Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 223-234). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

No description available.

Widespread media reports have described an increase in heat-related deaths among undocumented immigrant border crossers in Southern Arizona in recent years. The factual basis and important risk factors associated with these deaths have not been well studied. Although, the most common cause of heat fatalities is environmental exposure during heat waves, deserts of the southwestern USA are known for temperatures that exceed this threshold for 30 days or more. Heat-related fatalities, however, have been and continue to be rare among residents of the region. Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border into Arizona has likely been robust for decades, although accurate measures of the volume are not available due to its covert nature. This thesis research focuses on the occurrence and distribution of heat deaths among undocumented US-Mexico border crossers in Pima County, Arizona. Implications of this work include improving future research, informing public health policy and planning of prevention strategies.

No description available.

This study examines the mentalities and sensibilities of government that get (re)produced in one programmatic narrative about ‘child abuse’ and child homicide. It shows how a perspective of governance takes shape through the lens and language of risk, and how a discourse of risk can take very different forms even within one governmental programme. Empirically the study examines the major report released from the Public Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology in Ontario (known after its chairperson as the Goudge Inquiry/Report). The Goudge Inquiry (2008) was commissioned by the Ontario government in the wake of a Chief Coroner’s Review into the problematic practices of Dr. Charles Smith, the province’s most trusted paediatric forensic pathologist for nearly 15 years. The resultant Goudge Report presents a rationalization of Ontario’s paediatric death investigation system and its failures. It presents an ideal-typical narrative that carves out the image of a fully formed and perfected risk management complex for combatting ‘child abuse’. To understand the mentalities and sensibilities of government that shape and get shaped by the Report’s risk management narrative, this study probes what ‘risk’ does in the Goudge Report. Risk discourse in this case proves to be entangled in a ‘volatile and contradictory’ set of ‘superficial’ connections, associations and activities, one that operates at the nexus of ‘common sense’ mentalities and populist sensibilities. That the Report depends for its rhetorical power on the silencing of alternative claims, discourses and rationales is central to this analysis. / Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2011-08-31 16:33:55.671

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to determine what are the basic factors that influence one's attitudes toward death. Questions central to the proposed investigation are these:1. What factors can be identified which seem to predispose certain individuals to different types of attitudes toward death?2. What are the general societal participation styles of individuals of the various integration types? Can distinct styles be identified? For example, do those of one type have distinct occupations, marital status, similar residence size, and so forth as compared to those of another type?3. Are there specific differences among the integration types in terms of scores on tests measuring anomie? In other words, do some types have significantly greater amounts of anomie than other types?4. What specific factors are useful in determining an individual's measure of fear of death? Are some distinctions more useful than others in determining attitudes toward death?These questions are basically all interrelated. Tentative hypotheses may be suggested in regard to each of these questions:1. Fear of death varies inversely with the degree of integration of the individual in the social groups of which the individual forms a part.2. Fear of death varies inversely with the degree of internal orientation of the individual.3. Fear of death varies directly with the degree of anomie of the individual.A survey sample of 635 from various occupations, marital statuses, ages, and so forth was used for the study. A Fear of Death Scale was developed and administered along with Srole's Anomia Scale and Neal and Seeman's Internal-External Scale.The data generated indicate that basically fear of death is inversely correlated with the degree of integration of the individual in his or tier social groups. Those with higher rates of anomie did exhibit greater fears toward death. Those people who were more externally oriented also exhibited greater fears toward death. Both findings were predicted.A revision of Emile Durkheim's typology for suicides also yielded some results. The fatalistic type of attitude toward death which sees death as the price for a chosen life-style was tested by including police officers, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, and State Policemen in the sample. All were very low on the fear of death scale as predicted. The anomie type, as already suggested, exhibited greater fears of death as expected. The altruistic type was more difficult to measure. Since the over-fifty category had significantly lower fears of death, it would seem to at least not detract from the theory. Those who saw religion as preparing them for death were also low on the fear of death scale which is also consistent. The egoistic type seemed most prevalent among those persons who had little meaning or purpose in life. Those persons also had higher fear of death scores as expected.The lower level hypotheses were generally also supported with some exceptions. Projected differences in fear of death between males and females were not there. Also, the older the respondent, the lower the fear of death. Had children been included in the sample, this might not nave been the case. A trend also existed in that the larger the size of residence, the higher the fear of death as was also predicted. The predicted differences in occupational categories were not as great as projected, but they were in the direction that was predicted.The best indicators of fear of death, other than the comparative scales used, were the age of the respondent and his or her marital status. Widowed persons were less fearful of death followed by married, divorced, and lastly, by single people as predicted.

The objectives of this study were: (1) to develop an educational unit on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS); (2) to develop a handout booklet on SIDS from the content material of the educational unit; and (3) to identify a knowledge and attitude change, if any, after the SIDS educational unit was presented.A questionnaire concerning SIDS was developed and mailed to a 12-member expert committee. The committee was represented by the following professions and individuals: five physicians, two registered nurses, three parents, and two public health officials.The questionnaire contained two sections:(a) content statements; and (b) attitude statements. The committee members were asked to react to each of the 32 content and 25 attitude statements by classifying each statement into one of the three categories: essential, desirable, or non-essential. The statements reaching consensus (50 percent of the returned questionnaires) among the committee members as essential were utilized as the basis for the educational unit and evaluation instruments used in this study.The educational unit, along with the achievement and attitude instruments, was presented to the following five groups: (a) a squad of police investigators; (b) a class of emergency medical technicians; (c) a class of licensed practical nurses; (d) a group or parents; and (e) a class of community health students. The students were used as the pilot study group for the educational unit and evaluation instruments. The four remaining groups supplied the data analyzed in this study. A pre-post test design was utilized at each presentation to measure knowledge and attitude changes among the participants. Multiple choice and true-false questions were developed for the achievement test, while a four position attitude scale was utilized for the attitude test.The participants' lack of knowledge concerning SIDS, prior to the presentation of the educational unit, was indicated by the low scores on the pre-achievement test. The post-achievement test indicated all four groups retained better than 85 percent of the presented material. The participants' attitudes revealed a marked improvement from the pre- to post-test. Attitudes between Agree-Strongly Agree were constant on the post-test, in comparison to attitudes of Disagree-Strongly Disagree on the pre-test. An analysis of the evaluation sheets, given to the participants at the end of the SIDS presentation, indicated there were no negative comments regarding the content material, length, or presentation of the SIDS educational unit.This study recommended an educational unit involving SIDS should be implemented in the instructional training of all health professionals who may have contact with SIDS.