Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Ethiopian Dilemma: Deep Structures, Wrenching Processes, Donald N. Levine

International Conference on African Development Archives

Please find attached my keynote address presented August 3 at the 4th International Conference of Ethiopian Development Studies at Western Michigan University. Organized by Professor Sisay Asefa, the Conference assembled an edifying blend of thoughtful, forward-looking Ethiopian scholars, and culminated with inauguration of the new Ethiopian Development Studies Association.

Do Foreign Direct Investment And Foreign Aid Promote Good Governance In Africa?, Adugna Lemi, Blen Solomon, Sisay Asefa

International Conference on African Development Archives

The literature on the roles that governance/political and economic stability play to attract capital flows into African economies has been burgeoning. Good governance, liberalization, infrastructure, incentive packages have been regarded as cures to break the deadlock to reverse the economic plight, to attract inflow of capital and, in some cases, to reverse outflows of African economies. The flow of capital, however, has undesirable side effects on host economies’ working conditions, environmental standard, inequality, and culture, among others. These economic and social external or negative spillover effects are due to the phenomenon of “race-to-the-bottom” where companies invest in economies with lax …

The Global Response To The Darfur Crisis, Mehari Maru

International Conference on African Development Archives

This paper examines the global response to the Darfur crisis. The term global refers to non-Sudanese actors in Darfur crisis including but not limited to: international and multilateral governance institutions such as United Nations and its family agencies (hereafter UN), International Criminal Court (hereafter ICC), African Union (hereafter AU), European Union (hereafter EU), North Atlantic Organization (hereafter NATO), and the Arab League; countries such as United States of America (hereafter USA), Peoples Republic of China, Chad, and Central African Republic; and international NGOs such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group and many other relief and humanitarian organizations, …

Leadership Perspective: Country Development And Transition To Free Market Economy, Kinfu Adisu

International Conference on African Development Archives

In the following essay, the author will examine the need for a clear understanding of the transition process and economic development in Ethiopia. The country’s move towards a free market economy will be critically analyzed as an important step to fight poverty. This will also raise the question of what policies need to be changed to make the nation competitive. A case method is taken into consideration to examine various experiences from African and Asian developing nations. The analysis will be from leadership perspective and takes a business approach to examining the issues and primarily utilizes free market transitional theories. …

Investors' Willingness To Pay For Urban Land: The Case Of Addis Ababa City, Alebel Bayrau, Genanew Bekele

International Conference on African Development Archives

The spatial, physical and socio-economic conditions of Addis Ababa City, in general, is by far behind the requirements fundamental to sustain the livelihood of the city. In addressing the problems of the city, the suggested government intervention strategies include, among others, the relocation and resettlement of residents for efficient utilization of potential sites, and bringing balanced and coordinated investment/development in different parts of the city. These strategies, so far, seam to concentrate on the supply side and neglected the effective demand of the majority of investors. This study, therefore, aims to assess determinants of investors' willingness to pay for a …

2007 International Conference On Ethiopian Development Studies (4th Iceds) A Multidisciplinary Conference On The Challenges Of Peace And Development In Ethiopia & The Horn Of Africa, Western Michigan University

International Conference on African Development Archives

Proceedings from the 2007 International Conference on Ethiopian Development Studies (4th ICEDS) A Multidisciplinary Conference on the Challenges of Peace and Development in Ethiopia & the Horn of Africa, held in Kalamazoo, Michigan (WMU), August 2-4, 2007.

Private Transfers, Informal Loans And Risk Sharing Among Poor Urban Households, Eskander Alvi, Seife Dendir

International Conference on African Development Archives

This paper contributes to a growing literature that investigates the mechanisms of risk-sharing among poor households. There are two aspects of the paper that are particularly relevant in the context of the literature. First, it focuses on poor urban areas. The disproportionate focus in the literature on rural households has meant that we know relatively little about the risk-sharing practices of poor urban households. Given that formal insurance is largely absent even in urban areas of most developing economies, it is apparent that these households may be no less vulnerable to income risk than their rural counterparts. Furthermore, because of …

Cognitive Vs. Supportive Therapy For Distressed Collegians, Jean Clore

Dissertations

Rates of depressive symptoms, psychological distress, and low self-esteem appear to be growing on college campuses. Determining how best to help distressed collegians is an important public health concern, as these individuals appear to be at significant risk for further deterioration, disrupted quality of life, and impaired ability to succeed in college. This study compared the effects of (a) six sessions of cognitive therapy (CT; training in two cognitive modification strategies—building positive self-thoughts and disputing negative self-thoughts) to (b) six sessions of non-directive, supportive therapy (ST). Fifty-three students from a large mid-western university reporting low self-esteem and significant levels of …

From Sandbox To Altar: What I Didn’T Know, Thought I Knew, And Discovered About Learning And Relationships, Cherilyn L. Gardner

Masters Theses

In this theoretically-based thesis, I metacognitively explore the transactional relationship between critical inquiry and literacy development. Throughout the writing, I reveal my own learning in studying these concepts. Embedded in the discussion of research, readers will engage with my personal reflections, confessions, and applications of what I learned (and am still learning).

Through countless dialogues (academic and otherwise) and my study of literature and self, I found that literacy is much more than what it has been carved out to be by programs promising to raise standardized test scores. Additionally, by breaking the mold, I found that critical inquiry provides …

Public Administration Theory And Views Of The Human Person, Gerald L. Zandstra

Dissertations

Public administrative theory, despite its reach into American life, lacks broad agreement about its field of inquiry, its underlying presuppositions, and its purpose. Theorists such as Herbert Storing, Stephen Bailey, Richard Stillman, David Hart, Vincent Ostrom, William Dunn, Bahman Fozouni, Mark Rutgers, Michael Harmon and others have observed and lamented these shortcomings. Without well-developed theory, the objectives of public administration are a moving target.

This project does not attempt to resolve this deficiency. Instead, it is intended to address a primary question pertaining to public administration's core principles: what is the nature of the human person? The line of argumentation …

Evaluating The Immediate Impact And Short-Term Therapeutic Effects Of The “Internalized-Other” Interviewing With Couples, Shai M. Brosh

Dissertations

The present study examined empirically the immediate and short-term therapeutic effects of the internalized-other interview (Tomm, 1996) with couples during a single session and compared it with the standard method of interviewing couples (i.e., treatment as usual). Thirty-two married couples (N = 64 participants) were randomly assigned into one of two conditions (internalized-other versus standard interviewing). Couples attended an initial interview session and two follow-ups (one and four-weeks respectively). Self-reported measures of session impact were taken immediately after the session, while self-reported measures of marital satisfaction, intimacy, closeness and empathy were taken at baseline (before the session) and during …

Private Narratives In Public Places: The Experiences Of Predominantly White Gay Male Undergraduates On Lgb Classroom Panels, James Patrick Dolan Jr.

Dissertations

The scholarly literature addresses the common practice and effectiveness of using classroom panel presentations by lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) speakers to increase awareness of LGB experiences and to change attitudes. However, little is known about the experiences of the speakers themselves or how the experience may affect the speaker's sense of self or identity. From an identity as narrative perspective, the goal of this study was to learn what effect the repeated telling of a coming out story in a public setting may have on the teller's identity, the story they tell, and the meanings and feelings associated with …

Coordination, Collaboration, And Culture: Local Economic Development In A Time Of Networks, Gregg G. Guetschow

Dissertations

Social coordination takes form in accordance with three pure types: markets, hierarchies, and networks. The research that is the subject of this dissertation explored coordination through interorganizational networks involved in policy implementation. Of specific interest was the decision on the part of network participants to cooperate with other network participants to undertake implementation tasks. Conventional models of decision-making do not account for the interdependent and strategic nature of these interactions. To address this gap in understanding, a model of decision-making was developed. Central to this model are the influences of political, organizational, and professional culture and focal effects directing network …

A Phenomenological Study Assessing African American Women’S Perspectives On Successful Heterosexual Relationships, Shamika Yolanda Latrell Hall

Dissertations

This study seeks to understand successful African American relationships from the perspective of African American females. Recognizing the impact of structural factors on African Americans, as well as the limits of imposing Eurocentric definitions of successful relationships, this study seeks to understand how African American women themselves describe successful relationships and to identify factors that have influenced their ideas about what is required for them to have healthy, happy, long-lasting, nurturing relationships. Design of the present study is informed by findings from Stephens-Williams' (1992) study of successful African American relationships, as well as a broader review of structural, sociological, and …

Citation Analysis And Journal Impact In School Psychology: 1995-2004, Rebecca Lanai Jennings-Knotts

Dissertations

The present study is a citation analysis of the school psychology literature from 1995-2004. Data from six major journals over a 10-year period were analyzed to determine the disciplines, books, and authors who most heavily impacted school psychology. Findings suggest that school psychology is characterized by high levels of interdisciplinary collaboration, and that the school psychology literature maintains relatively low self-citation and cross-citation rates when compared to other domains of psychology. As in previous investigations, the field of education was found to be less influential than the field of special education. The impact of behavior analysis varied significantly by school …

Evaluation Of A School-Based Program Targeting Pediatric Asthma Self-Management Skills In An Urban Population, Dawn J. Dore-Stites

Dissertations

Asthma is the most commonly diagnosed chronic disorder in childhood and is linked with several problematic outcomes including frequent school absences, increased hospitalizations and decreased quality of life. Further, urban populations struggling with low socioeconomic status are disproportionately represented in prevalence statistics and suffer from increased functional morbidity relative to other children with asthma. These findings exist in the midst of largely effective pharmacological interventions.

Asthma self-management programs (SMPs) target several behaviors linked to improved outcomes and are often used as an adjunct to medication management. SMPs have been employed using a variety of techniques and treatment targets in a …

Empirical Essays On Inflation And Economic Growth, Lezheng Liu

Dissertations

This dissertation collects three empirical essays on inflation and economic growth. The first essay examines the impact of inflation uncertainty on the level of inflation. Uncertainty is measured by the conditional variance of inflation, and inflation is modeled as a GARCH-in-mean process with a two-regime Markov-switching coefficient on uncertainty. Using a Bayesian estimator with the Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach, we find that the impacts of uncertainty on inflation are statistically significant and have different signs in different regimes for the U.S. postwar data. The regime switching nature of the inflation process can explain the contradictory theoretical predictions and empirical …

Effect Of Extinction Across Multiple Contexts On Renewal Of Responses Within A Functional Response Class, Jennifer L. Sobie

Dissertations

Resistance to extinction in applied settings is a common problem seen in behavior excess scenarios including those that deal with dangerous responding such as high-intensity aggressive responding, or drug dependence--where relapse is discouragingly high and is acknowledged as the most significant challenge in treatment--or eating disorders, or those that include simple reduction of common but undesired behavior in adults, children, and even pets. Behavior reappearance (i.e., the untargeted return of a learned response following extinction) implicates the physical context in which learning occurs as having a critical influence on what is learned and how, when and where this learning will …

Going For The Gold: Recruiting Students And Engaging Administrators Through Education And Entertainment In The Library, Michele D. Behr, Maira Bundza, Barbara J. Cockrell

University Libraries Faculty & Staff Publications

Western Michigan University Libraries partnered with the university administration's recruitment efforts on campus. Library staff created and hosted an evening of instructional games to provide experiential learning, social interaction, and fun in the library for scholarship-seeking millennials. Students discovered information in archival materials, compared search results in a library database and Google, examined plagiarism issues, formatted citations, and used the catalog to locate specific items throughout the library. In their evaluations, students reported they learned about finding library materials and plagiarism issues. They rated teamwork, the archival challenge, and catalog activities most enjoyable. The event built positive relationships within the …

Metaevaluation Case Study Of Four Evaluations Of Osha Vpp Programs, Jafar Momani

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the controversy about shifts in the U.S. Administration's policy related to the Labor Department (OSHA) shift from enforcement to partnerships and voluntary protection programs (VPP). A metaevaluation of four OSHA VPP evaluation reports was conducted and included the investigation of objectives, methodologies, strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. Conducting a crosswalk of the 1994 Joint Committee evaluation standards (JCS) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) standards was an opportunity to provide additional validity to the evaluation standards, evaluation reports findings and conclusions, and to highlight the importance of the shared elements between …

An Eco-Philosophical Ecofeminist Critique Of Victimology: Examining The Anthropocentric And Speciesist Borders And Boundaries Of Victimology, Angela K. Simon

Masters Theses

This work is a critique of the anthropocentric and speciesist borders and boundaries of victimology. Essentially I challenge victimology for failing to incorporate the victimizations of non-human animals and the environment, and instead focusing narrowly on only specific forms of human victimization. I do this by examining the history of victimology and exploring how its boundaries became what they are today. Focusing on the role criminology has had in the general development of victimology. I then go on to juxtapose the limited presence of animals and the environment within criminology with their relative absence in victimology. In conjunction with this …

Global Connections—Online!, Maira Bundza

Gatherings: Friends of the University Libraries Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Gatherings No. 40 Summer 2007, Friends Of The University Libraries

Gatherings: Friends of the University Libraries Newsletter

Complete issue of Gatherings no. 40. Edited by Laurel Grotzinger.

Banners Catch And Teach, Michael Whang

Gatherings: Friends of the University Libraries Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Beyond Library Walls, Michele D. Behr

Gatherings: Friends of the University Libraries Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The Future Is Now: Part I, Scott Garrison

Gatherings: Friends of the University Libraries Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Color-Blind Individualism, Intercountry Adoption And Public Policy, Pamela Anne Quiroz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A prevailing ideology of color-blindness has resulted in privatizing the discourse on adoption. Color-blind individualism, the adoption arena's version of color-blind discourse, argues that race should not matter in adoption; racism can be eradicated through transracial adoption; and individual rights should be exercised without interference of the state. As privatization has increasingly dominated our world and disparities between countries have grown, so too has intercountry adoption. This paper examines the colonial aspects of intercountry adoption and implications for conceptualizing global human rights from our current emphasis on individual rights, as the real issue continues to be which children are desired …

The Challenge Of Community Work In A Global Economy, Howard Karger, Christian Iyiani, Pat Shannon

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article examines how and why five major stakeholders-international financial organizations; NGOs; governmental entities; multinational corporations; and community development projects- have failed to significantly and uniformly reduce aggregate global poverty. The article uses the results of a case study of HIV/ AIDS prevention in a low-income Nigerian city to argue that effective action must involve local and global stakeholders in collaborative partnerships. It concludes by discussing the critical role of facilitators in such partnerships.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 34, No. 2 (June 2007)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• SPECIAL ISSUE ON GLOBALIZATION, SOCIAL JUSTICE & SOCIAL WELFARE
• INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE - Frederick (Fritz) MacDonald and James Midgley, Special Editors
• PERSPECTIVES ON GLOBALIZATION, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND WELFARE - James Midgley
• GLOBALIZATION AND DRUG AND ALCOHOL USE IN RURAL COMMUNITIES IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY - Charles Fiki
• COLOR-BLIND INDIVIDUALISM, INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION AND PUBLIC POLICY - Pamela Anne Quiroz
• THE CHALLENGE OF COMMUNITY WORK IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY - Howard Karger, Christian Iyiani and Pat Shannon
• GLOBALIZATION, IMMIGRATION AND THE WELFARE STATE: A CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARISON - Qingwen Xu
• GLOBALIZATION AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING - Loring Jones, …

Toward Global Welfare State Convergence?: Family Policy And Health Care In Sweden, Canada And The United States, Gregg M. Olsen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Accounts of the welfare state and the dynamics governing its development have been pivotal and highly contentious in the social policy literature over the past few decades. Since the 1980s, research has suggested that, as a result of domestic pressures and strains and/or the impact of globalization, welfare states were declining in tandem. However, most of these studies were quantitativefocusing upon 18 or more advanced capitalist nations and, in their search to uncover broad cross-national trends, utilized narrow welfare state indicators. This study investigates the extent to which the social democratic welfare state in Sweden, the social liberal welfare state …