The purpose of this study was to explore factors that contribute to decision making of African American adolescent females to engage in sexual behaviors. This study was conducted in Atlanta, Georgia, Fulton County at a metropolitan high school. An exploratory research design was utilized. A self-administered 78-item sexual decision making questionnaire was administered to the population of 30 African American adolescents who were currently pregnant and those who had previously delivered. A Chi-square analysis was employed to analyze the significant relationship of the hypotheses. It was concluded that there were significant statistical relationships between sexual decision making and age, onset of menses, partners' reaction, and ability/desire to be a parent.

The overall objective of this study is to explore, examine, assess and compare perceived satisfaction with service delivery and perceived social support systems among dual-diagnosis: schizophrenic clients. To attain this objective, the following areas were examined by the researcher: (1) Identifying data/demographic data; (2) Support systems, i.e., family and friends among dual-diagnosis: schizophrenic clients; and (3) Satisfaction with mental health service delivery. Fragmentation and gaps in service delivery were also examined. An exploratory descriptive research design was used in the study. A two-part questionnaire was administered by the researcher to thirty-four Dual-diagnosed Schizophrenic Consumers in two separate Mental Health Facilities in Fulton County. This study was an attempt to compare perceived satisfaction with service delivery and perceived social support systems among Dual-diagnosis: Schizophrenic Substance Abusers. The Null Hypothesis was accepted in this study. It was found that there were no statistical significance in perceived satisfaction with service delivery and perceived social support among Dual-diagnosis: Schizophrenic Substance Abusers.

The purpose of this dissertation is to construct a model of pastoral care that will inform through implications, the conceptualization of the nature, purpose, and meaning of pastoral care to geriatric persons residing in mental hospitals. The pur pose is also to show the relationship of six of the latest theo ries on aging and their use in the model to the life quality of the above mentioned geriatric persons. The study examines the usefulness of theories of aging for their relevancy in developing a model of pastoral care for the Institutional Geriatric Church, especially for those elderly persons coping with change of envi ronment and/or relocation. Pastoral care is concerned with a liberating ministry, to include the total caring resources of this community of estrangement of the geriatric person, so that he/she can experience the grace of God through the release from fear of a change of environment and an adjustment to the move. This liberating ministry further is concerned with the patient’s positive growth to God, acquisition and/or strengthening of a basic integrity of the life they have lived, a religious commitment to the present and the future as well as the building and maintenance of love for self, for peers, and for other members of this church. The liberating ministry, succinctly, is a recog nition and release of potential in geriatric persons in spite of their limitations. The intent is to draw from behavioral science principles and the Liberation Ministry concepts to construct the model.

To mitigate the effects of climate change, the U.S. will need a widespread deployment of energy efficiency efforts and low-carbon electricity generating technologies including nuclear, wind, natural gas, and coal with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), technologies that separate CO2 emissions from the flue-gas of fossil fuel power plants and sequester it in deep underground geological formations. The feasibility of this strategy will partially depend on public acceptance of these technologies as part of a national energy policy. To varying degrees, public misconceptions and knowledge gaps exist for each of these low-carbon technologies. Thus, people need balanced and comparative information to make informed decisions about which low-carbon electricity technologies and portfolios to support. In this thesis, we describe paper-based and computer-based communications presenting multi-attribute descriptions about the costs, benefits, risks and limitations of ten electricity technologies and low-carbon portfolios composed of those technologies. Participants are first asked to rank the technologies under a hypothetical scenario where future power plant construction in Pennsylvania must meet a CO2 emissions constraint. Next, participants attend small group meetings where they rank seven portfolios that meet a specific CO2 emission limit. In a subsequent study, participants instead construct their own low-carbon portfolio using a computer decision tool that restricts portfolio designs to realistic technology combinations. We find that our participants could understand and consistently use our communications to help inform their decisions about low-carbon technologies. We conclude that our informed participants preferred energy efficiency, nuclear, and coal (gasification) with CCS, as well as diverse portfolios including these technologies. The thesis continues with a retrospective view for the value of research that elicits general public opinions of CCS and that develops communications to educate people about low-carbon electricity generation. In the latter, we find that the knowledge of science teachers may be insufficient to correct common public misconceptions about low-carbon technologies among their students. Thus, the communications we developed for this thesis could also benefit science teachers. Overall, we conclude that the computer tool, supplemental materials and procedure developed for this thesis may be valuable for educating the general public about low-carbon electricity generation.

How is the media agenda of Chinese television set by the three institutional powers, the state, market and civil society? How do formal and informal institutions of the state, market and civil society in contemporary China set the media agenda with specific rules and organizations? And what are the power relations among the three institutions that shape the structure and functionaries of mass media in general? Based on a new theoretical framework of media agenda-setting for the analysis of media politics in contemporary China, these questions are explored in three sections. First, policies and regulations had been established by formal and informal institutions of the state to safeguard the state agenda as the primary media agenda. The second, market set audience rating and commercial income as major rules for Chinese television to survive in a competitive economy. The third, emerging civil society set moral standards for television broadcasters to produce programs to check the failure of the state and market on one hand, and to serve the needs and rights of audience as-citizens on the other. The constant changing power relations between the state and market, or between the state and civil society are also explored in sections that market and civil society interact respectively with the state to set the media agenda. The first finding of this thesis relates to the nature of contemporary Chinese television. As one servant for three masters, Chinese television is a mixed entity, which can be motivated to be a state agent, a market entity, and sometimes, a civil society player as well. In long term, Chinese television can be expected to be differentiated and reorganized as affiliates to the three institutions respectively along with the gradual establishment of a checks-and-balances system within and between the state, market, and civil society. The second finding concerns power relations among the three institutions. While both market and civil society emerged to be more and more dynamic in motivating the media to accommodate new social agendas, the state remains as the primary power in setting the media agenda of Chinese television.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of clinical stress and burnout on health care professionals on critical care units. Thirty individuals who were employed at a local public hospital participated in the study. Participants completed a 25 item questionnaire on clinical stress and a 20 item questionnaire on burnout. A bivariate analysis was computed using Pearson's(r) correlation. The study found that there is a significant relationship between clinical stress and burnout.

As America moved into the 21" century financial scandals associated with large publicly traded corporations brougt widespread concern about the reliability of financial reporting. In response the U.S. Congress adopted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). Undergirding SOX was the belief that improvements in the reliability of an organization's financial disclosures would lead to increased trust in the issuing organization. While SOX is aimed at publicly traded private sector organizations, the value of adopting SOX-like practices in the public and the nonprofit sectors have been recognized. Although SOX-like auditing practices have not at the time of this research become part of the auditing regime for municipalities, the results of this research provide a baseline "read" of municipal finance officers' perceptions of the value and obstacles associated with adoption of two major components of SOX: Principal Officer(s) Certification (POC) and the Independent Audit Committee (IAC) requirements. The author mailed surveys to all finance officers of municipalities in Florida and Ohio with populations of 10,000 or greater which did not contract out the operation of their finance departments. Post-survey "elite" interviews were conducted in an effort to obtain a deeper understanding of revealed issues and contradictions found in the analysis of the results of the mails survey. The findings suggest municipal finance officers are willing to adopt POC but have reservations about implementing IAC. With both POC and IAC the respondents appeared to consider intangible, non-pecuniary consequences as much or more than tangible, pecuniary consequences. Consistent with prior research, attitudes regarding POC and IAC were found to be unrelated to prior adoptive behavior, or personal and organizational demographic variables. Although accounting and auditing are inexorably intertwined, views of the recently implemented GASB 34 reporting model were found to be unrelated to the willingness to adopt POC or IAC. Findings dovetail with current discourse in public sector accounting suggesting local finance professionals may see benefits both tangible and intangible - to some but not all accounting practices adopted in the private sector. This is consistent with the commonly accepted belief that public sector accounting maintains fundamental differences from its private counterpart.

As long as governmental institutions have existed, efforts have been undertaken to reform them. This research examines a particular strategy, coercive controls, exercised through a particular instrument, executive orders, by a singular reformer, the president of the United States. The presidents studied- Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton-are those whose campaigns for office were characterized to varying degrees as against Washington bureaucracy and for executive reform. Executive order issuance is assessed through an examination of key factors for each president including political party affiliation, levels of political capital, and legislative experience. A classification typology is used to identify the topical dimensions and levels of coerciveness. The portrayal of the federal government is analyzed through examination of public, media, and presidential attention. The results show that executive orders are significant management tools for the president. Executive orders also represent an important component of the transition plans for incoming administrations. The findings indicate that overall, while executive orders have not increased in the aggregate, they are more intrusive and significant. When the factors of political party affiliation, political capital, and legislative experience are examined, it reveals a strong relationship between executive orders and previous executive experience, specifically presidents who served as a state governor prior to winning national election as president. Presidents Carter, Reagan, and Clinton (all former governors) have the highest percent of executive orders focusing on the federal bureaucracy. Additionally, the highest percent of forceful orders were issued by former governors (41.0%) as compared to their presidential counterparts who have not served as governors (19.9%). Secondly, political party affiliation is an important, but not significant, predictor for the use of executive orders. Thirdly, management strategies that provide the president with the greatest level of autonomy-executive orders redefine the concept of presidential power and autonomous action. Interviews of elite government officials and political observers support the idea that executive orders can provide the president with a successful management strategy, requiring less expenditure of political resources, less risk to political capital, and a way of achieving objectives without depending on an unresponsive Congress.

The major purpose of this study was to ascertain how needs assessment findings and methodologies are accepted by public decision makers in the U. S. Virgin Islands. To accomplish this, the following five different needs assessments were executed: (1) population survey; (2) key informants survey; (3) community forum; (4) rates-under-treatment (RUT); and (5) social indicators analysis. The assessments measured unmet needs of older persons regarding transportation, in-home care, and sociorecreation services, and determined which of the five methodologies is most costly, time consuming, and valid. The results of a five-way comparative analysis was presented to public sector decision makers who were surveyed to determine whether they are influenced more by needs assessment findings, or by the methodology used, and to ascertain the factors that lead to their acceptance of needs assessment findings and methodologies. The survey results revealed that acceptance of findings and methodology is influenced by the congruency of the findings with decision makers' goals and objectives, feasibility of the findings, and credibility of the researcher. The study also found that decision makers are influenced equally by needs assessment findings and methodology; that they prefer population surveys, although they are the most expensive and time consuming of the methodologies; that different types of needs assessments produce different results; and, that needs assessment is an essential program planning tool. Executive decision makers are found to be influenced more by management factors than by legal and political factors, while legislative decision makers are influenced more by legal factors. Decision makers overwhelmingly view their leadership style as democratic. A typology of the five needs assessments, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses is offered as a planning guide for public decision makers.

A Utah State Agriculture Extension Department was created by the Utah State Agricultural College in 1907 to be supported by state appropriations. Its purpose was to bring the information being gained by the College Experiment Station, and other knowledge applicable to agriculture, to the rural population of the State in order to improve the quality of Utah agriculture and the conditions of the farm population. The program began with college instructors holding Farmers' Institutes and schools and expanded into a state-wide system of agricultural and home extension work carried on by specially appointed county agents in each county. The purpose of the agent was to demonstrate to the farmer improved farm methods and help in any way the situation of the farm family. In 1914 the Smith-Lever Act was passed by the Congress of the United States which appropriated federal funds for county agent work. This made the extension program a joint government undertaking with funds appropriated by state, federal, and local governments. This also linked the Extension Service to the Federal Government through the United States Department of Agriculture and in times of national crisis it was called upon to assist in putting government programs into effect. The Utah Extension Service can be said to have rendered valuable service to the people of Utah. It has provided information, has been available for consultation in farm and home problems, and has helped unite the rural population by encouraging farm bureau organizations, cooperative associations, and community projects. Through programs involving both adults and young people it has, in one way or another, either directly or indirectly, affected the lives of most Utah citizens. It has become involved in every facet of farm living including economic, social, and political. The object of the Utah Extension Service has been improvement and progress through extending education.