This thesis examines how informal mediation is practiced in Brazil’s urban periphery communities, which are often associated with high levels of violence and insecurity. Based on ethnographic data from low-income neighborhoods in Florianópolis, my analysis of local people’s interventions offers insight into the way that non-state, unarmed actors exercise mediative agency in the midst of everyday violence and insecurity. While a growing body of research shows that state and non-state actors are guided by diverse conceptions, intentions and approaches when they attempt to mediate public and private conflict amongst residents, less attention has been paid to the symbiotic relationship between, or the social impact of, conflict intervention and the reproduction of violence. This thesis argues that interveners use their interactions with antagonists in a particular territory in order to cultivate nondominant power, which serves to obstruct and interrupt the way that violence reproduces and transmits into residents’ lives. As such, it suggests that mediators can enable social change because they have a very particular relationship with the different and interdependent types of violence present in the periphery. Interveners develop and deploy a repertoire of social mediative tactics in order to contend with the complexity of local tensions and the erosion of democratic citizenship that these tensions produce. Defining mediative practices as a source of power invites discussion into community mediation’s strategic potential in the project of urban peacebuilding and violence reduction, positing new directions for applied practices in Brazil and beyond. / Marie Curie Sustainable Peacebuilding Fellowship

Few would argue that college campus crime is a serious problem across the United States. Debate arises, however, regarding why the problem is so pervasive and how best to address it. This dissertation addresses that gap by exploring the nature and magnitude of the college campus crime problem followed by a rationale for studying student perceptions regarding knowledge about and use of victim services resources offered on the University of Central Florida (UCF) campus. Doing so is particularly important in light of the fact that five years have now passed since UCF launched the "Let's Be Clear" campaign designed to raise awareness about the nature and scope of campus crime and victim services resources offered. Participants completed a survey that contained both Likert-type scale items and open-ended questions regarding their awareness of and experiences with UCF victim services resources. A mixed methods analysis revealed four primary conclusions. First, when educated about the resources offered, students demonstrate high levels of self-efficacy regarding the use of victim services resources offered on campus for themselves and others. Second, students perceive high levels of internalization and affective learning regarding the relevance of victim services resources. Third, students report a desire to seek information regarding victim services resources from multiple sources. Fourth, this analysis revealed how communication campaigns that do not adequately address each of the IDEA model elements may fail to achieve affective, cognitive, and behavioral learning among target populations. Ultimately, these conclusions reveal how UCF ought to revisit and revise the "Let's Be Clear" communication campaign to improve achievement of its strategic learning outcome goals among college students.

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Dollar General has seen massive growth, opening almost 1,000 stores per year for ten years. Executives attribute the company's success to their attention to the expanding poverty class in low-food-access urban and rural areas. Central Appalachia in particular -- which has one of the highest rates of low food access and poverty in the nation -- has been a growth center for Dollar General stores. Has the growth in Dollar General stores in Central Appalachia affected residents' food procurement patterns? Through an analysis of USDA data on food access and by conducting interviews with 11 people living in Central Appalachia, I find that Dollar General stores are most frequently found in low-income and low-food-access counties and that Central Appalachian people perceive the chain as a necessary evil. I argue that the complicated relationship between Dollar General and Central Appalachian people is an example of David Harvey's theory of accumulation by dispossession. Neoliberal globalization created the conditions that allow Dollar General to thrive in the region – in particular, the corporate enclosure of the commons, the decline of the coal industry, and the new economy which has forced many people to travel hours a day for work. / Master of Science / Dollar General has seen massive growth, opening almost 1,000 stores per year for ten years. Executives attribute the company's success to their attention to the expanding poverty class in low-food-access urban and rural areas. Central Appalachia in particular -- which has one of the highest rates of low food access and poverty in the nation -- has been a growth center for Dollar General stores. Has the growth in Dollar General stores in Central Appalachia affected residents' food procurement patterns? Through an analysis of USDA data on food access and by conducting interviews with 11 people living in Central Appalachia, I find that Dollar General stores are most frequently found in low-income and low-food-access counties and that Central Appalachian people perceive the chain as a necessary evil. I argue that the complicated relationship between Dollar General and Central Appalachian people is an example of David Harvey's theory of accumulation by dispossession. Neoliberal globalization created the conditions that allow Dollar General to thrive in the region – in particular, the corporate enclosure of the commons, the decline of the coal industry, and the new economy which has forced many people to travel hours a day for work.

With food and nutrition insecurity driving diet-related chronic health conditions in urban settings, strategies that facilitate access to fresh fruits and vegetables are imperative. Food is Medicine is a philosophy that embraces the integration of nutrition education and food subsidies into health care. This thesis describes one example of a Food is Medicine program, food prescription programs (FRx), in chronic disease management. While FRx programs vary in length, there are no studies to our knowledge addressing the reasons why patients adhere to FRx long-term. Using a positive deviance approach, we sought to understand positive deviant patient (PDP) practices and characteristics influencing consistent, long-term participation in Temple University's Farm to Families (F2F) fruit and vegetable prescription program. Prior to introducing this case study, I share from an Urban Bioethics lens my reflections on study design, my positionality coordinating research with community members, and how Urban Bioethical principles relate to FRx. I present the F2F case study: we conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews among 13 PDPs who participated for over three months between 2016 and 2021. Interview transcripts were coded for most common themes. Seven of the 13 PDPs opted to participate in photovoice interviews. I then examine lessons learned from the F2F case study. Lastly, I discuss the sustainability of FRx from an Urban Bioethics lens, starting with considerations of resource allocation of FRx, and ending with integrating FRx into clinical practice and health systems. Despite the complexity of risk factors and sociopolitical forces contributing to food and nutrition insecurity in the United States, food justice is both necessary and achievable. How we as Urban Bioethicists and clinicians choose to approach food insecurity determines our capacity to challenge the status quo and reconstruct the narratives that have perpetuated this issue for far too long. Through a collaborative effort that embraces the experiences of our patients and community members, my aspiration is for food justice to become a reality. / Urban Bioethics