Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Covid-19 Safety Protocols And Procedures Designed For Minimizing Trauma In School-Age Children, Thomas Stacy Helton

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

When COVID-19 arrived in the United States in March of 2020, most of the country was unprepared for the virus's severe nature. A collective mental state seized the public with a hard-to-fathom health emergency that bewildered most adults who have not witnessed during their lifetime. The closest parallels would be the HIV/AIDS pandemic that became embedded in the cultural mindset of 1985; however, once scientists and researchers identified the medical realities of HIV/AIDS, they could educate the populace with appropriate prevention mandates. With rare exceptions, this was not a disease that touched children, except a schoolyard taunt in the years …

E-Cigarette Use Among Youth In Iowa, Miranda Kieler

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Electronic cigarettes or electronic nicotine delivery products are battery-operated, heating elements that individuals use to inhale nicotine products rather than traditional cigarettes or cigars (Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2020). E-cigarettes can also be used to inhale illicit drugs such as marijuana. Electronic cigarettes can resemble traditional cigarettes, cigars, or pipes, while other products may look like pens, USB sticks, or mods (larger tanks) (CDC, 2020). The e-cigarettes have an atomizer or heating element that helps individuals inhale liquid nicotine vapors. Electronic cigarettes were developed as a potential health tobacco cessation product and thought to reduce the health …

Healing Centered Engagement Of Black Survivors Of Sexual Trauma In Marion County, Indiana, Jillian Jay Watts

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Trauma is a manifestation of the pain and experiences that holistically impact an individual physically, mentally, emotionally, intellectually, and interpersonally. One element of trauma that is in need of exploring is its impact collectively. That is, the shared hurt by a community that transcends a personal silo. In particularly in the Black community, an ethnically marginalized community, this injury has a history of being “politically instigated…with aims at inflicting collective injury against certain groups thus undermines a collective wellbeing of a people” (as cited in Annie, 2020). This social phenomena, combined with personal experiences sexual violence that disproportionately impact …

How To Reduce Mental Health Crises By Improving Training And Education For Law Enforcement First Responders, Ashley Shulski

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

This writer chose to focus her social issue on creating an improved 911 system staffed with trained mental health emergency workers who respond to mental health emergencies, and crisis calls concurrently with law enforcement officers. This method will help law enforcement officers ascertain the correct level of care for a person experiencing a mental health crisis. The same would be considered a prevention effort to reduce persons being revictimized by being arrested by uniformed police officers or providing appropriate mental health services at the time of crisis. There are advanced trained law enforcement officers competent to deal with behavioral health …

Mental Illness Awareness In The State Of New Hampshire, Susan Pomerleau

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

New Hampshire is a small state with 1.36 million people reported in 2019. In New Hampshire, 4% of adults live with serious mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression (Resources to Recover, 2020). The National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) has a chapter in New Hampshire to help support, promote, and educate on the topic of mental illness. I would like to partner my effort with NAMI NH and also with the STAMP OUT STIGMA Campaign through the Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness (ABHW) to bring greater awareness of serious mental illness (SMI) and any …

Minority Women Experiencing Postpartum Depression In Colorado, Heather Schunke

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

One of the most common complications associated with childbirth is pregnancy-related depression. Postpartum Depression (PPD) affects a new mother’s ability to bond with and take care of their baby. When left untreated PPD not only impacts the mother’s health but can also cause behavioral, eating, and sleeping issues for the baby (CDC, 2020). New mothers experiencing PPD have reported feeling stressed, worried, and anxious about their children. New mothers also reported having doubts about their ability to be a good mother. Almost half of the new mothers experiencing PPD will not seek treatment. Minority women are even less likely to …

Obesity Prevention In Morrow County, Oregon, Chris Humphreys

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Morrow County, Oregon, is a county located in the north central part of Oregon, right along the Columbia River. The county’s industrial profile is a mix between large agricultural producers, longtime family ranches, and major tech companies like Amazon and Facebook. The largest town, Boardman, only has a population of around 3400 persons (2018), with several other smaller towns making up the rest of the county. Many of the subjects who work in Morrow County commute from several larger towns in adjacent counties. One result of this is that there are no open-to-the-public fitness clubs in Morrow County. Any access …

Preventing Opioid Addiction In Buncombe County, North Carolina, Rachel Franquemont

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Opioid addiction is a significant health problem in Buncombe County, North Carolina. Opioid addiction can result in death from overdoses, economic hardship including high costs for treatment, decreased work productivity, and legal involvement (NIDA, n.d.). Mental health issues including opioid addiction are widespread and therefore difficult and costly to help all those afflicted. It has been shown that in the United States fifty percent of people will have at least one diagnosable mental health issue in their lifetime. In addition, 6 out of 10 of these will be moderate to severe (Conyne, Horne, & Raczynski, 2013). Therefore, prevention is a …

Promoting Healthy Strategies To Reduce Obesity, Jarae Swanstrom

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Sandpoint is a rural community in Northern Idaho with a population of 9,000 in the city limits and 46,000 within the county. Sandpoint is the largest town and the primary source for all services within Bonner County. There is an abundance of outdoor activities to enjoy with the largest and deepest lake in Idaho and many mountains nearby. Even though Sandpoint residents have many options to stay physically active and maintain a healthy weight, a continual rise in obesity within the community and across America has become a trend (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, 2018). Likewise, the lack of affordable …

Quality Of Healthcare Resources For Transgender Identifying Individuals In Baltimore, Md, K Greer Russell

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

More recently, we have seen an increase in awareness of the transgender community nationwide. Despite the transgender community starting to receive representation in popular entertainment media, politics, and within our own localities, there is still a large number of people who have negative perspectives and beliefs about the transgender community and their rights. The transgender community is under constant scrutiny and has to battle for basic human rights on a daily basis. Our politicians are trying to revoke the rights of transgender individuals to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity as opposed to their sex assigned at birth, …

Societal Impacts Of Sports Betting In Colorado, Lawerence Wall Jr.

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Sports betting has become legal in many states across the Unites States after the Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association United States Supreme Court case was ruled in favor of the former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on May 14, 2018. This case overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), allowing state-sponsored sports betting. PASPA was passed by Congress in 1992 to prohibit state-sanctioned sports gambling, except in four states: Delaware, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon, which already established legal sports betting regulations. New Jersey failed to apply in 1991 to be added to the list of exempt states …

Substance Use In Pender County, North Carolina., Khristine Winstead

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

This portfolio explores substance use in Pender County, NC. Recent data from the community health opinion survey indicates that substance use in Pender County is the number one community issue (Pender County Health Department, 2018). From 2012 through 2016, the number of Pender County resident babies hospitalized with drug withdrawal syndrome per 1,000 was 20. To contrast, as a whole, the state of North Carolina recorded 9 per 1,000 (Pender County Health Department, 2018). To date, the local management entity (LME) in Pender County responsible for managing state and federally funded services, including substance use disorders, is Trillium Health Resources. …

Young Adult Addition To Opioids And Synthetic Opioids In Atlanta, Georgia, Jennifer Gaul

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

The drug epidemic in the United States has grown significantly with increased drug overdose deaths quadrupling from 1999 to 2018 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.), 2019). Of those deaths by overdose in 2018, 70% were from an opioid. The trend in opioid misuse has shown the use of non-medical prescription opioids (P.O.s) is increasing with adolescence (mean age 16.8), in which 83% will transition to use heroin within four years (Guarino, Mateu-Gelabert, Teubl, & Goodbody, 2018). The rate of using heroin has doubled over the last decade for young adults, age 18-25-years-old. The county in Atlanta I live …

Student Selection, Development, And Retention: A Commentary On Supporting Student Success In Distance Counselor Education, Savitri Dixon-Saxon, Matthew R. Buckley

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

This article reviews relevant research that provides context for a commentary by two long-time distance counselor educators and supervisors with over 35 years of combined professional experience. The authors explore factors that support successful outcomes for graduate students within distance counselor education programs, which include how students are selected, supported in their development, and retained in the program. Discussion targets how distance learning promotes open access to students who historically have been marginalized, who are living in rural areas, and who have not had the same access to educational opportunities. We focus on the roles and responsibilities of institutional and …

Exploring Predictive Variables Of Burnout In Students Attending Eastern Caribbean Medical Schools, Denise Deloris Lewis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The medical students of the Eastern Caribbean medical schools form a cohort of international students completing their clinical years of training on the Islands. They experience a degree of burnout though to a lesser extent than indicted in the literature. The Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey Student (MBI-GS(S) and a structured questionnaire of sociodemographic qualities and the medical education process items, were used to assess the relationship between the predictive variables and burnout. An N=96 was obtained from the student population. The data collected was analyzed using a series of multiple linear regression. The findings of the linear regression were …

Ethics Of Collection And Use Of Consumer Information On The Internet, Thanh M. Pham

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Consumer online activities can generate massive volumes of data that private companies may collect and use for business purposes. Consumer personal data need to be protected from unauthorized access and misuse. The specific problem is that consumers have little control regarding their data being collected and used by private companies. The purpose of this qualitative archival research was to explore business practices involving collection and use of consumer data without an individual’s consent. This study used the big data ethical conceptual framework to focus on various privacy issues, including those related to ownership, transparency, ethics, and consumer privacy laws. Archival …

Predicting Recidivism Following Participation In Treatment/Intervention Programs For Ex-Offenders, Shaunae Colita Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Failure to participate in rehabilitative programs during or after prison has led to increased recidivism, which, in turn, has contributed to overcrowded prisons and lack of rehabilitation services for offenders. The purpose of this descriptive, quantitative, regression study was to explore the relationship between inmates’ program participation (i.e., during prison education program, during prison drug treatment program, during prison alcohol treatment program, and during prison sex offense treatment program) by and subsequent recidivism. Banduras' social learning theory provided the theoretical framework for the study. The study data were drawn from recidivism data of 38,624 prisoners who were released in 1994 …

The Impacts Of Open Grazing On The People Of Anambra South Senatorial Zone, Ephraim Izundu Udeagbala

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractOpen grazing is a main issue in Nigeria today, as Fulani herdsmen take farms by force with weapons like AK47s, which also affects the farmers of Anambra South Senatorial Zone. Further, there are different views on what open grazing is, which takes focus off its impacts that are detrimental to the people of the area. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the impacts of open grazing on the farmers of Anambra South Senatorial Zone. The research question aligned with the purpose of the study and examined the impacts of open grazing on the farmers of Anambra South …

The Influence Of Ethnicity On The Impact Of Cyberbullying Among Adults, Sarah Young

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ethnicity is a factor that predicts how a person is impacted by cyberbullying, but to date little research has been conducted to investigate this phenomenon. Some researchers have reported that individuals belonging to ethnic minorities may have a greater overall resistance to bullying behavior and bias due to stress inoculation. The purpose of this study was to determine if ethnic minority status serves as a protective factor against the negative impact of cyberbullying in adults. This research study was guided by inoculation and socio-ecological systems theories. A convenience sample of 618 American adults who use social media at least 3 …

Nonprofit Arts Programs As Professional Development Experiences In Rural West Virginia, Ariel Mcgill Price

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Public educators in West Virginia are required to take 18-hours of professional development learning annually. The professional development opportunities offered are not varied, inclusive of all content areas, and have been found by the state’s Department of Education to lack in application and effectiveness. This study examined the benefits of living laboratory professional development experiences, utilizing Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence, with educators that volunteer with fine arts community-based nonprofit organizations, as a possible alternative to the professional development policy requirements by the state. The study’s key research questions were about the recognition and enhancement of intrapersonal and interpersonal …

Social Work Supervisors As Gatekeepers, Camielle Call

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

Supervision in social work is a long-held tradition chiefly regarding completing required supervisory hours for clinical licensing by state licensing boards. Social work supervision is a process wherein supervisors provide oversight to new social workers through supporting, managing, developing, and evaluating their work. The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain an understanding of how supervision is conducted and how social work supervisors view their position as gatekeepers to the profession. Using an interpretivism framework, in the context of the vital nature of supervision, symbolic interactionism was used to look at the reactions of social work supervisors and …

Comparison Of Social Interest Perceptions Of Homeless Youth, And Non-Homeless At-Risk Youth, Michele Cindy Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Homeless youth face serious obstacles related to obtaining education, healthcare and stable accommodations. Adler’s social interest theory states that an individual’s perceptions impact their motivations and willingness to contribute to society. No research was found that compared the perceptions of homeless youth with nonhomeless at-risk youth using Adler’s theory. The purpose of this mixed method study was to compare perceptions of homeless youth with nonhomeless at-risk youth regarding the impact of public policies in creating obstacles to education, healthcare, and stable accommodations. A quantitative social interest instrument followed by face-to-face interviews was administered to 55 homeless youth and 64 nonhomeless …

Meat-Eating Justification And Relationship Closeness With Vegetarian Family, Friends, And Romantic Partners, Amy Vandehei

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Omnivores often respond negatively when friends, family members, or romantic partners disclose adoption of a vegetarian/vegan diet. Examining the beliefs behind these negative responses could result in improved relationships between omnivores and vegetarians. This study examined whether the beliefs omnivores hold to justify meat-eating are related to relationship closeness. The theory of planned behavior provided a foundation with which to examine the attitudes omnivores have about meat consumption. A survey was used with 190 omnivores with existing friend, family member, or romantic partner relationships who had become vegetarian/vegan. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the extent to which meat-eating …

Curricular Policy Changes And College Readiness, Carol Ann Alexander

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this study was the uncertain influence of a local curricular policy change. Educators, policymakers, and communities need more data to determine the usefulness of changes in policy and practice because changes involve restructuring, resource allocation, and understanding the intended and unintended consequences of policy implementation. In the United States, fewer than 50% of high school graduates complete a college preparatory curriculum and are eligible to enter 4-year public state universities. The purpose of this ex post facto study was to investigate how a change in local curricular policy might have influenced high school graduates' college readiness …

Historical Trauma, Contemporary Trauma, And Type-2 Diabetes Self-Management Among American Indian/Alaska Native Women, Dorothy Ruth Jolley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Endemic Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is one of the leading causes of mortality among American Indian/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs). Trauma and stress have been shown to impact the progression of diabetes that could negatively impact health-related behaviors. Previous studies have not examined the relationship between historical and contemporary trauma and T2DM self-management among AI/AN women. The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between historical loss, historical loss associated symptoms, stressful life events, microaggressions (microinsults and microinvalidations), and T2DM self-management (glucose management, dietary control, physical activity, healthcare use) among AI/AN women with diabetes. Historical trauma theory was the basis …

Public Policy Response To Violence: Case Study Of Boko Haram Insurgency In Nigeria, Emmanuel Baba Mamman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The violence of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria has generated an increased need for public policy responses. Nigerian authorities and community stakeholders have attempted myriad responses to the challenges created by Boko Haram. However, there is a poor understanding of policy frameworks for handling the Boko Haram violence on the immediate, medium-term, and long-term dimensions. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to improve the understanding of the public policy measures that may help to address the Boko Haram challenge. John Burton's theory of human needs provided a theoretical foundation for the study. Purposive sampling technique was used, …

Child Protection Workers' Experiences In Implementing Natural Mentoring With Older Foster Youth, Claudia Maxie

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Emancipated foster youth are at risk for increased rates of unemployment, low educational attainment, reliance on public assistance, substance abuse, behavioral issues, homelessness, unplanned pregnancies, and illegal activities. Lack of connection to a caring adult when exiting foster care and emancipated foster youth's inadequate independent living skills are critical factors that could place young people at risk. Prior studies have shown that mentoring is a means of providing foster youth with protection against psychological stress and promoting well-being; however, mentoring is not a widely used intervention in the child welfare system. There is limited research on the process of implementing …

Unfunded Stakeholder Mandates And Nonprofit Performance Impacts, Courtney Lyn Coe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small nonprofit organizations, with annual budgets of $500,000 or less, are assigned many obligations by external stakeholders while conducting their mission-related work. However, little is known about the impact of these obligations or mandates being received from their external stakeholders, which rarely have funding allocated to minimize any capacity impact they create. The purpose of this study was to learn about whether, and how, the organizational capacity of small nonprofit organizations is impacted by unfunded mandates. Applying the theoretical framework of rational choice theory, the patterns revealed by the data allow the ability to draw conclusions based upon the lived …

Experiences Of Refugee Women With Different Physical Abilities In Kenya, Grace Faraja Nkundabantu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Refugee populations worldwide increase every day as a result of social and political wars. Women and children, particularly those with different physical abilities, are the most vulnerable populations affected by atrocities in their home countries and in their countries of refuge. In Africa, it is believed that women with different abilities bring shame to their families. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of refugee women with different physical abilities, specifically regarding challenges related to accessing services in Kenya. The research question that guided this study focused on the lived experiences of refugee women …

African American Women’S Perceptions About Double Jeopardy And Mentoring In The Federal Government, Fatimah Pierce

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research shows that women’s leadership development can be fostered through gender-based mentoring. However, even when involved in gender-based mentoring relationships, African American women face additional challenges due to the intersectionality of their race and gender, often known as “double jeopardy.” The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how this intersectionality shapes African American women leaders’ perceptions about their gender-based mentoring experiences from the perspectives of both mentors and protégés. The theoretical framework for this study was Black feminist thought. One research question and two subquestions addressed the role of intersectionality, the benefits and challenges of gender-based mentoring, and …