Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Exploring Prayer Functions And Posttraumatic Growth Among Informal Caregivers In Hospice Settings, Nicole Beth Fortin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Posttraumatic growth is a positive psychological transformation resulting from the struggle to cope with a challenging life event. There is a significant association between prayer coping functions and posttraumatic growth, but its process remains unclear and studies on informal hospice caregivers are scarce. The purpose of this quantitative, correlational, cross-sectional study was to explore the relationship between prayer functions and posttraumatic growth among informal caregivers while considering differences due to the caregiving environment and prayer practices. The shattered assumptions theory and model of growth in grief were used as a theoretical framework to evaluate the relationship between prayer functions, using …

Drones And American Domestic Policy: An Analysis Of Elite And Mass Opinion, Kevin Michael Leonard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have primarily focused on the use of drones for military purposes. Yet, understanding how the use of drones influences domestic policymaking from the perspective of mass and elite opinion was generally absent from the academic literature. The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore and describe the perceptions of policy elites and the mass public on the impact of drone use on domestic policy. Guided by Donohue, Tichenor and Olien's theories of media framing and salience, mass opinion was measured through a convenience sample via the Walden Participant Pool, whereas elite opinion was measured through a purposive sampling …

U.S. Policymakers' Perspectives Regarding The Causes Of Terrorism And The Impact On U.S. Counterterrorism Policy, Jeffrey David Mcmanus

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

U.S. counterterrorism policy appears to be influenced by different perspectives, as evidenced by conflicting statements by U.S. presidents regarding the causes of terrorism. Academic theories are not always applied by U.S. government employees who develop, influence, and implement counterterrorism policy. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand U.S. government policymakers' perspectives on the causes of terrorism, the influences on these views, and the impact on U.S. counterterrorism policy. Six theories regarding the causes of terrorism provided the theoretical framework. Additional theories related to individual and organizational impact on decision-making provided a broader conceptual framework. Data were collected …

Mental Health Service Providers' Engagement Experiences Of Homeless Individuals, Tarsha Thomas-Richardson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Limited literature exists regarding best engagement practices of mental health service providers in encouraging the homeless individuals to participate in clinical mental health services in New York City. New York City has a population of more than 8.5 million, and in 2017 more than 129,803 homeless individuals slept in shelters. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to gain more insight and knowledge about the best engagement practices and experiences of mental health service providers in encouraging homeless individuals to participate in clinical mental health services. The conceptual framework used to guide this study comes from Kearsley and Shneiderman's …

School Resource Officers And Student Arrest Inclination, Bill B. Young

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem examined in this study was the harming of students arrested in schools and related human and fiscal costs. The purpose was to identify arrest decision-making processes of school resource officers (SROs) and non-SROs and examine how arrest inclinations may lead to the concept of a school-to-prison pipeline. Black's theory of arrest and the factors of amount of evidence, suspect demeanor, wishes of the victim, seriousness of the offense, and the relationship between victim and suspect was the theoretical framework for this study. Six research questions were tested to examine relationships between SROs, non-SROs, and the arrest of students. …

Lived Experiences Of African Students With Microaggressions In U.S.-Based Higher Education Institutions, Amevi Molley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The prevalence of microaggressions in higher education institutions in the United States is a major issue for individuals of color and international background. Microaggressions can interfere with international students' smooth transition into their new academic system and social environment. The purpose of this qualitative study with a transcendental phenomenological approach was to explore the lived experiences of Sub-Saharan international graduate students who have experienced microaggressions in a higher education institution in the United States. The racial microaggression theory and the theory of neo-racism served as a guiding conceptual framework for this study. The research question was to examine the lived …

Examining Cultural Humility And Intersectionality In Mental Health Treatment, Sandra Y. Herrera-Spinelli

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Cultural awareness is an ethical standard in the social work profession and, as the diversity in the United States continues to grow, it is a social work practice problem when cultural awareness is not implemented in mental health settings. The National Association of Social Workers revised the cultural awareness standards to include cultural humility and intersectionality as practice indicators. The purpose of this action research study was to examine how clinical social workers demonstrated cultural humility and intersectionality in mental health settings. Person-centered theory guided this study and a total of 17 clinical social workers in New Mexico participated in …

Dark Triad Personality Traits Prediction Of Managers' Mind-Set In Business Organizations, Robert Kabat

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Presence of the Dark Triad traits of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy in the workplace, especially among managers, has received increased attention due to the implications for organizations. One way to influence behavior in business organizations is through controlled interventions to change individual mind-sets. A review of the extant literature indicated that the relationship between Dark Triad traits and mind-set had not been sufficiently examined. A quantitative study was conducted to examine whether a manager's Dark Triad traits predict their mindset. To explore this relationship, a sample of 153 managers' responses was collected online. The Short Dark Triad measure was used …

Access And Use Of E-Government Public Services Amongst Older Adults, Ryshell Flowers-Henderson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Lack of trust in technology, personal preference, and perceived inability to use online services are possible reasons for lagged adaptation to electronic government (e-government) among older adults in the United States. Although e-government policies promote, or require, that many public services be provided electronically, it is unclear whether older adults are able, or willing, to access such services. The purpose of this qualitative, exploratory study was to gain insight from older adults (e.g., "individuals who are 65 years or older") about their ability and willingness to access e-government services in a mid-Atlantic County. The framework for this research was Roger's …

Implications Of Non-Tangible Assets And Macroeconomic Parameters On Long-Term Stock Performance, Leo Rajan Pereira

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A rational long-horizon stock investment decision is a complex process due to uncertainty in supply and demand, competitive advantage, macroeconomic parameters and various perspectives of investors. Today, the '€˜non-tangible assets'€™ (NTA) that include goodwill and intangible assets are a significant part of corporate assets, but their role in stock performance has not well studied. The purpose of this research is to empirically analyze the implications of NTA and of gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States on the stock price. According to the efficient market hypothesis, stock price reflects all relevant information. The research question focused on the extent …

Impact Of A Geography-Literature Collaborative On Secondary School Pedagogy, John Matthew Mccormick

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Geography education has been relegated to a subset of social studies standards in most of the United States and has been overshadowed by a history-centered curriculum. Student achievement in geography has not improved for several decades due to the focus on history content in the social studies curriculum. Rooted in a conceptual framework encompassing elements of self-efficacy and the whole teacher approach, the purpose of this case study was to examine the impact of the West Virginia Geographic Alliance (WVGA) professional development workshop on teachers' practices in delivering cross-disciplinary geography education. The research questions addressed teachers' perceived self-efficacy in delivering …

The Lived Experiences Of Adult Male Trauma Survivors With Dance Movement Therapy, Jeanne Langston

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, approximately 7.7 million individuals are affected by posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at any given time. Though women are likelier to develop PTSD symptoms, men are exposed to more traumatic events in their lifetimes. Empirically- supported PTSD options exist, however clinical application of these treatments may not consistently culminate in beneficial outcomes. Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) has demonstrated positive treatment outcomes for a variety of mental and physical disorders. Nonetheless, there is a lack of robust research related to the treatment experiences of men who have participated in DMT for trauma-related symptoms. The purpose of this phenomenological …

Central California's Juvenile/Dependency And Criminal Courts' Treatment Of Parent-Child Contact, Cheryl Oslinker Spano

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Parties to a legal action of child abuse can be prosecuted criminally as well as charged with allegations within the jurisdiction of juvenile/dependency court. This can lead to seemingly conflicting goals regarding contact and visitation between the two parties (victim and defendant; child and parent). In essence, restraining orders or visitation orders from one court can contradict the case goals of another court. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to (a) determine if there is a pattern of inconsistent goals in cases of concurrent jurisdictional child-abuse cases, (b) evaluate the effect of conflicting court orders on each jurisdiction's …

Post-Hurricane Sandy Coping Strategies And Resilience Factors Among People With Disabilities, Miriam Mukasa

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

People with disabilities are likely to experience difficulties overcoming the impact of natural disasters. Few scholars have focused on this population's ability to recover and handle stress following a natural disaster. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and describe coping strategies and resilience factors that people with physical or mental disabilities used in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Resilience theory was used as the theoretical framework. Through face-to-face interviews, 10 persons with disabilities shared their experiences of coping and resilience. A lens of interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to identify emergent themes related to persons with disabilities' …

Adjusting The Momentum Strategy For Small Investors, Ulrich Roger Deinwallner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers recommended investing according to the long only momentum (MOM) strategy to generate excess returns for private investors. The general problem of this study was that it was unclear when to enter and when to exit declining financial markets to avoid larger losses and to improve the overall performance with the MOM strategy. Therefore, it was important to understand the influence of a timing indicator on the MOM strategy. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between different moving average (MA) settings, the MOM strategy, and the performance of the returns from the construction of small U.S. …

Stakeholder Effects On Shaping Public Policy In Stormwater Management, Galates Sera

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In Washington, DC, historical data are used to adequately size for rainfall events, and efforts to increase stormwater management requirements are fought against by internal stakeholders. In urban planning, extreme rainfall events, that may occur more frequently than expected, are often not a consideration when designing for green infrastructure facilities. The purpose of this case study was to explore how internal and external stakeholders influence stormwater management policies related to extreme rainfall events in Washington, DC. The power and politics organization theory, which focuses on how individuals obtain influence, and the resource dependency theory, which explores how organizations benefit from …

The Regulatory Transformation In Using Medicinal Cannabis To Treat Disease In The United States, Kevin Rubin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Therapeutic benefits of medicinal cannabis are well documented in the treatment of a variety of medical conditions. There is not, however, a nationally consistent delivery system, which has prevented many patients from realizing these benefits. Using policy feedback theory as the foundation, the purpose of this general qualitative study was to better understand how state-level regulatory efforts in medicinal cannabis may provide guidance on formulating national public policies that are beneficial to patients. This study compared 3 core tenets of NORML, an authority in the cannabis industry, against the policies of 3 states with exemplary state medical cannabis programs. The …

Crisis Communication Systems Among K-12 School Principals, Tomicka Nicole Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Crisis communication systems (CCS) in educational settings have been challenged by mass casualty events including shootings, natural disasters, and health outbreaks in the United States. The U.S. federal government and the U.S. Department of Education have created safety and security instructions to manage these complex and diverse security issues, yet they do not address the role of school leaders within a CCS. Using complex adaptive systems as the theoretical construct, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine CCSs utilized by school leaders within a single public school district in the United States. The research questions are focused …

Perceptions, Lived-Experiences, And Environmental Factors Impacting The Crime-Reporting Practices Of Private College Students, Kelly Lynn Arney

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this study was assessing the perceptions of student's on how the campus climate impacts their likelihood of reporting crime. Victimization studies have been conducted at large universities and community colleges; however, there remains a lack of research regarding private colleges. This study was designed to examine the reasoning behind students' crime-reporting behaviors and the influencers that impact their decisions. Cohen and Felson's routine activity theory along with the collective-efficacy theory were used as frameworks to analyze the crimes that occur to college students as well as to explore the reasons for not reporting some crimes to law …

The Effect Of Self-Esteem, Bullying, And Harassment On Nurse Turnover Intention, Joyce Richelle Arand

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Currently there is a high rate of registered nurse (RN) turnover due in part to bullying and harassment among peers; which fosters lower quality nursing care, jeopardizes patient safety, and increases healthcare costs. The purpose of this quantitative nonexperimental study was to examine the relationship between inpatient nurses' individual self-esteem and reported bullying and harassment with their intent to leave their job. Two theories were used to provide structure to this work: cognitive experimental self theory and oppressed group theory. Data were collected using the Negative Acts Questionnaire, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Turnover Intentions Measure. All RNs in …

Do American Psychological Association (Apa) Or Council For Accreditation Of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (Cacrep) Accreditations Make A Difference? A Look At Glb Competency Among Faculty And Graduate Students, Veronica Castro

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A lack of knowledge and training on the topic of gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons (GLB) in mental health graduate programs can lead to a culture of ignorance and ineffective treatment for a subset of the population. Multicultural competency is defined as having self-awareness of one's own values and biases, knowledge, and skills to work with a given population; and it is important in order to ensure appropriate mental healthcare. The purpose of the current study was to identify if there is a difference in GLB competency among graduate students and faculty (dependent variables) from mental health programs that are …

Reducing Recidivism In Gang Affiliated Offenders: An Interpretative Phenomenological Approach, Cassandra Pacheco

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Recidivism is a major social problem, as is gang membership. Gang membership has been shown to increase the risk of recidivism; however, there is a gap in the literature as to how gang-membership influences reentry experiences. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of gang affiliated reentry individuals with reentry service providers. This study examined how a gang affiliated identity shape reentry individuals' interactions with reentry organizations. An interpretative phenomenological analysis design was employed in this study. In-person, semistructured interviews were conducted with 5 participants who met inclusion criteria to facilitate an understanding of this population's …

Social Entrepreneurship: Exploring The Bricolage Model In Nigeria, Michael Ogunleye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nigerian entrepreneurs face government barriers and lack the skills and awareness needed for successfully creating and scaling public value in resource-constrained environments. The concept of bricolage, which involves doing business by making do with resources at hand, has been addressed in the literature, but not as it occurs among Nigerian entrepreneurs. This study was conducted with the aim of narrowing this gap in knowledge by exploring how Nigerian entrepreneurs have successfully carried out their businesses. The research question addressed how Nigerian entrepreneurs overcame critical situations to successfully address the challenges of scaling and creating public value, and whether the theory …

Predictive Nature Of Teacher Traits On Academic Achievement Of African-American Students, Lacoñia Rayelle Nelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Historically, biases, a lack of cultural diversity in teacher and administrative staff and misunderstanding about methods for teaching low socioeconomic students have related to the underperformance of African-American students when compared with their European American peers. Therefore, this quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted to explore the impact of teachers' ethnicity, years of experience, and motives of hope and fear on the academic success of African-American students in reading and math. Data were collected from 55 7th- and 8th-grade teachers from a charter school system (25 reading teachers and 30 math teachers) using a survey and the Multi Motive Grid. Forward …

Parent Stress Adaptation Among Caregivers Of Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Victoria M. Ambrus

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study was a nonexperimental correlational study that took a strengths-based approach and utilized family systems theories to examine parenting stress, as measured by the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, and posttraumatic growth (PTG), as measured by the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, and the relationship between the two constructs. The study was conducted with a national sample of 136 maternal caregivers of transition-age youth on the autism spectrum (ASD), ages 14 to 22 years, recruited through social media, flyers, and referrals. Participants were primarily biological mothers (83.9%), White (87.5%), and resided in the South (68.4%); the mean age of the adolescent with …

Substance Use Treatment Needs For Survivors Of Commercial Sexual Exploitation Of Children, Emma Elisa Riley-Horvath

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) is the sexual exploitation of minors

for commercial profit. The intersection between sex trafficking victimization and substance use has not yet been explored in clinical research and is not reflected in current clinical treatment of survivors when they exit their exploitation. The research question explored in this study focused on the substance use treatment considerations and challenges clinical social workers face when treating survivors of CSEC living in Massachusetts. Subquestions included understanding how cumulative trauma from CSEC impacts substance use treatment and how the coercive use of substances aimed at maintaining victim submission impacts …

Meanings Of Preconception Health To Overweight Women In An Economically Depressed County, Valeria Ninette Balogh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The intention-behavior gap between receiving professional health information and transitioning to improved health behaviors prior to conception is not well understood. In order to improve preconception health across the board, a more integrative understanding of the problem must present itself. This study combined elements from the theory of planned behavior, self-determination theory, and the bioecological model of human development as it's foundation. Qualitative phenomenology and semistructured face-to-face interviews were used to gain a deeper understanding of the ways in which nine overweight and obese women described preconception intentions and beliefs and the bioecological experiences leading to those beliefs. Interpretation of …

How Childcare Type And Disaster Recovery Funding Type Impact Childcare Recovery, Heather L. Beal

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Childcare is critical community infrastructure, yet it is typically not eligible for recovery assistance postdisaster. The effect of disaster on children has been extensively studied and research indicates that the return to normalcy (e.g., through restoration of childcare programs) helps aid recovery. Despite this, little research has been conducted on how childcare programs recover. The purpose of this research was to investigate how the recovery times for childcare programs affected by Superstorm Sandy varied based on childcare typology and the recovery funding resources used. A quasi-experimental research design was selected and data from 76 surveys was evaluated using one-way and …

Person Factors Affecting Student Persistence In College Reading And Writing Remediation, Loretta J. Morris Barr

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The United States has the highest college attrition rate among industrialized nations. Community college students face a much higher risk, particularly those who lack requisite reading/writing skills. Using the theory of planned behavior and self-determination theory, this study explored the relationship between persistence in college for students in traditional or corequisite remediation. Person factors under study were frustration discomfort, academic motivation, and self-reported symptoms of adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). After 7 semesters, 72 adult student volunteers from the 2 remediation programs were recruited from 2 community colleges. They completed an online survey, which included a demographics questionnaire, the Frustration …

Perceptions About The Asylum-Seeking Process In The United States After 9/11, Keith Nalumango

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Asylum seekers in the U.S. have faced a plethora of impediments leading to some of them abandoning their applications, which may deny them their rights under the United Nations convention on refugees. Despite the abundance of literature on the plight of these persons, no study has examined the lived experiences of asylum seekers in the U.S. from the time they apply for asylum to the time their applications are adjudicated. Using Benet's polarities of democracy as the theoretical framework, the purpose of this single participant narrative study was to explore these experiences in order to provide policy makers with a …