Public Policy Commons^™

The Impact Of Policy And Perception On Women’S Health Since 2010, Eryn Busenbark

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This project tackles the complicated relationship between policy and perception of women’s health in the last decade. This was achieved through research on existing literature and semi-structured interviews with five professionals in various areas of women’s health: mental health, public policy, sexual health education, and research. Literature reviews were conducted using University of Nebraska at Omaha Criss Library’s databases, with dozens of articles analyzed. The goal of this research was to gain an understanding of how public opinion and perceptions can sway policy, which has created challenges and consequences for women and their health.

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

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

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

Making Solution Pluralism In Policy Making Accessible: Optimization Of Design And Services For Constituent Well-Being, Margeret A. Hall, Steven O. Kimbrough, Wibke Michalk, Jefff Schneider, Christof Weinhardt

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Policy makers are increasingly turning to computational support mechanisms for managing uncertainty, and constituent focused-decisions. Utilization and standardization of human-computer interaction principles to create solution pluralism (the condition of having a consideration set containing a multiplicity of credible solutions) is a fundamental to fulfilling this need. There is a need for standardized applications and user interfaces to deliver a higher quality of service, which assists policy makers in maintaining or increasing constituent well-being.

The Status And Future Of Government Documents, James T. Shaw

Criss Library Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Depository libraries have traditionally enjoyed a pretty sweet deal—we receive free copies of documents in return for space, processing, and staff to help people use them. Depository libraries have served as key players in two areas of public policy: 1) public access to government information for the needs of today; and 2) widespread distribution of documents helps them survive to form a historical record.

An Assessment Of Cross-National Variation In Rates Of Incarceration, Ryan E. Spohn, Travis Linnemann

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Our theoretical approach compares the relative efficacy of multiple theories of law and social control. From a general social threat perspective, we find that variables reflecting the size of the unemployed youth population and general measures of income inequality have positive impacts on a nation's rates of incarceration. We also find partial support for one of Durkheim's laws of quantitative change and penal evolution, in that, all else equal, nations with a more authoritarian form of government utilize incarceration at a higher rate than their more democratic counterparts. We also find that the institutional anomie perspective, which has previously been …

Investigating Racial Disparity At The Detention Decision: The Role Of Respectability, Don L. Kurtz, Travis Linnemann, Ryan E. Spohn

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

A concern over inequity and the existence of racial disparity of youth served by the juvenile justice system has long been a topic of considerable interest among scholars, policymakers, and court offi cials. Numerous empirical studies undertaken by academics and various public and private organizations have attempted to shed some light on this phenomenon. Research fi ndings on disproportionate minority contact have hardly been uniform, leaving much of this practice unexplained. This study uses data obtained at the detention decision point over a three-year period examining variance in juvenile case processing related to race. Findings suggest that extra-legal factors influencing …

A Needs Assessment Of The Homeless Of Birmingham And Jefferson County, Mark Lagory, Ferris J. Ritchey, Kevin Fitzpatrick, J Irwin

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

The information contained in this report, and summarized here, derives from two data collection activities. One, a point-in-time count of homeless persons in a 24-hour period on January 26-27, 2005 that included a two-page survey of basic demographic information and a needs assessment. Two, an hour-long survey of 161 homeless adults conducted between April 4 and May 25, 2005 providing information on residential and housing histories, duration and causes of homelessness, stressful life events and circumstances, resources, social supports and social capital, mental and physical health, and access to health services.

Death And Disability In The Heartland: Corporate (Mis)Conduct, Regulatory Responses, And The Plight Of Latino Workers In The Meatpacking Industry, Anna-Maria Wahl, Steven E. Gunkel, Thomas W. Sanchez

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Death and disability remain serious problems in the meatpacking industry, which increasingly depends on Latino workers. Here we examine these problems and the dynamics that heighten and minimize the hazards encountered in meatpacking plants. Drawing from published and unpublished sources, we provide statistical profiles and ethnographic accounts to capture the health and safety risks Latino workers face in the meatpacking plants of Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska. Guided by recent research in labor market segmentation and the politics of social regulation, we trace the increased risk of injury and illness for Latinos to three intersecting dynamics: corporate conduct and misconduct on …

Mass Media And The Death Penalty: Social Construction Of Three Nebraska Executions, Jeremy Harris Lipschultz, Michael L. Hilt

Communication Faculty Publications

This research analyzes local TV news coverage of three Nebraska executions in the 1990s, the first in the state since 1959. The three Nebraska executions allow us to see mass media coverage of the death penalty from four perspectives: 1) media organization routines, journalistic beliefs, and how source selection affected the content; 2) justice was portrayed through a consonant set of social symbols; 3) the public support for the death penalty in this country may have led journalists to avoid tough questioning of public officials; 4) the resulting coverage was a social construction of reality that might influence future public …

Educational Excellence For All Children Act Of 1999, U.S. Department Of Education

Service Learning, General

The President announced that he would shortly send to the Congress the "Educational Excellence for All Children Act of 1999," his proposal to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). This legislation reaffirms the critical role of the Federal Government in working with schools, school districts, and States to promote educational excellence for all children. Every child, parent, grandparent, and taxpayer deserves high quality public schools in their communities.

More specifically, the proposal would build on the 1994 ESEA reauthorization, which established the core principle that disadvantaged children should achieve to the same challenging academic standards as …

Review Of Contemporary Federal Policy Toward American Indians By Emma R. Gross, Beth R. Ritter

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

This book is a public policy study detailing the various factors which culminated in pro-Indian federal policy and legislation during the 1970s. The author's primary thesis is to suggest the 1970s represented a marked departure from previous federal Indian policy and legislation in that Native Americans themselves were well-represented in the democratic process impacting favorable federal decision-making.

An Analysis Of Effective Property Tax Rates In The City Of Omaha, Ralph H. Todd

Publications

Concern over the nature and extent of local property tax rate variation is not uncommon. Yet published empirical evidence is practically nonexistent. This is especially so when intrajurisdictional comparisons are made. This study was undertaken to shed light on this issue as it relates to census tracts and housing markets in the City of Omaha.

The general conclusions of the study suggest : (1) there exists substantial inequality in the levying of property taxes between housing market areas, hereafter referred t o as HMA's, (2) there is a lack of uniformity in tax assessments, and (3) the property tax , …