Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Time spent in the military has the ability to guide service members with political characteristics that influence voting behavior and political involvement throughout life. The objective of this thesis is investigating the relationship between military service and their personal political ideology. This thesis will address political socialization as an agent, while truly understanding the difficulty in what time spent in the service has. The research questions addressed are: How much does military service contribute to an individual’s political ideology? and, Does military service alter an individual’s political belief from a neutral or liberal perspective to a more conservative view? The variables of political socialization are as vast as our imagination, and is a constant changing process. The course from which we form our political views is indicative of the social constructs from which we are subjected to. The ebbs and flows of life experiences is for the most part planned. To what extent our life experiences shape our views could never be calculated. There are, however, variables that can be applied to almost all human life such as our peers, family, institutions, education, strife, success, struggle, and perseverance. Most can understand that family and school are important early in life. Later as adults; peers, literature, education, and socioeconomic status is more impressionable. This research aims to discover military service as an agent with the ability to frame forming opinions. Military service is not a rare human experience of itself, but is rare in its ability to hold all of the above variables in a complete surrounding environment. Military service has the unique ability to sever ties from outside influence, inhabit complete social submersion, force uniformity in thought, regularity in action, all during the time an individual is most impressionable towards political ideas. This is interesting as it tests a full immersion political socialization environment to what we label ourselves in the grand scheme of political constructs over a life time.

The widespread integration of the computer into the mainstream of daily life presents a challenge to various sectors of society, and the incorporation of this technology into the realm of the older individual with visual impairments is a relatively uncharted field of study. This study was undertaken to acquire the perceptions of the impact of the training and issuance of the access of technology upon participants’ quality of life. The study adopted a qualitative research approach employing phenomenological, descriptive, and cross-case components in order to understand the experience of older (over 40) veterans who were legally blind, had completed Computer Access Technology (CATS) training, and had been issued assistive technology. The 9 respondents were selected from veterans who had been through the CATS program and were known to the researcher in an attempt to maximize the range of ages, military experience, and origin of vision loss. This study employed semi-structured interviews that were recorded and later transcribed verbatim. Through content analysis, the participants’ responses, originally in 20 categories, were consolidated into 3 categories, which correlated to the questions of this study. During this process, an emergent category, “Background and History of the Participants,” evolved, resulting in a total of 4 categories. The categories reflected the background and history of participants, the impact of blind rehabilitation, current computer usage in daily tasks, and participants’ comments and recommendations. The results demonstrated that the CATS training had a profound impact on the participants upon their return to their homes. The impact included the restored ability to communicate with family and friends, the development of new interests and abilities, the re-establishment of self-worth, a sense of independence, and the feeling of being normal and not a “freak.” 7 of the 9 participants had already returned for additional CATS training during the research process. Of the remaining 2, 1 received on-the-job training, and the final participant would consider returning if his vision deteriorated. Various participants had returned or remained in the workforce, and others performed volunteer work. 6 envision further study through correspondence courses, more CATS training or on their own.

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The workforce in the United States is aging. Teachers, like all other workers in the country, are also aging. The veteran teachers in our nation's public schools possess wisdom gained through their on-the-job experience. With looming teacher shortages in our public schools, it is imperative that we retain this wisdom. Administrators, school boards, and the community have an obligation to tap this wisdom for the benefit of children. This study was conducted, therefore, with the purpose of learning how to do that. The data were collected through the process of one-on-one interviews with 21 veteran teachers in Knox County, Tennessee. This was done to make use of the knowledge gained by actual working professionals. The findings of this study were that veteran teachers did have a great deal of wisdom to share. The 21 interviewed teachers gave information that allowed the researcher to compile recommendations as to how administrators and other interested parties could retain and motivate all teachers, whether veteran or novice. The results of this study might prove useful to anyone interested in retaining teachers in our nation's schools. This knowledge could benefit the education of our nation's most valuable resource--our children.

The purpose of the study was to provide evidence-based outcomes related to a couples adaptive sports event intended to facilitate posttraumatic growth, increase marital satisfaction, leisure satisfaction, feelings of competence in sports, and reduce symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for veterans with PTSD and their significant others. The sample consisted of three groups of couples, experimental Group A had five couples, experimental Group B had six couples, and the Control Group had six couples. ANCOVA analysis indicated significant differences between Group A and the Control Group for overall PTSD and the subscale of hyperarousal. There were also significant increases in marital satisfaction, leisure satisfaction, significant decreases in the symptoms of posttraumatic stress overall, and in all three subscales: re-experiencing, avoidance/emotional numbing, and hyperarousal. Findings supported Kleiber's, Hutchinson's, and Williams' (2002) four functions of leisure in transcending negative life events. Findings indicated participation in a couple's adaptive sports program has positive impacts on the veteran's and their significant other's marital satisfaction and reduces symptoms of PTSD. It is recommended that recreation providers facilitate couple adaptive sports programs for veterans and their significant others to reduce symptoms of PTSD and increase marital satisfaction.

The leitmotif of Stuffmobile, a modern day Florida-based novella, is that of relational healing: a son with his father, ex-lovers with one another, and, even more challenging perhaps, a son making peace with his dead mother. New beginnings are explored, both as resurrection of long dead feelings and as starting afresh after loss. A husband finds distraction in a covert project after his wife’s death, so much so that his preoccupied isolation worries his two adult children. The son comes to investigate, and his malfunctioning car leads to a reunion and the beginnings of reconciliation. Hours later, an accident nearly derails the relationship once more. The characters here struggle to understand and be understood, to avoid hurting others and avoid being hurt, all while searching for respect and love—just another normal day of the human experience.

My thesis, Escape Artist, is a composite novel written as a fictitious memoir, similar in style to Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, that describes my experiences between the years 2001 and 2011. During that time I went through Marine Corps Boot Camp, became a military police officer, patrolled Yuma, AZ, was sent to Iraq for a sevenmonth tour as a security detail just before the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and made it back home four years later. The novel also looks into my struggles with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms, how they affected the people around me, and what I've been trying to do to remedy them (or ignore them)

Through the use of mixed media, I explore imagery that reveals the trauma of returning combat veterans, of which I am one, as we try to reintegrate into a society that does not understand the war that still lingers within us. In my work, I depict emotional disturbances that are related to my personal encounters with war. My working process starts by referencing mainstream media imagery, which I juxtapose against harsh images inspired by veterans' drug and alcohol use, trauma and death. My black-and-white pixelated paintings feature the fragmented memories of a hostile combat environment, and although "Out of My Mind" depicts the chaotic emotions associated with PTSD, my whimsical style of illustration suggests a detachment from reality. Whether we call it shell shock, battle fatigue or PTSD, the war-related disorder is real. I want society to be aware of the hidden scars that our veterans carry with them. I do not anticipate my subject matter changing any time soon.

The purpose of this study was to develop categories of meaning regarding veteran teachers' perspectives on teacher evaluation and how veteran teachers want to be evaluated. A total of 14 teachers with 10 or more years of teaching experience were interviewed. The study relied upon a qualitative method, using grounded theory to provide an in-depth analysis on perspectives veteran teachers had on teacher evaluation and how they wanted to be evaluated. Interview data was analyzed and coded for concepts that represented teachers' perspectives. The analysis yielded data which presented two themes, Theme one: Veteran Teachers' Perspectives on Teacher Evaluation, and Theme Two: Veteran Teachers' Plan for Evaluation. Theme one revealed several categories: "evaluation career," "evaluation process," "types of evaluation processes," "evaluators," and "purpose of evaluation." Theme two presented three categories: "what to evaluate," "who evaluates," and "how to evaluate." Data analysis led to a grounded theory suggesting that teachers experienced commonalities regarding their perspectives on teacher evaluation and how they want to be evaluated. This study concluded that teachers perceive the current status of teacher evaluation as ineffective and useless. Teachers want the process to continue using principal observation as the key component, but want it done more often both formally and informally. Teachers feel that evaluators should be competent in the areas they evaluate and serve as instructional leaders. They want other data sources to be included in their evaluations. Teachers disagree with pay for performance systems or those solely dependent on student outcomes, and that student growth data should be part of a multi data driven system. Self-evaluation and professional growth are areas teachers feel should be tied to an effective evaluation system. Teachers want to receive feedback from parents, peers, and students. Teachers find the California Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTP) to be an effective and necessary tool to base teacher evaluation upon. This study presented perspectives concerning teachers' experiences with teacher evaluation and also presented data regarding how teachers wanted to be evaluated.

<p dir="ltr">This thesis outlines a comprehensive training program designed to equip mental health professionals with the knowledge, skills, and cultural competency necessary to provide gender-affirming mental health services to transgender veterans. Included in this training is an overview of the literature documenting the severe mental health disparities experienced by this population through a minority stress framework, unique challenges and needs commonly faced by transgender veterans, and barriers to receiving culturally competent and effective mental health services. Guidelines for the provision of gender affirming therapy for transgender veterans are offered, in addition to opportunities for self-of-therapist reflections, discussions, and activities around these topics.</p>