives. Grounded in social identity theory, the study explored demographic influences on STEM identity and students’ perceptions of who belongs in STEM. The quantitative phase utilized a modified STEM Identity Survey to collect responses from 145 students across four rural Alabama middle schools. Data were analyzed using …

Perspectives On Person‐Centred End‐Of‐Life Care In Care Homes: Findings From A Qualitative Secondary Analysis, Gary Hodge, Susie Pearce

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Background: The number of older people dying in long-term care facilities (LTCF) is growing globally. This highlights an urgent need for high-quality and person-centred palliative and end-of-life care (PEoLC) to be incorporated in LTCFs’, such as care homes. Resident health and care complexities can lead to challenges around PEoLC decision-making and delays in pre-death discussions, ultimately impacting on a care home’s ability to provide a ‘good death’ for the resident and those caring for them. Aim: We aimed to explore what good person-centred end-of-life care might look like in a care home from the perspective of residents, family members and …

Strategies To Transform Natural Resource Extension With Inaturalist And Engage The Public In Biodiversity Conservation, Corey T Callaghan, Brittany M Mason

Journal of Extension

Participatory citizen science is an increasingly popular tool that provides nonformal education and learning activities. iNaturalist, a free, open-access, participatory citizen science platform, provides a place to engage the public in natural resource programming. Here, we explore practical applications for integrating iNaturalist into Extension programming. We highlight two approaches: (a) self-guided programming, where participants independently engage in biodiversity documentation and professionals contribute identifications, and (b) facilitated programming, which involves structured events and projects led by Extension professionals. We discuss the unique advantages of using iNaturalist in these contexts and offer recommendations for quantitatively measuring and reporting its impact in Extension …

Exploring The Current Landscape Of After-School Programs In 4-H, Theresa M Ferrari, Travis West

Journal of Extension

After-school programs have attracted considerable attention as a setting for positive youth development programming, and 4-H has been part of the growth of the after-school field. We undertook the current study to describe the extent of after-school programming in 4-H and to learn about the breadth of program offerings and their frequency, duration, and location. The 139 respondents to our 15-question Qualtrics survey were from all regions of the United States and conducted programs in diverse communities. The information gained from this survey provides a snapshot of how 4-H professionals are involved with after-school programs in their communities.

Financial Recovery Capital: Exploring The Role Of Extension Education In Promoting Substance Use Recovery, Alex Elswick, Nichole L Huff, Omolola A. Adedokun, Leslie Workman

Journal of Extension

Substance use is a widespread and complex public health challenge. Financial stress (e.g., unemployment, inadequate housing, transportation access, poor financial literacy) is pervasive among people with substance use disorder (SUD). However, few educational interventions exist to address financial stress for this group. Through the theoretical lens of recovery capital (an asset-based approach that describes the totality of resources that support SUD recovery), we summarize the association between financial stress and substance use, offering implications for Extension educators by highlighting PROFIT, an exemplary program that leverages Extension education as a tool to promote financial recovery capital among people with SUD.

Enhancing Access Using Third Iron’S Libkey Nomad, Alicia Ikerd, Victoria Peters

Library Faculty Publications

This presentation describes how a liberal arts college’s academic library used Third Iron’s LibKey Nomad++ tool in order to connect their campus constituents to library subscribed resources from anywhere across the web. This presentation highlights some challenges specific to implementing domain messaging to appear across DePauw University’s resources, how we determined what resources to highlight, and how we have imported Third Iron’s usage data into SpringShare’s LibInsight in order to have a dashboard view of product impressions and clicks. The presentation also identifies ways that the usage statistics were incorporated into a dataset, and it describes methods applied as well …

The Impact Of Liquidity On Profitability Of U.S. Commercial Banks: Evidence From Panel Data Analysis Using Fdic Call Reports, Md Shehab Hossain, Saddam Nasir Chowdhury

Student Publications

Maintaining adequate liquidity while preserving profitability remains a central challenge for commercial banks because liquid assets strengthen resilience but typically generate lower returns than loans and other earning assets. This study investigates the effect of liquidity on the profitability of U.S. commercial banks using 8,000 quarterly bank observations for 2010–2024. Profitability is measured by return on assets (ROA), with return on equity (ROE) used for robustness, while liquidity, capital adequacy, the loan-to-asset ratio, and bank size are modeled as explanatory variables. Pooled OLS, fixed-effects, and random-effects estimators are compared, and diagnostic tests support a two-way fixed-effects model with standard errors …

Women Leaders In Higher Education Amidst Crisis: A Narrative Inquiry Exploring Ethical Decision-Making, Jacqueline Hawkins

Doctor of Education Program Dissertations

Women leaders in higher education navigate complex institutional environments in which ethical decisions are made under conditions of uncertainty, urgency, and competing responsibilities (Gigliotti, 2020; Riggio & Newstead, 2023). The problem addressed in this study was to explore how women leaders navigated ethical complexities, balanced competing responsibilities, and made meaning of crisis leadership experiences within higher education contexts. The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry was to explore how women leaders in higher education describe their experiences with ethical decision-making during crisis situations. Guided by the ethic of care described by Noddings (1984, 2013), the study examined participants’ ethical reasoning, …

Nature And The Fulfillment Of Psychological Needs: A Qualitative Study, Leah Skelton

The Bear Counseling Collective

As mental health disorder rates increase and nature contact decreases in the general population, it is in the interest of public health to understand the impact of nature on mental health and social belonging, particularly in order to utilize these benefits most effectively and efficiently for intervention design. Estimates of mental health disorder prevalence indicate one in five adults is affected annually (CDC, 2023; NIMH, 2023), with rates of anxiety, depression, and psychological distress rising in particular among youth and young adults (CDC, 2023). Similarly, as rates of stress and loneliness increase, researchers and public health organizations alike are calling …

Counselors-In-Training Attitudes Towards Social Justice Oriented Self-Disclosure, Kaitlyn Jones

The Bear Counseling Collective

The purpose of this phenomenological study will be to understand the attitudes towards social justice-oriented self-disclosure in counselors-in-training participating in their first practicum experience. By exploring their lived experiences and perceptions, this study seeks to illuminate how counselors-in-training (CITs) navigate the tension between clinical neutrality and social justice oriented engagement in therapeutic spaces.

Mitigating Mental Health Disparities: Ethnic Matching As A Moderating Variable On Help Seeking Using The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Max Oishi

The Bear Counseling Collective

There are significant mental health treatment disparities for racially and ethnically minoritized (REM) populations (Lin et al., 2023; McGuire & Miranda, 2008; Thomeer et al., 2023). These disparities include REM populations seeking help for mental health treatment at differing rates compared to European Americans along with significant treatment underutilization for REM populations along with intergroup differences (Choi et al., 2019; Hosseini & Kubavat, 2022; Kim & Lee, 2022; Kwong et al., 2025; Schraufnagel et al., 2006; Sheehan et al., 2018 & 2024). Due to underutilization, research suggests ethnic matching and/or racial matching could mediate mental health disparities for REM populations …

Volume 3 (2026), The Bear Counseling Collective

The Bear Counseling Collective

A journal of student counselors' reflections on culturally attentive mental health care and advocacy.

Muharremi, Robert, And Alisa Ramadani. Transforming A Guerrilla Into A Regular Army: From The Kosovo Liberation Army To The Army Of The Republic Of Kosovo. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024., Besa Kabashi Ramaj

Journal of Peace, Conflict, and Security Studies

Robert Muharremi and Alisa Ramadani’s Transforming a Guerrilla into a Regular Army: From the Kosovo Liberation Army to the Army of the Republic of Kosovo seeks to provide an accessible, academic narrative of Kosovo’s security transformation. It traces the evolution from the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), through the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC), to the current Kosovo Security Force (KSF). The result of this evolution is a military force which today holds a full-fledged defense mission.

Visoka, Gëzim. The Derecognition Of States. Ann Arbor: University Of Michigan Press, 2024., Aidan Hehir

Journal of Peace, Conflict, and Security Studies

Gëzim Visoka describes the derecognition of states as “a puzzling feature in world politics” (p. 114). This is certainly true. For many decades derecognition was a peripheral concern given it was rarely practiced after the UN was established in 1945; one notable exception being the derecognition of Taiwan, which has been ongoing since the 1950s. In recent years, however, it has become of significantly greater interest as it has become more common; of the five cases Visoka examines – Taiwan, Western Sahara, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Kosovo – four are very definitely products of the post-Cold War era. Despite this, …

Hehir, Aidan. Kosovo And The “Internationals”: Hope, Hubris, And The End Of History. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024, Sead Zimeri

Journal of Peace, Conflict, and Security Studies

Hope is enjoying a scholarly renaissance. Building on the “standard account” of hope as a desire for an outcome believed to be possible, recent work by Luc Bovens, Victoria McGeer, Adrienne Martin, Darrel Moellendorf, Michael Milona, and Katie Stockdale has refined the concept, distinguishing it from optimism and expectation, and asking when hoping is rational and what it requires. Yet this literature has remained largely within moral psychology; sustained tests against concrete political history are rare. Conversely, the enormous literature on humanitarian intervention and state-building has had much to say about power, legitimacy, and paternalism, and almost nothing about hope. …

La Traduction Se Mondialise Au Sein Des Organisations Internationales : Une Bénédiction Ou Une Malédiction?, Ezekiel O. Tanitolorun Ph.D, Tajudeen Salaudeen

Tête à Tête: Journal of Francophone Studies

Résumé

Nul n’ignore le fait que le monde devient de plus en plus un petit village à travers l’utilisation de la traduction pour que les hommes se comprennent facilement dans toutes les activités quotidiennes. Le concept de mondialisation s’explique comme l’expansion et l’harmonisation des liens d’interdépendance entre les nations, les activités humaines et les systèmes politiques à l’échelle du monde. Elle désigne un processus économique et politique qui a le but de rassembler des économies, des cultures et des sociétés en un monde. Cette communication vise à explorer l’efficacité de la traduction au sein des organisations internationales comme la Communauté …

Beyond Words: Semiotic Decoding Of Rẹ́Rẹ́Rún (Catastrophe Au Rendez-Vous) By Ọládẹ̀Jọ Òkédìjí And The Rich Tradition Of Yorùbá Theater, Nafiu O. Oloore Mr

Tête à Tête: Journal of Francophone Studies

Many researchers have focused on analysing novels, poems, and drama in the French language while neglecting certain subgenres. Although numerous studies have been conducted on semiotic analysis in French, little effort has been made to analyze Yorùbá drama. Thus, this study aims to provide a semiotic analysis of Rẹ́rẹ́rún (Catastrophe au rendez-vous) by Ọládẹ̀jọ Òkédìjí. This study adopts a qualitative research approach and textual explanation as its methodology. The semiotics theory proposed by Ferdinand de Saussure is employed as the theoretical framework. Following the qualitative method, twenty signs relevant to this study were selected for interpretation. Semiotics is chosen because …

Une Analyse Intersectionnelle De L'Albinisme Dans L'Instinct De Survie D'Éveline Mankou Et Ses Implications Contemporaines, Gracious Ojiebun, Eiloghosa Enogiomwan

Tête à Tête: Journal of Francophone Studies

Grâce à l'inclusion numérique, l'éducation devient plus interactive, accessible et inclusive, néanmoins, les enfants atteints d'albinisme en sont souvent exclus en raison de préjugés socio-culturels, de l'écart numérique et des barrières sociales systémiques. L'article explore comment les liens entre la culture, la géographie, la religion, le genre et le statut socio-économique peuvent conduire à une marginalisation violente en se servant d'une évaluation critique de L'instinct de survivre d'Evline Mankou, et en utilisant la théorie de l'intersectionnalité de Crenshaw, 1989.

Le roman dépeint un monde où la superstition et les traditions patriarcales condamnent un enfant atteint d'albinisme, tout en offrant un …

Voix Proverbiales Et L'Esthétique Socioculturelle : Les Proverbes Africains Dans La Trilogie De Kouta De Massa Makan Diabate, Ademola Malick Adebayo, Israel Adégòkè Owóṣení

Tête à Tête: Journal of Francophone Studies

Dans les traditions orales africaines, les proverbes sont des paroles condensées de sagesse, mot d'esprit, de raisonnement social et d'esthétique culturelle. La véritable littérature africaine est l’oralité et elle démontre la richesse linguistique, la complexité culturelle et l’esthétique de la parole à travers les proverbes, les chansons, les épopées, les mythes et les légendes ainsi de suite. L’oralité reflète la richesse linguistique et l’identité culturelle du continent noir. Cependant, les proverbes sont des transporteurs particuliers de la sagesse, la morale, la valeur, les codes sociaux et la croyance d’une société donnée. Dans la trilogie de Massa Makan Diabaté, les proverbes …

L’Insécurité Linguistique Selon La Perspective Des Élèves D’Immersion Française En Saskatchewan, Olushola Adedeji, Michael Akinpelu

Tête à Tête: Journal of Francophone Studies

Cet article examine l’insécurité linguistique (IL) chez des élèves d’immersion française (IF) en Saskatchewan en s’appuyant sur la sociolinguistique pour le changement. À partir d’un devis mixte (un questionnaire à large échelle auprès d’élèves de 7e–12e année et des groupes de discussion focalisés avec des élèves de 11e–12e année), l’étude décrit les différentes manifestations de l’IL, ses causes et ses effets sur les élèves tout en recensant des stratégies d’adaptation. Les résultats de l’étude montrent que l’IL est moins liée à une compétence linguistique objective qu’à des conditions sociales et pédagogiques modifiables. Des recommandations concrètes sont proposées, notamment la légitimation …

Femo Loquens: Gendered Memory, Afrosofian Thought, And The Speaking Woman In Present-Day Burkina Faso, Diweng Mercy Dafong

Tête à Tête: Journal of Francophone Studies

In order to analyze how female Burkinabè writers and filmmakers contribute to the decolonial endeavor of recovering knowledge, voice, and historical agency following colonial disruption, this paper introduces the idea of femo loquens, a gendered extension of homo loquens as theorized by François Ngoa Kodena. I contend that fiction makers like Apolline Traoré in her movie Sira, Monique Ilboudo in her novel Carrefour des veuves, and Roukiata Ouedraogo in herr novel Le petit mari serve as sofian thinkers whose artistic creations interact with gendered memory and postcolonial realities, drawing on Kodena's Afrosofian philosophy, which emphasizes epistemic plurality, cosmological rootedness, …

L'Exploration Des Figures De Style Dans Maeva Et Les Nuages Du Passé De Fatou Fanny-Cissé, Oladeji Olayiwola Nureni Mr

Tête à Tête: Journal of Francophone Studies

Cette étude examine la figure de style dans les romans contemporains de Fatou Fanny Cissé, Maéva et Les nuages du passé, dans le contexte de la littérature francophone africaine. En s'appuyant sur des critiques littéraires récentes, l'analyse s'inscrit dans une perspective décoloniale, s'interrogeant sur le rôle des figures de style dans la tension entre oralité et écriture, ainsi qu'entre esthétique et engagement politique. L'approche qualitative repose sur une analyse stylistique des deux œuvres, en intégrant des théories de la stylistique textuelle, de la critique postcoloniale et féministe. Les figures de style, telles que métaphores, ironies et personnifications, sont étudiées pour …

Contextualizing Inclusion And Connection In An Absurd World: An Analysis Of Albert Camus’ The Plague, Peter Akongfeh Akongfeh Agwu Ph.D, Peace Onwanua Ph.D., John Ogidi Acha

Tête à Tête: Journal of Francophone Studies

Scholars have extensively analyzed Albert Camus’s The Plaque, while interpreting its narrative through existential and absurdist lenses. However, little literature is recorded on how the novel contextualizes themes of inclusion and human connection amidst an absurd world. This study addresses this gap by examining the dynamics of solidarity and shared resistance among the characters within the framework of Camus’s philosophy of the absurd. The aim is to ex-ray how Camus reconciles the tension between the absurd and the human need for meaning through collective action and emotional bonds. A qualitative methodology is employed, involving a close textual analysis of the …