The purpose of this study was to examine counselor's self- perceived multicultural counseling competency (MCC) between counselors working in rural, suburban and urban communities across the Commonwealth of Virginia. The study compared professional counselors' perceptions of their own multicultural counseling competence based on the counselor's geographic area of origin, current geographic practice setting, and counselors' intersections of identities to better understand counselor MCC as it relates to cultural diversity. Sample data was collected through professional counseling organizations in Virginia. Participants completed a demographic survey as well as the Multicultural Awareness Knowledge Skills Survey-Counselor Edition-Revised (MAKSS-CE-R) to measure self-perceived MCC. Results indicate that there was no difference in self-perceived MCC among professional counselors in Virginia based on their practice location or area of origin (i.e. hometown). However, counselor's identified race/ethnicity were predictor's of self-perceived MCC. Findings suggest that training programs may be providing adequate opportunities for counselors to develop MCC. Allowing innovative approaches through technology, consultation, and adherence to the ACA Code of Ethics (2014) could be sufficient in counselor MCC regardless of geographic practice location. / Doctor of Philosophy / The purpose of this study was to understand how counselors in Virginia perceived their cultural competence. The researcher examined how counselors rated their own cultural competence in relation to the geographic location in which they grew up, currently work, as well as general demographic characteristics, to better understand counselors’ competence when working with diverse peoples. Participants completed a demographic survey as well as the Multicultural Awareness Knowledge Skills Survey-Counselor Edition-Revised (MAKSS-CE-R), which measures counselor cultural competence. Results indicate that there was no difference in perceived cultural competence among professional counselors in Virginia based on the geographic area where they worked or grew up. However, counselors who identified as a racial/ethnic minority also perceived themselves as having greater cultural competency. Findings suggest that training programs may be providing adequate opportunities for counselors to develop cultural competence. Allowing creative approaches through technology, consultation, and implementation of counselor’s professional codes of ethics could be enough for counselors to feel competent when working with diverse peoples, regardless geographic practice location.

This study describes the differences of parents’, teachers’, and the researcher’s assessment of quality of five different child care programs. This study focuses on infant and toddler classrooms or care settings. Parents, and teachers/providers completed the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale and the Definition of Quality Questionnaire in order to rate the quality of infant and toddler child care programs. The findings from the questionnaires supported existing research that indicates a majority of child care programs in the United Stated range from poor to mediocre; and parents utilizing all types of cares, licensed/certified or otherwise, tended to overrate the quality of child care programs. In this study, the only exception to this tendency was the ratings of quality in the licensed and accredited center, where parents’, teachers’, and the researcher’s ratings were similar. This study provides a new contribution to the field of child care research in its finding that some of the teachers in all the different types of care settings investigated (with the exception of the licensed and accredited center) also tended to overrate the quality of infant and toddler child care programs. Follow up interviews were conducted with some of the parents and teachers, in order to explore the reasons behind their ratings of quality. The consensus was that parents and teachers identified characteristics of quality that were dissimilar to those identified by child care experts. There are many possible reasons for this result, including lack of adequate information to help them identify determinant characteristics of quality programs, that there was difficulty in assessing quality, and that there was a lack of demand for quality programs. / Master of Science

This dissertation examines three relationships between nature centers and their local communities. First, what are the values provided by local centers as perceived by community members? Second, what factors lead community members to support local centers? And third, what are the constraints to visiting local centers as perceived by community members? We surveyed random samples of community members living around 16 diverse nature centers across the United States and conducted quantitative and qualitative analyses to address these questions. Chapter one introduces the study and provides a literature review of theories and empirical research related to the research questions. Chapter two reports the results of an exploratory factor analysis on the level of importance communities assign to fourteen nature center services. The factor analysis revealed four underlying values: environmental connection, leisure provision, civic engagement, and community resilience. Chapter three tests sixteen hypothesized predictors of community support for nature centers. All these variables were significant, suggesting people volunteer at, donate to, or respond to threats at nature centers for a range of reasons. These include those related to supporting nature center missions (e.g. environmental connection significance and commitment to nature) but also other reasons such as friends' and family's perceptions of nature centers and assessments of the center staff members. Chapter four explores constraints that emerge during different stages of the decision-making process people go through when considering whether or not to visit a local nature center. The greatest constraints emerge in early stages (e.g. center awareness) and late stages (e.g. limited finances, transportation, and time) of decision-making. Chapter five discusses the study's implications to theory, including ecosystem service and educational leisure setting valuation, environmentally significant and charitable support behavior, and leisure constraints, as well as nature center practice. Centers that consider these implications might better serve their local communities and achieve their missions. / Ph. D.

Yes / Year in and year out the increasing adaptivity of offenders has maintained ransomware's position as a major cybersecurity threat. The cybersecurity industry has responded with a similar degree of adaptiveness, but has focussed more upon technical (science) than ‘non-technical’ (social science) factors. This article explores empirically how organisations and investigators have reacted to the shift in the ransomware landscape from scareware and locker attacks to the almost exclusive use of crypto-ransomware. We outline how, for various reasons, victims and investigators struggle to respond effectively to this form of threat. By drawing upon in-depth interviews with victims and law enforcement officers involved in twenty-six crypto-ransomware attacks between 2014 and 2018 and using an inductive content analysis method, we develop a data-driven taxonomy of crypto-ransomware countermeasures. The findings of the research indicate that responses to crypto-ransomware are made more complex by the nuanced relationship between the technical (malware which encrypts) and the human (social engineering which still instigates most infections) aspects of an attack. As a consequence, there is no simple technological ‘silver bullet’ that will wipe out the crypto-ransomware threat. Rather, a multi-layered approach is needed which consists of socio-technical measures, zealous front-line managers and active support from senior management. / This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and is part of the EMPHASIS (EconoMical, PsycHologicAl and Societal Impact of RanSomware) project [EP/P011721/1].

Play plays a significant role in early childhood education. The purpose of this essay is to contribute to knowledge and understanding by exploring preschool teachers' perspectives on the importance of play in children's learning processes. The study investigates the significance of play and discusses similarities in the view of play among preschools in both Sweden and Zimbabwe. It also compares the different conditions that exist for preschools between these two countries. Six preschool teachers, three from Zimbabwe and three from Sweden, were interviewed. Despite challenges stemming from a flawed system, the teachers recognized the importance of play in preschools. The study's findings highlight the social and academic skills that play cultivates in children. Employing a qualitative interview method, the study draws upon the theoretical frameworks of William A., Friedrich Froebel, and Susan Isaacs to inform the analysis and interpretation of the data.

No / Several international organizations have suggested the need for disseminating existing evidence-based parenting interventions into low-resource settings of the world in order to prevent societal difficulties such as violence. Before dissemination efforts take place, it is important to examine the fit of existing interventions in these contexts. In the present study, 80 practitioners from low-resource communities in Panama, Central America, were surveyed in order to explore their views on materials, principles and strategies of an evidence-based parenting program, the Triple P Positive Parenting Program. This study is part of a larger project in which cultural relevance was also explored from parents’ perspective, instruments were translated and validated, and a RCT was carried out to determine efficacy. Practitioners in the present study were psychologists, teachers, social workers and learning disability specialists based in school settings. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data and regression analyses were carried out in order to determine whether socio-demographic variables predicted acceptability scores. Scores for cultural relevance and usefulness of the program were high. A sample of material was found to be interesting, familiar, and acceptable. All practitioners (100 %) expressed a need to implement a parenting program in their community. Only being female and greater hours of consultation per week were associated with greater acceptability. These results have the potential to inform implementation efforts in Panama and the study offers a methodology which can be used to explore the relevance of other programs in other low-resource settings.

Yes / Involving patients and the public in all stages of research has been the focus of the SHARED study. Patient and public involvement (PPI) is an important strategic priority for the Department of Health and funders such as the National Institute for Health Research. The aim of this paper is to describe the benefits, challenges and costs involved in setting up the research study with lay members as part of the research team. The study focused on developing service user-led recommendations for people with memory loss and their carers, on discharge from acute hospital to the community. Methods: This began with a discussion of an initial research idea with a lay group of carers and people living with dementia. Once funded, approval was sought from the Research Ethics Committee and NHS Trusts to conduct the research including the active involvement of lay co-researchers. Finally, to recruit, train and pay lay co-researchers in their role. Results: The benefits of PPI have included developing ideas which are important to people living with memory loss; support for PPI received from the funders and research ethics committee, high levels of interest from volunteer groups, and lasting enthusiasm from many of the co-researchers. Organisational challenges were met in the requirement for research passports and with payment methods for the co-researchers. Training was beneficial but incurred extra costs for repeated training days. Discussion: Overall the benefits outweighed the challenges which were overcome to varying degrees. The lay co-researchers gained membership of a study group and a beneficial partnership developed with the third sector. The biggest challenge was in overcoming the differences in approach to lay co-researchers between NHS Trusts. Organisational culture has been slow to incorporate PPI and this has not yet been fully addressed. It has the potential to delay the start of projects, affect recruitment time, incur extra research costs and disadvantage PPI.

<p>Social theory by Goffman in the 60’s can still be applied to our society, especially to the new social form of Facebook. ”What precautions do Facebook members take when they publish content (text, photos, video) to avoid problems caused by the collapse of different social arenas? What do they think of their own self-presentation on the social website?” Data was collected trough an online survey, available for my Facebook friends in April-May 2010, and personal interviews with seven of the respondents. The results show that 126/128 respondents state they are their “true self” in their daily life, and not Facebook. Simultaneously, 75 respondents claim they have never had problems being themselves on Facebook. 65 people don’t recognize the presentation of people they know on Facebook, but 124 people say they have never received comments stating this. The norms and rules of social interaction on this social site are not yet set, and Facebook members respond to this by strict control of what they publish. It is evident that Facebook members enjoy peeking behind the self-presentation of people they know. Further research could show that this is one of the reasons why Facebook is so popular.</p> / <p>Goffmans sosialteori fra 60-tallet kan fortsatt appliseres på vårt samfunn, spesielt på den nye sosiale formen; Facebook. ”Hvilke forhåndsregler tar Facebooks medlemmer når de publiserer innhold (tekst, bilder, video) for å unngå problemer som følge av sammenslåingen av ulike sosiale arenaer? Hva tenker de om sin egen selvpresentasjon på det sosiale nettstedet?” Data ble samlet inn gjennom en webbasert spørreundersøkelse, tilgjengelig for mine Facebook venner i April-Mai 2010, og personlige intervjuer med seks av respondentene. Resultatene viser at 126/128 respondenter påstår at de er sitt ”sanne selv” i dagliglivet, og ikke på Facebook. Samtidig uttaler 75 respondenter at de aldri har hatt problemer med å være seg selv på Facebook. 65 personer kjenner ikke igjen presentasjonen av personer de kjenner på Facebook, men 124 personer sier de aldri selv har mottatt kommentarer som tilsier dette. Normene og reglene for sosial interaksjon på denne sosiale nettsiden er ikke satt enda, og Facebooks medlemmer reagerer med å ha streng kontroll over det de publiserer. Det er tydelig at Facebooks medlemmer nyter å kikke bak selvpresentasjonen til personer de kjenner. Framtidig forskning kan vise om dette er en av grunnene til at Facebook er så populært.</p>

Social theory by Goffman in the 60’s can still be applied to our society, especially to the new social form of Facebook. ”What precautions do Facebook members take when they publish content (text, photos, video) to avoid problems caused by the collapse of different social arenas? What do they think of their own self-presentation on the social website?” Data was collected trough an online survey, available for my Facebook friends in April-May 2010, and personal interviews with seven of the respondents. The results show that 126/128 respondents state they are their “true self” in their daily life, and not Facebook. Simultaneously, 75 respondents claim they have never had problems being themselves on Facebook. 65 people don’t recognize the presentation of people they know on Facebook, but 124 people say they have never received comments stating this. The norms and rules of social interaction on this social site are not yet set, and Facebook members respond to this by strict control of what they publish. It is evident that Facebook members enjoy peeking behind the self-presentation of people they know. Further research could show that this is one of the reasons why Facebook is so popular. / Goffmans sosialteori fra 60-tallet kan fortsatt appliseres på vårt samfunn, spesielt på den nye sosiale formen; Facebook. ”Hvilke forhåndsregler tar Facebooks medlemmer når de publiserer innhold (tekst, bilder, video) for å unngå problemer som følge av sammenslåingen av ulike sosiale arenaer? Hva tenker de om sin egen selvpresentasjon på det sosiale nettstedet?” Data ble samlet inn gjennom en webbasert spørreundersøkelse, tilgjengelig for mine Facebook venner i April-Mai 2010, og personlige intervjuer med seks av respondentene. Resultatene viser at 126/128 respondenter påstår at de er sitt ”sanne selv” i dagliglivet, og ikke på Facebook. Samtidig uttaler 75 respondenter at de aldri har hatt problemer med å være seg selv på Facebook. 65 personer kjenner ikke igjen presentasjonen av personer de kjenner på Facebook, men 124 personer sier de aldri selv har mottatt kommentarer som tilsier dette. Normene og reglene for sosial interaksjon på denne sosiale nettsiden er ikke satt enda, og Facebooks medlemmer reagerer med å ha streng kontroll over det de publiserer. Det er tydelig at Facebooks medlemmer nyter å kikke bak selvpresentasjonen til personer de kjenner. Framtidig forskning kan vise om dette er en av grunnene til at Facebook er så populært.

Requiem for Netted Fish is an intermedia composition for sixteen-voice SATB choir, harp, six dancers, slide projections, and lighting. The text, taken from the poetry of Anna Akhmatova and Carolyn Forche, presents a universal, womanly rage against human repression and destruction. The poetry finds aural interpretation in sound, and visual interpretation in movement and lighting. Poetic inspiration contributes to the integration of elements in the work, as does the impulse-exchange method of coordinating mediums, which allows the dancers control of the timing of events. The resultant interdependent relationships necessary for performance contribute to the integration of the composition. The duration of this intermedia work is approximately fifteen minutes.