The police profession is viewed as one of the most stressful occupations in the world. Police officers are responsible for handling calls for service, serving and protecting the community, enforcing laws, and preventing and solving crimes. These responsibilities along with many others can become overwhelming and lead to police stress and trauma. Police stress has been linked to adverse effects on the performances and health of police officers. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to describe the internal and external factors of police stress through their lived experiences as police officers, and the stress management techniques used by police departments to treat police stress. The theoretical framework was based on Kingdon's multiple streams approach. The research questions were designed to examine the factors of police stress and the treatments offered by police departments to help officers manage police stress. Data were collected through surveys and interviews with 15 police officers and 2 human resources department employees from 2 police departments in a southern state. Quantitative results from the surveys were analyzed using Intellectus Statistics software. Qualitative results from the face to face interviews were organized and analyzed using Nvivo 12. The findings indicated that death, time away from family, and trust were main stress factors affecting officers and that Employee Assistance Programs were treatments police departments offer to officers to help manage stress. The implications for social change is improving police officer job performance, the overall mental and physical health of police officers as well as strengthening police-citizen relationships.

Youth in foster care encounter challenges during and after they transition from foster care to adulthood. To address these challenges and prepare these youth for transitioning into adulthood, U.S. Congress enacted the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (PSTSFA) in 2014. The problem, which has received little attention in research, concerns the challenges that the implementers of this policy encounter as they provide services to foster youth. The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the challenges faced by foster care providers in their implementation of PSTSFA. Von Neumann and Morgenstern's game theory provided the theoretical framework on which this qualitative study was based. The central question explored and provided a better understanding of the perceived challenges that foster care providers face while implementing PSTSFA to foster youth between 13 and 17 years of age. The qualitative phenomenological study included online open-ended survey questions that were applied to obtain responses from 17 participants. Data were analyzed using the modified Van Kaam phenomenological analysis model. The results revealed that foster care providers face various challenges in their implementation of the law, including, but not limited, to training, communication and collaboration, code of silence, and heavy workloads. The implication for social change includes contributing to the dialogue on the challenges foster care providers face their implementation of PSTSFA, and formulating corrective measures that address the challenges. Because of the corrective measures, foster youth will acquire the required training and coping skills before transitioning from care to independence.

Partnerships between public and for profit organizations are increasing in frequency and scope due to scarce economic resources to support and deliver social programs. However, little is known about the characteristics of a successful partnership versus the characteristics of a failed partnership. The purpose of the study was to explore the leadership characteristics that were exhibited by the management team of a public-private partnership (PPP) that suffered a significant failure at the onset of the partnership, but recovered successfully over a period of time. The research question explored which leadership characteristics existed within the public and for-profit leadership teams that impacted the project team's ability to deliver the program requirements. A qualitative case study approach was utilized with the theoretical framework leveraging both Greenleaf's servant leadership philosophy and Burn's transformational and transactional leadership styles. A purposive sampling strategy identified 9 people who played a key role in the PPP, experienced the repercussions of the failure, and participated in the remediation efforts. All data were inductively coded and then subjected to a constant comparative method of analysis. The analysis revealed a strong relationship between servant leadership attributes exhibited by the leadership team and the project team's ability to traverse the partnership challenges. Data analysis indicates the necessity of effective servant leadership, specifically the attributes of understanding and empathy. Implications for positive social change from this study may lead to improved partnership delivery outcomes and better utilization of taxpayer funds to administer social programs.

Despite efforts and financial resources invested in the prevention of child abuse and neglect in New York City (NYC), many children are still in danger of being victimized by their parents or caregivers. The general public's assumption is that the NYC Administration for Children's Services (ACS) either does not have efficient policies, programs, or laws to protect at-risk children, or these are not being properly implemented. The purpose of this qualitative study was to provide a thorough analysis of ACS policies, programs, and laws based on information gained from interviews with child welfare experts. Newberger and Newberger's social support theory provided the theoretical framework for the study. The methodology was a holistic case study design in which data were analyzed and collected through semi structured face-to-face interviews with 12 child welfare experts, archival records, and publicly available documents from ACS, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, and NYC family court websites. Five themes emerged after the data were inductively coded and subjected to a content analytical procedure: implementation of programs, policies, and laws; areas of policies and programs that need improvement; reasons for failure of child abuse prevention; communication problems; and risk factors for child abuse and neglect. The key finding of this study was that child abuse and neglect prevention policies, programs, and laws were not adequately implemented. The study concludes with recommendations to retrain workers and to conduct a reexamination of existing child abuse prevention policies, programs, and laws to meet the needs of NYC at-risk children.

Demographics are changing for the young elderly population in America, and poverty is a growing concern among this population. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between young elderly demographics and income level, and between government programs and economic status. Rawls's theory of justice was useful to examine the relationship between predictor variables and the outcome variable. Secondary data came from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey from March 2016. The results of multiple and logistic regressions indicated no statistically significant linear correlation. There was no statistical linear correlation between income level and region, race, education level, occupation status, sex, marital status, or employment status. Moreover, there was no statistically significant linear correlation between income level and medical equipment expenditures, health insurance payments, medical out of pocket expenses, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) status, and housing. Finally, the independent variables social security, supplemental security income (SSI), Medicare, Medicaid, public housing, and SNAP were not statistically significant in predicting the dependent variable of economic status. Implications for positive social change are to provide information to policymakers and researchers about the changing needs and demographics of the young elderly so that they can develop policies and programs that focus on their needs. Although the findings of this study revealed no new information to researchers or governmental policymakers, the work taken as a whole, highlights the need for continued study and policy consideration related to this generation of the American population.

Effect of Military Law Enforcement Interviews on Victims of Military Sexual Trauma by Paul Brian Broner MS, Chaminade University, 2011 BA, Chaminade University, 2004 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Criminal Justice Administration Walden University May 2018

Foodborne illness is a persistent problem in the food service industry. Restaurant inspections reveal that only 60-70% of restaurants are in compliance with health code requirements, which vary from state to state and county to county. In Maryland, 5 of the state's 24 counties have a requirement that restaurants classified as medium- or high-priority food establishments must employ certified food managers (CFMs). It is unknown how this requirement has influenced the operation of the affected restaurants and the extent to which the requirement has resulted in improved food handling safety. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the effectiveness of CFMs in reducing the incidence of foodborne illness in Maryland counties. The study was based on the theory of planned behavior. The study was also based on the relationship between foodborne illness outbreaks and the presence of CFMs and the role such managers can play in reducing those outbreaks. Data were collected from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reports regarding foodborne illness outbreaks from 2004 to 2013. A total of 288 establishments were selected for analysis. Data analysis involved comparing results for the 5 counties that require CFMs with the 19 counties that lack this requirement. Results showed a significance difference of 0.008 (95% CI, 0.005), z = 4.71, p = 0.000 in the proportion of foodborne illness outbreaks between county restaurants that require CFMs and those without such a requirement. Social change implications include the potential to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness, thereby contributing to improved public health. The patrons who live in Maryland counties without onsite CFMs risk exposure to foodborne illness more than those living in counties with CFMs.

Since the implementation of the USA Patriot Act in October 2001, public trust in the U.S. federal government to protect individuals' right to privacy has been affected negatively. Many studies have addressed this topic, but few have delved deeply into the reasons behind the distrust. The purposes of this qualitative study were, to explore the perceptions and attitudes of U.S. citizens regarding the effect of the USA Patriot Act on their right to privacy, to determine whether a loss of trust in the government occurred, and to identify the factors contributing to the lack of trust. The theoretical foundation for this study was Rawl's Social Perspective of Public Trust, Sax's Augmentation of Social Contract Theory, and Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior. The central research question pertained to the views of U.S. citizens about the federal government's use of electronic surveillance to monitor their communication without their knowledge. A generic qualitative study design was employed using purposeful, semi-structured interviews of 20 purposely sampled adult male and female U.S. citizens. Data from the interviews were coded and categorized for thematic analysis. When confronted with the lesser known specifics of the electronic surveillance provision of the USA Patriot Act, participants were more likely to reject the government interference as an invasion of privacy. This study can provide guidance for the democratic basis of policymaking designed to protect U.S. citizens. The implication for social change includes providing information to policymakers of both the US and organizations of various sizes regarding the polarized views and lack of trust pertaining to electronic surveillance among U.S. public. This information can be used to implement program or campaign to foster trust.

Microplastics have increased water pollution, particularly in urban areas like Chicago. The purpose of this study was to explore how conflicts of interests and belief systems among different stakeholders can impede efforts for developing or revising plastic pollution mitigating laws. The theoretical foundation was Sabatier's advocacy coalition framework, which addresses public policies from the perspective of individual or organizational convictions. The research question addressed how policy makers can build coalitions among diverse stakeholders to formulate policies aimed at reducing microplastic pollution. A qualitative case study design included a document review and 12 semistructured interviews of participants drawn from 3 major different stakeholder groups. The interview data were transcribed, inductively coded and subjected to thematic analysis. The study showed universal stakeholder interest for the need for increased research on how microplastic pollution affects aquatic and human life. The results pointed to a moderate intensity of conflict among different stakeholders which enhances the likelihood for formulating microplastic pollution control policy. The study findings also show that policy-oriented learning can enhance increased stakeholder cooperation and lead to policy change on efforts to control microplastic pollution in waterways. Implications of the study for positive social change include increasing awareness of the sources and effects of plastic pollution, which may facilitate stakeholder cooperation and engineer the societal pressure required for formulating environmental and ecosystem protection policies. The result may be an improved environment and a reduction on the dangers of the plastic pollutants to aquatic and human lives.

Individuals, endowments, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds constantly face portfolio management decisions ultimately affecting the lives of billions. This dissertation addresses two crucial challenges in the context of portfolio management which are to identify the optimal portfolio at any given point in time and to transition the portfolio accordingly. The first essay considers the dynamic consumption/portfolio allocation problem and develops solution techniques allowing us to identify the optimal portfolio allocation (between a risky and risk-free asset) and consumption level over time. Deciding how much to consume, versus how much to save is a question affecting nearly everyone. This essay develops two perturbation methods that yield approximate closed-form solutions to dynamic portfolio allocation/consumption problems under general preferences and a time-varying investment opportunity set. These solution methods are illustrated with examples involving time-varying expected returns, volatility, and interest rates. The second essay examines this monolithic "risky asset" more closely, developing a robust diversification method to define the optimal allocation of assets within the risky portfolio component. This diversification method relies solely on the covariance structure of the investment opportunity set which can be much more precisely estimated than expected returns. Using this new approach leads to an alternative to the mean-variance efficient set of portfolios as traditionally implemented. The resulting optimally diversified portfolio equalizes the correlation between each asset and the overall portfolio. This approach provides individuals and institutions with a robust and stable asset allocation rule which avoids the typical over-concentrations associated with substantial losses during market downturns. The third essay analyzes the question of how to optimally transition a portfolio from one set of allocations to another in the face of transaction costs (which are quantity-sensitive) and a penalty (utility) function for not holding the target portfolio. This improves on existing models by allowing for portfolio mandates that may not be mean-variance efficient, e.g., if they are sub-portfolios and do not represent the total wealth of an investor, or if political or reputational concerns lead to restricting investments. This essay identifies a formula for the optimal rebalancing path and shows that there are several general factors influencing this path.