Approximately 30% of adolescents in the United States have engaged in delinquent acts. Juvenile delinquency is related to the development of Conduct Disorder and other mental health disorders including: Substance Abuse, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Depression and Anxiety. Within the juvenile court system, mental health assessments are utilized in order to identify the complex treatment needs of juvenile offenders; however, implementation of the report recommendations is challenging. This project explored the implementation and adherence of psychological recommendations completed in the Second Judicial Circuit Redeploy Illinois program, a juvenile diversion program. Effectiveness of the psychological assessments conducted in the Redeploy program at reducing commitment to the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice was evaluated. A process evaluation examined the sample of youth who completed assessments, determined who received reports, and evaluated recommendation adherence, barriers to treatment, and perceived effectiveness of recommendations. Information was collected via reviews of archival data and surveys distributed to legal guardians, probation officers, judges and administrators. An outcome evaluation was completed to determine whether Recommendation Adherence and Program Completion predicted reduced days in detention or commitment to IDJJ within six months following the psychological assessment. Age, ratings of parent and child relationships, and intellectual ability were explored as individual predictors of days in detention and sentencing to IDJJ. Results of the process evaluation indicated that juvenile offenders completing psychological assessments within the Redeploy Illinois program were similar to the national profile of juvenile offenders. Psychological reports were distributed to probation officers, judges and administrators appropriately; however, legal guardians received reports less frequently and indicated that reports were less effective than other stakeholders. Nevertheless, the psychological assessments were successful at completing the intended goals of the Redeploy program. Adherence to recommended interventions was very low for all youth. Barriers to recommendation adherence included lack of social support, unavailable services and feelings that recommendations were inappropriate. Recommendation adherence did not significantly predict the number of days in detention, nor commitments to IDJJ, but successful program completion was a significant predictor. Interpretations of these findings and recommendations were provided to help improve psychological assessments within the Second Judicial Circuit Redeploy Program.

Of the 36 diurnal raptor species in North America, 31 (~86%) are either complete or partial migrants. During fall and spring, raptors use "leading lines" or topographic features, such as mountain ranges, rivers, and coastlines that help guide them during their migration, and sometimes are redirected by diversion lines, or barriers that they are hesitant to cross (e.g., large bodies of water). Our objective was to assess the use of mountain ranges and rivers in central and southeastern Arizona by migrating raptors and to determine physical and ecological factors that are important to raptor migration across the United States. We counted migrating raptors in the spring and fall for two years at ten paired count stations in central and southeastern Arizona. Arizona counts were incorporated with counts from across the United States to determine physical and ecological features that influence migration rates. Raptor counts for central and southeastern Arizona averaged 2.0 raptors/hour, and were similar to what is observed at most other counting stations in the Central and Pacific Flyways. Stepwise regression models for the United States indicated counts were negatively related to distance from a diversion barrier and positively related to continuity of elevation. Understanding the factors that influence migrating raptors will inform decisions about environmental modifications and their potential influence on raptor populations. The following appendices are written and formatted to be submitted to journals. Although part of a thesis, they are written in plural to reflect the necessary authorship for journal submission. The first appendix, titled "Assessment of raptor migration corridors in central and southeastern Arizona", will be submitted to the Southwestern Naturalist. The second appendix, title "Assessment of raptor migration corridors in the United States", will be submitted to the Journal of Raptor Research.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree Master of Social Work in the Faculty of Arts in the Department of Social Work at the University Of Zululand, South Africa, 2012. / The introduction of diversion programmes in South Africa to assist with the tension of a strenuous criminal justice system has assisted beneficiaries of the programme in finding rehabilitation. Although the beliefs of communities and individuals differ as to the intent of the programme, while, others still feel the need for retribution. The impact of diversion programmes thus, cannot be ignored as only 25 per cent of youth having completed the programme will re-offend. There are currently no systems in place in South Africa that could assist in the identification of repeated offenders (needing to be formally classified as recidivists). The degree of repetition in delivering services to the same individuals can, therefore, not be established, thus, leaving a gap in the effectiveness of crime prevention and management strategies. The aim of this study was to establish the impact (effectiveness) of diversion programmes on behaviour modification to divertees, with the purpose of formulating the perceptions of juvenile youth (young offenders) about diversion programmes. The literature explored by the researcher reflects the creation of the Child Justice Court and its mandate, arguments arising from the creation and implementation of juvenile rehabilitation, the purposes of the implementation of diversion, behaviour modification of young offenders in the diversion programme, changes attributing to offender rehabilitation, support for juvenile rehabilitation and recidivism as a hindrance to behaviour change. The findings of the study revealed that from the youth who were referred for diversion, at the end of the programme they had been instilled some aspect of change in their live, attitudes and behaviour. The programme has made them active members in decision-taking roles in their lives and no longer relinquish such powers to their peers, leaving them vulnerable to peer pressure, therefore, making the cycle of offending never ending.

Decisions to interfere with the natural path of lava are constrained by geological, engineering and logistical factors; and legal, environmental and socio-cultural considerations. Lava flows erupted from several volcanoes around the world have threatened people and their property, motivating them to take actions to prevent or slow its advance by diverting the flow direction using channels, berms and explosives or obstructing the lava by quenching with water or armoring. Property to be protected has included government, public, commercial and private property ranging from cities and harbors to personal property. The earliest known attempt to influence the path of lava occurred in 1669 on Mount Etna, Italy, but more recent experience there occurred in the 1980s-90s. Several eruptions at Kīlauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes in Hawai‘i also provided abundant experience (1881, 1935, 1942, 1955, 1960 and several times during the on-going 1983- present eruption of Kīlauea). Additional experience relates to experimental tests and an untested berm on Mauna Loa. Most recently though, local businessmen on Kīlauea constructed earthen berms to protect their property and the local utility authority constructed novel protective structures around electric utility poles. Decisions to use mitigation strategies may be based on expert scientific opinion, but public opposition has been reported to alone be able to prevent lava mitigation. In 2014, public opinions about the use of traditional mitigation strategies (diversion by berms or bombing) to protect commercial and residential areas of Puna were mixed among residents, but there appeared to be no opposition to a new mitigation strategy that protected key areas of the electrical infrastructure and supply of electricity. To help understand public opinion about this and various mitigation strategies and people’s acceptance of additional risk to personal property to help protect important elements of their community, we conductied questionnaire surveys among residents on Kīlauea and Mauna Loa as part of a multi-university NSF Hazards SEES project. We evaluated crisis experience, hazard zonation, and community bondedness, in addition to socio-demographic and cultural factors, with beliefs concerning mitigation, including effectiveness of mitigation strategies for lava flows and others hazards; financial and legal considerations; and requirements for specialized knowledge, skills and cooperation.

Crown selected youth diversion has received little academic attention in Canada. As a process that channels offenders out of the formal legal system, diversion purports to achieve contradictory self-serving system and offender-based goals. Using 50 randomly selected prosecution files – half of which the Crown diverted and half of which the Crown prosecuted – a mixed method investigation of diversion assesses cases through quantitative content analysis and grounded theory method. Based on the quantitative analysis, it is argued that there is an emerging patterned nature of Crown selected diversion that is not completely benign. This patterned nature of diversion unearths a distinctive discourse of diversion/non-diversion. Qualitatively, it is argued that the cases are organized around three temporal moments that create an area for distinctions to be made in terms of threat, responsibility, (in)tolerableness and recourse. Seemingly, there is a persistent paradoxical existence of the diversion process that emerges from the case files.

Crown selected youth diversion has received little academic attention in Canada. As a process that channels offenders out of the formal legal system, diversion purports to achieve contradictory self-serving system and offender-based goals. Using 50 randomly selected prosecution files – half of which the Crown diverted and half of which the Crown prosecuted – a mixed method investigation of diversion assesses cases through quantitative content analysis and grounded theory method. Based on the quantitative analysis, it is argued that there is an emerging patterned nature of Crown selected diversion that is not completely benign. This patterned nature of diversion unearths a distinctive discourse of diversion/non-diversion. Qualitatively, it is argued that the cases are organized around three temporal moments that create an area for distinctions to be made in terms of threat, responsibility, (in)tolerableness and recourse. Seemingly, there is a persistent paradoxical existence of the diversion process that emerges from the case files.

A solid breaker is used to reduce the viscosity of the gel at pH range of 4-5 for in-situ gelled acids with Zr4 cross-linkers utilize. However, the literature survey confirmed that solid breakers caused a premature reduction in the fluid viscosity resulting in a less than desirable productivity. Therefore, an effective liquid breaker that is based on tetrafluoroboric acid was developed. This study was conducted to evaluate this new breaker system under the following conditions: breaker concentration (0-200 ppm), and acid injection rate (0.5-10 cm3/min). The major findings from the performed viscosity measurements and single coreflood experiments can be summarized as follows: the crosslinking of the polymer occurred at a pH value of 1.8. At a pH of less than 2, doubling the breaker concentration did not affect the viscosity of the acid. However, at a pH of greater than 2, the viscosity of acid was reduced by 30 percent. At a breaker concentration of 0 ppm, the appearance of Zr in the core effluent sample was delayed by 0.25 PV compared to the reaction product, while at 100 ppm, Zr was delayed by 0.75 PV. At 200 ppm breaker, no Zr ions were detected in the effluent samples. Additionally, it was observed that as the breaker concentration increased, more Zr remained inside the core, as ZrF4, which is water-insoluble. Increasing the breaker concentration from 100 to 200 ppm reduced the final normalized pressure drop by 50 percent at injection rate of 2.5 cm3/min. Permeability reduction due to gel was reduced by increasing the acid injection rate.

Zugl.: Berlin, Humboldt-University, Diss., 2006.

Zugl.: Kiel, Universiẗat, Diss., 2007.

Crown selected youth diversion has received little academic attention in Canada. As a process that channels offenders out of the formal legal system, diversion purports to achieve contradictory self-serving system and offender-based goals. Using 50 randomly selected prosecution files – half of which the Crown diverted and half of which the Crown prosecuted – a mixed method investigation of diversion assesses cases through quantitative content analysis and grounded theory method. Based on the quantitative analysis, it is argued that there is an emerging patterned nature of Crown selected diversion that is not completely benign. This patterned nature of diversion unearths a distinctive discourse of diversion/non-diversion. Qualitatively, it is argued that the cases are organized around three temporal moments that create an area for distinctions to be made in terms of threat, responsibility, (in)tolerableness and recourse. Seemingly, there is a persistent paradoxical existence of the diversion process that emerges from the case files.