Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1923. / Vita. Published also without thesis note.

The six research papers and journal articles that form this submission all focus on the nature of and response to young people and young adults who have experienced relationship violence and non-partner sexual violence in New York City (NYC). These six empirical papers are based on three primary research studies in which I was the Principal Investigator spanning four years of research work: • A quantitative study of 1,312 young people in NYC high schools, • A survey of 65 survivors of sexual violence about their experiences with services (hospital, counselling, police and criminal justice) in NYC, and • A comprehensive survey of 39 emergency departments in NYC about acute care provision for sexual assault patients. These studies are innovative in that all three are ‘firsts’ in the field of violence prevention and response: ‘Partners and Peers’ was the first study of its kind to explore the prevalence of sexual and dating violence in NYC amongst high school students. This study found that 16.2% or more than 1 in 6 students surveyed reported experiencing sexual violence at some point in their lives. Of these youth, 10.1% reported experiencing non-partner sexual violence (sexual abuse or forced sex), and 14.1% reported experiencing sexual violence from a dating partner. The survey was available in both Spanish and English (both versions translated and back-translated). Passive parental consent and student assent were obtained with parental consent letters available in English, Spanish and Chinese. Three ethical review boards, including the NYC Department of Education, approved this study. ‘A Room of Our Own’ was the first study to explore from survivors’ own perspectives their satisfaction with the care and support they received post-assault in NYC with the majority of respondents having experienced a sexual assault under the age of 25 (study was approved by eight Ethics Review Boards), and ‘How Safe is NYC’ was the first study to comprehensively map protocols, procedures and services offered across Emergency Departments in NYC including how adolescent patients are treated. All three of these studies garnering significant media coverage which appeared in the New York Sun, The Washington Post, the New York Post, The New York Daily News, El Diario and on CBS news (TV) and WBAI radio. Three of the six submitted publications have already been ranked internally as part of the Moray House School of Education’s REF submission (my 4th REF submission was another journal article on a different area of child protection) and they have all been recognised as internationally excellent in terms of originality, significance and rigour. This body of work has had and continues to have significant implications for practice as highlighted in this thesis. The study of survivors’ perspectives and acute care responses in emergency departments led directly to a change in New York State Law for ambulance destination designation and a commitment from the NYC Mayor for Sexual Assault Forensic Services in all public NYC hospitals. The school-based study findings also directly led the NYC Chancellor to change the disciplinary regulations in all New York City high schools in relation to adolescent relationship violence. This research highlights the need for practitioners, policymakers and researchers to better understand the nature of relationship violence and non-partner sexual violence among adolescents and young adults in New York City in order to develop evidence-informed programmes and policies for prevention and response.

Big business and small business, the global and the local, the rich and the poor—these polarities often inhabit compartmentalized geographies within the modern global city. This compartmentalization proves to be problematic since the lack of a localized diversity of socioeconomic actors is a critical point of vulnerability in the context of urban resilience. The question is, what role does the relationship between the built world and human socioeconomic agency play in the context of this issue? The objective of this dissertation is to document, analyze, and understand: (1) at the district scale, how architectural / urban characteristics, typologies, and configurations have historically influenced the developmental trajectory and composition of the city’s socioeconomic fabric, and in turn how socioeconomic structures have historically influenced the architectural / urban characteristics, typologies, and configurations observed in the city; (2) at the building scale, how the internal physical / spatial characteristics and configurations of buildings have historically influenced the developmental trajectory and composition of the socioeconomic fabric, and how socioeconomic actors in turn have historically altered and influenced the internal physical / spatial characteristics and configurations of buildings over time; (3) the commonalities, patterns, and processes that can be discerned via the historic study of these narratives of physical and socioeconomic change; and (4) how these commonalities can in turn inform future architectural and urban projects in their capacity to support localized diversities of socioeconomic actors. In seeking to answer these questions, this dissertation endeavors to understand, more broadly: (1) the historic nature of the relationship between the physical and the socioeconomic fabric of the city; and (2) how future alterations to the physical fabric of the city can be informed so as to positively impact a locality’s ability to attract and maintain a diversity of socioeconomic actors over an extended period of time. These broader objectives are pursued with the supposition that they have the capacity to significantly impact the ideological conception, as well as practical regulation, planning, and administration of global cities.

Garbage landfills are at the heart of debates over sustainable urban development. Landfills are the cheapest waste-disposal method, but have specific environmental problems and are a common target for citizen activism such as environmental justice and Not In My Backyard (NIMBY) protests. As a means of covering up the scars at recently closed landfills, it has been common for cities to redevelop landfills into parks. The ongoing redevelopment projects at New York City's Fresh Kills, Greater Toronto's Keele Valley, and Greater Tel Aviv's Hiriya landfills are uniquely ambitious and large-scale projects, because these three landfills were among the largest in the world at the time each of them closed around the turn of the twenty-first century. These three landfill-park redevelopments are positive projects, but there are more complexities involved than one would find discussed in booster rhetoric such as government press releases, local newspaper descriptions, and even museum exhibitions. The construction of Freshkills Park, North Maple Regional Park, and Ariel Sharon Park does little to address the ongoing waste-disposal policy concerns of New York, Toronto, and Tel Aviv; therefore, the redevelopments have more significance as “symbols” of a poor past policy being replaced by a “progressive” policy for a better future than as actual waste-disposal policies. Artists and landscape architects have created works based on the theme of parkland as a fresh start for these landfills, in gallery and museum exhibitions such as Hiriya in the Museum at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in 2000 and artwork created by acclaimed environmental artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles for Fresh Kills.

The twentieth-century brought a rapidly increasing global mobility and is causing a de-territorial effect on the world. The borders of countries are becoming more fluid. The bounds of cultures that were based on nationality, have become blurred, contested, open-ended, and unstable. These frequently modified cultural boundaries have created multiple cultural diasporic groups. A diaspora is a large group of people with a similar heritage or homeland who have since moved out to places all over the world. Globalism, with its elusive cultural identity, leads to a seemingly unified world culture and the once static sense of nation-state-based cultural identity is now mobile. This mobility and replacement of our locations destabilize our traditional sense of identity that traditionally has been deeply rooted in a sense of nation-state. As a reaction and resistance to the global forces, “localism,” or “nativism,” have simultaneously increased. Thus, the cultural diaspora can be understood as a journey through multiple magnitudes of cultural boundaries. This thesis reviews cultural identity with an emphasis on cultures that are undergoing a diasporic condition. I specifically emphasize notions of the nationality of a selected diasporic group of Bangladeshi people living in New York City over the past few decades. The vehicle of the research is the study of their current cultural identification, considering the varied struggles of this group in their new host land. After assembling and acquiring a holistic understanding of the current condition (economic, social, and political) of this group, a set of appropriate programs will be proposed to be incorporated into the design for a cultural center. The primary goals of this project are to encourage the socio-cultural, economic, and educational enhancement of Bangladeshi people living in New York City. The project will also raise a sense of unity among the diasporic group and enable a better understanding of cultural interchange.

If architects are to create a sustainable world, one in which we are accountable to the needs of all future generations and living creatures, we must recognize that our present form of designing buildings is deeply flawed. Being the number one cause of emission gases, building design needs to be revolutionized to be able to surpass such climatic changes and finally harmonize with nature. To create a sustainable future and solve the global warming crisis, architects need to incorporate nature within design through the process known as biomimicry. Janine Benyus, the author of Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, stressed how nature teaches to solve human problems. After billions of years of research and development within nature, Benyus believes that nature has perfected itself and has the key to human survival. Through biomimicry, architects can find solutions to design problems and apply them to sustainable design. Sustainable design has not reached its peak in uniting both aesthetics and performance within the design industry. Until now, architecture focuses more on human needs and economics, putting aside what is best for the environment thus leaving a conflict between human and nature. This thesis presents an investigation into biomimicry and its architectural applications. It is inspired by organisms within nature. The final design project will be based on the studies of organisms and how these can be incorporated on a building's entire design program including skin, structure, journey and circulation. From these studies , I will synthesize the important components and ideas of these organisms and interpret them into the building's design. The building typology chosen for this project is the museum typology which function as a living organism. The project will be site specific thus designing a museum that adapts to the site's specific surroundings. The goal for this thesis is to discover organisms within nature that can be incorporated and reinterpreted into sustainable architecture. It is also crucial to discover and study the complex systems within nature so that architects can incorporate ideas from it to improve architecture design.

Measles is a potentially deadly illness that has been declared no longer endemic in the United States of America since 2000.1 However, in the past few years, imported cases of the measles have continued to cause hospitalization and deaths among those citizens who remain unvaccinated, or have waning immunity, against measles, especially children. The Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine has been available since 1963 and is routinely given to children in the first two years of life.1 Endemic cases of measles are increasing each year, specifically in undervaccinated communities. In 2018-2019, there was an outbreak of measles in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Investigating the knowledge, attitudes and opinions on the measles virus and the MMR vaccine in the Williamsburg neighborhood may facilitate discussions that could increase the vaccination rate among its population, as well as elucidate more effective strategies for vaccination in the future. Comparing attitudes from the Williamsburg neighborhood with a population across the Hudson River, in the East Village, which has previously had higher rates of vaccination, could shed light on how to target and tailor vaccination campaigns to different populations in New York City moving forward.2–4

Homelessness has been a problem in New York City (NYC) for decades. Part of the problem is children who grew up in the shelter system and then returned as adults, a phenomenon known as 2nd-generation homelessness. Literature indicates that no researchers have interviewed second-generation homeless adults about their experiences. The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of 2nd-generation homelessness from the perspective of homeless adults returning to the shelter system. The sample included 1 second-generation homeless adult and 10 case managers at Tier II homeless shelters. Interviews were conducted and data were analyzed using hand coding to uncover themes amongst the interviews. The themes found were: lack of information and resources, generational homelessness is passed down, people should learn from their parents' mistakes, comfort in the homeless shelter system, money, parental abuse and neglect, the role of the case manager, taking advantage of the shelter system, and mental health. The other topics that were discussed on multiple occasions but did not fit into larger categories are: education, drugs and alcohol, lack of family assistance, and activities of daily living. Findings from this study inform social change by indicating a clear need for input from homeless families and case managers when developing interventions to address second-generation homelessness. Future policymakers should include staff and clients when developing ways to address homelessness in New York City. The views and opinions expressed in this manuscript reflect the personal views of the researcher and interviewees; they do not represent the views of NYC Department of Homeless Services or its providers.

This paper explores the discourse surrounding the introduction of supervised injection facilities (SIF) in New York City following their recent introduction in November 2021.  The contemporary debate surrounding SIF in New York is more diverse than may be assumed, even within a seemingly liberal city in the United States, as there are many competing perspectives which make broad categorizations of the discourse difficult. Nevertheless, supporters of SIF have continued to emphasize the efficacy of this program and its potential to prevent overdoses in a largely uniform manner.  In contrast, critics of SIF in NYC have demonstrated a multiplicity of oppositional narratives, which take the forms of traditional abstinence perspectives, localism/not in my backyard rhetoric, law and order beliefs, and social justice evaluations that question the equality of such programs. Nearly all sentiments regarding SIF are founded in the individual perceptions of addiction, specifically whether the individual views it as a disease or a moral failing.        The United States is slowly continuing to adopt more dynamic approaches to substance abuse and move away from the punitive policies established through the War on Drugs strategies advanced throughout the previous decade.  This pilot program can be viewed as a continuation of existing harm reduction policies such as syringe exchange programs.  While the introduction of SIF signifies a substantial evolution of the existing harm reduction policies and provides the basis for national expansion of the program, the current socio-political environment does not prove conducive to its evolution.  Overall, this study explores the diverse range of narratives surrounding SIF, their informing ideology, and attempts to situate these opinions within their broader sociological and historical backgrounds, providing the basis for further research regarding this subject.

The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate the ways in which the core-periphery relationships of English and Dutch colonial ventures in North America were impacted by local events in New Amsterdam-New York, a Dutch colony that was lost to the English following the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1664. Increased peripheralization of New Amsterdam-New York negated centralizing efforts of the Dutch and effectively ended the potential for Dutch geopolitical power in North America. While the Atlantic World has traditionally been understood as a framework for understanding international phenomenon and global processes, this thesis suggests that it was impacted by multiple geopolitical scales simultaneously. Placing New Amsterdam-New York’s colonial history in a framework of evolving core-periphery relationships and highlighting the central role of local social, political, and spatial processes provides a foundation for understanding the outbreak of ethnic hostilities in the late 1680s. I argue that the increasing importance of the local is demonstrated by the attention given to social, political, and spatial ordinances that sought not to control “the English” or “the Dutch”, but to control the actions and actors of individual streets, wards, and districts.