Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Psy. D.)--Wheaton College, 2005. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-70).

Thesis (M.A.)--Northern Kentucky University, 2006. / Made available through ProQuest. Publication number: AAT 1440549. ProQuest document ID: 1251900511. Includes bibliographical references (p. 17-18)

Magister Social Work -MSW / Heroin usage is on the increase in the Western Cape province of South Africa owing to globalization and to increased access to the drug in this province. The goal of this study is to explore the experiences of coloured heroin users in the Metro South area of Cape Town, which stretches from Simons Town and Muizenberg to Retreat, Lavender Hill, Grassy Park, Parkwood and Wynberg. These individuals have been found to congregate in the Wynberg CBD. The overarching theoretical framework for the purpose of this research is social constructionism and symbolic interactionism, using a qualitative means of inquiry. Snowball sampling was used to recruit prospective participants and data was collected by means of in-depth interviews, with a semi structures interviewing schedule. The questions informed the subsequent themes and categories that arise from the data collection process. Snowball sampling was employed in this case, a non-probability sample, in which participants were recruited via key informants. The sample distribution included 13 participants, 10 of which were heroin users (5 female, 5 male) and the remaining 3 were key informants which contributed to triangulation of the data.

This dissertation explores the impact of policy and economic conditions on the current economic crises of crime, substance abuse, and financial exclusion faced domestically and abroad. Although these issues span the income distribution, impoverished regions are disproportionately affected by the highest rates of risky behaviors such as drug abuse and crime. The ability for public policy makers to affect large populations of at-risk individuals can be difficult; oftentimes, these groups operate outside of the public sphere and large-scale interventions can miss the mark. In my first substantive chapter, I investigate the efficacy of state-wide insurance reform aimed at reducing drug dependency by requiring insurance providers to cover rehabilitation and detoxification. Utilizing state-level panel data in a generalized differences-in-differences framework, I find that states which enact laws expanding insurance coverage are successful at encouraging treatments for some types of conditions but are limited in their ability to reach individuals struggling with opiate addiction and, correspondingly, have little impact on deterring accidental overdose deaths. In my second substantive chapter, I question the assumptions made in previous empirical work regarding the relationship between economic conditions and crime. Existing literature finds that property crime rates are positively correlated with the unemployment rate. In this paper, I investigate whether this relationship is evolving over time and find that the relationship between property crime rates and unemployment has diminished toward zero. Moreover, I find evidence that there is a non-zero relationship between unemployment and violent crimes during certain periods in time. In my last substantive chapter, we develop a theoretical model illustrating the basic trade-offs in the functioning of financial institutions (Village and Savings Loan Associations) designed to provide financial inclusion to under-served populations in developing countries. We develop a theoretical model which suggests that these groups lack a mechanism to ensure equilibrium in the supply and demand for funds. We test the predictions of this model using experimental data from newly formed groups in Uganda and find that groups operate with excess demand for loans but are often able to generate a high return on savings. This dissertation includes previously unpublished co-authored material.

Magister Social Work -MSW / Heroin usage is on the increase in the Western Cape province of South Africa owing to globalization and to increased access to the drug in this province. The goal of this study is to explore the experiences of coloured heroin users in the Metro South area of Cape Town, which stretches from Simons Town and Muizenberg to Retreat, Lavender Hill, Grassy Park, Parkwood and Wynberg. These individuals have been found to congregate in the Wynberg CBD. The overarching theoretical framework for the purpose of this research is social constructionism and symbolic interactionism, using a qualitative means of inquiry. Snowball sampling was used to recruit prospective participants and data was collected by means of in-depth interviews, with a semi structures interviewing schedule. The questions informed the subsequent themes and categories that arise from the data collection process.

Sporting success is defined by athletic prowess, mental stamina and the ability to win. The balance between winning by fair, or foul, means is an area of fierce debate. This thesis seeks to illuminate the workings of the former German Democratic Republic Doping Scam: (Theme 14.25); to shed light on the human tragedy of steroid engineering, and to explore, within a fictitious world, new ground in areas that have offered little in research. Dark Mermaids, a novel, presents a narrative through contemporaneous documentation of the experiences of a fictitious former Olympic GDR swimmer and a tenacious young girl. In parallel, the novel considers the idea of selective memory, the paranoia of life under a dictatorship, and the notion of 'home' in a divided country. The accompanying essay further explores, through example, the themes of amnesia and exile, and the theory that the common exilic pathology of strain and estrangement of flight is never, in practice, over. Synopsis of Novel 1990. The Berlin Wall has fallen. Police officer Sophia Kunstler slips through the backstreets of Berlin looking for sex in the arms of a cruel faced blue eyed stranger; the same boy she has found in clubs and dance halls over many years. Outside her apartment a cold and frightened girl waits with a letter. Dagmar, Sophia's mother, is dying. Sophia and her father must return to the former GDR, a place from which they had escaped. As part of her job, Sophia is required to investigate claims of Stasi collaboration in her former home town's local police force. Suppressed memories gradually surface, and these impel her to revisit the GDR elite sports training ground, where death, or a new life, await.

Studien syftade till att belysa arbetet med missbruksvården i Bosnien-Hercegovina. Det som har studerats är hur de yrkesverksamma ser på forskning, egen erfarenhet samt klientens erfarenheter och önskemål i valet av behandling. Den metodologiska utgångspunkten var en hermeneutisk kvalitativ ansats, där semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts och sedan studerats. Dessa intervjuer utfördes på ett behandlingshem i Bosnien-Hercegovinas huvudstad Sarajevo och antalet intervjupersoner var fem personer. Resultatet visade hur de arbetar på behandlingshem i Bosnien-Hercegovina. Resultatet visade även att Bosnien-Hercegovina använder sig utav evidensbaserad praktik. Vikten ligger i att få en trygg och verksam vård. Evidensbaserad praktik används utifrån tre olika källor, dessa är klientens erfarenhet, behov och önskemål, den professionellas erfarenhet och förmåga samt vetenskaplig kunskap. BosnienHercegovina tillämpar dessa tre olika källor i sitt behandlingsarbete.

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D.Cur. / Please refer to full text to view abstract