<p>Although the number of women participating in organized sport has drastically increased since the passage of Title IX, sport media has not necessarily reflected this change. As well as being underrepresented in sport media, women athletes are also portrayed in gender biased ways. When examining photographic media, many studies investigate <i>Sports Illustrated</i>&rsquo;s Swimsuit Issue; however, the present study argues that using this magazine is methodologically flawed. Therefore, I explore an emergent source&mdash;<i>ESPN the Magazine </i>&rsquo;s Body Issue&mdash;in order to determine how women are represented in this magazine. Using Goffman&rsquo;s (1974) framing theory and (1979) <i> Gender Advertisements</i>, as well as Schipper&rsquo;s (2007) extension of hegemonic femininity, I utilized content analytic methods to analyze all editions of the annual Body Issue from 2009&ndash;2014. In total, I studied 143 athletes represented in 146 images, as well as the captions which accompanied these images. Results uncovered that, although women are more highly represented than men in the Body Issue, they are still presented using hegemonically feminine frames. While the Body Issue does occasionally present women in ways which challenge the hegemonic gender structure, these instances are few. Contributions of this study to the body of literature regarding sport media strengthen the suggestion that sport media plays a role in both producing and reproducing the hegemonic gender structure. </p>

<p> There are over 650 million acres of federal public lands in the United States that allow access to nature. Public lands are utilized for a variety of different activities, ranging from preservation to resource extraction. Regardless of proximity, public lands belong to everyone in the United Sates. From January to August 2016, I opportunistically and purposively collected sixteen interviews in Arizona, a state with 38.5% federal public lands, and sixteen in Texas (1.5% federal public lands), to document attitudes, opinions, and ideas about public lands in the United States. Conducting such interviews provides insight into the many different perspectives that people from different areas and backgrounds have about public land, and also acts as a medium for outreach and education. Although the data collected is not representative, it exemplifies different opinions that exist in regards to public land. Opinions such as these can affect management policy and inform how people advocate for public lands now and in the future. I attempted to capture candid responses from the interviewees utilizing an open-ended interview guide to elicit the interviewee&rsquo;s emotions, reactions, attitudes, and opinions towards public lands. All interviewees appreciated access to nature through public lands regardless of their experience with or knowledge about them. Most interviewees were familiar with national parks, but not all knew about national forests, national wildlife refuges, wilderness areas, or the national system of public lands. Several themes emerged, including issues of access, extractive industries such as grazing and mining, and discussions of federal versus state management. </p><p>

<p> This project was developed to help black clergy and churches become effective in developing a place that supports families dealing with issues of Domestic Violence; since historically the black church has been a place of refuge and support for the black community and more specifically black women and children. </p><p> Chapter 1 defines Domestic Violence and states the Hypothesis, details the problem regarding the lack of an effective response by black clergy and predominately black churches regarding addressing issues related to domestic violence. Theological foundation supporting a call to action for clergy to understand that scripture speaks against violence and should not be misconstrued to justify violence in families struggling with these issues. </p><p> Chapter 2 the Literature review will focus on the problems and reasons why Black clergy and predominantly Black churches do not have a better awareness and response regarding domestic violence. The literature review will also address the significance of focusing on domestic violence in Black Churches. </p><p> Chapter 3 will explain the Methodology used to approach the subject of domestic violence with black clergy. Chapter three will further examine the project tool and the significance of having a pre-and post-survey following a Domestic violence awareness video; to achieve positive results for black clergy to bring about a difference for black churches to respond to parishioner&rsquo;s issues related to domestic violence. </p><p> Chapter 4 will affirm the hypotheses and analyze the qualitative research data collected regarding black clergy response pre-and post-survey. Chapter four will also summarize the research project and its findings. </p><p> Chapter 5 will conclude with researcher&rsquo;s final thoughts and suggestions for black clergy and churches moving forward in remaining actively involved with issues related to domestic violence.</p>

<p> This qualitative study examines the identities of three secondary special education teachers in self-contained classrooms. Nationally, there is a serious shortage of special educators interested in and successful working with students exhibiting emotional and behavioral disorders. An understanding of teacher identity and the personal and professional contexts that contribute to it is critical to the retention of these teachers in the field and the preparation of future special educators. Interviews, observations, and the use of image elicitation provided data to examine each participant&rsquo;s identity in relation to the students they taught, the school setting, and their sense of self. Analysis of collected data emphasized their historical past, present relationships (e.g., family, colleagues), professional development, and lives within the school. </p><p> Cross-case analysis findings illuminate each teacher&rsquo;s reasons for working with students who exhibit challenging behaviors and how their personal experiences shaped their identity and approach to teaching. Findings demonstrate how teacher-participants addressed student autonomy through empowerment or control via an instituted behavioral model. Social and relational aspects of teaching effected collaboration within the classroom and school setting. </p><p> Findings from this study indicate several implications. Due to the stressful and emotional work environment, the field has both a quantity and a quality shortage. Preparation programs must offer prospective teachers the chance to observe and participate in daily work within restricted settings while cultivating and recognizing a network of supports. Well-planned mentor and field-based programs offer on-the-job resources that help incoming teachers with classroom practice and the stimulation of identity development. Schools should implement strategies to improve the consistency of instructional aide support for special education teachers. </p><p> It is important to recognize the systemic structures that shape teacher identity. Institutional settings rarely challenge the status quo; so it is important that teachers resist, otherwise practices appear fixed and unalterable. While working with students who are emotional, aggressive, combative, and traumatized, teachers should detach from maladaptive conduct and not associate the student with their behavior. It is essential for special educators experiencing the effects of a school system and the challenges brought by students to practice a method of self-care.</p>

<p>From 2011?2015, The Master?s Touch ministry has been the formal agency for the work of visiting the sick and shut-in at the Mount Moriah A.M.E. Church in New York. The purpose of this study is to determine any correlation between the visitations themselves and the level of local church commitment by the visited family members over these four years. This study is important because persons visited receive the benefits of pastoral care, while the impact on their families may not be as apparent. This research will focus on data from interviews conducted with family members in order to ascertain if there is any change to their level of local church commitment.

<p> Recovery from alcoholism and substance abuse has had an ignominious history. There does not appear to be any statistics that stand up to any rigorous fact-checking which show how well treatment centers do at helping their clients to stay sober. Statistics that are used to show success rates are not considered credible and they are shockingly low. Despite these issues, substance abuse research has failed to link the historical knowledge of why people stay sober for long periods of time with what is being taught in treatment centers in hopes of creating a better, more accurate outcome. </p><p> The qualitative, phenomenological research study was conducted to ascertain whether a treatment center was teaching the curriculum components that prior research studies had found allowed an addict or alcoholic to stay sober for 20 plus years. Twelve volunteer participants (i.e., nine clients and three counselors), at a treatment center located in Southeast Florida, were interviewed regarding their perceptions of the curricula being taught in the treatment center. </p><p> Patterns emerged with the clients regarding their perceptions of spirituality and 12-step programs, believing that spirituality and 12-step programs were significantly emphasized in treatment and that they were very important to their recovery when they left treatment. Counselors agreed with this finding, but felt stronger about the importance of family and social support than did the clients. Overall, the clients felt that what was emphasized in treatment was important to their recovery and intended to use their new knowledge in helping them stay sober. Implications for treatment centers and recommendations for future studies are discussed.</p>

<p> For several decades, the intensifying trend of researchers to believe that sharing research data is &ldquo;good&rdquo; has overshadowed the belief that sharing data is &ldquo;bad.&rdquo; However, sharing data is difficult even though an impressive effort has been made to solve data sharing issues within the research community, but relatively little is known about data sharing beyond the research community. This dissertation aims to address this gap by investigating <i><b>how data are shared effectively across research and public communities</b></i>.</p><p> The practices of sharing data with both researchers and non-professionals in two comparative case studies, Encyclopedia of Life and CyberSEES, were examined by triangulating multiple qualitative data sources (i.e., artifacts, documentation, participant observation, and interviews). The two cases represent the creation of biodiversity data, the beginning of the data sharing process in a home repository, and the end of the data sharing process in an aggregator repository. Three research questions are asked in each case:</p><p> &bull; Who are the data providers?</p><p> &bull; Who are the data sharing mediators?</p><p> &bull; What are the data sharing processes?</p><p> The findings reveal the data sharing contexts and processes across research and public communities. Data sharing contexts are reflected by the cross-level data providers and human mediators rooted in different groups, whereas data sharing processes are reflected by the dynamic and sustainable collaborative efforts made by different levels of human mediators with the support of technology mediators.</p><p> This dissertation provides theoretical and practical contributions. Its findings refine and develop a new data sharing framework of knowledge infrastructure for different-level data sharing across different communities. Both human and technology infrastructure are made visible in the framework. The findings also provide insight for data sharing practitioners (i.e., data providers, data mediators, data managers, and data contributors) and information system developers and designers to better conduct and support open and sustainable data sharing across research and public communities.</p>

<p> Contemporary urban mothers experience many challenges, even those in the middle class. Many of the challenges they face stem from western socio-economic and political systems. The present study recognizes the modern complexities of urban parenting and examines how and why many women are coming together in what I call social support peer networks, in order to mediate the plethora of challenges mothers experience today. </p><p> This research explores the &ldquo;mommy group&rdquo; phenomenon, through the ethnographic study of one such Southern California group, the &ldquo;Family Cooperative,&rdquo; which has adopted the adage &ldquo;it takes a village to raise a child&rdquo; in response to mothers&rsquo; feelings that &ldquo;you can&rsquo;t do it alone.&rdquo; This mother-centered study recognizes the fact that urban residents of the U.S. no longer live in small, traditional villages, yet still need socio-emotional support while raising their children. As such this research examines the ways in which these urban mothers come together, and why they do so. </p><p> In this research I found that flexibility in participation allowed a variety of mothers to participate &ldquo;at will,&rdquo; and to have access to the type and amount of resources they required and desired. The close-knit core expressed the greatest appreciation and shared the most resources, such as material goods and child-sharing. Peripheral members, including some that only participate online, especially appreciated the sharing of vetted informational resources and the camaraderie found in the online forums. All of the participants expressed an appreciation for access to a community that helps alleviate the fears of motherhood. These fears stem from the confusing mothering ideologies in particular, and lead to uncertainty about being a &ldquo;good mother,&rdquo; and the subsequent fear of judgment that is pervasive in urban motherhood today.</p>

<p> Prison reformists, lawmakers, human rights activists, lobbyists, investors, government agencies, and other civil and government actors play a large role in the state of the private prison industry&rsquo;s rate of growth, especially in the past 15-20 years. A 2001 Bureau of Justice Statistics study concluded that big cost savings promised by the private prison industry in the United States &ldquo;have not materialized.&rdquo; Corrections Corporation of America&rsquo;s stock price took its largest plunge in 2000 and never bounced back to its late 90s high. However, despite successful divestment campaigns and legislation against prison privatization after reports of irresponsibility, CCA stock has issued dividends to their investors since 2012, and several analysts currently list CXW (CCA stock) as a recommended buy and hold. Although the United States federal prison population dropped in 2014 for the first time since 1980 (along with private populations), CCA&rsquo;s stock price remains relatively the same today as the day Attorney General Eric Holder made the announcement. Since the fall of share prices, CCA has converted to a REIT in order to avoid corporate taxes and focused heavily on litigating and lobbying to influence voting decisions on sentencing, regulations, and law enforcement. This lobbying assists in filling prison beds and winning government contracts, with lobbying expenditures over $3.3 million in 2005. With respect to economic, social, and political indicators and by juxtaposing the theories of Adam Smith, Milton Friedman, and Karl Polanyi this study will focus on whether CXW investors can influence the re-embedding of the economy (the subordination of the markets to social relations), with a quantitative focus on the fluctuation of CXW stock prices and their relationship to reports of CCA irresponsibility in the media.</p>

<p> The purpose of the present study was to test the Emotional Stability dimension of the Big Five factors of personality traits theory to predict or explain a relationship with Employee Organizational Commitment, when the relationship between Emotional Stability (ES) and Employee Organizational Commitment (EOC) was moderated by Gender and AgeGroup. Public domain secondary data from the General Social Survey were used in the study. The three age groups under investigation were Millennials, Generation X, and the Boomer generation. A hierarchical linear multiple regression model was applied to test the hypotheses. The statement of the omnibus null hypothesis (H₀) was that the Emotional Stability dimension of the Big Five factor model of personality traits theory did not have the ability to predict EOC. Main hypotheses stated that there was not a statistically significant relationship between the moderated independent variable (IV) and the dependent variable (DV). Results of the full model showed that the theory-testing null hypothesis (H₀) was not supported (<i>p</i> &lt; .05), and the Boomer generation contributed most to the DV (Beta = -.511). Recommendations were made for future research.</p>