Public Policy Commons^™

Catholic And Evangelical Religious-Political Narratives About The Contraceptive Coverage Requirement Policy, Leah Marie Silverman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The intersection of religion and politics results in “wicked” policy problems for which evidence-based solutions are hard to find. An example is the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive coverage requirement (CCR). Evidence suggests that women and society benefit from increased access to contraceptives, but religious freedom objections have been effective in litigation to limit the CCR's reach. The purpose of this study was to explore the narrative elements and strategies used by Catholic and Evangelical stakeholders regarding the CCR, contraceptives, and religious freedom. Social constructionism and the narrative policy framework (NPF) provided the foundation for the study. Data collection included legal …

Georgia Government Leaders' Lived Experience Creating And Implementing Health Equity Policies, Tracy M. Clopton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Georgia’s racial and ethnic minority communities have a continual problem of disproportionately worse health outcomes, including higher chronic disease and behavioral risk factors, compared to their nonminority counterparts. The average cost per year for chronic disease between 2016 and 2030 could be $64.6 billion in medical costs and $26.8 billion in lost employee productivity for Georgia. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of Georgia legislators and health program staff to determine policy solutions to reduce chronic disease and behavioral risk factor disparities in the racial and ethnic minority population. The theoretical lens for the study …

Atheoretical Versus Theory-Based Approaches In Promoting Safer Adhd-Medication Prescribing For Adults, Kathleen A. Fairman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Gaps between treatment guidelines and medical decisions persist despite interventions with physicians, which are mostly atheoretical. The purpose of this retrospective cross-sectional study was to compare atheoretical and theory-based logistic regression models of a binary outcome: potentially unsafe prescribing of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications to adults. Social cognitive theory and self-determination theory provided the framework for the study. Predictors were framed as social cognitive theoretical constructs: knowledge (e.g., physician specialty) and environmental influence (e.g., interventions). Atheoretical hypotheses were based on legislation mandating meaningful use of electronic health records and computerized decision support (CDS). Theory-based hypotheses were derived from literature …

Understanding Community Members’ Perception Of Opioid Treatment Programs For Women In Westchester County, Erika Jean Pichardo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research shows a significant rise in opioid abuse that has led to an opioid epidemic. Although research has shown the importance and effectiveness of treatment programs for opioid users, there is a lack of research on understanding community members’ perception and role of such programs and their perception of women who are opioid abusers and enter programs. The purpose of this study was to understand community members’ perception of opioid treatment programs for women in New York State’s Westchester County, using the theoretical framework of Becker’s social labeling theory. The study employed a phenomenological design using interviews. Results of the …

Effect Of 24-Hour Shifts On Fatigue Experienced By Firefighter Paramedics, Kristina Schwab

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Fatigue negatively affects numerous people throughout the world and has a number of origins, including shift work. Fatigue experienced by people who work shifts may have a negative impact on carrying out job functions and can pose safety risks. Firefighter paramedics who work 24-hour shifts are expected to respond to calls for service throughout their shifts, even during hours of nighttime sleep. Firefighter paramedics perform medical procedures to save lives, requiring time, attention, and alertness, all of which become reduced with fatigue. Although literature exists on the physical and psychological effects of fatigue for those who work shifts and for …

Utilization And Impact Of Peer-Support Programs On Police Officers’ Mental Health, Beth A. Milliard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Police officer suicides rates hit an all-time high in the province of Ontario, Canada, in 2018. Sadly, this statistic is somewhat unsurprising, as research has shown that police officers suffer from higher rates of mental health disorder diagnoses compared the general public. One key reason for the elevated levels of suicide and other mental health issues among police officers is the stigma associated with seeking help. In an attempt to address these serious issues, Ontario’s police services have begun to create internal peer-support programs as a way of supporting their members. The present research explores the experiences of police officers …

Perceptions Of Public Sector Pharmacists Regarding Their Beliefs, Attitudes Towards Teamwork, Elijah Mohammed

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The workplace milieu in Nigerian public health facilities is marked with rivalry and lack of teamwork among health care professionals. Using a mixed methods research design with a phenomenological approach, the study evaluated the perceptions of public sector pharmacists regarding their beliefs and attitudes towards teamwork in their workplace. The study was based on the theoretical framework of theory of action, belief system theory (BST), cognitive-behavioral system, and self-perception theory. Using purposive sampling, experiential pharmacists working in a tertiary health facility in Nigeria were recruited as study participants. In the quantitative study, participants (n=12) were administered questionnaires with demographic questions …

Exploring The Impact Of Entrepreneurship Education Program On Current Graduate Entrepreneurs, Ruth Oluwatoyosi Abioye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nigeria produces up to 500,000 graduates from multiple disciplines every year from its educational institutions however, most of these graduates fail to possess the 21st Century skills and competencies that are required to be effective in the workforce and are therefore considered unemployable. The current general qualitative study employed the theory of planned behaviour and the theory of social construction in order to examine the role of entrepreneurship education and its impact on the graduates in the country. Semi structured interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 15 recent graduates from Covenant University’s entrepreneurship education programs and who are …

Servant Leadership And The Contemporary Emergency Manager In A Multisector Collaborative Organization, Phillip William Caponigro

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Emergency management (EM) leaders must relate to group members with whom they have no organizational relationship. However, little is known about whether certain leadership approaches are more conducive to a successful EM organization. The purpose of this correlational study was to explore whether emergency managers (EMs) who employ a servant leadership style instill greater confidence in emergency team members than EMs who employ a traditional paramilitary style of leadership. Data were collected from 82 members of Safeguard Iowa partners thorough the Laub Organizational Leadership Assessment instrument. These data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and Spearman’s rho. Results …

Public Perceptions Of Delays In The Release Of Police Body-Worn Camera Footage, Christopher Lee Bush

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Delays in the release of police body-worn camera (BWC) video footage have amplified public concerns about police misconduct. Law enforcement transparency is questioned when video from BWCs is not shared in a timely manner with the community. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore community and victims’ family’s beliefs related to delays in the release of police BWC footage. Rogers’s diffusion innovation theory and Mettler and Sorelle’s policy feedback theory were used for the study’s conceptual framework. The research questions focused on understanding the perceptions of community relationships with law enforcement around transparency, communication, and information sharing. …

The Impact Of Public Consultation On Business Growth In The Virgin Islands, Arliene T. Penn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Consistent public consultation in the making of policies and regulations is a problem in the Virgin Islands, affecting small businesses across the territory. Small business owners and the public have challenged the government to be more accountable and transparent in drafting and implementing legislation and regulations. The stakeholders are mainly concerned with those pieces of legislation and regulations that have a behavioral, social, or economic impact on their business, and, in turn, society. There is a lack of research on how the presence or absence of public input in the rulemaking process of business regulations impacts the economic growth and …

Disinterest In Pursuing A Law Enforcement Career Among Minorities, Howard E. Jordan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractIn the United States, women and racial minorities are underrepresented in the law enforcement profession. Ideally, law enforcement agencies should reflect the racial makeup of the communities they serve; which has been a challenge for departments. The purpose of this study was to investigate what effect media reporting of unarmed Black men killed by police has had on women and racial minorities’ decisions to apply for police jobs. Another issue investigated was whether family attitudes influence women’s and racial minorities’ decision making about becoming police officers. The theoretical frameworks applied for this study were the critical race theory and punctuated …

Elite Theory Application To Social Privacy Concerns During Domestic Government Surveillance, George Vahn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Policy professionals would benefit from a social theory capable of suggesting policy change ramifications prior to public implementation. There is a research analysis shortfall concerning the usefulness of elite theory in modern social change. This study was an investigation of the effectiveness of elite theory to inform public policy analysts of behavioral outcomes following policy creation or change. Elite theory is the theoretical foundation that guided the framework of this study. The research question examined the effectiveness of elite theory to suggest behavioral outcomes in response to reduced personal privacy due to domestic government surveillance. A correlational research design was …

Understanding The Young Adult African American Male's Perceptions Of Civic Engagement, Carl Lee Jackson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractCivic engagement and political involvement of the greater portion of the population of democratic societies are important to the maintenance of the quality of life of all members. Although 100% participation in these activities is rare, higher levels of involvement across all affected demographic groups will support a more equitable political environment in urban communities. In the midwestern metropolitan community that is the focus of this study, young adult African American males were found to participate in all forms of civic engagement at lower rates than any other demographic group. Using a critical race theory foundation, the purpose of the …

Ethnonational Identity And Detached Lives In A Serbian Province: A Study Of Parallelism Among Vojvodina's Hungarian Community, Uros Prokic

Dissertations and Theses

Current theories of interethnic relations generally posit assimilation, integration and marginalization as possible outcomes between minority and dominant groups in Eastern Europe. However, there may be cases that are not adequately described by any of these existing interethnic relations paradigms. This dissertation explores one alternative, dubbed parallelism, which can be described as institutionally-driven self-isolation and detachment leading to communities living side by side on parallel trajectories and not interacting. Using the Hungarian ethnonational minority community in Serbia's autonomous northern province of Vojvodina as a case study, the author examines the institutional factors that have led to parallelism. Primary data from …

More Than A Century After Problem Emerged, Manhole Explosions Still Injuring Dozens In New York City, Gaspard Le Dem, Gabriel Sandoval

Capstones

Since the early days of electrification, New York City has been rattled by manhole explosions –– underground blasts that injure residents, damage buildings, force evacuations, cause power outages and traffic disruptions.

Consolidated Edison, the city's largest electric provider, has for decades blamed manhole issues on bad weather and road salt that erodes underground wires. But some experts and former utility workers say lack of maintenance is at the root of the problem.

Meanwhile, city and state officials have failed to rein in the problem through weak laws and loose oversight. As a result, unsuspecting drivers and pedestrians continue to be …

Grandes Interrogações Sobre O Futuro Dos Povos Indígenas Isolados, Conselho Indigenista Missionário

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

O presente artigo, de autoria coletiva da equipe do Conselho Indigenista Missionário (Cimi), pretende traçar um quadro geral da situação de vulnerabilidade dos povos indígenas em isolamento e contato inicial no Brasil, tendo como referência temporal o ano de 2016. É preocupante o avanço da exploração dos recursos naturais em territórios ocupados por esses povos, principalmente com a mineração e a exploração de madeira, seja dentro de terras indígenas destinadas aos povos em isolamento, em terras indígenas partilhadas por outros povos, ou em territórios onde a proteção ou o reconhecimento pelo Estado não se faz presente.

This article, written collectively …

Territorialidad De Los Grupos Familiares De Pueblos Indígenas En Aislamiento (Pia) En La Región Del Yasuní, Amazonía Ecuatoriana, Roberto Esteban Narváez Collaguazo

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

El artículo presenta información etnográfica y una interpretación etnológica sobre los Tagaeiri y Taromenane como parte de los grupos familiares en aislamiento que habitan en el Yasuní, su forma de vida tradicional y su territorio, en un contexto de actores externos que inciden en la generación de violencia y de amenaza a su supervivencia. Sobre los pueblos en aislamiento en Ecuador existe información referenciada en datos indirectos que han dado indicios de presencia a partir de registros de rastros e imágenes satelitales y algunos datos directos, como avistamientos, encuentros en la selva, fotografías aéreas y, el principal, encuentros que generaron …

Good Reasons Or Bad Conscience? Or Why Some Indian Peoples Of Amazonia Are Ambivalent About Eating Meat, Stephen P. Hugh-Jones

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

Originally written for a conference on meat attended by farmers, anthropologists, people involved in cultural affairs, and other members of the public, and seeking to avoid emphasis on cultural difference, this paper explores common ground between Euro-American and Amerindian ambivalence about meat consumption. Meat-eating raises two shared concerns: an intuitive recognition of the resemblances between humans and animals and an uncomfortable awareness that human life often depends on the death and destruction of other living beings. I suggest that, behind some obvious cultural differences, Amazonian shamanic and ritual procedures aimed at the de-subjectification of meat share points in common with …

The "Uncontacted" As Third Infamy, George Mentore

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This paper principally addresses the "problem" of anthropological thinking, that is, on how and why it remains with us and not with the peoples who do not subscribe to our contested regimes of truth. From my research on the topic, it appears we have not achieved any substantial moral progress on the question of exposure to indigenous otherness since the first European "contact." This failure is primarily due to our hardheaded rationalist refusal to accept our inability to access the felt reality of the Other directly. Or, better still, of the failure of our language to obtain the shared reality …