Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

The Exploitation Or Protection Of Communities And Exploited Persons?, Spencer Boldt

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study was intended to dissect the inner workings of the newly implemented Bill C-36 in Canada, The Protection of Communities and Exploited Peoples Act through a mixed methods approach. This was done through comparing statistical research (demographics, crime data, and overall economic state) within Regina to interviews conducted with those individually involved in prostitution and the community of the city. This study was meant to draw out the differences between what the statistics depict, a growth in the overall safety of Regina, versus the perspectives gained from multiple interviewees. With this mixed method approach I have deduced that Bill …

Stranger Citizens: Migrant Influence And National Power In The Early American Republic, John Mcnelis O’Keefe

OHIO Open Faculty Textbooks

Stranger Citizens examines how foreign migrants who resided in the United States gave shape to citizenship in the decades after American independence in 1783. During this formative time, lawmakers attempted to shape citizenship and the place of immigrants in the new nation, while granting the national government new powers such as deportation.

John McNelis O'Keefe argues that despite the challenges of public and official hostility that they faced in the late 1700s and early 1800s, migrant groups worked through lobbying, engagement with government officials, and public protest to create forms of citizenship that worked for them. This push was made …

Three Essays On Tax Compliance In Indonesia, Himawan Saputro

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

This dissertation studies the impacts of major tax reforms designed to improve tax compliance, particularly in the context of developing countries with limited enforcement capacity due to informality and lack of third-party data using the Indonesian tax administrative data as well as relevant empirical research methods. In order to describe this dissertation, I discuss each essay as the following.

The first essay is titled "How Do Small Taxpayers Respond to Tax Simplification? Evidence from the Indonesian Turnover Tax Reform." This essay studies the firms' behavioral responses to tax simplification in Indonesia by exploiting the implementation of turnover tax in 2013 …

Professional Administrative Study Discretionary Service Effects Within The Uscis Violence Against Women Act (Vawa) Petition Process, Albert Anthony Hill

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The administration of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)-based petition process does not allow discretionary consideration for sponsoring U.S. citizen spouses. This policy is harmful to U.S. citizens. Further, such policy undermines the efforts of USCIS in an equitable delivery of immigration benefits. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of U.S. spouses with the petition process. A qualitative phenomenological case-study design was used to gain direct knowledge from 13 U.S. citizen spouses about their experiences with the petition process. A conceptual framework approach was used to answer if the current process provides an equitable …

Exploring Police Legitimacy Through Procedurally Just Policing Practices In Agencies Using Screen-In And Screen-Out Procedures, David William Justice

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Recently there have been widely publicized reports of distrust and a lack of perceived legitimacy in communities across the United States for the police agencies that serve them. Scholars have explored perceptions of police legitimacy and the role of procedural justice in police-community interactions; however, there is a dearth of information concerning the policies of law enforcement agencies using psychological assessments to screen-in or screen-out applicants and the manner in which those agencies serve the community. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore the manner in which one police agency using psychological assessments to screen applicants in and …

Challenges To Successful Health Care Transition Among Hiv Positive Youth With Perinatal Acquisition, Tyler Andrew Termeer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

To ensure stability in the continuum of health care for HIV-positive youth with perinatal acquisition, there is a need for a successful transition from pediatric to adult primary care. However, there are a growing number of perinatally infected HIV-positive young persons remaining in pediatric care beyond the age of 21. Using Mohr’s program theory and a phenomenological approach, the lived experiences of Ohio HIV clinicians were examined to determine why many perinatally infected HIV-positive youths are remaining in pediatric care beyond the age of 21. Audio recorded video interviews via SKYPE were conducted with 12 participants, transcribed, underwent thematic analysis, …

A Phenomenological Exploration Of How Nursing Experience Shapes The Transitional Performance Of Primary Care Nurse Practitioners, Helen Okeke

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractPoor access to healthcare and a shortage of primary care providers in underserved communities paved the way for reliance on advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). This increased reliance on APRNs as primary care providers necessitates expanded public policy on APRN practice; however, information on APRN transitional experiences remains inadequate to inform policymakers effectively. Illinois’ Nurse Practice Act requires APRNs to incorporate the scope of practice of registered nurses into their practice but does not describe what that experience should be. Using Kanter’s theory of organizational structural empowerment and Benner’s novice to expert nursing model as theoretical lenses to ground the …

Gender Equality And Equity Narratives Amongst Women In Nongovernmental Organizations, Barbara Etta Austin-Lucas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Gender equality and equity narratives of women members of registered nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have been largely unexamined relative to their lived experiences in healthcare, education, socioeconomic status, and political participation. The purpose of this study was to explore the narratives of women members of registered NGOs located in the Northeastern United States. The gender equality and equity narratives of women in registered NGOs related to their experiences with healthcare, education, socioeconomic status, and political participation were explored. For this qualitative narrative research, the conceptual framework was the narrative policy framework theory, which explores how narratives influence public opinion, policy dialogue, …

Evidence-Informed Health Care Transition Policy In California’S Title V Programs For Medical Complexity, Anthony Pallitto

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Inadequate health care transition policy continues to cause interruptions or setbacks in the continuity of medical care and lapses in health insurance coverage for adolescents in California's Title V programs for individuals with medically complex cases. Yet, there is a paucity of empirical health care transition research to develop an effective health care transition policy for children with medical complexity who are enrolled in California’s Title V program. The purpose of this explanatory case study was to explore the potentiality of translating evidence from a quasi-experimental health care transition primary research project into evidence-informed health care transition policy. The research …

A Sese Uta, Ia Tonu Tai: Local Government Management For Climate Change Adaptive Practices, Casuallen Iulieta Atuatasi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

American Samoa remains highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and has not developed the adaptive capacity to ensure resiliency. The current regulatory system influences the policy decisions of local policy leaders and therefore affecting the territory’s adaptive capacity to climate change impacts. The purpose of this general qualitative interview-based study was to investigate the current governance framework and describe the factors in the territorial relationship that impact policy action of local policy leaders on climate change issues. The research question examined what major aspects of the current regulatory framework impact the policy action of local policy leaders on …

Street-Level Bureaucracy And Perceptions Of Juvenile Prostitution, Leshian J. Lockwood

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Juveniles in the United States continue to be arrested for prostitution even though the U.S. Federal law recognizes them as victims of sex trafficking. The purpose of this cross-sectional, quantitative study was to explore what factors law enforcement officers consider when encountering a juvenile involved in prostitution that influences their judgment on whether the juvenile is a victim of sex trafficking or a juvenile delinquent. Each of the 50 U.S. states has laws that address juvenile sex trafficking. The research questions for this study centered around the Trafficking Victim Protection Act (TVPA) and factors that influence officers' use of discretion …

Service Members’ Perspectives On Veteran Homelessness In Maryland And Virginia, Olasunkanmi G. Amosu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Homelessness among military veterans (HAMV) is a protracted problem. In November 2009, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pledged to end the issue, but almost 12 years later, HAMV persists despite various solutions proposed. In January 2020, 37,252 veterans were reported as experiencing homelessness in the United States. The creation of previous solutions did not include the perspectives of service members. The purpose of this study was to bridge this gap in knowledge by discovering the views of service members on why veteran colleagues experience homelessness. The theoretical framework for this study was Allport’s trait theory. A qualitative case study …

Police Officer Aggression During Police-Civilian Encounters And Effect On Civilian Perception, James Aaron Plank

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Trust in the police by the public is the cornerstone of public safety. A lack of trust in the police discourages citizens from reporting criminal behavior, leading to increased crime rates. A lack of trust can be the result of inappropriate actions taken by officers in police-civilian encounters, as perceived by the citizen. Although increased professional standards and training have been implemented in police departments across the U.S., researchers have not demonstrated how aggressive police officer behavior affects the civilian perception of the officer’s actions. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between police …

Harm Reduction Strategies & Law Enforcement’S Approach To The Opioid Epidemic, Johnathon Michael Sharp

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The opioid epidemic in the United States has increased in severity, lives lost, and associated costs for several decades. While legislation and criminal justice practices around the world regarding opioids have followed various avenues including alternative harm reduction approaches, U.S. responses have largely remained stagnant. However, one alternative harm reduction program, the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program, has been implemented in a few U.S. cities. This study examined law enforcement administrators’ familiarity and challenges with harm reduction strategies like the LEAD program. Using Kingdon’s multiple streams theory, this qualitative case study interviewed 10 law enforcement administrators from the Midwestern …

Exploring Stakeholder Opinions Of A School Sentinel Security Program, John Beraud

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractSchool shootings are tragic events that receive immediate, intense, and immense media attention. In the aftermath of an attack, lawmakers and school administrators receive public pressure to provide the necessary resources to incorporate school security programs that seek to improve school safety. The School Sentinel Program (SSP) operating in one Midwest U.S. state’s school district allows school personnel or volunteers from the local community, once screened and trained, to act as armed guards on public school campuses. The SSP allows firearms on school campuses outside of the hands of school resource officers, and these policies have often been met with …

Firefighter Fatalities And Compliance With The National Fire Protection Association (Nfpa) 1451 Standard, Christopher Norris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractDriving emergency vehicles continue to be significant safety hazard for firefighters. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards are designed to provide a national consensus standard for operation of these vehicles based on industry best practice. Existing research has not identified relationships between firefighter compliance with NFPA 1451, Standard for a Fire and Emergency Service Vehicle Operations Training Program, and any impacts this may have on firefighter fatalities. Using the systems theory as a foundation, the purpose of this cross-sectional, quantitative study was to investigate firefighter compliance to NFPA 1451 and determine any correlations to firefighter fatalities. Survey data were collected …

Falling Angels: A Qualiative Study Exploring Nonprofit's Organizational Practice, Lorraine Coker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Veterans are more susceptible to homelessness as well as to physical and psychological problems than other groups because of their high exposure to combat-related trauma and geographic dislocation due to military deployment. This administrative study addressed struggles that the Falling Angels nonprofit organization faced with implementing its mission to serve all homeless veterans in a midwestern American state while preparing to expand housing services to accommodate homeless women veterans. The study was created to explore and describe how this organization employs homeless or displaced veterans. The research question was used to explore overall organizational performance of management by analyzing participants’ …

An Evaluation Analysis On Public-Private Partnership Of Road Development By The State Of Virginia, Cavine Chavi-Ann Phillips

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The unremitting nature of road infrastructural development and the strain of internal budgetary issues have pushed many governmental agencies to seek the non-traditional procurement methods of a public-private partnership to satisfy their ongoing needs. Researchers have examined many regions that have used this non-traditional procurement type of public-private partnership to meet their infrastructural needs while facing budgetary issues. I reviewed the state of Virginia's usage of this non-traditional procurement method as an alternative method to traditional procurement to foster their road infrastructural developmental needs. The state of Virginia has used Public-private partnerships to bridge the current gap of the state’s …

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Work Policy And Its Influence On College Students’ Academic Success, Annetta Ann Clark

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a public food supplement assistance program offered by the U.S. federal government. Undergraduate students who apply for the program must work at least 20 hours per week while concurrently enrolled in six academic units or more. However, students who work more find less time to commit to their college studies, resulting in a negative impact on their academic performance. This phenomenography study’s purpose is to understand from an academic advisor’s perspective how SNAP’s work policy affects academics among first-generation undergraduate students. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Goldratt’s theory of constraints were the conceptual …

Changing Policing: The Impact Of Body-Worn Cameras On Law Enforcement Officers, Michelle Theresa Allen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The research problem that this study addressed was how police officers perceive policing has been impacted by the implementation of body-worn cameras. The research was purposed to allow police officers to articulate how law enforcement has been altered due to the implementation of the devices. This qualitative study was guided by Lipsky’s street-level bureaucratic theory in which police officers have the autonomy to use discretion when enforcing the law. The methodology used was a qualitative research approach to retrieve data of 34 participants from four different police departments who responded to 10 open-ended survey questions on the SurveyMonkey website. The …

A Case Study Of Cutback Management And The Great Recession In A Rural Municipality, Diana L. Menhennick

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Municipalities in Michigan get their power from the state of Michigan who responded to the Great Recession with austerity policies impacting the relationship between local and state government. Evidence points toward the use of cutback management as a long-term coping tool when addressing fiscal shortages. A single case study design documented a rural city manager’s experience in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan using a semistructured interview and 10 years of archived public documents (2006 2016). The participant was selected using random sampling from 11 counties. Cutback management asserts that policymakers will address budget deficits by using initiatives in the short …

Alterations In Crime And The Ferguson Effect: An Analysis Of Crime Trends In The St. Louis, Mo Metropolitan Area, Robin Christine Lohman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Ferguson Effect, which has resulted in de-policing or disengaging from proactive community policing in response to increased violence against police since 2014 and fear of civil liability, has led to increases in crime and attacks on law enforcement officers. Previous research focused on exploring law enforcement officers’ perceptions of media and public scrutiny, crime rates, self-legitimacy, and willingness to engage in community relations. No studies identified have attempted to predict the source of the Ferguson Effect and its effect on crime. Moreover, no studies have conducted a time-series analysis of crime and de-policing focusing solely on the St. Louis, …

The United Nations' Responsibility To Protect (R2p): Policy, Preference, Or Politics, Carl Ruth

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is a three-pillar document that was unanimously approved and adopted at the 2005 World Summit Meeting by members of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to serve as a guideline for addressing mass atrocity crimes. The research problem concerned the successful implementation of the third pillar, a key fixture of R2P, which allows the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to use forceful measures, as a last resort to address mass atrocity crimes. However, a climate of division within the UNSC has led to inaction. Using the R2P doctrine as a theoretical framework, the purpose of …

Legislative Factors That Influence The Creation Of Sex Offender Laws In Pennsylvania, Julie E. Wagner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractNonviolent sexual offenders are known to have lesser risk of reoffense than their violent sexual offender counterparts; however, both categories of sexual offenders are contained within the same registry in Pennsylvania, without indication of the differences in the nature of their crimes. It was not known why Pennsylvania’s laws require all sex offenders to be listed in one homogenous group. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify the factors legislators use to determine how a sex offense crime is categorized in legislative decisions in Pennsylvania. Social construction theory served as the theoretical foundation for the study. Data …

Race, Class, And Socioeconomic And Sentencing Laws In Opioid Cases, Phaedra Denise Jackson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe purpose of the study was to explore social constructs and bureaucratic decisions to assess their effects on sentencing laws based on race, class, and socioeconomic status (SES). The research question guiding the study whether there was a relationship between race, class, SES, and arrests among opioid users. A cross-sectional correlational design using secondary data from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 2010-2018 surveys of 265,442 participants and FBI Uniform Crime Reports were assessed to understand the bureaucracy of the opioid epidemic. Lipsky’s street-level bureaucracy theory was used to examine the historical, political, and racial structures within the judicial …

An Interrupted Times Series Of The Personnel Security Section's Method To Address The Periodic Reinvestigation Case Backlog, Lathaniel F. Mills

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem of periodic reinvestigation case backlogs faced by the personnel security section of the Transportation Security Administration was explored in this study. Specifically, a quantitative, quasi-experimental, interrupted time series methodology was employed to examine the effectiveness of the periodic reinvestigation team creation by the personnel security section to mitigate the case backlog. The administrative study was needed because the case backlog prevents the organization from following government guidance on periodic reinvestigation case processing. Organizational change theory was the conceptual framework that guided this study. Data gathered from the Integrated Security Management System helped answer the central research question regarding …

Predictive Applications Of Debarment List In Public Procurement, Nester Oluwafemi Komolafe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Predictive applications of a debarment list involve gathering historical data in the list to capture the relationships between the relevant variables in the data to predict the most likely future outcomes. Exploring whether the data in the debarment list could produce predictive analytics, which agencies may use to deter contractors from committing fraud, is unknown. This study closed the literature gap through a quantitative nonexperimental analysis of secondary data, inspired by real-life administrative decisions. The purpose of this study was to analyze the City of Chicago's debarment list to determine the statistical probability of business entities that may be debarred …

University Students’ Low Participation Of The Emergency Text Alert Systems, Charyl Marie Ramsey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Text alert systems can help save lives by alerting individuals to dangers in the area, allowing them to react appropriately to the threat. For example, text alerts can give an individual the time to either run, hide, or fight during an active shooter incident. Conversely, when an individual does not receive an alert, they cannot respond to a threat and may be vulnerable to potential risk. Because no research had been completed on why individuals choose not to enroll in text alert programs, this qualitative study explored why students did not enroll in the text alert programs at their higher …

A Narrative Policy Framework And Feminist Critical Policy Analysis Of The Welfare Reform Acts, And The Higher Education Of Single Welfare Mothers, Evelyn Jean Mangin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractScholars approached poverty through welfare reform by focusing on reductions in caseloads, timing out of benefits, and who was and not deserving of a four-year college degree. There is limited research regarding the power of narratives during the policy process and their influences on the language in welfare public laws. This qualitative study addressed the gap in the literature and policy analysis research by comparing and analyzing the welfare narratives and language used by policymakers and political actors from four presidential administrations: Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump, between 1996-2018. This study employed the narrative policy framework (NPF), a theory …

The Impact Of U.S. Refugee Policy Change & Political Rhetoric On Nonprofit Service Providers’ Emotional Well-Being, Maria V. Wathen, Patrick L.F. Decker, Charity N. Weishar

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

This study examines how U.S. refugee policy changes from 2014 to 2018 affected the emotional well-being of nonprofit service providers. Elements identified by participants as emotionally significant were funding cuts, the “bans”, the unpredictable nature of policy change, and most impactful, negative political rhetoric. Emotional wellbeing was negatively affected and included an increase in stress, anger, sadness, despair, depression, helplessness, frustration, and caution. Negative impacts were also felt with regard to professional identities and to relationships with family, friends, and strangers. Importantly, impact on emotional wellbeing differed by level of organization at which the participant worked and by organizational characteristics.