The U.S. legislators may have incorrectly incorporated outlooks on liberty and natural law associated with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010. The purpose of this case study was to use Kersch's conceptualization of declarationism and Hayek & Kamowy's construct of socialism to examine whether the ACA incorporates principles associated with the natural right of liberty as promoted by the Founders of the United States. The central research question that guided this study investigated whether U.S. lawmakers followed the intentions of the Founders in passing the ACA, as demonstrated in the legislation, related bureaucratic reports, and court cases. Data for this study consisted of seminal and foundational document such as the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution, public law, and publicly available government documents related to the enactment and implementation of the ACA. These data were deductively coded and subjected to a thematic analysis. Findings indicate there was evidence of partisanship in the bill drafting process, possible violations of parliamentary procedure, and judicial activism. The positive social change implications of this study include recommendations to policy makers to remain diligent and cognizant of the risks of drifting from the principles of liberal, constitutional democracy. Doing so may promote more equitable and efficient implementation of landmark and controversial public policy.

Youth delinquency is a major social problem in the United States with approximately 29% of youths aged 18 to 21 reoffending within the first year of release in Massachusetts. Given the amount of state resources used for youth corrections, the factors that encourage the youth to reoffend become important to understand. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional correlational study was to examine whether community and environmental risks and resources are related with successful reentry of youth returning from detention centers in Massachusetts. Using the collective efficacy and routine activities theory to explain the motivations to reoffend, the study sought to answer whether the level of neighborhood risks, availability of jobs, availability of schooling, and availability of prosocial activities have an effect on recidivism rates. Publicly available data consisting of 347 youth returning from Massachusetts detention centers in 2008 were analyzed using logistic regression. The results showed that available neighborhood resources such as schooling and prosocial activities were statistically related with the rates of reoffending among youth reentering the community following incarceration. These results have important policy-making, education, and legal implications in reducing the reoffending rate of juveniles who have been released from incarceration. Educators, detention center personnel, and the community can benefit by collaborating to provide youth offenders with a special learning community that focuses on educating youth during and after release, thereby increasing the chances of successful reentry.

The local problem addressed in the study was the lack of knowledge regarding the perceptions of new teachers as to whether the support they receive in the areas of curriculum, instruction, and other school-related duties was consistent and effective in helping them remain in classrooms. The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of new teachers regarding the effectiveness of professional and instructional support they receive from the district. The study was framed by the social cognitive theory of Lent, Brown and Hackett, which emphasized the perception of job satisfaction as well as outcome expectations and personal goals. The research questions were focused on the specific curricular and instructional supports the district offers to new teachers, whether new teachers perceived the current supports helped them develop instructional and other classroom competencies, and the type of teacher support they needed to remain in their instructional positions. A case study design with purposeful sampling was used to select 10 teachers who fit the new teacher criteria to participate in individual interviews. An analysis of documents was used for review of new teacher professional development and instructional support resources. Data were transcribed, verified using member checking, analyzed, and open-coded to identify themes. The findings indicated that teachers did not find the professional development and instructional support provided to new teachers to be consistent, relevant, or effective. The project, a white paper report, provides recommendations on support and training to enhance or improve new teacher pedagogical knowledge and skills. Social change may occur if the findings assist the district to support new teachers to increase their skills, which may lead to teacher retention and ultimately have a positive influence on student learning.

Developing the ability to understand one's adversary is a critical task for any professional in the military. In the army, this understanding is partially realized through a second language capability. This study involved quantifying results from different sites and methods of second language training for army linguists, using proficiency scores measured by the Defense Language Proficiency Test to determine if quantitative differences between methods of instruction existed. The hypothesis that trainees at Site 1 achieved significantly higher proficiency levels than trainees at Site 2 was used as the primary building block for this research. The objective of this study was to aid leaders in the linguist community in making evidence-based policy decisions. Social representation theory was used as the theoretical framework for understanding the norms and beliefs formed by the subgroups of linguists within the target population who were beneficiaries of the different methods of second language training. Secondary data were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request to the major army command used as the target population for the study. The study found no significant difference between the language training sites as measured by the posttraining Defense Language Proficiency Test. Further study recommendations consist of investigating qualitative aspects of second language training. The primary social change impact of this research for the army linguist community may reside in the study's promotion of the best use of resources. To fulfill the national security role presented to the army, the most effective and efficient methods of second language training must be used.

Rural communities in Rivers State, Nigeria are fraught with underdevelopment crises despite the accrual of wealth from oil and gas. Community Development Committees (CDCs) are established by the Rivers State government in each town and village to facilitate community development. However, the CDCs have failed to generate substantive development in rural communities. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate the perceptions of local stakeholders as to the factors that have contributed to this policy failure. Benet's theory of polarities of democracy was used in this study. Twenty-two participants in the Khana region of Rivers State were interviewed regarding why the CDCs have failed to promote rural development in the Khana Local Government Area in Rivers State, Nigeria. Saldana's method of coding and content analysis were used for data analysis. The results from the analysis revealed that CDCs protected personal and political interests of the elites, excluded the voice of the local citizens, lacked representation from the minority, and CDC officials mismanaged funds and resources. To improve the lives of the rural people in Rivers State, Nigeria, it was recommended that CDCs become more inclusive. Also, CDC leaders need to work closely with all local stakeholders so that each stakeholder and not just the elites of the community will benefit from CDC policies or programs. Implementation of these recommendations might bring about more social justice and equity in the local communities served by CDCs. They might also help to promote reasonable distribution of government wealth through the provision of viable projects in the rural communities in Rivers State, Nigeria.

An attempt has been made to examine the relationship between social structure and medical factors in a framework which links cosmopolitanism to health orientation and behavior. Specifically, this study has attempted to investigate the variations in health knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and behavior among individuals whose social structure varies in terms of cosmopolitanism.

Includes bibliographical references.

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Educational ministries have sought to address the increasing obesity rates across the world and promote optimal childhood health, growth, and intellectual development, by implementing school nutrition policies. In 2011, the Government of Ontario (Ministry of Education) implemented in an initiative: the School Food and Beverage Policy (P/PM 150). Although P/PM 150 is well intentioned, there remains a gap between what this policy states and the way in which it is being executed - resulting in unplanned and unexpected outcomes. To examine this divide and have another perspective on P/PM 150's execution, the following research question was addressed: How is Ontario's School Food and Beverage Policy (P/PM 150) being implemented in secondary schools by school boards and the Ministry of Education? This qualitative case study therefore explores the implementation of P/PM 150 from the perspective of school board supervisory officers in Ontario. Data collected from interviews as well as from P/PM 150 related content on the Ontario Ministry of Education, school board, and school websites/social media pages, were examined through a pragmatic lens. Thematic coding (using NVivo 10) was employed to analyze the interview data, whereas document and content analyses were used to examine the online content. A second coder analyzed a sample of websites and interview transcripts to ensure inter-rater reliability. Upon examining the interview transcripts, seven main themes emerged: 1) supervisory officer roles; 2) the importance of communication; 3) monitoring strategies; 4) P/PM 150 barriers and facilitators; 5) the policy's impact on pedagogy; 6) the P/PM 150 mindset; and 7) recommendations for promising practices. When analyzing the Ministry, school board, and individual school websites and social media pages, much of the content pertained to 1) the policy's subject matter (i.e., its layout, the policy's associated resources, etc.); 2) its administrative procedures; 3) the procedures' and P/PM 150's review processes; 4) the policy's implementation process (e.g., training, monitoring, etc.); 5) promoting P/PM 150; and 6) the policy's outcomes (e.g., nutrition education and partnerships). These findings may be of potential interest to the Government of Ontario (Ministry of Education), school boards, teachers, and policy designers in other sectors, such as health.