In the 21st Century, many Americans continue to fight battles for men of color who are at the forefront of criminal injustice, unemployment, and low matriculation. With great dominion and urgency, our Nation must ensure all men, regardless of the adversity can succeed and build legacies in their families, communities, and the economy. In this action research study, an ecological system theory was used to analyze the stakeholders who have implemented the following public polices under the Obama Administration: 21st Century Policing, My Brother's Keeper, and Race to the Top. This research answers the question how stakeholders are able to impact positive social change through implementing polices that focus on academia, criminal justice, and employment for African-American and Latino males living in Los Angeles County. Data was retrieved from 16 non-profit organizations; a target population was then sampled resulting in 25 participants that have expertise in working with men of color. Participant's answered 10 interview questions and their short answers were inductively coded, which revealed significant themes. Daily mentorship was identified as the leading tool to garner success in working with men color, while ecological influences, limited funding, policy misalignment, and stereotypical threats have been recurring barriers. Key findings recommended: mixed-method data, stakeholder collaborations, training programs, and creative marketing. Furthermore, this study closes the gap towards aligning with public polices that will create supportive services for men of color and offering stakeholders -'the what, and the how' towards implementing social change.

Highly qualified individuals are leaving the Caribbean and relocating to the United States and other developed countries. Researchers describe this resulting flight of human capital, or brain drain, from the Caribbean as a problem which has no clear definition or immediate solution. This phenomenological study explored perceptions of government senior executives in the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) of the cause and impact of brain drain. Burns' and Bass's transformational and transactional leadership theories were used as the framework for this study. Data were collected through a demographic questionnaire and semistructured interviews with a snowball sample of 10 participants. Data were analyzed using the phenomenological method of thematic coding. Data indicated that leaders perceived a lack of opportunities for educated individuals in the USVI. Government senior executives acknowledged an imbalance in the workforce as the majority of workers are older individuals. Government senior executives recommended an increased budget allotment to educate, retain, and attract younger Virgin Islanders to decrease and prevent brain drain. These results indicate that policymakers and organizational leaders can create positive social change by creating job opportunities and improving the island's physical and social infrastructures, thus, ensuring future organizational success.

Antigua and Barbuda, in the eastern Caribbean, is one of several countries with exclusive low breastfeeding rates and premature weaning. Researchers have demonstrated that babies exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life are better protected from childhood diseases and experience a better quality of life into adulthood, while early weaning is associated with morbidity and mortality. However, at 6 weeks postpartum, only 30% of Antiguan and Barbudan mothers are exclusively breastfeeding. Researchers have explained why mothers in general cease exclusive breastfeeding prematurely: insufficiency of breast milk, returning to paid employment, lack of social support; but an explanation specific to Antigua and Barbuda has not been identified. This qualitative phenomenological study, therefore, initiates research concerning breastfeeding attitudes and practices specific to this country. It explores the experiences and perceptions of 13 Antiguan and Barbudan 1st-time mothers on exclusive breastfeeding and weaning. The theory of planned behavior provided the theoretical framework. Data collected from semistructured interviews were coded using key word as themes. Manual analysis of the research data was also conducted. The findings indicated inadequate lactation education and counselling for mothers, poor levels of lactation education among nurses, and minimal statutory maternity leave as the reasons for premature weaning among the research participants. The findings of this research can contribute to social change in Antigua and Barbuda by providing evidence-based information to strengthen breastfeeding policies and interventions and become part of regional scholarship on this issue.

Individuals from unfavorable environments tend to carry maladaptive patterns of attachment from infancy through adulthood. Empirically, these styles have been shown to be intergenerational. Substance use disorder has been linked to maladaptive patterns of attachment among adults. However, limited data exists regarding this phenomenon with African American and Black Caribbean males. Bowlby's attachment theory and Ainsworth's patterns of attachment were the theoretical frameworks applied to this quantitative study. The purpose was to determine the effect of ethnicity and alcohol use on anxious and avoidant attachment patterns among a sample of 151 adult males. Using the Experience in Close Relationship and two alcohol use measures, a (2x3) factorial MANOVA showed that the majority of participants reported secure attachment in romantic relationships with moderate alcohol use patterns. There were no significant differences between ethnicity and either attachment patterns, alcohol use and the attachment patterns, or ethnicity and alcohol use and the combined attachment patterns. However, future research using quantitative and qualitative approaches could capture a richer understanding of African American and Black Caribbean males and romantic attachments. The implications for positive social change include the significant benefit that can be derived from learning to create new internal working models. Clinicians working with African American and Black Caribbean males identified with insecure attachment can facilitate change in expected outcomes of interactions with others. Over time, these individuals could benefit from healthier, more adaptive attachment with others, including in romantic relationships.

Historical research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its influence on corporate financial and social results arrived at contradictory findings. Although 95% of the world's 250 largest corporations reported investing in CSR activities in 2011, some managers lack strategies to evaluate CSR effectiveness. This multiple case study explored strategies that 6 CSR managers with CSR oversight in privately owned companies in Brazil used to effectively enact CSR. The stakeholder theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Data were collected through individual interviews and supplemented with company annual reports to explore the strategies managers employed to evaluate CSR effectiveness. Member checking sessions helped to validate the data. The data analysis consisted of coding and grouping key words to identify themes. Seven themes emerged from the findings. Key themes revealed: leadership proactively communicate their CSR activities, economic and social returns are difficult to measure, and personal values and beliefs of CSR managers influence decisions. Key findings include stakeholder management is gradually becoming a significant component of corporate strategy, and half of the CSR managers acted independently of stakeholders prior to making decisions on CSR expenditures. The implications for social change include addressing stakeholders' needs in ways that create vibrant communities, contributing to social cohesion; respect for human rights; enhanced social commitment; and support for environmentally sustainable practices.

Business intelligence (BI) allows companies to make faster and better-informed decisions. Unfortunately, implementing BI systems in companies in developing countries is minimal. Limited and costly access to the technology, coupled with the cultural background affecting how people perceive BI, has restricted such implementations. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and describe the lived experiences of chief executive officers (CEOs) in northern Mexico to obtain insight into the challenges of implementing BI systems. Research questions focused on the reasons behind the lack of BI systems implementation and the challenges faced by these officers when implementing a new system. This study employed semistructured interviews of 9 CEOs of small- to medium-sized companies. Interview data were coded using open coding techniques to develop themes or patterns, which in turn were aggregated to address the research questions. The lack of implementation was largely attributed to an economic concern among CEOs regarding the final price of implementation. In addition, the lack of systems offerings of localized systems and the working culture of the personnel were significant factors for the lack of investment. These findings may contribute to positive social change by informing managers and officers of companies in Mexico and other developing countries about the challenges and implications in BI implementation. When BI systems can be successfully implemented, both companies and their customers may benefit from improved information processing such as reduced number of errors and faster response times.

Brazil has an active agrarian reform policy program, publicly organized by the federal government and publicly administered at the state level by the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform. The objective of the agrarian reform policy program is to retitle unproductive and underproductive rural lands to increase agricultural production and land use. Previous agrarian reform researchers have examined quantities of land redistributed, rural technology developments, and the impact of social movements on land redistribution, but a knowledge gap remains regarding the correlation of agricultural production yields in rural municipalities before and after policy program participation. The State of Ceará has undertaken continuous land redistribution efforts between 1975 and 2006. For this longitudinal study, an agricultural production yield t-test analysis was conducted for the Brazilian State of Ceará with the marked time-series data collection for 1990, 1996, 2000, and 2006. The research and evaluation of the agrarian reform policy program used publicly available, secondary data from the Government of Brazil's Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics and the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform. The correlated analysis was organized by group: municipalities with a high-rate of agrarian reform participation and municipalities with a no-rate level of agrarian reform participation. By marking the point of program participation at 1996, the time-series t test identified marked agricultural production increases as correlated to agrarian reform policy program participation. The results can be used to justify agrarian reform programs, to promote further rural infrastructure development, and to support poverty alleviation efforts.

The productivity of Trinidad and Tobago's public sector workplaces is related to their absorptive capacity for technological adoption. Guided by the technology acceptance model, which suggests that individuals' and institutions' use of technology increases in relation to perceived ease of use and apparent value, this case study explored how Trinidad and Tobago used information and communications technology from 2001 - 2010 to improve public sector workplace productivity. Study data were collected from 22 individual interviews with senior executives from the government of Trinidad and Tobago, members of the e-business roundtable, and local industry experts, and from reviewing the archives of the Ministry of Public Administration and Information. The data were analyzed using keyword frequency comparison, coding techniques, and cluster analysis. The resulting themes include e-legislation, e-infrastructure, e-readiness, government e-services, and e-business. The study findings showed that Trinidad and Tobago's technology agenda centered primarily on connecting government ministries and agencies. It also ushered in a period of telecommunication liberalization, which provided sustainable and cost effective options for government, citizens, and businesses to access broadband technology services. The results of the study showed that this access to low-costs broadband technology provides a platform for digital inclusion by improving workplace productivity, providing access to additional opportunities for education via an online platform, and increasing employment opportunities.

Longer-term immigrants residing in the United States exhibit physical health decline related to higher body mass index (BMI). Theories on immigrant acculturation have been used to examine health patterns by length of stay in the United States. The purpose of this cross-sectional study, guided by the Schwartz model of acculturation, was to examine the effect of acculturation and length of stay in the United States on BMI in a sample of Haitian immigrants living in the Northeast Metropolitan area. The research question was used to examine the effects of acculturation and length of stay on BMI in the convenience sample of 116 Haitian men and women, aged 18 years and older, who had relocated to the United States for 3 years or more. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and medical records from a participating health clinic and then analyzed by conducting a multiple linear regression. According to study results, acculturation, length of stay, age, gender, and physical activity were not significant predictors of BMI change. An ancillary analysis using the subscales of acculturation revealed similar results. This study may provide positive social change by enabling health providers to understand the beliefs, values, and practices of Haitian immigrant groups and the acculturation pattern of individuals when providing care for this population.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong developmental disability that affects all ethnic groups and is twice as frequent among boys than girls. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that 1 in 68 children are diagnosed with ASD. Despite guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics and clinical evidence that suggests that ASD can be diagnosed as early as 24 months of age, most diagnoses occur at age 4 or even later, resulting in fewer opportunities for children to receive early ASD treatment and help them reach the best outcome possible. There is limited information about the appropriate referral practices adopted by pediatricians, the accuracy of ASD testing tools, and ASD studies conducted among the Latino children. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between age of diagnosis and the screening/referral practices of doctors. Data from the 2011 Pathways Survey (N = 134) were analyzed with bivariate and multivariate statistics, including chi-square with cross-tabulation and multinomial logistic regression. No statistically significant associations were found among the dependent variable “age when the parent was told by a doctor that child had ASD,” and the independent variables “pediatrician conducted screening” (p > 0.05), “pediatrician conducted screening after parent had a developmental concern” (p > 0.05), and “doctor referred the child to a specialist after parent had a developmental concern” (p > 0.05). The results should be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size of Hispanic children with ASD diagnoses in the dataset. Additional studies are needed that can measure pediatrician screening patterns among the Hispanic/Latino children, thereby producing positive changes that can decrease associated morbidity and mortality among this population.