Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Look Into Dhs-Sponsored Community Programs, Daniel Cook

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The Center for Prevention Partnership and Programs (CP3) is the arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that works to prevent acts of targeted violence and terrorism (TVT). This is accomplished through partnering with local and state organizations, law enforcement agencies, and universities to construct prevention frameworks, best practice reviews, and innovative solutions to attempt to make the United States safer from individuals who are at risk for radicalizing toward violence. For these organizations, CP3 provides technical, financial, and educational assistance. Beyond that, community partners work to find develop programs and execute solutions that are specific to the needs …

The Vocation Of Public Service: A Normative Conceptualization Of Work In Public Service, Morgan Vogel

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

This research aims to develop an understandable and useful discourse for advancing work in public administration as a vocation among scholars and practitioners. The overarching research question guiding this study is: How do city managers understand and experience vocation? Adopting a narrative inquiry qualitative approach, this study uses semi-structured interviews to hear stories city managers tell about vocation, how they recognize a sense of vocation in colleagues, and what a discourse of vocation means for the field of public administration more broadly. This research serves as an exploratory study on work in public administration as a vocation and, thus, is …

Racial Equality And Social Equity In International Settings: The Anti-Discriminatory Perspective In Mexico, Felipe Blanco

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Among the many elements that make social equity a pillar of public administration in the US, racial equity and equality have had a prominent role. The literature around the topic recognizes that race and ethnicity are socially constructed categories shaped by specific socio-historical contexts and that race, as a nervous area of government is a global phenomenon. However, understanding of the social construction of race and social equity in other national settings remains fairly limited. This research contributes to closing this gap by studying the case of the National Commission to Prevent and Eradicate Discrimination (CONAPRED), a Mexican federal organization …

Trading Camouflage For Kalashnikovs: The Radicalization Of U.S. Military Members Into Salafi-Jihadist Organization And Their Insider Threat, Lauren Zimmerman

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

This study examines those identified as homegrown violent extremists within the U.S. who also had experience with the U.S. military and the possible pathways to extremism they took. This research relies on the Salafi Jihadist Inspired Profiles and Radicalization Clusters (SPARC) study. By applying Kruglanski’s 3N theory of radicalization to a sample of 23 subjects who had joined, or attempted to join, the U.S. military, this study finds that most of those with military experience are radicalized by formal, organization-led networks and are motivated by social significance loss, suggesting that they have moved their personal identification from the U.S. military …

Identifying The Call To Public Service: Exploring The Relationship Between Public Service Motivation And Calling, Morgan Vogel

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

This study explores the distinctions between public service motivation and the calling to public service and, specifically, how public servants describe these concepts. Using the calling and public service motivation framework put forth by Thompson and Christensen (2018), 31 semi-structured interviews were conducted with city government employees in the Omaha, Nebraska metro area. Findings indicate that the majority of participants identify with the ideas of both public service motivation and calling. In particular, findings suggest that the intensity, inevitability, and process of discovery dimensions are especially interesting in understanding how public servants describe public service motivation and calling. This research …

Protection Orders And Their Perceived Effectiveness - A Domestic Violence And Sexual Assault Crisis Center Program Evaluation, Shelby Connett

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

This presentation showcases the program evaluation of the Spouse Abuse Sexual Assault (SASA) Crisis Center's legal advocacy program in Hastings, NE. The quantitative and qualitative research components assessed the effectiveness of protection orders of individuals receiving services from SASA's legal advocacy program. Results, recommendations, and limitations are discussed.

The Opioid Crisis: Exploring The Effects On First Responders And Healthcare Professionals, Rachel Lubischer, Dawne Frain

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

In 2017, the National Department of Health and Human Services declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency (The White House, 2018). Although Nebraska ranks among the states with the lowest number of drug overdose deaths, rising opioid use creates safety concerns for first responders and healthcare professionals, and leads to strained resources in many jurisdictions. We hope to increase our audience’s knowledge on the opioid crisis, how it effects first responders and healthcare professionals, and pertinent policies and initiatives in Nebraska. Our audience will leave this presentation better equipped to initiate discussions with friends, family, and community members about …

Learning Within The 311 Service Policy Community: Conceptual Framework And Case Study Of Kansas City 311 Program, Xian Gao

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The 311 non-emergency service system differs from traditional public service delivery in the unique emphasis on citizen participation and extensive use of data and technology. It is a policy community involves a diversity of actors, embraces the reactions among them, and cultivates necessary information, knowledge, and interests. Learning within the 311 service policy community is a process that the above resources of actors are devoted to the 311 system, in forms of service and information requests and relevant collaboration toward increased service efficiency and effectiveness. Previous scholarship on policy community and policy learning paid little attention to public service delivery …

Up In Flames: Criminal Expertise And Far-Left Extremism, Michael K. Logan

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

This paper examines the decision-making processes of far-left extremists involved in arson and incendiary violence. The paper pays specific attention to the manner in which offenders draw upon prior knowledge and ‘expertise’ in planning and/or execution the attack. Drawing upon a sample of 195 self-reported communiques, the results suggest offenders rely on two types of criminal expertise to inform their decision to become involved in a violent act. First, perceptual expertise describes differential thinking patterns related to the crime setting. Second, procedural expertise involves the knowledge and skills aimed at enacting the offense itself. Overall, findings from this study suggest …

Transforming Communities Through Policy: Bridging The Gap Between What We Know And What We Do, Danielle Galvin

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Abstract

Research findings are incorporated too slowly and inconsistently into social service practices. This gap between services and the research that informs them results in poorer outcomes for clients, and higher costs to taxpayers in the form of less effective treatments. Even evidence-based programs, if not delivered with fidelity to the research upon which they are based, can result in poor outcomes. The purpose of this study is to investigate solutions that support more rapid and effective implementation of research within agencies’ complex government, community, and organizational environments. The field of implementation science has emerged to study factors that influence …