In this dissertation, three primary concerns about the limits of poverty and generosity are addressed. First, from a methodological point of analysis, we examine the variations in the application of the Factorial Survey method found in these three studies. Second, a more in depth examination of attitudes about, and conceptions of, the poor and the lower limits of poverty is conducted using one of these studies, the 1986 General Social Survey. Finally, a comparison of public attitudes and prevailing public policy is used as a backdrop for the discussion of the social policy implications the findings from these studies offer. The most prominent finding presented in this dissertation is that there appears to be a monetary barrier, or "floor", below which a vast majority of the American public believes no one should be allowed to fall. Over 90 percent of the respondents averaged awarding $200 or more per week to the vignette families, regardless of the circumstances presented in the scenario. Less than 2 percent of the respondents averaged less than \$150 per week in award. Second, this floor represents over TWICE the average payments that are actually provided by the Government to those persons who are deemed eligible for assistance. Indeed, for a majority of the regions in this country, the average income awarded to the vignette families was over 3 times the AFDC awards given to recipients in the lowest supported state for that region. Overall, in the analysis of the Vignette Supplement to the 1986 General Social Survey, the American public perceives that poor families with children, in almost all circumstances, are deserving of support, and that the level of support needed, and approved, is twice the amount currently provided by government programs.

This dissertation examines the gender differences among the homeless. Although women with dependent children comprise the fastest growing subgroup among the homeless population, most of the homeless are still single adults. The vast majority of these single adults are men, though the number of single women has increased notably in recent years. The second purpose of the dissertation is to examine who is most vulnerable to homelessness. The analysis strategy was to examine the literal homeless comparing three subgroups, unattached men, unattached women, and women with dependent children, and then to examine the very poor who are housed comparing the corresponding subgroups. Comparisons were made of the characteristics of and the financial and social resources available to the literal homeless and the domiciled poor. The descriptive analysis of the gender differences among the homeless are based on empirical data collected from the Chicago Homeless Study in 1985. Data on unattached men and women who are housed come from the General Assistance Study conducted in Chicago in 1984 and data on women with dependent children come from a 1985 study of welfare families in Chicago. The findings indicate that homeless men are poorer, more disabled, and more socially isolated than homeless women. In particular, their levels of poverty, disability, and social isolation are substantially higher than that of homeless women with dependent children. Their high levels of disabilities make it extremely difficult for the homeless men to find employment or to reciprocate in social relations. Most of them have had their social networks destroyed or exhausted and few receive needed social services. The absence of social and public resources means that homeless men have difficulty extricating themselves from homelessness. For these reasons, the men are more vulnerable to chronic homelessness. There is a subset of homeless single women whose conditions are not very different from homeless men. Women with dependent children have the best chances of extricating themselves from homelessness. Policy implications are discussed.

<p><!-- Fragment document type declaration subset: ArborText, Inc., 1988-1999, v.4002 --> <formattedtext>The Experience of Sacred Breathwork&trade;: Healing Through Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness</formattedtext>

<p> Firearm violence is occurring on America's higher education campuses killing not only students but faculty and employees as well (International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, 2008). Even in light of this bloodshed, there is little accurate information available about the role that firearms play in preventing or exacerbating campus violence (Miller, Hemenway, &amp; Weschsler, 2002). Wyoming community college campus security directors are specifically given the authority to allow, or not, concealed firearms on their campuses by state law (Wyoming Senate, 2011). The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study is to explore the perceptions, attitudes, and understandings of campus security directors concerning concealed carry firearms on their campuses. </p><p> Using qualitative research methods, the study was conducted utilizing semi - structured interviews with the seven campus security directors for each of the Wyoming community college districts. Smith's (2012) interpretative phenomenological analysis qualitative method of inquiry guided the data analysis. In accordance with an interpretative phenomenological approach, data analysis was undertaken to examine for patterns, trends, and themes that emerged from the campus security directors' responses. The analysis used personal and in - depth detail derived from individual interviews to describe the perceptions, attitudes, and understandings of participants. Analysis of the data presented four super ordinate themes supported by fifteen subthemes. </p><p> This research yielded information concerning the possession of concealed carry firearms at Wyoming community college districts. Findings indicated that the unrestricted carry of concealed firearms would likely harm the overall safety of Wyoming community colleges. However, if proper vetting and training of persons carrying concealed firearms were to occur, campuses may be safer. Wyoming community college districts were considered safe places pursuant to participant responses, and no concealed firearms had been used in any Wyoming community college district to commit a violent crime. Campus security directors stated that possession of firearms by a victim would not have prevented any violent campus crime. </p><p> Campus security directors indicated that concealed carry firearms may be irrelevant to the safety of Wyoming community college districts. Rather it was the proactive stance and involvement of campus security officers that was important to campus firearm safety. The interview data yielded information and considerations for campus security directors, college administrators and all persons interested in firearm safety at Wyoming community colleges. This information may be used to assist in the crafting of sensible firearm policies at community colleges.</p>

<p> Hostile work environment, emotional mistreatment, workplace bullying, psychological harassment--these phrases only begin to describe a phenomenon that is seen as all too commonplace. This study focused on two major questions regarding a recommended policy to address workplace bullying that was adopted in certain school districts of a Western state. First, to determine how effective the policy is believed to be by those who implemented it at their school. Second, to determine what strategies were used to implement the policy and how effective they were perceived to be by those involved. The negative ramifications of a hostile workplace resulting from bullying necessitate a proactive role by employers across the country, and the public school system is not an exception. As laws undoubtedly get passed, employers will have no choice but to address workplace bullying&mdash;good human resources practice employs a model before a misfortunate event warrants the need. Superintendents from eight rural Western state school districts were interviewed and participation in an online survey was sought from certified staff at corresponding schools. Superintendents said that the policy is "working" as there were no reported incidents of bullying behavior since its adoption at their respective districts. They did not say nor did they appear to believe that there were incidents of bullying behavior prior to the adoption of the policy. Superintendents overwhelmingly said that they share or make self management strategies available to staff in dealing with coworkers; 63% of the responses to the staff survey supported this finding. Finally, both groups agreed that a policy is needed to address workplace bullying in the event legal protection is needed for either of involved parties.</p>

<p> College degree attainment for Black Americans has significantly fallen their majority counterparts. While educational attainment for this minority demographic has been less than average, a secondary trend emerges. Despite the rises in graduation rates, Black males consistently earn a smaller percentage of the degrees garnered by Black students. Furthermore, policies throughout sectors of American society produce segregation that manifests as genocidal realities in the lives of Black men&mdash;including college graduation. Thus, the purpose of this research was to determine the effect of neighborhood segregation on Black men and women&rsquo;s 4 and 6-year graduation probability and determine if Black men reduce the gap when given 6 years to graduate. The theoretical framework of African American Male Theory guided this study. Utilizing the Princeton Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen (NLSF), the research utilized binary logistic regression to analyze the effect of 3 independent variables (household income, maternal education level, and neighborhood segregation) on dependent variables (4-year graduation and 6-year graduation). </p><p> A purposeful sample 1051 Black students (368 men and 683 women) from the NLSF were used in the analysis. The majority of study participants (55%) had a mother that had at least a bachelor&rsquo;s degree; 45% of the students came from neighborhoods that were majority Black (having at least 70% Black people in their neighborhood), and 15% came from poverty, 25% were low income, and 58% had incomes greater than low income. The logistic regression analysis found that for Black men, the odds of graduating and coming from a majority Black community are .506, and from a more diverse community, they are .661. For Black women, the odds of graduating in 4 years when growing up in a majority Black neighborhood were .937 and 1.6369 when growing up in a more diverse area. </p><p> The study determined racial segregation more adversely impacts Black men&rsquo;s ability to graduate with a bachelor&rsquo;s degree than it does for Black women. Even in desegregated (diverse) neighborhoods, Black men were unable to reduce the degree attainment gap given 4 or 6 years to graduate. The regression analyses yielded results that support the initial hypothesis that segregation is a significant predictor of bachelor degree attainment apart from academic preparation. Based on the indicators, predictors, and factors correlated with college degree attainment from the review of the literature, the results suggest that larger societal factors could potentially be significant predictors of college degree attainment outside of academic preparation. The findings argue for targeted interventions at the local, state, and federal levels to life course barriers imposed on Black males.</p>

<p> Este estudio fue uno de tipo descriptivo. Su objetivo principal fue examinar los factores determinantes de los cambios demogr&aacute;ficos que est&eacute;n relacionados con los servicios complementarios en las escuelas p&uacute;blicas de Puerto Rico entre 1970 y 1990. En el mismo se describi&oacute;, la matr&iacute;cula y nivel escolar que utiliz&oacute; los servicios. Entre las variables se encuentran: orientaci&oacute;n, trabajo social, transferencias, m&eacute;dicos y comedor escolar. Igualmente, se analiz&oacute;, transportaci&oacute;n, escuelas y matr&iacute;cula por zonas geogr&aacute;ficas demarcadas por el Departamento de Educaci&oacute;n. Los indicadores principales fueron: el cambio porcentual del servicio y la matr&iacute;cula, el por ciento que utiliz&oacute; el servicio y la distribuci&oacute;n porcentual del servicio atendido. </p><p> Los resultados revelaron que un porcentaje considerable de los estudiantes matriculados en los tres niveles educativos utilizaba los servicios complementarios en las escuelas p&uacute;blicas de Puerto Rico durante el periodo de estudio. Estos fluctuaron desde -35.3 % de la matr&iacute;cula total en el servicio de comedores escolares hasta un 350.2 % en los servicios de trabajadores sociales. Observ&aacute;ndose, un incremento en los servicios ofrecidos por los trabajadores sociales y los orientadores. Una situaci&oacute;n adversa se reflej&oacute; para los servicios m&eacute;dicos y los comedores escolares. Adem&aacute;s, se reflej&oacute; que el nivel elemental fue el que m&aacute;s utiliz&oacute; los servicios durante el periodo de estudio. </p><p> Se estudi&oacute; la densidad de la matr&iacute;cula por milla cuadrada, as&iacute; como el promedio de estudiantes por zona geogr&aacute;fica. Se registr&oacute; una alta densidad de matr&iacute;cula en la zona urbana tanto en el 1970 como 1990. As&iacute; como, una zona rural superabundante con un incremento en el promedio de estudiantes, durante el periodo. En conclusi&oacute;n, existen factores determinantes de los cambios demogr&aacute;ficos que impactan los servicios complementarios de los estudiantes en las escuelas p&uacute;blicas de Puerto Rico. Entre &eacute;stos se identificaron los siguientes: densidad de matr&iacute;cula y de escuelas por millas cuadradas, tama&ntilde;o y volumen de la poblaci&oacute;n, tasa anual de crecimiento y balance migratorio. Entre las implicaciones relacionadas con los determinantes demogr&aacute;ficos se encuentra la reducci&oacute;n de la poblaci&oacute;n estudiantil matriculada en escuelas p&uacute;blicas, la cual impacta la cantidad de maestros, salones y escuelas.</p>

<p> There have been many debates on how and why English has spread worldwide. As a local case of the phenomenon, this study investigates the spread of English in the Japanese speech community in the framework of World English and macroacquisition (Brutt-Griffler, 2002) while also using dialogism (Bakhtin, 1981; Holquist, 2002) and the theory of value (Makiguchi, 1981-88) to analyze the data. The study examines the reasons for and the mechanisms of the spread of English and discusses educational implications of the phenomenon in Japan. In carrying out its research objectives, the study investigates the perceptions about English among English teachers, students, parents, the government policy makers, and the business world and reveals how their voices have interacted with one another and have become a force to promote English. </p><p> This dissertation employs a case study as its methodological approach by drawing data from the analysis of policy documents that sheds light on the historical development and implementation of English language policy in Japan; equally it analyzes the data from semi-structured interviews and questionnaire surveys with the subjects to uncover the contemporary narrative of English language use in Japan. The data obtained from each group of participants are interpreted in a cohesive manner so that the interaction of the multiple voices is represented. </p><p> The study shows that there are two principal forces that have promoted English at least since the early 1990s in the Japanese speech community: one of them is the performative and academic motives among the subjects in higher education. The second force that propels English pertains to what I call the discourses of "English will be important in the future." </p><p> The findings of the study provide an insight into one of the local cases of the worldwide spread of English. The understanding of how this local situation does or does not fit into the overall worldwide phenomena contributes to our understanding of World English, a larger body of knowledge on the worldwide spread of English.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study is to explore (a) issues perceived by Filipino American middle school students in the Los Angeles area of Southern California as having an adverse impact on their educational experience and cultural identity; (b) ways in which students have personally mediated these issues; and (c) student perspectives related to the types of programs and activities believed to have the most positive impact on the educational experience and cultural identity development of Filipino American middle school students. </p><p> The middle school experience within the Los Angeles area of Southern California has provided Filipino American students with a standard-based curriculum and school-based activities for learning. However, the school curriculum and school-based activities limits opportunities for Filipino American middle school students to deepen their knowledge of Filipino American education experiences and cultural identity development. Therefore, there is a tremendous opportunity to explore the educational experiences and cultural identity development of Filipino American middle school students in Southern California area of Los Angeles. </p><p> The literature has revealed that Filipino American students who graduate from public schools enter postsecondary education unprepared and academically challenged. Further review of the literature has revealed that little research has been done to determine the issues perceived by Filipino American middle school students, how they mediate issues, and what types of programs and activities have the most positive impact on their educational experience and cultural identity development. </p><p> This study explored the lived experiences of 16 Filipino American middle school students within the Los Angeles area of Southern California. The top seven topics that emerged included racial discrimination, drama, talk &amp; dialogue, problem solving, community programs, impact of Filipino club, and club activities. Findings support the need for Filipino American students to have (a) participation in culturally relevant activities, (b) contact with knowledgeable Filipino American teachers, (c) participation with community-based activities that allow them to dialogue and reflect on their experiences, and (d) involvement in cultural celebrations at school. Filipino American middle school students rely and benefit from programs and activities that will prepare them culturally in the school and community as they progress toward postsecondary education.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geographical and Environmental Studies, 2002. / HomeLocater CD-ROM included as Appendix 8.3. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 233-250). Also available in an electronic version via the World Wide Web.