Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year

Articles 3001 - 3030 of 5913

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Strategies For Reducing Civil Servant Turnover Within The U.S. Federal Government, Tewanda Leshae Wooten Jan 2020

Strategies For Reducing Civil Servant Turnover Within The U.S. Federal Government, Tewanda Leshae Wooten

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Voluntary turnover has increased in the United States federal government in recent decades. Employees are voluntarily leaving organizations sooner than expected, leaving the remaining employees to complete their tasks and posing a possible loss of revenue until the employee is replaced or retrained. The purpose of this study was to understand the reasoning behind the upward trend in turnover rates within the federal government and assist with strategies to retain government employees in the future. Herzberg’s two-factor theory was used as the theoretical framework to heighten understanding of the high levels of turnovers within the federal government. The primary research …

Go to article

Experiences Of Low Income African American Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren, James Agboola Abolarin Jan 2020

Experiences Of Low Income African American Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren, James Agboola Abolarin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractLow-income African American grandparents raising their grandchildren are faced with multiple challenges psychologically, financially, and emotionally. Four out of five African American custodial grandparents live below the poverty line and with mental problems, such as bipolar disorder, anxiety, schizophrenia, and depression. The main research question focused on the experiences of low income African American custodial grandparents, living with diagnosed mental health issues while raising their grandchildren, and dealing with a restricted access to mental health counseling services. Bowen family system theory was adopted as the theoretical framework, and a phenomenological-hermeneutic methodology was used. A total of seven low income, custodial …

Go to article

Teacher Preparedness, Stress, And Subjective Well-Being In Alternative And Traditional Certification Route Teachers, Shuchemia Nicole Bradley Jan 2020

Teacher Preparedness, Stress, And Subjective Well-Being In Alternative And Traditional Certification Route Teachers, Shuchemia Nicole Bradley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many educators who enter the teaching profession via the traditional route leave the profession early. As a result, many school districts rely on alternative certification programs to fill the teacher shortage. Though the traditional route of teacher certification contains instruction parallel to pedagogical theories and produces candidates with the opportunity to gain experience through practicums, the alternative route allows candidates to move directly into the classroom to fill teacher vacancies. The purpose of this study was to examine possible differences in teacher job-related stress and teacher subjective well-being as a function of teacher certification route. In addition, possible differences in …

Go to article

Methamphetamine Screening And Brief Intervention In A Hospital Heart Failure Program, Tamra Chavez Jan 2020

Methamphetamine Screening And Brief Intervention In A Hospital Heart Failure Program, Tamra Chavez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe efficacy of screening, brief, intervention, referral to treatment (SBIRT) in reducing or eliminating methamphetamine use has not been investigated and addressed among patients with heart failure. According to urine toxicology screens at admission at a county hospital, approximately 50% of patients in a heart failure program were positive for illicit substance use, and the majority of these tests (>60%) were for methamphetamine use, one of the most cardiotoxic drugs available. This quantitative study used an existing dataset to test the theory of intentional behavior by examining whether SBIRT intervention increases the patient’s ability to make a behavioral change …

Go to article

Rural Counselors’ Use Of Technology To Address Professional Isolation, Jacqueline Dale Grantland Jan 2020

Rural Counselors’ Use Of Technology To Address Professional Isolation, Jacqueline Dale Grantland

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractRural counselors experience high levels of stress and burnout because of increased job demands, a lack of professional resources, and professional isolation in rural community practice. Technology can be a useful tool for counselors to maintain connectivity and access resources not readily available. However, a gap in the literature exists on rural counselors’ experience with technology to remediate professional isolation. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological framework with an interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) was to explore licensed professional counselors’ experiences with using technology to address professional isolation in rural community practice. The inclusion criteria included the counselors having 2 years …

Go to article

Predicting Behavior To Engage In Fall Prevention Practices: The Role Of Interests And Basic Psychological Needs, Jan Fay Kress Jan 2020

Predicting Behavior To Engage In Fall Prevention Practices: The Role Of Interests And Basic Psychological Needs, Jan Fay Kress

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractA fall is associated with adverse outcomes that include occupational, physical, cognitive, and psychological decline together with economic and caregiving burden. Despite the continued increase in prevalence of falls globally, most studies address the well-known risk factors of falls but exclude the behavioral risk factors associated with human actions, emotions, and everyday choices. Following the theory of self-determination and person object of interest framework, this quantitative, nonexperimental study was conducted using face-to-face and web surveys to examine the relationship between motivational, relational, and sociodemographic/medical conditions to predict engagement in fall prevention practices in a sample of 75 community dwellers, 65 …

Go to article

Adolescent Suicidal Ideation And Parental Perception, Parenting Style, And Parental Denial, Julie Mann Jan 2020

Adolescent Suicidal Ideation And Parental Perception, Parenting Style, And Parental Denial, Julie Mann

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Adolescent suicidal ideation is a substantial health concern in the United States, from both mental and physical perspectives. Parent-child connectedness (PCC) ostensibly plays a considerable role in reducing the problem. Along with parents of youth who are struggling with suicide, mental health care providers and school administrators would appreciate understanding more effective strategies for eliminating adolescent suicidal ideation. This cross-sectional, quantitative study sought a statistically significant relationship between PCC measured as parental perception, parenting style, and parental denial (independent variables) and the dependent variable of adolescent suicidal ideation. Bandura’s social cognitive theory, Baumrind’s parenting style theory, and Mowder’s parent development …

Go to article

Ethics Of Collection And Use Of Consumer Information On The Internet, Thanh M. Pham Jan 2020

Ethics Of Collection And Use Of Consumer Information On The Internet, Thanh M. Pham

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Consumer online activities can generate massive volumes of data that private companies may collect and use for business purposes. Consumer personal data need to be protected from unauthorized access and misuse. The specific problem is that consumers have little control regarding their data being collected and used by private companies. The purpose of this qualitative archival research was to explore business practices involving collection and use of consumer data without an individual’s consent. This study used the big data ethical conceptual framework to focus on various privacy issues, including those related to ownership, transparency, ethics, and consumer privacy laws. Archival …

Go to article

The Impact Of Agency Accreditation Or Certification On Police Misconduct, Robert Ellis Rodriguez Jan 2020

The Impact Of Agency Accreditation Or Certification On Police Misconduct, Robert Ellis Rodriguez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Law enforcement executives have created and implemented department policies and procedures to mitigate misconduct within their agencies, yet there is currently no method to quantify the effectiveness of these measures. The purpose of this exploratory study was to understand whether written directives, policies, and procedures of nationally accredited or state-certified law enforcement agencies impact reports of police misconduct. Data were collected from 8 Georgia law enforcement agencies: 4 that were nationally accredited or state-certified and 4 that did not hold such status. The data were compiled into 8 categories based on their accumulative number of misconduct incidents per agency and …

Go to article

Factors That Influence Violence And Homicidal Ideation Among Serial Offenders, Jared Matthew Rogers Jan 2020

Factors That Influence Violence And Homicidal Ideation Among Serial Offenders, Jared Matthew Rogers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many studies have been conducted to identify sources of violence in serial killers, including environmental, biological, and mental disposition factors. However, serial killers’ sexual fantasies had not been explored. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive phenomenological study was to understand how sexual fantasies influence serial killers’ violent behavior. The theoretical framework consisted of ecological systems theory and social learning theory. Data from previously conducted interviews, serial killers’ manifestos, and historical records were used to conduct a comparative analysis of the behaviors, techniques, and identification signatures of serial killers. Data were coded and categorized to identify the relationship between sexual fantasies …

Go to article

Service Members With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Who Face Employment Challenges Postdeployment, Donna Scurlark Sargent Jan 2020

Service Members With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Who Face Employment Challenges Postdeployment, Donna Scurlark Sargent

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe Iraq War was the longest war in the history of the United States, involving over 2 million service members. Service members who served in Iraq or Afghanistan experienced a high rate of mental health disorders including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and substance abuse as they returned from deployment. Research is lacking in regard to how Army reservists and National Guardsmen function at home, school, work, and in the community upon their return from service. The purpose of this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of service members with PTSD who experienced challenges with work …

Go to article

Double Jeopardy: African American Women And The Counselor Education And Supervision Dissertation, Beverly Lee Townsend Jan 2020

Double Jeopardy: African American Women And The Counselor Education And Supervision Dissertation, Beverly Lee Townsend

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Half of all doctoral students do not graduate, with attrition occurring because of the dissertation process. Outcomes for women and minorities are even worse. This study is an interpretive phenomenological analysis of the lived experiences of African American women working on their dissertation for a counselor education and supervision (CES) doctoral program. This study was guided by Flynn et al.’s emergent theory of the initiation, management, and completion of the dissertation, which highlights 6 themes important to successful completion of the dissertation in CES programs. Though the theory was originally applied to a largely White and Midwestern sample, this study …

Go to article

Social Comparison As A Policy Tool To Promote Corporate Environmental Responsibility, Enoch Chi Lok Tse Jan 2020

Social Comparison As A Policy Tool To Promote Corporate Environmental Responsibility, Enoch Chi Lok Tse

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Measures imposed on the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation, and Parks (MECP) have compelled the provincial agency in Ontario, Canada, to seek policy alternatives in carrying out its enforcement duties. Addressing this problem is important to the public, whose welfare is paramount, and to MECP managers, who must contend with the budget cuts. Smith’s social comparison theory provided the framework for this qualitative research study, in which the perceptions of MECP policy advisors regarding the applicability of social comparison as a policy tool to influence private sector firms to practice corporate environmental responsibility (CER) was explored in relation to air …

Go to article

Attitudes Towards Intellectually Disabled Sex Offenders Regarding Treatment Efficacy, Responsibility, And Dangerousness, Allison Elizabeth Westphal Jan 2020

Attitudes Towards Intellectually Disabled Sex Offenders Regarding Treatment Efficacy, Responsibility, And Dangerousness, Allison Elizabeth Westphal

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Intellectually disabled sex offenders (IDSOs) is a unique group of individuals who experience efforts that simultaneously attempt to integrate them into the community due to their intellectual disability (ID) diagnosis and are shunned due to their label as a sex offender. The present study contributed to the current literature by exploring the public attitudes towards IDSOs regarding dangerousness, criminal responsibility, and treatment efficacy. Using the lens of attribution theory, qualitative methods were used to explore these ideas through phenomenological design. Eight participants were interviewed, and data analyzed through coding and themes. Five themes were identified to include (a) dangerousness; (b) …

Go to article

Attachment And Perceived Infidelity Of Military Spouses During Active-Duty Members’ Deployment, Heather Ann Alvarado Jan 2020

Attachment And Perceived Infidelity Of Military Spouses During Active-Duty Members’ Deployment, Heather Ann Alvarado

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Frequent military deployments have been associated with relationship issues for active-duty members, such as marital conflict and infidelity. Previous research has indicated that attachment, communication, and mental health are associated with military marriages’ stability during deployment. However, there remains an important gap in the current literature on military marriages regarding perceptions of infidelity (emotional and sexual). Proponents of attachment theory postulate that early attachment experiences facilitate the development of self-perception as well as perceptions of others. From this perspective, the attachment of military spouses is associated with their perceptions of their active-duty spouses engaging in infidelity. The purpose of this …

Go to article

Suicide Attempt Impact On United States Coast Guard Career Retention, James Woodrow Bailey Jan 2020

Suicide Attempt Impact On United States Coast Guard Career Retention, James Woodrow Bailey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Suicide is of great concern nationally and has become a significant social problem within the last 10years. One group of growing concern is those who served in the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and the impact of a suicide attempt on their career retention. Previous studies had focused on potential risk factors that may lead an individual to attempt suicide, but there was limited research on the impact of a suicide attempt on an individual's career retention. It was unknown if the desire of USCG veterans to retain their career can primarily influence their decision not to attempt suicide. The …

Go to article

Gratitude Among Mothers Raising A Child With Special Health Care Needs, Keli Jean Kleindorfer Jan 2020

Gratitude Among Mothers Raising A Child With Special Health Care Needs, Keli Jean Kleindorfer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

For a mother raising a child with special health care needs (CSHCN), maintaining positive feelings of gratitude can become challenging because of the stress associated with caregiving, as well as the consequences of unmanaged stress, which include decreases in both physical and psychological health and well-being. Chronic, unmanaged stress has been associated with various health issues that can be severe and potentially life-threatening. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine how mothers raising a CSHCN experience gratitude. A secondary purpose was to identify possible barriers to experiencing gratitude, which, when implemented as a coping style, may decrease the …

Go to article

A Sub-Sahara African Army's Perspectives Of Security Force Assistance Training Effectiveness, Richard Kemp Jan 2020

A Sub-Sahara African Army's Perspectives Of Security Force Assistance Training Effectiveness, Richard Kemp

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Past research and government reports document that Security Force Assistance (SFA) provided by the United States to partner nations often failed to achieve the desired impact of developing the capacity and capability of the partner to defeat an insurgency and maintain security. A lack of research and available data inhibit the identification of reasons SFA programs fail. In this qualitative phenomenological study, the perspectives of recipients of training were explored to understand the factors that impact the development of capability and capacity as a result of SFA training. The agency theory was applied as the theoretical framework in the study …

Go to article

Relationships Among Patterns Of Criminal Thinking Styles And Recidivism In Non-Violent Offenders On Probation, Dr. Louise Mitsianis Jan 2020

Relationships Among Patterns Of Criminal Thinking Styles And Recidivism In Non-Violent Offenders On Probation, Dr. Louise Mitsianis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The 3-year rate of recidivism in the United States is around 43%, costing taxpayers millions of dollars every year. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between criminal thinking styles and self-reported recidivism, which included crimes committed that were not reported to authorities. According to Ellis' Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy theory, behavior is a direct result of cognitive activity. The research question asked what relationship existed between criminal thinking styles and recidivism for post-release non-violent offenders on probation. Using the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles, this study used a non-experimental survey approach, correlating scores from this measure …

Go to article

Health Literacy And Discharge Planning In Social Work Practice, Michele Munzner Jan 2020

Health Literacy And Discharge Planning In Social Work Practice, Michele Munzner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Low health literacy is a public health crisis, currently, there is limited research on social worker engagement with the low health literate patient. The research questions for this study examined health literacy knowledge in medical social workers and how their MSW curricula built their knowledge of health literacy. It also explored challenges that arise when discharge planning for patients with low health literacy. It also asked what social workers can do to aid patients with limited health literacy during the discharge planning process. This basic qualitative research study used criterion sampling and was informed by the socioecological model. Data collection …

Go to article

The Impact Of Instagram Usage And Other Social Factors On Self-Esteem Scores, Yael Treitel Jan 2020

The Impact Of Instagram Usage And Other Social Factors On Self-Esteem Scores, Yael Treitel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Instagram has more than 400 million monthly active users and 80 million shared photos with 3.5 billion likes daily. On Instagram, many people post their entire lives for others to see and comment on. This leads to people judging, commenting, and even trying to emulate others they see on social media. This constant comparing to others can lead to a host of psychological issues such as depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. As social media becomes more of a staple in people's lives, it is important to study and understand the possible pitfalls to the culture it perpetuates. The purpose of …

Go to article

Predicting And Mitigating Civil Conflict: Vertical Grievances And Conflict In Central Africa, Jd Walter Jan 2020

Predicting And Mitigating Civil Conflict: Vertical Grievances And Conflict In Central Africa, Jd Walter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Recent conflict research has relied on proxy variables of horizontal inequality to make causal assumptions, but these do not reveal the root of deprivation in aggrieved populations. However, it is important to continue to explore the greed-grievance dichotomy to explain the persistence of violent civil conflict. The purpose of this quantitative study was to expand this line of inquiry by investigating the relationship between indicators of vertical deprivation and reported civil conflict incidents to determine whether a significant correlation exists. Relative deprivation theory provided the framework for this study, which consisted of 10,779 survey responses regarding lived experience across 7 …

Go to article

Constructs Of Coping For Adult Victims Of Bullying, Gillian Harris-Dale Jan 2020

Constructs Of Coping For Adult Victims Of Bullying, Gillian Harris-Dale

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Bullying is a pervasive event that affects individuals in a variety of ways. For example, bullied individuals display an array of psychological and related psychosocial problems associated with victimization. There is a push for a transformation in the bullying paradigm to include the psychological and psychosocial symptomologies of both the perpetrator and victim. This study addressed the lack of qualitative research on coping mechanisms for adult victims of bullying. Due to the pervasive nature of the phenomena, the following was explored: (a) descriptions of bullying as expressed by adult victims, (b) adult victims' coping processes and methods, and (c) adult …

Go to article

An Examination Into Fusion Centers Impact On Information Sharing Post 9/11, Racquel Nicola Palmer Jan 2020

An Examination Into Fusion Centers Impact On Information Sharing Post 9/11, Racquel Nicola Palmer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the United States resulted in the introduction of the National Fusion Center Network. This effort seeks to empower National Security by effectively sharing information between various law enforcement organizations. Since the establishment of the Network, information that addresses the Networks' standard operating procedures and existing barriers to share information effectively has been lacking. This caused many criticisms as to whether the network is in fact effective in fulfilling its mandate to effectively share information between the various law enforcement agencies. Utilizing Bandura's cognitive theory of behavioral change, this phenomenological study identifies the strategies …

Go to article

Division Ii Football Players' Perceptions Of Ncaa And Finding Balance Between Athletics And Education, Morgan Laine Lehman Jan 2020

Division Ii Football Players' Perceptions Of Ncaa And Finding Balance Between Athletics And Education, Morgan Laine Lehman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mandates and regulations from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) have caused extreme reforms to take effect in the NCAA's education system. However, little is known about how these reforms have impacted student-athletes participating in college athletics. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore how Division II football players from public colleges and universities view their ability to balance their education and athletics to create a well-rounded college life. Astin's involvement theory was used to frame this study. Open ended questionnaire data was collected from 12 college football players, enrolled in public, Division II colleges and universities. …

Go to article

Prayer As A Predictor For Burnout Among Psychiatric Nursing Assistants, James Michael Rose Ii Jan 2020

Prayer As A Predictor For Burnout Among Psychiatric Nursing Assistants, James Michael Rose Ii

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The psychiatric nursing assistants who care for psychiatric patients in inpatient hospitals, like others who work in the human service field, experience some degree of burnout during their careers. This research used Pargament’s theory of religious coping to examine prayer as a predictor variable for a decrease in burnout experienced by psychiatric nursing assistants. The Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey and the Prayer Functions Scale were used to examine the predictor variables of prayer, gender, and years of service in correlation to the 3 dimensions of burnout. An N = 97 was obtained from the psychiatric nursing assistant population from …

Go to article

Experiences Of Police Officers Who Have Received Crisis Intervention Team Training, Ashley D. Yinger Jan 2020

Experiences Of Police Officers Who Have Received Crisis Intervention Team Training, Ashley D. Yinger

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Police officers are often the frontline responders to calls involving people in mental distress. The lack of specialized mental health training can influence stigmatization and criminalization of people with a serious mental illness (SMI). Crisis intervention team (CIT) training is a tool to provide law enforcement with specialized mental health training to enhance their skills and comfort level when responding to crisis calls. There is a gap in the research examining officers' experiences with CIT training and how they apply that training when encountering people who have a SMI. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore a …

Go to article

Evidence-Based Diagnosis Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Using Quantitative Electroencephalography, Roger Yoder Jan 2020

Evidence-Based Diagnosis Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Using Quantitative Electroencephalography, Roger Yoder

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Diagnosing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is challenging and is currently, diagnosis through self-administered checklists. Because a diagnosis of PTSD can open up significant benefits to compensation, education, and medical care, people can tailor their responses to the checklist to help ensure a diagnosis of PTSD. The purpose of the study was to examine the utility of the quantitative electroencephalograph for diagnosing PTSD. Frequency and presence of biomarkers and alpha brain wave symmetry in the frontal and parietal lobes were examined. Research questions involved examining the presence of alpha wave imbalance across the frontal lobe and between the right and left …

Go to article

Effective Coping Mechanisms For Caregivers Of Dialysis Patients, Olga Natalia Hernandez Jan 2020

Effective Coping Mechanisms For Caregivers Of Dialysis Patients, Olga Natalia Hernandez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, approximately 9 million informal caregivers, such as family and friends, assist other adults with essential activities, and more than 20 million adult Americans in the United States suffer from some level of chronic kidney disease. Research on the burden and satisfaction of caregivers of dialysis patients has focused on patients and caregivers who have been dealing with long-term kidney disease; however, this study addressed patients and their caregivers who were first transitioning from wellness to illness. The main intent of this study was to identify the coping mechanisms of effective caregivers at this point in time. …

Go to article

Stress And Job Satisfaction As Predictors Of Teacher Turnover Intentions, Alrick Thompson Jan 2020

Stress And Job Satisfaction As Predictors Of Teacher Turnover Intentions, Alrick Thompson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High teacher turnover is problematic because of the costs associated with recruiting and training new hires. However, some of the factors originating outside of the working environment that may influence teacher turnover intentions are not fully understood. The purpose of this quantitative correlational design study was to examine the extent to which job satisfaction, commuting stress, and financial stress are predictors of teacher turnover intentions. The study involved a purposive sampling of 227 teachers within a school district in the South Eastern part of the United States. Hobfoll’s conservation of resources theory provided the theoretical framework for the study. Validated …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last