Social Policy Commons^™

When Ballots Are Blank: Write-In’S Serving Local Government And The Implications For A Healthy And Vibrant Democracy, Thomas J. Ruter

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

Our democracy depends on having a supply of candidates running for elected office, but in some instances, no one wants to run. This phenomenological study asks what the effects on a healthy and vibrant democracy are if ballots are blank and the seat is filled through write-in or appointment. Rooted in democratic theory, this study explores small, rural city elections where write-ins won election. Understudied, local governments are responsible for decisions affecting the lives of millions of people each day. Workforce scarcity, the alienation of young Americans from politics, government bashing, nasty campaigns, threats of physical harm, and other barriers …

Predictors Of Identity Crime Victimization Of Adolescent Youth In Foster Care, John Gyourko, Greg Ridgeway

Department of Social Work - Faculty Scholarship

Identity crimes pose serious risks and challenges for youth in foster care. As young people move through various out-of-home placements and schools, their personal data are often widely disseminated, difficult to secure, and thus vulnerable to theft and misuse. When they transition from foster care to adulthood, identity crime victims with compromised credit histories may be denied loans, employment, and/or housing during the already-precarious period of emerging adulthood. Even though federal law requires state child welfare agencies to conduct annual credit checks for adolescent youth in foster care, little is known about the factors contributing to risk of identity crime …

Florida’S Most Recent Anti-Transgender Political Policies And Their Effects On Transgender Adults, Jaron A. Sanchez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

During May of 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed multiple bills into law, which included House Bill 1521, Senate Bill 1580, and Senate Bill 254. Critics have regarded these bills to directly discriminate against transgender individuals and negatively impact their quality of life. The main research question this project seeks to answer is what impact these bills have, if any, on transgender individuals who live in the state of Florida. This includes experiences that negatively impact quality of life outcomes and mental health disparities. An online survey of a small sample of the population that self identifies as transgender, that …

Best Practices For Community Outreach For The Virginia Eviction Reduction Pilot, Callie B. Houghland

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

The purpose of this plan is to understand best practices for community outreach for the VERP program and provide materials to aid future outreach efforts. This plan has five parts. First, this plan will review characteristics that contribute to housing vulnerability, such as race or number of children, and consider which vulnerabilities should be prioritized in outreach. Then, this plan will identify how VERP grantees are currently conducting community outreach and who is being served through the program. Next this plan will look to understand who is missed between those who are most vulnerable and who are actually served across …

Indigenous Culture And The Path To Democracy: An In-Depth Case Study Of Ghana's Democratization Process, 1992 – Present, Nana Quame Owusu-Nti

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The study sought to ascertain whether introducing democracy has adversely impacted Indigenous cultural practices in Ghana or whether the path to democracy has enhanced, shaped, or strengthened aspects of the country’s Indigenous culture. The study sheds some light on the realistic, symbolic, and pervasive threat(s) that transitional or Indigenous societies like Ghana undergoing the process of democratization face and must deal with. More specifically, the study provides some insights into how traditional societies, where Indigenous values and practices are held with some reverence and esteem, can be integrated into liberal democratic institutions to potentially ameliorate cultural tension and political discord …

Beyond Borders: Exploring The Lived Experiences Of International Migrant Women In Nigeria, A Deep Dive Into Healthcare Realities And Utilization, Juliet Nwafor, Rowland Edet, Ezebunwa Nwokoch

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This study explored access to and utilization of healthcare facilities among migrant women in an urban slum community in Nigeria, focusing on factors influencing healthcare-seeking behaviors and the implications for public health interventions. A qualitative case study-oriented research design was employed, involving in-depth interviews with 21 migrant women of reproductive age and 4 key informant interviews with healthcare workers in the Ayobo community of Lagos State, Nigeria. Data collection occurred from June to September 2018, and thematic analysis was used to interpret the findings. Three main themes emerged: living conditions, pattern of healthcare utilization, and factors influencing accessibility and utilization …

Protecting Foreign Victims Of Trafficking In Iceland: An Interpretive Analysis Of Policy Efforts, Hlin Saethorsdottir

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Social justice and human rights are fundamental principles of social work. Today’s globalized world requires social workers to expand their local perspectives and to be alert to the negative sides of globalization, such as trafficking in person (TIP), which affects all countries around the world. TIP is a severe form of exploitation and a grave human rights violation (Jones et al., 2007). Iceland has been categorized as a transit and destination country for foreign victims who are mainly trafficked for sexual and labor exploitation (U.S. Department of State, 2016b).

Although much has been written on TIP, some scholars have pointed …

Do Americans Support More Housing?, Michael Lewyn

Scholarly Works

An analysis of opinion poll data on housing issues. The article finds that Americans generally believe that their community needs more housing of all types, but are more closely divided about whether such housing should be in their own neighborhoods. The article further finds that members of minority groups, lower-income Americans, and younger Americans are more pro-housing than older, affluent whites.

The Quest For Racial Equality After The Revolution: How Black Intellectuals Envision The Struggle For Equality After Jim Crow And Apartheid, Shelby Morgan

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This paper examines the ideas presented by Black public intellectuals from South Africa and the United States regarding their solutions on how to achieve real racial equality after the achievement of equality under the law. It will provide a historical comparative analysis of the two countries by examining the works of George Fredrickson, as well as some contextual background on the existence of racial disparities in the modern day. It will then present various publications by American intellectuals Ibram X. Kendi, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Cornel West, and South African authors Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh, Songezo Zibi, and Tembeka Ngcukaitobi that discuss their …

Contract, Status And The Bonds Of Welfare, Kenneth Veitch

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

This article explores the relationship between contract and status in the context of contemporary social policy. Using examples of contract in the areas of unemployment policy (what is here called the workfare contract) and what has become known as the financialisation of the welfare state (Social Impact Bonds), the article identifies the types of bonds and obligations involved in those contracts and their sources. Drawing critically on Émile Durkheim and Max Weber’s work on the history and pre-history of contract, it is argued that issues of status – the status of the unemployed and capital, amongst others – lie at …

Ebci Summary, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development (Qic-Wd)

Intervention Summaries

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) is a federally-recognized tribe. The Family Safety Program (FSP) is the child welfare program that serves the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, under the tribal Division of Public Health and Human Services. FSP was established in 2015 with around 10 staff members and has grown to about 60 staff, all located in one office in Cherokee, North Carolina. Since FSP was a relatively new agency when they began working with the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD), turnover had not been a signficant problem, however, vacancies were a challenge. In October 2017, …

Eastern Band Of Cherokee Indians Family Safety Program, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development (Qic-Wd)

Intervention Summaries

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) is a federally-recognized tribe. The Family Safety Program (FSP) is the child welfare program that serves the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, under the tribal Division of Public Health and Human Services. Addressing Historical Trauma and Preparing the Child Welfare Workforce

In this video, an EBCI elder discusses historical trauma and why it is important for child welfare workers to understand it, so they can be successful. Watch the Video

Background

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians worked with the QIC-WD to develop an onboarding program. This video highlights the experience of …

The Federal Government Must Revise Public Housing Policies To Protect Vulnerable Populations From Evictions, Caroline Grabowski

Population Health Research Brief Series

Over 100,000 Americans are now dying from drug overdoses annually, signifying that the goal of the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act (ADAA) to end illicit drug use has not been achieved. What’s more, numerous statutes within the ADAA have created or worsened housing instability among people who use drugs and their families. This is because the ADAA allows public housing officials to use their own discretion when determining evictions and lease refusals and has disproportionately harmed individuals in public housing who did not participate in the drug-related activities that led to their eviction. This brief describes how the ADAA negatively affects …

Charter School Funding: Did Initial Pandemic Relief Advance Equity In The City?, Alison H. Johnson, Josh B. Mcgee, Patrick Wolf, Jay F. May, Larry D. Maloney

School Choice Demonstration Project

In early 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic closed schools for the rest of the 2019-20 school year (fiscal year 2020 or FY20). The United States Congress deployed funds to help K-12 schools adjust and plan for reopening via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, including the initial $13.2 billion installment through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER I) and initial $2.95 billion installment through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER I) Fund. Private sector and non-profit organizations, including charter schools, were also eligible for loans through the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), …

Should State Land In Southern California Be Allocated To Warehousing Goods Or Housing People? Analyzing Transportation, Climate, And Unintended Consequences Of Supply Chain Solutions, Tianjun Lu, Jian-Yu Ke, Azure Fisher, Mahmoud Salari, Patricia Valladolid, Fynnwin Prager

Mineta Transportation Institute

In response to COVID-19 pandemic supply chain issues, the State of California issued Executive Order (EO) N-19-21 to use state land to increase warehousing capacity. This highlights a land-use paradox between economic and environmental goals: adding warehouse capacity increases climate pollution and traffic congestion around the ports and warehouses, while there is a deficit of affordable housing and high homeless rates in port-adjacent underserved communities. This study aims to inform regional policymakers and community stakeholders about these trade-offs by identifying current and future supply of and demand for warehousing and housing in Southern California through 2040. The study uses statistical …

Organizational Commitment, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is organizational commitment?

Organizational commitment, along with job satisfaction, is one of the most commonly studied job attitudes within the psychological sciences and is often used to gauge how employees feel about their job. Research on organizational commitment has largely been a fragmented endeavor, with no clear consensus on what organizational commitment actually is or how it should be conceptualized. To date, there is not one definition that is regarded as the best, but there are some common themes that can be seen throughout the many definitions in existence. For example, most definitions refer to organizational commitment in terms …

Job Satisfaction, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is job satisfaction?

Job satisfaction is generally thought of as the degree to which an individual likes or dislikes their job (Spector, 1997). Along with organizational commitment, it is one of the most commonly studied job attitudes and is used as a way to gauge how employees feel about their jobs and as a reflection of how well the organization is functioning. Job satisfaction is commonly considered as either “a global feeling about the job or as a related constellation of attitudes about various aspects or facets of the job” (Spector, 1997, p. 2). Thus, job satisfaction is …

The Permanence Of Racism In Tennessee Public Schools, Jarral Yokley

Dissertations

The qualitative case study exposed the permanence of racism beginning in the antebellum public schools of Nashville and continued in the current actions in the Tennessee legislature with the expulsion of two Black male legislators. Critical race theory is used as the main descriptor for the actions of White politicians and legislators in Tennessee who continue the oppressive treatment of Black people in the state of Tennessee.

White members of the Tennessee legislature have attempted to strategically continue white supremacy in their decision to display a depiction of one of the most deplorable, racists in the history of the state …

Book Review: Kings, Conquerors, Psychopaths: From Alexander To Hitler To The Corporation, Tim Bakken

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The book Kings, Conquerors, Psychopaths is a survey of a vast amount of human wrongdoing. It lays bare the motivations of aggressors who wish to subjugate nations or groups of people and corporate executives and government bureaucrats who make discretionary decisions that harm people. Along with cataloging mass killings by despots and soldiers, the book includes stories about Ponzi-schemers and the deaths of automobile drivers and passengers who were killed by vehicle defects known to the manufacturer. The book posits that “[p]owerful, elite forces are trying to force us backward toward a non-democratic state, one where power, wealth, and prerogative …

The Public Muse In Congress: The Punctuation Of American Federal Arts Policy, Elizabeth Deichmann

Dissertations

In 1989, American federal arts policy changed suddenly and drastically when the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) gained unprecedented attention in Congress for controversial grant awards that supported two visual artists. Prior to this, federal arts policy was an insulated subsystem run by experts applying high art aesthetic standards to grantmaking. Informed by punctuated-equilibrium theory (PET), this investigation of congressional rhetoric shows that Republican policy entrepreneurs during this time effectively set a new, more negative tone about federal arts policy by harnessing conservative culture wars messages. The change in tone preceded federal arts policy’s arrival on the broader congressional …

Analysis Of The Feasibility Of Universal Basic Income In Colombia: A Grounded Theory Study, Johanna S. Acuña Gómez, Wilson G. Jiménez-Barbosa, Juan S. Hernández Monsalve

The Qualitative Report

This paper shows the results of research conducted with the objective of knowing the perceptions of people in Colombia about the possibility of receiving a universal basic income, which does not exist thus far in the country. The research question was: how do the social perceptions of Colombians about receiving a UBI allow them to understand the possibilities of developing a public policy that guarantees it? A qualitative methodology of grounded theory was applied by conducting 37 in-depth interviews with adults of all socioeconomic levels, all educational levels and productive working age. The information obtained was coded. The resultant main …

Still A Good Investment: Charter School Productivity In Nine Cities, Alison H. Johnson, Josh B. Mcgee, Patrick J. Wolf, Jay F. May, Larry D. Maloney

School Choice Demonstration Project

Charter schools are public schools that operate free from some government regulations in return for a commitment to achieve a set of student outcomes specified in their charter. Nearly 8,000 public charter schools enrolled 3.7 million students in the U.S. in 2020-21. Our team has studied charter school funding across the United States since 2005, consistently finding that, in major cities, charter schools receive less funding per pupil compared to traditional public schools (TPS). We have also found that charter schools use their funding more efficiently, achieving better short- and long-term outcomes per dollar invested, relative to TPS.

Book Review It Takes An Ecosystem: Understanding The People, Places, And Possibilities Of Learning And Development Across Settings, Denise Montgomery

Journal of Youth Development

It Takes an Ecosystem: Understanding the People, Places, and Possibilities of Learning and Development Across Settings, edited by Thomas Akiva and Kimberly H. Robinson, is a call to take a holistic and dynamic ecosystem approach to thinking about, designing, developing, and investing in the allied youth fields to more equitably and effectively support young people’s learning and development. Published in 2022, the volume outlines a vision for out-of-school time programs and systems, schools, community-based organizations, and the public sector to move beyond focusing separately on individual systems to a learning and development ecosystem approach that more accurately and inclusively reflects …

Navigating Complexity Of Serving Displaced Communities: A Study Of Yemeni Community-Based Organizations In Egypt, Alya Mohammed Al-Mahdi

Theses and Dissertations

Forced displacement is a global crisis that poses challenges for nations like Egypt. Despite international NGO support, escalating displaced individuals have overwhelmed existing capacities. Refugee Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) have emerged as a natural response from the communities themselves to bridge the gap between the state and NGOs and the refugee community. However, CBOs in Egypt face challenges that impact their operation and continuity. Through qualitative research, this study aims to explore the experience of the Yemeni CBOs. Through interviews with seven people from six CBOs conducted through field visits and online calls, this research uncovers the dynamics of Yemeni CBOs …

A Qualitative Investigation Of A Setting-Wide Pbs Workforce Development Programme In An Adult Disability Setting, Deirdre Kearney, Shannon Sinnott, Olive Healy

Journal of Social Care

The presence of distressed behaviours can amplify the difficulties experienced by people with intellectual disabilities (ID), and place pressure on the provision of effective support by organisations and direct support personnel. Setting-wide positive behaviour support (PBS) is an evidence-based framework aimed at enhancing quality of life and reducing distressed behaviour for people with intellectual disabilities through systemic change. Implementation science offers a route to better understand how we can support organisations to adopt best practice into routine procedures. This study employed a qualitative research design to examine the facilitators and barriers of a workforce development programme in setting-wide PBS in …

Mata Pencaharian Berkelanjutan Kondisi Masyarakat Adat Lekuk 50 Tumbi Dan Peran Lembaga Adat, Muhamamd Hasan Izzurrahman, Muhammad Azami Nasri

Jurnal Ilmu Kesejahteraan Sosial

Sustainable livelihoods are key for communities to sustain their lives. However, limited access to and utilisation of natural resources, particularly customary forests, has led to a decline in the livelihoods of the Lekuk 50 Tumbi indigenous community. Difficulty in clearing land is a major obstacle for them in finding alternative income. This research aims to evaluate the quality of life of the Lekuk 50 Tumbi indigenous community with a focus on indigenous institutions' initiatives based on sustainable livelihoods, considering the five aspects of capital. Through in-depth interviews and qualitative analysis, natural capital, physical capital, human capital, financial capital and social …

From "Our Poor" To "Personal Responsibility": Changing Welfare Rhetoric In Political Party Platforms Of The Carolinas And The Nation, 1950-2005, Felicity N. Ropp

Senior Theses

In this thesis, I track political rhetoric surrounding poverty and welfare from 1950-2005. I first provide thorough context on the history of welfare policy in the United States and the way these issues were framed by politicians leading up to the period my data covers. My analysis centers on 108 political party platforms from the national Republican and Democratic parties and from state parties in North and South Carolina, ranging from 1950 to 2005 (31 of which I located in archives and manually digitized for the first time ever). I explain the significance of party platforms and review the literature …

Late-Life Gender Disparities In Economic Security: Evidence From The 2022 Elder Index, Jan E. Mutchler, Nidya Velasco Roldán, Yan-Jhu Su

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

Estimates from the 2022 Elder Index illustrate the elevated risk of economic insecurity experienced by older women, especially those living alone. We use the Elder Index to calculate the percentage of older adults living in one- and two-person households with annual incomes that do not support economic security. National averages suggest that half of older women living alone, along with 42% of older men living alone, have annual incomes below the Elder Index. In addition, 21% of older couples have annual incomes below the Elder Index. Women in same-sex couples experience greater levels of disadvantage than men in same-sex couples …

Nuclear Security: Making Gender Equality A Working Reality, Muhammed Ali Alkış, Polina Sinovets

International Journal of Nuclear Security

Gender equality is an indispensable part of both democracy and justice, and it is fundamental to peace and security worldwide. As various research on gender equality has shown, teams with diversity, equity, and inclusion achieve the best outcomes. Having gender equality and women’s presence in the workforce in nuclear fields is a requirement to contribute to peace and security discussions, adding value and sustaining policies and long-lasting positive outcomes. In this regard, the paper will discuss the importance of gender equality and why the Odesa Center for Nonproliferation has committed itself to this issue. The article also details the Odesa …

Pelaksanaan Tanggung Jawab Sosial Perusahaan Melalui Program Pemulihan Mata Pencaharian Oleh Lembaga X, Muhammad Hanif Ridho, Mochammad Rizqy Maulana, Muhamad Azami Nasri

Jurnal Ilmu Kesejahteraan Sosial

This study examines the implementation of corporate social responsibility through the Livelihood Restoration Program (LRP) by Institution X. The study employs a qualitative approach with descriptive research methodology. Data collection techniques include in-depth interviews and literature review. The study is motivated by land acquisition conducted by PT Y, which affected the livelihoods of the local community. Consequently, PT Y initiated livelihood restoration for the affected community through the LRP managed by Institution X. The findings indicate that Institution X has two primary roles: providing consultancy services and facilitating the implementation of the LRP. First, as a consultancy agency, Institution X …