<p> This creative dissertation consists of a novella, <i>The Riot</i>. alongside a contextualizing essay. Ultimately, this project is about social justice for a population that is forced together, those who contain and the ones contained. The former group are the gatekeepers of the barrier that runs between two parallel worlds. less concrete than mortar and concertina wire, more dangerous and more permeable. It is the thinnest, most tenuous part of our buffered-up society, and one that can be rendered, ripped, or compromised in a moment..</p><p> <i>Inside Job</i> collates different perspectives into one novella, which acts as a frame story for the lived experience that is human containment, including the unique commonality between both parties, that of being judged by a larger society. Prison is a secret place; truth is often hidden. Steel bars are my view finder in weaving together the voices of those who are isolated as they serve either time or the system, along with the writings of prison scholars and creative fiction and nonfiction writers. Key to my contextualzing essay has been the work of Michel Foucault, Linda Alcoff, creative nonfiction pioneer Lee Gutkind, and prison writers who stand on both sides of the bars, including Ted Conover, George Jackson, and Caleb Smith.</p>

<p> An Exploratory Study of Problem Solving for Leaders Drawing on the researcher's experience as an artist, art therapist, and Art Therapy educator, this exploratory study used Art Based Research to closely observe how (if at all) engagement in the process of the creation of a painting enhances leaders' problem solving in complex situations.</p><p> This study found that the Art Based procedure did, in this case, facilitate problem solving in a complex situation by allowing the leader to get in touch with a wider range of conscious and tacit or unconscious knowledge, capture experiential information, and look at the wide picture in one glance, with the art work mirroring the thinking process, serving as documentation, and reflecting changes in perspective.</p><p> Furthermore, the use of an introspective, systematic, Art Based approach to closely observe the creative process revealed that while in theory verbal metaphors differ from visual metaphors, and rational, logical thinking differs from intuition and imagination, in practice they were interwoven and constantly evolved and reconstructed each other, often resulting in what the researcher came to think about as idiosyncratic metaphors.</p><p> Besides its contribution to the field of leadership, by offering a new method for leaders who need new tools for dealing with the growing complexity of this world, this study offers a systematic method to look into the process of problem solving while creating a painting. It demonstrates the value of Art Based Research for closely observing individual thinking processes, and contributes a model for a systematic Art Based Research method.</p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> leaders, problem solving, creative process, art, painting, nonverbal, Art Based Research, Art Therapy, tacit knowledge, idiosyncratic, metaphor.</p>

<p> Through an explanatory, sequential mixed methods design with a constructivist frame, this research provides one of the first looks at full range leadership behaviors as shared among directors and explores the group dynamics at work within boards of nonprofit membership organizations. A sample of such organizations in one Midwestern state resulted in chief staff officer participation (<i> n</i> = 7) in both a custom-designed online survey and a telephone interview, and director participation (<i>n</i> = 45) in a separate online survey, consisting primarily of the questions included in the Team Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Avolio &amp; Bass, 1996), as well as telephone interviews with a sub-set of directors (<i>n</i> = 18). </p><p> Overall, participants reported high satisfaction with the leadership of their boards and perceptions of high board effectiveness. Directors cited transformational leadership behaviors, most predominantly idealized attributes, inspirational motivation, and idealized behaviors, as those their boards exhibit most often. </p><p> Quantitative data analyses resulted in insignificant correlations between the level of agreement among directors within each board&mdash;high in each participating organization&mdash;and both the board&rsquo;s frequency of unanimous votes and the directors&rsquo; satisfaction with the leadership of the board. Qualitative data provided a more nuanced understanding of within board agreement with directors and chief staff officers seeking to increase the amount of questioning occurring during board deliberations. </p><p> Statistically, ratings of directors&rsquo; shared leadership behaviors, satisfaction with the leadership of the board, and perceived board effectiveness did not differ between directors and chief staff officers. In the majority of participating organizations, the chief staff officer does not hold a formal position on the board, but interview data surfaced a gate-keeper role for the chief staff officer, largely determining what warrants the board&rsquo;s time and attention, and filtering the information that reaches the directors. </p><p> In building their board teams, the majority of participating organizations have competitive elections only sometimes or never, yet the majority of chief staff officers reported it is not difficult to find qualified board members. Of interview participants, both directors and chief staff officers (<i> n</i> = 25), 88% stated their boards operate well as teams. </p><p> Both directors and chief staff officers in this study acknowledged influences of group dynamics on their efforts to lead their organizations, and the challenges to developing their boards as teams resulting from infrequent in-person meetings and the perception of limited time available from directors. However, directors expressed interest in strengthening their teams by getting to know their fellow directors better. </p><p> The meanings chief staff officers and directors in this study made of their boards and their roles in them offer a view into the phenomenon of nonprofit membership organizations&rsquo; boards as teams, a largely unexplored area of nonprofit research to date.</p>

<p> This dissertation focuses on understudied aspects of nonresponse in a context where limited information is available from refusals. In particular, this study examines social and psychological predictors of nonresponse in fast-paced face-to-face surveys; namely, election day surveys &mdash;popularly known as exit polls. Exit polls present unique challenges to study nonresponse since the population being sampled is fleeting and several conditions are beyond the researcher&rsquo;s control. </p><p> If sample voters choose not participate, there is no practical way of contacting them to collect information in a timely manner. Using a <i> proof-of-concept</i> approach, this study explores a unique dataset that links information of respondents, nonrespondents, interviewer characteristics, as well as precinct-level information. Using this information, model-based plausible information is generated for nonrespondents (i.e., imputed data) to examine nonresponse dynamics. These data are then analyzed with multilevel regression methods. Nonresponse hypotheses are motivated by literature on cognitive abilities, cognition and social behavior. </p><p> Results from multiply imputed data and multilevel regression analyses are consistent with hypothesized relationships, suggesting that this approach may offer a way of studying nonresponse where limited information exists. Additionally, this dissertation explores sources of measurement error in exit polls. It examines whether the mechanisms likely to produce refusals are the same mechanisms likely introduce error once survey cooperation is established. A series of statistical interaction terms in OLS regressions &mdash;motivated by social interactions between interviewers and respondents&mdash; are used to explore hypothesized relationships. Overall, this research finds that cognitive mechanisms appear to account for voter nonresponse, whereas social desirability mechanisms seem to explain exit polling error.</p>

<p> This study presents the findings revealed because of the lack of empirical research exploring police perceptions of informal accusations of racial profiling. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive single case study focused on exploring police decision-making following an informal accusation of racial profiling, in which no litigation occurred, during a police-motorist interaction. The purpose of this study included exploring police recommendations of what guidelines are necessary to reduce accusations of racial profiling. This study used a descriptive framework to explore accusations of racial profiling, feelings, perceptions, training, and leadership. Face-to-face and Skype&reg; semi-structured interviews used a purposeful and convenience approach. Eighteen police volunteers were selected for this study. Six themes emerged based on the participant&rsquo;s perceptions and experiences regarding informal accusations, responses to accusations, and police recommendations. The themes were focus on completing the task, responding professionally, fairness and respect, education, community interactions to change misperceptions, and perceptions of racial profiling. The participants advised communications between police and the community they serve is essential for reducing accusations. Implications for leadership to consider based on this study are a need for a comprehensive approach for how to interact within the community they serve, how to ensure personnel are not intentionally engaging in racial profiling, and to correct personnel actions that do not follow departmental rules. Recommendations included police-community interactions, open-forums, and better communications to allow police to explain behaviors before the media intensifying accusations.</p>

<p> Research on the relationship between policing and homeland security has focused on issues associated with the gathering of information related to potential acts of terror such as crime mapping and environmental design such as CompStat, intelligence-gathering activities and methodologies, and effective reporting methods. However, there seems to be insufficient research focusing on methodologies and systems leading to the &ldquo;natural&rdquo; sharing of information that can be converted into actionable intelligence between law enforcement and faith-based organizations such as the Muslim-American community. This research considers an organized cultural competency program of sharing and community-building between local police and a specific faith-based community, in which the emphasis is on an overall cultural shift where all members of the agency and community have the opportunity to interact outside of their regular duty-related interactions; such as, patrol functions, responding to emergencies, and the enforcement of ordinances and laws. By implementing a long-term, interactive program facilitated by a cultural competency committee, based on feasible activities, it would appear that closer, personal relationships develop where police and community members get to &ldquo;know each other,&rdquo; rather than attempting to reactively &ldquo;deal&rdquo; with each other when placed in an incident or unexpected interaction. By implementing a program that has all members of law enforcement and congregants taking part, and evaluating the interaction on a regular basis, community leaders and their constituents become more trustful and informed when an incident does occur. </p><p> In this study, the Executive Community Outreach Program (ECOP) is implemented with the South Brunswick Police Department and Islamic Society of Central Jersey under the guidance of a representative Cultural Competency Committee. An effective program serves to develop effective relationships that lead to greater information-sharing and the identification of potential threats and vulnerabilities, as well as a stronger and closer community. Based on the research, an organized process by which local law enforcement and the Muslim community may develop effective relationships in order to share information would seem to be a prudent course of inquiry</p>

<p> The release of a toxic chemical into the drinking water near Charleston, West Virginia, early in 2014 brought national attention to yet another toxic chemical incident. When local and state officials announced their ignorance of the potential health hazards associated with the particular chemical, it raised questions about the functionality of the Kanawha Putnam Emergency Planning Committee, a Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) created as a result of the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA). Local officials&rsquo; lack of awareness was particularly curious, because that very same county was the site of the Union Carbide chemical leak that stimulated Congress to create and pass the EPCRA. In the post-9/11 homeland security environment, knowing of the existence of a hazard plan &ndash; particularly in a community where an incident has occurred &ndash; would seem to be of paramount concern. In addition, considering the community right-to-know provisions of the EPCRA, what are the policies for the release of the sensitive information to the public in a post-9/11 world? </p><p> A review of the literature produced no current research on LEPCs related to either functionality or to release of hazardous chemical information to the community. The most recent survey was conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2008. Peer-reviewed scholarly research has not been published since 2001. It was determined that a survey instrument was necessary to determine the impact of the events of 9/11 on the functionality of LEPCs, and on their policies governing the release of hazardous chemical information to the public. </p><p> An instrument was developed using a combination of questions derived from the review of literature about prior inquiries into LEPCs or release of information in the wake of 9/11, standard research methodology and questions were adapted from the 1999 and 2008 National LEPC surveys. The instrument&rsquo;s content was validated by a jury of experts, revised, and pretested with 26 LEPC leaders from two states. The data was analyzed for internal correlation (consistency) using Cronbach&rsquo;s &alpha;. The Cronbach&rsquo;s &alpha; was recorded as .834, indicating strong reliability for the 17 scaled items of the 29 total questions. </p><p> Preliminary data from the pretest suggested that the events of 9/11 did not have a statistically significant impact on the functionality of LEPCs, but did result in major measurable changes in the policies related to the release of sensitive hazardous chemical information to the public. Further validation and refinement of the instrument is necessary before wider usage. The information gathered is valuable, however, as it can guide policymakers concerning the efficacy of current legislation, regulations, and policy. It can also inform them if legislation, regulations, and/or policy require modification to ensure the intent of the original legislation (EPCRA) is being met.</p>

<p> Our world continues to be impacted by large-scale disaster events. These severe disaster events create impacts that are shared across local, regional, and national boundaries. As a result, individuals, communities, and organizations are increasingly confronted with disasters that challenge their social, economic, and operational stability. To be resilient, individuals and communities rely on resources and services provided by organizations to enable each to plan for, respond to, and recover from disasters. If organizations are not prepared to respond to disasters, individuals and communities, in turn, will also not be prepared to respond to disaster events, as a consequence. Similar to the concept of civil defense prominent during the Cold War era, civil security is now required in the present day, pointing to the need for individuals, communities, and organizations to better prepare our nation by enhancing resilience. Resilient organizations also provide a competitive advantage over organizations that do not implement measures to become more resilient, yet many organizations do not know their resilience posture, and, in turn, struggle to prioritize resilience or allocate resources to enhance their resilience. To help enable organizations to invest in their resilience, it is important for organizations to discover and understand their organizational resilience score. </p><p> This research extends prior research that developed a methodology and survey tool for measuring and benchmarking organizational resilience. Subsequent research utilized the methodology and survey tool on organizations in New Zealand, whereas this research study utilized the methodology and survey tool to study organizational resilience within the state of New Jersey as part of a comparative study. The results obtained from previous research were compared against organizational resilience data captured on New Jersey based organizations. Survey data created from this research provide valuable information on organizational resilience strengths and weaknesses that can enable New Jersey based organizations to learn their organizational resilience posture and begin to develop a business case for additional investment in organizational resilience. </p>

<p> National security depends on having skilled professionals leading their organizations through the preparation, mitigation, response and recovery phases of an emergent situation. The Certified Protection Professional (CPP) credential is the current yardstick that attempts to codify and measure the knowledge and competencies required for security leadership. Does the attainment of this industry credential provide adequate proof (or evidence) of proficiency of the required security leadership knowledge and competencies? During an adverse situation, it is too late to learn that the security leader does not possess the knowledge and competencies required for success. </p><p> This mixed-methods research explored the required knowledge and competency expectations of security leadership and the claims made by the leading security industry credential. The research included an extensive literature review, an evaluative study of recent security leader job descriptions, and the development and validation of a novel survey instrument designed to capture the perceptions of security leaders regarding the knowledge and competencies required for success. The survey instrument also identified the type of proof (or evidence) preferred to adequately demonstrate proficiency of the knowledge and competencies. </p><p> This research validated the CPP knowledge requirements and identified 19 key competencies necessary for security leadership. The results indicated that security leaders agree that proof of proficiency is required, and that they would prefer a certification assessment scheme with a higher level of job fidelity than the current multiple-choice test format within the CPP framework. The survey instrument provided quantitative information in support of the findings. Opportunities for improvement to security industry policy and practice are suggested along with recommendations for future research agendas.</p>

<p> Little is known about the scientist-animal relationship; therefore, the aim of this study was to learn how moments of intersubjectivity, or "oneness" are created and experienced by scientists. It is by appreciating the risks and vulnerabilities intrinsic to human-animal relationships that propel the present investigation. The current cultural bias of valuing objectification and detachment as the predominant form of scientific investigation overlooks relational subtleties intrinsic to deriving meaning from humananimal studies. By examining scientists and their descriptions of intersubjectivity with their animal participants, a greater understanding of society's philosophical and ethical deliberations on the human-animal relationship may be revealed. An exploratory, sequential mixed-method design was utilized to phenomenologically examine intersubjectivity, as well as to measure the prevalence of its dimensions within the larger academic population. Phenomenological analysis from ten interviews identified humananimal intersubjectivity as having four significant phases: <i>joint mindfulness, synchronized embodiment, intrinsic belonging </i>, and <i>transcendental awareness</i>. Spearman correlational analysis from fifty-four responses to the online survey supported these findings, as well as identified a potential link with the variables of proximity (r_s = .469, p &lt; .05, n=25), closeness (r_s = .483, p &lt; .01, n=25), similarity (r_s = .483, p &lt; .01, n=25) and embodied awareness (r_s = .421, p &lt; .01, n=25) that account for variation in the scientific population. When examining past behavior as it related to current scientific practices, gender differences emerged that resemble those reported by neuroanatomical studies. Lastly, further mixed analysis identified academic and cultural risks that were met by employing concealment and silencing strategies. These results add valuable depth in the interpretation of intersubjectivity and its relationship with scientific behavior, as well as insight into the role of intersubjectivity within ethical and philosophical debates.</p>