Cyber child exploitation is a problem in Greece due to the economic crisis and the resulting lack of government focus on social improvements. Research reveals the importance of educating school teachers of the potential for cyber exploitation of children and argues that early detection of child-focused cybercrimes will decrease the prevalence of child exploitation. The purpose of this interpretive qualitative study was to explore the phenomenon of cyber child exploitation in Greece and to identify strategies teachers may employ to identify and avert cyber child exploitation. Grounded theory provided the framework for this research. The sample consisted of 20 school teachers from a private primary school in suburban Greece. The 20 teachers were over 21 years old, presently certified as teachers and working in primary school, willing to share on voluntary basis information about their experiences and concerns with cyber child exploitation awareness among students, as well as parents. One-to-one interviews were conducted to gather data. Coding was the procedure followed to divide the interview data and rearrange based on common patterns. The resulting themes revealed that no consistent strategies were used to protect children, teachers play a significant role in the prevention of cyber child exploitation, and there is a need for professional development of programs to protect children. Implications for positive social change suggest that educational institutions will help protect children as teachers become more knowledgeable about specific measures to effectively recognize cyber predators. With the guidance of well-informed teachers, students may learn to use the World Wide Web in an effective fashion while being able to avoid the dangers posed by cyber predators.

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.

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.

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After the first democratic elections in 1994, the newly elected democratic government of South Africa tried to remedy social inequities from the past by implementing more development-oriented social policies. The Department of Social Development's Integrated Service Delivery Model (ISDM) is one of these efforts. However, the integration of social services has been fraught with challenges. During a practical placement at a community clinic in Fisantekraal in the Western Cape, the researcher, as a social work student, observed that many nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) were ignorant of additional social services available in the area. Amongst the social services being offered, the researcher discovered duplication, fragmentation, and gaps. As a result, a closer examination of these observations was required. Not even the government social development authorities knew about the ISDM. The social service providers in Fisantekraal did not know about the principles of the developmental approach and the Generic Norms and Standards for Social Welfare Services, stated in the ISDM. According to the ISDM, integrated service delivery requires collaboration between NGOs, government, and the private sector; consequently, research into promoting integration in social service delivery in South Africa is critical. The question that framed and led this study is what challenges confront efforts to promote integration in social services delivery in South Africa. In order to investigate these challenges, this study administered a sample survey to social service providers across government, non-profit organisations and private practitioners. According to the core findings, the great majority of social service providers understand the concept of integrated social services. However, the data revealed that translating a widespread understanding of the concept of integration faces many operational obstacles. Many service users do not have access to specialised services because of the cost and distance required to travel. In addition, inadequate communication hinders partnering with the government on a provincial and local level. The mindset of lowering workload by exploiting the incentive of collaborating vi with other organisations has yet to become commonplace, even though there has been some progress in this area in the past. Promoting collaboration proved to be one of the most significant barriers to integrating social services, along with budgetary and capacity constraints. The NGO sector is financially stretched, and many organisations believe that a lack of funding impedes them from integrating their services. However, the opposite should be the case because combining their services would allow them to share costs and workload. In addition, many organisations have their own objectives and directives, which militate against the establishment of unified goals. Collaboration with the government was the most major roadblock to reaching a goal consensus. This was owing to a lack of access to their social service practitioners and their rigid mandates. A significant number of respondents have also not received training on the ISDM, implying that they are unaware of the model's intricacies and thus unable to implement it. The study reveals that social services providers are ill-equipped to deliver integrated social services. There appears to be a lack of know-how about how to create strong and effective organisational collaborations on the ground. A thorough understanding of integrated social services is not taught in the South African social services field despite a strong appreciation for the value of the concept. A shift in mindset is necessary, and this may be possible if more widespread training on integrated social services is provided.

The Great Recession produced rising debt, deficits, and exposed vulnerabilities for municipalities in a globalist economy. The two-month COVID recession in 2020 accelerated these burdens; a lagging downturn recently added pressures of reduced economic activity, record inflation, and rising costs in 2022. This dissertation studies how local financial sustainability (FS) and financial condition (FC) approaches can work in concert towards a set of indicators with internal and external categorization to explain municipal financial health (MFH). Unassigned fund balance plus select formal stabilizations measure MFH, are conceptually supported in having retrospective (FC) and prospective (FS) value as an intergenerational resource and are theoretically supported by common-pool resource theory. The resource-based view supports 51 unique predictor variables within MFH elements—demographics, economics, organizational structure, fiscal management, and politics/fiscal policy. This exploratory-predictive research uses partial least squares structural equation modeling, 2017 data, and a final sample of 391 Florida cities to predict variations in MFH using three primary models: FC, FS, and Hybrid. The study found the models have valid measurement assessment. The Hybrid model was the best in structural assessment. Advanced testing of Hybrid modeling found politics/fiscal policy to have the strongest relationship with MFH. Higher order modeling found the internal construct (fiscal management and politics/fiscal policy) outperformed external (demographics and economics). Multigroup testing of binary organizational structure attributes found cities with utility-enterprise revenue different than those without. The residential stock equity measure offered can improve resident understanding of MFH and (inter)intragovernmental analysis for researchers and public agencies in any economic climate.