Public Policy Commons^™

Nontransferability Of The Skills And Qualifications Among The Caribbean Diaspora In Toronto, Canada, Carla Lucia Ibanzo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

About 35% of the Canadian labor market is made up of highly skilled immigrants, yet they have the highest unemployment rates. This study filled a gap in knowledge related to reasons Caribbean credentials are not more widely recognized and accepted in Canada and why their skills and qualifications are nontransferable. The purpose of this qualitive research was to identify the barriers to the successful integration of Caribbean immigrants into the Canadian job market and to obtain strategies to remove them. The theoretical framework that underpinned this study was Rawls Social Justice theory. Data were collected through semi structured interviews with …

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 …

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, …

Applying The Narrative Policy Framework To The Usa Freedom Act Of 2015, Michael Sean Hall

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The domestic security dilemma is a recurring problem whereby counterterrorism programs are continuously in a state of flux as demands for increased civil liberties and national security compete, as demonstrated by the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and USA FREEDOM Act of 2015. The National Security Agency bulk metadata collection program (NSA Surveillance Program) was created to identify terrorists and prevent terrorist attacks, but the USA FREEDOM Act prohibited the program in 2015. The NSA Surveillance Program's prohibition is problematic because the United States may not obtain the intelligence necessary to prevent a terrorist attack. The purpose of this qualitative …

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 …

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 …

Modern Black Codes: Presidential Crime Control Rhetoric And Black Criminalization, Earnest Ujaama

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The rate of Black imprisonment in the United States is nearly 6 times that of Whites. Wholesale criminalization of Black Americans denote institutional racism within America’s criminal justice system. Limited research is available examining crime control rhetoric of U.S. presidents to determine if Blacks are constructed as criminals through carefully coded crime control discourse. The purpose of this qualitative, case study was to investigate whether presidents used language that construct Black criminality. A social construction theoretical framework and critical discourse analysis was applied. The data used for this study included scripted speeches. The collection of data began with 54 speeches …

Undergraduate Education Value: A Comparative Analysis Of China And The United States, Alexandra Allman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Within the international higher education community there is not a system nor gold standard to identify the value of higher education institutions (HEIs). For the current research, the definition of value was determined through quantitative methods considering utility and cost. The research problem underscored the importance of valuing undergraduate education in the United States and China, from a comparative perspective. A credible link was established that provided evidence to preserve the value indicator as an international standard within the HEI community. The study's purpose was to define the value of undergraduate education and create an international standard through a comparative …

Operation Enduring Freedom And Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans In The Veterans Health Administration, Exekiel Montoya Aranez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Veterans’ Health Administration (VHA) has faced critical issues regarding the deaths of war veterans, the result of which stakeholders raised questions about the quality of health care given within the VHA. Through patient-centered care standards of health care, the VHA worked diligently to end such horrific events that more than 300,000 veterans may have died while waiting for health care service. This study examined five core concepts of the health care system and whether VHA has utilized its five core concepts of patient-centered care to deliver proper health care to war veterans. This study used qualitative research in the …

The Obligation Of Law Enforcement Agencies To The Mental Health Of Their Officers, Michael Ballard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The extent of law enforcement agencies’ responsibility to address their officers’ mental health needs is unclear, despite the availability of resources and suggested guidelines. This research applied the theory of planned behavior to police officers’ willingness to seek mental health assistance from their agencies, examining the responses of 104 law enforcement officers in Utah and Idaho from four agencies. The results of this quantitative study provide evidence that law enforcement agencies have a responsibility to the mental health of their officers. Officers in general recognized the value of mental health services for others; however, they were not likely to seek …

Policy Expectations And Care-Provider Perceptions For Hospital Emergency Preparedness, Kathleen Joy Hirsch-Lanute

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractMaintaining preparedness for a disaster is a patient and provider safety issue that is often not a priority for hospital planning; however, the inability to implement and evaluate disaster/emergency preparedness programs may render hospitals and the overall healthcare system fragile and dysfunctional amidst such crises. Priorities such as emergency-department overcrowding and lack of funding emerge daily and contribute to the inability of hospitals to respond appropriately to unexpected events. This study was conducted with the aim to assess the correlation between disaster/emergency preparedness and related problems, policy, and politics. A cross-sectional survey design was used to determine whether problems, policy, …

An Analysis Of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Adoption For Household Cooking In Nigeria, Saheed Olanrewaju Lasisi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Nigerian government established a domestic liquefied petroleum gas penetration program (DLPGPP) to support Nigerian households that still use traditional fuels, which are inefficient and hazardous for users while polluting and degrading the environment. Little is known about the relationships that exist among liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) accessibility, LPG affordability, and LPG adoption to guide DLPGPP implementation. Narrowing this gap was the purpose of this study using the general framework of consumer theory. The study's research questions addressed the effects of LPG affordability and LPG accessibility on LPG adoption for cooking in Nigeria’s households. A cross-sectional, correlational survey was employed …

How Federal Mortgage Programs Affect Homeownership Outcomes Of Low-Income Households, Lawanda Alexia Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Numerous laws and policies have been enacted to aid economic recovery and housing growth after the 2008 housing

crisis in the United States; however, concern remains that low-income families interested in homeownership are in poor

housing situations due to inadequate access to federal homeownership policies and program information. The purpose of

this quantitative study was to analyze the relationship between the variables of income, race, and access to federal

mortgage program policy information and dependent variable HEC on homeownership outcomes for aggregate years

2007 to 2018. Using a quasi-experimental design, the chi-square test of independence was used to test N …

Relationships Among Residential Instability, Poverty, And Index Crimes In Rural New York, Justine Case-Fitzgerald

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The lack of empirical literature on rural crime limits the ability to fully understand the driving force behind criminality in nonmetropolitan areas. Predominantly urban theories such as social disorganization theory have been used as a general description for crime causation; however, most social disorganization research has been conducted in urban settings without reference to the mediating rural characteristics present. This simplified view of crime, which does not reflect existing variables within the areas studied, has weakened the ability to identify the most efficient and effective crime-control strategies. The research questions in this study addressed the need to understand how unique …

Canadian Policymaker Experiences On Reducing Syndemic Stigma For Hiv And Substance Use Disorder, Nickolas James Cherwinski

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

People living with HIV (PLWH) and substance use disorder (SUD) experience highly stigmatized lives fraught by influences such as criminal law and stigmatizing public policies. Despite free access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and mental health services for all Canadian citizens, suboptimal adherence to ART and administratively cumbersome mental health interventions still exist. Many researchers have found the health services for both HIV and SUD to be dynamic, costly, and difficult to maintain; as such, the purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge gap related to the policy implications of syndemic stigma experienced by PLWH and SUD in Canada. …

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 …

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 …

Kingstonian Parents’ Perspectives On Discipline Using Corporal Punishment, Donnette Patrice Green

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is a thin line between discipline, corporal punishment and excessive corporal punishment which is reflected in the differences in disciplinary tactics used in various world cultures. In this regard, international law, such as the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1959 and local law such as Jamaica’s Child Care and Protection Act of 2004, serve to set the parameters of propriety in dealing with discipline as well as the excesses, which constitute corporal punishment. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenology study was to explore parents’ perspectives on using corporal punishment as a form of discipline …

Transnational Threats To Maritime Systems And Seaport Security, Eric L. Hampton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An assessment of a 16-year period since the 9/11 attacks indicated that more than 14,000 security breaches in which security measures at seaports were circumvented due to vulnerabilities occurred and more than 24,000 suspicious activity reports were made. The susceptibility of United States’ seaports to groups engaged in criminal activities, including drug trafficking, cargo theft, and smuggling of contraband and people undermines security practices and renders the nation vulnerable to acts of terrorism. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore seaport security measures to identify and understand internal and external factors that may impact protection practices at U.S. …

Impact Of Conservation Agreements On Livelihoods And Forest Protection In Rural Liberia, Peter Gayflor Mulbah

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

People living near forests in Liberia are facing pressure to protect the forests for conservation while they are struggling for alternative incomes for livelihoods. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to assess whether conservation agreements improve rural livelihoods and promote forest conservation by examining the relationship between direct payment of conservation benefits to forest communities and forest protection, and the relationship between direct payment of conservation benefits to forest communities and livelihood improvement in rural Liberia. A total of 150 participants aged 18 and above were surveyed from three regions in Liberia using a precoded questionnaire. The frequency …