Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Key Inhibitors To Ex-Offenders Obtaining Permanent Housing, Jennifer Bernard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is a problem with the availability of permanent housing for ex-offenders, which increases the number of homeless ex-offenders, increasing the potential for recidivism that leads to inflated federal, state, and local incarceration budgets and higher taxpayer burdens. However, not much is known regarding the barriers ex-offenders face when seeking permanent housing in Anchorage, Alaska. Narrowing this knowledge gap was the purpose of this study, which was guided by Schneider and Ingram's social construction framework theory. The research goal of this study was to examine how the perception of ex-offenders and the external environment affect the ex-offender's ability of obtaining …

Mediating Effect Of Transformational And Servant Leadership On Perceptions Of Management Bullying, Wilsa Desir

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Bullying by workplace organizational leadership will continue to present challenges until organizations adopt tools to identify feasible policies, programs, and solutions that can bridge the gap between oppressed employees and their organizations. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study was to examine the effects of transformational and servant leadership on organizational commitment and the mediating effect of management bullying in the workplace. The investigation was guided by the 3-component model (TCM) of organizational commitment, Burns's conceptual framework on transformational leadership, and Greenleaf's theory on servant leadership. Survey data were collected from 134 participants recruited via social media and snowball sampling. …

The Nature And Effectiveness Of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Fraud Detection Strategies In Baltimore County, Keena Esemuede

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The frequent occurrences of fraud over the life of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) have indicated a need for robust fraud detection strategies. This qualitative study explores the nature and effectiveness of current fraud detection strategies for the SNAP in Baltimore County during 2008-2018 to understand what strategies can possibly reduce fraud within the program. The primary methods of fraud (conceptual framework) and social disorganization theory (theoretical framework) were used to collect the data for this study. The data included interviews with 1 administrator and 3 store managers who oversee the SNAP in Baltimore County, as well as 5 …

Restorative Justice As A Response To Middle School Rules Violations, Tammy Felps

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The zero-tolerance approach of discipline in schools requires the involvement of law enforcement for many violations of school rules. Schools using this approach do not have the tools for effective behavior modification, without relying on school resource officers to intervene, often resulting in juvenile criminal charges. The key elements fueling this process are exclusionary discipline practices that lead to academic failure and increased high school dropout rates. Restorative justice (RJ), a targeted reform program, is a behavior management technique that promotes desirable conditions for successful academic achievement. Many schools are using components of RJ, encounter, repair, and transform; however, implementation …

Older Adults' Access To Medicaid's Home-And Community-Based Services, Joe Henry Horton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As the U.S. population ages, the need for public policies regarding long-term care increases, as the need is unequal to demand. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and describe the role of senior service providers (SSPs) who have dealt with health policies from being responsible for the decision-making processes of implementing federal and state guidelines in Michigan on access and wait-listing of older adults for home and community-based services (HCBS). The theoretical foundation for this study was the social construction and policy design theory. The central research question sought perceptions of SSPs as to their ability to …

Exploring Fathers' Perception Of Their Reading And Math Skills And Paternal Involvement, Vielka C. Massenburg

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many children in the U.S. public education system at the elementary and secondary levels are below proficiency in reading and math. Parental involvement within the home and school context is important to children's overall and academic success. The purpose of this basic, qualitative study was to explore fathers' perception about their self-efficacy, reading and math skills, knowledge of and accessibility to educational and community resources, and their involvement in the academic lives of their elementary school-age children. Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory provided the theoretical framework of social interrelatedness. Semistructured interviews were conducted to collect the data from 7 fathers with …

The Impact Of Technological Advances On Older Workers, Toni Mcintosh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The general problem addressed in this study was the treatment of older workers in the information technology industry that contributes to age discrimination in the workplace. Age discrimination is against the law irrespective of whether it is aimed at older workers in the workforce or becoming job candidates at an advanced age. Although previous research has shown that age discrimination is prevalent in work environments, little has been suggested to eradicate the issue in the workplace. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate the issue of age discrimination as it relates to workers over the age of …

Mediating Effects Of Workplace Sanctions On The Relationship Between Knowledge Work And Psychological Wellbeing, Selena Pitt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This quantitative associational correlational non-experimental study used multiple regression analysis with mediation to address the research question: To what extent employee perception of workplace sexual harassment sanctions mediate the relationship between the 4 modes of the SECI (socialization, externalization, combination, internalization) knowledge creation model and psychological wellbeing. The study was based on the theoretical underpinnings of knowledge creation theory and the precepts of knowledge work as a discretionary organizational behavior that requires intentionality from the knowledge worker. The study explored the direct and indirect effects of the intercorrelations between the predictors, mediator, and outcome variables with 109 participants. The model …

Secondary Traumatic Stress And Spiritual Practices Among U.S. Psychologists: A Quantitative Study, Luis R. Sanchez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Studies suggest that 8% to 20% of mental health providers struggle with secondary traumatic stress (STS), but the number of investigations evaluating psychologists' STS is limited. Furthermore, although literature on the effects of self-care practices on STS is vast, no studies have examined the role of such practices on U.S. psychologists' level of STS. Informed by Stamm's theory of professional quality of life, this study analyzed variations in 159 U.S. psychologists' STS and frequency of participation in spiritual-based self-care practices between different religious identity groups. This study also explored the effect of spiritual-based self-care on U.S. psychologists' STS. An exploratory …

The Values Influencing Assistant Principals' Decisions To Utilize School Resource Officers, Tracy Yvette Thompson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

School administrators use control and maintenance to create a safe learning environment for students in the United States public schools. However, when school resource officers (SROs) within U.S. schools are assigned authority over disciplinary procedures certain students become negatively impacted. Substantial research has been conducted regarding the impact and roles of SROs, but very few studies explored the opinions of assistant principals (APs), the individuals typically responsible for the enforcement of school discipline. In this study, a qualitative interpretative design was used to explore what values and beliefs guide APs in their decisions to involve SROs in school disciplinary procedures. …

Experiences Of A Loss Of A Parent To Aids During Adolescence On Young Adults, Angela Thorpe-Moss

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) continues to be a major healthcare issue for many countries, including the United States. Millions of adolescent children under the age of 18 have lost 1 or both parents to AIDS-related complications. The death of a parent to AIDS-related complications is severe; however, limited data describes how this type of death affects adolescents after they have become young adults. It is important to determine how these adolescents are affected by exploring their lived experiences of losing a parent to AIDS-related complications. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences associated with …

Forensic Insight On Predatory Behavior: Fantasy And Relational Paraphilic Attachments In Stalker Processing, Elizabeth Ann Duemig

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the push to criminalize stalking, many of the actions that would legally fall under these provisions do not materialize into stalking-based arrests or convictions as stalking frequently becomes a lesser included offense under charges that escalate into violence. Insight into offender pathways related to predatory pursuit could serve to inform individuals faced with the forensic challenges of legal decision-making. The dynamics of stalking behavior include elements of fantasy and attachment. The objective of this study was to examine patterns of violent sexual fantasies and relational paraphilic attachment (RPA) in an offender’s process of stalking preselected victims. The research question …

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Patients' Sociological Resilience, Self-Determination, And Decision-Making For Life-Sustaining Treatments, Jeremy Jon Van Tress

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

People with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) suffer from a rare, progressive, untreatable, and fatal neuromuscular disease. Their decision-making for life-sustaining treatments may not be fully self-deterministic. While researchers have examined resilience and self-determination in people with mental health problems and chronic illness, none have researched these variables in ALS patients from a socioecological framework. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between people with ALS socioecological resilience, self-determination, and decision-making for life-sustaining treatments. A cross-sectional concurrent mixed-methods design was used, with online surveys completed by 197 people with ALS who were solicited through the National ALS Registry. …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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) …

The Integration Between Strategy Formulation And Implementationin Construction Contracting Firms In Ireland, Ahmed Hassan

Doctoral

The role of the construction sector in Ireland is critical in terms of the economic and social development however the economic, competitive, and regulatory business environment present a myriad of complexities to firms operating within the sector. The importance of strategic planning for business survival and prosperity has been well documented over several decades of research but there remains a paucity of empirical evidence to determine the in strategic decision-making process under these volatile environmental conditions.This study addresses the perceptible gap in existing knowledge by investigating the characteristics of the strategy strategic decision-making process, strategic choices, and implementation process in …

An Evaluation Of Availability And Adequacy Of Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems In Asian Countries: A Baseline Study, Ignacio Aguirre-Ayerbe, Maria Merino, Seinn Lei Aye, Ranjith Dissanayake, Fathmath Shadiya, Crisanto M. Lopez

Biology Faculty Publications

Early warning systems are widely considered as one of the more important aspects to reduce the impacts and consequences that hazardous natural events pose to societies. Similar to the other terms related to disaster risk reduction, this concept has evolved over time to eventually result in a comprehensive framework, that includes features from the upstream phase, such as detection and forecasting tools and models, to the downstream phase that considers a people-centred approach.

Based on this holistic conceptual framework, this paper attempts to assess the degree of adequacy and integration of early warning systems with reference to international standards using …

Rethinking Burnout In Informal Caregivers: Development And Validation Of The Informal Caregiver Burnout Inventory - 10 Item Form, Nicholas James

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Measurement of informal caregiver burnout is typically achieved by re-purposing scales of occupational burnout. Such approaches have several methodological and theoretical weaknesses. This paper proposes a new tool for measuring caregiver burnout: The Informal Caregiver Burnout Inventory (ICBI). In the first portion of this study, focused feedback was collected from within-field experts and caregivers. Following item revision, an online sample of informal US caregivers of an individual with dementia was collected. Item Response Theory analysis was used to prune low-information or low-consistency items from the scale. The finalized ICBI contained 10 items and showed strong convergent validity, adequately differentiated burnout …